Twins of Fate

Chapter 10

Warning: This chapter contains scenes of child abuse.

Zelda was in a dark void. She kept calling for Red, who was hiding somewhere deep in Sheik's mind. Honestly, she knew the fusion was unstable, but she never would have imagined it could have gotten so bad after Red noticed something strange on the monster they had attacked.

"Come on, Red! I can't do this without you!" Zelda cried, but there was no sign of the red-eyed youth anywhere in sight.

For the first time in her life, Zelda felt completely lost, hopeless, and unsure what to do next. She rubbed the back of her hand, where the Triforce of Wisdom was. What was the use of having wisdom if you didn't know what to do?

"I think you need my help, then..." said a serene voice.

Zelda blinked, confused. Then, she saw a small ball of light floating in front of her, slowly transforming into a human figure. She gasped when she saw an older version of herself smiling back at her, wearing a white dress and light purple sandals.

"Nice to meet you, Zelda. I am Hylia."

Zelda's jaw dropped. Did she say Hylia? That Hylia? The goddess? She was speechless; so the legend that the women of her family were vessels of the goddess was actually true?! She didn't know what to say. She could only stand there like an idiot, jaw dropped open in stunned silence. Hylia couldn't help but giggle at her vessel's reaction.

"Surprised? I know; I rarely appear before my avatars, but when I do, it's because the situation has turned dire," she kneeled in front of the princess. "I know you're troubled over Red."

Zelda nodded, feeling very embarrassed before the goddess.

"I know Red is an amazing person and very independent. But I cannot understand him," Zelda said, rubbing her hands nervously. "Sheik's fighting abilities are his, and only his; not mine. The only thing I could do is heal and freeze time. I feel so envious of Lucina and Linkle. They can understand Red without him needing to say a word. They can communicate with him, but I cannot."

Hylia smiled as she ran a hand through Zelda's hair sympathetically. She told the young princess that in one of her previous incarnations, she also had trouble with her Sheikah guardian, who'd been a woman of few words. They only started to truly communicate when her past incarnation finally came to understand her guardian after learning about her past.

"And I think you need do the same. If you wish to truly understand Red, you need to learn about his past," Hylia said as she gazed at Zelda with a serious look on her face. "But I should warn you, his past is not for the faint of heart."

Zelda looked at Hylia in concern.

"Does his past have something to do with his kidnapping and the scars on his back?" Zelda asked. She remembered that, while they were going to the Lost Woods, Linkle had told to her about Red being kidnapped when he was a child- only two years younger than Zelda herself- and after the rescue, Red completely stopped talking. None of them knew what happened to him while he was in the hands of his captors, but they knew it was traumatic. Linkle mentioned that she, Lucina, and Link had never asked him about the event because they wanted to let Red tell them when he was ready.

"Yes. What you are about to see will shake you up. Are you up for this?"

Zelda wasn't sure, but she knew she had to do this in order to understand Red. She nodded to Hylia, telling her she was ready.

The goddess nodded in return and her hand started to glow. Then, a door appeared before them. The door was purple with black chains and locks across it. Zelda felt sick; even though the door was closed, she could already feel whatever was behind it making her ill. She couldn't imagine what she would see on the other side. With the chains and locks gone, the door opened and Zelda passed through it.

"Where am I...?" Zelda wondered aloud.

The place where she found herself was like nothing she'd ever seen before. It had a lot of pipes and she knew she was in some kind of underground area, but the structure was very different from the basement levels of Hyrule Castle. That's when she heard someone crying and a loud cracking sound. She walked toward the source of the sounds.

Then, Zelda saw a tall man with brown hair, wearing a black suit like the one Zelda had seen before on Lucina's phone; the same kind of suit Lucina's father had been wearing in one of the photos. The princess also noted that the man was wielding a short whip in one hand.

Zelda noticed that the man was using the whip on a young boy, who was bound to a pipe by several ropes tying his wrists above his head.

Zelda also noticed that the boy wasn't wearing a shirt and briefly wondered why, until her attention was drawn to the boy's condition. His back was torn up and drenched in his own blood. Zelda gasped in horror; there was so much blood on his back. Zelda had no idea who this poor boy was until she recognized that head of pitch black hair and those dark red eyes, the same color as his blood.

"Red..." she whispered aloud. Now, she understood everything. This was Red's memory: the one involving his kidnapping.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" shouted another man in a black suit, this one with dark blue hair.

"Sorry, sir. I was just teaching this brat a lesson. I caught him trying to escape a moment ago."

The second man grabbed the whip from the first man and quickly cracked it across his face, leaving behind a large welt.

"You fool! We need him alive for Giovanni to pay us his ransom!" he shouted. "Now, get out of my sight before I use this whip on the rest of you!"

The brown-haired man growled, but did as he was told. The second man glared at Red with anger and frustration painted across his face. The man picked up a towel and started to clean the boy's back, but he didn't untie him. Red hissed in pain.

"And you, boy... I thought you'd just be a spoiled brat since you're Giovanni's son, but I see you've had some training since you gave my men so much trouble when we captured you. And you even managed to escape from your cell."

The boy growled.

"You're gonna be in so much trouble once my father comes to rescue me!" Young Red snapped. Zelda blinked, surprised; it was the first time she'd ever heard Red speak. She wondered how much his voice must have changed since then, and what he'd sound like if he talked to her as a teenager. "He'll kick your butt, you asshole!"

The man couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh. You're ten and you're already swearing? You most have learned that from some of your father's grunts. I learned to cuss from my father's own grunts when I was about your age; they were worse than sailors," he said as he got closer and started to smell the boy's hair and licked at one of the wounds caused by the whip. Red shivered in fear.

"W-What are you doing?" Red asked, looking over his shoulder at his captor with terror in his eyes.

"You see, boy, I'd been watching you for a long time before I finally got the opportunity to capture you. I heard you sing in that talent show at your school. You have a very beautiful and melodic voice... when you're not using it to curse, of course," he said as he unzipped Red's pants, to Red and Zelda's shared horror. "How about you use that beautiful voice of yours to sing to me in another way?" the man whispered.

The next scene made Zelda extremely sick and horrified. No child should ever have to go through something so awful. Zelda sobbed and closed her eyes, placing her hands over her ears to muffle Red's cries of despair. She couldn't take it.

"Please, stop it... Stop it... STOP IT!"

Zelda suddenly found herself back in the black void with the door closing and being chained up and locked again behind her. She fell to her knees and started to sob. She had no idea how much Red had to go through. It was no wonder why he had stopped talking after that. He was disgusted by his own voice thanks to that horrible man. And the scars... dear goddesses, how did he deal with those scars on his back? They were a constant reminder of that horrible event.

"I... I had no idea..." she sobbed.

Zelda felt Hylia's hand touching her shoulder, and she looked up to find the goddess offering her a sympathetic smile.

"The Sheikah...the shadow folk... have always been protectors of your royal family, since it's through your bloodline that I am reborn into the mortal world. But sometimes, the shadow folk need our light to heal them, physically and spiritually. "

Then, Zelda looked in front of her and saw Red hugging his legs to his chest and hiding his face in his knees. Zelda got up and rushed to him, but she was stopped by an invisible wall.

"Red! RED!" She shouted, slamming her hands against the wall.

Red saw the princess and tried to walk toward her, but he was stopped by the wall, as well. He could see that Zelda was trying to say something, but he couldn't actually hear her. He shook his head and pointed to his ear. Zelda understood the gesture to mean that Red couldn't hear her.

"What am I going to do...?"

Hylia smiled at her, silently providing the answer she needed. They were inside of their minds. Zelda could not only see Red memories, but also access whatever knowledge he had on any given subject, such as sign language. Zelda closed her eyes and tried to focus on finding Red's knowledge on sign language. After a brief moment, she saw a memory of Red in an odd white room that looked like a type of hospital room with the younger versions Lucina, Linkle, Link, and a brunette boy whom she didn't know, smiling at him with books about learning sign language. The boy was saying that they were going to give him a voice through his hands. Then, Zelda opened her eyes and started to sign.

"I saw what happened to you, Red," Zelda said, voicing the message she was signing at the same time. "I saw your memory of your kidnapping."

Red's eyes widened in shock, both because Zelda was signing fluently and because she knew what happened to him.

She continued, "What happened to you was something that no one, especially a child, should ever have to go through. You suffered terribly, and it made you choose to hide your voice from the world. But I want you to know that you will always have Linkle, Lucina, and me to count on. You don't need to feel fear or shame anymore. We are here for you."

Tears rolled down Red's cheeks, and the wall that was separating them vanished. Red fell to his knees and hugged the princess. This little girl, who wasn't even half his size... taught him that tears could flow even from those red eyes and he could open himself up to others again.

"Thank you..." he whispered, shocking the princess.

XXX

Sheik opened his eyes and saw Garnet, Leona, and Irene staring at him expectantly.

"So? How'd it go?" Irene asked.

"We are balanced and ready," Sheik answered with a smirk.

XXX

The group was heading back toward the cave where the monster was trapped. Garnet asked what happened back there and what made Red shut himself out, making Zelda confused and panicked. Sheik answered that Red had shut himself out because he'd recognized the monster and had initially refused to fight back.

"The monster we are facing is Green Oak, Red's former lover." The girls gasped in shock, not believing what he was saying. "Green was the first person Red opened his body and heart to. It was Green himself who came up with the idea of teaching Red sign language. But they broke up because some outside influence made Green do it. Red suspected it had to do with Green's homophobic family, and he called him a coward before they ended up having a physical confrontation. They haven't spoken to each other since then..."

Leona was the first to recover from the shock of this news.

"Are you sure Red is up to facing that thing?" Leona asked. "What if he freezes again?"

"He won't, because..." Sheik pulled out Red's twin pistols. His eyes were filled with pure determination "...Red wants to put Green out of his misery."

XXX

At the cave, the dragon growled as it saw Sheik before it. Sheik looked back at the dragon with sorrow in his eyes.

"Green, please forgive us for what we are going to do," Sheik said.

The dragon roared, preparing to attack, and the Triforce of Wisdom on Sheik's hand glowed and caused time to freeze once again. Sheik frowned in concentration as he carefully set up a ring of bombs around the dragon. When time unfroze, all of the bombs exploded simultaneously. The dragon started to roar in pain but was quickly cut off as Sheik froze time yet again.

"Garnet, it's your turn now!" Sheik shouted.

Garnet, in her ball form, was thrown against the ceiling of the cave by Leona. The impact broke off several stalactites, which hung frozen in midair. When the flow of time was returned to normal, the rocky spears fell over the dragon, stabbing into several parts of its body. The dragon blinked as a collar of bombs suddenly appeared around the necks of its white and green heads. Once the collars exploded, the heads were gone. The red head roared in pain and fury and looked up to find Sheik in midair, pointing his guns at it.

"Irene!" he shouted.

Irene summoned a magic circle in front of Sheik. The dragon was preparing to unleash a powerful fire blast, but it was too late; Sheik pulled the triggers on both pistols, and as the bullets passed through Irene's magic circle, they were transformed into powerful blasts of ice and fire in the shape of foxes. The dragon roared as it was consumed by the blasts, forming a giant explosion.

After the smoke and flames from the explosion cleared, Sheik, Irene, Garnet, and Leona could see the monster's body already disintegrating, and it wasn't long before a small human body emerged from the decomposing corpse and started falling toward the ground; it was Green. Sheik quickly caught him in midair and gently laid him down. Irene, Leona, and Garnet tentatively stepped closer and gapsed in shock when they saw the condition of Green's body. Outside, he appeared mostly fine, but he was covered in large, dark bruises, signaling internal hemorrhaging. Green let out a groan as he opened his eyes, vomiting blood. He was in horrible agony, and he knew he was dying. His vision was blurry.

"I... I don't want to die... I can't die... Not yet... Not before I find Red..." Green said, delirious, as tears welled in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. "I need to apologize to him for my cowardice... and for breaking his heart..."

They understood what Green was talking about: the fight he'd had with Red before they broke up. They saw Green cough up blood. Sheik didn't flinch, even as speckles of blood hit his face.

"I was going to tell him I gave up everything... I gave up my family's name and inheritence just to be with him... I was going to tell him after the prom. I love him! I can't die without telling him and begging for his forgiveness!" he sobbed.

Sheik removed the scarf from around his face and looked at Green with a soft smile.

"He knows," Sheik said tenderly. Green stared at him, puzzled. "And he still loves you, even after what happened between you two," he whispered, smiling to him.

That's when Green's vision finally cleared and he saw Sheik's red eyes. The face was different, but the eyes were the same. For a moment, instead of seeing Sheik's face, he saw Red's. Green sobbed and smiled.

"R-Red...!"

Sheik leaned down and kissed him on the lips. After a minute, he pulled away and looked at him, still smiling.

"And I forgive you, Green Oak," he said, hugging him.

Green smiled as more tears rolled down his cheeks. He finally felt at ease again, after living with the guilt and torment he'd felt for so long when he was forced to break up with Red. He started reminiscing over his happy memories of the days he spent with Red, especially the days he spent teaching Red sign language. Then, his body glowed and vanished in a flurry of sparkles. Sheik got up and looked up as the sparkles gently blew away in the direction of the heavens. Then, Sheik's body glowed and split into two separate beings; Red and Princess Zelda were back. Zelda looked at Red in concern.

"Red?"

Red fell to his knees and punched the ground as he let out a roar full of sadness, angst, misery, and suffering. He cried for his loss. Zelda silently wrapped him in a comforting hug, while Garnet, Leona, and Irene cried in sympathy for Red.

XXX

A lot happened between the Goron and Lynel races over the course of the following morning. Since neither of the parties came to an agreement about their closeness, Garnet and Leona decided to do what Green did; they denounced their racial status and left Death Mountain to live in peace with each other. Needless to say, this caused a massive uproar between the two clans. Red had suspected they were more than friends since the beginning; like him and Green, they were lovers, too. That came as a surprise to Zelda, but she had to admit that Leona and Garnet were cute together. As thanks for their help, Leona gave them her tribe's most sacred treasure, the Master Ore. The group was now in the woods, outside of Death Mountain.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Zelda asked the trio of friends.

"Well, I was thinking we should stay at my house," Irene said with a sad smile. "My grandma passed away not too long time ago, and I don't like that the house is so empty now. And I think it'd be for the best until things cool down."

Red and Zelda nodded, agreeing with her. Before they left, Irene gave Red and Zelda two bracelets. The bracelets were imbued with magic that would allow them to fuse into Sheik again anytime they wanted. Zelda thanked them, and Irene teleported Garnet, Leona, and herself away.

"So, how are we going to find the others?" Zelda asked Red.

"RED! ZELDA!"

The duo looked up and saw Linkle and Lucina flying on their Loftwings, their own Loftwings following behind them. Zelda smiled and waved to them. When the girls landed, Red and Zelda were horrified when they saw Linkle's scar and her mechanical arm.

"Linkle, what happened to you?!" Zelda cried. "And why are you dressed like a Gerudo?!"

"Well, it's a long story," Linkle said as she placed her left hand on her mechanical arm. "Actually, it seems all of us have a story to tell."

They set up a small camp in a field not too far away from where they were reunited. It took several hours for all of them to tell their respective stories. Zelda was shocked to learn that Ganondorf- the Ganondorf- was the one who saved Linkle and even gave her the Triforce of Power. Red frowned, feeling guilty for not being there for Linkle and Lucina when they were forced to kill Pit and Owain, but they all agreed that it was necessary to put them out of their misery. Linkle and Lucina were also shocked to hear Zelda and Red's story about fusing to create Sheik and Green being one of Link's victim. Red also decided it was finally time to tell Linkle and Lucina about his kidnapping. Both Lucina and Linkle were surprised when they heard Red talk for the first time in almost ten years. They were happy to hear his voice again, but what he revealed about his kidnapping made the girls feel sick and horrified.

"I knew it... I knew it must have been something like that, Red!" Linkle hissed angrily. "It's no wonder mother killed that bastard at the prison."

Lucina was shocked; Linkle knew Impa had killed Red's kidnapper? Linkle explained that she only knew because she'd overheard her mother talking to Giovanni over the phone about "eliminating her target." She'd never mentioned overhearing this to anyone before, not even to Link.

Lucina, needless to say, felt uncomfortable. She knew something bad must have happened to Red while he was with his captors, but she never could have imagined that it was that bad.

Both girls hugged Red. They told him they would always be there for him and he could count on them for anything, especially during the bad times. Red hugged them back, feeling like a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart.

"So, I don't want to ruin the moment, but what are we going to do next? We have the last piece of the material to evolve the Master Sword," Zelda commented as she showed the others the Master Ore.

"I think we should train our new abilities before the seal is broken," Linkle said, brandishing her sword. "We still have about four or five days before the seal is broken, and you know how powerful Demise is, even if he's using Link's body."

They agreed with Linkle's idea as she touched the sword against the Master Ore. After absorbing the last piece, the blade of the sword turned gold. They could all feel the incredible power in the new golden blade.

"LINKLE!" cried a new voice. Linkle blinked; she knew whose voice that was.

They all turned toward the source of the voice to find two people flying toward them on an unknown creature, but Lucina soon recognized what it was when it got closer. "Wait, is that a Flygon?" she asked.

The Flygon landed in front of the group, and Red had stars in his eyes as he gazed upon the Flygon in pure awe. Lucina sweatdropped; Red had always been a fan of the Pokémon games and seeing a Pokémon in real life was like a dream come true for him. Linkle saw Ganondorf and Sapphire hop off the Flygon. Zelda recognized Ganondorf and quickly hid behind Red for protection.

"Ganondorf? Sapphire? What are you doing here?" Linkle asked. She had a feeling that she wouldn't like their answer.

"I was dragged along by her, but I can understand her concerns. It's a very worrisome subject," Ganondof said coldly.

"Linkle, bad news! Your brother isn't in his prison on the moon anymore!" Sapphire cried.

They all gasped in astonishment. Zelda, her fear giving way to anger, peeked out from behind Red and glared at the Gerudo. She exclaimed that her grandmother's seal was powerful and it was impossible for Link to have returned to Hyrule already; there were still five days until the seal was scheduled to lose its power.

"It's true the seal is still strong enough to stop Link from coming here, but whoever said the seal works the same for the Earth Realm?" Sapphire asked the princess coldly.

"What?!" Linkle exclaimed, horrified. "Link is on Earth right now?!"

XXX

Link smirked as he floated above his old hometown. Aside from the crater that used to be his school, the town hadn't changed at all while he was gone.

"Home sweet home," Link said, smirking.

Behind him, he opened a dark gate, inside of which were several pairs of glowing demonic eyes.

End of the Chapter

Next chapter: Return to Earth.