Chapter 61: Elpis

Leynne, ever being the thinker of the crew, had left Link with some deep concerns. It made sense that the Dreamweaver would want to let them catch him since Link now has his device. And he was anticipating them. Not so much as looking anymore, unless the Dreamweaver could peer over its shoulder every now and then to look for their sails. Leynne decided to arm Brandon and Lwamm with the pair of rifles he always kept aboard. He gave Biluf the flare gun, for which she had modifications so that it would deliver an explosive (although she was under orders not to use it unless there was a clear sign that the ship was going down). Layna, being Layna, simply took a few moments to take stock of her weapons before she disappeared from sight. Line armed himself with Link's regular sword, which Leynne allowed on the belief that Line could easily be overlooked and just might have a chance of causing some damage. Link did not have much hope for a battle aboard the ship, but arming the crew with what little weapons they carried might give him just enough time to kill the Dreamweaver before the Island Symphony was destroyed.

It was still a matter of hours before the Island Symphony was close enough to the Dreamweaver. Link could feel the tension thicken with each second until a simple stride across the deck was a swim across an ocean. Around him were members of a crew that had just about seen enough. Ray, who nearly tumbled head-first over the side. Flower, maimed by a tree and confined to a chair lashed to the railing on the poop deck. Beech, amazingly, standing beside Nester in preparation to retrieve casualties despite nearly beating another crewman to death. Dubbl, her mind nearly broken by the stress of being pregnant in a nightmare. Dholit, her composure almost a façade of its former self. How many others of his crew were holding in their terrors? Would any of them manifest after all of this? Would any of this be dismissed as a bad dream? Link was certain he could not simply forget what had happened the past three weeks, having been torn and mangled by his dreams and quite nearly killed by his own weapon.

When Link last saw the Dreamweaver, it was a great, black bird floating in the air just ahead of their bowsprit. Their presence was undetected or otherwise went ignored hovering not far above the Dreamweaver's tail feathers. Twali remained on the beakhead with Brandon, ready to sound the alarm just in case the great bird had occasion to actually look over his shoulder.

Link and Irleen decided that the boat deck would be the best place to set up the dream. Some of Link's spare sheets were set on the floor of the deck as a simple bed so that Link was at least a little comfortable. Dholit, having spoken to Layna beforehand, stood nearby with a small vial of Layna's knockout drug, the kind she usually dipped her throwing needles in. Link could not take too much, or else he would be outright unconscious rather than asleep, so Layna provided just enough to ease Link to sleep. And Link had to make sure he slept; he was too aware of the tension his crew felt, and he was concerned that it might prevent him from falling asleep on his own. Hunter stood by the door, a sheathed rigging knife in his hands with the expectation of being Link's last line of defense.

Link carefully lay on the sheets, trying to keep the Sorian sword on his back in a position that he felt the least uncomfortable. His head bumped the handle as he rested. "Ugh," he uttered. Then he positioned the Dreamweaver's shield over his stomach with both hands grasping the straps. He heaved a sigh and told the deckhead, "This doesn't seem like a good idea anymore."

"You're not getting nervous, are you?" Irleen asked.

"I wish I was nervous," Link told her. He shifted so that the sword was under his bottom in a different position. "This is more like… pure terror."

Irleen heaved a sigh. "Our hero…"

"Captain," Hunter said from the door, "I have to admit… I don't think there's many captains in the fleet that would do something like this. Sure as hell couldn't find any airmen to do something like this."

"Getting too weird for you?" Irleen asked him.

"No, ma'am," Hunter replied with a small grin. "Just thinking I got a little more than we all bargained for. I think I'm ready to go home now."

"You would cehtainly have a story to tell," Dholit said as she stepped over to Link.

Hunter glanced out the door. "Captain, the lieutenant's signaling," he said with a grim look on his face.

Link took in a deep breath, now aware that the ship's prow was close enough to bump the Dreamweaver if they were not careful. "Okay, Dholit," he said as Dholit knelt next to him. "Put me to sleep."

Dholit put the vial to his lips and slowly tipped it into his mouth. "I cannot believe it took two yeahs foh you to tell me that," she commented.

The drug was horribly bitter, causing Link to put on a sour face once the few drops fell into his mouth. He clicked his tongue after swallowing before saying loud enough for Irleen and Hunter to hear, "Make sure she doesn't do anything to me while I'm out."

"The lieutenant already gave that order, Captain," Hunter immediately replied. Irleen snorted in response.

"What about when he wakes?" Dholit asked, aiming a smart smirk at Hunter.

Link opened his mouth to reply. However, the drug hit him harder than he had expected. The best he could hear was Irleen snapping at Dholit; he could not tell what was said.

In what he only felt was a moment, he woke up to a silent deck. He quickly sat up and glanced around. Irleen and Hunter stood where he had last seen them. Dholit had moved to Link's opposite side. He waved one hand in front of her face and was hardly surprised when she exhibited no response.

"Whoa." Link glanced toward the sound of Irleen's voice. Then he slowly rose to his feet. "So that's how it works," Irleen said as she watched Link.

"What?" Link asked.

"What?" Confused by the second voice, Link turned around to see that Dholit was looking up from the shadow of him still lying on the floor.

"I-I can see two Links," Irleen said.

"Two?" Dholit asked while Hunter turned a confused glance in their direction.

"Yeah," Irleen replied. She nodded at Link and said, "Well, say something."

Link shrugged and asked, "What do you want me to say?"

Irleen's expression turned flat. "You would answer like that," she told him.

"I don't undahstand," Dholit said. "How can you see him? You ah wide awake."

"Because that's how it works," Irleen said with a tone of spontaneous insight. "Of course. The Dreamweaver has to sleep all day because he's been awake every night controlling the dream. He has to be conscious; there's no other way to make the dream!"

Link sidestepped until his feet were not passing through his physical body. "And it would explain the miasma parts of his body," he added. "Janni once told me the miasma was like being under his eyes. He used the miasma to watch the entire island."

"Uh… not to interrupt your discovery, miss," Hunter spoke up, "but we're still waiting for something to happen."

"He's right," Link said as he pulled the Dreamweaver's shield onto his arm. "The Dreamweaver's still out there, and we've gotta stop him."

"Link, hang on," Irleen quickly told him. He paused, but Irleen took a moment to respond, her eyes focused on the bulkhead behind him. "There's something on the deck out there."

"On the deck?" Dholit asked.

"There's nothing out there," Hunter said. He shrugged and added, "Everything looks the same."

"I know," Irleen said. "It's weird, but I know someone else is on the deck. It must be in the dream."

"It must be Janni," Link told her. He glanced over his shoulder as if to ensure the bulkhead was still a solid object. "You can tell she's there?"

"Some weird kind of intuition," Irleen said. "I can't see for certain, but I think this device—" She flexed her arm to remind Link that she was still holding the Dreamweaver's device. "—is signaling that someone else is messing with the dream."

"Oh, boy…" Link sighed. "Irleen, wait by the door. I'm gonna see what it is."

"Hunter, stand back for a minute," Irleen said as she and Link approached the door.

"Uh, sure," Hunter replied as he took a hesitant step out of their way.

Link stepped outside ahead of Irleen. He was taken aback upon seeing Janni standing on the other side of the quarterdeck.

Mostly because she was holding the Sorian sword in one hand.

"Oh, crap," Link uttered as he reached his left hand over his shoulder to find the sword. His hand only gripped the empty air behind him.

"Liiiink?" Irleen asked, her own comprehension of immediate danger forming.

Janni stared at them, her eyes a venomous glare, her long hair loose and whipping in the wind.

Link stepped in front of Irleen with his free arm stretched out to hold her back. "Whatever you do, don't let her strike you with that sword," he told Irleen in a low voice.

"I know," Irleen replied, her tone irritated.

Janni turned. Then she ran forward with a shriek, sword raised over her head. "RAAAAAAAAA—"

Link raised the shield in front of himself. "JANNI, STOP!" he cried out just as she was within striking distance.

And just as abruptly as it had started, Janni's attack ended. Link felt every muscle in his body loosen once he realized that she had stopped just a breath short of striking the sword against the shield. That was when it occurred to Link that he had just used her to stop herself. She could not hit the shield; she would only harm herself. He looked down at her, finding only a shock of cropped, blue hair hiding her eyes from view. For a few moments, no one dared to speak.

Then Janni let the blade rest against the shield. "I wanna kill someone," she said in such a low voice that Link was not sure if he had heard her correctly.

Link took a moment to think of something. "Why?" he asked, at a loss for any other words to disarm the situation.

Janni heaved a sigh and let the sword slide off the edge of the shield. She let her arm go limp, and the sword clattered to the deck, startling Irleen. "I don't know anymore," she admitted. "I wanna kill you because you wouldn't let me keep you. I wanna kill myself… for thinking that you'd love me back."

"Janni…" Irleen spoke up.

Janni raised her face. Link was surprised once again by tears streaming down her eyes. "I know I'm not your fairy friend or your love-sick assassin," she told him. "I can't compare."

"Janni, I don't wanna compare," Link blurted out. "That's not my concern right now."

Janni lowered her head. "I know," she said. "You still need to kill my father."

"Your father?" Irleen asked as she leaned around Link. She was just hanging on the edge of Link's vision, so they exchanged a look. "Oh, don't tell me…"

"My father's the Dreamweaver," Janni said.

"Well," Irleen said. However, where there should have been more words, she found that she had quickly run out. Her bout of silence ended by telling Link, "You could've said something about this earlier."

"Janni," Link said. "We can't let him reach Hyrule. I won't ask you to watch; I'll leave the shield here if I have to."

Janni shook her head. "It won't matter, Link. I'll see it anyway. Whether you or he wins… I get to watch someone I love die today."

"Janni," Irleen said as she stepped around Link. "Is there any way to talk to your father?"

Janni looked up at her as she answered, "My father hasn't spoken to me since he put me in the shield. He's not interested in talking. All he can think about is getting to your kingdom and eating their dreams. He's… beyond talking. Beyond help." She turned to Link. "That's why I didn't want you to go. No matter what, one of you has to die."

Link heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry, Janni," he said. "This has to happen."

Janni stood staring at him with no response. Then she simply faded out of existence.

Irleen let out a breath and told Link as he retrieved the Sorian sword, "This just got even more difficult."

"I know," Link said. He slipped the sword back into its sheath. "Let's get this done before he catches us. We're already running out of time."

No further words were exchanged between them as they crossed the ship. Irleen's presence attracted confused looks. Leynne held them up only to get a curt "I'll explain later" from Irleen. Brandon and Twali waited on the beakhead, Brandon braced on the bulwark with the rifle aimed over the bow.

Below, the Dreamweaver's large bird form crawled with wisps and clouds of shadow. At this distance, Link thought they should have been able to at least see the separate feathers on the bird's back. However, the Dreamweaver looked more like a large hole in the air, a single, white dot of depth peeking through the writhing elements around him.

"I can see them both, and neither one looks very friendly," Irleen commented.

"Huh?" Brandon asked while Twali glanced up at her.

"Ignore me," Irleen told him. Then she asked, "You ready, Link? He modified the dream around him. I think he knows you're coming."

"I guess we'll see," Link replied.

"Just remember, Link," Irleen said as Link set one foot on the shroud in front of them. "I control the dream. He doesn't have any power."

"Nothing down there's real, anyway," Link said. Then he crooked a smile, a strange sensation considering the circumstances. "And I think I can handle it this time."

Link had never been so full of confidence. Perhaps it was that one comment from Irleen just before he jumped; it felt as if it had reminded him that, as powerful as the Dreamweaver had been, they were now meeting on nearly equal terms. Perhaps somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that what he was about to do could only ever be done in his dreams. He stepped to the far edge of the shroud near the midpoint where the stays were anchored to the bowsprit, one hand holding a forestay to keep him balanced. Then he jumped.

And he fell.

And fell.

And fell.

The sky around him was swallowed by darkness. Everything around him disappeared in black. Even glancing up, he could not see the Island Symphony beyond the shadows that had engulfed him. Nothing slowed him, but this hardly worried Link. He knew that he would simply settle onto his feet once he reached the bottom.

The rush of air calmed. Link moved as if he was sinking through water. His feet found a solid surface as naturally as standing from a chair. The air around him was a dull grey, allowing him to see the same patterns of darkness that had engulfed the Dreamweaver on the outside swirl around in silent agitation.

He took a step forward.

"Hhhh—YOU!" The air broke with a deep, hate-filled howl. The sound hit him with a force that rattled his body.

His spirit, however, did not feel a thing. "Yeah," he replied as he took another step forward. "Me."

"YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME?!"

A guttural growl rose from the darkness close to Link. Link's only response was just a slight turn of the head as his eyes found a source. With only seconds to react, he realized that a Wolfos, clad in black fur (or perhaps it was branches once again; the surroundings offered little clarity), leaped out of the darkness with the intent to lock its jaw around Link's head.

Just as lazily as he had looked for the source, Link had already raised his shield arm to intercept the attack. No solid blow to stop, no body to slam its weight against him. The Wolfos simply disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"I was thinking about it," Link replied as he began to stride forward.

"YOUR KINGDOM WILL BE MINE!"

Movement to his left this time. A Stalarmor, like the kind that he used to fight from Cunimincus' crew. Shiny metal body with an axe raised over its head, it stomped toward Link with the intent to bury the blade in his scalp. Again, Link's arm movement was slow and relaxed as he simply willed the Stalarmor out of existence, his fingertips banishing the attacker in a puff of smoke.

"The hell it will," Link said, his pace unbroken.

"I'VE SEEN YOUR NIGHTMARES! EVERYTHING FRIGHTENES YOU!"

This time, figures rose out of the darkness, images of his crew and others he knew. As he walked between them, they turned their backs to him.

His feet quickly halted upon finding Princess Zelda standing in front of him. He watched her face mold into a psychotic look as she raised a sword for a horizontal swing that would have taken off Link's head.

Link simply raised his empty hand and flicked her forehead, breaking her form into a puff of smoke. "Don't be mean," he said with a mocking tone. "I'm working on it."

"I WILL ENSURE THEY HANG YOU! I WILL MAKE MY NIGHTMARE COME TRUE! YOU WILL BE HUNG FOR LETTING ME REACH YOUR KINGDOM!"

"I guess I should stop you, then," Link replied, his tone hardly urgent as he started walking again. "Good thing you didn't let me see that nightmare; I might actually want to make this quick."

"I WILL DESTROY YOUR SHIP, THEN! I WILL SEND YOUR BODY PLUNGING TO THE SURFACE! THE SCREAMS OF YOUR CREW WILL HERALD YOUR ARRIVAL TO DEATH'S GATE!"

Something made a sound as it rushed up behind Link. Link did not even act like he needed to turn around. As suddenly as it had started, the noise was quickly choked off by Link's own thoughts willing the apparition gone.

"You sure talk a lot," Link commented. "But I don't think you're gonna touch my crew."

"YOU FEAR LOSING YOUR CREW! YOU FEAR LOSING YOUR SHIP! YOU FEAR LOSING ALL YOU KNOW!"

A large, walking beast barreled out of the darkness at Link. Link simply glanced in its direction this time, not even bothering to raise a hand to send the creature back into the shadows.

"Sure, I'm afraid," Link admitted. "I've been afraid of it all happening again. But you know something? As much as you threaten me, I'm not really afraid of you."

"I AM THE EMBODIMENT OF FEAR! I CRAM FEAR DOWN YOUR THROAT AND SUFFOCATE YOU IN THE NIGHT WITH IT!"

"That's about the only time I can be afraid of you. I sleep, you pop up. I wake up… you shut up."

"I FEASTED ON YOUR CREW! THEY FEAR ME! I WILL MAKE THEM KILL YOU!"

Link stopped in his tracks as something occurred to him. "You sure are talking a lot," he observed. "'Fear' this, 'kill' that. I hear a lot of words, but you haven't touched me yet."

"SO WHAT?!"

"So what?" Link repeated. "So, what's with all the shouting? Just kill me like you've done before."

"YOUR PAIN IS LIKE CANDY TO ME! IT IS ONLY WORTH SO MUCH!"

"Really?" Link asked with doubt in his voice. "That sounded like an excuse."

"I DON'T NEED EXCUSES!"

Link smirked. "I think you're afraid."

"I HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR!"

"I think you do. I have your dream-making device. I have technoworks. I have this sword. You could kill me again and again, day after day, I'll still come back."

"THE EFFORT ALONE WILL KILL YOU! YOUR HEAD IS THE ONLY THING I NEED TO CRUSH! YOUR BRAIN WILL BLEED UNTIL YOU'RE A CRIPPLE!"

"And then my crew will take over. Irleen can figure out how to bring them into the dream, just as you used to pull other Sorians into these dreams. One of them will eventually get you." He shrugged and added, "Even if they don't, how long can you keep it up?"

"I HAVE BEEN ALIVE FOR MUCH LONGER THAN THAT! I WILL SURVIVE!"

"And what are you gonna eat? You still have to eat before…" Link paused as he realized something. "Before you reach the closest island… Well, crap. You're gonna feed on us."

"YOU CAN'T KEEP YOUR CREW AWAKE FOREVER!"

"So we just have to kill you. Or we'll turn back. Your reach can only go so far. But I can't risk hoping you'll starve to death before you make it. It's gonna have to end here."

"HOW DO YOU INTEND TO DO THAT?! YOU STILL HAVEN'T FOUND MY BODY!"

"This isn't your dream anymore. You wanna hide in all the smoke and shadows? That's fine. Janni made sure I know all about you."

There was a pause after Link stopped talking. "JANNI?"

The response was different. It was not as menacing as the voice allowed. It almost seemed as if the Dreamweaver had realized something. Link decided to push it and said, "Yeah. Your daughter, remember?"

"I REMEMBER!" the Dreamweaver snapped.

And then another pause. Intuition told Link that something was different. Not necessarily wrong, but the mention of the Dreamweaver's daughter seemed to have changed his tone. Link let a flash of regret show in his expression as he said, "That's probably the saddest thing about all this. I have to kill Janni's dad."

"THEN YOU FEAR ME AFTER ALL!" the Dreamweaver declared.

"Aren't you afraid?" Link asked, a touch of annoyance in his voice. "You've left her alone this whole time. And if—… And when I kill you, she'll be completely alone, stuck in this shield." For emphasis, Link tapped his free hand against the edge of the shield.

"I FEAR NOTHING!"

"Well, then, I'll make you afraid!" Link snapped.

"YOU!?"

"Yes, me, asshole! You wanna act like Janni doesn't matter to you anymore? Then I'll make you afraid of leaving her alone! I'll make you regret putting her in this shield! I can't even imagine what you were thinking when you did this to her! What did she do to deserve this!?"

"YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND!"

"You've condemned her! Only alive in dreams that can't last much longer! You don't have control anymore! You drive her insane, and she's gonna have to stay locked away in this shield forever!"

"STOP TALKING!" For emphasis, four Wolfos suddenly lunged out of the darkness around Link. This caused Link to jump, having forgotten what he was doing in his mounting frustration with the Dreamweaver. He swung the shield and clipped two in the head, knocking them to the ground. The remaining two clamped onto his limbs, one on his left forearm and one on his right leg.

The quick snap of pain reminded Link of his situation. He stopped struggling against the creatures holding him and simply willed them away, casting them back into the shadows.

This brought back Link's confidence, causing his lips to curl into a smirk once again. "You are afraid," he said.

"YOU HAVE NO HOPE!"

"Hope?" Link asked. "Is that what you're afraid of?"

"I FEAR NOTHING!"

"You fear leaving Janni alone. You fear dying here in the Sky Lines; that's why you tricked us into following you. You fear hope. And if you don't, I'll make you fear it. Every word I say, every step I take, you will fear it. Every dream will be your nightmare. I stand here every time, knock away everything you throw at me. And if I die, my crew will take over. They know the stakes. My last order will be to kill the Dreamweaver. No matter what it takes. So, no. My crew isn't gonna hang for bringing you to the kingdom. They're gonna die stopping you. I have hope for my crew. And I'm gonna make that hope twist in your stomach until you can't stand it. How long can you last on your own insanity? How long can you take us all?" Link paused to hear for a response. When he received none, he continued, "You have to go at our pace. Two months in a Sky Line. How does two months of dealing with us sound? Every day, having one of us rattle around in your dreams until they get that one, deadly stroke. Fear my hope, you shit-eating ghoul! My hope's gonna fight you all the way!"

"Good."

Link's train of thought derailed. He was expecting to shout more at the Dreamweaver. But when that answer echoed through the darkness in a calm voice, Link had to stop and process the word.

The darkness began to lift. Link's eyes stung at the sight of light once again. The surface he had been walking on revealed to be like glass, showing him a clear view of the clouds and ocean beneath his feet. A look up showed him an almost opaque ceiling of white, the shadow of the Island Symphony hovering much closer than he had expected. The horizon was mostly obscure in pale mist, the glint of Sky Line shining through on occasion.

And directly in front of him, a skeleton of a man. Link jerked backwards at the sight of a Sorian man sitting on the floor in front of him, bony legs crossed with his hands resting on his lap. He wore only a pair of torn trousers, his sunken stomach and rib cage bare for Link to see. His head was bald, eyes receded into his skull. His flesh was a sickly brown color and mottled with lighter spots all over. About the only evidence that this man was a Sorian was the extra blade of flesh and bone protruding from his forearms, which would normally be covered in feathers.

He looked up at Link, showing eyes of pale amber through clouds and blood vessels. "Then… help me… Link," he said in a voice torn by age.

Link was taken aback. "Wha-what?" he asked.

"I… need your help, Link," the Dreamweaver replied. "To die."

Link had no words for a moment, his mind rattled by what was happening. Finally, he had to ask, "Is this… Are you—Are you serious?"

"Yes, Link, I am," the Dreamweaver said with the smallest of nods. "In spite of what you are thinking… what you see before you is about as real as this dream can be. In all sincerity… with all the hope I fear… I am asking you to end my life."

Link took a step back. "No… no, this can't be right," he said. "You can't be giving up thi—"

A hand caught his shoulder as he made to turn away. "Link."

Link stopped and glanced down to find Janni holding him, a grim look on her face. Her expression was a blank frown.

"Put on your goggles."

Link almost wanted to ask if she was serious. However, he simply reached into his pocket and produced the goggles. He slowly slipped them over his head as he focused his gaze on the Dreamweaver.

What he saw was worse than the Dreamweaver. He saw a body with flesh rotten down to the bone. His left arm was missing below the elbow, only one bone protruding from the hunk of decayed muscle. His stomach was so tight that Link could see the outlines of his intestines. The flesh on his face had peeled away from the right side of his skull, showing an empty eye socket. His left eye had not fared better, a lump of pure black just barely hanging on by shriveled eyelids. His lips had receded, showing that most of his teeth had fallen out and that his tongue was gone.

Link immediately ripped the goggles off and dropped them to the ground. The Dreamweaver nodded and said, "Yes, Link. That… is what is left of me. After so long."

"I-I still don't get it," Link told Janni.

"I… cannot exist anymore," the Dreamweaver said. "I must die. And… I wish to die."

"Dad," Janni said as she turned to the Dreamweaver. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"I cannot cast off the hunger," the Dreamweaver said. "The impulses to live are… too much… too strong. Even if I could cast off what I have become… I would not live but more than a breath. You have seen me, Link… the true me. A being of rotten flesh… and mangled body."

"I saw," Link replied, his gorge rising at the memory.

"I am bound to death," the Dreamweaver continued. "My only chance for life… has destroyed so much. And it can only destroy more. I… I cannot continue. This is my last fight. If not now, there will be no end to the hunger."

Link heard Janni make a sound and glanced at her only to see her spinning away from him. "I don't get it," Link then told the Dreamweaver. "Are you… are you saying that you've wanted to die this whole time?"

"No," the Dreamweaver said. "I have wanted to die… since I started killing. The Mystics were right to stop me. If they had had just a little more time… they might have succeeded… and saved Obeeta. I gave into the hunger too easily. I… killed them… one by one."

Link nodded and said, "We found the record."

"The hunger twisted my mind before I knew it. The natural beauty of my home… now lies entombed beneath massive slabs of rock. My dwelling dead… our effects demolished under that miserable tower of stone… I only wished to bring good dreams to my people… but I took them… and left them with nightmares day and night. I have no desire to live with those memories.

"When your ship arrived… I thought that you would be nothing more than a new batch of victims. But, I saw… in your mind, and the minds of your crew… memories of incredible feats… victories over the most horrific of creatures… the souls of warriors and heroes waiting to be unleashed once again. Link… you had to be the first to see. I was not sure you would survive. But then you showed me your resolve. So, I made every turn, every corner… a challenge… to bring about your spirit of loyalty… and your willingness to go into the darkest of worlds to save your crew. I will not say that your crew was not in danger… but, if it had been anyone else… I would have killed half of them simply by feeding. I only regret… that your crew will never be the same."

"Dad," Janni spoke up, turning back to him. "Why didn't you tell me about any of this? Why keep silent until now?"

"I wanted… to protect you," the Dreamweaver told her. "If, by my hand, I had lost you… I would have surely let myself be consumed by madness. Knowing that you were safe… allowed me to hold on to what little of my mind I could. I had hoped to release you as soon as the hunger was gone… But I was wrong. It grew and learned to control me. It used my knowledge of the people to torment them. I always remembered you… and hated myself that we were both trapped in our separate hells."

"We still have the dream, Dad," Janni said. "Couldn't we keep you here?"

"You… cannot."

"It isn't impossible," Janni told him, her voice rising in desperation. "We still have the library. Surely, th—"

"I cannot, my daughter."

"The library has to have the answer!" Janni declared. "We just need some time!" She turned to Link and tapped his arm. "The fairy! Just like Irleen! If we could turn him into a fairy, we co—"

KAK! "Yikes!" Link hollered as he felt something snap against his right forearm. He quickly raised it and shook the Dreamweaver's shield off. Both pieces of the shield clattered to the ground in response.

The sight of the shield, broken in half straight down the middle, left Link stunned for a moment. He looked up to see if Janni was all right. However, the space she had been standing in was empty.

"Wait," Link said as panic swelled inside him, one finger pointing to where Janni had stood. "Where-where is she?!"

"Link…" the Dreamweaver breathed. "Janni will be fine. Knowing that you and she have a bond… though it may not be what she wants… leaves my mind at ease. She is with your crew now… no longer imprisoned in the shield."

"But… why?" Link asked. "She might've had a way to save you."

"I… do not want to be saved. Should I pass from this body into another… must I still live with the memories of all whom I have destroyed? All… whom I have killed? Janni can live without a father… but I… I cannot live with the horror I have wrought. I wish for my time to end. Please, Link… take out your sword."

Link slowly placed his hand on the Sorian sword and removed it from its sheath, the scratch of the blade piercing in the silence. "I… I really wish I didn't have to do this," Link confessed.

"I know," the Dreamweaver told him. "But there is no other way. Please prepare yourself."

The Dreamweaver bowed his head. Link felt uneasy looking at his face, so vulnerable and harmless, so he stepped to the Dreamweaver's right side. His heart pounded in his ears as he raised the sword. His arms froze in place, and, for a moment, he was not sure he would be able to do this.

"I only have… one final request," the Dreamweaver said.

"Y-yeah?" Link asked, his voice cracking.

"Please… take care of my daughter."

Link wanted to cry. He wanted to throw the sword away and scream in anguish. He wanted to punch the ground until his fists were broken. Anything would be better than standing at the ready to murder the poor man seated before him. Who was the monster supposed to be? Link's murderous intent was completely gone. This was not his way. What the hell was he doing?

He swallowed back the words he wanted to shout. "Okay," was all he could manage without collapsing into a helpless, crying heap.

"Then, please… free me."

Link's arms tensed and relaxed as he struggled to make a decision. Did he swing the sword and end an old man's life, leaving his daughter to grieve for him? Did he spare the old man and condemn the sky and surface kingdoms of Hyrule to destruction? The right choice was simple to make, but Link was losing the will to execute. Cunimincus and his crew had given him reason to kill. The Dreamweaver… nothing Link had ever faced was real, save for the Dreamweaver himself. How could he bring himself to kill someone who did nothing but cause simple misery? Can Link really be so callous?

"DAAAAH!" Link suddenly screamed. In that one instant, all doubt fled in fear. He had clarity to what he had to do. With renewed determination, he swung the sword.

The sound of metal splitting flesh was little more than a soft ring in the silence. The Dreamweaver fell forward in the direction of Link's swing. His body hit the ground with a solid thnk, and his head released from his neck with hardly a sound. Link stood above the body, his mind absorbing the sight with a fresh wave of horror. He let the sword clatter to the ground beside him. His feet carried him backwards without him even realizing it as his head swam through a fog.

The Dreamweaver's body faded into the rotted pile of flesh and bone from before. Link only had a moment to acknowledge the corpse before the ground beneath him fell away. He felt miserable, only tangentially acknowledging the fact that he was once again tumbling for the ground. The sensation was so familiar that he found he did not care. Instead, he questioned how legitimate he felt having murdered an old, destroyed man. Things seemed easier when the Dreamweaver was a threat. If he had wanted to die so badly, why had he decided to drop the veil of evil at the last stroke? Link would have had no qualms about cutting him down to save others or protect himself. Now, the Dreamweaver's suicide dirtied Link. How could he possibly feel that he had stopped a monster by beheading an old man? Let alone the father of someone who has been so valuable to him as a companion…

What was Janni supposed to think about him now? Would she understand Link's decision? Or would she lament every moment she saw the face of the young man who had killed her father? It only seemed to corrupt Link's conscience further. He felt that, if she attempted to kill him again, he would not bother stopping her.

Or maybe he would be better off letting the dream finish him. Why waste a perfectly good fall? He would be passing through the clouds soon. After that… he looked "up" at the ocean hurtling toward him. He wondered if—…

He immediately stopped thinking. He stopped pretending it was the end of the world. The Dreamweaver's desires were his own; it could have been anyone on his crew to land the final blow. Link may have been unfortunate enough to have the decision dropped into his lap, but the Dreamweaver himself had explained that he had to die if the kingdom was to be protected. And if Janni so quickly wanted to punish him for what he did, he would handle it as best as he could, however he needed. Link was not just some boy off the streets. He was the captain of an airship. He had a handful whose lives were in his hands under his orders, and he had others he had to answer to. Responsibility was the name of the game, and Link refused to be anything but responsible. Kill himself? Because he could not bear that responsibility? Why was he a captain to begin with?

"No!" he shouted to all three Goddesses. Then he realized that he had said it aloud. He felt a little stupid. And a little glad that he was the only one in the dream. He closed his eyes and willed himself awake.

The rush of the air disappeared. Something pressed on his back. He opened his eyes to half a deckhead with part of the Conductor just on the edge of his vision.

He moved to sit up, and the Dreamweaver's shield slid off. The clatter alerted him to something different about the room. At his feet, Hunter hovered with the rigging knife poised to strike. His eyes were focused on something next to Link.

"Link?" The sound of Dholit's voice drew attention to the space where Hunter was looking. Directly next to him, pushed against his left leg, was a pile of chocolate skin and black feathers. Well, perhaps not stark black as his initial assessment indicated. As the pile moved and moaned, light reflected a lighter shade of blue. It rose, revealing some of the plumage to be bright red at the tips, especially on the arms. It pushed itself up, and Link immediately felt heat rise to his face as he identified the naked Sorian as a girl.

"Who is this?" Dholit asked, standing to the girl's side with a dagger hidden behind one hip.

Link pulled his eyes up away from her body to look at her face. She had turned in response to Dholit, so, when Dholit had addressed Link, she jerked her head to look at him. He did not recognize her face right away. She had a small nose and a mouth drooping open in fright. She had smooth, young skin, and Link ventured a guess that she could not be far from his own age.

And then there were her eyes. Her eyes, he recognized right away. The same amber intensity as her father, even as she stared at him scared out of her mind. How had he not made the connection before?

"Janni," he uttered.

She stared at him for the longest moment, so focused that she forgot Hunter and Dholit standing nearby.

Then her eyes welled with tears. Before Link knew it, Janni had collapsed onto his legs. He could only awkwardly place a hand on her head as her bawling and screaming was muffled by his lap.

End of main chapters.