Harsh Reality

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By Zel the Stampede

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Chapter 3 is here at last! The nice reviews are much appreciated. Much thanks to those kind enough to show their support. You guys are great. (I didn't know so many people liked this story!)

Disclaimer: I, in no way, own the Legend of Zelda and all related trademarks. (Don't sue)

R&R!

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Chapter 3: Spilled Milk

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The next day dawned with a cold silver glory that spilled into Link's room, bringing down the weight of this icy reality. A nurse had crept in the night before and forced a bitter-tasting pill down his throat, followed by a gulp of water with a sharp metallic taste. And now everything was hazy, blurring in and out of focus, as the room swam and Link's head throbbed.

His eyes were heavy, dry and bloodshot, and all Link wanted to do was sleep, slip into the dark of his dreams. Zelda came that afternoon, haunting the room like a silent nightmare. Red botched her cheeks as she cried, murmuring about money and the lack there of and his 'goddamn fantasies' until Gannondorf, incredibly sober in the off-white jacket, led her away.

* * *

The pencil was moving fervently, cutting dark lines across the white parchment as Navi worked, forcing the image in her mind onto the paper. She whimpered red and shadows flashing before her eyes as the pencil trembled, the lead tip snapping from too much pressure.

She gasped, briefly mourning the broken pencil before stretching across her bedside table to the cup that held several others, sharpened and ready for use. The table jarred as she struck it just by accident, sending the glass of milk teetering on its edge.

The glass exploded, scattering glistening fragments as the puddle gathered on the floor and Navi froze. The shadows dancing off the wavering surface as shivers trickled down her spine.

Somewhere, a long time ago, a glass broke.

Navi shuddered, muffling sobs.

Somewhere someone roared someone huge and terrifying. A massive giant of a man, strong and terrible, with fists like brick that rattled the one who broke the glass.

"No, no, no."

That shadowy man chuckled, dark and sinister.

"Noooooooooooooo!"

Malon started, rising to her feet, as dark coffee slopped over the table, drenching patient files carefully penned in black ink, "Navi!"

* * *

Link groaned, slowly rolling over, somebody was screaming.

"God! Please HELP ME!"

Drugged far beyond the point where his mind could possibly register the sound, Link sighed heavily before drifting into oblivion. The terrible shrieks rippling through the building smothered by the shriveled old man across the hall, "Shut the infernal child up, God damn you!"

The mind is a silvery vortex of scattered thoughts, remnants of dreams and flames of memory. Navi was crying, screaming over Rauru's howls of 'fire' and 'brimstone'.

"Oh god, oh god! STOP!"

Malon grunted, slammed up against the wall as Navi thrashed.

"Quiet, Navi," Malon soothed, "Calm down!"

"STOP please!"

"Quiet now!" Navi whimpered as she crumpled, trembling as she gripped Malon's robin's-egg colored jacket.

"Oh god, make him leave. Please make him leave," Navi stammered through her sobbing.

"He's gone," Malon assured, stroking her tear-streaked and flushed cheeks, "no one can hurt you here." Navi hiccuped, drying her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve. "That's a girl," Malon said gently, "perhaps that's enough drawing for today, how about a little nap?" Navi stiffened another hiccup and nodded. Malon smiled faintly, tucking the edges of the comforter around Navi's narrow shoulders.

"If he comes," Navi ordered, "I don't want to see him."

"Of course," Malon said, drawing the binds shut, "I'll send him away."

* * *

In the late hours of the amber afternoon Dragmire came again. A bottle of the mysterious capsules stowed away in his pocket. Tracing a pen down a checklist as he paced over the sunlight-streaked floorboards.

In his bed, Link fell like stone. A man shaped from rock with rigid limbs and stiff joints that didn't move quite as they should. Heavy eyelids closed over pale blue eyes and minutes seemed hours.

"What did you put in me?" Link asked, his voice raspy and grating.

"Narcotics," Dragmire answered simply, "to calm you down." Link cast a weary glance at Ganondorf.

"Calm me down?" he said, "you're trying to poison me…I can hardly move." Dragmire smirked lightly, "That is the idea, Mr. Riles, the tablets make you sleepy." Link frowned, fixing the doctor in a faded blue gaze.

"Why…why won't you tell me what your plan is?" Link demanded, "you could at least gloat!"

"About what, Mr. Riles?" Dragmire questioned coolly, "what do I have to gloat about?" Link was taken aback, suddenly drained, the little pills working their strange magic on his brain again.

"I-"

"Go to sleep, Mr. Riles," Dragmire commanded lightly, "and perhaps if the weather's fair you may go outside tomorrow." The man had a way with words and when spoken with that deep, flowing voice Link stop wondering how he'd made himself King.

* * *

It rained. A misty shower whispering outside Navi's window as she slept. Her pictures hanging on the wall, smiling down with painted benevolence. She sighed, shifting as she slumbered, dreaming of gold fish swimming in the air and flowers bearing pearls.

The door had been left ajar.

A crack of blackness radiating from the dark corridor, seeping into the room. Across the floor a tiny river of jet snaked it way as the door loosened.

Navi woke and rose stiffly, "Ms. Malon?" She yawned, the red digits of the cloak on the bedside table flashing 4:15 AM. She rubbed her eyes, gazing out into the dark, "Ms. Malon?"

Navi gulped, clutching the blue folds of her covers and scooting into the corner, "M-ms. Malon? Are you there?"

A breeze crept through the room, rustling the drawings on the wall, "Ms. Malon? Link?"

Navi gasped as a huddled mass of shadows fell away from the door and slithered across the room. Hissing and clicking as it slunk, its body laced with musk and damp.

The shade wore its skin like a tattered cloak and crawled about on fours with eyes seething red. It glided around the bed, grasping the sheets in gleaming claws. Before reaching a dark talon tipped in crimson to touch the wisp of a girl shivering and slumped inside the room's elbow.

"HELP ME! LINK! MS. MALON! SOMEONE!"

End of Chapter 3

It will make more sense later, reviews are always welcome.

Zel the Stampede

Coming soon:

Chapter 4: Puppet