Chapter Thirteen.
Link rushed through the halls of the palace. His new long and sliver hair waved behind him. His gray eyes focused on the wall ahead. When he turned around a corner, he slid a bit sharply and nearly hit a table. His hip barely tapped it. Link moved to the side a bit back to the center.
'What am I to tell her? I love you will you marry me. Just like that? No... it's not right.' Link thought to himself. 'If I'm going to tell her anything it'll be about this whole mess I got myself into.'
Link slowed his rush to a walk. He tried calming his breathing to make it appear as though he wasn't in a rush. The throne doors were ahead of him. Link felt his head swim and his body burn as he approached those doors. He was nervous and for once... scared. There have been a few times in his if when Link thought he was going to die. His very first fear was when he fought against his first boss: Queen Ghoma. There were other times like against the evil King Ganondrof and other moments on his journey. But this... this was the first time he ever thought about. His fear was of Zelda finally knowing about Fierce Deity's spell and what was happening to him. He was afraid that she would hate him. Her hate was worse than death... worse than any pain imaginable.
Link took a deep breath before pushing on large door open. He walked in and saw Zelda, yawning while Impa talked with her, holding a map out. Link walked closer and caught the royals eye.
"Link!" She jumped up. As he walked closer, his silver hair shined in the light and his gray eyes stared at the floor. Her smile faded and a puzzled look replaced it. "What happened to you? Are you alright?" Zelda asked. Impa looked up at him and gasped. He map fell to the.
'He is as I expected...' Impa thought to herself.
Zelda walked up to Link and stared at him. Her lips moved for words but none came.
"Zelda... I need to talk to you..." Link said. "Can we- talk alone Impa?" Link looked at her guardian. Impa nodded her head respectfully in approval. "Thank you... please, walk with me Zel..." Link held his arm out for her to take. Zelda held onto it softly and walked with him.
Link and Zelda walked through the garden. The air was fresh and smelled like the flowers. The sun wasn't too high up. Zelda stared at Link. He had been silent the whole walk.
Finally, in the rose section, he sat down with her on a stone bench. Link closed his eyes and breather in deeply.
"Link, is everything okay?" Zelda finally asked. She study his face as he breathed.
"To be honest Zelda... no. Nothing is okay." Link said as calmly as he could.
"What's wrong?" Zelda asked. Her throat caught up. She knew something wasn't right.
"I have some bad news to tell you. Believe me, this will probably hurt you more than it is me." Link said. He opened his eyes and looked into hers. All he was in them was fear and worry. "I-"
"Link... you do know that no matter what, I will always care for you. And I will always be there for you. Now, tell me what is wrong and I'll help you the best I can." The princess told him. She smiled a reassuring smile. Link looked at her and lost his words again.
After a short moment of silence, Link brought himself together.
"Zel... I'm not sure what is going to happen but... I have a lot of problems." Link said. He paced and took a deep breath. "When I first started my journey to look for Navi, I lost my way and found a place called Termani. During my journey there, if you recall me telling you at the party about the moon and skull kid, I... got this mask." Link told her.
"A mask? I remember you telling us about all of your masks. Is there one you did not mention?" Zelda asked curiously.
"Yes. I did not mention the last mask I got from that place. It's called Fierce Deity's Mask." Link answered.
"Fierce Deity's Mask? What kind of mask was it?" Zelda questioned, her curiosity rising.
"A transformation mask just like the other three. Only this one turned me into another person. A warrior known as Fierce Deity with dangerous powers. He was once like me, fighting for good, using his abilities to protect people. But some of the villagers thought he was evil and wanted him gone. So, the church's priest hunted him down and cursed his powers and soul into this mask." Link said as he pulled out Fierce Deity's Mask.
Zelda stared at it for a moment. "I remember when I was little, Impa use to tell me stories of a warrior with great powers in a far distant land. Was he Fierce Deity?" Zelda looked up at Link for answers.
"Yes... it was he." Link answered calmly.
"I remember a story about him. When he was our age, he saved a girl from a monster. It was a romantic but sad tale." Zelda said. "But, what does he have to do with you? Sure the mask gives you his powers." The princess looked up at him.
"Fierce Deity had his soul in the mask as well. He was cursed that whoever was to use him, his soul and powers would grow into that person's heart. Fierce Deity's voice lives in my head. His powers... are consuming my heart. I'm already starting to look like him." ink told her.
Zelda stared at him. She did know that his hair as longer and a different color. His blue eyes now gray and sad. He didn't look much older but some how he did seem more mature. Zelda placed a hand on his cheek. She ran it up to his bangs and ran her fingers through his hair.
"I'm not the Hero of Time anymore Zelda. I'm something different. I'm turning into what this power wants me. And soon, I... I have to go. I'm afraid I'll hurt you Zel." Link looked at her.
Zelda didn't look away, even though his eyes sent bad chills through her body. She tried to smile so he could see she was not afraid. "Link..." Her voice was caught up in her throat.
"Zel... I can't stay." Link closed his eyes and took her hand.
You monkey headed-two face-double crossing- idioit of a warrior! Fierce Deity yelled in his head. Link ignored him.
"But... there has to be a way to stop this. Is there?" Zelda asked she started to panic.
"No. There is no way." Link told her. He looked away.
"But..." Zelda stopped. She looked at the sky. Strange black clouds started to hover above them. The princess hasn't seen such clouds ever since Ganon took control over Hyrule. "Link..." She pulled on his shoulder. Link looked up at they as well.
'Fierce Deity, what's going on?' Link asked the warrior. No answer. 'Fierce Deity?' Still, no reply.
"What's going on?" Zelda asked. She stood up, looking at the dark sky.
"I don't know but let's get inside." Link said as he stood up and started walking. "Come on Zel."
"Impa, what's happening?" Zelda asked her guardian once they were inside.
"I don't know m'Lady." Impa told her.
"You two stay in here. I'm going to question our assassin maid." Link told them. He walked out of the throne room to Mila's living quarters.
Mila was sitting on her bed with her head on her knees.
"Mila, we need to talk." Link said. He sat down on a stool near her bed.
"What is there to talk about? I almost killed the hero who saved us from the evil King." Mila responded coldly.
"That is what we need to talk about. Why did you try to kill me?" Link asked.
"I don't know. All I remember is having a dream... and then I woke up in your room." Mila told him. She didn't look up at him.
"What was this dream about?" Link asked.
"A bight light, almost as bright as the Triforce came to me and spoke to me. It said with the sweetest voice that danger was coming to Hyrule and that I must stop it." The servant told him.
"Did this voice have a form?" Link questioned.
"Yes... it looked like a woman." Mila answered.
"A woman? Could you see any details? Such as Eye color, hair, clothing?"
"She had beautiful blue eyes and lovely long lavender hair. She wore a white dress... sort of like a robe." Mila said.
"You don't remember anything after that? Besides waking up?" Link asked.
"Yes. I don't remember anything. There was a flash and I was asleep again." Mila told him.
Link sat there and thought for a minute. 'If what Mila says is true, then this woman has to be a real person. A witch if I say so. But... who is she?'
"Mila, you have done nothing wrong. The woman was using a spell on you, which controlled you. Please, get some sleep and I'll take care of everything." Link said as he got up to leave.
Mila watched him go. She laid down and rubbed her eyes to wipe the tears away.
Link walked through the halls of the palace. He was in more of a rush again. The hero walked into his bedroom to pull on his cape and pull his hair back. He grabbed his sword and looked at it. "My dear old friend. We are needed once again... but this time, it may be my own blood. Thank you for your blade of mighty strength." Link strapped it to his back under the cape and looked at the mess of a room. He coughed and shrugged, then walked out.
As much as Link had learned just moments ago, he still didn't understand a lot of it. He had a hunch that the one who possessed Mila was related to Fierce Deity. But it just didn't fit. Even more so, he didn't exactly understand the whole deal about Fierce Deity's powers either. Nothing fitted and everything was so complex it made his head hurt. The hero usually had a smart head to figure cases such as this out before it got out of hand. But this was way out of his intellect.
While Link was off in his own world, his legs carried him down the hall. He didn't pay attention to where he was going when he bumped into a wall, hitting his forehead on the stonewall. He groaned out in pain and rubbed his forehead. The hero glared at the wall he hit and sighed. Seeing that small red and gold pattern on the wall reminded him of something. He stared at it for a few minutes.
"Ganondorf..." he whispered under his breath. Ganon had an obsession for power, the Triforce. So, the obsession led him to the palace and the murder of Zelda's father. He gained the Triforce of Power and near the end, almost had Zelda's Triforce of Wisdom. Link also recalled Fierce Deity saying that his powers took the form of a demon. Could it be that now Link was back in Hyrule, the demon wanted the Triforce, just like Ganon?
If this was true, Link really was putting Zelda in danger. The demon was already getting a hold of the Triforce of Courage. If this power was to get a hold of the Triforce of courage, there was a chance that it would try to free Ganondorf just to get a hold of the Triforce of Power. All of Hyrule was in trouble now. Link could not think of anything to stop this demon now. Even Fierce Deity had stopped talking to him. He was not sure what to do anymore.
Link sighed heavily. He was at the end and there was nothing he could do but run... run away from everything.