Author's Notes: The Final Chapter! The Final Author's Notes! The Final Apology! To all those who suffer in torment because of my constant cliffhangers: I'm sorry. Sort of. Ok, not really. Also, I am aware that this leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Don't worry, I'm doing my best to answer them. If they aren't answered in "Insights of the Fierce Deity" then feel free to e-mail me your questions. I will do my best to answer them, and will be very confused if I don't get at least one question from someone. I really hope you enjoyed this fic, everyone, and hopefully you will enjoy the sequel. Bybyies!
Disclaimer: Next time I'm just going to put one big disclaimer at the first chapter so I don't have to say "I don't own Zelda" 5 million times.
Chapter 11: Resolutions
Silence reigned, the dark absolute.
After an eternity, a sound shattered the silence, and light returned.
This time, Impa was the first to rise. She could feel a splitting headache coming on, probably the aftereffects of whatever spell Zelda had cast. Thoughts of her charge brought Impa to full wakefulness. She sat up, ignoring the stab of pain between her eyes. She hated magic headaches. Looking about, she saw her teammates were still unconscious, but stirring. With a jolt Impa remembered the events leading up to her current situation.
Impa quickly got to her feet, ready to fight the threat, even if it was inside her friend's body. Facing the last known direction of the Fierce Deity, Impa froze. Unnoticed, her katana fell from nerveless fingers.
Lying prone on the ground was a figure that was most definitely not Link. The man was at least 7 feet tall, most likely taller still. He was wearing a tunic the color of starlight, and his hair matched the luminescence of it. He was also wearing body armor, which looked black, but plated in a metal Impa had never seen. On the breastplate of this armor were two insignia: a crescent moon and a triangle. There was a black covering on his arms and legs, which tucked neatly into black, metal-plated gauntlets and a large pair of brown leather boots, respectively. His skin was pale, and his face bore red and blue markings. Impa couldn't tell if they were tattoos or war paint. Loosely gripped in his left hand (Link was left handed, she remembered) was a monstrous sword shaped like a double helix. In short, he was intimidating.
Impa realized something: this was the man in the old texts. On the heels of that thought came: this is the Fierce Deity. The man sat up with a groan, his head in his hand. It seemed he was not above a headache. Impa failed to restrain a gasp of surprise when the man opened his eyes. They were pure white.
The man looked around, an expression of bafflement on his face. He seemed to know where he was, but not how he had gotten there. At the sound of Impa's gasp of surprise, he turned to face her. "Impa? W-what happened?" His voice was a low tenor, seeming to reverberate without echoing. Impa paled. If what she thought had happened had actually happened…
The man got unsteadily to his feet. "Impa? What happened? Why are we in the courtyard? And why are you looking at me like that?" Impa remembered to take a breath, realizing she had been holding it. Only one person she knew could ask those questions in a string like that. The voice had changed, but the innocence was still there.
"By the Goddesses, Link, is that you?" Impa breathed, hardly hearing her own voice. Link replied with a hint of worry. "Who else would I be?" Then he looked past her. His whitened eyes widened. "What the-? Why are Nabooru and Darunia here? And why is everyone unconscious? What happened?" He started to move forward, but stumbled. He didn't realize he had a new body yet.
Falling to the ground, Link held out his hands in front of him to break his fall. Instead of his own small hands, he saw the gauntleted fists of the Fierce Deity. Kneeled on the ground, Link simply looked at his hands. His gaze traveled to his arms, his chest. His face could have been a mask in a horror story. "What-? H-how-? How could this-? What happened?" His eyes looked up at Impa's, white eyes full of unanswerable questions.
Impa felt pity for the boy, even though only moments (hours? weeks?) ago, he had been trying to murder them. Of course, it hadn't really been Link…but trying to work through all the twists and turns of this nightmare were making her head hurt even more. "I don't know, Link, but I intend to find out. In the meanwhile, help me wake the others." She knew Link was never at ease unless doing something. Still in shock, the two began trying to awaken the others.
* * *
"Ok, hold on, let's try to recap this." Nabooru was massaging her temples. If she hadn't had a headache before, she did now. "Basically, Link 'absorbed' a mask with a pissed-off spirit inside, correct?" Link nodded his head sadly. Nabooru continued. "It tried to take over his body, but couldn't right away. So, it made us catch him and then told Zelda to do some weird voodoo magic trick, makin' this guy in control of Link's body. Am I right so far?" This time Zelda nodded. "Then this thing went nuts in Link's body, and tried to kill us. So all of a sudden Zelda hears another voice in her head, tellin' her to pull a switcheroo on that spell. She does, and now Link is stuck in ol' FD's body. And now we can't figure out how to return him back to normal. Is that about it?"
Impa nodded. "That seems to be the current situation." Nabooru slumped in her chair. They had all snuck to the Princess's chambers to discuss the interesting predicament they had found themselves in. Not an easy task, what with Link being a 7-foot plus warrior. Nabooru sighed. "Hoo boy. Any ideas on how to explain this to His Majesty?" Darunia snorted. "I'm still trying to explain this one to myself, much less the king."
Zelda grimaced, saying, "Good thing he's still at that meeting with King Zora. It should give us enough time to come up with at least half an explanation. We'll have to tell him eventually, however. What do we do with Link? It isn't easy to hide someone that large. No offense, Link."
Link smiled wanly. "None taken. I wouldn't know how to hide me either." He was sitting on the floor; not confident the chairs were built with a body like his in mind. Besides, he wasn't used to being so tall, and the lower perspective was comforting. He had been in this body before, but not for any length of time. It would take a while to get used to it.
The others continued to talk, discussing how to break this news to the king. Link leaned back, resting his head against the wall. He felt totally different. He didn't have to be afraid that the Fierce Deity would try to kill his friends anymore. Its presence was gone. But Link found that his perspective had changed, and not just from height. Before, he had been calm, slow to anger, and mostly good to a fault. Now, he felt a bit more lively, his temper had shortened to that of a somewhat normal person, and he was more balanced. Also, he felt more complete than he had in a long time. It felt good to have an adult body to match his maturity, but also he felt as if a part of him that had been missing for a long time had grown nearer. Lost in his thoughts, Link closed his eyes.
"Hey, wake up!"
Link jolted awake. He had been dozing off without realizing it. He felt himself blush. "I'm sorry, I'm awake now." Malon, who had woken him up, snorted in annoyance. "Well, you should be. It's your fate we're deciding, after all." Link blushed again. Although Impa found Link's reddening cheeks amusing, had no desire to see him chastised after the recent events. "It has grown late. Why don't we all retire for the night, and resume this discussion after a full night's sleep and a good breakfast?" Everyone agreed, with nods of approval or a yawn. Impa led them all to their respective rooms, and showed Link to a new guest bedroom that no one was likely to enter. This being done, Impa walked to her own room, looking forward to some well-deserved rest.
* * *
Less than a week later, the group found themselves in yet another uncomfortable situation: explaining the previous events to the king of Hyrule. They had decided to save Link for last, hoping to soften the blow by trying to explain him first. He did not seem happy or convinced. A very bad sign.
"Let me get this straight: you all know a peasant boy, who is a friend to you all, and he became ill. You brought him to the castle, and there was an 'accident' involving magic. My daughter apparently knows magic, you say. This mistake in a spell trapped this boy in the body of some mythical warrior. Is that right?"
Everyone nodded nervously. "Huh. Since my daughter would not have the audacity to lie, why don't you prove this story of yours? Where is the boy now?" He looked at all of them. They had not brought Link to the meeting, fearing his appearance might send the guards, if not the king, off the edge.
"I'm here, Sire." A quiet, timid, but powerful voice sounded from the doorway. Link had sneaked to the meeting, hiding just beyond the door. The king turned to face the owner of the voice. "Oh boy, here we go." Muttered Nabooru, fearing the worst. The king paled. In the doorway stood Link, an 8-foot mammoth of a man. He looked formidable, but his stance said otherwise. He looked world-weary, downtrodden, and overall miserable.
The guards, noting the sheer size of him, not to mention the sword, raised their spears. Zelda reacted instantly. "Halt! Do not strike him!" The guards hesitated, looking to their king for direction. Said king just stared at Link, overawed. Zelda spoke further. "Father, this is Link. He is actually a boy my age, and does not want to hurt anyone! Tell the guards not to strike!" Still a bit dazed, the king told the guards to lower their weapons. They did so, but nervously.
The king found his voice. Gesturing wildly towards Link, who remained standing in the doorframe. "And you want this…this…this person to stay at the castle?!" Darunia and Nabooru spoke at almost the same time. "He doesn't have to be here all the time, he is my sworn brother, and can always stay with the Gorons sometimes!" "He's an honorary Gerudo, so he can stay at the Fortress too." The king did not seem too comforted by this, instead being more put off balance. "So this man, who is really a boy, is both an honorary Gerudo and a Goron?!" Everyone nodded. "But how-? Why-? Oh, forget it! Do as you like with him!" The king, deciding he'd had enough for one day, left.
While the others cheered, Link just smiled. It was nice to know he had friends that would go through this much trouble for him, not that he wanted to be a bother. He didn't think he would be staying at the Gerudo Fortress, for obvious reasons, but he did not mind visiting. Zelda had assured him that no matter what the outcome of this meeting was, she would do all in her power to find a way to return him to his former self. He had tried the Song of Healing the first night, but it had failed to work for whatever reason.
It looked to be a while before Zelda would find a cure, but that didn't matter. He was with his friends, who cared about him, and loved him like family. Link smiled. He was home. Still smiling, Link went to his friends, who were calling him to come celebrate.
And so ends this chapter of Link's saga.