Chapter 26: Adieux
"No." Rhaine cried. She felt Link's hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it away. She jumped over the stones screaming: "Please, wait mother!"
Link lurched after her, but hands grasping his tunic stopped him. "What?" He turned. "Get off me, Kat."
"No, Link." The old woman released him after forcing him to face her. "You can't go after her."
"She just ran head first into an evil fog!" He placed his sword at her neck. "So help me if you do not step aside…"
"You'll what? Slice me into bits?" Kat, without touching the blade, slithered closer to Link her hand sliding on his cheek. Link tried to move, but he was immobilized.
"What did you do to me?" He asked through clenched teeth. All his bones were stiff.
Kat looked to Nayru who continued to float behind them. "A moment, please?"
Nayru smiled and bowed. "Of course. Farewell." Then she drifted into the evil fog.
"Link, Link, Link," Kat sighed. "What am I going to do with you." Her hand remained on his cheek, her thumb gently gliding across his cheekbone.
"Are you…?" Link's eyes widened. She was disappearing. He could now see the wall through her face.
"Dying? Yes, well, that is what happens when the future changes. Actually now I've never existed so I can't be dying, I suppose." Her hand slid away as the wrinkles on her face faded. She was growing younger.
Although her hair remained white and cheeks remained sunken in, no doubt she had become forty or so years younger.
"Rhaine?" Link choked as his jaw loosened. His eyes widened and his sword fell to his side.
Kat laughed. "Only a long time ago." Then suddenly her face became serious. "Goodbye, Mr. Hero of Time. Oh, and Link, I don't need you anymore." She was gone. No trace of the gypsy lady remained.
Link, however, took no notice. He fell to his knees, hands on his head. Need, need, need. "The magic phrase." Link muttered as images crashed through his mind.
A girl stood against a window holding some sort of glowing substance in her hand. "My secret." She had said. She smirked, but then diminished. She was replaced by a girl standing over my own body; she was crying. Then the same girl was dressed in princess attire for a ball. My lips met hers. She was crying then too. Next, she wore a purple tunic and black pants that made her look strong. We went to the temple of time when she said: "Link, is it strange to see Farore as your reflection when you look in the mirror?"
"No." Link Mumbled as he pulled himself from the floor. His eyes shot immediately to the fog that was dimming. "I won't let this happen." With sword in hand he leaped across the spiritual stones and towards the chaos.
As he entered it seemed like the smog cleared for him, much like when the villagers see him coming. "Make way for the Hero of Time." A few guards would always cry out as he entered castle grounds. Of course the haze wasn't clearing in honor of him, but in spite of him. For what he saw, made his insides cringe.
Din was shaking, head thrown back arms at her sides. Nayru stood near her casting a protective spell. Din's power was contained within the barrier, but both of them seemed tired. Link couldn't find Farore.
Next, his eyes saw Rhaine. Heavy tears streamed from her eyes as she attempted to fight the King of Evil.
"Mustn't let your emotions rule you, Rhaine." Ganon said as she shot bolts of lighting towards her.
She spit dodging his attack. "My emotions don't rule me you tyrant! They only make me stronger!" Her voice cracked, but it didn't stop emerald magic from leaving her hand in Ganon's direction.
"Link." Saria placed a hand on his shoulder. He had nearly forgotten her. "Mirra is coming. I can't stop her."
Link grimaced. "What, now?"
With a pained expression Saria nodded before her eyes became not her own.
"Mirra, I can't deal with you right now." Without a second glance he ran to Rhaine.
"Come to save her once again?" Ganondorf smirked reaching for a dagger stashed in his thigh. He laughed. "Might want to save the other one."
Link puzzled for a moment moving in front of Rhaine. "No Link." She sobbed weak from her use of power. "He doesn't mean me."
"Correct." Ganon uttered before propelling the knife past both Link and Rhaine.
"Huh?" Link followed the trail of the knife watching Mirra's eyes expand as the blade pierced her heart.
"Ha." She smiled collapsing to the floor.
"Mirra! Saria!" Link shouted appearing at her side.
Rhaine stayed intently staring at Ganon the flow of tears becoming smaller. He smiled wickedly. "Just disposing of the garbage."
Rhaine didn't glance behind her. She instantly forgot about Link and Mirra feeling a new kind of power surge inside of her. She's gone. Her vision drifted to Din and Nayru. Din fell to the ground clutching her neck.
Rhaine looked at her hands seeing a new olive shade take over her pale one. She saw a strand of her hair turn from white to forest green on her shoulder. "Goodbye, Kat." She said taking a new stance in front of Ganon.
Her feet no longer touched the ground. Now she was floating above the floor the same height as Ganon. "Prepare adversary. For once you faced a mortal, now you face a god."
Ganon grinned cocking his head to Din. "I have conquered Gods before. You will be no different."
Rhaine laughed. "No, you conquered her share of the Triforce bit by bit, corrupting her. But I've been corrupted by the only one to ever defeat you." She felt the energy of Farore coursing through her veins. "Now I will follow in his footsteps."
Link bent over Mirra watching her eyes shift unconsciously. "Mirra?" He whispered pulling her into his lap.
She didn't answer. Instead her mouth opened and closed. Link pulled her off to the side fearing the worst, but knowing there were other things his attention required. He gently kissed Mirra on the forehead as an informal send-off.
He swiftly turned to Rhaine and gasped. Rhaine wasn't there anymore. Someone else was fighting with Ganon now, evading and attacking. But it wasn't Rhaine. Now Farore was fighting Ganon. So…then…where was Rhaine? Link looked at Din who was crumbled in Nayru's arms sobbing. He ran over to them breathless.
"What is going on?" His voice was harsh and empty. He too wanted to cry, but he couldn't show that side of himself now. He had learned long ago if one doesn't keep their emotions in check, they loose sight of victory.
Din looked up from her slump. Her red was no longer the color of blood, but more of a pinkish red, a purer red. "Take this Link. I was able to take it from him." She held out the piece of the Triforce. Link hesitated. How could he receive something from such an evil deity. Yet, then again, the dark shroud around her was gone. Her eyes held something else besides tears and anger. They were soft and round instead of severe and sharp. He reached out his hand taking the piece. Nayru and Din both smiled weakly before evanescing.
Link spun around infuriated.
"Link!" Rhaine's voice called, but the only lips to move were Farore's. He watched her, taking her in. The eyes were the only piece of Rhaine that remained the same. Forever emerald and vast.
Rhaine was no longer her name. He could feel that.
She looked away from Ganon, after wrapping him in a green swathe, and to Link. Time stopped for the both of them. Rhaine saw herself through Link's eyes. Her hair flew around her full of volume and poise; while her body seemed like it had stretched to six feet. She smiled to him ignoring the remonstration of her heart and held out her hand. "The piece, if you please."
Link took a step toward her, but paused when lightening cackled around Ganon's newly found shield.
"We are safe for the moment. Please proceed." Rhaine stretched her hand begging Link to hurry.
Knowing exactly what she wanted he placed the Triforce piece in her hand. She looked away from him and back to Ganon. The blanket suffusing him was beginning to weaken. She held the pile of other Triforce pieces in her hand; then, after taking a breath, she clapped them into each other sending a gold light shattering across the room.
Link covered his eyes afraid he would be blind when the light vanished. It was so warm…and so strong.
"Link." A harmonious voice sang. "You can open your eyes now."
Doubtful, his arm slipped slowly from his face. Rhaine floated in front of him bending down to his face with a serene smile. Before saying anything his eyes gazed the room, but didn't find Ganon. "What happened?"
"I've destroyed the Triforce."
"And Ganon?"
"He was weakened by the blast and I was able to lock him away, here. He rests now."
"But Farore…?"
"Died, purifying Din."
He took a gulp of air. So much seemed to have happened within the last five minutes and suddenly it was all catching up with him. Din had been evil…but now she was good? Mirra is dying. Rhaine's mother was Farore. Kat was Rhaine. He loved Rhaine. So much at once.
He grabbed his head almost throwing his cap to the floor. Instantly he felt alone. Rhaine had glided away over to Mirra who lay scarcely breathing.
"She wants you to know she is sorry." Rhaine's voice radiated throughout the empty Temple of Time.
"You're a god." Link said sprinting over to them. "Can't you save her?"
Rhaine frowned and shook her head. "Remember this is but a mirror world. I cannot save someone who has never been born."
Link cursed pulling Mirra into his lap. "I am so proud of you." He began swallowing a lump in his throat. "You've grown up so much since you've been with us. I'm so glad I was able to have you in my life and on this journey. And don't think I'm only saying that because you carry Saria."
"Link." Rhaine interspersed quietly.
He ignored her and continued. "Please understand your since of humor and constant joy brought new goals to my life. I want to have a daughter someday, and I want her to be like you." Rhaine said his name again, but still he persisted feeling his eyes quake. "I want her to be troublesome and mischievous. I hope she's as smart as you too. Heh, wouldn't it funny if she is as frightened of everything like you? Father, Hero of Time. Daughter, Wuss of the Century. I desire her to long to explore as much as you do too." He pulled her head under his chin and felt a cold hand on his shoulder.
"She's gone."
He shook a few moments holding her against his chest, weeping quietly. All of his losses hurt him. And this time he had loss so many people. He could still feel another goodbye coming. He pushed the cadaver away standing up. He didn't look at Rhaine, but instead the spiritual stones that kept on spinning. Just like time. Time always kept going.
He paced over to the stones and watched their jewels shine. "It's funny how you're a goddess now."
"Ironic, yes." Rhaine agreed.
He observed her reflection in the stones. "Don't talk like that. Talk like Rhaine."
She gazed back at him with profound melancholy. "My personality is fused with Farore's. It is difficult to separate myself." She sighed
Link turned on her, not angry, but desperate. "How long have you known. How long did you know this was going to happen?"
"If you're speaking to Farore, then a while. I am her proxy; that has always been my purpose. All the goddess have visited my old world to have children born. These children are to carry on their will if one of them…dies. Thus creating the immortals."
Link looked at her now, undistracted by activities surrounding them. Her Gerudo clothes were gone. He realized this now, feeling completely oblivious. Now Farore's old, jade garb flowed down around Rhaine's new body, almost as a river. Small, black lace trimmed the edges growing into detailed flowers near the seams. Jewels adorned her neck and ears before climbing into her hair.
"How long has Rhaine known?" He gazed to the floor.
"I never knew as much as I had an idea, a thought. It was fleeting at first; only convincing me in dire explanations. First reading minds, and every Goddess must hear prayers. Then as my powers developed," She held her hand in front of her face tracing her gaunt fingers with her eyes. "I realized I was something more than a Witch of the Triforce." She laughed. "What a silly, little lie they told."
"And Kat? Mind explaining that one?" Link still didn't look at her.
"She was me if I said no. If I refused the goddesses, I would remain the Witch of the Triforce. Yet, I would never die. I would live forever, nearly the same as I once was."
"What's the difference between them then? Why didn't you just say no?" He held his breath. We could be together then.
"No." She said answering his thoughts. He heard footsteps approaching him and looked into her eyes. She was his height now and for the moment, all her divineness faded. She took his hand in hers. "If I were to say no, I wouldn't have been able to save you. Din was planning to kill you, but I stopped her. I hindered her." Pain spread as ripples through a pond, on her face.
"Farore stopped her."
"I am Farore."
"You are Rhaine!" His voice was strained and his throat rough. His eyes burned and his lips trembled. Every bone in his body knew he was lying.
Rhaine, like Kat, didn't exist anymore.
"I was Rhaine." She put his hand on her heart. "She is here, locked away."
He moved his hand to her chin longing for this to be a dream. "I was so sure though. I felt —still feel— so connected with you. Like a chain ties us together."
She smiled. His hand started to glow with the Triforce insignia. "Courage, my dear. I have been with you always. Just as you have been with me always. We will continue to be one. When you die and another takes your place, we will be one."
"That's not what I want."
"Unfortunately, this choice was mine." Her old clothes came back to her and so did her hair. She was human for seconds. She leaned forward kissing his lips for what she and him both knew would be the last time. It was subtle and brief before she pulled away. "And now it's time to forget me once more."
Suddenly, she was a goddess again.
hr
The floor was blue like water, glowing and unbridled. The Triforce was under his feet glowing strong and full of power. Each mark of the sages glowed around him. Green, red, blue, and so forth. Outside of the circle, the world ended in darkness. Link wasn't frightened though. He knew this place as the Sacred Realm. Still, a question hung in his mind. What am I doing here?
"Mr. Hero Of Time."
He made a circle before seeing a woman in all green before him. "Oh." He stepped back surprise.
"Hello. I am Farore." Her smile was demure, but Link took no notice. He was captivated by the very essence of her. "I am the Goddess of Courage."
Link was never pious, but this much he knew. Farore was his goddess, well she created his piece of the Triforce. "What is needed of me now?" He rolled his eyes inwardly. No rest yet. What trouble has princess gotten herself into this time?
"Nothing." Her voice radiated causing the Triforce below Link to brighten in luminosity. "We don't require your assistance anymore." She considered something for a moment. "We goddess don't require your assistance any longer."
Link laughed. "I doubt that. Besides this is all I'm good for."
"No," Farore disagreed. "You mean so much more to us than that. That is why we are setting you free."
"Freeing me?" Link didn't understand the wording.
A small pentagon, pedestal appeared in front of him. It was familiar. He looked from it to Farore.
"Please place your sword back in its home."
"Give up my sword?"
"Well of course. The next hero will needs also carry the blade." Farore giggled modestly to herself.
Link withdrew the blade keeping his sight on the goddess before him. Slowly —as if he thought the whole ordeal was a joke— he slide the steel grindingly into place. It locked easily making a very audible click when the stone was satisfied.
"What now? This is all I've known. What am I supposed to do now?"
Farore stared at Link with new resolutions. She extended her hand causing a field of flowers to appear all around them in many different hues. Her favorite place sprouted around them. No. Rhaine's favorite place. "I suppose you best get to picking plenty of flowers."
-End Chapter.
An: Oh mY GoD!
Jeeze a lot happened in this chapter. Did I surprise anybody with my plot twists? Hrm? Hrm? Well, there is one more chapter (It's only like a page and a half) and then that's it!. Are you scared?
BTW: I have decided that since I got no reviews on the last chapter, I won't put up the next chapter until I get five! That's all I'm asking for! Five reviews and you'll get the conclusion to this tale.