Chapter 3

Goodbye; Part 1

Hyrule was ruled by a man named Ganondorf.

Five-hundred years ago, Ganondorf usurped the king of Hyrule, and gave the Humans control over the kingdom. To this day, the Humans continue to worship him as if he were a god. Humans learn of him via the Book of Dragmire, a historical account of Ganondorf's deeds that led to the Humans taking control over Hyrule. Beneath him were five individuals who served as his sword and shield. These individuals were referred to as the "Five Saints of Power". Most knew of their existence, but few knew their identities.

The "Five Saints" were originally "six". However, history recalls that the sixth Saint was killed nearly five-hundred years ago by she who was considered to be the enemy of Hyrule, and from him, stole an article powerful to destroy the entire kingdom.

None know her name, but she is referred to as the "White Sorceress".

Below the Saints, are five Humans who are essentially the personification of Hyrule's government. They are called the Disciples of Dragmire, and collectively, they were the public face of Hyrule's authority.

Linkle's sniffling was the only thing that broke the silence. She stared into darkness as she trembled from the cold it brought.

How long had it been? How many hours? Was Philip ever going to let her out of there? Was she going to spend the rest of her life in this dark?

She decided not to ponder too much, lest she gnaw away at her own sanity.

After Philip took she and her brother away, he brought Linkle to one of his workers, and told him to bring her to a place known as "The Hole".

The Hole was simply that: a hole. Slaves were usually placed there for causing a great disturbance to Philip or another respected Human. None knew how far the darkness extended, but there had been reports of Keese within its reaches. Philip knowingly uses this to punish those he deems worthy, and he was using it to punish Linkle for "disturbing" Isabelle.

Where Philip took her brother, she did not know. No matter how much time had passed, though, that was the one thing that worried her the most.

For hours, Philip beat Link mercilessly. He beat him any way he could, whether he used his fist, a rock, or even some of his tools. He even stabbed him several times. He looked to torture the boy any way he could, without killing him. After he was finished, he dragged Link's now beaten and deformed body back to the shed, leaving a trail of blood behind, and flung his broken body toward the outside wall, electing to leave him there for his mother to find.

Every second was filled with intense agony for Link. He tried to move his arms to prop himself upward, but the pain weighed them down like a ton of bricks. Even the uneven earth beneath him assisted in his misery.

But his pain was miniscule in the face of his ever-increasing hatred for Philip; hatred for his daughter; hatred for all Humans.

If only he were stronger...

Yes...if he was bigger...stronger...he would put those animals through the very same pain they put him through.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Link knew very well it was likely Philip, back to inflict more pain and punishment on him. Perhaps he was here to finally kill him...

The footsteps paused.

Who was this? What did they want?

Was it his mother? Did she leave in the middle of the night to look for him?

Whoever it was, they continued their approach until they were standing over him. By now, Link could see their shadow. They were shorter than both Philip and his mother, but taller than Linkle.

The mystery person lowered themself and reached out. Link could feel person touch him, yet their touch brought no pain. Through his swollen eyelids, he could see a face that looked like it belonged to a girl, with the rest of their body covered in a black, hooded, cloak. The glowing of their violet eyes only added another question mark to the question of their identity. The person lifted Link's body, and brought him close, cradling him, and handling him with such care that, if he couldn't already see her, he'd confuse her with his mother. Link's pondering was interrupted when he felt something wet land on his face. Through his swollen eyelids, he couldn't see exactly what was happening, but he knew that the person was either drooling on him...

...or they were crying...

As he was pulled into a gentle, painless, embrace, he felt his head land on the person's chest.

Yep. Definitely a girl.

"How could they do this to you..." a soft, sad, voice pondered. She continued as she pulled away to look at him. "You poor thing..."

She embraced him again, "Everything's gonna be okay." she told him, "I'm here for you."

Link was startled by the gentle blue light that enveloped his body. Then shocked to feel the pain gradually receeding. After moments of silence, the pain finally subsided, and the glowing, dimmed. He felt himself pulled into a third, much tighter, embrace.

"I can't leave you here." she said, "I can't."

She seemed to ponder for a moment.

"I'll have to see if I can get her to let you stay in the village."

She tightened her embrace.

"At least then I know you'll be safe until we need you."

Link was surprised that the girl then leaned down and kissed his forehead. She pulled away to look at him...

...to see the boy awake, staring at her with wide eyes and a redened face.

She froze.

"Oh! Uh...hello! M-Man, this is one weird dream you're having, huh?"

Link replied, "I know I'm not dreaming."

"Deh-...uh..."

Link rose to sit up. Apparently the girl had placed him on her lap.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Um...can you keep a secret?"

"...Sure..."

The girl spoke in a whisper, "My name is Lana. You may have heard of me. People call me the 'White Sorceress'."

Link froze. Yes, he had heard of the White Sorceress. And he was also told that there was a reward for whoever reported a sighting of her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I always come here."

Link blinked in confusion, "But why? And why did you help me? H-How did you help me?"

Lana smiled at him, "I come here to see you. You usually happen to be hurt somehow when I do, so I help you out. As for how, well, that'd take too long to explain."

"...How long have you been doing this?"

"Since you were a baby."

"Why have you been doing this? Do you know me? Or my mom?"

"No, I don't know your mom. I want to though."

Lana hugged him again, "She's pwetty wucky to be awound such a cutie pie wike you!"

Link shoved himself away, "Stop! Why do you keep doing that?"

"No reason. Anyway, I care a lot about you. That's why I come here."

"If you care about me, why not get me out of here?"

"...It's not that simple."

She pulled him closer, and whispered, "You have a lot of eyes on you."

"What?! What eyes?"

"It might scare you if I tell you. But anyway, if I take you out of here, they'll be looking high and low for you. It would be too dangerous. That's why you have to stay here."

Link slumped his shoulders, and lowered his head alongside them.

"But don't worry!" Lana continued, "I'll always be here to protect you, as best that I can."

"Then-...can you help my sister?"

"What?"

"My sister. Philip took her to a place called 'The Hole'. It's-"

"I know where it is. You get sent down there pretty often." Lana sighed, "I wouldn't normally do something like this unless it's you, because I can't let anyone see me. But for you...okay."

Link leaned in and wrapped his arms around the sorceress.

Lana smiled as she returned the gesture, "Awww. You care more about your family more than you let on, do you?"

Link ignored the question as he pulled away. "By the way," he began, "when you thought I was sleep I-"

"Sorry for kissing you!" Lana interrupted, "I've been looking after you so long, I-"

"Not that." Link cut in, "Who's 'we'?"

"'We'?"

"The person you had to ask to-"

"Ooh. Just a friend of mine."

"Do they come here, too?"

"No, she doesn't. I have to go now."

Lana hugged him for the umpteenth time, and set him on the ground next to her. She rose to her feet and went on her way.

"It was nice formally meeting you. I'll come and see you again, just not when you're awake. Bye!"

And with that, Lana went on her way, in the direction of The Hole.

What a weirdo. Link thought. Though he was very thankful to that "weirdo". He would spend the next hour debating on whether or not to go inside and sleep next to his mother. Eventually, he would decide against it - suddenly appearing after being taken away by Philip may cause too much of a stir so late at night. He elected to sleep where he was.

"LINK!"

Link had returned to the tool shed early in the morning, where some of the slaves, including his mother were already awake. Though, other than his broken nose, Link's physical wounds had healed, the evidence remained on his tunic and pants, blood stains, tears (rips), and all.

"Are you all right?!" his mother asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?!"

"I'm fine." Link answered, "Did Linkle come back yet?"

"No. I'm worried about her."

Then, as if on cue, Linkle walked through the door to the shed.

"Mom!" she shouted excitedly.

The two rushed into an embrace with one another.

Link approached the two, curious. "Linkle." he started, "Are you okay?"

Linkle turned to look at her brother, surprised to hear him ask about her well-being.

"What?" he asked.

"U-Um, yeah!" Linkle pulled away from her mother, "I've never felt better!"

The room filled with the vocal confusion of several of the other slaves.

"Let's sit you both down." their mother spoke.

The commotion over Link and Linkle woke the other slaves. By the time it was time for them to get ready for work, it felt like they had all been up for hours.

"By the way," Linkle said to Link before they left out, "Um..."

"What?" he asked.

"Well...I know it got you into a lot of trouble, but..." Linkle bowed, "Thank you for standing up for me yesterday!" she said quickly.

"Sure."

"And...um..."

Link turn to her, "What is it?"

Linkle quickly kissed him on the cheek and sped away.

"UGH!" Link shouted as he scrubbed his face with his hand.

The rest of the day progressed as normal, at least to the standards of the slaves.

After work, Link would wait for Linkle to arrive back in Philip's territory before returning home.

Silence ensued between the two, as it usually did on their way home, only interrupted by the random chater of other slaves they past.

"Hey." Link spoke to her suddenly.

"Hm?"

"You seem pretty happy since last night."

"Yeah! I don't know what it is, but I woke up feeling great this morning!"

Link turned away, wondering what Lana did when she was with his sister.

"Brother?"

"Hm?"

"I don't mean to sound weird, but...you've never talked to me this much before."

Link looked away, "So?"

"Well...did you come and protect me from the monsters last night?"

"What?"

"Well, I can't think of what else it could be. I asked Mom this morning, and she said no."

"Well, it wasn't me."

"Okay."

Late that night, Link separated himself, and situated himself outside, where Philip had left him beaten just a day ago. He wondered if Lana would appear to him again if he stayed awake long enough.

Though, he would have to work the next day, so that probably wouldn't be the best idea.

Besides, Lana appearing to him the previous day was simply an accident. She said herself that she would only appear to him when he was asleep.

Link's ear twitched at the sound of footsteps to his left.

Link and his mother made eye contact as she emerged from around the corner. Neither one shared a word, even as she sat beside him.

"Link."

"Hm?"

"...I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for being such a bad parent."

Link didn't respond.

"...I'm supposed to be the one protecting you and your sister...but you've both been through so much over the last few days...usually right in front of me... But now I'm going to do just that."

Link gave his mother a questioning glance. She turned to meet his gaze, and whispered:

"We're leaving. Tonight."

Link gasped, "What?!"

"Sh!" Link's mother looked around, "I just wanted to let you know that."

His mother rose to her feet, and returned to the shed as he watched on, wide-eyed. His first thoughts were of what Lana told him the previous day.

"

"You have a lot of eyes on you."

What eyes? Who was she talking about?

"It might scare you if I tell you."

Who would be watching him that he would be scared of? He didn't understand any of it...

His next thought was what they would do in the fields of Hyrule. Even he knew there were monsters scattered across those plains. How were they supposed to protect themselves from them?

Lana...

Yes...Lana could protect them...

"...they'll be looking high and low for you."

But who, exactly, are "they"? Philip and and some other people? How were they doing to find them? And Lana seems to always know where he was, so maybe she could find them and help them escape.

"I'll have to see if I can get her to let you stay in the village."

And, apparently, there was a village she knew of where he'd be safe. She could take them there.

The sudden revelation of his mother's plans left Link's mind racing into the late hours of that night. His mother never so much as hinted at falling asleep.

Sooner than Link could prepare for, it was time.

"Link." his mother whispered, "Get up."

Link rose to sit straight as his mother proceeded wake his sister.

"Hm?" Linkle murmured groggy.

"Sshh." her mother told her, "Get up."

"But it's still dark outside." she replied.

"Just get up."

The three left the shed, and silently rushed to the nearest bundle of trees.

"Linkle," her mother began, "it's very important that you do what I say, when I say it. No questions. Understand?"

"M-hm." she nodded nervously.

"Alright."

Link and Linkle's mother lowered herself in front of her children, "We're leaving this place." she began, "I'm gonna get you two some food, and then we're gonna head south, and out of Hyrule."

"What'll we do after that?" asked Linkle.

"It doesn't matter - we'll be free to do whatever we want. No more working for bad people like Philip, no more bad food, none of that. It'll just be us three. Is that what you want?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Good. Then let's go."

As the three proceeded to Philip's house, it began to rain. Link and Linkle's mother had them move faster, knowing that, if they take too long, they'll end up leaving a trail. The three approached a bunch of dense greenery yards away from Philip's abode.

"You two stay here." the siblings' mother directed, "When I get back with the food, we're going to run. And make as little noise as possible. Understand?"

The siblings nodded.

"Good. I'll be right back."

Their mother gave a glance to each of her children when she noticed the fearful expression on her daughter's face. She smiled.

"I'll be fine," she told her, "so don't worry."

She gave her daughter a parting kiss on the forehead before setting off, running into what may as well be enemy territory.

Time seemed to slow to a snail's pace as the pair awaited their mother; seconds seemed like minutes, and minutes felt twice as long. Every so often, Link would glance around at their surroundings, ensuring that no one was watching them, whether they be other slaves or a Human who was still on Philip's land for some reason. Linkle, on the other hand, glued her eyes to the large house in front of them, worried for her mother.

Eventually, she appeared from around the house, running at them at full speed. She signaled for her children to stand.

BANG!

The loud sound startled the siblings, and destabilized their concentration on their mother, and the directions they were to follow. Within the next second, their mother's body had fallen forward, and landed on the ground. She made no effort to get up.

Linkle, having had no idea what the sound was, thought to rush out into the open, to check on her mother.

Link, who knew full well, had begun to panic. From his crouched position, he looked frantically for the source of the sound that was sure to have woken Philip. Those few seconds of mental disorientation were why he made no effort to stop his sister from rushing out into full view of who or whatever was out there.

"Mom!" she shouted as silently as she could, "Get up! We gotta run!"

That was when a mystery figure appeared.

Because this figure didn't appear out of the house ahead, Link's first thought was that this person was Lana. That was why he didn't immediately put two and two together.

A flash of lightning illuminated the area for a split second; long enough for Linkle to see the blood covering her mother's face. She screamed.

"Mom!" she yelled, shaking her mother's body violently, "MOM, get up!" She froze as the shadow stood over her.

"Hm..." the figure seemed to muse.

Linkle looked behind her, at the source of the voice. It was difficult to tell, but it was a man standing over her. He wore a skin-tight, white attire, paired with what looked like a red cape.

The man continued, "A 'gun', is it?" He turned his wrist, inspecting the weapon closely, "This weapon is much too loud for my liking. Though, I will say the projectile is much faster." He looked down at Linkle's mother, "And the wound is much cleaner... Very well. I think I'll-"

The man was interrupted by the angered shout of Link, who had emerged from the greenery, and leapt at the stranger, looking to attack.

That was when the man vanished.

Link landed on his hands and knees, his attack only meeting a cloud of what appeared to be scarlet-colored diamonds.

"BAH, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Both Link and Linkle were stunned to see the man appear behind Link.

"Did you truly think you could hit me with a pathetic attack like that?!"

With an inconsolable grimmace on his face, Link sprung to his feet, and went for a second attack. The man easily dodged, and grabbed the boy by the throat, and lifted him off his feet.

"BROTHER!" Linkle screamed. She rose to her feet, and froze when she met the eyes of the man who towered over her...

The man who had murdered her mother...

"Would you like to dance, too?" he asked.

The girl stared, wide-eyed, when a groan from her brother freed her from her fear-induced trance.

"P-Put my brother down!" she demanded.

"Or what?" the man asked as a sadistic smile spread across his face.

Just then, a second figure appeared. With a leap into the air, they landed a swift kick to the man's face, hard enough to send him flying.

The man released Link on contact. The boy fell to the ground, clutching at his throat as he coughed violently.

"Brother!" Linkle called as she rushed to his side.

The mysterious second figure turned to look at Link, when the two made eye contact. Link froze.

It was Lana!

"Get up." she instructed silently, "I need you two to get away from here, now!"

"No..." Link told her, "We're getting out of here..."

"I told you already, you can't do that!"

Lana turned to face the man as he rose to his feet.

"You...!" he growled. Suddenly, he paused.

"You're that sorceress, aren't you? The one who stole Majora's Mask..."

Lana watched the man as she continued to speak to Link, "I'm sorry," she said, "but you can't leave. Go back home!"

"No!" Link shook his head stubbornly, "We're gonna leave and-"

"Get real!" Lana yelled at him, "You're just a child! What are you gonna do by yourself?!"

"Brother," Linkle spoke up, "she's right - it's too dangerous."

Lana continued, with the words that would ultimately convince Link to turn back.

"They may need you, but they don't need your sister. Think about how your actions will effect other people!"

The man Lana was still watching, watched on, a ghoulish grin. He had seen enough.

"That boy..." he began, "That's Link, isn't it?"

Link and his sister now had their startled gazes locked on the man as he continued.

"That's why you're being so protective of him." He rose a hand to face level, his fingers in position to snap. "I may not be a match for you with that mask in your possession, but I believe my master would be pleased to learn that you were seen in this area."

And with that, the man vanished.

Lana sighed. With the threat gone, she turned her attention to Link and Linkle.

"Who was that?" Link asked as she approached.

"His name is Ghirahim." Lana answered, "Remember when I told you you have a lot of eyes on you? That's one of them. He's one of the people who'll be looking for you if you were to escape.

Link balled two fists full of the moistened dirt beneath him, as the ongoing rain began to wash away his hopes of escaping.

He knew now that he would never be able to escape the life he was trapped in.

"Who are you?" Linkle asked.

"I can't tell you." Lana replied, "I'll take your mother's body with me. If the Humans find her, she won't even get a proper burial." Lana propped the woman in question onto her back. "You two head back home. Those Humans in that house are pretty deep sleepers, but they won't be asleep forever." Lana carried the siblings' mother's body away, and left the pair alone with the emotional trauma these events have caused.

"Let's go..." Link told his sister, sounding defeated.

To Be Continued!