Purplelizard: Thanks so much for your continuing support! It means soooo much to me!
A pale hand, originating from a green sleeve gently gripped Michael's arm, which gave a slight reflex. The hand proceeded to lift Michael's arm up off the ground and place it on his stomach. Michael's white shirt showed stains of dirt and dust. Michael stirred, then opened his eyes. A blurry figure wearing green hovered over him. Michael blinked his eyes to regain focus, and saw a teenager with blond hair in a green cap. The teenager wore a green tunic over white tights. Michael noticed that on the boy's back rested a sword and shield. Michael gave a slight shriek, causing the boy to step back. Michael lifted his head and his arms. He took his gaze off of the teenager to look around. He saw a large boulder only a few feet from him, and immediately identified it as the one he hit his head on. Michael then gently ran his right hand over his face, feeling the dry blood caked over most of it. When his hand reached the bruise, he sighed in pain, and quickly retracted his hand to his side. Once again, he faced the boy in green standing before him.
"Who are you?" Michael asked, squinting; still a little disoriented.
"My name is Link," the boy smiled. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Michael sighed in pain, his body still quite stiff from his injury. "My name is Michael. I used to serve the royal family…I think it was seven years ago…I came back to see what happened to Hyrule and next thing I know…Ah, big fucking headache." The fallen man took a minute to relax and catch his breath. "Link," Michael muttered. "Oh! Right! You're the little boy, or you were the little boy that Zelda sent out to collect the spiritual stones! I remember now. What the hell happened?"
"Ganondorf followed me into the Sacred Realm after I opened the door of time, and then he stole the triforce."
Michael rolled his eyes. "Sadly, that doesn't surprise me. It must have been so easy for him…"
"After seven years of being trapped in the Sacred Realm, I have awakened," The hero interrupted. "I have broken most of Ganondorf's curses, and I have awoken five of the six sages—"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Michael interrupted, "and until this headache goes away, I don't think I'll be able to even try and understand." Michael shook his head. This was the boy that Princess Zelda rashly burdened with a cruel fate. Michael forced a smile. He then attempted to get up, keeping a hand on his head while he slowly rose to his feet. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." Link stood still, mildly offended by the man's lack of interest in his trials. "Ah, shit," Michael hissed, with his hand still on his forehead. He finally gave his attention back to Link again, and said, "I left Hyrule seven years ago, so I wasn't really prepared to see such a change. I didn't want to believe that Ganondorf would actually succeed." Michael tried to take a stride forward, but nearly stumbled over. Link quickly grabbed Michael's hand, and pulled him forward. When Michael regained balance, he muttered, "Thanks."
"Are you alright?" Link inquired.
"Are you kidding? Can you see my face? Does it look like I'm alright?" Michael murmured. Stunned and offended, Link looked blankly at Michael, waiting for him to break the silence. "Sorry about that," said Michael. "A quake flung me into a large rock, and now my head is killing me. Forgive my being less than polite. I'm sure I'll be fine, but please take me out of here. Is the Kakariko Village safe?"
Link nodded. He secured a firm grasp of Michael's wrist before dragging the injured man away from the ruins of the old Hyrule Castle.
When the pair exited the castle area, they found themselves in a vast expanse known as Hyrule Field. The clouds seemed to vanish from the sky, and a radiant full moon hovered right over a distant large mountain with an eerie red glowing halo. Link lead Michael to his horse, Epona. They stopped.
"You said that you worked for the royal family seven years ago; what did you do for them? Did you know Zelda?" Link asked.
"I'd say so," Michael explained in a weak voice. "I was her tutor."
Linked gasped. "So you knew Zelda?"
Michael gave a subtle nod. "Can we please get to the village?" Link helped Michael up onto Epona. "Yes, I know Zelda, or at least, I knew her. I stayed in the castle and served as her tutor. She talked a lot about her so-called prophetic dreams of evil consuming Hyrule, and about the kid from the forest who would come save everyone." Link mounted the horse.
"She told you about all that?"
"Of course she did. She told anyone who would listen to her."
"Did you believe her?"
"Not really. As her tutor, I not only taught her what was in Impa's curriculum, but I also tried to teach her how to think with an open mind and how to reason by carefully weighing options. I tried to teach her how not to rely on intuition. It is clear now that I failed miserably. When she told me about your quest to collect the three spiritual stones, I told her that sending some innocent young boy to collect the three stones was not only unnecessary, but really ignorant of that boy's well being."
Link turned around to face Michael. "She just wanted to make it so that Ganondorf could never get into the Sacred Realm."
"Yes, I am aware of that. I could present a very strong argument that Ganondorf would have been unable to accomplish anything without your involvement, and that it is Zelda's fault that he conquered Hyrule, but right now I am mentally and physically too weak. PLEASE get me to the village."
Link grabbed the reins. "Princess Zelda would never put my life at risk unless she needed to. This is my destiny."
After about a minute or so of awkward silence, Michael muttered "I'm sorry if I offended you." Link nodded, and then they were off.
(Months later-Back to Joanne/Link)
The first rays of sunlight illuminated the east horizon on Laky Hylia. Shades or orange and purple singed the dark sky. As the first light of day passed through the bedroom window in what was once Michael's house, Joanne sat at the edge of what used to be Michael's bed gazing at the floor. She hadn't slept at all that night. Link stood in the doorway. His clumsy posture emphasized how tired he was.
Hours of silence came to a sudden end when Link finally opened his mouth. "I am so exhausted," he said under his breath. Joanne looked up at him. His eyes were bloodshot. "I never stay up this late unless I have responsibility to. Being in this house, I suddenly remember waking up at this time to find out that Michael still had not gone to sleep. I never understood how he could possibly survive with keeping such weird hours."
Joanne, still fixed at the ground, gave a small nod. "I used to call him a vampire to tease him," she said quietly. Link smiled. Joanne raised her head to notice the hero's gesture and gave the smallest reciprocation. "The biggest tragedies in Michael's life," she began in a solid voice, "all come from really selfish and hedonistic choices he made. It's not that he didn't care, or that he was stupid. He was easily the most intelligent person I have ever known; he could just be so foolish sometimes." Joanne took a break. There was no such thing as the right words for this. She had to find the optimal way to approach the upcoming query. "I know Michael could get himself into trouble. No one knew Michael as well as I did. Not even Michael. What I can't believe, though, is that he would put himself in a situation where the necessary and appropriate action would be to kill him. Michael was not a person who would physically harm others unless it was in self-defense. He never even so much has put up his hands to guard when I hit or shoved him." Joanne's eyes were burning into Link's eyes. "Why did he die, Link?" Link began to open his mouth, but Joanne beat him to it. "Look, you lied to me about knowing him before. The truth only came out tonight, after I threatened to put you on the spot in front of Queen Zelda. Do NOT lie to me now. I need to be able to trust you on this matter, so please, if you have any human decency, you will tell me the truth. I knew Michael so well, and I have to know exactly what happened. I have to know how and why he died at your hands."