Generations
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Chapter 6: First Contact
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"...Alive again?" Ganondorf whispered. Strange, how truly human senses felt
after all these centuries. So long, he had borne the form of a monster. Humanity
had been something to be subdued inside his raging mind. While his first
enemy had kept hold of his mortal traits throughout the ages, always living
in human form as he lived in the human worlds, Ganon had had no such desires.
They were weak, he thought. Powerless. What he had been was what he had wanted
to be.
Still, it was hard to pick and choose at a time like this. After centuries
spent as a lost spirit, the feel of any corporeal body was strange - but
all too welcome. Perhaps this was the body of a Hylian, but it was a small
price to pay for existence. An even smaller price when he considered the
knowledge locked in its original owner's mind. With this, he could finally
break down the walls of his realm, and bring eternal darkness to Hyrule...
He laughed, stretching out an arm. Considering this was the body of a physicist
- that was the word, he knew now, the knowledge leaking through slowly -
it was in good condition.
More than that, in fact.
Silently, Ganondorf chuckled to himself. It made sense, now. Ah, yes.
The bloodline of my nemesis shall be turned against him. Foolish Hylian -
how could you never know your own power? How could you be so blind to what
slept inside you? Though you are not one of those ...warriors, their blood
runs equally in your veins.
And their power. Combined with my own...
In the back of his mind, he could hear that body's original owner, unconscious
in his own consciousness. But that was hardly his concern. He had been a
prisoner too long.
It was time to see what this new world was really like.
The faint, cruel smile faded from his lips as he looked around. This was
not going to be as easy as he'd have thought. Working in the shadows had
always been his way - a predator, waiting for an opportunity before he struck.
And here, he was in the shadow of somebody else. His eyes narrowed as he
spotted a smiling photograph, the face he bore now next to that of his adversary.
Damn them. I'll do things as I want them.
With one angry swipe of his arm, Ganondorf sent the picture smashing to the
ground in a halo of broken glass, before marching out of the darkened laboratory.
If only that boy were so easy to destroy in real life... he thought,
screwing up his eyes slightly as he strode through the door. Light - he had
not seen such brilliant white light in a long time. No such light had existed
in the Dark World since it had been the void of the Sacred Realm. It hurt
to even look at it.
He had more concerns, however. A group of students stood by the energy barrier
that had sealed off the laboratory as he walked by. "Hey, Rob!" one of them
started. "Have you got a minute to..."
Ganondorf snapped round. "Don't call me that!" he hissed. "You do not even
know who I am, boy!"
"I was just... asking..." the young man murmured, unable to meet what he
thought were his mentor's eyes. Sulphurous, burning pools replaced the blue
lakes that had gazed from that face before, and he was unable to explain
why. Even wearing sunglasses, he shied away from the menacing gaze.
The dark king was about to walk away, but paused. A faint borrowed memory
had surfaced. With a quick movement, he snatched the sunshades from the student's
face. While the boy stepped back in shock, his friends protested. "What was
that for?" they yelled at the departing figure, who had no words to spare
for them.
They've got some nerve.
-
-flashback-
"Hey! Looking for me?" Young Link looked up at the dark figure. The evil king seemed amused by the nerve of the child - so what if he'd grow up a hero? As he was, he was no threat. He'd seen the sword shatter in the explosion at the temple - a focused blast of energy had seen it ruined. He had nothing to fear.
"Foolish boy. Why do you think you can defeat me? You haven't got a
chance."
"I haven't, no..."
Link began to slowly bring the mask he clutched to his face, feeling
adrenalin coursing through his body as he went. He was within inches of letting
the transformation take him over, when a hand dropped onto his shoulder.
He looked around - and stared in shock.
"I think I have, however," Oni'kara remarked, looking at his younger self.
"Get out of here. This is my battle, not yours." The young hero nodded briefly,
still overawed, and sprinted back to where he had left his companion.
This is for history itself, the Fierce Deity thought, drawing his sword and
staring into the eyes of the beast that Ganondorf had become. The life he
had led would never exist now. But the one he should have would.
The fight was over quickly, with the helix blades of the Sword of Eternity
destroying the monster Ganon in a blaze of silver light. It had been twelve
years of his own time - a time that would now only belong in memory - since
this battle had originally occurred, but he could still remember what had
happened clearly. He'd learned a lot in that time, not least who he really
was.
And who the awestruck boy watching in the distance was, too. Oni picked up
the copy of his own face from where young Link had dropped it and walked
over. It felt strange, looking into his own eyes. "I believe this belongs
to you," he said quietly as he began to pass the mask over - but paused.
Or is it? he thought. Can I deny you the power that is your birthright -
if that is the only way to ensure reality is untouched?
-flashforward-
His heart skipped slightly as he remembered what had happened two thousand years ago. There had been no other way. The powers stored within the Fierce Deity's mask had been locked away, to be released only by the strongest of magics. Perhaps the transformation had occurred once or twice more, but it would have taken all of the power available to the mask's owner to make it last for even minutes. The immortal half of the child hero's soul, too - Oni'kara could hardly kill his own spirit, by its very definition eternal, but that shadow of his own soul had been sent to sleep and separated from the young hero's human essence. There would be no second Guardian of Time. Then again, it had seemed one was enough.
He thought for a minute. I did everything in my power to prevent this
- but it looks like there's only one thing to do. Holding the mask tightly,
he closed his eyes. Pure energy began to surge through his fingertips.
Another will have to use this power, one for whom it was never intended.
I hope you can take this on, new hero. I'm giving you all the help I can
here...
-
Bad day, Link thought, walking upstairs and throwing his school bag
onto the bed. He gently touched the still-sore slash on his arm he had acquired
only hours earlier, at a loss to explain why no-one had noticed the creature
lurking in an alleyway. Very bad day. Can't those things pick on someone
else for a change? How the hell am I supposed to defend myself?
Sighing, he looked around, attempting to find the books he needed in the
general confusion of his room. Something caught his eye. A parcel, untidily
wrapped, rested on the desk by the computer. "Okay..." he muttered to himself.
"What the heck is that? And who..."
There was a movement outside his window, behind the curtain. Link span round,
and stopped in surprise.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Who are you?"
The figure who had been sitting there looked round, but not in alarm. From
what Link could see, whoever it was would have taken a lot to shock. "What
are you doing there?"
Oni'kara looked into the blue eyes of his young successor. It felt almost
like looking back across time. Though all the Heroes of history had borne
a slight resemblance to one another, which could be put down to heredity,
it was still striking just how much Link Hunter looked like the watching
warrior once had. They even favoured the same hairstyle. "Simply lending
you a hand," he said quietly in response to the question. "No. Not a hand,
to be precise."
"What the...? How can you just show up in some ...improbable place, start
talking in riddles, and..." a flustered Link responded.
The Fierce Deity pretended not to hear him. "I'll give you one warning. Your
new gift is a last resort. Don't take what you have received lightly, Link.
Only use it if you've got no other way out, because it may not allow
you one." He gave Link a nod and dropped lightly out of sight. The next thing
the young hero saw was the trail of exhaust from a black motorcycle as Oni
sped away.
"Okay. That was weird," Link muttered, sitting down and weighing the package
in his hands. "Most people just knock." Tugging at a corner of the wrapping
paper, he thought about what had just happened. It made no more sense for
him doing so.
His door opened, and an equally confused Zelda entered. "Who were you talking
to? I could hear you shouting something..."
"Shouldn't be so nosy," Link shrugged. "But honestly, I don't know. Someone
who thinks it's okay to scare the life out of people. Weird eyes, I noticed
that much. Might have been wearing white contacts, but...looked
natural. "
Zelda interrupted her brother. "White eyes? Sounds familiar. I'm thinking...
platinum hair, leather jacket... am I right?" He nodded, surprised. She sighed.
"Link... that was the person who saved my life that time. When I was
attacked..."
"You're not kidding?" She shook her head. "And now he's bringing me presents,
too? Sheesh... You think we can trust him?"
"I... I'm sure of it. Go on. Open it."
"Alright..." Whoever had wrapped the parcel hadn't done a good job. They
seemed to have been more concerned with getting as much wrapping on as fast
as possible than securing it well. As Link pulled the last bubble-wrap away,
he let out a long, low sigh. "Whoa. How the hell..."
"All that fuss? It's just a mask! Who'd want to send you..."
"Less of the 'just'. If this is... what I think it is, it belonged to one
of the early heroes. If I was to put it on..." He started to move it towards
his face. Zelda put her hand on his arm.
"Are you sure you should be doing that?" she asked.
"...No. Maybe not. I was told it was a last resort." Link hurriedly pushed
the wrapping paper back around his new gift. "Whatever it does."
He slowly walked away, downstairs and into the kitchen, thinking. Don't
use it? What does this thing do, anyway? I mean, they said it's supposed
to give you the powers of... but what a stupid idea!
Then again, I do need ...something... Stupid monsters. Can't they
ever leave a guy alone?
-
In a quiet area of the city, a lone figure walked. Things had changed more than he could ever have imagined. For all the Dark World had remained so much the same, the real world was almost beyond his comprehension. Despite that, he had tried to understand what he would control one day soon. No monsters roamed now, except those in human form. Something would have to be done about that.
He watched a young man sitting on the street bench, a look of anger at the
world on his face. Familiar, somehow, even if he couldn't place why immediately.
It took some time to force the memory out from those areas locked away by
their original owner. Ah, yes...
He'll do perfectly...
Cal jumped at the feel of a hand on his shoulder. "Hey! What's the big..."
he yelled, twisting round, and trying to see his assailant. At a first guess,
he was reminded of some sort of a government official - or a spy. The dark
glasses said that much straight away. Though the clothing could have been
anybody's, it looked out of place on whoever this was.
"Tell me this," the stranger asked. "You know one called..." he paused, reluctant
to say the words - "Link Hunter, correct?"
"That jerk? What do you want... I mean, yeah, I do."
Unseen, Ganondorf smiled. "I can tell there is no love lost between you.
You may think you hate him - but you are best of friends compared to how
I feel..."
"What? Who are you, anyway? And where do you get off..."
"Someone who could... use your help, Calvin."
He stopped. "How do you know my name? Only my parents call me that, but..."
"That is unimportant. Come with me."
Cal paused a moment, thinking. He wasn't sure what this stranger was up to,
but he decided to leave caution alone. There was a strange feeling in his
mind, a drowsy sort of awareness that seemed to be taking over. He could
no more resist than fly by flapping his arms - and even if he had been fully
conscious, he wouldn't have wanted to. "Count me in."
Ganondorf looked around for a moment, before clasping his hand to Cal's throat. The boy could hear one hissed phrase before he passed out. "Certainly... There is one thing you can do for me right away..."
-
The class had hardly commented on Cal's disappearance the next day. He wasn't
known for his attendance record. This week, however, he wasn't alone. Ralph
had been absent since Wednesday, with Mellonie joining the list of those
missing the next day. It was quickly put down to an unknown bug going around.
Lynna had remarked on it as she walked to the school bus, Link remembered,
running towards Creamy's Bar. "You'd better not have caught it, too.
Otherwise, we're both sunk."
"Uh - no," he'd replied. "I'm not going to worry about coming down with
a-a-atchoo!" While she'd glared, he'd returned a slightly cheeky but nervous
grin. No. I've got bigger things to worry about.
That evening, Link had had more on his mind than a normal teenager on a first
date. Trying to find something reasonable to wear had been the least of his
concerns. He was more worried about whether it would look too obvious that
he was hiding things, both fresh battle scars and the only weapon he could
reasonably find. There was no way he was going to let Lynna know what was
happening to him yet.
His careful preparations had had a knock-on effect, however. Trust me
to blow it. Knowing my luck, she'll have been waiting for... Arriving
at the ice-cream parlour, he quickly spotted that Lynna was nowhere to be
seen. She was probably just late too, he decided, and settled down to wait.
Over the music playing, he could hear a shout. A girl's voice, followed by
a reptilian hissing.
Lynna's voice.
He swore and ran after the sound, feeling the weight of his only weapon in
his pocket. As much as he suspected that one small knife would be useless
in the event of any serious monster attack, he couldn't help but feel slightly
reassured by its touch. Oh, great! And here I was thinking it was just
me and Zelda got... which way was that? The old town was a maze of alleyways
and arches, some of which had been around for hundreds of years. The perfect
place to get away - and the last place to look for someone, as Link was finding
to his cost. He followed the footsteps as best he could to the very edge
of the medieval buildings, where modern industrial structures started. Boxy
sheds and disused factories took over the landscape now. There was a flicker
of movement and light outside one of them. Here goes nothing. Making
half a prayer, half a wish, under his breath, he followed whatever he had
seen - hoping it hadn't been a car.
The deserted building he found himself in seemed like a dead end. This couldn't be the right place, surely? There was no movement around. It wasn't quite dark, but he guessed the electricity was still on for some reason. Link turned round and headed for the door.
He stopped in his tracks and looked upwards.
That was what was causing the light.
Oh...my... is this what happened to you?
All of you?
Four shining crystals formed an arch above the door. Inside each of them...
Link almost heaved. That was impossible. There were people inside them. Ones
he knew well at that.
Especially since his best friend, his sister, and his possible girlfriend
were among them. Zelda hung in the centre, trapped in a magenta prism. She
looked understandably terrified. In a trap of red crystal, Ralph had his
eyes closed, trying to mask his fear. A yellow prison held Lynna, holding
her hands to her face, and a green one to her side caged her best friend.
What is going on here - why would everyone have... Link thought, then
stopped.
Who had brought them here, anyway?
There was a laugh in the distance.
A voice spoke directly into his mind. Came looking, did you? The laugh
repeated. Oh, I see. They're your - the voice turned mocking - little
friends.
"Yeah... what do you want with them?"
None of your business, ...Link. Especially when you will be dead
soon.
"Who says?" And how did you know my name?
"I do."
There was a figure in the shadows. Link squinted to make it out.
Immediately, he wished he hadn't.
It looked like... himself. Or to be more precise, his shadow. Given three
dimensions. And a bad attitude, too... he thought.
Apart from the colours, there was still one noticeable difference. The shadow
Link was carrying a sword, with a blade of night black metal, and dressed
in combat clothing.
And here's me. Dressed up. Not exactly ready to fight, am I?
I don't think he cares, somehow...
--
A/N:
Okay - if the flashback threw anyone out, that was a scene from Part One
of the series. Might rewrite that book one day...
I know this was delayed awfully. See the notes in the next 'chapter' for reasons. Can only hope this was worth waiting for...