Monster from the Deep

From a balcony on his tower, Ganondorf stood surveying the remains of Castle Town. He leaned against the stone guardrail with one arm and swirled a glass of wine in his other hand. Red dust choked the air, turning the sky a burning orange shade. It reeked of decay. Yet, he did not mind. This was not his ideal world, no, but this was the price of his power. And if he had to burn the world before he could rebuild it in his image, then so be it.

His eyes narrowed as he watched troops of moblins and stalfos patrol below. A deep chasm separated his tower — built on the ruins of the old Hylian eyesore — from the rest of the world. Few could access his domain, not even his troops, and fewer left with their lives.

By all accounts everything seemed in order. Everything looked just as his plans dictated.

But he knew that was too good to be true; recent, troubling developments proved that. His phantom had been destroyed; he felt it the moment it happened. Even an army of those spineless forest spirits should not have been able to stop it. And yet, it had fallen. Then he'd received word of Volvagia's demise. Once again, the gorons were outside of his control.

In the seven years that he'd been in this power struggle, he hadn't lost as much ground as he had in this fortnight. Something had changed. Something had shifted, and the speed at which it moved concerned him.

A whooshing noise sounded above his head, then another. That sounded far too big for a carrion bird. Knowing what to expect, Ganondorf lazily tilted his gaze skyward.

Circling overhead, a pair of hunched figures atop broomsticks drifted lower and lower, dark robes flapping in the wind. Ganondorf stared for a moment longer then slowly stood to attention, placing one arm behind his back. He knew these women well.

They came to a stop on the far side of the balcony and dismounted, looking him over with bulging owlish eyes. Both wore their hair back in tangled messes, and they moved in an unnaturally in-sync way that would make lesser individuals quiver with unease. But Ganondorf felt no fear.

"Koume, Kotake," he greeted, his voice curt. "What news do you bring?"

"Your plans progress well in the desert," the one on the left, Koume, said, bowing her head and holding her broom to her side. "Your forces there have cut off all remaining trade routes. With time, you should be able to choke out the last resisting forces of Hyrule." She paused. "But…"

His brow furrowed. "But?"

Kotake answered, mimicking her sister's pose. "News in other parts of Hyrule does not bode well, your majesty. From what I understand, interference allowed the zora princess to escape. She traveled into the Water Temple…"

Ganondorf's grip on his wine glass tightened. "And?"

"Morpha was defeated," Koume said.

"The sage of water was awakened," Kotake said."

His lip curled back and he gnashed his teeth together in a snarl. He heard a cracking noise before he screamed, smashing his glass against the ground. Wine splattered, creating a puddle of red that ran over the stones. Koume and Kotake did not react.

"How," he growled, "did this happen?"

"We are still gathering the details."

"But we know the princess entered the temple along with the man in blue."

That Shekiah. Ganondorf felt nothing but seething hatred.

Taking several deep, ragged breaths, Ganondorf kicked aside one of the larger glass shards. It wedged itself between the stones. His lip curled, and he stomped on it, crushing it to bits like the bothersome pest it was.

"We cannot allow another sage to awaken." His voice was sharp, with a warning bite to it. Tilting his head up, he clasped his hands behind his back and looked down at the witches. You two. I want you to send word to Naboru. Take her, a handful of stalfos, and a pair of the iron knuckles. Have them stationed at the desert colossus. Tell the rest of the Gerudo the temple is off limits until further notice, punishable by imprisonment or death. I trust you two to make that judgment, accordingly."

"Understood, my liege," the witches said in unison, tapping the end of their brooms on the ground.

"Also…" he continued. "Rally up a platoon of the undead. Send them to Kakariko. WIth three sages awoken, we cannot wait to smoke resistance out any longer. We will crush them like the insignificant bugs they are, and wipe out the Sage of Shadow, while we're at it."

"Is it wise to attack now?" Koume asked.

"Are you questioning my judgment?" Ganondorf countered.

"Of course not," Kotake replied. A grin spread across her wrinkled, shrunken face. "You learned from the best after all."

For just a moment, Ganondorf allowed himself a genuine smile. "Indeed." And then he hid his weakness. "You are dismissed. Go, carry out my orders."

"Yes sir!" they said in unison. Then, climbing on to their brooms, the witches flew away with a cackle. Ganodorf watched as they shrunk to specks and disappeared into the dusty horizon.

He would stop the remaining sages. He would find those bothersome hidden pieces of the Triforce and reunite it. He would get his wish. He would win.

Link had not stopped running since he saw the smoke.

Tensions had been high amongst the group since they'd first noticed it. Link pressed on in silence. Malon rushed ahead, only to stop and wait for the others, afraid of going on alone. Afraid of what she might find. Skull Kid protested; whatever was ahead was dangerous — and extremely so for Link and himself. But he refused to be left behind. Navi stayed close to Link and kept silent, only occasionally letting out jingles.

Signs of destruction became more clear as they neared the entrance of the valley. Villagers stumbled about, sooty and dazed. Some looked better off than others, only noticeably distressed by the grime and the haunted look in their eyes. Others showed signs of a fight, with smears of blood or hot red welts or bandages hastily made from torn clothing that had since turned red.

Several of them gave Link a wary eye as he approached, but relaxed at the sight of Malon and Navi. The few that didn't relax were unwilling to attack.

Navi approached one of the less haunted-looking villagers — an elderly, bearded man — while the others hung back. "What happened," she demanded.

"Moblin attack," he replied breathlessly. "They marched into the valley at dawn, set fire to the houses. Came from both sides. Guards opened us a way to escape." He turned back. "Sheik and Impa are still there, assisting the guard. There's at least a dozen people still unaccounted for."

"Sheik and Impa are still there," Navi's voice rose an octave, and she let out a distressed jingle. She took a moment to calm down enough to thank the man before returning to the group. Link thought her distress levels were unusually high but thought better of questioning it now.

"We. We have to go," she said, voice quiet, but firm. "If Sheik and Impa are still there and in danger then… But…" She trailed off, glancing uneasily at Link.

"You want us to go into the fire?" Skull Kid asked, crossing his arms. "Kind of asking for a lot, don't you think? I know Sheik's cool and all — for an adult — but that's pretty dangerous."

"You don't understand! Impa is the next sage, and Sheik…" She suddenly looked around and then clammed up.

Link looked up to the smoky sky. The idea of going into the fire made him want to run far, far away. Let this all be someone else's problem. But he had a mission to finish. He'd already seen it through this far…

He reached a hand into his bag, brushing his hand on the ocarina for comfort. Then he nodded and stepped forward. "I'll go."

"What?" Skull Kid looked at Link as if he'd grown a second head. When it became clear Link would not back down, he groaned. "Fine. I'll go too. I'm not letting Link leave my sight, but I don't like it!"

"I'll stay here," Malon said. "I'm no good in a fight, but I know a bit of first aid. I might be able to help the injured."

Navi hesitated. "I… think I need to stay as well. I don't want to, but I've learned some basic healing magic. I'll be more helpful here. But I'll catch up later."

Link glanced at Navi. So they were separating again. His fingers twitched; he wanted to reach out to her. But he didn't. Instead, he nodded before turning to run back towards the village.

Black, billowing smoke choked the air, limiting visibility as Link stumbled up the mountain path. Skull Kid was supposed to be somewhere behind him. But the smoke muffled sound and made it impossible to tell.

As hard as it was to see, he barely had time to swerve out of the way as he came across an unmoving figure in the smog. Whether they were villager or monster, he couldn't be certain. He didn't even know if they were dead or alive. He didn't have time to find out. Even if they were alive, there was little he could do to help them. Frustration made him draw his sword as he charged forward, hands squeezing the hilt.

To his surprise, the smoke began to weaken as he neared the village, so that he could see Kakariko's gate as he passed underneath. Ahead, he could hear shouting, and see the flickering light of fire, but he saw no monsters. None alive, at least. A moblin with an arrow sticking out of its neck slumped against the cliff, and he saw the scattered, blackened bones of a stalfos. Other unidentifiable bodies littered the path, staining the grass red.

Despite hearing shouts ahead, he could not hear the sound of fighting. He slowed to a stop, trying to liste as anxiety creeped its way into his chest. Was it over already? Had the villagers survived? Or…

He charged forward again. He couldn't let his fears get the better of him. Not if there was still work to be done.

"Link, wait up!"

Skully's call made him slow down only for a moment. He glanced back, making sure the other skull kid was keeping pace, but then pushed forward again.

As he reached the center of the village, surrounded by dying fires that licked at smoldering buildings, he could see flickers of movement against the flame. Humans, he thought. To his left, he heard a loud hiss, then saw steam rising up and mixing with the flames. One of the figures ran off, two buckets in hand, passing a line of men that were passing buckets forward. They had to be the villagers and soldiers, trying to put the fire out.

"Link!"

His attention snapped away from the line and to a single figure nearby. Sheik was racing towards him, his clothes covered in ash. Link began to lower his sword, relaxing. But then Sheik shouted, "Get down!"

Link only had a second to hesitate before Sheik dove for him, knocking him to the ground. The Master Sword fell from his hand as they tumbled, rolling to a stop. Something whooshed by overhead not a second after.

Dazed, it took Link a moment to recover and try to stand up. Sheik was already back on his feet, head whipping around wildly as he tried to track something. Link tried to follow his gaze, but saw nothing.

He opened his mouth to ask what was going on. But before he could, Sheik jumped back, slashing wildly at the air. "Take cover!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Suddenly, the shekiah crumpled to the ground, as if crushed by a great weight. Then, to Link's horror, he was lifted into the air by some invisible force. He hung limply, dropping his knife as he was flung around like a ragdoll. Then, he sailed in an arc through the air, hitting the ground with a dull thud, and did not get back up.

"Sheik!" Link rushed towards him. But before he could reach Sheik, something struck him in the side, sending him sprawling to the ground. He felt something cold and clammy grab him by the legs. Panic and dread seized his chest. He clawed desperately at the ground, but he, too, was dragged into the air. The world spun as he was tossed helplessly about, swinging his arms wildly in some desperate attempt to free himself.

The cold, clammy feeling wrapped around his chest, and he felt a pressure on his whole body, threatening to crush him. Screaming rang in his ears. Was it his own? The corners of his vision started to go dark…

Then, for some reason he couldn't explain, the pressure weakened. But it meant little. He was free of the clammy feeling, but was racing through the air, straight into one of the stone walls. There was a dull crack as he slammed into the merciless stones. He fell. He thought he heard screaming, thought he heard someone calling his name, thought he saw someone running towards him. For just a second, he thought he saw a great, wrinkled, beast, a single red eye glaring at him with undisguised malice.

Then he hit the ground and everything went dark.

He was back in that foggy place, where the water stretched as far as the eye could see, the only distinguishing feature the sandy bank with the dead tree.

Why was he here? Wasn't there trouble in Kakariko? Shouldn't he be there, fighting?

"You failed to recognize the danger and got yourself seriously injured. It's a wonder you're still alive, the way you handle yourself."

Link spun around, staring into the fog. Two glowing eyes stared back, but his shadowy doppelganger was obscured. He drew his sword, staring uneasily into the mist.

The red eyes flickered, then vanished. Link tightened his grip on the hilt. But the eyes did not reappear.

"You need not be frightened." The voice came from all around him, Dark Link's true location impossible to pick out. ""I have no interest in harming you, only in warning you. The danger you'll face if you continue down your current path is immeasurable. But you still have time to turn back."

"I can't!" Link responded immediately. He'd come too far to back down. Besides… there was nothing left for him now, if he stopped. Sure, he had Skull Kid, but that was all he had. And he'd still never know peace.

Dark Link did not respond for some time. The fog parted slightly, and Link caught a glimpse of him staring before the clone disappeared into the mists again.

"Then you will perish." Contempt oozed from the voice. "Even if you live, you will never know peace. Too much has happened. Look in your heart, hero. You know it's true."

The fog thickened, pressing down on Link like a great weight. Then the world went white.

It still felt like there was a great weight on his chest when Link woke. He groaned, shifting, but his movement was not without dull, throbbing pain.

"I think he's waking up."

Navi? That sounded like Navi. His vision flickered for a moment before returning. Above him, charred timbers and roofing partially obscured a twilight sky. His vision shifted as he tried to move his head, then Navi flickered into view.

"Hey, take it easy," the fairy said. "We used magic to heal the worst of your injuries, but you're still hurt."

Still hurt? Oh, that's right. Something had tossed him. Something he hadn't been able to see. And not just him, but…

"Where's Sheik?" he asked, his voice coming out hoarse. He tried to push himself to a sitting position, but struggled to move. Navi gently pushed down on his shoulder.

"Don't try to get up. You're still in bad shape." He blinked, and once she was satisfied he wouldn't try to get up again, she continued. "Sheik is… Sheik will be fine. He's just badly banged up. He's resting right now."

Before Link could reply again, a wooden hand pushed Navi to the side, and Skull Kid's face entered his line of sight, the corners of his beek twisted into a frown and his eyes flickering with worry. He scrutinized Link for a minute, then his frown turned to a grin. "Feeling any better, sleepyhead?"

"Skull Kid!" Navi bonked against the side of Skully's face. "Give him some space!"

"But you weren't giving him space," Skully protested.

"But I was being gentle. Come on now, go wait — hey, what are you doing, Sheik? You should be resting!"

Link heard a shuffling, then faltering footsteps, followed by a heavy thump. Turning his head to the side, he could see Sheik sitting nearby, watching him while taking several long, deep breaths.

"No," Sheik said as Navi raced to his side to fret over him. "We need to talk. I can rest afterwards." His gaze moved to Link. "But what happened today… We can't wait. The monster that attacked us headed into the Shadow Temple… where Impa, the next sage, is already waiting for us." He sucked in a sharp breath, bringing a bandaged arm to clutch at his side.

Navi was at the sheikah's side at once, her hands glowing bright. "Please, Sheik, you need your rest!"

"There isn't time!" Sheik shot back. "Link needs a way to see through the illusions of the temple, to see what attacked us. But if we wait for him to recover, then send him searching in the catacombs, it'll be too late. That filthy beast will have killed Impa already."

An uneasy silence fell over the group, the seriousness of the situation apparent.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Navi whispered. "If Impa dies before she can be awakened…"

Sheik closed his eyes, his expression scrunched with pain. "I have… one idea. But it's risky." He looked up at Link with a gaze so intense that Link wanted to wither away beneath it. "If it goes wrong, Link could lose himself. But we're running out of options."

"Wait," Navi said. "You don't mean to send his spirit back to the past, do you?"

"It's the only way," Sheik insisted, nodding. "If he returns the Master Sword. Then the sages can send his spirit back to the past, reawakening him at the time he first pulled the sword. He'll retain all his memories of this time, but it will be as if no time passed at all from when he first tried to pull the sword. However…"

He looked at Link again. "You're going back to a time when you were still cursed, and when your curse was still in control. If you are not strong, if you aren't careful, you could lose control of yourself. The curse will have all the knowledge you have. It will be able to do things differently, set contingencies in place so that you fail when you return. That's something you need to be aware of. You may never get the chance to return to normal. But it's the best chance we have."

Sheik held his hand out. "Link… do you accept the risks? Will you return to the past, risk yourself to save us all?"

Link was quiet at first. Before he had a chance to answer, Skull Kid interrupted.

"That's not fair! You're always asking him for so much. Why do you keep taking and taking from him?"

"It's not as if anyone wants Link to get hurt!" Navi argued. "Things weren't supposed to turn out like this! Ganondorf was supposed to be stopped by the Triforce, not allowed into the Sacred Realm and allowed to take over Hurdle!"

"Wait."

"You guys just want someone to do your dirty work so you don't have to risk getting hurt. That's always been what this is about." Skull Kid crossed his arms. "If it weren't for you guys, Link and I would still be back in the forest having fun."

"Guys—"

"That's not true, Skull Kid! If Link hadn't gone, then Ganondorf would have won and there'd be no one to stop him! I didn't want something like this happening to Link, but it's the way things happened, and we just have to live with it."

"Would you please listen-"

"But he doesn't have to keep this up. Why can't you and Sheik just take care of it by yourselves?."

Link pushed himself to a sitting position, ignoring the pain. "Would you please just listen to me!" A silence fell over the group as all eyes turned to Link. He fought the urge to shrink back under their shocked expressions. "I… I'll go. I'll do it. I… I think I need to." He hesitated. "I… can't go back to normal anymore anyways. What's one more risk at this point?"

"Link," Skull Kid looked crestfallen. "It's not fair. You shouldn't have to do this."

"I have to," Link responded firmly. "Too much has already happened. I'm sorry, Skully, thanks for looking out for me."

He turned his attention back to Sheik. "When do I leave?"

Sheik glanced to the sky. "In the 're in no shape to travel at night. It's not a long time to recover, but it'll have to do. Navi can get the local potion maker to try and whip something up." He paused, adding under his breath, "I hope it works…"

Navi was silent for a moment, then dipped her head. "I'll go find the potion maker now." She turned and zipped away, leaving just the three of them.

There was a tense silence between them as Sheik returned to his own bedding — little more than a mat on the ground. Skull Kid began to pace restlessly. Link wasn't ready to lay back down, so he stayed sitting up, letting his thoughts wander. He thought back to earlier, and the events that led him to arrive here. Only then did he realize someone was still missing from the group he'd come with.

"Where's Malon?"

"The farm girl?" Sheik asked. "She's helping the injured villagers. I don't know the details of why she was traveling with you, but she seems like a smart one."

Link hesitated for a moment, then briefly recounted the events that led up to their arrival. He left out his strange dream; if he wasn't going to tell Navi or Skull Kid, then he certainly wasn't going to tell Sheik.

When he was done, Sheik said nothing for a moment. "I suspect the envoy that was supposed to come pick up the horse was redirected here. It was brave of you to stop and help out. Do be careful in the future, though. We're so close to waking all the sages, we can't risk failure now."

"Don't you have anything nice to say?" Skull Kid grumbled.

Sheik said nothing for a while after that, and the group returned to silence. Navi returned a short while later, an elderly woman following behind. The woman gave Link one long look and grunted.

"I don't know if my potions will work on someone like him. Is it really worth the risk of wasting valuable potions when so many are hurt?"

"Give him the potion, Miss Osei," Sheik said, his voice blunt. "Impa would have told you to do the same."

The woman grumbled again, but complied. From her robes, she pulled a vial with a viscous red fluid inside. "Here. Drink up."

Link took the vial and swirled it around for a moment before unstopping it and drinking it all in one gulp. The taste was bitter, clinging to his mouth for some time. He rubbed his tongue along the roof of his mouth, trying to get rid of the taste. After a moment, the dull aching of his body subsided.

The woman turned to face Sheik next. "I will be back with more for you when I finish the next batch." With that, she turned and began to hobble away, muttering under her breath as she went. Link caught a few phrases before she got too far away to hear. "Honestly I don't know why Impa trusts that young man…thought she said she was the last sheikah."

Link glanced back at Sheik. Was that true? If so, he didn't know what to make of it. If Sheik wasn't supposed to exist, then who was he?

He didn't have long to think about it. Soon, drowsiness began to make his vision flicker as the last of the sun's light faded. He laid back down. It didn't take long to fall asleep. And this time, if he dreamed, he didn't remember it in the morning.

"Before you leave, there's a few things we need to discuss."

Sheik had woken Link at the crack of dawn. He felt better rested now, and, while his pain had not gone away entirely, he certainly felt better than he had before. Now he had gathered up all his equipment and was sitting on the steps of the half-burned building. Few were out at this time of day; a few of the less injured guards stood watch at the exits to the village. And a handful of villagers that knew how to heal were making their way among the sheltered areas, checking on the injured.

Sheik was sitting across from Link. In his lap were the remains of his harp. It had not survived the fall when he'd been tossed about by the invisible beast.

"The first involves your curse. I do not know how much control it will have over you when you wake in the past. You will have none of the equipment you've found since waking up, and that includes the medallions. You will need to focus to the best of your ability on keeping control of yourself. I wish I had better advice, but all I can give you is this warning: do not listen to what the voice wants you to do. It will only lead you to know that it does not want to help you, so don't let it dictate your actions."

Link nodded. He knew from experience it wasn't as simple as what Sheik said. But what choice did he have?

"Second, your mission." Sheik gazed across the open field, to the remains of a well at the center of the village. "There are catacombs beneath the well here, remains of a house and… other things that were later built over. I have reason to believe that there is an artifact in the catacombs that will let you see through illusions." Carefully, he stood and walked over to grab a charred stick, drawing a crude image of a magnifying glass on the wooden floorboards. "It looks something like this. The only problem is that the entrance to the catacombs is flooded. You might be able to get down there on your own, but getting inside is likely to be difficult. Which brings me to my third point."

He glanced down to the ruined harp in his lap. "From talking to the people of Kakariko, I've been told that several years ago, a troublemaker came through and played a song that caused the windmill to go haywire. The well dried up for days. You should be able to use this song to get inside. I can't play it for you, but I can at least hum it."

He waited for Link to grab his ocarina, then hummed the first section, a repetition of three ascending notes. Link followed along through the rest of the song, then repeated it once more for good measure at the proper tempo.

In the distance, thunder rumbled, prompting the two of them to glance to the sky. Had those clouds always been there? Probably.

"That should be everything," Sheik concluded. "If it's going to rain, you should probably get going."

"I'll go with him," Navi said, fluttering up and landing on Link's shoulder. "I can wait for him at the Door of Time. Is that okay?"

Sheik hesitated, then nodded. "Very well. Do what you must, but please be safe. Goddesses willing, you'll come back soon and we'll be able to finish the quest. Then we can all get a little peace."

Peace sounded nice. Link nodded and stood, glancing at Skull Kid. His friend had said nothing for the entire meeting, and was instead sitting and pouting at the edge of the group. Link went over to him, staring down for a moment as he considered what to say.

"I'll be back soon," he finally said. "Sorry this keeps having to happen."

Skull Kid looked up. His expression was stormy, and his eyes flickered and gave away his fear. "You better come back," he finally said.

"I will. Promise." Link hesitated, then leaned down to give Skully a hug. There was a faint rattle as he pulled away.

He gave Sheik and Skull Kid one last look. Then, before he could change his mind, he turned and strode out of the village.