AUTHOR'S NOTE
Well, it took me right up until my personal deadline, but we've reached the end. This is the final chapter (and what I actually consider to be the epilogue) of The Edge of Darkness. I know some of you were waiting to keep reading until I finished it, since I've been so unpredictable, so if you fall into that category it's finally safe for you to continue!
CHAPTER 35
The Next Great Adventure
With each step Link took towards his house, he came up with more and more of a plan. It was one thing for Dark - Ravio, he reminded himself - to tell him he would be back one day. But their unexpected connection through the Gossip Stones would not be of any use to him with Dark so far away, and he was not sure that even the more reliable part of their enchantment would work once Dark had crossed over into another world entirely. Without them, there was no way to tell if he was safe; if he would be coming back at all. It was the uncertainty of the situation that gave him the strength to change into his formal attire and set out towards the castle. He had to see Zelda, before it was too late.
"I need to see the Queen," he said to the guard upon his arrival, cutting straight to the chase without any idle banter as he would have engaged in previously. The guard gave him one confused and rather frightened look, and then, as had happened all other times, he signalled a guard inside the palace who brought him to one of the many holding chambers in Hyrule Castle.
"The Queen will be with you momentarily," he said, and Link knew he meant it. When he showed up unannounced, people tended to assume the worst, and in this case that was probably for the best. Time was of the essence, after all.
"Link," Zelda greeted him about ten minutes later, stifling a yawn. "I am not accustomed to seeing you so early." Her words were formal, but her eyes twinkled, and Link knew he was gently being teased about his fondness for sleeping in.
"Your Majesty," he said, his eyes downcast. Zelda would likely not be his friend anymore after today, and he thought it might hurt less to start with a formal tone rather than be forced to switch to one halfway through their conversation. The Queen, in all her wisdom, did not miss the change in address.
"You have come to speak to me about something important." It was not a guess, rather, she knew that it had to be something of grave importance for him to be there now.
"Yes," Link said, and hesitated for a moment. He could not simply ask her for permission to leave - he feared that if he did, he might never be welcomed back. It was a subject he felt he needed to dance around carefully. "Dark left this morning," he told her. "He's using the Temple of Light to go to a new world."
"Of course," Zelda murmured softly. She had not forgotten his mission; the reason he had agreed so readily to restoring the temple in the first place. "You miss him," she said, but his face remained impassive. "You love him," she prompted after a moment.
Link's eyes widened in surprise and fear, and he felt his face begin to flush. "How did you -"
"Know?" she asked, with a smile. "I did not need the Triforce of Wisdom to see it, Link. It is plain to anyone with eyes how much you care for him. Do not look so alarmed," she said gently. "Caring for someone is not a crime."
"That isn't what the rest of Hyrule would have me believe," he said in a rough voice, wondering if he was about to be saved the trouble and simply thrown out of Hyrule.
"The rest of Hyrule has a long way to go before they reach the same enlightenment as other races in our land," Zelda snapped, her words surprising Link. "The Sheikah believe in love, no matter what form it takes. The Zora and the Gorons are no different. Hylians are many centuries behind in their views. Even I, as their Queen, cannot change this overnight."
They stared at each other in silence, Link not daring to respond to the unexpected outburst. Zelda took several deep breaths, then reached out to take his hand. "Do you remember what we spoke of, long ago?"
"We've talked about a lot of things," Link pointed out. "Most of those conversations could be considered 'long ago.'"
"True," she admitted. "But I am speaking specifically of what we discussed on my coronation day. You did have it for some time, you know," she said, and in response to his confused glance, she said one word: "Happiness."
"I...I suppose I was happy," Link admitted. "He made me happy." The truth of his crushing sadness was closing in around him. "It was nice to know what it felt like, for a little while."
"You can feel it again," Zelda insisted.
"One day, perhaps." Link stared out into the distance, feeling the fragile beginnings of tears form in his eyes. Crying twice in one day was a new record for him.
"Not just one day. You can feel it again today. Link, did you not come here to ask me for permission to go with him?"
"I..." Link frowned, feeling uncomfortable. That was exactly what he had come here to do. But intending to do it and actually going through with it were two different things.
"I appreciate you coming here," she told him. "But you never needed my permission to go. I know of your concerns already. They are similar to my own, if I were to leave. But you are not a leader of Hyrule, simply their hero. We have functioned without a hero in the past, and we can do so again. You worry of our land and trouble that may befall us, but even if such an event occurs with no hero, Hyrule shall prevail. Please." Her tone was soft, and had a pleading quality. "If you do feel that you need my permission to take your leave - will you not let me grant you a gift for your service?"
Link did not speak, or even move. There was a difference between being told to leave, and being given permission to do so, and he was filled with gratitude at the gesture. He could return home one day without fear of judgement, for leaving or for anything else, and that was what he had truly wanted. In one careful movement, he unbuckled the Master Sword that he wore across his back, and it fell with a clang that echoed off the walls of the chamber.
"The sword belongs here," Link said, glancing once behind him. "Please keep it safe for my return." She looked at him, her expression a mix of sadness and understanding, and she held out her arms for a hug which he gladly gave her. "Goodbye, Zelda," he whispered. "I know I'll miss you, too."
The Temple of Light had remained undisturbed for many years before Shadir and Ravio had arrived, and after Link had freed Ravio from its walls it had fallen once more into the silence of an abandoned building, long forgotten by the world.
It was bit by bit that the magic returned to it, the walls sparkling briefly with the reuniting of each piece of the map, breathing new life into the once-deserted area. But each of those sparks died almost as soon as it was born, the magic not being enough to hold it together. Not until everyone joined together again, and undid the spell that had broken its chains with the other worlds that once fueled it.
Carved out of stone and bordering multiple worlds, the Temple of Light was alive in the same way nature was, and it could feel what happened to it the same way that grass knew when it was being bent by the weight of footprints and the earth knew when it was being moved. Reawakened in its magic, it could feel someone enter, walking through the door and twisting their way through the hallway. The person's footsteps were uneasy yet unrelenting, and they walked with purpose towards a room they had spent most of their life not knowing existed.
Ravio did not relish being back in the place he had viewed as a prison for so many years. It was familiar yet different, and he did not like the feeling of being watched that crept over him as he made his way further and further into the temple. With every step he took, his whole body shook with unshed tears, but he kept moving forward. He had made his choice, and he knew what he had to do.
It took him longer to walk across the whole of Hyrule Field than it took him to find his way into the temple and back to the room he had spent most of his life in. It was not a place he had ever expected to see again, but a necessary part of the path to get to the room he and Link had discovered together, where he was sure the connection to other worlds would need to be made. And, he admitted, it was a necessary part of his personal path too. To see it once more, and truly let go of the pain and anger he had at the room, and the tree whose spell they had finally broken, was important if he was to continue.
He stayed, almost as if in a silent vigil, for longer than he had intended. He did not speak any word; did not even cough or sneeze. The vigil was something he heard once that knights did to commit to their new way of life and take a vow to protect the land to which they were bound. He did it to commit to his future, to finding Shadir, and to not give up no matter how difficult things got. He was not the same person who had left this room all those months ago, and he would not be stopped by trivial things. Trivial emotions. He could not allow himself to cry. If he cried, he would make noise, and he would be forced to start the entire process over. He should just leave now, continue further into the temple, before his silence was broken. And so leave he did, the unintentional sound of his footsteps being the only thing he left behind.
"I know you understand," Link said, standing in the horse pen at Lon Lon Ranch, holding loosely onto Epona's reins. "I know you'll forgive me for leaving."
"Forgive, yes," Malon said. "But understand...no. Link, why do you have to go? You have everything you need here!"
Lon Lon Ranch was his last stop on the set of tasks he had been aiming to accomplish today. There was not enough time to say goodbye to everyone or to revisit all the places he had wanted to. But he had stopped by the Kokiri Forest, mainly to entrust the closest people to family he would ever know with anything he had chosen to leave behind, and now there was just one more thing he needed to return.
"Not everything," he explained. "Well...not everyone." His eyes darted towards the direction he knew the Temple of Light was in, and Malon suddenly realized what he meant.
"So you and him did get together!" she said delightedly, and clapped her hands together. "Oh, I just knew you would like him if you gave him a chance!" Her excitement disguised the last of dying hope in her, that one day Link might have eyes for her. She had known deep down he never would, but as long as he was in Hyrule, as long as he hadn't found someone else, there had always been a possibility in her mind.
"You're taking credit?" Link asked, grinning at her. She blushed, and he laughed. "Look, Malon. I know you gave Epona to me, but...I need you to take care of her while I'm gone." He handed over the reins, and Malon gave him a look of confusion, though she took them and reached out to stroke Epona.
"You're coming back, then?" she asked hopefully.
Link sighed. "I don't know," he admitted. "I intend to. But I might not be able to."
"Then take her with you!" Malon told him, trying to hand the reins back to him. "She might be able to help you. You never know when you'll need fast transportation."
"Dark doesn't seem to care much for horses," Link said with an apologetic smile, and Malon gasped in mock surprise. That much had been obvious during his short stay at Lon Lon Ranch. "I wish I could bring her with me, really. But I don't know if it's safe, where we're going. If I can come back for her, I will. I don't trust anyone else to watch her for me. Please, say you're okay with this." He knew he was hurting his closest friend, both by leaving himself and by leaving Epona behind, but it couldn't be helped.
"Of course!" Malon said, but her smile seemed plastered on and her tone sounded overly cheerful. "We're going to miss you around here, Fairy Boy." She swept him up in an unexpected hug, and Link could have sworn he heard a sniffle as she clung to him, but her smile was firmly back in place by the time she let go. "Try and come back and visit, if you can."
"I will, Malon," he said with a sad smile, not knowing if he would be able to or not. "Goodbye."
Ravio paused, reaching that room that once held an enchantment, but seemed to be closed by magic no longer. The torches he needed were already lit, something he would never admit he was grateful for. He would always prefer darkness, and would always be able to see well in it, but now that his eyes had adjusted to daylight he didn't think he would have been able to navigate in the pitch black as he once had. As he walked in, he could have sworn he heard something in the distance, the final clang of a door. It only made sense, he decided. He was, after all, shutting a door on what had proved to be an important chapter in his life.
He hesitated over the pedestal, looking at the large unopened treasure chest with awe. This was what it all came down to. He would just need to open the chest, activate whatever was inside, and then...what would happen, exactly? He was not exactly sure; no one who had helped them reactivate the temple had been inside it when it was still functional, except for possibly his mother or the former Queen of Hyrule, both of whom were gone, somewhere they could not be reached.
He knelt down in front of the pedestal, putting his hands together. He had never been a religious man, and barely even remembered the names of the three goddesses. But before taking such a monumental step, before facing whatever he had come to, it seemed the moment should be honored by a short prayer to those who had made Hyrule, and those who had likely made the temple and its hidden doorways as well.
"Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom. Thank you for showing me the path forward. You are my inspiration for doing the right thing." The words were coming back to him as he said the lines he had learned as a child. "Din, Goddess of Power. Thank you for giving me the strength to see things all the way through. You are my inspiration to keep moving." It was a Sheikah ritual, this prayer to the three goddesses, typically reserved for times when people's fate hung in the balance. "Farore, Goddess of Courage." His voice broke, remembering Link held the Triforce of Courage. This was his patron goddess. "Thank you for helping me find my true way. You are my inspiration to never give up." He might have had wisdom, power, and courage, but he felt like he had already lost what gave them to him.
He stood up anyway, finally ready to open the chest. He would have to be enough for himself from now on. He could not rely on others to help him when he needed it. He put his hand on it, and closed his eyes. This was it. The way forward. The hinge swung open, and he stared down into the empty box.
Of course. It felt like so long ago now he had forgotten; had not remembered that this chest was not seeking to give him anything but was looking for some sort of offering from him. He pulled out the map he had worked so hard to put together. What was it Zelda had said, that it belonged in the Temple of Light? Perhaps this was the missing piece. He placed it in the chest, and waited, but nothing happened.
He had nothing more to give the temple; no object with which he could part to pay the toll for entering another world. With the placement of the map, his final hope had died. His journey was going to end, right here and right now. He had come all this way for nothing. Feeling defeated, he sank to the floor, and felt the tears finally come.
"Ravio?" The voice came in an echoed whisper, the haunting melody of his given name playing on his ears. If this was death, or a monster who would bring it to him, he should let it come and take him. "Ravio, are you here?" Now that he thought about it, that voice was coming closer, and it sounded familiar somehow. It couldn't be… "Ravio! Are you okay? Don't cry." He felt himself being picked up and held in someone's arms. "I'm here now."
"Link," he murmured, confused. Had his leaving been a dream? Was he still in Hyrule, laying on the cold stone outside somewhere? "What are you doing here?" Maybe Link was the dream. Maybe he had somehow fallen asleep, here in the Temple of Light.
"I'm coming with you," he said, dabbing at his lover's face with his sleeve, drying his tears. "You talk about my commitment to Hyrule, but I've made even more of a commitment to you. As your friend, and your partner, I promised to never leave your side. And I'm not going to now. Don't try and talk me out of it," he said softly, looking into Ravio's eyes. "I already told everyone I was leaving. It's too late for me to go back."
"You..." Ravio gazed up at him in wonder. "Link, you're...amazing. But...it might not matter anyway...I...we can't..." he gestured helplessly at the chest, which was still open, taunting him.
Link got up and looked at the treasure chest, which was still open, Ravio's offering of the map nestled within it. "It's the Temple of Light," he said, with a small smile. "Each temple gives you some sort of magic or artifact to help you free it from a curse. This temple's curse is no more, and so to reveal its secrets, it would be expecting its gift back."
"But we don't have anything to give it," Ravio said, with a slight sniffle. "The map is the only thing we have from the temple. And that obviously isn't good enough."
"I don't think the temple is looking for an object," Link explained with a smile. "Light stands for all that is good and pure in this world. Like you and your devotion to reuniting your family. Like what we have between us. It's looking for what you have in your heart."
"Before I met you," Ravio said slowly, "I thought my heart was made of nothing but darkness. You've taught me I can feel good things now...but no matter what, I think I still carry some of that darkness with me."
Link grinned at him then, pulling him to his feet. "Of course you do. We can never truly let go of our darkness; our thoughts and feelings can flicker around the edge of it, but it will always be there. But you're forgetting something important. Without darkness, there is no light."
Link held out his hand, and warmth and light flooded from it, bathing them in a soft glow. He focused on the feeling he held, and the light streamed into the open treasure chest, infusing the map with its radiance. The chest closed by itself, patterns lighting down the side of the pedestal and through the floor and walls. The outlines of doors came to life one by one, glowing in different colors that almost seemed to represent the worlds that lay behind them. Hyrule's was the brightest by far, gold and glowing, a faint shimmer showing them it was the world they were in.
"I can't believe it," Ravio said, his voice full of wonder as he looked at the worlds that lay beyond, full of endless possibility. "The offering it needed...was in my heart all along?"
"Your heart, and mine," Link told him. "We can go through the door together - any door. I can't promise you we won't have to come back here, that we'll find your brother in the first one we try. But if we don't go at all, we'll never know."
"You're right," Ravio said, and he held Link's hand as he looked around the temple for what might have been the last time. "We have to go. But...there's one more thing." Link turned to look at him, and he grinned. "Call me Dark. It suits me better."
THE END - FOR NOW
I'm always overwhelmed by feelings when I reach the end of a story, especially when I've been working on them for as long as this one. This is actually the longest story I've ever written, and I was genuinely worried for a while we would never get here. But, while The Edge of Darkness might have ended, there is still much to be told of Link and Dark's story. So I am proud to reveal that I will be writing a sequel! The sequel will follow Link and Dark as they journey through new worlds to find Dark's brother, and possibly some more familiar faces will show up along the way.
While I'm excited about the sequel, and inspired for some of its scenes, I need to take a break before I can truly start on it or post it. My life is a bit turbulent right now between looking for a new job and trying to become a real published author. I'll still be writing fanfiction, when I have the time to do so, but some of those other commitments need to come first right now. With all of that, I would expect to see the sequel start near the beginning of 2022, but if I can get to it earlier, I will.
Over time, I'll be going back and making minor edits to this story to fix spelling errors, sloppy storytelling, and other issues I've noticed, so don't be surprised if you see chapter updates come through every now and again. I'll also be making an update right here, at the end of the story, when the sequel is finally available. If anyone wants to specifically be written and notified that it's up, let me know and I'll try my best to remember!
Finally, thank you all so much for reading this story. Every review made my heart burst with happiness; every follow and favorite made me remember why I started writing in the first place. You all have been so supportive, and I truly cannot express my appreciation enough. The Edge of Darkness has been my creative outlet for many years now, and while I'm sad to be leaving it behind, there is a certain pride that comes with having finished it. I hope it's helped you all as much as it's helped me, and when the time comes, that you'll enjoy it's continuation just as much.
While our time together has come to a close for now, I want to leave you with the playlist I used for inspiration on this story every time I sat down to write. Lots of good stories have great musical inspiration behind them, and this one is no exception!
WRITING PLAYLIST
The Light by Disturbed
Who Taught You How To Hate by Disturbed
What Are You Waiting For by Disturbed
You're Mine by Disturbed
The Sound Of Silence by Disturbed / Simon & Garfunkel
Vilify by Device
Let The Sparks Fly by Thousand Foot Krutch
Push by Thousand Foot Krutch
Undisclosed Desires by Muse
Darker Side Of Me by Veer Union
Fallen Angel by Three Days Grace
Make It Stop by Rise Against
This Is Gonna Hurt by Sixx:A.M.
My Demons by Starset
All Or Nothing by Theory of a Deadman
Monster by Skillet
Official LoZ Soundtracks from Ocarina of Time, Link Between Worlds, and Wind Waker
Various LoZ Song Remixes by Rozen, Theopany, Materia Collective, and others
