Thirty-Two: A Not-So-Unfamiliar Fairytale
"Link? Link?"
An angel's voice was calling down to me. I was floating on a soft cloud in heaven… was I dead?
"Link, you jerk, wake up. NOW."
Something connected with my head and I shot up as though one of those little devils from hell had poked my bum with a red hot pitch fork. Okay, not quite, but I did sit up, and rather quickly at that.
"Owww. What?" I glared at the 'angel'- Zelda.
"What are you doing in my room?"
"I dunno." I shrugged. Damned if I knew- one minute I'd been dead in heaven and then I'd been here.
"Well thanks. You know, you were sprawled across the bed, like you'd fainted or something. Did the hand of fate just drop you here unconscious?"
"I'm a man. Men don't faint. Why would I be unconscious?" I strained, trying to remember. "I came in to see you. And then I touched you and you shocked me and it knocked me out."
"You did what?" Zelda's eyes were bugging out. I'd be surprised if they didn't pop or something, a la cartoon.
"I just poked you to see if you were awake or if you were okay, because you were hardly breathing…"
"Link..." Zelda rubbed her face with her hands, thinking. "Okay, three things. One: never EVER come into my room without my permission. Ever. Two, if you're worried about me, go tell your mother. Don't just barge in yourself. And three, do not, under any circumstance, even if the house is burning down, touch me when I am meditating. Just don't do it."
"Since when do you meditate?" I asked, cocking my head. A strange look came over her face then, almost as though she were pained.
"Since I have too much on my mind to sort it out. Now get out of my room."
"But Zelda..."
"Argh, fine, stay," she howled. "But don't bug me."
I stiffened. Was she… brushing me off? My heart cracked in my chest, bleeding, and I stood and turned.
"I'll leave you to your peace. I can tell when I'm not wanted." I began to walk mechanically from the room when her voice, that beautiful voice, stopped me dead in my tracks.
"I'm sorry, Link, I didn't mean it. Here, let me tell you a story to make up for it. There once was a great and powerful hero," she spoke softly. "A slayer of dragons and demons, a mover of mountains. Even time itself could not stand in his way- he could manipulate it effortlessly. This hero was brought up by spirits of the forest who were children forever. When the hero was just a boy, he left the woods to answer destiny's call, and found that he was alone and incapable of understanding the world around him."
Now this was interesting. Where had she heard this one? Curious, I turned, so as to better hear her. Her face astounded me- it was very sad and downcast as she looked at her bandaged hand twined in her sheets, something shiny and blue clutched in her right hand. What was it?
"The hero boy followed the cry of destiny to the castle, the most beautiful castle in the world. The guardian of the forest had told him to go there, you see, and to find the princess within. So the hero-boy obeyed. He searched for days and nights, never sleeping until he found a small side entrance to the castle. He crawled in and crept through a maze teeming with guards to a courtyard that was all but silent. There, he found the princess. Though they were only children, the hero boy and the princess already felt the deepest of connections, a tie bonding them. But the clouds were teeming at the edges of the horizon, and the princess could sense destruction upon the winds, and so she sent the hero boy away to find two holy relics. You see, he already possessed the third," Zelda added. "The forest guardian had given it to him."
Intrigued, I sat down. I'd never heard Zelda talk like this- I didn't know she was into mythology. And something seemed… I couldn't put my finger on it. Something.
"So for the better part of a month, the hero boy faced down many monsters that grown men would flee from. And he recovered the relics, at great expense to himself. But when he arrived at the castle he found himself too late. The dark lord had emerged and taken over. The princess fled the castle with her nursemaid, and as they escaped, they passed the hero boy. The princess, in an act of desperation, flung the last puzzle piece, an instrument of immeasurable power, to the hero boy. The dark lord suspected, though, and so followed the hero boy to the gates of the sacred realm, where a strange power called the Triforce was guarded. The dark lord seized the triforce, for it could make his every wish come true, and yet his plan failed. Because his soul was filled with greed, the triforce split into three parts- the triforce of power, the triforce of wisdom, and the triforce of courage.
"Because the hero boy was still too young to wield the blades of heaven against the dark lord, he was locked away in the sacred realm until he was of age. Seven long years he slept- each year, the destruction the dark lord wreaked upon the princess' beloved land multiplied threefold. The princess herself was forced to live as a boy, learning the crafts of shadows from her nursemaid, praying for the day that the hero would return.
"When it seemed at last the end had come, the hero reappeared. The princess, in the guise of a man, directed his quest across the world to awaken those with the power to fight the dark lord. Like he, they, too, had had their power sealed away, only able to be awakened by the hero.
"He quested through forests and volcanoes, underneath the deepest lake, across a desert, and even in the house of the dead to awaken the sages to fight the dark lord. After much trial, the Hero had cleansed much of the world of the dark lord's power. Last, though, there was the dark lord himself to combat.
"The hero was by then sure that his beloved princess was dead. This pain had been manifest in him from the start of his quest, however, and as he'd slept for seven years and been unable to mature, the hero had locked himself totally off from the world and the horrors he endured each day."
Zelda looked up at me then- was that pain I saw in her eyes?
"The princess, who had been guiding the hero all through his journey, revealed herself to him before his battle, and was captured by the dark lord. The hero rushed to save her, and fought sleeplessly through the palace of the evil king to save the princess. At long last, he had discovered the chambers where the evil king lay in wait for the hero, and the final battle began. The hero slay the dark lord and rescued the princess, but the castle began to collapse. The two fled, escaping just as it caved in from the top. As they stood together and looked at the destruction, the princess turned to the hero and praised his hard work, thanking the goddesses that the dark lord had been slain.
"But the evil king still possessed the triforce of power, and was not quite dead. He used its strength to recover and morph into a hideous beast, and fought the hero again, imprisoning the princess outside a circle of flames where the battle was taking place.
"They fought long and hard, and there were many times when the exhausted hero was nearly slain. But the princess outside the flames lent him her strength, and together, they finally slew the evil king, and with the help of the awakened sages, sealed him away in the sacred realm forever. When they did, the dark lord's evil was sucked away from the world and imprisoned with him.
"The princess, now queen, turned to the hero then, and saw the anguish and ice in his heart. She knew that she could heal his pain, but she also knew that they would not be able to be together. So, hoping that it might do some small good, the queen used the holy instrument that the hero had wielded, and sent him to the place where he would be happiest.
"The hero found himself alone in the world in his youth, and sought out the young princess then. The king discovered the two of them and banished the forgotten hero to other lands, and the princess sought him out before he departed, and gave him the holy relic that he had wielded, telling him that her heart would always be with him, and begging him to return to her one day and to bring the relic with him.
"The hero quested far and wide and grew into an admirable young man, but the second he left the kingdom, his power, the triforce of courage, shattered. The hero did not notice the absence of this power immediately, nor even after several years. But when he returned to the kingdom, the princess had ascended to the throne and been wedded to the piggish prince of another kingdom. In anger, the hero smashed the holy instrument, gave the princess half, and told her that she could find him when she was ready to fix her mistakes.
"This called the attention of the goddesses, who had been so busy fighting amongst themselves that fate had been forgotten. In a moment of heated anger, they cursed the spirits of the hero and the princess to be reincarnated again and again until the instrument could be reunited. And then, after the hero had left the land, never to return again, the dark lord escaped the sacred realm.
"He destroyed the kingdom, and the goddesses, in an unusual act of interference, froze all the land and flooded it over, hiding their beloved realm securely underneath the sea. A hundred years later, the souls of the princess and the hero were reincarnated again, and though they reunited the triforce, they were unable to break the curse upon their souls. And again and again since then, they have reincarnated time after time, each time unawares, each time unable to break the curse. And so they continue the cycle in misery even to this day, praying for the ability to reunite and break the curse."
I exhaled as she finished her story. Definitely not a happily-ever-after tale. "That's depressing." There was something tugging at my mind, something… I couldn't place what.
A sad smile quirked at her lips. "Isn't it? I read it in a book of lore once."
"Russian fairy tales? Those are always the depressing ones."
"Nah. I'm not sure what its origination is. But I think of that a lot. It's sad, yes, but it's sort of happy."
I raised one eyebrow: "oh?" Gosh dangit, where had I heard that myth before?
"Yeah. Well, think of it. At least their souls were given a chance to repent. You know, that isn't as bad as it could be." Zelda sighed and stretched, then threw a few pillows off the bed and burrowed beneath the sheets. "I'm really tired. I'm going to sleep now. You should do the same."
"I suppose…" I stood and wandered confusedly in the general direction of the door, stopping again when Zelda's voice called out to me one last time.
"Good night, Link," she said softly with a smile that melted my heart. I smiled in return- "good night, Zelda. Sweet dreams" and left, all trepidation and worry forgotten, replaced by contemplation, struggling to recall something, anything that might help me unravel the mystery of Zelda's strange story.
I found when I got to my room that I was in fact very tired, and when I laid down in my bed, I was asleep almost instantly, though thoughts of the myth were buzzing around in my head. It was probably due to this that not long after I had entered the realm of sleep, I began to dream.
&-
They tore through the halls of the palace, Zelda chasing Link as he dashed madly to the top of the tallest tower.
"Wait, Link! Don't! Please!"
He wouldn't listen to her- he kept on running and running, finally leaving her behind. He ripped up stairwell after stairwell, driven on by his insane desire. It was so, so close, his perfect future...
He burst out the last door and found himself high above Hyrule, standing before a great circle of scarlet flames. Within was something gold and shining… the Triforce of Power, the missing piece.
He made to grab for it, but Zelda had caught up to him. She pulled him back, away from the flames. Both their faces were blackened by the massive amounts of smoke the strange fire was emitting.
"Why, Link?" Zelda asked desperately. "Why?"
"Because I want power! I want strength and might, money, I want the ability to control things. But most of all, I want to be able to show you that I'm just not another blundering boy trying to get your attention. I want you to know that I am your equal. I want you to recognize that even with all your family's money and fame, I am important, and with power, I will be more than important. I will be supreme."
"No, Link." She let her hands drop from his as she began to cry, tear tracks cutting neatly through the grime on her skin. "You don't need power to prove to me that you're worthy of my love. You don't need anything for that."
"I want to give you something, Zelda. That's why I need this. So that I can keep you happy forever." He reached out for her, and pulled her to him, clamping her to his chest in a tight embrace.
"Power won't make either of us happy," she replied softly, looking at his determined face. "Power will corrupt us both and turn you against me, and me against you. Let go, Link. It's not what I want."
"Power can get you what you want! Power can give you happiness, Zelda. And power will bind you to me."
"In body but not in soul," she replied, and then reached up, touching Link's cheek. "Link, look at me."
He looked down, and in that instant, Zelda cupped his cheek with her hand and kissed him, hard, with every ounce of passion and pain in her soul. Link jerked away- "why are you doing this to me? You won't stay with me, Zelda, I know it. You don't love me. You can't love me. It's not true." His words were panicked, his eyes darting back and forth between the flames and her face. Zelda smiled sadly.
"If you told me to walk through that fire, I would. If you told me to swim across the sea, I would. If you told me to kill myself, I would. That's how much I love you, Link. And I'm not going to let you do something that will destroy us both. Please, Link, let go."
"Think of what we could have, Zelda," he pleaded desperately. "We could reign over the world from Hyrule. We could have all the things we desired, all our dreams come true."
"But that would not bring us happiness. Link, think of what we can have, what we will have if you just turn your back and walk away. Hyrule will be fine. You and I will be fine. We can have a nice house…" tears began to cascade down Zelda's cheeks "…with a car for each of us, and children who love us, and a dog and a cat, and on weekends we could go to the park or the movies, and we can grow old together. Link, we can choose a simple, happy life for ourselves. We might not have infinite power or infinite money, but we'll have each other and that'll be enough."
"How can you say these things? I want to give you a life of luxury and choice, freedom! Why don't you want power, Zelda? Why not?"
"All I want or need is your love to be happy." She looped her arms around his waist, burrowing her face into his chest. "Your love. You. Not the lust of power. Make your choice, Link. I know that it'll be the right one."
It was so close, just within reach, right beyond the crackling of the flames. And yet somehow, Link knew Zelda was right. Power would not guarantee happiness. He wrapped his arms around Zelda, the two of them sinking to their knees on the flagstones, wrapped up tight in a desperate embrace.
"How do we destroy it?" Link finally asked. Zelda looked at the circle of flames, and then to Link.
"Go find Sheik," she commanded. "Sheik has the tools we need. I'll stay here and make the preparations."
"Zelda…" He traced a tear track with one of his fingers, an expression of uncertainty and pain on his face. She smiled at him.
"It'll be fine, Link, I promise." She gripped his left hand with both of hers momentarily, and then let go.
He stood, leaving her there on the flagstones, and left the tower. Shakily, Zelda stood, eyes fixated on the flames, something bright cupped between her palms.
So this is how it ends…
As Link dashed down the stairs, he collided with Zelda's male counterpart. "Sheik, Zelda told me to find you. She said you'd have what we needed to destroy the triforce."
"She said what? You believed her?"
"I…" Link's face went pallid Something was missing- it felt like he'd lost something, something important. He looked himself up and down, and then noticed his left hand- his unmarked left hand. "My triforce is gone. How did she take it?"
"She's an accomplished mage," Sheik replied in a hurried voice. "She would have been able to take it easily if you had not been paying attention. Come, quickly, I fear we may be too late."
"What happens if we are?"
"The princess will die. The vanquishing of the Triforce requires a sacrifice- a willing sacrifice with holy blood." They burst out the tower door, only to find themselves too late. The crackling of the flames was gone, the shining triangle within gone. In the center of the charred circle, however, there was a dark lump.
"No…"
Link and Sheik rushed forwards, kneeling next to the figure of the dying princess.
"You're so stupid," Link said softly. "Why?"
She coughed a little, laughing at Link. "Because I love you, that's why."
And she died in his arms.
&-
I woke up with sweat and tears dripping all over my body. Blindly, I stumbled from my bed and out of my bedroom, to his room. Link's room. I didn't care that I was being completely irrational in my need to see him or my upset, I cared that I'd had a bad dream and needed the comfort given only by someone who loves me.
He opened his door just as I stumbled blindly up, and, in an instant, caught me up in a tight hug as I clung to his chest. No words passed between us- we knew, without speaking, that we'd shared the same horrible nightmare.
"Stay with me tonight," he whispered, his voice full of grieving, aching love. "Please."
Wordlessly, I nodded against his chest, and we entered his room, crawling together into his bed. He looped his arms around my waist and I snuggled into the warmth of him, but sleep did not come easily to either of us.
At nearly five in the morning when the faintest light was beginning to illuminate the blinds, Link fell asleep. I lay there in his arms for another hour, thinking. Had we shared a dream, or had we just had simultaneous nightmares? If it was the former, it had probably been established when he touched me while I was in Hyrule, which might have done something strange to him- and to me. Why else would I have told him the story of the old hero? When I'd been in Hyrule, I noticed at one point the oddest presence floating around me, but I hadn't thought much of it.
But I followed my instinct now- I somehow doubted we'd shared a dream, just both had negative dreams and needed comfort. This wouldn't have been something unusual for me- I often dreamt much the same as those I found myself close to. Often, Sheik and I would dream about the same things. It would not be so strange if it was the same for Link and I.
I looked up at him- sleeping like a baby, of course. The slightest hint of a smile danced at the corners of his mouth, and for a moment, I had an urge to reach up and kiss his lips. But I didn't- I feared any kiss from princess not-charming would awaken the sleeping hunk. So instead I softly brushed a strand of hair from his eyes and disentangled myself from his arms, kissing one of his hands and whispering softly to him just before I left the room, "I'd swim across an ocean for you, too. I just can't right now. I'm sorry…"
And then I turned and left.
&-
uploaded9:19 pm
Monday, June 20, 2005
A/N: Well! That ends the first person narrative (for now) and shortly, the real fun will begin! Yes, the chaos that dictated the majority of book one, in which Zelda and Link were total idiots! Are you excited? I am. What abounds in the future will certainly be unconscious canoodling, Sheik insanity, massive amounts of stress, humor tucked into strange places, and a refrigerator. Yes, a refrigerator. I've been looking forward to this for a long time… but whatever, you'll see!
I'd like to take a poll now real fast. Two questions, and if everybody would be so kind as to answer them!
1) Who do you think will hold the Triforce of power?
2) Who do you think was the man in Zelda's deranged dream a while back? The woman?
And that's all for tonight! See you in a week!