Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Zelda characters but the ones that are
of my creation are mine and I do own the rights to them.
Chapter Eighteen: Going Crazy?
When Lily was done talking to Rauru she didn't head back to her room. Instead she went outside trying to get some fresh air. Or at least that's what she told anyone who asked her where she was going. What she really wanted was some quiet time. Some time to think to herself. She had to sort out everything she was feeling.
Before she headed outside she stopped in the kitchen to get a snack. The cooks were kind to her and loaded her arms with fruits and breads of all sorts. They especially liked her because she had gotten he stubborn cow that gave the best milk to keep from kicking someone while she was being milked.
Lily munched on an apple while she wandered around outside. She headed away from the castle down towards the gatehouse. When she reached it, she turned left and headed out towards an open orchard. Finding a big tree Lily seated herself underneath the big boughs and leaned back against the thick trunk. The leaves shadowed her face and a cool breeze brushed her cheeks, barely causing her hair move. For the first time in the past three days Lily almost felt at peace.
Almost.
Her peace of mind was broken when she turned to the problem at hand. Things had been very strange ever since she had left home. First she was able to enter the Sacred Forest Meadow. Then she had gotten violently sick and had been able to recover enough to walk around the next morning. But what was troubling her most were the events that had occurred just this afternoon. The conversation with Rauru had sparked her interest in her strange abilities. Her heart told her that her incredible health was due to something more than just eating right and exercise but her brain said that there was no way that something more could be the reason.
All of the logical side of her brain said that except for that one little corner. In the past few days that shadowed corner seemed to be waking up. She wasn't sure how that was possible but that was what was happening. Before, the corner had lain dormant and Lily had been able to ignore it. After the massacre at Laver the corner seemed to grow in size and power and Lily had a found it harder to ignore. In the past few days the corner seemed to have adopted a bit of a tug. When she had fought Saith the pulling had gotten stronger and she had fought better, harder, and longer than ever before. When she really thought about it, Lily had a hard time remembering the battle. It all seemed like blur. Nothing stood out in her mind except that she had felt almost peaceful. Even though she had known in some corner of her mind that she was fighting better than she ever had, she felt calm and controlled almost as if it wasn't she that was moving her limbs.
Shaking her head, Lily tried to get back to her train of thought. After the fight the tugging kept nagging at her. And then today the scariest thing of all happened.
During her conversation with Rauru not only her interest in her abilities had been sparked but also it seemed like the tug had gotten a little taste of the electricity. When she was putting the dishes away, the corner grew so rapidly and so strongly that the part of her mind that was rational thought was quickly subdued. Lily could feel her mind being in-closed in a cold cloud. She could still feel the movement of her body and see out of her eyes but the corner was the one controlling her actions. Fighting the cloud with strength born from desperation, Lily was able to regain control of her body.
She knew that she had scared Rauru pretty bad but she was now terrified for her own sanity. She had been successful in subduing the power of the corner, but now instead of a tug it was a voice. The worst part was that the voice was eerily familiar, just like the voice that had warned her to find the answer. Even now it was whispering incoherent words of warning. Lily had found a small piece of the puzzle in the riddle that had no question. But this small piece was both unbelievable and insignificant. How did the story of one goddess that probably didn't even exist fit into the warning about the Emptiness?
~What if she did exist?~
Lily gasped with surprise as the voice's words started to become clear.
~She's important and you know it.~
She shook her head trying to make the voice disappear. There was no way that any of this was possible. She knew that the voice was just part of her imagination. She was just imagining it all. Or was she? Was she going crazy?
~I am the part of you that remembers. The part that knows what is really going on in this world.~
The soft and whispery words seemed too real to ignore but she knew she had to. It was all an illusion. None of it was real.
~Stop denying yourself. It's only going to hurt in the end. You say that you are the voice of reason and that I am just an illusion but it is in fact the other way around.~
"What?" Lily gasped.
~It's all true. If you would stop trying to be logical the answer would come much easier.~
"Stop it!" she almost shouted. "What do you know anyway? You're not real. Hell, you don't even have a mind. You're just a stupid voice that isn't there."
~If I'm not there then why are you talking to yourself? Any one that just happens to pass your way will think you're crazy.~
The voice mocked her own sanity and was driving her to the end of her limits. Her frustration with everything in the world grew. The tears that she had been holding back since she left the forest started to spill over again. Everyone was counting on her to save the day but how could she if she didn't know how. She couldn't stop an entire army that wasn't even threatening the world anyway.
~Yes, you can.~
"I can what?" Lily sobbed. Her shoulders were slumped in defeat, as the weight she carried on her shoulders grew heavier. Not only did she have to deal with an army and a stupid riddle but know she had to try and keep her sanity.
~You can defeat the army if you let me help you. There are things that I know that can help you to see everything that is really going on. Do not a the naïve teenager by ignoring what is sitting in front of your face.~
"NO!" she shouted, her pride welling up in her chest. "I don't need help from you. There's nothing you can do. You don't know anything!"
Using the remaining strength she had she ignored the voice and shoved it back into its corner. She put her hands by her side and pushed herself up from the ground. Making her way back inside, she headed towards her room. There she gathered all her gear and headed out to the practice courts. She seriously needed to vent some anger and fighting was the best way that she could do it.
At the moment Ian and Saith were helping to train more of the peasants in the art of swordsmanship. Link was standing to the side and overseeing the process. When Lily walked up to stand beside him he glanced over. The smile on his face was cheery and lighthearted. He obviously missed the haggard look on Lily's face.
"So, how's the search going?" he asked.
"We found the book but it didn't help," Lily grumbled looking at her feet. She didn't need to think about that. The whispering voice grew stronger just at the mention of it.
"Oh."
They didn't talk for a few minutes and watched the lesson. Many of the younger peasants were having any easier time of learning how to swing a sword while the older ones had difficulty trying to remember all the steps. Link finally broke the silence.
"So I heard that you beat Ian and came close to defeating my son."
"Looks like everybody's heard about it," Lily commented dryly.
"Yep. So, how about taking me on?" Lily glanced up at the king and checked his face to make sure that he was serious. He was. There was no mistaking the fire that lit up his blue eyes and the half grin on his face.
"All right but if you're better than Saith don't expect too much," she answered shrugging her shoulders. They walked over to where a now official ring had been set up. Word of the fight spread like a wildfire around the courtyard. People lined up along the edges of the ring to get a good look at the match. The two stood facing each with swords in hand when someone shouted, "Go!"
They met with a clash of steel and the sparks flew from both blades. As fast as they came together they were apart again this time circling each other. Lily watched Link with a suspicious eye. Suddenly he closed the small gap between them like lightning. Lily reacted only on instinct and saved herself from being defeated in one blow. She concentrated hard and tried to keep her eyes on Link's whirling sword.
Unfortunately this caused her to loosen her grip on the voice that was trying to break through. When the two broke apart again with Lily panting hard the voice leapt at its chance.
~Let me help you. With my skills I can help you to easily defeat him. He's nothing if you an I joined forces.~
"No," Lily mumbled under her breath hoping that no one would notice. Trying to find a way to get rid of the voice, she charged Link blindly. He easily sidestepped her oncoming attack and retaliated by bringing his sword around to her back. Lily could feel the point pressing into the cloth of her tunic and fear over swept her. And with it came the voice.
~Now I can prove to you what you really are.~
"Do you yield?" he asked. He was actually a little breathless but it wasn't too bad. There was no answer.
"Do you yield?" he demanded more forcefully.
"No." The voice that came from Lily was different. It still held the same tone but it sounded wiser and older. Before Link could even bat an eye his feet were swept out from underneath him. He landed on his back with a hard thud and rolled to the side barely avoiding the blade that hit the ground where he was a moment later. Quickly he got into a crouching position and managed to block another strike that came his way. He could hear the sword whistling as it passed by him when it came towards his face in a downward swipe. The friendly match had suddenly turned into a deadly game of survival.
When he could he caught glances at the expression on Lily's face. It was cold, hard, and merciless. She was acting as if this was a battle to the death. Link dodged and ducked getting a swing in here or there but the old Lily that he had been battling with before was gone. She had been replaced by something but what? Lily kept on advancing on Link. He back flipped and barely missed a blow to his stomach. She swung left and tried to hit him but he jumped to the side. The expression on her face became frustrated.
Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. Link backed away quickly panting hard. He glared at Lily and tried to figure out what was wrong. The crowd behind him was silent as they watched in horror. Out of the corner of his eye he managed to get a glimpse of Saith being held back by Ian. In front of him Lily's hand shot out. Her palm faced him and her fingers were spread apart.
A glowing ball of white light appeared in the middle of her hand and started to grow in size. When it had reached it's intended size it stopped. Link had seen something similar when he had faced Ganondorf in their last battle. Closing his eyes he waited for the blast to be released.
It never happened. Opening one eye Link found that Lily seemed to be struggling with something. Her face that had once been full of frustration was now concentrating on the ground in front of her. Then slowly but surely the white ball faded from her palm. She put her hand down and started to breathe heavily. Glancing up her green eyes met Link's blue ones. What he saw surprised him. She was scared. Scared of something he couldn't see. Without a word her sword dropped from her hands and landed with a clatter on the ground.
Lily looked around at the crowd that watched her with growing curiosity. She cringed involuntarily and fled from the scene. Link and the other watched her go wondering about the acts that had just occurred.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Hello? Eh-hmm. Is any one still reading this? Yeah I'm sorry I haven't updated for a while but to make up for it I decided to write a longer chapter. I hope you liked it. I thought it was time for some serious character development that went along with the plot. Inner conflict works great so I decided to use it. By the way, has anyone besides DarkBlackNoid kind of figured out what's going on? Oh yeah and I will go into more detail with the goddesses. I've already got everything about them figured out I just haven't gotten around to writing about them yet.
I would like to thank SilverCrystal for their nice review. I'm glad you like this story. I'll try to get around to reviewing one of your stories but lately I've been a little pressed for time. The only reason I was able to get this chapter up is because it's a snow day. Well thanks for reading and stay tuned! (Did that sound too much like a television show announcer?)
Chapter Eighteen: Going Crazy?
When Lily was done talking to Rauru she didn't head back to her room. Instead she went outside trying to get some fresh air. Or at least that's what she told anyone who asked her where she was going. What she really wanted was some quiet time. Some time to think to herself. She had to sort out everything she was feeling.
Before she headed outside she stopped in the kitchen to get a snack. The cooks were kind to her and loaded her arms with fruits and breads of all sorts. They especially liked her because she had gotten he stubborn cow that gave the best milk to keep from kicking someone while she was being milked.
Lily munched on an apple while she wandered around outside. She headed away from the castle down towards the gatehouse. When she reached it, she turned left and headed out towards an open orchard. Finding a big tree Lily seated herself underneath the big boughs and leaned back against the thick trunk. The leaves shadowed her face and a cool breeze brushed her cheeks, barely causing her hair move. For the first time in the past three days Lily almost felt at peace.
Almost.
Her peace of mind was broken when she turned to the problem at hand. Things had been very strange ever since she had left home. First she was able to enter the Sacred Forest Meadow. Then she had gotten violently sick and had been able to recover enough to walk around the next morning. But what was troubling her most were the events that had occurred just this afternoon. The conversation with Rauru had sparked her interest in her strange abilities. Her heart told her that her incredible health was due to something more than just eating right and exercise but her brain said that there was no way that something more could be the reason.
All of the logical side of her brain said that except for that one little corner. In the past few days that shadowed corner seemed to be waking up. She wasn't sure how that was possible but that was what was happening. Before, the corner had lain dormant and Lily had been able to ignore it. After the massacre at Laver the corner seemed to grow in size and power and Lily had a found it harder to ignore. In the past few days the corner seemed to have adopted a bit of a tug. When she had fought Saith the pulling had gotten stronger and she had fought better, harder, and longer than ever before. When she really thought about it, Lily had a hard time remembering the battle. It all seemed like blur. Nothing stood out in her mind except that she had felt almost peaceful. Even though she had known in some corner of her mind that she was fighting better than she ever had, she felt calm and controlled almost as if it wasn't she that was moving her limbs.
Shaking her head, Lily tried to get back to her train of thought. After the fight the tugging kept nagging at her. And then today the scariest thing of all happened.
During her conversation with Rauru not only her interest in her abilities had been sparked but also it seemed like the tug had gotten a little taste of the electricity. When she was putting the dishes away, the corner grew so rapidly and so strongly that the part of her mind that was rational thought was quickly subdued. Lily could feel her mind being in-closed in a cold cloud. She could still feel the movement of her body and see out of her eyes but the corner was the one controlling her actions. Fighting the cloud with strength born from desperation, Lily was able to regain control of her body.
She knew that she had scared Rauru pretty bad but she was now terrified for her own sanity. She had been successful in subduing the power of the corner, but now instead of a tug it was a voice. The worst part was that the voice was eerily familiar, just like the voice that had warned her to find the answer. Even now it was whispering incoherent words of warning. Lily had found a small piece of the puzzle in the riddle that had no question. But this small piece was both unbelievable and insignificant. How did the story of one goddess that probably didn't even exist fit into the warning about the Emptiness?
~What if she did exist?~
Lily gasped with surprise as the voice's words started to become clear.
~She's important and you know it.~
She shook her head trying to make the voice disappear. There was no way that any of this was possible. She knew that the voice was just part of her imagination. She was just imagining it all. Or was she? Was she going crazy?
~I am the part of you that remembers. The part that knows what is really going on in this world.~
The soft and whispery words seemed too real to ignore but she knew she had to. It was all an illusion. None of it was real.
~Stop denying yourself. It's only going to hurt in the end. You say that you are the voice of reason and that I am just an illusion but it is in fact the other way around.~
"What?" Lily gasped.
~It's all true. If you would stop trying to be logical the answer would come much easier.~
"Stop it!" she almost shouted. "What do you know anyway? You're not real. Hell, you don't even have a mind. You're just a stupid voice that isn't there."
~If I'm not there then why are you talking to yourself? Any one that just happens to pass your way will think you're crazy.~
The voice mocked her own sanity and was driving her to the end of her limits. Her frustration with everything in the world grew. The tears that she had been holding back since she left the forest started to spill over again. Everyone was counting on her to save the day but how could she if she didn't know how. She couldn't stop an entire army that wasn't even threatening the world anyway.
~Yes, you can.~
"I can what?" Lily sobbed. Her shoulders were slumped in defeat, as the weight she carried on her shoulders grew heavier. Not only did she have to deal with an army and a stupid riddle but know she had to try and keep her sanity.
~You can defeat the army if you let me help you. There are things that I know that can help you to see everything that is really going on. Do not a the naïve teenager by ignoring what is sitting in front of your face.~
"NO!" she shouted, her pride welling up in her chest. "I don't need help from you. There's nothing you can do. You don't know anything!"
Using the remaining strength she had she ignored the voice and shoved it back into its corner. She put her hands by her side and pushed herself up from the ground. Making her way back inside, she headed towards her room. There she gathered all her gear and headed out to the practice courts. She seriously needed to vent some anger and fighting was the best way that she could do it.
At the moment Ian and Saith were helping to train more of the peasants in the art of swordsmanship. Link was standing to the side and overseeing the process. When Lily walked up to stand beside him he glanced over. The smile on his face was cheery and lighthearted. He obviously missed the haggard look on Lily's face.
"So, how's the search going?" he asked.
"We found the book but it didn't help," Lily grumbled looking at her feet. She didn't need to think about that. The whispering voice grew stronger just at the mention of it.
"Oh."
They didn't talk for a few minutes and watched the lesson. Many of the younger peasants were having any easier time of learning how to swing a sword while the older ones had difficulty trying to remember all the steps. Link finally broke the silence.
"So I heard that you beat Ian and came close to defeating my son."
"Looks like everybody's heard about it," Lily commented dryly.
"Yep. So, how about taking me on?" Lily glanced up at the king and checked his face to make sure that he was serious. He was. There was no mistaking the fire that lit up his blue eyes and the half grin on his face.
"All right but if you're better than Saith don't expect too much," she answered shrugging her shoulders. They walked over to where a now official ring had been set up. Word of the fight spread like a wildfire around the courtyard. People lined up along the edges of the ring to get a good look at the match. The two stood facing each with swords in hand when someone shouted, "Go!"
They met with a clash of steel and the sparks flew from both blades. As fast as they came together they were apart again this time circling each other. Lily watched Link with a suspicious eye. Suddenly he closed the small gap between them like lightning. Lily reacted only on instinct and saved herself from being defeated in one blow. She concentrated hard and tried to keep her eyes on Link's whirling sword.
Unfortunately this caused her to loosen her grip on the voice that was trying to break through. When the two broke apart again with Lily panting hard the voice leapt at its chance.
~Let me help you. With my skills I can help you to easily defeat him. He's nothing if you an I joined forces.~
"No," Lily mumbled under her breath hoping that no one would notice. Trying to find a way to get rid of the voice, she charged Link blindly. He easily sidestepped her oncoming attack and retaliated by bringing his sword around to her back. Lily could feel the point pressing into the cloth of her tunic and fear over swept her. And with it came the voice.
~Now I can prove to you what you really are.~
"Do you yield?" he asked. He was actually a little breathless but it wasn't too bad. There was no answer.
"Do you yield?" he demanded more forcefully.
"No." The voice that came from Lily was different. It still held the same tone but it sounded wiser and older. Before Link could even bat an eye his feet were swept out from underneath him. He landed on his back with a hard thud and rolled to the side barely avoiding the blade that hit the ground where he was a moment later. Quickly he got into a crouching position and managed to block another strike that came his way. He could hear the sword whistling as it passed by him when it came towards his face in a downward swipe. The friendly match had suddenly turned into a deadly game of survival.
When he could he caught glances at the expression on Lily's face. It was cold, hard, and merciless. She was acting as if this was a battle to the death. Link dodged and ducked getting a swing in here or there but the old Lily that he had been battling with before was gone. She had been replaced by something but what? Lily kept on advancing on Link. He back flipped and barely missed a blow to his stomach. She swung left and tried to hit him but he jumped to the side. The expression on her face became frustrated.
Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. Link backed away quickly panting hard. He glared at Lily and tried to figure out what was wrong. The crowd behind him was silent as they watched in horror. Out of the corner of his eye he managed to get a glimpse of Saith being held back by Ian. In front of him Lily's hand shot out. Her palm faced him and her fingers were spread apart.
A glowing ball of white light appeared in the middle of her hand and started to grow in size. When it had reached it's intended size it stopped. Link had seen something similar when he had faced Ganondorf in their last battle. Closing his eyes he waited for the blast to be released.
It never happened. Opening one eye Link found that Lily seemed to be struggling with something. Her face that had once been full of frustration was now concentrating on the ground in front of her. Then slowly but surely the white ball faded from her palm. She put her hand down and started to breathe heavily. Glancing up her green eyes met Link's blue ones. What he saw surprised him. She was scared. Scared of something he couldn't see. Without a word her sword dropped from her hands and landed with a clatter on the ground.
Lily looked around at the crowd that watched her with growing curiosity. She cringed involuntarily and fled from the scene. Link and the other watched her go wondering about the acts that had just occurred.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Hello? Eh-hmm. Is any one still reading this? Yeah I'm sorry I haven't updated for a while but to make up for it I decided to write a longer chapter. I hope you liked it. I thought it was time for some serious character development that went along with the plot. Inner conflict works great so I decided to use it. By the way, has anyone besides DarkBlackNoid kind of figured out what's going on? Oh yeah and I will go into more detail with the goddesses. I've already got everything about them figured out I just haven't gotten around to writing about them yet.
I would like to thank SilverCrystal for their nice review. I'm glad you like this story. I'll try to get around to reviewing one of your stories but lately I've been a little pressed for time. The only reason I was able to get this chapter up is because it's a snow day. Well thanks for reading and stay tuned! (Did that sound too much like a television show announcer?)