Thanks so much to MexicAmerichick6 (Somehow they managed! XD) and LunaMoon256 (You'll see! ;) for reviewing! I hope you guys continue to enjoy!

With that, on with the chapter!

~ Chapter 17 ~

"...nk…"

His mind felt fuzzy. His pulse throbbed in his temple, sending jolts of pain rippling through his head every other second. A hollow ringing wouldn't leave his ears. He found himself unable to move even a single part of his body. His vision was nothing but undulating magenta and black.

Her voice, however, sliced through it all.

"...Link…"

A flash of gold amidst the darkness.

"Can you hear me…?"

His muscles relaxed. His headache ebbed. His mind cleared.

Zelda, Link thought. I can hear you.

A warm glow washed over him, chasing away the darkness that had overtaken his form. The evil retreated to some shadowed place inside him, screeching in pain as it burrowed back into hiding. Once again, he was able to breathe easy, to think clearly, to simply exist without pain. For the most part, he was alright.

The only problem was that he remembered nothing of the past hour or so.

Given his concerningly extensive experience with memory loss, Link was probably less alarmed by this than he should have been. Instead of panic, all he could feel was an uneasy numbness, as well as the strange sense that something dire had just occurred and he didn't want to remember what it was. Truthfully, he was tempted to neglect the missing chunk of time entirely in favor of letting himself drift off to sleep wrapped in the soft embrace of Zelda's magic.

And then he noticed the searing pain in his face.

Though his mind hovered somewhere between consciousness and the void, he vaguely felt his body shift in discomfort, his face gingerly aligning itself in a grimace. There were other voices around him, but they were muffled and distorted. The only voice he could properly distinguish was Zelda's, speaking directly into his mind like she had done when she was little more than a spirit trapped in the castle.

Link's heart suddenly dropped.

If she was speaking to him in this manner now, did that mean something had happened to her? He couldn't sense her physical presence beside him...what did that mean? Where was she? What had happened?

"Calm yourself, Link!" Zelda's ethereal voice insisted, cutting through his jumbled thoughts. "Don't worry about me. I've been...taken a little ways out of the picture, admittedly, but I'm perfectly fine. Please, just worry about yourself instead…"

Wait. Was she...reading his mind? Though projecting her own words directly to him was nothing new for her, he couldn't recall a time where she had known what he was thinking without him having to answer aloud.

"I'm currently fully focusing my power on you, Link," the princess explained. "I've formed it into a sort of tether that's connecting us for the time being...as a result, I can hear your thoughts. And I suppose you can hear some of mine as well."

In truth, he wasn't sure that he could. He thought he might sense a few of her current emotions seeping into his mind through her beam of magic, seeing as little inklings of concern and nervousness fluttered at the edge of his consciousness, but he could hear no coherent thoughts. The only words he noticed were those she intentionally spoke to him, whereas she seemed capable of listening in on whatever crossed his mind.

"Is that so…? Well...I suppose that would make sense. When I was still stuck in the castle, I had to train myself to block Calamity Ganon from delving into my thoughts...ah, but never mind all that! How do you feel, Link?"

Feeling as though the conversation was progressing far too fast for his fuzzy brain, Link took a moment to hurriedly gather his thoughts. He certainly wasn't as well versed in organizing his mind as Zelda was proving to be, but he figured he could at least make an effort to force his scattered musings into something coherent.

...my face hurts, he thought, carefully imagining each word. And...my body feels heavy and exhausted, like I just ran across the desert. And I don't even remember what happened...but I feel like it was something bad.

Zelda was silent for several long seconds, leaving Link's apprehension to grow in the absence of her voice.

"...technically, I could tell you," she finally said cautiously. "But...I can say for certain that you won't like my answer. Are you sure you want to know…?"

Admittedly, he wasn't sure. But regardless of whether he wanted to know, Link knew that he needed to hear about whatever had happened during that lost block of time. From Zelda's tone, it was definitely something bad, as he had assumed, but he got the sense that there was something more. Somehow, he knew that the "something bad" hadn't happened to him.

It had happened because of him.

"Link, I want you to know that none of this was your fault," Zelda suddenly cut in forcefully. "You were...not yourself. And it was my carelessness that made it so. Do not put any of the blame on yourself, do you understand?"

Zelda, Link thought, ignoring most of her words. Tell me what I did. Please.

Another long silence.

"...the Malice took control of you, Link. It...forced you to try to kill Riju."

His heart nearly stopped.

Blurred images flashed through his mind. His bandaged fingers pressing into a copper-colored neck. Deep green eyes widened in horror, staring straight at him. His own flaming obsidian eyes reflected in a golden headpiece. A flash of red scales as he was yanked backwards. Then, nothing.

"She's alright, though!" Zelda quickly added, coaxing him away from the panic he was beginning to fall straight into. "A bit bruised, but otherwise fine. And again, it's not your fault! You were being controlled against your will, no one blames you!"

...right, Link thought numbly, though his stomach still twisted at the thought of how close he had been to murdering a friend. What would have happened had Sidon not been there? Or if Riju had been anything other than a resilient Gerudo? Or if - ?

"Do not finish that thought, Link! There is no point in thinking about what could have gone wrong...what's important is that no one was killed or seriously hurt. Please, if nothing else, take solace in that…"

I…okay. Link forced his thoughts to clear, focusing in on the golden light of Zelda's presence. As horrified as he was, he knew she was right. Agonizing over what he couldn't control would get him nowhere - in fact, if he let himself drown too far into his own worry, he might even be at risk of losing himself again and really hurting someone this time.

You're right…you're right. Enough about that, then…where are you? What happened? I remember that you were going up the hill to test your powers, but…something stopped you, didn't it? Pulled you out of range? That's why I lost control and… His mind nearly spiraled into dark thoughts again, but he quickly pulled himself back out. …well, you know. But...can you tell me what's happened on your end?

The princess heaved a sigh, and he could almost envision her forehead wearily dropping into her hands. "Well…I'm actually currently in a cave on Mount Lanayru. There's a snowstorm raging outside, so I can't exactly go anywhere at the moment, but…for the time being, I'm fine."

Link's train of thought nearly ground to a halt in his surprise. Of all the answers he had been expecting, this was not one of them.

You're…on Mount Lanayru, he repeated, dumbfounded. But…why? How did you get there?

"A Yiga footsoldier disguised themselves as Paya in order to get close to me, and then teleported me here," she explained softly. "Thankfully I was not otherwise hurt, but it is...inconvenient, to say the least."

A surge of anger suddenly rushed through Link, its ferocity matched only by the strength of his worry. The Yiga. The same bastards that had taken and tortured him had gotten their hands on Zelda as well. True, she had not been hurt yet, but that could easily change. What if they came back for her and took her even further away? What if they managed to smuggle her back to their hideout and trap her in the same cell he had been confined to?

The thought of her chained to the wall as he had been, screaming in pain as their blades bit at her flesh, filled him with a vile mixture of rage and terror. If another damned Yiga dared to lay another finger on her, he would ensure that it would be the last thing they would ever do. Even if he had to stumble his way across Hyrule, half-drowned by Malice in his throat, he would find them and tear them limb from -

"LINK!" Zelda snapped, breaking him out of his spiraling fury. "Enough of that! Please! I've just told you that I'm fine! There's...there's no need for anything so drastic!"

There was fear in her voice.

His stomach dropped. Instead of Malice, his own embarrassment and shame threatened to close his throat. He had almost forgotten that she could read his every thought, his every emotion. He hadn't meant to frighten her with such viciousness.

...I'm sorry, he managed, though he doubted he'd have been able to speak aloud without his voice breaking. I...I got carried away. I'm sorry. I'm just...glad you're safe…

"Indeed…" Zelda agreed warily. "Let's move away from thoughts of revenge for now, shall we? What's important is that, for now, we are both relatively safe. I believe I can survive up here just fine until I rebuild enough power to warp myself back. The Yiga have underestimated me...and you've always said that underestimation is its own strength, yes?"

If Link had been fully conscious and in control of his body at the moment, he would have smiled. Yeah...that's right.

"Then I'm sure I'll be fine for now. My main concern is your well-being...I can sense that you're still in pain, but at the very least, the Malice seems to have retreated. I'll keep most of my power focused on you, but I'll have to break off this immediate mental connection if I'm going to be able to recharge the magic any further. Still, if you need me at any point, just call for me and I'll hear you."

I understand… Link thought, though he was admittedly reluctant to lose the sound of her voice. Will I wake up once you're gone?

"Yes, I believe so. The others are gathered around you currently, though they don't know that my power is helping you once more. You'll have to explain to them what's happened."

...and to apologize for what I've done…

He could almost sense Zelda's exasperation, but she didn't bother arguing further, perhaps knowing that it would be futile.

"Mhm...well, I'll let you go now. Remember to tell them everything, and know that even if you can't hear my voice, I'm still here. If anything happens, I'll contact you. I promise, they won't catch me off-guard again. Now, Link...open your eyes."

He did.