Chapter Five: To Hide a Broken Heart
Link charged blindly down the corridors of the castle. Much like Princess Zelda had done earlier, Link had no destination. He felt he like he was trying to run away from what felt like his failure. Link was gritting his teeth, tears were rolling off his cheeks as he tried in vain to wipe them away. He thought of them as a nuisance. He felt worthless. He couldn't escape his failure no matter how hard he ran. The pain was too great. He couldn't believe it made him cry. Though he wasn't really crying, yet there were tears, his body was simply going through the motions of crying. He had felt pain plenty of times, great pain. He had fallen off of cliffs, been scorched by fire breathing Dodongos, had bombs blow up in front of him; he had been clobbered by Ganon himself, he had been whipped like a prisoner by Majora's wrath, and he had fallen off of Epona plenty of times. All of which were painful experiences, but he never shed a tear. Now he was shedding more water than the song of storms and he couldn't feel anything wrong with himself. But at the same time he felt like he was going to die, it hurt so bad. He thought back to the times he spent with Princess Zelda and tried to figure out where he went wrong. He tried to figure out why he couldn't make her love him. He had tried so hard, but he failed.
"I have to make it up to her, somehow, I have to show her I'm not that bad." Link tried to reason to himself and figure out what he could do to make her notice him. Then it hit him. He had to fix the problem with her father. "The King..." he said as he took off for the dinning room. As he got closer to the door of the dinning hall, he didn't slow down, instead he sped up and rammed the door wide open, knocking a worker who was next to the door unconscious. He scanned the room but no one was there save for a few servants cleaning up the table. Link sneered and turned and ran out of the room back into the dark hallway. The more Link pushed back the need to cry, the more energy he was turning into anger. He was becoming very angry. And he ran even faster. "The Throne room..." said Link as he turned around and bolted towards the throne room.
As Link approached the throne room, the guards outside the door interpreted Link's speed as threatening and ordered him to halt. Normally Link would never disobey the guards and would do whatever they told him to do, even if he didn't need too. But Link was too angry, his thoughts were a hazy blur, he couldn't think rationally so he simply charged the guards ramming them through the door to the throne room. The throne room was filled with five or six guards, but no King. All the soldiers drew their swords when they saw the commotion, and then saw Link and became confused. "Link! What's the matter? Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Where is he?" shouted Link in a deep angry and quite intimidating tone. The guards were taken aback. Link had always been so quiet, humble and bashful, they had never seen him lose his temper before and figured that whoever angered him that bad deserved whatever he had coming.
"Where is who Link?"
"The King!" roared Link in a volume that made them all lean backwards. "Where is he?" The guards became concerned. If Link, in his rage was after the King, they realized they had to keep Link from reaching the King at all costs.
"What do you want to see the King for Link? It's late."
"Tell me where he is!"
"Why don't you go home Link."
"Yeah, calm down Link"
"If you don't tell me where he is I'll..." Link stopped with a look of fear on his face as he heard what he was saying.
"Link?" His expression returned to one of anger again.
"Then I'll find him myself." and Link turned to leave and the guards advanced after Link.
"Link stop!"
"Stay away from the King"
"That's an order!" Link proceeded to leave without paying them any mind at all. So the guards charged Link swords drawn. But much to their surprise Link turned towards them and fought back. He drew his sword and shield and leapt into the midst of the soldiers, who were unable to fight, because they were virtually paralyzed, for they would never have expected Link to resist. They all respected Link and would never want to hurt him. But Link just didn't seem to care anymore. He was looking at the soldiers like they were Stalfoses.
Link threw a deku nut to the ground blinding the soldiers and then with precision kicks and shoves Link had all the soldiers on the ground without spilling a drop of blood. He then took off out the door down the hall towards the Kings quarters. However Link's shouting and the sounds of battle alerted the other soldiers of the castle to a threat, and the King placed his elite royal guard outside his bedchambers. The King listened as outside his door he could hear the sounds of battle drawing closer to his door. Link was fighting his way through numerous soldiers when suddenly they all backed off. Link shrugged and powered on ahead until he got to the Kings chambers. He skidded to a halt as before him two large, heavily armored guards with extremely heavy axes stood in front of the Kings door. Link was cautious, but they were similar in size to Iron Knuckle, and Link new how to handle one or two of those.
"Get out of my way!" shouted Link with the same volume and intimidation that he used on the guards in the throne room. The guards remained motionless like statues. "I said Get out of my way!" shouted Link a little louder as he slowly advanced. Finally one of them spoke up.
"What business have you with the King?" thundered the mammoth man.
"I would like to request an audience with him." growled Link through gritted teeth.
"The King will see no one. Be off!"
"Last chance, get out of my way right now. I would have words with the King."
"I said be off!" and with that Link bull headedly charged the guard only to bounce off the sturdy man and fall backwards. He almost welcomed physical pain, it helped him keep his mind off the pain he felt in his heart. The two guards both screamed deafening screams as they swung their mighty axes. Link leapt clear and landed with a somersault. As the guards slowly stomped after Link, Link leapt right between them, and began cutting away madly with his trusty gilded sword. Link managed to cut a whole piece of armor away from each soldier before he had to duck and roll out of the way again. Link needed the spar; he had a severe level of aggressive energy that he needed to burn off. But, he was driven by the desire to win Zelda's heart, so by then he had already lost his taste for the fight. So Link employed a strategy he developed against the Iron Knuckles he battled in the dessert colossus. Link sheathed his sword and put up his shield and then confidently strode in between them and stood there. Both guards began to swing at Link while he stood there facing straight ahead with his arms crossed. He would duck here and jump there, dodging the two slow but powerful axes. All the while as the two soldiers missed Link, they would hit each other and ultimately stripped each other of all armor, straight down to their mails. After looking at each other and seeing that each other was nearly naked, they then looked down at themselves and finally understood what Link was up too. They each then looked at Link, who finally averted his gaze from straight ahead to the soldier on his left. Link glared at the soldier with the same look of boredom he had been using. He paused for a moment, and then punched the guard in the head, denting the helmet, and whipped around with a back fist to the head of the other soldier, disabling them both. Rupees spilled out all over the floor but Link wasn't concerned with money. He just walked forward to the Kings door and kicked it wide open.
Inside the King waited in fear of whoever was fighting so ferociously to find him. As the door flew open, he recoiled in terror, but then saw only Link and was filled with relief. "Oh! It's you Link! Have you stopped whoever it was who was trying to kill me." Link stared at the king with the same lifeless, bored look of annoyance he had through his battle with the royal elite guard.
"No one is trying to kill you sir" growled Link. "I just want to talk to you."
"That was you fighting my guards? But, why Link, I don't understand."
"Princess Zelda told me you were going to break trade with the neighboring races!" barked Link as his expression changed to one of anger again. The King jumped back in his bed against the backboard.
"Well, yes I-I"
"Why?!" shouted Link who was becoming angrier by the second.
"Well progress, that's why" stuttered the King was extremely frightened by Links sudden change of heart.
"Progress?! What are you talking about?"
"Well, I plan to open trade lines with our neighboring Kingdom of Calatia. They will branch out to our soils and bring businesses and goods that the Hylian people will desire. Civilization will expand from the economic boom that will result. And the neighboring races will have to either compromise or move, I'm afraid."
"You cant do that"
"Well, I suppose you have an alternative plan then?" Link's expression faded from one of anger to one of thought, and from that to one of sorrow, as he looked to the floor, in shame, the King sat up in his bed and glared at Link with an angry look. Link was ashamed. In his blind rage of pain he hadn't thought of one. And he had ruined all chances he had of acquiring an audience with the King in the daytime, when he could talk about the problem calmly and work together with the King to rationalize a plan that would work for all the races. As he realized he had failed yet again, the other guards of the castle finally caught up to him and grabbed him and began to subdue him in a very painful manner. Even though Link had not hurt any one save for more than a bruise or too. As the guards stood over Link and beat him on the floor of Kings bedroom, the King did nothing but watch in anger, and slight satisfaction.
The guards dragged Link, bleeding out of the castle. By now a bad storm had stirred up, the rain was pouring down and the ground was extremely muddy. The lightning and thunder ruled the sky as the ground trembled beneath their fury. The wind whipped hard at times, pushing the rain to a pelting speed. The strange change in the weather was much like his dream, though at the moment Link couldn't focus on something like that. The guards threw Link into the mud disgracefully and returned into the castle. Link, aching and bleeding struggled to reach his feet. He stood up for a few seconds, wobbled from his wounds and fell back into the mud again. Link sat up in the mud and looked up through the rain at the castle, namely Princess Zelda's room. He didn't see any lights on and figured the princess was busy entertaining Prince Zensha. He looked down to the mud again and realized that this where he belonged. He thought of Princess Zelda and all the times he spent with her and how he'll never be allowed to go near her again. The more bad things he thought of the closer he came to crying again. Only this time, he didn't fight it. He loved the Princess and he would never even have the chance to tell her. He cursed himself for being so stupid. And slowly struggled to stand once again. Clutching his arm he slowly limped through the mud while quietly sobbing to himself.
"Why so sad?" a voice startled him and he looked around frantically but saw no one. He dismissed the voice and continued to limp. "You made a mistake didn't you?" the voice asked. Link turned around but through the rain and tears he couldn't see much.
"Who-who's there?!" he shouted angrily.
"Don't you think you deserve another chance?" Link paused to think. He did want another chance. He wished he had his ocarina with him so he could go backwards in time again and stop tonight from ever happening. "Don't you think the Princess should give you another chance?" Link's eyes widened.
"Who are you?!" he shouted at the darkness. Whoever it was, he saw everything Link did, and seemed to know what Link was thinking. "Is it you, old wise one?" Link thought it was the wise old owl that guided him on his journey as a boy.
"I saw the way they treated you. It wasn't right Link."
"No...It-it can't be..." once the voice said his name, he finally recognized what it was.
Meanwhile in the castle, Zelda was tracing Link's apparent path of destruction. Upon interrogating the bewildered guards in the throne room, she learned that Link was "very urgently" seeking the king. Zelda stopped and set her head in her hand for a moment. She felt horrible. Not just about what had transpired with her father, but for Link. It had been a bad night for both of them. Zelda recollected herself and set off to her father's bedroom. When she got there she saw the two elite royal guards being helped back on to their feet. She recoiled in amazement. "Oh, Link. What have you done?" she wondered to herself as she slowly walked through the large double doors, one of which bore a foot imprint. Her father was being tended too by servants. "Father! What happened?"
"Oh Zelda, thank goodness your safe!" said the king as he held out his arms to her.
"What happened here?" she asked as she honored her father's wishes for a hug.
"It's Link! He's gone mad! Zelda pulled away from her father's grasp.
"What?!"
"He's been fighting the guards! He intruded on me here in my own castle! My own room!" Zelda could only listen in shock.
"He attacked my elite guards, and defeated them! Then he broke in here and tried to attack me!"
"No! It can't be! Link would never attack you, whether he wanted to or not! You were unarmed!"
"I know that. Which is why he threatened me with his bare hands!" Zelda gasped and jumped backwards while placing a hand over her heart.
"He-he what?"
"He was shouting about the neighboring races, and then he started breaking things and throwing things, and he threatened to strangle me! Thankfully my guards surprised him and with heavy injury managed to force him out of the castle!" Zelda looked around the room and everything was in perfect order, save for the footprint on the door.
"Nothing seems to be broken. And none of the guards are hurt, anywhere. Link didn't draw blood from anyone." countered Zelda as she eyed the King.
"Oh no?" asked the King as he pointed to the floor at Link's blood. "I told you, it was quite a struggle but..." Zelda swallowed her heart into her stomach. She didn't know that it was Link's blood, yet she had no proof otherwise. She could only believe that reading the love letter from prince Zensha had pushed him over the edge.
"Oh no..." she moaned in despair. "It's my fault..."
"What in the name of the triforce happened in here?" Zelda and the King looked around to see Rauru standing in the doorway.
"Rauru!" they said simultaneously.
"Your majesty! What happened?"
"Tis a sad day Rauru, Link has become a renegade." lamented the King.
"Father!" shouted Zelda in anger and she turned to Rauru. "Don't listen to him Rauru, it isn't true! Link isn't bad...he's just...lost." said the princess as she looked to the floor in shame. Rauru, slowly leaned back in surprise.
"Link? That's impossible! I just spoke with Link half an hour ago. He was in fine spirits."
"You did?!" asked the King in surprise.
"In fact, that's what I needed to talk to you about sire. In fact, more so with you Princess." said Rauru.
"What? You knew of his treachery?" asked the King suspiciously
"Father!" shouted Zelda
"I knew of no treachery sire. Link had come to me earlier today bearing a burden of dreams. It was caused by an evil artifact that he had acquired on his journeys. Link asked me to interpret the dream and he also presented me with the cause of the problem. A mask."
"A mask..." Zelda thought to herself "That would explain why he was acting so strange around the wedding mask earlier..."
"So this mask is the cause of his madness?" asked the king.
"Link was possessed of no madness when I spoke with him sir."
"Then of what concern is the mask to us?"
"Well, I discovered that the mask was actually the prison of a fierce deity called Charantanatah. This imprisoned warrior god is gathering strength from a celestial phenomenon deep in the cosmos and is becoming stronger everyday. If we do not stop him, he will eventually gather enough power to escape from the mask, and that would mean the end of the world."
"So Link has brought a curse upon us. Damn that forest boy! I knew he was a bad seed." Zelda turned to her father horrified that he would ever say something like that about Link. Rauru, straightened up as well, and gave the King a stern look.
"I do not think that was Link's intention sire." he then turned to the princess. "I would like to speak with you more on the matter as well princess, when the other sages are present." Zelda curtseyed in respect.
"Of course sir. But right now I have to find Link. Father where is he?"
"I told you Zelda, he was driven from the castle."
"Oh no, I have to try and find him."
"But Zelda! It's the middle of the night! There is a horrible storm raging! Link could very well try to assault you outside the castle without protection!"
"Link would never hurt me!" she shouted from down the hall.
"That girl will never learn. Now then Rauru, this mask, it bears power then?"
"Extreme power sir. I fear what would happen should it fall in the wrong hands." Rauru reached into his robe to pull out the mask and show it too the king. "What?! What is this?! Where is the mask?!" The mask was gone.
"Perhaps Link has stolen the mask." suggested the King.
"That is inconceivable. Link abhors the vile thing. He would have begged me to keep it if I didn't offer to take it off his hands. Besides, after Link gave me the mask, I hid on my person and came straight here!" Rauru suddenly looked up with a start. "Unless..." Rauru turned towards the doorway, towards the outside of the castle with a look of terror. "No..."
Zelda hurried down the stairs of the castle into the main hall. There she passed by a group of soldiers who were just returning from outside. They were laughing amongst themselves about how weak the fabled "hero of time" really was.
"You there soldier!" she shouted. The soldiers immediately, sloppily, stood at attention. "Have you seen Link?" she asked? The lead soldier spoke up.
"Uh, Aye ma'am! He' just out there." the guard pointed to the castle doors. "Just beyond the gates."
"Is he angry?" The guards looked at each other and began to chuckle.
"Well if he was you couldn't tell."
"That guy doesn't put up much of a fight."
"He may throw his teeth at you though." and all the guards roared in laughter. Zelda turned and ran as best she could to the door, when she heard a voice from behind her.
"Zelda! Zelda wait!" she turned to see Rauru hurrying down the stairs.
Meanwhile outside in the rain, Link glared into the darkness, as he gave up and plopped back down into the mud.
"Where are you...Charantanatah?" Link asked quietly with disgust.
"So you know who I am at last hmm?" asked the voice. "Tell me, why do you detest me so? I'm alive just like you are."
"Unfortunately..." said Link
"Take a good look at me and tell me what you fear!" said the mask as it flew out of the darkness and hovered before Link, just within his reach. Link recoiled slightly as if someone had put a bad egg in front of his face and asked him to smell it. The sight of a floating mask, didn't scare Link like it should. He slightly chuckled to himself when he realized it. He thought himself a freak, since he could say that he had "seen this before". "You find yourself freakish. Why?" asked the mask.
"I'm not exactly...normal, I guess."
"How so?"
"...I dunno, I've seen a floating, talking mask before. I guess that's pretty odd." snapped Link.
"Is it odd? Or is it just odd to your Princess?" Link looked up at the mask angrily. "The princess is far to important to concern herself with the matters of young adventurers such as yourself. The most amazing thing she has ever seen is a rare orange rupee. Hardly thrilling to you, who has no doubt seen many amazing things."
"The princess cares about more than money!" shouted Link in defense of the Princess. "She loves sunsets! She loves her people!"
"Except you apparently." Link looked back down at the mud.
"She cares about people. Not money." Link quietly repeated.
"Is that why she even now is giving herself to the snobbish prince who wears the skin of a person on his chest for fashion? The skin of a Zora? You read the note Link, and you saw the wedding mask, you know very well what the Princess cares about. And you cant give it to her." said the mask as it circled around him. Link continued to stare at the mud. "You've done so much for her Link. You've done so much for so many people. You fought to save Termina, a land you never knew existed, just as hard as you fought to save your homeland. But you fought to save her didn't you?" Link looked up at the mask because he knew what the mask was talking about. "You didn't care whether or not the triforce was lost. She was all you cared about." Link looked once again back at the mud, in despair. The mask knew the very workings of his soul. How it knew, Link didn't know. "You've done so much and this is the way they repay you. I saw what they did, as I see the state you are in. It isn't right Link." The mask seemed to speak with compassion on Link. Link squinted at the mask. His mind and heart were in shambles, and now it seemed, that a mask of evil, was the only thing that spoke of compassion to Link.
"What do you want?" asked an annoyed Link as he half heartedly tried to get up.
"I don't want anything, except to help you." Link stopped and slouched back down again.
"Help me? You, want to help me?" Link didn't understand what the mask was talking about. It was supposed to be an evil mask with great power, seeking only a worthy challenge, not concerning itself with the problems of an insignificant person. "Why do you care what happens to me?"
"Because we have been one before. I knew your heart, soul and mind. As I do now. And I don't like to see part of myself being stepped on like this." Link began to believe the crafty mask. So far, this mask was the only one who bothered to reach out to him.
"You don't?"
"Of course not." said the mask softly as it neared Link. "I'm not really bad like that old man says I am. I can't unleash any power. I'm trapped in this mask. But what I can do is give my power. I can give it to you, and you can use it to make the princess see you. She will respect you. And she will desire you." Link squinted at the mask in disbelief.
"Go on..."
Meanwhile just inside the castle walls, Rauru was telling the princess of what had happened.
"Gone? Just like that? Are you sure?" asked the princess who was spooked at the thought of a mask floating around the castle somewhere.
"Yes. It's gone. And I think I know where it is. It's gone after Link. It has to have gone after Link. Link is a strong warrior, and adventurer. If the mask were to use its power through Link's powerful skills as his vessel, there wouldn't be a warrior who could touch him. He would be invincible. His form would be perfected, his speed would surpass the stars, his strength would baffle the mind, and the power he would have at his disposal..." once again Rauru scared himself to bad to finish the sentence.
"Well Link was thrown out of the castle...he read this..."she handed the note to Rauru. He read the note and his brow furrowed and he looked up at the princess. "After he read that, prince Zensha showed up and Link took off on a rampage..."
"This is very bad, Zelda. His heart is broken, and he'll do anything to hide it. It explains his unprovoked rage. We must find him before the mask does."
"You don't think he would..." Zelda couldn't contemplate the meaning of the rest of her sentence.
"Young emotions are the most wild and uncontrollable part of nature. If he were acting on his emotions without thinking, I wouldn't be surprised by anything he could do. Feelings only make sense to the person that experiences them; they do not work with the mind. Link is capable of anything right now Zelda. Anything." Zelda stared ahead with wide eyes. She then took off her shoes and ran outside barefoot through the mud. She could barely see anything in the rain as she ran as fast as she could, all the while screaming Links name.
Zelda ran until she saw, some twenty yards in the distance, a figure sitting on it's knees in the mud. Zelda couldn't see that well through the rain, but knew that Link was the only one who would have any reason to be sitting in the mud like that. She called out to him, but he couldn't hear her over the thunder. She approached Link squinting trying to see him better. He looked like he was hunching over, like he was crying, but as she got closer, she saw he was holding something. She called to him again, but there was still too much commotion from the storm for her to be heard. Then she saw he was hunched over a mask, that he held mere inches from his face. Zelda's heart almost jumped out her chest as she screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to dash forward, but she fell down in the mud.
"LINK!! NOOOOOO!!!" but it was too late, Link donned the fierce deity mask. The second it touched his face Link lurched backwards screaming in pain. A bolt of lightning struck his face and continued to electrocute him. Link hunched over like he was praying as he screamed. Then he held his hands up to the sky screaming and there was a crash of thunder and a blinding flash of light. After the light faded, a new figure sat in the mud, in a much more powerful posture. This figure had battle armor on its torso. It held a sword that was a big as he was, which had to large strands of metal that wrapped around each other, and he hefted it with one hand, like it was weightless. It had Links green cap. He sat in the rain, resting, catching his breath. Zelda slowly, timidly, approached the backside of the figure. "L-Link?" asked Zelda in a soft tone. The figure looked over his shoulder and glared at Zelda with white, glowing eyes.
"Not anymore." He said as he stood up and swung his sword to the sky and screamed the mighty cry of a warrior. Lightning crashed and thunder roared, as if the world was answering him. He was now fierce deity Link. Zelda fell backwards into the mud, and watched him revel in his power. She feared for her life. Link stopped to examine his body, he was taller, and his muscles were larger he marveled at what he had become. "Ahh...Yes. Yes! At last!" Zelda was frozen in fear, she couldn't even scream. Fierce deity Link looked up from his bicep to see Zelda cowering before him. "I really must thank you Princess Zelda" he said as he gave an evil smile and a mock bow.
"W-why?"
"If you hadn't played with Link's heart the way you did, I never would have been able to trick that pathetic fool!" Zelda's eyes widened. Charantanatah just directly blamed her for making Link vulnerable. Even though Zelda knew that she didn't purposely play with his heart, she knew his heart had always been in her hands and so it was her responsibility. And she failed him. She blamed herself as well. "Even I with my mind games, and nightmares, could never have done the kind of damage you did! Well done! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" Zelda's eyes welled up with tears faster than they ever have. She felt like she had just watched Link die. She began to weep.
"Link...I'm so sorry...forgive me please!! Forgive me!" Fierce deity Link then clasped his hands together, a beam of light came down from the heavens engulfing him, and when the light disappeared, he was gone. All that was left of Link was his sword and shield. "...Please...please...I'm sorry..."
Link charged blindly down the corridors of the castle. Much like Princess Zelda had done earlier, Link had no destination. He felt he like he was trying to run away from what felt like his failure. Link was gritting his teeth, tears were rolling off his cheeks as he tried in vain to wipe them away. He thought of them as a nuisance. He felt worthless. He couldn't escape his failure no matter how hard he ran. The pain was too great. He couldn't believe it made him cry. Though he wasn't really crying, yet there were tears, his body was simply going through the motions of crying. He had felt pain plenty of times, great pain. He had fallen off of cliffs, been scorched by fire breathing Dodongos, had bombs blow up in front of him; he had been clobbered by Ganon himself, he had been whipped like a prisoner by Majora's wrath, and he had fallen off of Epona plenty of times. All of which were painful experiences, but he never shed a tear. Now he was shedding more water than the song of storms and he couldn't feel anything wrong with himself. But at the same time he felt like he was going to die, it hurt so bad. He thought back to the times he spent with Princess Zelda and tried to figure out where he went wrong. He tried to figure out why he couldn't make her love him. He had tried so hard, but he failed.
"I have to make it up to her, somehow, I have to show her I'm not that bad." Link tried to reason to himself and figure out what he could do to make her notice him. Then it hit him. He had to fix the problem with her father. "The King..." he said as he took off for the dinning room. As he got closer to the door of the dinning hall, he didn't slow down, instead he sped up and rammed the door wide open, knocking a worker who was next to the door unconscious. He scanned the room but no one was there save for a few servants cleaning up the table. Link sneered and turned and ran out of the room back into the dark hallway. The more Link pushed back the need to cry, the more energy he was turning into anger. He was becoming very angry. And he ran even faster. "The Throne room..." said Link as he turned around and bolted towards the throne room.
As Link approached the throne room, the guards outside the door interpreted Link's speed as threatening and ordered him to halt. Normally Link would never disobey the guards and would do whatever they told him to do, even if he didn't need too. But Link was too angry, his thoughts were a hazy blur, he couldn't think rationally so he simply charged the guards ramming them through the door to the throne room. The throne room was filled with five or six guards, but no King. All the soldiers drew their swords when they saw the commotion, and then saw Link and became confused. "Link! What's the matter? Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Where is he?" shouted Link in a deep angry and quite intimidating tone. The guards were taken aback. Link had always been so quiet, humble and bashful, they had never seen him lose his temper before and figured that whoever angered him that bad deserved whatever he had coming.
"Where is who Link?"
"The King!" roared Link in a volume that made them all lean backwards. "Where is he?" The guards became concerned. If Link, in his rage was after the King, they realized they had to keep Link from reaching the King at all costs.
"What do you want to see the King for Link? It's late."
"Tell me where he is!"
"Why don't you go home Link."
"Yeah, calm down Link"
"If you don't tell me where he is I'll..." Link stopped with a look of fear on his face as he heard what he was saying.
"Link?" His expression returned to one of anger again.
"Then I'll find him myself." and Link turned to leave and the guards advanced after Link.
"Link stop!"
"Stay away from the King"
"That's an order!" Link proceeded to leave without paying them any mind at all. So the guards charged Link swords drawn. But much to their surprise Link turned towards them and fought back. He drew his sword and shield and leapt into the midst of the soldiers, who were unable to fight, because they were virtually paralyzed, for they would never have expected Link to resist. They all respected Link and would never want to hurt him. But Link just didn't seem to care anymore. He was looking at the soldiers like they were Stalfoses.
Link threw a deku nut to the ground blinding the soldiers and then with precision kicks and shoves Link had all the soldiers on the ground without spilling a drop of blood. He then took off out the door down the hall towards the Kings quarters. However Link's shouting and the sounds of battle alerted the other soldiers of the castle to a threat, and the King placed his elite royal guard outside his bedchambers. The King listened as outside his door he could hear the sounds of battle drawing closer to his door. Link was fighting his way through numerous soldiers when suddenly they all backed off. Link shrugged and powered on ahead until he got to the Kings chambers. He skidded to a halt as before him two large, heavily armored guards with extremely heavy axes stood in front of the Kings door. Link was cautious, but they were similar in size to Iron Knuckle, and Link new how to handle one or two of those.
"Get out of my way!" shouted Link with the same volume and intimidation that he used on the guards in the throne room. The guards remained motionless like statues. "I said Get out of my way!" shouted Link a little louder as he slowly advanced. Finally one of them spoke up.
"What business have you with the King?" thundered the mammoth man.
"I would like to request an audience with him." growled Link through gritted teeth.
"The King will see no one. Be off!"
"Last chance, get out of my way right now. I would have words with the King."
"I said be off!" and with that Link bull headedly charged the guard only to bounce off the sturdy man and fall backwards. He almost welcomed physical pain, it helped him keep his mind off the pain he felt in his heart. The two guards both screamed deafening screams as they swung their mighty axes. Link leapt clear and landed with a somersault. As the guards slowly stomped after Link, Link leapt right between them, and began cutting away madly with his trusty gilded sword. Link managed to cut a whole piece of armor away from each soldier before he had to duck and roll out of the way again. Link needed the spar; he had a severe level of aggressive energy that he needed to burn off. But, he was driven by the desire to win Zelda's heart, so by then he had already lost his taste for the fight. So Link employed a strategy he developed against the Iron Knuckles he battled in the dessert colossus. Link sheathed his sword and put up his shield and then confidently strode in between them and stood there. Both guards began to swing at Link while he stood there facing straight ahead with his arms crossed. He would duck here and jump there, dodging the two slow but powerful axes. All the while as the two soldiers missed Link, they would hit each other and ultimately stripped each other of all armor, straight down to their mails. After looking at each other and seeing that each other was nearly naked, they then looked down at themselves and finally understood what Link was up too. They each then looked at Link, who finally averted his gaze from straight ahead to the soldier on his left. Link glared at the soldier with the same look of boredom he had been using. He paused for a moment, and then punched the guard in the head, denting the helmet, and whipped around with a back fist to the head of the other soldier, disabling them both. Rupees spilled out all over the floor but Link wasn't concerned with money. He just walked forward to the Kings door and kicked it wide open.
Inside the King waited in fear of whoever was fighting so ferociously to find him. As the door flew open, he recoiled in terror, but then saw only Link and was filled with relief. "Oh! It's you Link! Have you stopped whoever it was who was trying to kill me." Link stared at the king with the same lifeless, bored look of annoyance he had through his battle with the royal elite guard.
"No one is trying to kill you sir" growled Link. "I just want to talk to you."
"That was you fighting my guards? But, why Link, I don't understand."
"Princess Zelda told me you were going to break trade with the neighboring races!" barked Link as his expression changed to one of anger again. The King jumped back in his bed against the backboard.
"Well, yes I-I"
"Why?!" shouted Link who was becoming angrier by the second.
"Well progress, that's why" stuttered the King was extremely frightened by Links sudden change of heart.
"Progress?! What are you talking about?"
"Well, I plan to open trade lines with our neighboring Kingdom of Calatia. They will branch out to our soils and bring businesses and goods that the Hylian people will desire. Civilization will expand from the economic boom that will result. And the neighboring races will have to either compromise or move, I'm afraid."
"You cant do that"
"Well, I suppose you have an alternative plan then?" Link's expression faded from one of anger to one of thought, and from that to one of sorrow, as he looked to the floor, in shame, the King sat up in his bed and glared at Link with an angry look. Link was ashamed. In his blind rage of pain he hadn't thought of one. And he had ruined all chances he had of acquiring an audience with the King in the daytime, when he could talk about the problem calmly and work together with the King to rationalize a plan that would work for all the races. As he realized he had failed yet again, the other guards of the castle finally caught up to him and grabbed him and began to subdue him in a very painful manner. Even though Link had not hurt any one save for more than a bruise or too. As the guards stood over Link and beat him on the floor of Kings bedroom, the King did nothing but watch in anger, and slight satisfaction.
The guards dragged Link, bleeding out of the castle. By now a bad storm had stirred up, the rain was pouring down and the ground was extremely muddy. The lightning and thunder ruled the sky as the ground trembled beneath their fury. The wind whipped hard at times, pushing the rain to a pelting speed. The strange change in the weather was much like his dream, though at the moment Link couldn't focus on something like that. The guards threw Link into the mud disgracefully and returned into the castle. Link, aching and bleeding struggled to reach his feet. He stood up for a few seconds, wobbled from his wounds and fell back into the mud again. Link sat up in the mud and looked up through the rain at the castle, namely Princess Zelda's room. He didn't see any lights on and figured the princess was busy entertaining Prince Zensha. He looked down to the mud again and realized that this where he belonged. He thought of Princess Zelda and all the times he spent with her and how he'll never be allowed to go near her again. The more bad things he thought of the closer he came to crying again. Only this time, he didn't fight it. He loved the Princess and he would never even have the chance to tell her. He cursed himself for being so stupid. And slowly struggled to stand once again. Clutching his arm he slowly limped through the mud while quietly sobbing to himself.
"Why so sad?" a voice startled him and he looked around frantically but saw no one. He dismissed the voice and continued to limp. "You made a mistake didn't you?" the voice asked. Link turned around but through the rain and tears he couldn't see much.
"Who-who's there?!" he shouted angrily.
"Don't you think you deserve another chance?" Link paused to think. He did want another chance. He wished he had his ocarina with him so he could go backwards in time again and stop tonight from ever happening. "Don't you think the Princess should give you another chance?" Link's eyes widened.
"Who are you?!" he shouted at the darkness. Whoever it was, he saw everything Link did, and seemed to know what Link was thinking. "Is it you, old wise one?" Link thought it was the wise old owl that guided him on his journey as a boy.
"I saw the way they treated you. It wasn't right Link."
"No...It-it can't be..." once the voice said his name, he finally recognized what it was.
Meanwhile in the castle, Zelda was tracing Link's apparent path of destruction. Upon interrogating the bewildered guards in the throne room, she learned that Link was "very urgently" seeking the king. Zelda stopped and set her head in her hand for a moment. She felt horrible. Not just about what had transpired with her father, but for Link. It had been a bad night for both of them. Zelda recollected herself and set off to her father's bedroom. When she got there she saw the two elite royal guards being helped back on to their feet. She recoiled in amazement. "Oh, Link. What have you done?" she wondered to herself as she slowly walked through the large double doors, one of which bore a foot imprint. Her father was being tended too by servants. "Father! What happened?"
"Oh Zelda, thank goodness your safe!" said the king as he held out his arms to her.
"What happened here?" she asked as she honored her father's wishes for a hug.
"It's Link! He's gone mad! Zelda pulled away from her father's grasp.
"What?!"
"He's been fighting the guards! He intruded on me here in my own castle! My own room!" Zelda could only listen in shock.
"He attacked my elite guards, and defeated them! Then he broke in here and tried to attack me!"
"No! It can't be! Link would never attack you, whether he wanted to or not! You were unarmed!"
"I know that. Which is why he threatened me with his bare hands!" Zelda gasped and jumped backwards while placing a hand over her heart.
"He-he what?"
"He was shouting about the neighboring races, and then he started breaking things and throwing things, and he threatened to strangle me! Thankfully my guards surprised him and with heavy injury managed to force him out of the castle!" Zelda looked around the room and everything was in perfect order, save for the footprint on the door.
"Nothing seems to be broken. And none of the guards are hurt, anywhere. Link didn't draw blood from anyone." countered Zelda as she eyed the King.
"Oh no?" asked the King as he pointed to the floor at Link's blood. "I told you, it was quite a struggle but..." Zelda swallowed her heart into her stomach. She didn't know that it was Link's blood, yet she had no proof otherwise. She could only believe that reading the love letter from prince Zensha had pushed him over the edge.
"Oh no..." she moaned in despair. "It's my fault..."
"What in the name of the triforce happened in here?" Zelda and the King looked around to see Rauru standing in the doorway.
"Rauru!" they said simultaneously.
"Your majesty! What happened?"
"Tis a sad day Rauru, Link has become a renegade." lamented the King.
"Father!" shouted Zelda in anger and she turned to Rauru. "Don't listen to him Rauru, it isn't true! Link isn't bad...he's just...lost." said the princess as she looked to the floor in shame. Rauru, slowly leaned back in surprise.
"Link? That's impossible! I just spoke with Link half an hour ago. He was in fine spirits."
"You did?!" asked the King in surprise.
"In fact, that's what I needed to talk to you about sire. In fact, more so with you Princess." said Rauru.
"What? You knew of his treachery?" asked the King suspiciously
"Father!" shouted Zelda
"I knew of no treachery sire. Link had come to me earlier today bearing a burden of dreams. It was caused by an evil artifact that he had acquired on his journeys. Link asked me to interpret the dream and he also presented me with the cause of the problem. A mask."
"A mask..." Zelda thought to herself "That would explain why he was acting so strange around the wedding mask earlier..."
"So this mask is the cause of his madness?" asked the king.
"Link was possessed of no madness when I spoke with him sir."
"Then of what concern is the mask to us?"
"Well, I discovered that the mask was actually the prison of a fierce deity called Charantanatah. This imprisoned warrior god is gathering strength from a celestial phenomenon deep in the cosmos and is becoming stronger everyday. If we do not stop him, he will eventually gather enough power to escape from the mask, and that would mean the end of the world."
"So Link has brought a curse upon us. Damn that forest boy! I knew he was a bad seed." Zelda turned to her father horrified that he would ever say something like that about Link. Rauru, straightened up as well, and gave the King a stern look.
"I do not think that was Link's intention sire." he then turned to the princess. "I would like to speak with you more on the matter as well princess, when the other sages are present." Zelda curtseyed in respect.
"Of course sir. But right now I have to find Link. Father where is he?"
"I told you Zelda, he was driven from the castle."
"Oh no, I have to try and find him."
"But Zelda! It's the middle of the night! There is a horrible storm raging! Link could very well try to assault you outside the castle without protection!"
"Link would never hurt me!" she shouted from down the hall.
"That girl will never learn. Now then Rauru, this mask, it bears power then?"
"Extreme power sir. I fear what would happen should it fall in the wrong hands." Rauru reached into his robe to pull out the mask and show it too the king. "What?! What is this?! Where is the mask?!" The mask was gone.
"Perhaps Link has stolen the mask." suggested the King.
"That is inconceivable. Link abhors the vile thing. He would have begged me to keep it if I didn't offer to take it off his hands. Besides, after Link gave me the mask, I hid on my person and came straight here!" Rauru suddenly looked up with a start. "Unless..." Rauru turned towards the doorway, towards the outside of the castle with a look of terror. "No..."
Zelda hurried down the stairs of the castle into the main hall. There she passed by a group of soldiers who were just returning from outside. They were laughing amongst themselves about how weak the fabled "hero of time" really was.
"You there soldier!" she shouted. The soldiers immediately, sloppily, stood at attention. "Have you seen Link?" she asked? The lead soldier spoke up.
"Uh, Aye ma'am! He' just out there." the guard pointed to the castle doors. "Just beyond the gates."
"Is he angry?" The guards looked at each other and began to chuckle.
"Well if he was you couldn't tell."
"That guy doesn't put up much of a fight."
"He may throw his teeth at you though." and all the guards roared in laughter. Zelda turned and ran as best she could to the door, when she heard a voice from behind her.
"Zelda! Zelda wait!" she turned to see Rauru hurrying down the stairs.
Meanwhile outside in the rain, Link glared into the darkness, as he gave up and plopped back down into the mud.
"Where are you...Charantanatah?" Link asked quietly with disgust.
"So you know who I am at last hmm?" asked the voice. "Tell me, why do you detest me so? I'm alive just like you are."
"Unfortunately..." said Link
"Take a good look at me and tell me what you fear!" said the mask as it flew out of the darkness and hovered before Link, just within his reach. Link recoiled slightly as if someone had put a bad egg in front of his face and asked him to smell it. The sight of a floating mask, didn't scare Link like it should. He slightly chuckled to himself when he realized it. He thought himself a freak, since he could say that he had "seen this before". "You find yourself freakish. Why?" asked the mask.
"I'm not exactly...normal, I guess."
"How so?"
"...I dunno, I've seen a floating, talking mask before. I guess that's pretty odd." snapped Link.
"Is it odd? Or is it just odd to your Princess?" Link looked up at the mask angrily. "The princess is far to important to concern herself with the matters of young adventurers such as yourself. The most amazing thing she has ever seen is a rare orange rupee. Hardly thrilling to you, who has no doubt seen many amazing things."
"The princess cares about more than money!" shouted Link in defense of the Princess. "She loves sunsets! She loves her people!"
"Except you apparently." Link looked back down at the mud.
"She cares about people. Not money." Link quietly repeated.
"Is that why she even now is giving herself to the snobbish prince who wears the skin of a person on his chest for fashion? The skin of a Zora? You read the note Link, and you saw the wedding mask, you know very well what the Princess cares about. And you cant give it to her." said the mask as it circled around him. Link continued to stare at the mud. "You've done so much for her Link. You've done so much for so many people. You fought to save Termina, a land you never knew existed, just as hard as you fought to save your homeland. But you fought to save her didn't you?" Link looked up at the mask because he knew what the mask was talking about. "You didn't care whether or not the triforce was lost. She was all you cared about." Link looked once again back at the mud, in despair. The mask knew the very workings of his soul. How it knew, Link didn't know. "You've done so much and this is the way they repay you. I saw what they did, as I see the state you are in. It isn't right Link." The mask seemed to speak with compassion on Link. Link squinted at the mask. His mind and heart were in shambles, and now it seemed, that a mask of evil, was the only thing that spoke of compassion to Link.
"What do you want?" asked an annoyed Link as he half heartedly tried to get up.
"I don't want anything, except to help you." Link stopped and slouched back down again.
"Help me? You, want to help me?" Link didn't understand what the mask was talking about. It was supposed to be an evil mask with great power, seeking only a worthy challenge, not concerning itself with the problems of an insignificant person. "Why do you care what happens to me?"
"Because we have been one before. I knew your heart, soul and mind. As I do now. And I don't like to see part of myself being stepped on like this." Link began to believe the crafty mask. So far, this mask was the only one who bothered to reach out to him.
"You don't?"
"Of course not." said the mask softly as it neared Link. "I'm not really bad like that old man says I am. I can't unleash any power. I'm trapped in this mask. But what I can do is give my power. I can give it to you, and you can use it to make the princess see you. She will respect you. And she will desire you." Link squinted at the mask in disbelief.
"Go on..."
Meanwhile just inside the castle walls, Rauru was telling the princess of what had happened.
"Gone? Just like that? Are you sure?" asked the princess who was spooked at the thought of a mask floating around the castle somewhere.
"Yes. It's gone. And I think I know where it is. It's gone after Link. It has to have gone after Link. Link is a strong warrior, and adventurer. If the mask were to use its power through Link's powerful skills as his vessel, there wouldn't be a warrior who could touch him. He would be invincible. His form would be perfected, his speed would surpass the stars, his strength would baffle the mind, and the power he would have at his disposal..." once again Rauru scared himself to bad to finish the sentence.
"Well Link was thrown out of the castle...he read this..."she handed the note to Rauru. He read the note and his brow furrowed and he looked up at the princess. "After he read that, prince Zensha showed up and Link took off on a rampage..."
"This is very bad, Zelda. His heart is broken, and he'll do anything to hide it. It explains his unprovoked rage. We must find him before the mask does."
"You don't think he would..." Zelda couldn't contemplate the meaning of the rest of her sentence.
"Young emotions are the most wild and uncontrollable part of nature. If he were acting on his emotions without thinking, I wouldn't be surprised by anything he could do. Feelings only make sense to the person that experiences them; they do not work with the mind. Link is capable of anything right now Zelda. Anything." Zelda stared ahead with wide eyes. She then took off her shoes and ran outside barefoot through the mud. She could barely see anything in the rain as she ran as fast as she could, all the while screaming Links name.
Zelda ran until she saw, some twenty yards in the distance, a figure sitting on it's knees in the mud. Zelda couldn't see that well through the rain, but knew that Link was the only one who would have any reason to be sitting in the mud like that. She called out to him, but he couldn't hear her over the thunder. She approached Link squinting trying to see him better. He looked like he was hunching over, like he was crying, but as she got closer, she saw he was holding something. She called to him again, but there was still too much commotion from the storm for her to be heard. Then she saw he was hunched over a mask, that he held mere inches from his face. Zelda's heart almost jumped out her chest as she screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to dash forward, but she fell down in the mud.
"LINK!! NOOOOOO!!!" but it was too late, Link donned the fierce deity mask. The second it touched his face Link lurched backwards screaming in pain. A bolt of lightning struck his face and continued to electrocute him. Link hunched over like he was praying as he screamed. Then he held his hands up to the sky screaming and there was a crash of thunder and a blinding flash of light. After the light faded, a new figure sat in the mud, in a much more powerful posture. This figure had battle armor on its torso. It held a sword that was a big as he was, which had to large strands of metal that wrapped around each other, and he hefted it with one hand, like it was weightless. It had Links green cap. He sat in the rain, resting, catching his breath. Zelda slowly, timidly, approached the backside of the figure. "L-Link?" asked Zelda in a soft tone. The figure looked over his shoulder and glared at Zelda with white, glowing eyes.
"Not anymore." He said as he stood up and swung his sword to the sky and screamed the mighty cry of a warrior. Lightning crashed and thunder roared, as if the world was answering him. He was now fierce deity Link. Zelda fell backwards into the mud, and watched him revel in his power. She feared for her life. Link stopped to examine his body, he was taller, and his muscles were larger he marveled at what he had become. "Ahh...Yes. Yes! At last!" Zelda was frozen in fear, she couldn't even scream. Fierce deity Link looked up from his bicep to see Zelda cowering before him. "I really must thank you Princess Zelda" he said as he gave an evil smile and a mock bow.
"W-why?"
"If you hadn't played with Link's heart the way you did, I never would have been able to trick that pathetic fool!" Zelda's eyes widened. Charantanatah just directly blamed her for making Link vulnerable. Even though Zelda knew that she didn't purposely play with his heart, she knew his heart had always been in her hands and so it was her responsibility. And she failed him. She blamed herself as well. "Even I with my mind games, and nightmares, could never have done the kind of damage you did! Well done! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" Zelda's eyes welled up with tears faster than they ever have. She felt like she had just watched Link die. She began to weep.
"Link...I'm so sorry...forgive me please!! Forgive me!" Fierce deity Link then clasped his hands together, a beam of light came down from the heavens engulfing him, and when the light disappeared, he was gone. All that was left of Link was his sword and shield. "...Please...please...I'm sorry..."