Chapter Ten: Temple of Shadows

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Let us recap recent events! Rae went back into the past and met up with a littler Sheik. Then she fought for the lens of truth, which was really a pair of magic-ed sunglasses. Then she went off to the Shadow temple while Link and Sheik fought against the influences of their shadow wounds. Link met up with the shadow creature and fell under his influence…

ANYway…I don't own Zelda or anything related, blah, blah, blah…

And this chapter is dedicated to hellcat805 for being super patient and not yelling when I didn't update fast enough. And to kizna1200… who are you?? I neeeeed to knowwwww!

A-hem… Thanx for caring!

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"Hey…the door is closed."

Rae nodded absently, strangely tranquil, despite the trial that she was about to face. Reaching into pocket, she pulled out the jewel that she had pilfered from Link's bag.

"HEY! Where did you get that?" Navi buzzed around Rae's head.

"I'm borrowing it. How does it work?" Rae knew, of course, but it seemed a bit silly to slam the jewel to the ground and yell.

"You mean that you don't know?" Navi said smugly. "Well, it's sure a good thing that I came along after all, hey?"

Rae rolled her eyes and stepped onto the carved stone platform. "Yeah, yeah…are you going to tell me or not?" Was it just her, or did Navi say 'hey' a lot?

"I guess I'd better, hey?" Navi puffed herself up importantly. "Just hold it out before you and summon your power."

Rae stared at her. "My…power?"

"Yeah…go on!"

Rae switched her staring to the jewel in her hand. Oh, how she hated these little changes between the game and the reality… "Um…"

"You do have power, don't you?"

"Of course!" Rae said indignantly. "Just gimmie a sec." Frowning, she held the jewel out at arms length, silently willing it to work.

"Well?!"

"Keep yer dust on!!" Brows knitting together, Rae sent an unspoken plea to the Goddess, Din. Please, just this one time, let me use this without having to visit a Great Faerie first…please Din…everything may ride on this…

With a sudden flare, the red jewel blazed and sent out a ring of fire. Navi squeaked and fluttered above the wave, and Rae staggered back with the sudden intensity of it all.

"Hey, warn someone when you're going to do that!!!!" Navi yelled at her.

"Shut up." Rae said vaguely. Whoa…uh, thanks…Din… Maybe there were Goddesses.

The sound of crackling fire echoed in the room as all the torches were lit at the same time. A loud grinding filled the air as the heavy stone doors folded in to reveal a darkened passageway. Faerie and Canadian walked through the foreboding entrance, oddly silent.

Even though she had gotten over the surprise that came with finding some difference between the game and the reality, nothing prepared her for what she found at the end of the darkened passageway. It was a living room of her world-complete with furniture and pictures. Navi buzzed around the TV set, ogling at her reflection in the rounded surface.

"What is this? Where are we?"

Rae stood quietly, her eyes gliding over the room. "This…this is my house…my home…I'm back home…"

Maybe it was because her eyes were watering, but her view of the room seemed to be a bit hazy. Rae, on an impulse, turned to glance back down the passage. As she suspected, it wasn't there, but for some strange reason, she wasn't alarmed. Navi noticed the same thing and started to panic.

"What are we going to do?!" She paced in the air. "What are we going to DO???"

"Shut up Navi." Rae murmured, running a hand over the cotton fabric of a blanket. She pulled it off the rocking chair and felt it between her fingers. It was the blanket that her brother had always liked. It was a dark navy blue with a mysterious violet swirl on one of the corners. When she held it in her grasp, she felt a wash of memories flow over her, threatening to drown her.

* Ping * Navi bounced in front of Rae, curiously watching her. "What are you doing?"

Rae blinked, tossing the coverlet to one side with a careful indifference. "I need to think."

"Don't strain yourself." For once, there was no pert reply to the faerie's bantering.

~*~*~*~

Sheik strummed the strings of his harp thoughtfully, willing the queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach to settle down. He sat in a field, underneath a large oak tree, but he ignored his surroundings. He felt no warmth from the sun, cool refreshment from the breeze, or the whispering of the grass. The only whispering he heard was in the illusion of the scenery, in the illusion of everything around him. The overwhelming stench of it all make him sick.

You cannot keep this up forever, Sheikah… A taunting little voice said, drifting from out of nowhere. You will submit to me…

"I have the strength to resist you forever, creature." Sheik replied evenly. A feeling of anger rose in him, but he let the emotion wash over him, accepting it instead of letting it have power.

You will be mine…I will have all of the Sheikah…

The harp twanged painfully, as Sheik's fingers pulled too hard on one of the strings. He had to calm down…he would do Impa no good if he let the shadows take hold of him. "I will fight you till the last breath leaves my body."

Then you will be mine anyway…

Sheik scoffed. Suddenly there was a rush of wind, and Sheik was forced to drop his harp. Clutching his shoulder, Sheik abruptly felt the burning sting of the shadow wound. It had disappeared as soon as he entered the realm, but now it was back and stronger than ever. "No…"

You cannot resist the shadows…

~*~*~*~

Rae started as she heard footsteps behind her. Spinning, she saw someone that made her drop the blanket. It was her brother. It was Francis. Navi tried to speak a warning, but something made her suddenly blip away.

Francis was tall and thin, dark auburn hair wavy and framing his face. Glittering eyes stared lovingly at Rae, their color as green as her own. He wore a simple black shirt, and dark denim jeans. He was just like she remembered him.

"Rae…" He held out his arms to her. She hesitated for only a second, rushing into the embrace with tears in her eyes.

"Francis…you've been gone so long…"Rae spoke into his shoulder, her words muffled. She breathed in and smelled the scent of cinnamon…his signature smell.

"I had to leave for a little while." He replied. "But now I'm back…and you can come with me…we can be brother and sister again…"

Rae melted into the embrace. It had been so long since she had seen her brother. He had been like a best friend to her. "Why did you leave?"

"Don't think about that now…I'm back to stay…"

Rae frowned, through blurry vision. There was something a bit off. Come to think of it…He was the exact same as the last time she had seen him…seven…years ago… Rae pulled back a little.

"What's wrong, sis?" His eyes glimmered, yes, but not with life…with something else…

Reaching up, Rae slowly put the lens of truth on. As the shimmering blue-red lenses dipped over her eyes, her brother's kind face disappeared. In its place was a shadowy being. "You aren't Francis."

"No…" The creature agreed. "I'm not." He reached for Rae. She struggled to breathe, as black darkness filled her mouth and nose. Rae kicked and pushed, and tried to get away. She could still feel the false arms of her brother around her, and it made her remember something. She was resisting the shadows…she was fighting against them… What was it that Sheik had said to her?

**** "The Sheikah are the people of the shadows. This does not mean that we serve the darkness; it means that we are light that lives in the darkness. We do not cast away all shadow, for it lives in each of us. Instead, we strive to accept it and learn to recognize it so that we aren't tainted by it."****

Accept it and learn to recognize it so we aren't tainted by it… Rae's eyes blinked open. It lives in each of us… That was it! That was the solution…

Letting her limbs go limp, Rae stopped struggling against the creature. It laughed and set her down on the ground, peering at her.

Finally…you accept your fate, little one…you are mine…

"No…" Rae said hollowly, looking into the depths of the shadow beast. She took off the lens of truth. "You're mine."

What? Francis' image was no longer there; it was only a dark figure.

"You are a part of me." Rae repeated. "You are the dark to my light, the evil to my good. You are a part of me." She tilted her head sidewards. "You are what keeps me in balance. I need you." She held her arms out. "You are mine."

The shadow beast suddenly seemed to freeze. There was a great sucking sound, and wisps of the creature melted away. In moments, only a faint outline of a young woman was seen, standing in front of Rae. From out of the disappearing darkness, Navi and Impa appeared.

Rae reached one hand out to her shadowy double. "You're mine. You're me." The shade nodded, reaching a hand out to her in an identical motion. Their fingers meshed together and the shadow was absorbed into Rae.

Good job little one…you understand the shadows…now you can see with the eyes of truth…

There was a dark flash of light, and Rae covered her eyes with one hand.

"Are you all right, child?" Impa had come to her side, having recovered slightly from her capture. Rae nodded, looking up at the Sage. Impa gasped lightly, and touched one hand to Rae's cheek. "Your eyes…"

"What?"

Impa pulled a small signal mirror out of her pocket. Looking into it, Rae saw that her eyes had changed its color. Instead of being completely green, it was now a swirled crimson-emerald. As she shifted her head, the light changed the color from one to another. She had the eyes of truth. Well…sort of.

Rae took a moment to notice her surroundings. They were now all standing in a completely non-script dome shaped room, colored a dull silver-black.

Impa watched the girl for a moment. "When I saw you sick and dying, I didn't think that you would be one to overcome the shadows. To me, it is obvious that you do not belong to this world, but I am grateful that you have come in this dire time of need. Soon you will meet the princess face to face, and it is then when you will banish Ganon from this land." Impa shifted her gaze. "You, along with the Hero of Time, will go to the princess and protect her on my behalf. I must stay here as the Sage of the Temple." She turned back to Rae. "Although you have refreshed my memory in the ways of the shadows." Rae blushed; after all, it had been an inspiration from Sheik's words that did it. Impa dipped a hand into her pocket. Taking out a small medallion, she handed it to Rae. "Go to your friends. Tell them how to see the shadows. Make them understand."

"Thank you."

"No. Thank-you."

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Yeah, so didn't see THAT coming, eh? There's a little piece on the next chapter that will explain a few things, so if you didn't understand parts of the ending, that's okay.

Thank you so much for being so patient with me!! I just was stuck on how exactly to write this chapter, that I pursued other fics! Thanks for waiting, and I will try to get the next chapter out super fast!

OH! If there are any Harry Potter fans out there, please check out my HP story I just started; Don't Hold Back. I think that it's really good. It's my first attempt at a romance; so don't be surprised if it's a little stiff.

Oh well.

OracleVortex

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