Chapter 12: The Sacred Realm

A/N: Heads up, this one is much longer than usual. I had a lot to get out and didn't want to take more than one chapter to do it. So, here it is!

"Link!"

Link's eyes flung open and he gasped.

The walls around him were completely white, as was the ground. He could feel none of the pain in his body, and he was completely free to wander the white emptiness.

However, there was one man standing in front of him. He was older and wore a long orange robe. Link squinted against the harsh light.

"Gaebora?"

The man laughed and walked closer. "Not quite. My name is Rauru."

"Am I dead?"

"Not yet, child. You are a prisoner of Ganondorf, the Demon King."

Link looked around the whiteness, confused. "I am?"

Rauru knelt down to be level with Link. "You are currently on the cusp of the Sacred Realm. You are here quite often, but now you can see it for what it truly is."

Link grabbed his head in his hands. "Am I a prisoner, or am I in the Sacred Realm?"

"You are both. This is the cusp of the Sacred Realm, not the place itself. It's been sealed shut, as you and the Princess figured out. You can come here, however, in your dreams. This is the bridge between a reality and a realm beyond. You are asleep in your cell, but your mind is awake here."

Link began to pace. "I want to go home! I don't understand what's happening!"

Rauru looked at the young boy with sad eyes. "I don't believe you will return home for some time. However, time works differently in the Sacred Realm. If your princess can unseal the Sacred Realm, we may both enter. All at once, time moves quickly, and not at all. You may find it more tolerable than your cell."

Link's eyes opened again, and he was once again lying on the floor of a cell. The door had opened, and a skeleton dropped a tray of food through the bars of his cell before letting the door slam as it left. Link didn't even have the time to process the skeleton.

He felt the heavy chain on his arm and the pain in his body once again, though it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been. Perhaps he was getting used to it. He ran up to the bars of the cell and shook them, testing everything for a possible escape. He pulled at the stone floor and tested the cracks in the wall. From what he could tell, there was no way out.

Rauru lied.

Each day dragged, no matter if he was in his cell, or in his dreams. There was no indication of the time, except the meals and his own desire to go to sleep. Soon, even those merged until he could no longer keep track.

The Sacred Realm was no more than one patch of light, with Rauru as his only companion. He explained everything, held Link as he cried, and talked to him. But other than that, Link discovered, there wasn't much to do.

He'd found the ocarina in his pocket that Zelda had given him and the sword was still at his belt. Ganondorf hadn't been threatened, apparently.

Link spent his waking hours playing tuneless songs, trying to recreate songs from his memory. When he wasn't playing, he was practicing with his sword, or doing small sprints through his miniscule cell. He did whatever he could to be active, and more importantly, to be able to fall asleep.

The skeleton guard always brought him food. On one day, when he'd refused it, the firm bones held him against the bars by his shirt collar and forced the food into his mouth. It was then that Link knew he was in for the long haul.

"Link!"

His eyes opened and he was in the Sacred Realm again.

"Yeah?" he asked, waiting for Rauru to appear. He didn't.

"Follow my voice."

Link wasn't in the mood for games, but he followed the voice through the white light. He wasn't sure why Rauru was having him do this, but when he came to a small door randomly placed in the center of a vast whiteness, he followed through it.

He was inside a dark room now, the walls dripping with endless crystalized water droplets. The center of the darkness held several platforms, each with its own unique design. And each pedestal had someone standing on it, one of which was Rauru.

"Link!" he called. "Your princess finally did it! The Sacred Realm has been unsealed. She seems to be preparing to seal Ganondorf away. You may now freely traverse the Sacred Realm. This here is called the Chamber of Sages. Come, meet a few of them."

Cautiously, Link approached, still intrigued by the shimmering walls. Six others stood in front of him.

A tall man dressed in green with brown hair and an interestingly cut out tunic bowed in front of him. "My name is Purlo, Sage of the Forest. I remember seeing you visit the Deku Tree. I hope that went well."

Link shrugged. "It did, but now I'm trapped here. So… not too well in the long run."

A large Goron stepped forward and clapped Link fiercely on the back. "I'm Darmani. I guard the Fire Temple within Death Mountain. I've been here since it was frozen over in the Ice Age of Hyrule, so if you've any questions, I'm the elder here, besides Rauru."

A large Zora stepped forward, her green skin contrasting with the light blue that he'd come to recognize as distinctly Zora. She eyed him with deep curiosity.

"How is it that one so young can be the Hero of Time, chosen by the Goddess for a great purpose?"

Link looked down, overwhelmed and unsure of what to say. A young Gerudo woman stepped forward and put her arm around Link's shoulder. "Don't worry about Oren, she is the least exciting Sage here. I'm Nabooru. I watch the Spirit Temple."

"She's also the newest and youngest Sage," Oren cautioned, "so she may be more abrasive than the rest of us."

Nabooru glared at Oren but said nothing.

Link looked at the ground and saw another emblem that didn't correspond to anyone in front of him. "Who's is that?"

Rauru looked at what he was referencing and smiled. "The Sage of the Shadow Temple. You've met her. She's acting on our behalf at the moment in the world above. You'll figure out who she is. That's a part of your goal; a game of sorts."

"I know her?"

"You do," Rauru agreed.

As Link looked around, he realized that maybe having these Sages with him wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Stop fussing," Nabooru chastised as she continued to run gunk through Link's hair, spiking the strands all over. "You look great."

"Why did I agree to this again?" Link asked as he uncomfortably shifted again. He didn't even know how she acquired this stuff.

Nabooru laughed. "Because you like me and I asked you to."

Blushing, Link stayed still and said nothing. He had to admit, he and the Spirit Sage had become close as time continued to drag by. She was ageless as a Sage, and he'd already spent two years in the Sacred Realm with the Sages.

Nabooru wasn't just the closest in age to him, she was the one who's personality had entertained him the most. They sparred together; being a Gerudo, she was highly skilled in several weapons. Though he still used his small sword in the physical world to practice, Nabooru somehow managed to get longer, heavier weapons for him to practice with in the Sacred Realm.

Darmani was the only other Sage who enjoyed helping Link physically train. The Goron would gauge how strong Link had gotten, and how much more training he had to put into a certain move, step, or body part.

The other Sages, Oren and Purlo, were more inclined to offer Link wisdom. They'd keep him informed on small goings on in the kingdom, or history lessons on his past lives.

Rauru had become like Gaebora in the two years. He was like a father to him, guiding him, comforting him, and leading him through his prison sentence.

"There," Nabooru said as she finished Link's hair. "Now, on to the next!" She pulled out a sharp needle from behind her and held it up.

Link jumped up from his seat. "No! I didn't sign up for that."

Nabooru laughed. "It's just an earring… or two."

Holding up his sword, he kept backing up. "No, no, I don't want my ears pierced!"

Nabooru shrugged. "When you're older, you'll want them."

"I don't think I will."

Link looked at himself in the water's reflection. It wasn't as bad as he thought. In fact, he liked the two little blue loops in his ears. He was glad that the horrible early teen years were over. He didn't think that he'd have handled earrings well when he was fourteen. But he was sixteen now. His hair was longer than it'd ever been, hanging well over his ears. He had to hold it back for Nabooru.

Rauru had been watching with amused interest. He said the best part was watching Link's face as the needle broke his skin. Though he'd suffered many injuries over the years, this was his most dramatic yet.

Moments later, Link woke up in his prison cell, his left hand chained back against the wall instead of in its usual loose chain. A Stalfos looked at him curiously, noticing that earrings had mysteriously appeared in Link's ears. With its sharp, wavy sword, it pressed the tip against Link's neck and ran it down, spilling some blood as it went.

Link barely flinched. The Stalfos did whatever it liked to teach Link lessons. His neck and chest were riddled with punishments, scars from beatings, or other ways Link had been silenced over the years. This Stalfos was his only real-world contact. He'd never even seen Ganondorf… until today.

The Demon King strode into the room and glared at Link. His eyes went from dark to amused as he took in his appearance. "Well, boy, you've grown since we last saw each other. Tell me, how did you pierce your ears?"

Link didn't say anything. He only kept a steady gaze on Ganondorf. The Demon King laughed, a sound that hadn't changed in the past four years. "Never mind. I need your aid. I'll trade your freedom for this information… or I'll force it from you."

Ganondorf made his way into the cell with a small knife in his hand. "I need to find the entrance to the Sacred Realm. I know you've been there. I know Zelda opened it. Where is it?"

Link scoffed. "Do I look like I've gone anywhere recently?"

Ganondorf whipped his hand across Link's face. Link could taste blood in his mouth and laughed. "Really, Ganon, you think that I'd tell you if I knew? Go ahead. Hit me again. It won't do you any good."

Ganondorf rolled his eyes. "Teenagers…" he said, holding his knife. "See that Triforce on your hand? That's all I need from you. I don't need you to be in one piece."

Ganondorf raised his hand to strike the knife down against Link when a great white light burst from Link's hand, stopping the Demon King in his tracks.

"Good, Link!" Rauru called as he watched Link easily dance away from Nabooru.

He swung his sword around, taunting her with a cocky grin on his face. She was breathing hard and ran at him again with her dual crescent swords. He easily parried them away and spun around to her back, locking he arm behind her. She managed to slip from his grasp, but nothing she could do was good enough.

Link sidestepped her, parried, and kept her moving while he only moved when he had to. He could keep going, his strength and stamina far beyond hers. She grasped her knees, watching as Link continued to play with his sword. He'd explained to her that it was his way to keep moving more than a taunt, but she still could tell that if he wasn't moving, then he was bored, and that was a taunt to her.

She charged at him again, but he deflected her, easily tossing her to the ground, making her drop her weapons. He sheathed his sword and held out his hand to her.

Nabooru grabbed it and hoisted herself to her feet before picking up her weapons. "I barely even made a dent, kid. Good work."

Link smiled. "Yeah, this kid has beaten you the last four times in a row. I'll have to spar with Darmani from now on. You're not on my level."

He started to laugh, and she made a face before jumping on his back, squeezing him with her legs and arms. "Oh? I'm not on your level?"

"I lied!" he said, laughing and coughing at once. "You're still better than me!"

Rauru chuckled for a brief moment before a bright light flooded the Chamber of the Sages.

"What's happening?" Link asked when the light finally came back.

Rauru looked around frantically and ran off toward the pedestals. One light, the forest green pedestal, had dulled to a dark green, rather than the usual luminous one. Rauru grabbed Link's sleeve and pushed him away.

A great explosion on the pedestal cast the entire chamber into smoky darkness. When it cleared, Purlo's lifeless body lay amid the smoke.

Oren and Darmani ran forward, grabbing Purlo and holding him. Darmani muttered something, a prayer to the Goddesses to watch over his soul. Rauru came up beside him and moved the tall collar of his shirt. There was an arrowhead lodged in the side of his neck.

With a roar, Rauru turned to the other Sages. "Get to your temples! They're attacking!"

With a great flash, each of the Sages vanished. Rauru turned to Link. "Listen to me closely, Link. Ganondorf and his minions have made a move to strike the Sages from their temples. I need you to escape your prison. All of his minions are out in force right now. You'll be fairly unguarded for the first time in seven years. You cannot fail. Get out and go to the Temple of Time. Find the Master Sword. Find the Princess. Find the new Sage of the Forest and awaken them. You'll know how when the time comes."

"How do I—" Link began.

There was another great flash of light and Darmani appeared on his dim circle. A long gash across his chest and lifeless eyes spelled out his fate clearly.

Rauru turned to Link again. "You must find the Fire Sage as well. You'll need us all to seal away Ganondorf. Link, you're ready to finally become the Hero of Time. You've been training in here for seven years. You're a man now. Unfortunately, the fate of Hyrule rests on your shoulders. Ganondorf will think this assault will buy him time, and he won't know you've escaped for some time. Use the break to awaken the Sages."

Another light. Oren.

Rauru shook his head. "I have to seal the Chamber. I must protect the other Sages with what I can. You won't be able to return, but I may still be able to reach you if you truly have need in your dreams. Go! Now!"

Link's eyes shot open and he held his small sword in his hand. It was too small to have any real fighting chance. He waited until the Stalfos came to bring him his meal, then grabbed it by the neck and ripped the bone right off. He grabbed the key off the gatekeeper's belt and unlocked the door.

For the first time since he was twelve, Link stepped outside his cell.