A/N: Weeeeeeeeee..... Left a bit unexplained, but I'll get to it.
Chapter 14: Power Play
Pain. For as long as I can remember, there has been pain, clawing its way up from some internal wellspring like a demon from a hellmouth. I can't even remember a time when I wasn't in some form of pain or another. Usually emotional, but occasionally, there might be some physical pain thrown in there too, just to keep it interesting. But mostly, it just hurts. A dull, throbbing ache just incorporeal enough to not actually be physical pain, but not enough to go unnoticed at most hours of the day. First the abuse of my stepfather, then the loss of my brother, and to a lesser extent, Alex. And now Link.
But all that, every nuance of pain I thought I was familiar with, was comfort compared to the pain that wracked every crevice of my body. My blood boiled in my veins, and my bones felt as though they were laced with fire. Every instinct in my body cried out for me to run, to flee from whatever it was that was causing my agony. Thought and memory fled before the scourge, and there was only the pain. It was my world, my universe. I WAS the pain.
And then it was gone. I was alone, lying naked on cold stone steps. The girl, the Gerudo I had saved, was gone. And so was the Sorcerer. I stood up, shivering, trying to force my mind into some pattern, force myself to make some sense.
"Am I dead?" My voice sounded flat, cold and lifeless in the stale air of the fortress. But the residue of the intense agony I had just been subjected to still left my heart pounding, and my head kept time. So not dead, then. But, why had he spared me? He'd found the Oracle conduit, of course... It was no longer on the pedestal. So then, why was I still alive?
"Colt."
I spun, my hand reaching for my sword but only encountering bare flesh. And then, I gasped. Standing in the doorway was the last person I had expected to see. Link. I stared at him for a moment. Something was wrong...
"I cannot stay long. I am here to answer your question, no more, no less. Ask." Even before he finished the familiar phrase, it hit me. He wasn't stuttering anymore... which must mean... The Oracle! I must have touched the conduit when I fell. But...One question? What should I ask? Go home, or...Save Princess Zelda? Or... Have a happy life with Link? No. Link had made it clear when we parted that I could not stay here. So, then... Ask.
"How do I get home?" Link paused, and though I could swear his face registered a bit of hurt, he looked strangely satisfied. I was suddenly struck with second thoughts. "Wait! I changed my mind... I want to change my question! How do I help you? I want to stay with you!" But Link shook his head, and though he still said nothing, I knew it was no good. When he answered, it would be my first question he responded to, not the second.
"The way from this prison is not easy. You must find the strength to overcome your obstacles. You must find the power to protect yourself and others. Trust yourself. You are able to do what needs to be done." He stopped, and turned away. "I need you, Colt. Be safe, all right?" It was almost identical to the answer Riley had given me, and it helped me about as much, which is to say not at all. I could almost hear the mayor's voice in my ear. "That's the way of the Path of Power. One gains Power through overcoming the challenges of one's Present." All in all, it was useless babble.
The world shifted, and I was back in the real world. Odd, though, that I now thought of this as the real world, when not three days before I was trying to convince myself I was dreaming... Strange, how perceptions change over time. The girl, who's name I had never gotten, lay broken on the steps in front of the pedestal that the conduit had once graced. Or... Still graced. When I looked, I realized that it hadn't been taken after all. It had just... stopped floating. As though whatever power had kept it aloft had been rescinded.
I picked my way through the rubble, conscious of the fact that I was no longer stark naked. Whatever power kept me in this world also kept me clothed, apparently. I was naked when I died, but clothed when I got here. Naked in the world of the Oracle, clothed upon returning to this world. And then it clicked. The world of the Oracle must be at least marginally connected with MY world! What if there were Oracles in California, too? That could be access from certain locations... I cast a longing glance back at the conduit. Tentatively, I reached out and placed my hand on its cold surface. But it wasn't the cold that had marked the Oracle of Wisdom. It was just... cold. Dead. Powerless. Empty.
Cursing, I left the fortress, no longer bothering with stealth, since anyone who might have objected to my presence was lying dead in the Sanctum of Power. A sobering thought that such a powerful race could be wiped out by a bunch of Stalfos. After all, Link had overcome obstacles far greater than that, and still lived to tell the tale. Not that he talked much, of course. Maybe they weren't as strong as they thought? Something was definitely amiss here.
"So... Where to now?" Normally, I would consider talking to myself a sign of impending insanity, but with all the shit that had happened in the last few days, it was just one more drop of water in the case of my own insanity, so I let it slide. But the answer was obvious. The three races of men in Hyrule held the conduits. The other three major races held the Oracles themselves. Zoras had the Oracle of Wisdom, the Gorons probably had Power, which left the Kokiri with Courage. Since the Sorcerer had no doubt obtained the conduit when he raided the castle, that meant I was off to the Lost Woods. Oh, joy.
Chapter 14: Power Play
Pain. For as long as I can remember, there has been pain, clawing its way up from some internal wellspring like a demon from a hellmouth. I can't even remember a time when I wasn't in some form of pain or another. Usually emotional, but occasionally, there might be some physical pain thrown in there too, just to keep it interesting. But mostly, it just hurts. A dull, throbbing ache just incorporeal enough to not actually be physical pain, but not enough to go unnoticed at most hours of the day. First the abuse of my stepfather, then the loss of my brother, and to a lesser extent, Alex. And now Link.
But all that, every nuance of pain I thought I was familiar with, was comfort compared to the pain that wracked every crevice of my body. My blood boiled in my veins, and my bones felt as though they were laced with fire. Every instinct in my body cried out for me to run, to flee from whatever it was that was causing my agony. Thought and memory fled before the scourge, and there was only the pain. It was my world, my universe. I WAS the pain.
And then it was gone. I was alone, lying naked on cold stone steps. The girl, the Gerudo I had saved, was gone. And so was the Sorcerer. I stood up, shivering, trying to force my mind into some pattern, force myself to make some sense.
"Am I dead?" My voice sounded flat, cold and lifeless in the stale air of the fortress. But the residue of the intense agony I had just been subjected to still left my heart pounding, and my head kept time. So not dead, then. But, why had he spared me? He'd found the Oracle conduit, of course... It was no longer on the pedestal. So then, why was I still alive?
"Colt."
I spun, my hand reaching for my sword but only encountering bare flesh. And then, I gasped. Standing in the doorway was the last person I had expected to see. Link. I stared at him for a moment. Something was wrong...
"I cannot stay long. I am here to answer your question, no more, no less. Ask." Even before he finished the familiar phrase, it hit me. He wasn't stuttering anymore... which must mean... The Oracle! I must have touched the conduit when I fell. But...One question? What should I ask? Go home, or...Save Princess Zelda? Or... Have a happy life with Link? No. Link had made it clear when we parted that I could not stay here. So, then... Ask.
"How do I get home?" Link paused, and though I could swear his face registered a bit of hurt, he looked strangely satisfied. I was suddenly struck with second thoughts. "Wait! I changed my mind... I want to change my question! How do I help you? I want to stay with you!" But Link shook his head, and though he still said nothing, I knew it was no good. When he answered, it would be my first question he responded to, not the second.
"The way from this prison is not easy. You must find the strength to overcome your obstacles. You must find the power to protect yourself and others. Trust yourself. You are able to do what needs to be done." He stopped, and turned away. "I need you, Colt. Be safe, all right?" It was almost identical to the answer Riley had given me, and it helped me about as much, which is to say not at all. I could almost hear the mayor's voice in my ear. "That's the way of the Path of Power. One gains Power through overcoming the challenges of one's Present." All in all, it was useless babble.
The world shifted, and I was back in the real world. Odd, though, that I now thought of this as the real world, when not three days before I was trying to convince myself I was dreaming... Strange, how perceptions change over time. The girl, who's name I had never gotten, lay broken on the steps in front of the pedestal that the conduit had once graced. Or... Still graced. When I looked, I realized that it hadn't been taken after all. It had just... stopped floating. As though whatever power had kept it aloft had been rescinded.
I picked my way through the rubble, conscious of the fact that I was no longer stark naked. Whatever power kept me in this world also kept me clothed, apparently. I was naked when I died, but clothed when I got here. Naked in the world of the Oracle, clothed upon returning to this world. And then it clicked. The world of the Oracle must be at least marginally connected with MY world! What if there were Oracles in California, too? That could be access from certain locations... I cast a longing glance back at the conduit. Tentatively, I reached out and placed my hand on its cold surface. But it wasn't the cold that had marked the Oracle of Wisdom. It was just... cold. Dead. Powerless. Empty.
Cursing, I left the fortress, no longer bothering with stealth, since anyone who might have objected to my presence was lying dead in the Sanctum of Power. A sobering thought that such a powerful race could be wiped out by a bunch of Stalfos. After all, Link had overcome obstacles far greater than that, and still lived to tell the tale. Not that he talked much, of course. Maybe they weren't as strong as they thought? Something was definitely amiss here.
"So... Where to now?" Normally, I would consider talking to myself a sign of impending insanity, but with all the shit that had happened in the last few days, it was just one more drop of water in the case of my own insanity, so I let it slide. But the answer was obvious. The three races of men in Hyrule held the conduits. The other three major races held the Oracles themselves. Zoras had the Oracle of Wisdom, the Gorons probably had Power, which left the Kokiri with Courage. Since the Sorcerer had no doubt obtained the conduit when he raided the castle, that meant I was off to the Lost Woods. Oh, joy.