Chapter 53: Return to Kakiriko
Link, listen to me! You can't trust Ahriman! The voice of Saria kept coming, as it had been for the last three hours. Link tried to assuage her worries.
Give her a chance, he said, through his mind. He found that talking to Saria was almost like talking to Dark Link, except that he couldn't access her thoughts directly. They had to communicate through words. She's like Dark Link. You're right, she's evil, but she can be redeemed.
But Link, she's lying! Remember Dark Link's dying words? She can't be trusted. You should know this.
When I first met Dark Link, I didn't think I could trust him, either. But he died a hero, even if he was possessed by Ahriman in his final hours. I think Ahriman is the same way.
What makes you think you, a mere mortal, hero or not, can turn a goddess from her evil ways?
She wants to turn.
That's what she told you, you don't know it's true. I admire your merciful nature, but you can't let that override your precautions. Use your head instead of your heart this time. She will divert you from your quest of defeating Ganondorf.
She wants Ganondorf dead, too.
True, she may help you reach your goal, but do you really want to become her slave in the process?
No, I will never be her slave. But if she speaks the truth, I will be her friend.
Link, listen. You can't. Continue the quest as we told you too, and don't let Ahriman get in the way.
Link saw Kakiriko village just a short distance ahead. Zelda and Ralis were far ahead of him, and they were already being greeted by Ralis's platoon of Zoras who had already returned. He ran ahead to join them.
Saria, sorry, but I have to go. I'm almost in Kakiriko Village.
Then I'll be seeing you in a while.
What do you mean? Link stopped in his tracks.
I saw everything that happened last night. I sped to Kakiriko Village on horseback as soon as I could. I figured that if I made great haste, I could get here about the time you arrived. I was successful, and now I am waiting with your father and the others from your village in the inn. Find me. After that, Saria was silent. Link turned and glanced about him. He spotted Ahriman crouched behind a nearby building, beckoning. Making sure the others couldn't see him, Link went to talk to her.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Were you talking to Saria?"
"Yes."
"I don't trust her. Stop talking to her." Her tone was harsh and serious.
"You can't ask me to do that. I know she doesn't like you, but honestly, she has good reason not to. I'm sure that, in time, you can gain her trust. You just have to prove your good intentions, that's all."
"The Sages are holding you back. They seem to think you can just sneak in and steal the Triforce off this sword, but it doesn't work like that. Their power is unmatched by any but goddesses, like me, and Ganondorf."
"Then we need to convince them to cooperate with us. We can't dismiss them."
Just then, Link heard Zelda's voice calling. "Link!" she called.
"Zelda's looking for me. I'd better go," Link said, turning away from Ahriman.
"Wait!" she pleaded, but he was already gone. It seemed to him he had to choose between Ahriman and everyone else. Ahriman's plan seemed more likely to work, as she had Ganondorf convinced he was on her side and could easily get a hold of the sword, but everyone he already knew and trusted were on the side of the other goddesses. It seemed that this was a three-way war between Gandondorf, Ahriman, and the rest of the goddesses, and he and Zelda were stuck in the center of it all.
Link's thought process was broken when he came face to face with Zelda. She smiled at him, her eyes shining as she remembered the night before. "Hi Link," she said, almost nervously.
"Hi Zelda," he said. He found it hard to look Zelda in the eyes, as he felt guilty for befriending Ahriman. Unfortunately, she noticed this and her smile sank into a worried frown.
"Link, what's going on?"
"Oh, I'm just preoccupied."
She took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry about Dark Link, I really am."
"It's not just that, it's—"
"Your father?"
"Yeah," Link lied.
"I understand. So go talk to him."
"I will," Link said, but he didn't want to. He knew that before he talked to Rayand, he had to face Saria first. How could he ever get her to understand that Ahriman was not as evil as everyone assumed her to be? However, he knew it had to be done. So he went.
Link felt he was walking through a shattered remnant of a nightmare as he made his way through the inn corridor. This was the last place he had been before Dark Link had stolen him away. He could imagine Dark Link, still under the alias of Nimoran, striding down this corridor in his black cloak, opening the door to Link's room, and…how had he murdered Ruto and Navi? He had simply said that he had murdered them, but he hadn't specified his methods. The bodies, as he had heard, were without any physical blemish, and were still being examined by Kakiriko's physicians for any hint of physical dysfunction. So far, nothing had been found.
Putting these thoughts behind him as he reached the room where Rayand, Dysor, and Aola were staying, Link tentatively knocked on the door. Of course, it was Saria who answered it. "Hello Link," she said in a fairly light tone, but with a face as serious as one dreading death.
"Hi," Link said back.
"I know your reasons for accepting Ahriman's alliance were sprouted from nothing but mercy, but this doesn't change the fact that she is a menace to Hyrule and all the world."
"You're making assumptions. Give her the opportunity to change."
"Keep in mind that she is a goddess. She has existed for millennia and she has had the opportunity to change plenty of times."
"She's right, Link," Rayand said from behind Saria. Link noticed that he, Dysor and Aola had been listening the whole time. "She is evil, and it is most likely that she'll stay that way. And she is so rooted in evil that you can't do anything about it."
"Then who can?" Link asked. "If she is so rooted in evil, I consider this all the more reason to help her escape it."
"But first she must decide for herself that she wants to escape it," Saria said.
"But she has! She told me herself, and though that doesn't mean anything to you, I was there, and I saw her face, and I believe that for the first time in her life she was being honest."
"Link," Aola said quietly, "I know I don't really know what's going on here, but I must advise you to listen to Saria. Remember the goddess of death that Hyrule has known and feared for so long? Remember the necromancers? Remember Bindu? That's who you're dealing with here, the one who influenced those people to go down such an evil road."
"I agree," Dysor said. "I mean, come on, Link, you never were gullible and honestly, this is ridiculous. What did Ahriman have to tell you to make you so determined to defend her?"
"She told me she wanted to give up her evil ways. And no matter how evil those ways are, I think that she deserves a chance, like everybody does, to quit. And I will not leave her alone in that endeavor, but rather be a friend to her. If she is rejected by everybody, then that will only increase her resentment and send her further into turmoil."
Saria looked at him curiously. "Your heart is kind and your mind is keen, but your experience is limited."
"Really, Link, you should listen to us. We know what we're talking about, and you should trust me anyway, me being your father…and yourself," Rayand said, causing Dysor and Aola to cause confused glances at him.
"Actually," Saria began, "Perhaps the best way to do this would be to let Link discover on his own Ahriman's true nature. Leave him alone with Ahriman enough and he'll discover that she cannot be reasoned with."
"Either that or he ends up dead," Aola said. "I think we've got to keep him here until he thinks logically."
Link sighed. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I want to talk to my father, alone, because I just recently found out that he is a previous incarnation of me." Dysor and Aola gasped, but Saria just gave Link a wan smile and patted his arm.
"I was wondering when you'd figure that out," she said. "Come on, Dysor, Aola, let's leave Link and Rayand to themselves for a minute. I'm sure Rayand has a lot to tell Link." With that, the others left the room.
"Link, take a seat on the bed," Rayand began. "I need to tell you about my days…as the Hero of Twilight."
