Chapter 20 – The Puppet Master
Link opened his eyes wearily, he felt faint yet enduring, as though he was on his last breath but could draw ten thousand more. He was lying on his front, on a pure white floor, and as he raised his head he saw that everything around his was white. And there were no walls or a ceiling, it was just infinite white space, and the light was incredibly bright. He struggled to remember what had happened, and then suddenly it all came flooding back to him, and the bottom line was, he was dead. So where was he now? He climbed to his feet slowly, struggling with himself to keep his balance. Then, out as though out of a fog, he saw something or somebody emerging in front of him.
"Link al'Ryak, Hero of Time," it said with no expression or feeling. "I am the Puppet Master." The figure resembled a tall man but was just a grey silhouette, a shadow in the fog, and he did not reveal himself. But this shadow was not the one that had killed him, he knew that. He was feeling different near this being than he had done with the god in the Fortress of Darkness.
He remembered that name, he knew what this being had done. "You, you're the Puppet Master." Said Link accusingly. "You're the one that talked to Zelda in her sleep, you sent her on this quest. You...you sent me to my death." He tried to get closer to the shadow, but the further he moved, the further away the shadow became.
"I am the Puppet Master, Link. I am the one that is. I am above and beyond anything that you could understand. I am beyond time, I am beyond light and dark, I am beyond life and death, I am beyond the power of the goddesses...everything that transpires in the world is done so according to my will and my will alone. I am the Puppet master who knows, sees and controls all...your death was my will." The voice was slow and calm, but frighteningly unsoothing.
"Why? Why now?" He asked, giving up on trying to get closer to him.
"You Link, all your life, it has all led to this. You're purpose in this world was to bring Zelda to the Heart of Evil. She and only she had the power to destroy it; but only your death had the power to get her to it."
"I don't understand, what has happened to Zelda?"
"When you died, her mind left the Fortress of Darkness and was carried into another plain of existence. She created such a dark power and energy out of her hatred and sorrow over your death that she stumbled into this place. It is a place inside every living thing, in is within every flame, every stone, every tide, every leaf. But only she, only she had the power to get there, to unlock it. And only once she was there could she destroy the Heart of Evil."
"What is this place that you speak of?"
"The Shadows Within, of course." The silhouette shimmered in the fog, and a wind blew around it.
Link looked at this being in wonder, and didn't know what to feel. Then he asked the question that was all he cared about any more. "What has become of Zelda?"
"Zelda lives. She was released from the shadows and escaped the fortress and the mountains as they crumbled to the ground. After the Heart of Evil was destroyed everybody that was dying recovered, including your cousin, Karak. He and Jerra went on up the mountain, and found Zelda unconscious and alone. She is saved, and will live. Now that the Heart of Evil has been destroyed the curse of death has been lifted from Hyrule, and everyone that was suffering, including Yerra, will survive.
"Then what will happen to me?"
"You are dead Link, nothing can change that. When you are released from this place your conscious mind will cease to exist, but your spirit will live on. You will become part of Hyrule; you will become part of the matter that makes up the world. Your spirit will be in the air and in fire and in the earth and the sea. You will be the in first breath of spring and the last leaf of autumn, the first wine of summer and the last snow of winter. This is how it is for all the dead. You may feel alone for an age, but Zelda will eventually follow you into the next life."
"I am afraid..."
"Yes you are Link, for now you are beyond my control and I cannot give you your courage, you must find that for yourself."
"So I will be like this forever?"
"A time will come Link when a new Hero will arise, when the world as you know it is long gone and the sea has swallowed it up. You shall live on through him, and through him you may feel new life. But other than this there will be no going back, and I cannot say I am sorry. You have come to the end that all living things must come to... until the final end of time; which is so far beyond your understanding that I will not begin to describe it; the realm of joy at the end of all things to be known as The Light Without. But that matters not now so you needn't know it."
"So are you going to release me?"
"Yes Link, this is your end. Goodbye."
The world shattered before his eyes and his body was torn apart, but then all pain was over and he felt everything good and free in the world. He could feel all of Hyrule and everything within it. He had a feeling of infinite and inexpressible joy. And he could feel Zelda in Hyrule, and Karak and Jerra and Yerra and everything that he had known, and it was all so good because the Heart of Evil was destroyed and curse of death no longer held presence.
He heard the laughter of children and the gentle breeze in the grass, and the tide breaking on the shore. There was no more darkness in the northern mountains, the accursed place of evil was no more, and the shadow god was gone.
He felt something else as well, a friend that was not in Hyrule, but was with him in his all seeing presence; Vuto. Vuto was there with him, and at last they truly understood each other. The world was free of pain and suffering, and Hyrule was saved. With a joyous feeling of life in his heart, Link's conscious mind let go and he fell into the chasms of time as a spirit immortalised until the breaking of the world.
Night was passed and the morning had come, and all would be fair and free forever.
Link opened his eyes wearily, he felt faint yet enduring, as though he was on his last breath but could draw ten thousand more. He was lying on his front, on a pure white floor, and as he raised his head he saw that everything around his was white. And there were no walls or a ceiling, it was just infinite white space, and the light was incredibly bright. He struggled to remember what had happened, and then suddenly it all came flooding back to him, and the bottom line was, he was dead. So where was he now? He climbed to his feet slowly, struggling with himself to keep his balance. Then, out as though out of a fog, he saw something or somebody emerging in front of him.
"Link al'Ryak, Hero of Time," it said with no expression or feeling. "I am the Puppet Master." The figure resembled a tall man but was just a grey silhouette, a shadow in the fog, and he did not reveal himself. But this shadow was not the one that had killed him, he knew that. He was feeling different near this being than he had done with the god in the Fortress of Darkness.
He remembered that name, he knew what this being had done. "You, you're the Puppet Master." Said Link accusingly. "You're the one that talked to Zelda in her sleep, you sent her on this quest. You...you sent me to my death." He tried to get closer to the shadow, but the further he moved, the further away the shadow became.
"I am the Puppet Master, Link. I am the one that is. I am above and beyond anything that you could understand. I am beyond time, I am beyond light and dark, I am beyond life and death, I am beyond the power of the goddesses...everything that transpires in the world is done so according to my will and my will alone. I am the Puppet master who knows, sees and controls all...your death was my will." The voice was slow and calm, but frighteningly unsoothing.
"Why? Why now?" He asked, giving up on trying to get closer to him.
"You Link, all your life, it has all led to this. You're purpose in this world was to bring Zelda to the Heart of Evil. She and only she had the power to destroy it; but only your death had the power to get her to it."
"I don't understand, what has happened to Zelda?"
"When you died, her mind left the Fortress of Darkness and was carried into another plain of existence. She created such a dark power and energy out of her hatred and sorrow over your death that she stumbled into this place. It is a place inside every living thing, in is within every flame, every stone, every tide, every leaf. But only she, only she had the power to get there, to unlock it. And only once she was there could she destroy the Heart of Evil."
"What is this place that you speak of?"
"The Shadows Within, of course." The silhouette shimmered in the fog, and a wind blew around it.
Link looked at this being in wonder, and didn't know what to feel. Then he asked the question that was all he cared about any more. "What has become of Zelda?"
"Zelda lives. She was released from the shadows and escaped the fortress and the mountains as they crumbled to the ground. After the Heart of Evil was destroyed everybody that was dying recovered, including your cousin, Karak. He and Jerra went on up the mountain, and found Zelda unconscious and alone. She is saved, and will live. Now that the Heart of Evil has been destroyed the curse of death has been lifted from Hyrule, and everyone that was suffering, including Yerra, will survive.
"Then what will happen to me?"
"You are dead Link, nothing can change that. When you are released from this place your conscious mind will cease to exist, but your spirit will live on. You will become part of Hyrule; you will become part of the matter that makes up the world. Your spirit will be in the air and in fire and in the earth and the sea. You will be the in first breath of spring and the last leaf of autumn, the first wine of summer and the last snow of winter. This is how it is for all the dead. You may feel alone for an age, but Zelda will eventually follow you into the next life."
"I am afraid..."
"Yes you are Link, for now you are beyond my control and I cannot give you your courage, you must find that for yourself."
"So I will be like this forever?"
"A time will come Link when a new Hero will arise, when the world as you know it is long gone and the sea has swallowed it up. You shall live on through him, and through him you may feel new life. But other than this there will be no going back, and I cannot say I am sorry. You have come to the end that all living things must come to... until the final end of time; which is so far beyond your understanding that I will not begin to describe it; the realm of joy at the end of all things to be known as The Light Without. But that matters not now so you needn't know it."
"So are you going to release me?"
"Yes Link, this is your end. Goodbye."
The world shattered before his eyes and his body was torn apart, but then all pain was over and he felt everything good and free in the world. He could feel all of Hyrule and everything within it. He had a feeling of infinite and inexpressible joy. And he could feel Zelda in Hyrule, and Karak and Jerra and Yerra and everything that he had known, and it was all so good because the Heart of Evil was destroyed and curse of death no longer held presence.
He heard the laughter of children and the gentle breeze in the grass, and the tide breaking on the shore. There was no more darkness in the northern mountains, the accursed place of evil was no more, and the shadow god was gone.
He felt something else as well, a friend that was not in Hyrule, but was with him in his all seeing presence; Vuto. Vuto was there with him, and at last they truly understood each other. The world was free of pain and suffering, and Hyrule was saved. With a joyous feeling of life in his heart, Link's conscious mind let go and he fell into the chasms of time as a spirit immortalised until the breaking of the world.
Night was passed and the morning had come, and all would be fair and free forever.