The stone tomb was old, a complete enigma to the child. It was a
large room to him, the smooth stone ceiling reaching at least two dozen
feet above his head. The walls around him were covered in etchings of an
unknown language. The walls surrounded on every side, leaving nowhere for
the child to have entered or exited.
The child moved closer to the center of the room, closer to the large stone table covered with runes and the language... it was Hylien.
"Within lies the fair princess betrothed to the Dark Master of Power. From this marriage was born a spark of intelligence in the eyes of darkness, and it sought to seek the power of the gods. With newfound wisdom the darkness learned to bind the gods directly, and upon being bound wisdom provided a way of killing the light that filled each soul. Thus the protectors of the Triforce were bound unto darkness, and became the protectors of the tainted world."
The child stopped reading... his mind was screaming at him, telling him that he should continue, but his instincts told him that this was dangerous... that it had been tried before.
*CRASH*
The child turned around just in time to watch as the northern wall came tumbling down, and within the rubble stood several... people. Beams of light flashed throughout the room, searching...
They must be searching for him.
The child backed up against what was now revealed as a sarcophagus of sorts, his mind racing.
"Hey you there! How did you get in here?"
The child pushed himself backwards, jarring the lid on the stone sarcophagus loose. He looked in, expecting to find something, but was surprised when all he could see was darkness.
"Don't worry, I'll grab him, then we can take him out to safety."
All the child could think about was safety, safety from these men. The name Gannon appeared in his head, safety from Gannon. The child lifted himself to the edge of the sarcophagus, and just as the man walked up to grab him, he jumped into the darkness of the sarcophagus. The man reached down after him, not knowing of the tombs depth. He lost his footing, and plunged down after the child.
"David! What the heck."
The others watched as David Rose fell into the sarcophagus. The rushed over, but were surprised to see a shallow tomb, empty except for a few rags. The child had disappeared, and David along with him.
Marcus woke with a start, upsetting his drink in the process and spilling it across the invaluable translations he was working on. After mumbling a few choice words, he started wiping up the mess, hoping the notes wouldn't smell like bourbon. The dream about the child and David disturbed him. He normally didn't pay much attention to dreams, but this one was so real. He figured he would place a long distance call to the expedition as soon as it was morning.
Marcus grabbed the backpack he normally carried with him, and figured more translations could wait until tomorrow. Nothing like a good nights rest to help clear up a groggy head and clear a hangover. Marcus took one last sidelong glance at the tablets, and turned out the lights.
"Link."
The child looked up. That name sounded familiar, it seemed, comfortable.
"Holder of courage, look upon your destiny."
The child obeyed, and opened his eyes, casting his eyes about in the darkness.
"It's dark. I can't see anything."
"Until now that has been true. But the time is right. Look again."
The child peered harder into the darkness, something faint was becoming visible.
"You have held a treasure for many years, a treasure that can only be found when things are most hidden. Now is that time to find it again, for your identity is hidden even to yourself. Turn the Lens of Truth upon yourself."
The child squinted his eyes, and suddenly he could make out something glassy reflecting a faint sliver of light. It was some kind of magnifying glass, and it stood at arms height. The child reached for it.
"Stop."
The child turned around, and watched as a spirit surrounded by a golden glow wafted through the air. The spirit seemed familiar as the child wracked the back of his mind to try and place a name with the face.
"You are... Rauru?"
The spirit nodded. The child smiled and turned back around to face the magnifying glass, his arm outstretched...
The glass lifted itself from the pedestal, flying into the hand of the spirit behind the child. The child turned around, his smile faded.
"Why? I thought you were a friend."
The spirit dashed the magnifying glass against the ground, its pieces flying across the darkness, still reflecting the light despite. The spirit raised his arms, and torches placed around the chamber quickly flamed to life. The child realized he was still in a tomb, skeletons crushed underneath his boots. The child readied his sword and shield.
"I am Rauru indeed, the Sage of Decay!"
The spirit raised his arms again, and slowly began to change. His body became a liquid like substance, dark goo that flowed slowly across the gelatinous body. The Sage's head sunk into his torso, before long, all that stood before link was a giant blob, completely featureless except for a red core in the center. It attacked.
The child dodged the blobs forward charge, slicing at the goo with his sword. With a single thrust the sword cleaved the mass in two, the sharp wooden blade slicing through the mass like it was butter. The two halves of the goo quivered for a second before advancing as separate creatures. The child sliced and hacked again and again, each time the goo spliced in two, and then moving forward. The child stopped as he slowly backed into a corner. A torch flickered to the right of him as he began to sidle against the wall. He grabbed it, and for a lack of a better thing to do, flung it at the army of goo before him. The flame sputtered as it twirled through the air. The torch landed on a slightly larger blob, which caught fire the moment the flames touched it. The blob slithered around quickly, obviously in its death throes. In its wild oozing, it touched another blob, which was set on fire. Before long the entire room was filled with flaming, dying blobs running around madly. The child watched as they melted, reformed into the giant blob, on fire as was its components. The blob thrashed around, and then decayed into nothing.
The child leaned against the wall, tired from exertion....
"Link."
The child looked up again, once again the spirit of Rauru approached.
"Link, thank you."
The child simply just stared dumbfounded. The name... it meant something, but he could not figure out what.
"Do you not remember who you are?"
The child shook his head no.
"You are Link, the guardian of the Triforce of Courage, and the champion of Hyrule, an ancient kingdom that now exists only in legends."
The Sage's spirit sank lower, and cleared its voice.
"Link, throughout time you have strived to prevent what has happened. Gannon, the bearer of the Triforce of Power long ago destroyed the world you knew. He did this in a most vile manner. He brought the Princess Zelda under his power and with her Wisdom he learned how to bind and change the sages. Without the Sages, the world crumbled, revealing this dark place."
The Sage made a grand gesture, his eyes glinting darkly.
"Through us he drained the powers of your weapons. But there was one artifact he could not touch, for doing so would reveal his inner nature, and thus destroy him. This...," A piece of the Magnifying Glass floated into the Sages hand, "is the Lens of Truth, an artifact of immense power that reveals what is hidden. Since Gannon could not touch it, he bound me, corrupted as I was, to guard it from you."
As the Sage stood, the other pieces of the Lens of Truth gathered together in his hands.
"As a final act upon this world, I will reform what is lost. Each of the other Sages can return to you part of your history, your life. With this lens you can shatter the shadows that have enveloped this world. Eventually, with your help this shadow world will shatter, and the true Hyrule will return."
The Sage stretched out his arm, the pieces to the Lens of Truth reforming in his hand. Link reached out his arm, and took the Lens. He held it up to the light to get a better look at it. As he peered around the room through the Lens, he spotted a door in the southern wall that he could swear was not there before.
"Link, before you go, it would be wise to make new friends. A man followed you down here, perhaps you should find him. The minions of the darkness still inhabit the tunnels, and he would be ill prepared to face these demons. Oh! And also," Rauru patted his robes as if looking for something. "Here, take this map, it should lead you to the other sages."
Link caught the map as Rauru tossed it, and waved goodbye to the spirit. Rauru watched as Link opened the recently revealed door and disappeared into the new adventure waiting for him.
The child moved closer to the center of the room, closer to the large stone table covered with runes and the language... it was Hylien.
"Within lies the fair princess betrothed to the Dark Master of Power. From this marriage was born a spark of intelligence in the eyes of darkness, and it sought to seek the power of the gods. With newfound wisdom the darkness learned to bind the gods directly, and upon being bound wisdom provided a way of killing the light that filled each soul. Thus the protectors of the Triforce were bound unto darkness, and became the protectors of the tainted world."
The child stopped reading... his mind was screaming at him, telling him that he should continue, but his instincts told him that this was dangerous... that it had been tried before.
*CRASH*
The child turned around just in time to watch as the northern wall came tumbling down, and within the rubble stood several... people. Beams of light flashed throughout the room, searching...
They must be searching for him.
The child backed up against what was now revealed as a sarcophagus of sorts, his mind racing.
"Hey you there! How did you get in here?"
The child pushed himself backwards, jarring the lid on the stone sarcophagus loose. He looked in, expecting to find something, but was surprised when all he could see was darkness.
"Don't worry, I'll grab him, then we can take him out to safety."
All the child could think about was safety, safety from these men. The name Gannon appeared in his head, safety from Gannon. The child lifted himself to the edge of the sarcophagus, and just as the man walked up to grab him, he jumped into the darkness of the sarcophagus. The man reached down after him, not knowing of the tombs depth. He lost his footing, and plunged down after the child.
"David! What the heck."
The others watched as David Rose fell into the sarcophagus. The rushed over, but were surprised to see a shallow tomb, empty except for a few rags. The child had disappeared, and David along with him.
Marcus woke with a start, upsetting his drink in the process and spilling it across the invaluable translations he was working on. After mumbling a few choice words, he started wiping up the mess, hoping the notes wouldn't smell like bourbon. The dream about the child and David disturbed him. He normally didn't pay much attention to dreams, but this one was so real. He figured he would place a long distance call to the expedition as soon as it was morning.
Marcus grabbed the backpack he normally carried with him, and figured more translations could wait until tomorrow. Nothing like a good nights rest to help clear up a groggy head and clear a hangover. Marcus took one last sidelong glance at the tablets, and turned out the lights.
"Link."
The child looked up. That name sounded familiar, it seemed, comfortable.
"Holder of courage, look upon your destiny."
The child obeyed, and opened his eyes, casting his eyes about in the darkness.
"It's dark. I can't see anything."
"Until now that has been true. But the time is right. Look again."
The child peered harder into the darkness, something faint was becoming visible.
"You have held a treasure for many years, a treasure that can only be found when things are most hidden. Now is that time to find it again, for your identity is hidden even to yourself. Turn the Lens of Truth upon yourself."
The child squinted his eyes, and suddenly he could make out something glassy reflecting a faint sliver of light. It was some kind of magnifying glass, and it stood at arms height. The child reached for it.
"Stop."
The child turned around, and watched as a spirit surrounded by a golden glow wafted through the air. The spirit seemed familiar as the child wracked the back of his mind to try and place a name with the face.
"You are... Rauru?"
The spirit nodded. The child smiled and turned back around to face the magnifying glass, his arm outstretched...
The glass lifted itself from the pedestal, flying into the hand of the spirit behind the child. The child turned around, his smile faded.
"Why? I thought you were a friend."
The spirit dashed the magnifying glass against the ground, its pieces flying across the darkness, still reflecting the light despite. The spirit raised his arms, and torches placed around the chamber quickly flamed to life. The child realized he was still in a tomb, skeletons crushed underneath his boots. The child readied his sword and shield.
"I am Rauru indeed, the Sage of Decay!"
The spirit raised his arms again, and slowly began to change. His body became a liquid like substance, dark goo that flowed slowly across the gelatinous body. The Sage's head sunk into his torso, before long, all that stood before link was a giant blob, completely featureless except for a red core in the center. It attacked.
The child dodged the blobs forward charge, slicing at the goo with his sword. With a single thrust the sword cleaved the mass in two, the sharp wooden blade slicing through the mass like it was butter. The two halves of the goo quivered for a second before advancing as separate creatures. The child sliced and hacked again and again, each time the goo spliced in two, and then moving forward. The child stopped as he slowly backed into a corner. A torch flickered to the right of him as he began to sidle against the wall. He grabbed it, and for a lack of a better thing to do, flung it at the army of goo before him. The flame sputtered as it twirled through the air. The torch landed on a slightly larger blob, which caught fire the moment the flames touched it. The blob slithered around quickly, obviously in its death throes. In its wild oozing, it touched another blob, which was set on fire. Before long the entire room was filled with flaming, dying blobs running around madly. The child watched as they melted, reformed into the giant blob, on fire as was its components. The blob thrashed around, and then decayed into nothing.
The child leaned against the wall, tired from exertion....
"Link."
The child looked up again, once again the spirit of Rauru approached.
"Link, thank you."
The child simply just stared dumbfounded. The name... it meant something, but he could not figure out what.
"Do you not remember who you are?"
The child shook his head no.
"You are Link, the guardian of the Triforce of Courage, and the champion of Hyrule, an ancient kingdom that now exists only in legends."
The Sage's spirit sank lower, and cleared its voice.
"Link, throughout time you have strived to prevent what has happened. Gannon, the bearer of the Triforce of Power long ago destroyed the world you knew. He did this in a most vile manner. He brought the Princess Zelda under his power and with her Wisdom he learned how to bind and change the sages. Without the Sages, the world crumbled, revealing this dark place."
The Sage made a grand gesture, his eyes glinting darkly.
"Through us he drained the powers of your weapons. But there was one artifact he could not touch, for doing so would reveal his inner nature, and thus destroy him. This...," A piece of the Magnifying Glass floated into the Sages hand, "is the Lens of Truth, an artifact of immense power that reveals what is hidden. Since Gannon could not touch it, he bound me, corrupted as I was, to guard it from you."
As the Sage stood, the other pieces of the Lens of Truth gathered together in his hands.
"As a final act upon this world, I will reform what is lost. Each of the other Sages can return to you part of your history, your life. With this lens you can shatter the shadows that have enveloped this world. Eventually, with your help this shadow world will shatter, and the true Hyrule will return."
The Sage stretched out his arm, the pieces to the Lens of Truth reforming in his hand. Link reached out his arm, and took the Lens. He held it up to the light to get a better look at it. As he peered around the room through the Lens, he spotted a door in the southern wall that he could swear was not there before.
"Link, before you go, it would be wise to make new friends. A man followed you down here, perhaps you should find him. The minions of the darkness still inhabit the tunnels, and he would be ill prepared to face these demons. Oh! And also," Rauru patted his robes as if looking for something. "Here, take this map, it should lead you to the other sages."
Link caught the map as Rauru tossed it, and waved goodbye to the spirit. Rauru watched as Link opened the recently revealed door and disappeared into the new adventure waiting for him.