AUTHOR'S NOTE
The Friday update worked well last week, so I'm sticking with it again this week. As a heads up, my Friday schedule doesn't permit me to be online in the mornings all the time, so the post times will unfortunately be variable moving forward.
CHAPTER 29
Lurking in the Shadows
The next morning found Link and Dark standing in Kakariko Village as promised; Dark looking distastefully around at the merriment of the residents. "Unbelievable," Dark muttered. "This used to be a respectable Sheikah village, you know."
"It didn't seem to bother you so much last time we were here," Link reminded him gently.
"Last time, I didn't realize this was the only one of my people's villages still standing," he barked at him. Link drew back a bit, his expression becoming serious. He had forgotten about that. Last time they had been in Kakariko, Dark was more focused on getting to his home, beyond the edges of the village. And passing back through, he had not known there were not more Sheikah left to bring back the good name of the one he had grown up in, Eldin.
"Sorry," Link apologized, expecting little to no acknowledgement, but to his surprise Dark gave him a half-hearted smile.
"It's not your fault," he said, and Link was not sure why those words relieved him so much when he already knew that. "It's just..." he shook his head.
"This isn't what would be going on in a Sheikah village, is it?" Link asked, and Dark nodded unhappily. "So tell me what it would have been like back when your people were running it."
Dark seemed surprised, but recounted what he remembered anyway. "Over there," he pointed at a centrally located tree, where two men were standing and talking. "That tree would have been target practice. People would have been standing much further back, lining up for the chance to practice shooting at it. And there," he scowled at the beggar on the streets. "Anyone who could stand would be taught to fight. A Sheikah town is always busy. There are always people practicing in the streets. And if they weren't, they were at least doing something practical - hanging laundry, doing repair on their homes, or teaching something to the community."
"Dark..." Link started, realizing something. "You haven't been to any residential areas when there wasn't a war happening, have you?"
"I don't remember a time before the war," Dark said bitterly, and had they not been in public, with the judgemental eyes of the Hylian people on him, he would have given him a hug.
"Neither do I," Link told him honestly. Dark was older than him anyway, and actually had memories of the war itself while Link did not. "But I do know what happened after it ended. The villagers aren't practicing because there is no need to have more than the most basic understanding of weaponry. Practical chores have mostly been completed - and those that haven't are done inside people's homes these days, not outside. As for the people standing and talking, they are fortunate enough to have the leisure time. They may as well enjoy it."
Dark stared at him in amazement. "I've never thought of it that way before," he admitted. Link always made him look at things in a new way, and he could not decide whether that was good or not.
They stood there a while longer, taking in the sights, but Dark could feel anxiety weighing down on him with each passing minute. He knew why they were here - to explore further into the mysteries of illusion. What he didn't know was how exactly they were planning on doing that, and somehow he didn't feel he would like the answer.
"Let's go," Link said finally, walking at a stately pace towards the center of town. He held himself differently when they were amongst the citizens of Hyrule, Dark realized - his movements were stiffer, and his voice sounded grander.
"Trying to impress someone?" Dark growled at him. No wonder his feelings had changed so much for the Hylian. When they were alone, Link was just a normal person, and everything felt so natural between them. He certainly could not say the same at this precise moment.
"The people of Hyrule are quite...opinionated," Link said carefully, even as he saluted smartly at someone. "I have an image to keep up. I wish you would follow my example."
"Not a chance," Dark told him, grinning, but even so he tried forcing himself into a better posture, and slowed his steps to match Link's. "Where are we headed anyway?"
Link paused for a second, looking around as if he might be missing something. "To the only place I can think to begin," he admitted. "There's a tale in this village, of a man who could see through illusions. It is possible for someone without magic to have that ability," he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "But the villagers are convinced he didn't do this in any normal way. His house stood where the well is now. So that's where we should start."
The well that stood in the center of the village was no ordinary one; it did not serve as a water source but was treated more like a prison. Powerful magic resided all throughout the land, and it grew stronger as it traveled underground. Anything unfortunate enough to be there had become warped by magic long ago, and yet, a sealing spell had kept them all underneath the ground, incapable of harming anyone who did not intentionally seek them out.
"That's an odd thing for someone to replace their house with," Dark commented, and Link looked at him sharply. It was obvious he did not know what dangers lurked beneath them even now; monsters that thrived on poisoned magic and the traps that had been set up for them.
"Do you know what happens when you're gifted with unusually powerful magic?" Link asked, and Dark rolled his eyes, glaring at him.
"Of course," he said sarcastically. "No, why would I? I bet I would need unusually powerful magic to know that."
"People seek you out," Link said, ignoring the comment. "People, and those so monstrous they hardly could be called that. They think you can solve all their problems, and if you can't, or if you refuse, sometimes they become unbelievably violent. They'll destroy everything you care about; everything you own, before finally coming after you."
"You speak as if from personal experience," Dark said softly, but Link did not respond, looking out into the distance and frowning as he recalled some of the people he had encountered on his journey.
"This man disappeared from the fabric of time, along with his house and everything in it. No one knows what happened to him. But it is said that those who tortured him; the reason he disappeared, were driven underground by the force of his magic. They remain sealed underground to this day, and the well was built over the spot where his house stood as a beacon to signal where evil dwells, and as a warning to the villagers to stay away."
"And that's where we're going?" Dark asked, now staring in horror at the well that stood in front of them.
"Would you prefer to be left behind?" He strode forward, not waiting for an answer. He already knew that no matter how terrifying the place they were going might be, Dark could think of no worse prison than his own mind. And indeed he heard no complaint from him, not until they had both descended the ladder and were staring at a wall where solid rock seemed to have melded together over what once had been a doorway.
"Real scary," Dark said, grinning. "Well, thanks for inviting me along. That was a good day's work." He yawned, and Link fixed him with a serious expression.
"We're not done here and you know it." He could not figure Dark out. Some days he was fully intent on his mission and getting out of Hyrule, and other days he seemed like he could care less about returning the Temple of Light to its original state and finding his brother.
"Yeah, yeah," Dark said, rolling his eyes. "But in case you haven't noticed, our path is blocked. What are you going to do, blow it up? With the amount of space we have in here, that seems risky even to me."
"I don't have to," Link informed him. "Put your hand on the rock," he instructed Dark, "and tell me what it feels like."
Dark obeyed reluctantly, reaching out and resting his palm on top of it. "It looks like rock, and feels like rock. Were you expecting something different?"
"Don't just feel it with your hand. Feel it with your mind." And then Dark understood - the seal on this doorway had to have been done with magic. There was no other reason Link would have been asking him if not for trying to teach him another lesson.
"I just feel frustrated," Dark said, putting his hand down. "And I'm getting a headache. But..." he screwed up his face in concentration. "It felt sort of warm. The rest of the space down here is cool, and humid. But that part of the rock is warm and dry."
Link nodded grimly. "I hate undoing other people's spells. Especially when its my fault they were put here in the first place. But I can't really say this one was effective enough to hold the greatest evil there was down here, and I think I can put it back in place when we're done here."
"Your fault?" Dark asked, crossing his arms and looking at Link with a triumphant expression. He found it to be somewhat comforting that Link made mistakes too, even if they all happened years ago.
"I suppose you want details." It wasn't a question, yet Link looked like he wished Dark would say no anyway. He fidgeted slightly, putting his own hand out on the rock. "Some would say I fulfilled a self-discovered prophecy. That if I had tried not to undo this magic I still would have anyway, because it was fate. I say I purposely irritated a man who did not deserve to have his life disrupted by such things, and undoing this magic was an unexpected side effect."
"A self-discovered prophecy?" Dark asked, noticing that the rocks blocking the doorway were receding as the glow from under Link's hand grew stronger, albeit quite slowly.
"One more thing that was made possible by traveling through time," Link replied grimly. "Tell me. If someone told you that you did something in the past, and then you had an opportunity to be in that past, would you still do the thing you were told about, or try to change the future somehow?"
"Depends on the something." Dark felt a question as serious as that deserved a serious answer, yet he could not speak to his actions, not when he never expected to find himself in a similar situation. "If you didn't like the outcome, why did you go through with it?"
"Haven't I messed up time enough?" Link asked him. "How many versions of reality exist now because of me? One more paradox could tear the very world apart. We have no way of knowing. I performed this task for the greater good; to preserve our world. The sacrifice of one person is sadly one that may need to be made in such endeavors."
"Of course you did it for some noble reason." Dark scowled, but quickly stopped at the look on Link's face. "I'm...sorry," he apologized hesitatingly, and Link looked at him in surprise.
"For what?" Dark did not often offer apologies; he preferred instead to gloss over errors on his part even though Link felt sure he replayed them often in his head. This one may have been given somewhat grudgingly, but he would still consider it progress to hear it at all.
"I've upset you," Dark said, pretending that it was of little concern to him.
"No," Link told him honestly, withdrawing his hand and looking critically at the opening that had appeared. "It's nice to have someone see me for who I really am. Or who I could have been, I suppose. I'm too much in the public eye to have an identity of my own. I'm going to miss you when you're gone," he said, and now it was Dark's turn to be surprised, but before he could express it Link extended his hand out towards the new space and looked at him expectantly. "Shall we?"
The Bottom of the Well was easily one of the spookiest places Dark had ever been in; the blood-spattered surfaces and skeletons made him feel like he was intruding upon a grisly piece of history that was better kept hidden. Yet he had to remember half of those things were illusions; Link spent most of his time guiding him away from holes in the floor and pulling him away from floating skulls he referred to as 'Bubbles'.
"That's a cute name for something as creepy as a floating skull," Dark commented, and for the first time he could remember Link scowled at him.
"It's not cute," he said, and the thought sprang unbidden to Dark's mind that while the Bubble certainly was not cute, Link sort of was, especially when he was slightly annoyed. He was sure Link would not appreciate the comparison, and while he was curious what his reaction would be, he decided it was best to not say anything. "Think of them as guards of this area. They won't hurt you as long as you stay out of their way."
Staying out of their way ended up not being that difficult, but the holes in the floor were another matter entirely. They had taken to walking through the hallways very slowly, inching their way across each area whilst holding onto each other with a tight grip, ready to pull on the other should something happen.
"It's too bad we didn't bring the Lens of Truth," Link lamented. "Even if only one of us is able to use it, we would have a much easier time moving around. It can see through all of these illusions."
"You mean this?" Dark asked, pulling out the purple lens from where he had taken to keeping it safely tucked. "Why didn't you say something sooner? I've had it with me the whole time." If looks could kill, Dark was sure he would have been a goner, and he also wondered if perhaps Link was now actually the biggest threat to him in this dungeon.
Still, things were easier once Link could use the Lens of Truth, Dark trailing along behind him and being careful to only step where he had gone and not meander off to the side or check out any of the rooms they kept passing. He just wished he knew what they were looking for; everything he pointed out was something Link discounted as having taken care of years ago, and if Link had noticed anything new he was not sharing it with Dark.
They had been coming down every day for a week before Dark wondered aloud what the Triforce on the floor was for, and Link stopped on top of it, causing Dark to bump into him. "To stop the flow of water from that." He pointed at a rather disturbing stone face protruding from the wall; hands sticking out from the other side to make it look almost the figure was stuck halfway through.
"Where's the rest of it?" Dark asked, and Link looked at him, confused.
"The rest of what?"
"The statue!" Dark said. It seemed so obvious to him. "That's heavy stone. It wouldn't just be hanging from the wall." This seemed to be something Link had not considered before, and he walked up to the wall, tapping on various parts of it.
"Hard to tell," he murmured. "Maybe..."
"Maybe what?" Dark asked eagerly, wondering if he had hit upon whatever it was they were searching for, and thinking that if he was lucky he might no longer have to wander around this creepy cavern. But Link held up a hand, and he fell silent as he watched him take out his longshot, shooting it up at the stone face.
"Hmm," he mused, after shooting the longshot at several areas. "It does sound like there might be a hidden chamber behind there. Do you have any ideas on how to get back there?"
"You're supposed to be the expert when it comes to things like this," Dark shot at him, but he was actually pleased Link valued his input enough to ask him.
"There are a few ways to break down a wall, but none of them are safe enough to use in an enclosed space like this. I don't want to bring this whole place down on top of us."
"It's stronger than that, isn't it?" Dark asked, looking up at the ceiling nervously.
"Didn't you live in a place like this for quite a while?" Link seemed amused at Dark's reaction, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. If anything does happen, I'll protect you."
Dark could feel his cheeks heating up, and he grabbed the Lens of Truth angrily from Link's hands as a distraction, aiming it at the wall. "Just use this, why don't you," he growled. "It doesn't destroy things."
Link decided not to point out that depending on how you looked at it, the Lens of Truth destroyed illusions, rendering Dark's statement incorrect. Instead, he took it gently from him, looking through it experimentally. "We won't be able to see anything through here, Dark," he explained. "We've been using the Lens of Truth all along, and haven't seen anything unusual. What makes you think this time would be any different?"
"Because this time," Dark said, taking the lens back once more, "I'm the one holding it."
If Link had not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have believed it. "Impossible," he exclaimed, peering through the circle of glass. With Dark holding it, the wall seemed almost translucent; the rest of the statue showing up in such a way that indicated they may be able to walk through it. "But...why doesn't that show up when I use it?"
"How would I know?" Dark asked, sounding annoyed that he would even ask. "Maybe it's because I'm a Sheikah."
"Maybe it's because your magic is different from mine," Link guessed, causing Dark to glare at him and try to hand the Lens of Truth back.
"Now you're just talking nonsense," he said. "I can't even use magic." This was a far cry from his previous insistence that he didn't have it at all, so Link decided to let it go. "How could I possibly use it to influence what this thing shows us?"
"I don't know how it really works," Link admitted. "Only the creator does. So anything is possible." If they were going to make any more progress, he would have to go along with Dark's original theory. "Maybe it is because you're a Sheikah. So - do you think that means you're the only one who can get through the wall?"
"Only one way to find out," Dark said with a shrug. "After you."
""Ah," Link paused, wondering if Dark had misunderstood him. "Aren't you going to...?"
"No," Dark said, sounding rather smug. "We won't know if it only works for me unless you try first. Go on," he encouraged him. Link walked up to the wall, setting his hand on it and pushing. Nothing. "Try a little more to that side," Dark said, pointing, but that place was no more successful either.
"It's no use," Link said, beckoning him forward. "If anyone can do it, it's you."
Initially, pushing at the stone did nothing when Dark tried, as well. But when he set the Lens of Truth against the wall, his hand fell through, and the rest of him seemingly followed with no issues. "Hold onto me," he instructed Link. "And don't let go."
The room beyond was a small chamber, not much different than other spaces residing underground. What struck Link as odd though was how nest-like the area seemed; almost as if someone - or something - had been making this area its home for some time. "I wonder…" Link mused, letting go of Dark and wandering around the space, inspecting each pile of dirt and skeleton remnants that surround them. "Could this be where Bongo Bongo was hiding out?"
"Who?" Dark asked him, decided that he was likely referring to a person and not a thing.
"An evil spirit," Link explained. "I defeated him in order to free Impa and collect the Shadow Medallion. His destruction was what awakened her power as a Sage."
"And you fought him here?" Dark asked, looking around distastefully.
"No," Link corrected him. "From what I understand, he was imprisoned underneath the well as punishment for something he did in life. I explored this area when I was younger, and I never saw him - just other monsters. But I didn't think to cover my tracks - I just left the well unprotected from the magic that once was in place here. Impa came in and cleaned up after me, but her magic had been weakened by the protection she was continually offering Zelda. It was her spell I undid on the door - a spell that wasn't strong enough to stop the evil spirit from escaping and wreaking havoc on Kakariko Village."
"So that's what you meant before, by it being your fault."
"I make mistakes too, Dark. Some worse than others. But that's all in the past, and there was thankfully no lasting harm. But there isn't even lingering magic here to point us in the right direction," he said grimly. "So I think we'll need to follow Bongo Bongo to where he went after he broke free. I think we need to look in the Shadow Temple."
It was nice to have somewhere else to go besides back to the Bottom of the Well the next morning, but Dark did not have a feeling the Shadow Temple would be much better. He had heard many tales of it growing up; some of the stories surrounding it had even reached the status of urban legends in their community. The Shadow Temple hadn't been used in many years; not since long before the war, but that did not stop people from talking about it.
"Have you ever been here before?" Link asked him after they arrived in a spot overlooking the graveyard via the use of a different warp song; one he called the Nocturne of Shadow. Dark shook his head, and Link grinned at him. "This isn't any worse than where we were before," he assured him.
Dark was not feeling too confident in that statement, especially when they walked into the temple. The transition from outside to inside did not feel right to him; the atmosphere was not helped by the burned leaves surrounding them and the lingering smell of smoke in the stale air. There were torches in a circle around them, and Dark suspected they must have been lit at one point.
"There were additional protective charms on this temple when I first came here," Link murmured. "And in an unusual form too - fire. Only in the flickering light given off by fire can the true shadows prevail. Perhaps that's why."
Dark would have asked how Link could light so many torches at the same time, except he remembered that he had seen him do it once before - back when he first met him, in the Temple of Light. It made him feel nervous and awed by him all at the same time; he had not given his use of magic much thought back then, but now that he knew more he saw that Link was not simple limited to the light magic he had; rather he could use a variety of spells from different branches of magic. He wondered what abilities Link had that he simply had not witnessed yet, and if they were just as powerful as the ones he had.
"Dark?" Link had already made his way to the entrance of the temple, while Dark was still standing surrounded by the torches. "Are you okay?"
"Like you care," he snorted, but regretted the words as soon as he said them. Though Link only had the smallest of frowns, Dark knew his words had caused it, so he gripped the gossip stone he always wore around his neck now and thought an apology as he made his way over. But Link's expression had not changed, and he heard no answering thoughts back. Is this thing on? he wondered, shaking it a little.
"You'll need to actually talk to me," Link told him, raising an eyebrow as Dark walked closer, still looking at the stone like it was broken. "I don't have that with me."
"Why not?" Dark asked, surprised. "Did you give it back to Zelda?"
"No," Link said, drawing a deep breath. "I just didn't see the need to bring it."
"Well that's stupid," Dark fumed at him, forgetting that only moments ago he had been trying to apologize for saying something rude. "What if we get into trouble? What if we decide to split up? I thought we agreed we would both wear them, until we figured out what that book was talking about."
"I told you, I prefer to keep my thoughts private," Link said calmly. "If I thought we were in any danger, I would have brought it with me."
"Fine," Dark said angrily, striding into the temple. He instantly regretted walking in by himself. The air was cold and stagnant; it felt almost like death itself simply standing within the walls of the temple his people had been sworn to protect. He began to shiver, wondering if he should even proceed farther than this. It felt like the walls were closing in around him, like he was being punished for crimes he did not commit.
"No one knows what this temple was really used for," Link said, coming to stand beside him. It was almost as if he had read Dark's mind, though he knew that was an impossibility. "It's secrets are lost to the passage of time."
"Torturing people," Dark said quietly. "A prison. A place of ritual worship and sacrifice. A training ground, with deadly consequences for failed attempts. I've heard them all. None of them are good."
"Which one is real, though?" Link asked, curious if Dark had the answer.
"It's like you said," Dark told him. "No one knows. It wasn't used anytime recently. But I know the protection of this place always fell to a trained warrior. It wasn't considered an honor," he said flatly. "It was a curse. They didn't usually come back, and their funeral was held on the day they left. I don't think they came to protect the temple, either. I think they came here to protect us from it."
If Link had been raised to believe such a thing, he doubted he would have set foot in this temple to begin with. "Are you okay to go on?" he asked. Dark stood rigid, like someone frozen in terror, but his expression was resolute.
"I can do anything you can do," he said stubbornly. "Lead the way."
But it was quickly apparent that Link could not lead the way; for there was no way for Dark to follow him, and no way for him to get across either. "I forgot about that," he said softly, his voice echoing in the large chamber; terrifying emptiness looming beneath them. "I'm not sure both of us can make it across that gap."
"I've heard about this," Dark said slowly. "The entire temple is enchanted so that only the Sheikah may enter." He gave Link a curious look. "I've always said there's something Sheikah-ish about you."
"Don't you have better things to do than theorize about me?" he asked, though he was secretly pleased.
Dark shrugged. "Not really." His thoughts were generally consumed with worry; much of which did surprisingly revolve around Link. "How did you get through here, though?"
"Magic boots," Link told him, and Dark looked at him in surprise.
"Those are just a myth," he said stubbornly. "They aren't real." One of several treasures the Sheikah were said to have invented and guarded, a set of magic boots was said to have been made to lift the wearer above the wrongdoings of the past. But those were just fairy tales for children; a way to make them feel better about Hyrule's history and the Sheikahs' part in it.
"I don't know what you've been told, but they're real. I still have them, actually." He had returned some of the items he had found during his adventures, if he knew they had significance to the people he had taken them from, but for the most part he kept them all. His status as a Hero had not changed; should he ever be called on for anything else he might need their assistance - something this time with Dark had proved to him, if he ever had any doubts.
Dark looked around the room silently, wondering what else was real that he had not thought was possible. One thing he knew was that Link would not, and maybe even could not, lie to him. Not about something like that. He knew how much he valued honesty, and how dedicated he was to the truth. But it shook him up, especially with all the tales that had persisted about the Shadow Temple running through his head. If this one was real, what if the more gruesome ones were real?
"We don't have to do this today, you know," Link said softly, looking at him with concern. "We're not on a time limit. If you need a break..."
"I told you, I can do this," Dark growled at him, "and we have a time limit. We just don't know what it is."
"Dark." Link turned to face him, taking his hands in his own. "We don't know this is the right place to be looking in. For all we know we're headed in the wrong direction. If you don't feel comfortable...if you don't feel safe...maybe we should eliminate other options before we return. And don't think you have to keep pushing past how you feel," he told him, noticing how Dark was getting prepared to snap at him again. "There's a special kind of strength to be found in knowing your limits and sticking to them. Over time, you can push yourself to become stronger. But doing that all at once, or before you're ready, is just reckless."
He wished he knew how Link did it; how he could find a way to make him not feel ashamed when he couldn't move forward. But although not ashamed, he still did not feel entirely comfortable voicing that, and he looked down as he tried to figure out what words to even use.
"I know," Link said, smiling as the idea came to him. "Why don't we go look around the graveyard? It's just outside, and after what we've been through over the past few days it might even seem peaceful."
But the graveyard did not prove to be all that peaceful, though Dark could admit it was less of a daunting excursion than he would have originally anticipated. There was not the same constant worry that a monster would jump out at them, or that they would awaken some ancient evil just by walking in the wrong place. But there was a different kind of concern that he thought of after the first few minutes.
"There are no Sheikah buried here," Dark said in some surprise. He had walked around the graveyard several times, and had yet to see a familiar name, or even a gravestone that bore the symbol of his people. "At least none whose name I recognize."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Link asked him, but all Dark did was shrug. Names - or lack of - on tombstones did not truly have anything to do with being dead or alive; just because he did not see them here did not mean they were not laying in some other graveyard; or worse yet, some unmarked location. "We'll find out what happened to them, Dark," he said quietly, coming to stand beside him. "I find it hard to believe an entire civilization could hide in the shadows forever."
"I wish someone knew what did happen," Dark said sadly. "Or even just why there are no Sheikah buried here, in a village that belonged to them. It doesn't seem right, somehow."
"There was someone who knew this graveyard pretty well," Link told him. "His name was Dampe. He was a bit odd, but this graveyard is his legacy. He spent all his time here, and was considered the best caretaker this place ever had. If anyone could tell us anything about this place, it's him."
"Your use of past tense tells me we can't ask him," Dark guessed. He suddenly turned his attention to a corner of the graveyard, as if just realizing something. "That name was on a gravestone over there." He pointed in the direction Link knew Dampe's grave was in.
"Yes," Link said sadly. "He died sometime during Ganon's takeover. Unrelated," he clarified. "I was told he had a heart attack."
There was not much Dark could say to that. He had not known Dampe personally, nor did Link seem to have been close enough to him for him to acknowledge the man's death in a more personal way. "It's too bad we can't dig him up and ask him about a few things," he joked.
Link paused, slowly turning to look at Dampe's grave. "You might just be onto something," he murmured.
"I wasn't serious!" Dark snapped at him. "That's graverobbing! A pile of bones isn't going to tell us much anyway, unless you're about to tell me you know necromancy." He gave Link a look like he did not trust him to say something of the sort, and Link chuckled.
"Do I look like I know how to channel the dead?" He frowned at Dark's silence, which seemed to imply that he did. "Sadly, not everyone passes peacefully. Despite the circumstances, Dampe died at a time of great unrest for Hyrule, and his spirit is still around. We would just need to find him. His grave is practically an underground maze - he built it himself, so he could roam the graveyard in death just as he could in life."
"Wait," Dark said slowly. "Are you saying he's a ghost?"
"I prefer to think of him as a spirit. Spirits are souls that chose to stay in this world, to guide and protect others. Ghosts are souls who have unfinished business, and don't have a choice but to stay here."
All of this was too much for Dark, who was already having a stressful day. "Link?" he asked, glaring at him. "Shut up."
For some reason, this made Link laugh, and before Dark could get irritated at him for that as well he held up a hand. "I'll do you one better," he promised, trying to catch his breath. "We can just go home today. I think I know of one more option we can explore tomorrow - and it doesn't involve the Shadow Temple or ghosts. I promise."
IN CLOSING
This chapter was a bit longer than intended, but I do love exploring theories and thinking up additions to the world map. More importantly, this paves the way for a fairly significant event in the next one!
I do want to let you all know I am still actively working on the next chapter, and have no buffer (extra chapters written) in place like I've had with these. I've been writing every day, but it's been a really tricky one! So with any luck I will be done in time for next week, but if not, I may need to take a break for a week or so. We'll see what happens. I promise you it will be worth waiting for though.
Don't forget to check back for Chapter 30. Thank you for reading / following / favoriting / reviewing!
