Note: A couple of people have brought up the Endless Night. In-game, I know that it's tied to what happens with Greatfish Isle, Jabun, and Link's search for Nayru's Pearl. There are several reasons it won't happen that way in this story, but rest assured, I do have plans for later!
Chapter 12: The Bargain
"Is it hard staying present today?"
Link kept his attention directed to the shack's wooden floor; he focused on the scuff marks from his wheelchair. His caretaker's kind, wrinkled face watched, as if daring him to look up.
"You've been much quieter lately," Neq pressed.
Link didn't know if he could confront Neq. It'd been four days since his secret conversation on the beach, and each healing session, he tried summoning the courage to bring it up. But everything that boat said was crazy, Link knew. What if I make an idiot out of myself? What if I lose my best chance at getting better?
"Link?" Neq asked.
Just do it, Link told himself. Do it now. You don't have to accuse him of anything. He finally looked up to meet Neq's eyes. "Where are you from?" He watched the stun on his caretaker's face - which was short-lived. That calm, plaintive demeanor quickly returned.
"Where am I from?" Neq repeated. "What does that have to do with your recovery?"
"Everything," Link said. "If we're going to keep doing this, I want to learn more about you." There was some truth to that, even if Link left out the King of Red Lions' warning.
Neq considered. "You don't trust me?"
"No, I do. I just… I want to know you better. Before I open up about other things."
"And you want to start by knowing where I'm from?"
"Yes."
Neq hesitated. "A small, forgotten village. My parents died when I was young. I had to leave as a child to find my own path."
"What island was your village on?"
"It wasn't on an island."
A small jolt of panic flowered in Link's chest. "So you came from outside the Great Sea? Past the storms?"
"Does that trouble you?"
"No. I've just never met anyone from outside the Great Sea."
Neq smiled softly. "I've been many places that are suspicious of outsiders. When all you know is your own land, it's hard to imagine someone from beyond your borders."
Link took that in before saying more. Is that it? he wondered. Am I just being paranoid?
"You still seem troubled, Link," Neq said. "Do you wish to know more?"
Maybe I should just tell him, Link thought. Neq was being honest and friendly so far. Their whole months-long dynamic, really, had been nothing but positive. If Link truly meant what he said to that boat, then he trusted Neq. So he should trust him with the truth.
"Someone tried to warn me about you," Link said. "They kept calling you a creature and said that Neq was just a disguise. They said… that you were a murderer."
Neq's expression darkened, but he never looked away. "Yes. I suppose all of that is true."
Link gripped the arms of his wheelchair, unsure how to take that confession. Is he serious? Link wasn't sure if he was in danger right now. It didn't feel like it.
"I promise you," Neq began, "that I am here for your interests alone, Link. I want to heal you. I want to heal the others here. I did not seek you out. You came to me. We can talk about me if you want to, but we shouldn't shift the focus away from you. Your healing – your well-being – should be our top priority."
Link scooted back in his chair, bumping into the bed. "You killed the Hero," he realized aloud. You don't feel it when you're near him? the Kind of Red Lions had said. He is the reason your past life died.
He saw sadness in Neq's eyes before he continued. "There is nothing I regret more in all my life."
"So you're healing me to make up for killing my past life?" Link asked, raising his voice. "Who are you?"
Neq rose from his chair, and Link shrank away in his. "Very well. If you want the truth, then I will give it to you. I am a vestige from the old kingdom. I tried and failed to save Hyrule from a great flood, and that journey corrupted me. It killed me. It killed the Hero of Time. It killed many others. All deaths were my fault. Eventually, the enemy I sought to control returned me from the dead, leaving me a ghost of my former self."
Neq uncertainly reached for his face, placing his fingers at his cheeks. "This is not my true form. My true body is nothing more than animated bones, incapable of speech, and now blind and deaf, too. I met Neq beyond the Great Sea. He was an old man in agony who wished for nothing but a peaceful end. I… eventually gave him what he asked for."
Suddenly, the kind, old man with a penchant for healing was gone. A skeleton replaced him. Green-tinted bone shot through empty eye sockets, paired with faint, brown-red clumps of decayed flesh. A tattered, black robe covered everything except for his skull, which looked at Link with a blankness that only death could wield. In its skeletal hands, Neq's face was now a flat, wooden disc: a mask. The kind man who'd spoken to him for hours on end was nothing but a piece of art.
Link lost his breath. His knuckles turned white clinging to the wheelchair. This isn't possible, he thought. This can't be real. The skeleton defied all holy and natural laws by moving, once again putting the mask over its face. In a blink, the undead entity had been replaced by a thin – but very much alive – old man. "I'm sorry Link," Neq said, clearly reading his fear. "I'd planned to tell you the truth once you'd healed. But as you just made clear, the truth can be an important first step. I know this is a lot to take in."
"Get out," Link said.
"What?" He sounded hurt.
"I don't know what you are!" Link exclaimed. "And I don't want to know!"
Neq didn't seem sure what to say. "I promise, I mean you no ill will."
"You've been lying to me this entire time," Link said. "I don't believe that you want to help me." Though even as he said it, he wondered if that was true. Did Neq ever lie to me? Or was his only lie by omission?
"You know where to find me." Neq left before he could say more, closing the shack's door behind him.
Link remained in his chair, wide-eyed and fueled by adrenaline. The image of that horrifying, animated corpse prevented him from steadying his breath. There is a dangerous creature on this island that cannot be trusted, the King of Red Lions had said. Whatever human disguise he uses to greet you is a deception, and he will use you until you've served your purpose. Then he will toss you aside like he has all the others. Neq had just confessed to all of that. The boat was right. Can someone so evil ever really change?
Then again, Link didn't know much about this horrible past. It was all buried beneath the Great Sea with that old kingdom. Hyrule, Neq and the King of Red Lions had called it. Neq had also come clean, admitted to everything, given him space, and never hurt him. But what if that's all part of the game? What if those skeletal fingers kill me in my sleep? Though Neq would've killed him weeks ago if that were the case.
Link turned to his body once more. His hands still shook. His heart still raced. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down. I'm not in danger, he decided. That's what matters right now. He wheeled himself over to the dresser, where he opened a drawer and pulled out the conductor's baton. He still wasn't sure how to use it or what exactly it meant.
But clearly the King of Red Lions wasn't a liar, and Neq didn't appear to be one, either. Except Neq is the name of his disguise, Link corrected. I wonder what his real name is? He wasn't sure how a skeleton so ancient and decrepit could even have a name.
Link kept the baton at his side that night. The power of the gods, he wondered. In my hands. The promise of a hero – everything Grandma had ever wanted him to be.
From Outset Island's western peak, you could see the entire world.
Link loved climbing so high. So did Aryll and Grandma. His sister was fast for such a little girl, running to climb the stone bluff at its center. From there, the rickety bridge to the eastern, wooded peak could be seen swaying in the wind. The houses far below were tiny shacks built for ants. The ocean was their domain, expanding in all directions and only blemished by the occasional island's shadow.
Link closed his eyes, feet dangling off the bluff while his sister stood beside him. She kept her telescope up against her face, pretending to look at something far off. Their Grandma sat in the grass just below them, wrapping her slightly graying hair behind her head. "Aryll dear, be careful!" Grandma warned.
"The ledge is over there," Link said. His sandals touched the grass surrounding the bluff; the sheer edge down to the rest of the island was much further off. "She won't get hurt if she falls."
"Even a small fall can hurt if you're not careful," Grandma said.
Link rolled his eyes, but his back was to her. So she couldn't tell.
"I'm the greatest adventure!" Aryll proclaimed, scanning the Great Sea for some imaginary thing.
"Adventure-er," Link answered. "You can't be a whole adventure. You're a person."
"Wrong!" Aryll stated, removing the telescope from her eye to point it at her brother. "I have Mom's telescope. And she was a great adventure, too!" She spun to Grandma. "Did Mom like adventures?"
"She did," Grandma said. "Very much."
"Where is she again?"
Grandma sighed. "She's gone, Aryll. Like I told you. She and your father fell because they weren't careful. That's why I need you to be careful, even when you're on a small ledge like that."
Link's face flushed bright red. She's lying, he thought. Again. He never knew what to do when Grandma did that to Aryll. His sister believed Mom died with Dad in Windfall, but that wasn't true. Mom left when Aryll was a baby. Without saying goodbye. Why do we have to pretend she's dead? They'd never talked about it. Grandma had just made up this story on her own; Link wasn't sure when.
But it was too late to say anything about it now. I just wish she'd stop, Link thought. What are we going to do when Mom comes back? And Aryll finds out we've been lying?
"I'll be careful, Grandma," Aryll acquiesced, looking down at the bluff to sit down carefully. She seemed sadder now.
Link refused to look up or turn around to face either of them.
"Why don't you come down here with me?" Grandma asked. "We can play a game."
Aryll gasped. The excitement spread back through her so quickly. "What game?" She scampered off behind him, bouncing out of sight.
"Link?" Grandma asked. "Do you want to play with us?"
It made him mad that she could pretend so easily. I don't want to play, Link thought. But he stood up anyways. He didn't want to make his Grandma sad.
Thud.
The arrow landed in the center of the dummy's face. Link sat in his chair across a stretch of land, already nocking another arrow. Thud. The dummy beside it became his next victim. He took a deep breath, lowering his bow as he pushed himself forward. While moving, Link prepared aother, hardly losing any accuracy as it pierced the third's cheek. He stopped at the edge of the wooden platform, turning back for more. Soon, each face was littered with five arrows, and then Link was wheeling across the grass to retrieve his ammunition.
He hadn't had a healing session in two days, and sitting in that house by himself was not possible. Too much time to think, he thought. But the more Neq respected his space, the more Link wanted to venture across the island to talk to him again. Either Neq was a master manipulator, or things truly were on Link's terms. Why does any part of me still want to trust what that boat said? Link thought. Possibly because it'd been right. Neq did have a secret, ambiguously evil identity. And an undead, rotted face was harder to trust than a perfectly sculpted boat.
Once Link had the arrows returned to the quiver around his chair, he wheeled back to the platform. Dusk had finally faded into night. The wind blew harder than usual, tousling Link's hair as he looked out at the dummies again. Clouds gathered on the horizon, which made him worry that a bad storm was coming. He readied another arrow, regardless, because bed wouldn't provide him any solace until he...
A familiar, great screech echoed above him.
Suddenly, the wind chilled him to the bone. Link lowered his bow and spun around. It was hard to tell in the early night, but a mass grew larger against the dark clouds. Above the wind's whistling, he heard a rhythmic, powerful booming: the wings of a massive beast. The boat's final warning returned to him: I fear that Jabun will soon draw Ganon to this island. You cannot be here when that happens.
Unexpectedly, the first thought that occurred to Link was to grab his baton. He put the bow around the back of his chair and sped toward his hut. It was difficult navigating the pathways so quickly in the dark, but he didn't waste time. The bird was too far away to fire any arrows at, but the distant shape wouldn't be harmless for long.
Aryll rose skyward, talons under her arms. Her hand was still outstretched to grab Link's. "Aryll!"
Link shook the flashback away. That's the bird that took Aryll, he knew. It's back. This was his chance. He would face that beast and its master. He would get answers. Aryll would not be their prisoner for much longer.
He swung open the door, skidding across the floor and crashing into his dresser. He didn't waste time, fumbling for the baton in his lap and then speeding back outside. The wind had picked up even more, and somehow, the starlight was fading, too. His hut's door blew shut behind him, and Link had to hold the wheels of his chair to prevent it from being blown away, too. He pushed against the current, neck craned back to see that the beast now circled Greatfish Isle, cawing and shrieking to herald the arrival of its master.
"Link!"
His head turned to find a familiar, kind face. Neq's calm façade, however, had devolved into blind panic. His eyes were wide as he rounded Link's house, sparse hair wild in the wind. He wore a plain tunic, clearly prepared for sleep that had been interrupted.
"We have to go!" Neq continued, shouting over the wind. "We can't stay here."
"That bird took my sister," Link shouted back. "I can't run away. Not when I can face Ganon."
Neq balked, as if surprised by Link's knowledge of the evil man. He'd forgotten to share that part of the King of Red Lion's sales pitch; other things had taken precedent. "You cannot face Ganon and survive. Not without help."
"I'm never getting my legs back," Link said. "If I don't face him now, I never will."
The bird continued circling the skies above them, drawing closer as the darkness suffocated the island more and more.
"This isn't about your legs," Neq said. "You are still a hero without them, Link. But your past life had more power at his disposal. Ganon did not fall to the Hero of Time without the aid of others, without the aid of powerful artifacts."
Link rose his baton, brandishing it alongside his bow and arrow. "This is a weapon from the Gods. I'm not helpless." He had to find his sister. It didn't matter that he hadn't healed, or that this destiny still felt foreign, unwelcome, and heavy. Because he'd failed last time, and Aryll had suffered because of it. I won't fail again.
"You underestimate his power!" Neq shouted. "Please, Link. I want to help you. If you stay here, I fear there's nothing more I can do to protect you. The world still needs you, but not until you're ready."
"You murdered my past life," Link said. "You lied to me about who you really are. I'm not fleeing with someone I don't trust when the person who kidnapped my sister is right here."
Neq scoffed, as if dumbfounded by his stubbornness.
Link's anger – which often was directed at himself, or Grandma, or Mom – was now a weapon. And it was directed at the bird in the sky.
Link turned away from Neq, pushing himself back in his chair as he aimed his bow. He let loose arrow after arrow at the great shadow now hardly a hundred feet away. A faint tornado stirred beneath it, lifting dirt and sand skyward. The screams of the other villagers were loud as people fled for homes or boats. Link's arrows were absorbed by the darkness; it was impossible to tell if they landed on anything.
And then another impressive shape fell from the bird. The dark mass glided, as if guided by magic as it descended toward Greatfish Isle. The powerful man's features became visible as he closed the last of the space between them: dark skin, frayed orange hair, tall and muscular. Link immediately unleashed arrows upon him.
Ganon rose a gloved hand. The arrows turned to ash before they ever reached him. The bird continued circling above them, shrieking as its storm filled the sky with a malevolent threat.
The sorcerer's feet touched the ground gently. Link felt Neq tense behind him; the mysterious healer hadn't left yet. Ganon wore a seamless, black outfit built for flight, sleek and warm. A massive greatsword – almost as tall and wide as the man himself – was strapped to his back. Its end fanned out, wide and sharp as a scythe, though far thicker. Ganon was hardly ten steps away from them.
Link rose his baton next, aiming its point at the evil man. Help me, Link prayed to the Gods. Protect me. I am your chosen hero.
But the Gods did not answer him. The piece of wood did absolutely nothing, trembling terribly in a hand that shook with so much fear.
Though Ganon's eyes widened at its appearance. "Now where did you get that?" His voice was deep and commanding, despite his shocked question.
Link returned to his bow with lightning-fast reflexes. An arrow shot outward before any of them could blink. Ganon grunted when a sharp point lodged itself at the top of his chest, kneeling over in pain. Link thought he'd won for a moment, but instead, the sorcerer raised an open hand in his direction. Link immediately rose from his chair, arms stretched out against his will and head thrown backward. The bow and baton fell from his hands, and his chair blew away in the wind. He levitated just off the ground, hardly able to move within the sorcerer's spell.
He pulled his head forward enough to watch as Ganon removed the arrow from his chest, appearing uninjured. The wind was bitter on Link's body since his limbs were now splayed outward against his control. He shivered, half-struggling to resist the magic and half-trembling from fear and cold. Ganon took several steps closer to him, appearing more angry than shocked. He kept his hand outstretched to hold Link in place, palm facing the boy under his control.
"Ganon!"
The sorcerer turned away from Link, though he kept his hand extended. Neq had spoken, but Link had no way to turn around and face him. The healer was barely in his peripheral. "Stop," Neq continued, pleading with the storm, the bird, and the sorcerer. "We don't have to be enemies."
Ganon's hard, unyielding eyes remained on Neq. "Then leave. I have no need of you."
"I can't let you hurt him. Or Jabun."
"Then you are my enemy."
"The revenge you seek is not possible," Neq pleaded one final time. "Please, Ganon. You will only hurt everyone between you and them. The path you are taking is one that I wish I never had."
Ganon's face twisted into a horrible snarl. "Your path is nothing. A hollow, meaningless detour as empty as your platitudes." He rose his other hand in Neq's direction, and Link could feel the same iron grip reaching for the healer.
Neq rolled out of its path into Link's direct line of sight. Except, Neq was no longer a gentle, aged healer. He was now… a slender, green-blue man with fins – a fish-man of some sort. A long, funnel-shaped head descended halfway down his back. As Neq returned to his feet, he bared his forearms. Two sharp fins shot from them, arcing through the air like boomerangs.
Link fell immediately when Ganon's concentration broke. He saw Ganon reach for his sword. But Link didn't see what happened next after he face-planted into the dirt. Deep, bone-rattling shivers cut through his body the moment the spell left. Link tried to turn onto his stomach to crawl away, but his body was so weak and shocked.
He heard a wail in the distance – a foreign voice that was higher-pitched than Neq's. The loud scream faded, as if thrust far away. Then that iron grip returned, suspending Link into the air, spreading out his arms, and thrusting back his head again. It stifled his chills, but the cold still gnawed at him, ripping through his skin at the behest of the bird's great wings.
He was face to face with Ganon. Link tried to find Neq in his peripheral, but the healer was gone.
Ganon pulled Link closer, who glided helplessly until their noses were a few feet apart. "You look the same," Ganon said, though his eyes flickered to his non-existent legs. "But I wouldn't have noticed you without the baton. This new life has not been kind to you."
Link struggled to speak. The magic's power overwhelmed him. Yet, he squeezed out his demand, all the same. "Where's my sister?"
Ganon smiled. "You attack me with a few pieces of wood. And even after you've lost, you still make demands? This is not courage, Hero. This is reckless."
Link could muster nothing else. He watched with eyes that watered and a body that possessed no more strength.
"Over 100 years ago, atop that castle, you said that you wished you could understand me. As if I was some monster beyond comprehension. Do you remember that, Boy?"
Link did not, but he didn't care. His anger had a singular, unshakable focus.
"I wish to grant you that wish," Ganon continued, "to see if all you've ever been is an obedient, vicious lapdog to the Gods." He turned away from Link and readied his massive sword.
Link flinched, closing his eyes. This is it.
But the blow never came. Instead, Ganon plunged the greatsword deep into the ground. Lines in the weapon's surface glowed purple, snaking through its glossy blade as if drinking Ganon's dark power. Those cracks spread from the weapon into the island itself, creating deep fissures that must have run all the way to Greatfish Isle's core. The purple glow shone from the sword and beneath the dirt as the ground around them pulled apart.
Ganon thrust his head back, and when he spoke next, his voice must have boomed across the island to everyone. "Leave. Or die. Any remaining on this island by midnight will be ripped to oblivion." He turned back to Link, lowering his voice once more. "But we must return to the skies. Jabun cannot flee with the rest."
When Ganon closed his open palm, the spell's invisible force closed around Link's head in a painful explosion. Then Link knew no more.
The world's blurry, painful return was all too familiar. This time, it wasn't red, and only his mind pounded terribly. Link lifted his head, aware of a hard, stone floor beneath him. A vaulted ceiling arched far above him, shrouded partially in shadow. The room was cavernous – dark, expansive, and cold. A chill tore through his body.
He lay on his back. Link moved his arms to try and roll over, but something held them down. He looked at both wrists, unable to find a restraint. A familiar, invisible force held his hands in place instead. Link recalled that wicked sorcerer, hand outstretched to bind him to his will. He tried to squirm, but without legs, there was little he could do.
Stay calm, Link thought, already on the verge of passing out again. Keep your focus. There were other details in the room. Six bulky lanterns offered flickering light. Two of them illuminated small doors on Link's left and right, though two much larger doors in front of him and behind him boasted a dual set of lanterns. Given the round, curving wall, the doors bent with it, all circling Link.
Though the floors and walls were composed of dark stone, Link looked beneath him to see that the room's center was marked differently. He lay on top of lines etched into the stone, swirling around him in a pattern that most of his body obscured. What is this place? The room was far too large to justify holding a singular prisoner. The empty space held nothing but a blank floor and four doors. He pulled on his wrists, hoping they would budge. Maybe he could crawl away before someone found him here.
But they wouldn't move. Ganon had trapped him with a spell. In the center of a massive room, Link thought. Sweat beaded on his face, despite the cold. Is he planning some sort of ritual?
He didn't have to wait long. One of the larger doors slid open, and Ganon walked out from a well-lit hallway. His stroll was leisurely, hands held behind his back. The door slid shut behind him on its own. Link tensed at his appearance, flinching away despite his inability to move. The powerful man looked even taller and stronger in this grand chamber. His flight suit had been replaced with black robes decorated with golden trim and swirling patterns. His head was directed toward the prisoner at the center; his shoes echoed in the stone room until he stopped beside Link.
The boy turned his head away, shaking. Go away, Link thought, trying to summon courage that was no longer there.
"I'm sorry to restrain you," Ganon said. "But you do not possess your prior life's memories. You would not have agreed to come with me."
Link's chest heaved in and out, struggling against the fear. He somehow managed to face his captor again. The sorcerer towered so high over him. "I doubt my prior life agreed to torture," Link said.
Ganon turned away, maintaining a calm demeanor. "I am not here to torture you. I am here to bargain with you."
Bargain? Link thought. He was tied to the floor, clearly prepped for some ritual sacrifice. "I have nothing to give you," Link said.
"On the contrary," Ganon said. "I would greatly value your empathy."
Link scoffed. This ridiculous conversation allowed some of his courage to return. "My empathy? You kidnapped my sister. You captured me. You killed people on Greatfish Isle. And you destroyed the old world. Hyrule."
Ganon smiled, still facing a distant wall. "I take responsibility for only half of those accusations. Your sister is in captivity, yes, but she is alive and well. Besides, in return for your empathy, I offer you something that I imagine you would value greatly as well."
"My sister," Link spat. "My freedom. Taking us back to Outset Island and never hurting anyone on the Great Sea again."
"Your legs."
The blood in Link's veins turned to ice. He'd seen this man's magic: splitting the island open and commanding people like puppets. For an instant, Link believed him. Until he decided this sorcerer was manipulating him. "You're lying."
"Your hesitation betrays you, Hero. You believe me."
"I don't care that you know magic," Link said. "No one is that powerful."
"I do not claim that power as my own." Ganon paused, turning back to Link and taking a step closer. "You lay in a summoning circle, deep beneath the Great Sea. Almost 2,000 years ago, I discovered this place, and my grief and anger summoned a demon named Demise. It wove its birth in this world into my flesh, blood, and soul. His magic is my pain, my passion, and my power. We are tethered as one. I cannot heal you. Neither can Demise. But together, we can restore your body to its prior form."
Link stared uncertainly at his captor, tasting fear once again. A demon named Demise? None of this made sense. "Why would a demon and a murderer want to give my legs back?"
"I told you," Ganon said. "A bargain. In exchange for your empathy."
Link's anger returned. "Empathy?" he exclaimed. "You have me chained to this floor. You can't force empathy upon someone."
"I will force nothing upon you," Ganon said, raising his hand – palm up.
Link's eyes widened when the etchings in the floor glowed a deep purple, just as the new chasms had on Greatfish Isle. He tried to squirm away from them in vain; they were terribly cold, almost burning his skin with icy teeth.
"If you refuse this bargain, I will return you to Outset Island," Ganon said. "Though I cannot let you take your sister. But if you stay, you will have your legs again. Your sister too, in time. But it will not be a pleasant experience. Immersing you in mine and the demon's magic is immersing you in our shared trauma. As the magic works its way through your body and heals your scars, you will experience what brought us together. And what sustains our pact. This magic is bound by memory and flesh, and thus, your histories will inevitably become entangled with our own."
Link could feel the cold temptation against his back, beckoning from the purple lines in the floor. "I still don't believe you," Link said. "Why would you do this? What does my empathy mean to you?"
"You are the Goddesses' chosen warrior. You are meant to embody their will. And yet, your past lives have claimed to fight for peace and to defend the helpless. If I can turn you from your masters…," Ganon trailed off, losing his composure for a moment, "… with nothing but the truth… then that is irrefutable proof that Nayru, Farore, and Din are nothing but monsters."
Link gulped, still trying so hard to stop himself from shaking. He wants affirmation, Link realized. From me. Because he thinks I'm the reincarnation of the hero. All of this was so hard to put into perspective. Ganon wanted to immerse him… in his own memories? In the magic of a demon? How could that possibly be a harmless, neutral slideshow of the past?
"So," Ganon said, holding out his hand again. "Do you accept this bargain?"
No, Link thought immediately. There were too many unknowns. Too many risks. Yet, a small, quiet voice within him wanted the chance to walk again. He could finally fulfill his destiny as a hero. And he could prove to Ganon that his past changed nothing, no matter how tragic. The man would always be a monster.
Link steadied his breathing before he answered. He ignored the dark magic rising beneath him, stroking his clammy, trembling arms. "No matter what you show me, you can't make what you've done right."
"I would live for the chance to be proven wrong," Ganon said. "But if you consent and are unmoved by this ordeal, then you can leave, no different than you were before. Set in your ways and still deluded by your Gods. Except with your legs again."
There's no way it's that simple, Link thought. This whole thing is a trick. "Don't act like I have a choice," he said.
"But you do," Ganon explained. "Demise cannot heal you without your consent."
Link considered his options a final time. He could attempt to reject this bargain. If, by some impossible miracle, Ganon allowed him to say 'no' and took him back to Outset Island, he could see his Grandma again. But Aryll would still be here. He would still not have his legs, and he would learn nothing more of these dark machinations. Until one day Ganon returned to his island again, as he was bound to. More likely, Link would say no, and then Ganon would snap his neck immediately. He believed the sorcerer in one regard – that Demise needed his consent.
Or Link could agree. He could fight a battle against the demon within himself. If he was truly the reincarnation of the hero – chosen by the Goddesses – then surely he could resist the ill effects of a demon's magic. It was a war that he did not need legs to wage. Perhaps this was his one chance to be a hero again. He could fight the essence of Ganon, and he could defeat this great, unfathomable evil right here in this room.
Despite these alternate paths, Link decided he didn't really have a choice. The illusion of consent meant nothing. Saying no would be giving up, and he couldn't fail again.
"I agree," Link said, shuddering. He felt the purple light beneath him quiver. "I agree to your bargain. You give me my legs, and you can try to earn my empathy."
Ganon did not smile. "Very well."
The demon's cold breath stretched out from the cracks in the stone, enveloping Link completely.
I am alive again. For the first time in months, I breathe fresh air.
I take a step forward, but I stumble. I look down to see my legs. Pale, sturdy knees hold me up in the gentle day. I smile. I can walk again.
The sun is so fierce. It radiates the innocence of a golden past unspoiled by blood. I wander through grass. This is my home. This endless field touches all horizons. I know this to be Hyrule, the old kingdom. I see it with my own eyes, breathing it in with my own lungs.
I walk for hours. I relish the sore soles of my feet as they carry me. This bliss is all I could ever need or want. I do not find other people until innocence is a fading, orange wound at the world's end.
They are dark-skinned and clothed by thin, colorful garbs. They have long hair, short hair, and bald scalps, though each youthful head is crowned with red. They sit in the grass beside small homes and hearths, they take care of cuccos within carefully wrought fences, and the children run as they chase one another beneath the early evening.
I am weary of my presence, as I observe the village from atop the crest of a hill. I wonder if they can see me. I jolt to the side when a man spots me. He rounds the hill from its other side, a sharp, curved blade in one hand. His red hair recedes above gentle, green eyes. "Why are you here?" he asks.
I wonder how I can understand them. Until I remember that I am immersed in the flesh and memories of another. There is no suffering here. I see no signs of demons or evil magic.
"I am here to rest," I realize aloud.
The guard's face twists in misunderstanding. "You want to rest here?"
"Yes," I affirm. I am aware of my pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. It would be clear to anyone that I do not belong.
"We have never had a visitor from the mountains."
"I'm sorry," I say. "I have nowhere else to go."
The guard considers. His eyes travel up and down the stranger, as if looking for a threat. "You look quite ill. Come. We will allow you to rest here."
So, I go. I take a seat by their fire. I learn they are called the Gerudo. I learn that they have seen other pale, mountain people roaming this beautiful paradise, which does not yet have a name.
And I am introduced to a skinny little boy named Ganon.
