Father's Vengeance
Upon arriving at the castle gates, I was told to report to the throne room immediately. With a heavy heart, I reluctantly did so.
Link was waiting there when I entered. He spun around to face me, his eyes wide with rage.
"Kiran! Where in Hyrule have you been! Your mother is beside yourself. We have been worried sick about you," he shouted.
I stared at him, my eyes narrowed. Worried sick my ass, I thought. The day Link worries about me is the day the Gorons become intelligent beings.
"Where have you been?" he questioned me angrily, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
I rolled my eyes.
"Does it really matter?" I asked irritably.
"Yes, it matters!" he shouted, the veins in his neck popping out and the tips of his ears burning red.
Apparently hearing the commotion we were making, Mother walked in at that moment.
"Kiran! Oh, thank the Goddesses!" she gasped, placing her hand on her chest and sighing with relief. "Where were you?" she asked.
I glanced at Link, who was still staring at me furiously.
"If you must know," I said casually, "I was just in the market, right outside the gates. I was visiting some friends." It was hardly an adequate excuse, but I had never been good at lying anyway.
Needless to say, Link saw right through me. "Don't lie to us," he warned.
"I'm not," I protested negligently.
"Why didn't you take an escort?" Mother asked. It wasn't difficult to see that she didn't believe me either. It was clear to me then that I was on my own for this battle.
"Because I wanted to be alone," I replied curtly.
"You didn't even tell anyone where you were going," Link said, narrowing his eyes into angry slits.
"So?" I retorted, glaring back at him. "I shouldn't have to. I'm not a child anymore."
"No, but you are the Prince of Hyrule," he stated. "And with that comes responsibilities. You know this already."
"Yeah, yeah," I replied, turning and beginning to walk out of the room.
"I'm not through with you!" he shouted. "Don't you dare walk away from me!"
I whipped back to face him and grinned maliciously. "What're you going to do about it, Hero?" I taunted. "Kill me? Banish me to the Evil Realm for all eternity?"
His hard glare faltered. "What...?"
"You heard me," I snapped. "You may have defeated my father, but you won't get rid of me that easily! Go to hell!" I dashed out, reveling in the shocked expressions I left them with.
"Kiran! Come back here this instant!" I heard my mother cry from behind me. I kept going, bounding up the stairs and through the hallway toward my bedchambers, where I slammed the door shut with an ear-splitting crash.
Clenching my fists in rage, I approached my mirror on the wall and glared at myself for a moment. Only I didn't see myself anymore.
I saw Ganondorf instead.
With a low growl, I tore myself away from the mirror and began throwing things. Any object I got my hands on, I launched across the room. I vaguely remember grabbing a stained-glass Triforce ornament that my mother had recently given to me and smashing it on the floor.
Frustrated, I ended my tantrum and plopped down on my bed. I relaxed and closed my eyes for a moment. Ganondorf was right, I thought. Releasing my anger does make me feel better.
A gentle knock on my door brought me back to reality.
"Who is it?" I spat angrily. If it's Link, I thought, I swear I'll kill him...
The door opened, revealing my mother with a stern look on her face. Her eyes widened when she saw what I had done to my room.
"What in the...?" She held her hand to her bosom and gasped as she looked around. Her eyes eventually settled on me, lying on top of the bed.
"What have you done, Kiran?" I said nothing and watched as she approached the overturned dresser, gently touching the delicate fragments of the Triforce ornament that lay on the floor. She looked as if she were about to cry. I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at her sad and disheartened expression. But I pushed the feeling away briskly, remembering what my father had taught me.
"Why, Kiran? Why would you do this?" my mother asked me, imploring me with her eyes. I ruthlessly turned my head away from her, hating her for making me feel guilty.
"Because I felt like it," I muttered, knowing deep inside how cruel I was acting. But I had to obey my father's teachings. I could hear his voice even now…
What a weak-minded wench. She doesn't deserve the Triforce of Wisdom.
A pang of sadness stabbed my heart at my father's hateful words. I had grown up thinking that all parents loved and cherished each other, and I had always assumed that mine were no exception. But that all changed so drastically when I learned who my father really was. My mother and father did not even come close to sharing love; on the contrary, they were bitter enemies.
However, I did not think of such things now. My mind was focused on mine and my father's mission, and nothing else.
"Please tell me what's wrong, Kiran," my mother pleaded. I stared coldly in response. "You've been so distant lately, and I feel like it's my fault…" she trailed off, disheartened by my indifference.
"Nothing is wrong," I replied callously.
She looked genuinely hurt as she glanced away sadly. "Well," she said softly, "if you ever need anything, you know you can always come to me." With that, she solemnly walked out of the room and closed the door softly behind her.
I can barely remember the rest of the evening or the night. I don't believe I ever slept. The only memories that have ever come back to me are hazy images of dark, bubbling liquid in a cauldron and feelings of a dark aura flowing through my soul. It was as if I had dreamed it all, so that's what I dismissed it as the next morning. But that night, also, after most were sound asleep, I had another dream that I can remember more clearly. In it, I left my bed and somehow entered one of the dungeons below ground. I then made my way to the kitchen, stopping in front of a pot on the stove. I felt something smooth in my hand and I lifted it to my eye level.
I stared blankly at the glass vial in my fingertips. The black potion inside consisted of swirling dark clouds that mirrored what I felt in my heart - complete, icy darkness.
She cannot continue to live. The Triforce, Kiran.
I unfeelingly dumped the contents into the boiling pot and watched as the dark potion swirled around and eventually blended in with the brownish-colored liquid inside. The familiar smell of herbs filled my nostrils. The tea my mother drank every morning, I recalled vaguely. But the thought never registered within my mind; I never made any connections. I simply did as my father told me, and silently returned to my bedchambers. I slipped under the covers and shut my eyes tightly.
Hyrule will soon be mine…
I grinned to myself as I drifted back to sleep.