The Reign of Something Different
Chapter Five: Designs of a God
Sheik sat in contemplative silence in the glass room at the top of the citadel. Nothing moved, not a sound was heard. Even the priests who were normally hard at work at the glasses were absent (on a request from Sheik himself). Sheik didn't move, didn't blink, just sat perfectly still on the floor in front of one of the glasses. Seeing something in a glass required this, absolute stillness as you poured power into the mirror-like apparatice. One couldn't even blink, or else the spell would not work. Sheik hadn't blinked in two hours. Nor had he moved, in his two hour vigil, his vigil that he should be spending next to his bed. But he would not. Could not. When Link finally awoke, he could not know that Sheik was here in the Citadel. It was not safe for the Hilian to know that he was the Chosen of the Fierce Deity. Not now at least. Once Sheik had gotten rid of any connections his sisters/mothers had to his realm, then he could tell Link. Then and only then could he tell Link. And as much as it pained him to do this, he would somehow get through it. Sheik watched as Link's eyes parted slowly, and inwardly he felt his resolve start to crumble. He could not let that happen.
Closing his eyes briefly (and therefore loosing the spell) Sheik rose and moved to the door on stiff legs. Turning briefly to the first apprentice he saw, he spoke curtly, "Tell everyone, Link is not to be let in the glass room. Understood?" The apprentice nodded and Sheik turned back into the glass room, not waiting for the apprentice to run off, not noticing a crystallized tear that fell from one of his crimson eyes.
The high priest of the Citadel received the order from the Fierce Deity, but he did not agree with it. Out of all of the people in the Citadel, he had known Fierce when the God was still called that name by his subjects. Out of all the people at the Citadel, he could remember what life had been like under the rule of not one, but four creators. And out of all of the people in the Citadel, including the Fierce Deity it seemed, he had committed to memory when he was still in apprentice stage the entire religion of the Sheikahs and what every paragraph meant when translated into real life. And what Sheik was now doing, by his own rules, would slowly poison him.
Once the Chosen had been... well chosen, he or she must accept the love offered by the Fierce Deity or else the Fierce Deity would slowly be destroyed. This acception was not something that they could afford to wait upon, this weakspot in the Fierce Deity's armor so to speak. No God could destroy the former Fierce, the current Sheik... and yet this one Hyrulian could. But that would not happen, and that was what the Fierce Deity was afraid of.
Anyone could see that the boy, Link, was head over heals for the being he had come to know as Sheik, a Sheikah. Yes, the Fierce Deity would have to be honest and tell Link of his one mistake that had lead to his confinement (which in all honesty had been able to occur because the goddesses happened to attack at the moment when Link had been born), but Link would not reject him because of that. One could see that the Hero of Time held only love for the one he had fallen for, and nothing would taint that. But were this to happen, the other creators would be given something with which to crush the Fierce Deity.
Link was no god, nor was he even a godling or demi-god. Link had only the powers of a mortal when it came to godly affairs, despite the fact that when he accepted being the Chosen of the Fierce Deity he would live forever as an immortal. The goddesses could easily overpower Link, that much had been proven. But were they to do what they had done yesterday after Link accepted... then the Fierce Deity would be hurt also, crippled until Link was well again. And if Farore, the creator of Link, were to take him into her realm (as was her right if Link wanted to go, as any God could bring their creations to their realms as a reward for a richeous life*), then the Fierce Deity would be powerless.
And here he was, waiting for Link to be brought to him and powerless to tell the Hyrulian that the one he sought was indeed here at the Citadel.
The door opened silently and said Hyrulian entered the room, dressed in a more Sheikah version of what he normally wore. Most likely ordered by the Fierce Deity, the high priest thought, as his other clothes were more like shreds by the time the dragons were through.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked softly.
"Much." was the answer.
"That is very good to hear, young warrior. I assume this is yours." the high priest said, lifting the now clean weapon that Link knew so well and handing it to the Hyrulian.
"Yes. I was wondering where this had gotten to." Link smiled.
The high priest sank into thought for a few seconds and then decided to risk the question. "May I ask why you are here? You are not from this realm and warping though the space of realms is a painful business. You must have had a good reason."
"I was following someone." Did Link look a little bashful with that sentence? The high priest thought he did.
"Someone dangerous? Perhaps wanted in your realm for a crime of some sort?"
Link shook his head. "No, a friend... I was following a friend."
"A Sheikah?"
"Yes."
"And prey tell, have you found your friend yet?"
Link hesitated. "No."
"That is unfortunate, but I believe I can help you there. I know every Sheikah who has been born here since my time began as high priest. If you tell me your friend's name I may be able to locate... him?Her?"
"Him... his name is Sheik."
The high priest pretended to think hard, knowing full well that no Sheikah had been born in the history of Sheikahs with that name. That name was an alias for the Fierce Deity as he was the First Sheikah, so no one would dare name their child that name. After a moment the high priest frowned.
"There has been no Sheikah born with that name, Link. At least, no Sheikah born in this realm. Is it possible that your Sheikah was born in your realm and came here of his own accord?"
"More than possible actually." Link responded.
"It's too bad that the glass room is in use right now, because I could have found his location for you in one of the glasses." the priest began the painstaking process of hinting that Link should go up to the glass room. "But maybe that's for the better. The one using the room now is much more skilled than I" This last sentence was said as if it was not important, yet Link caught every word and a resolve to go up to this "glass room" was forming in his mind.
Sheik had long since stopped watching Link in the glass. He just couldn't do it. Every time he tried, his resolve crumbled even more and he wanted to run down the stairs to the level where Link was. And so he had stopped. He now sat in somewhat peaceful meditation, just trying to clear his mind of all thoughts. It was akin to setting one's mind for battle, except now he was just trying not to think. There was only one problem. His mind seemed to be trying to think. And so he waged war with his mind, trying to forget for just a moment that Link was a good two hundred or so feet below him and all he had to do was walk down some stairs to see him.
The door opened silently, as did all the doors in the Citadel, but Sheik only barely heard footsteps approaching him. Sheik realized instantly who it was and paled, resolve completely gone. Oh, no. Not this, not now... oh, what the heck.
"Is there something you want?" Sheik asked softly, hoping that Link would not recognize his voice yet.
"I'm looking for a Sheikah."
"And the priests sent you up here for my help, I suppose?"
"No. I came by myself."
"Even move deserving of help then. What is this Sheikah's name?"
"Sheik."
Sheik moved a glass slightly and began to pour power into it, all the while with his back to Link. An image appeared, drawn by Sheik's magic, but Link didn't know that, a picture of a Sheikah boy who Link thought he knew.
"Is this him?"
"Yes! Where is he?"
"Studying his heritage."
Link blinked. What kind of an answer was that? "His heritage?"
"Yes. He is reacquainting himself with the way of the Sheikah, and the Fierce Deity." Sheik saw Link stiffen in the mirror reflection. "You know of the Fierce Deity then?"
"I was... warned about him."
"The Fierce Deity is a horrible god to cross, but then again, so are they all. But I doubt you know the real story behind the Fierce Deity and the current hatred spawned for him by those of the Goddesses' creation."
"You mean the Sheikah view him differently?" Link remembered vaguely the dream he had the night of the attack on the temple. Farore had spoken to him, much in the same way that she always did when he was feeling boxed into a corner and had warned him of the treachery of a god called the Fierce Deity.
"Yes, they do. He is our creator, so if he ever betrayed anyone we would know. He did not. He was enthralled by the workings of life, how our people lived, learned, and died. Perhaps too enthralled, so much so that he began to spend more time among his creations than with his relative gods. He began working with them, teaching them to fight in the way that was instinct to himself, watching in fascination as the Sheikah race as a whole evolved their ways of thinking to come up with new ways of fighting. He encouraged this as he saw it as a kinship with his people. The goddesses saw this as a betrayal. What use had a people of weapons and fighting if not to destroy other peoples. They swore eternal hatred against their brother god."
"And Sheik is relearning this? Why?"
"Because living away from the Sheikah for so many years starts to dull the edge of the sword, if you see what I mean. It takes a while to adjust."
"You sound as if you know Sheik." Did Sheik hear a pang of jealousy in Link's voice? He hoped he did, by the lives of his people he hopped he did.
"I know Sheik well." he spoke slowly.
"Then where is he?"
"Take a step forward." Link did so. "You have reached your destination."
"What do you mean?"
Sheik turned to look at Link and saw the Hyrulian's eyes widen. "I am known to you as Sheik, to the goddesses as Fierce, and to my people as the Fierce Deity."
"You're joking."
Sheik shook his head. "No. I'm not."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would you have believed me?"
Link had to admit, Sheik had a point. Had Sheik told him he was a god when he didn't look so... well, godly-like, Link would have been hard pressed to believe him. But still...
"You still should have told me. I'm tired of everyone not telling me what's going on! First, you show up out of no where and offer no explanation as to where you came from, not that it mattered, but still you get my point. Then low and behold you appear to be Zelda, and she does this little speech about not telling me until the time is right and so on. And then I find out that the entire thing was a lie and you actually exist but are leaving. Now I find out that you left Hyrule because you're a god that every mortal in Hyrule, with the exception of maybe Zelda and Impa, has forgotten about! Is there anything that you're not telling me now?
"I wish I could say there wasn't anything, Link, but that would be lying."
Link leaned against one of the glass walls of the room and looked at the god expectantly, forgetting for the moment that he was dealing with a god.
Sheik raised an eyebrow at Link's behavior before sighing. "All right, I'll tell you. But don't stop me until I'm finished or else I won't be able to continue."
Link nodded. "Deal."
Sheik took a deep breath and began.
*this idea of a god taking a mortal to their realm could be seen as a parallel to Heaven for the folks in Legend of Zelda
Rio: There! You wanted continuation, you got it!
Daemon: You gave them a cliff-hanger? You learn well young grasshopper.
Rio: *raises eyebrow* I didn't learn anything. They deserved it.
Ryu: No they didn't. It did take you a long time to update, Rio.
Rio: -_-; Oh, yeah... well they'll have to deal with it until I write the next part.
Daemon: Which we will be telling you the date off, by the way, so we don't get any more stalker threats.
Ryu: April Vacation, i.e. between April 18 and april 24. Two weeks... well minus a day or so. ^.^
Daemon: Although I wouldn't say that superfluous reviews won't get Rio writing sooner.
Rio: ^.^ One of my faults I guess.
Ryu: Oh, and since there were so many good reviews, we feel we can't just respond with one sentence to everyone, so we are doing *gasp* review replies!
Review Replies:
Spellcaster Hikaru - (do you by any chance know Hikaru-chan?) Heehee, more like weeks, but the next one will be out in days. ^.^
Verda Morrison - No, no! Don't collapse! It's coming, I promise! It may be coming slowly but when the romance finally arrives it will be extra sappy and lovey... just like all other romance scenes I like to write (well, except the ones for my ghost story...)
BD - I will write more of these... just let me finish this one first! ^.^
Selena-Wolf - Did you like it? See, I continued!
Hat Trick1 - I'm glad you like it, hope this chapter lived up to your expectations.
Spryte - I'm glad someone took me seriously about the short review, ~.^ Did you like?
Hikaru-chan - Yes, I could join you in Zelda ranting any day. I was yelling at my Nintendo during the battle with Gannon with the whole MSword episode... I have decided, looking back that Zelda was just a very weak character, both physically and figuratively. Sheik is sooo much better. ^.^
Uuari - Yup, I love the romance... but there is a lot of issues that come with this particular love scene. ^.^ I'm just wicked sometimes when it comes to plotlines sometimes.
windrider sylvanon - Hope I made you and Oni Link happy. Did I? ~.^
signed,
Rio the FlowerofBlackFire