V. Waking Is Worse
Part 1
A golden moon lifts some of the Earth's darkness. But it is not enough. I'm alone, standing in a circle of strange light on the floor, but everything around me is jet black. Impenetrable blackness. My body hurts all over, and I'm thirsty and hungry. I don't know where I am.
I look around, but there's nothing there. No, wait: there is something. There's a little red dot in the distance. I run to it, stumbling occasionally over the rock that's blasted all over this filthy plain. That red light it's my only reference point. The red light grows larger and larger (which is strange: I'm not running that fast—I think), until it becomes an enormous sea of fire. Fire and flames engulf a savage wasteland. Columns of smoke rise into the black sky. Pandemonium fills my ears. This must be Hell.
And there He is. I can feel Him, like an unwanted yet inescapable presence. He knows I am here, too. I can see Him now, in the distance. Or is He looming over me? I can see His eyes, and smell His breath… I hate Him, and He hates me. Only His hatred is greater, more violent.
'Another time?' He asks. His voice is hideous, a very torment to my ears. He laughs at me. 'So you've come, too. It must be time again, then. Is She already with You?'
I don't know what He's talking about. I just want to get out of here, to stop listening to His voice, to stop His flaming eyes from looking at me, from scorching me.
'Leave me alone!' I scream with all my strength. He stops laughing. Actually, it seems like he gives a step backwards, as if my scream hit him like a punch. And I think I did hurt him. He's having trouble breathing, now. He's almost choking.
'I'm not strong enough… yet', He says. 'But I will be. And this time it will be different. You'll see. Nothing will save you now. Not Time nor Winds, nor Ocarinas nor magic birds. This time I will destroy you.'
I turn backwards and run. But I know I can't escape. He laughs again, His laughter filling my ears as an unstoppable cascade. He laughs as the flames engulf me, and my body is slowly burned into ashes…
Oblivion.
Part 2
I wake up, my body full of sweat. What the hell was that? What was that dark place? My senses are coming back now. My vision kicks in, along with a terrible headache. My hurt arm is burning like hell, by the way.
I'm lying in some sort of bed, made out of leaves and some rags of clothes. Looks like a cave. There's a small light, a candle, by mi side. I look at my arm: it looks well tended. Maybe those Sheikah dudes are not that bad. At least it looks like they know some healing stuff. At least better than me. Not that I'm that much of a healer, actually… That'd have to be ol' Vics. Wonder where old Vics is…
Anyway, that's enough chit-chat. I've got to get up, and see what's going on: where am I, and where the Shadows are.
'Don't move', I hear a voice behind me. I turn, only to find the big Sheikah a few steps away from me. She's sitting down, polishing her knife with a rock. 'Don't move; wait till it heals a little bit more.'
I must say that even if I hate to admit it, it's true. My arm hurts a lot. I throw myself back again on the "bed".
'What happened?' I manage to say.
'They're dead', she says coolly. I wonder if this woman ever feels something close to an emotion. 'I brought your sword, by the way. Nice blade. Where did you get it?'
'Oh, its cool alright. A great, funny and talking owl gave it to me.' I say sarcastically. She rolls her eyes. 'Hey, while we're on this conversation, would you mind telling me your name?'
'No.'
'Beg your pardon?'
'I won't tell you my name.'
'Hey! Whoddoya think—' I stop. It just came to me. I know her name. 'OK, don't worry; you don't need to tell me your name. I already know it… Impa.'
Se drops her knife and, can you believe that? She actually went pale.
'What did you say?' she asks. 'How do you know that name?'
'Well, you see, I'm the ol' Phantom, and I know a lot of stuff. And I also know that Sheik guy coming with you.' I've barely finished saying the other one's name when I hear a small gasp behind. As I turn, I see her. She is still dressed in the white-blue uniform, but her face is now revealed. She is beautiful. Her long golden hair hangs lazily over her shoulders. And she has enormous blue eyes. They're blue as a summer sky. I could get lost in their——accckkkk!
That crazy Impa woman is strangling me!
'What do you know about us? How do you know about Sheik? Where did you hear the name of Impa?'
'I'dellu bod igans pik!'
'What are you saying?' she screams.
'He can't speak if you keep on strangling him,' the girl puts in obviously. Impa releases me, but she is still grabbing her knife dangerously.
'Thank you,' I say, rubbing my neck. Crazy Shadow. She has an iron grip. Note to self: don't challenge her to——
'So,' that's Impa again, always on her business tone. 'You were kindly going to tell us who you are and what do you know about us.'
'It's a long story, and I'm not in the mood,' I say. Actually, I'm a bit angry now. She's no one to surrender me to an interrogatory. Or choke me, for that matter. 'I'll tell you this: I have no idea of who you are. I met you because I was hunting three Red Guards, which happened to be planning an ambush on you. You were outnumbered, and you had, as I guessed from what I saw, to take care of her. She looks inexperienced (a small humph comes from the girl, which is now standing in front of me, too; and I like the way she looks when she's angry), so I decided to give a hand. That's all I know.'
'And what about the names?' asks Impa.
'You'd never believe me.'
'Try me.'
'I tend to have, uhm, dreams, flashes of old memories… It's just that… they're not mine. It's like I had access to someone else's memories. And in one of those memories, I knew you, Impa, and this Sheik guy appeared in front of me. Though I daresay I hadn't noticed what beautiful eyes Sheik has,' I say, and the girl turns pink.
'Alright kid, lay down,' says Impa. 'I'm not satisfied with this explanation. No one but those familiar with Sheikahn traditions could know of Impa's name. Her memory is one of our most revered—'
'I'm sorry? Did you say her memory?'
'Yes, I did.'
'Then you're not Impa?'
"Impa" looks strangely at me, as if wondering if I am playing with her. Finally, she lets go of her frown. 'I don't know why, but I trust you. So I'll tell you this. My name's not Impa, of course. Impa was a great leader of the Sheikahs; but she lived so long ago that her name is now just a memory. We might not even remember it, even we Sheikahs, treasurers of lore: of such old times was she. And yet, in her honor, and of her deeds, since her every leader of the Sheikahs receives the title of "Impa". Or, at any rate, received it. We Sheikah have never been numerous, but now we've almost disappeared. I myself am the last fighter. A few others live in some dwelling of which I will say nothing.'
'Uh-huh, ok. So, you're not Impa.'
'No.'
'And so your name is…'
'Don't push your luck, kid.' She looks at my exasperated face. 'Oh, fine, I'll tell you; my name is Kal.'
'Kal? What kind of a name is that?'
'It's a short-form… of Kallie.' She says carefully.
'Of course not,' says the girl, grinning, 'it is a short form of Kallendera.'
'Princess,' begins Kal with an irritated tone, 'I've told you—'
Princess? Did she just say Princess?
'Whoa! Wait a minute! Princess? Did you just say Princess?' I look at her in awe. Is this girl the Princess? Actually, she really looks noble. The girl nods and makes the tiniest of courtesies.
'Yes, I am Zelda, the Princess of Gold, daughter of King Gere of Hyrule.'
Wow…
Part 3
It's night again. Somehow, Kal went out and found something to eat. I know where we are now. It seems they managed to carry me to the old graveyard by the ruins. There Kal found a secret passage to an underground basement, or something like that, used by her race. Crazy Sheikahs and their love for death… Anyway: she didn't tell me, of course, where this secret entry is (a bad thing: such a hideout might have come in handy). She's hinted there might be some tunnels that connect this place with the old Sheikahn city, buried deep within the grounds where the old Kakariko village was.
(Then again, I didn't even know there was an older Kakariko. This must be old. This explains why this place is disgusting. And it stinks. It smells like, like… dead.)
And now we're having a nice dinner. I don't know what meat we're eating, but it tastes nice. I asked Kal, but when I thought I heard something like waot (I so hope she didn't mean wangot, a very ugly kind of rat), I decided to remain ignorant on the matter.
'So,' Kal says, 'you were telling us about these visions…'
Darn. 'No, I wasn't.' She's looking angry again, better do something. 'Look, there's nothing there, OK? I just have… visions. It's like… sharing memories.'
'Of different people?' asks Zel. She doesn't know I call her Zel, though.
'No; from what I've seen, it looks as if there were always the same two people. And both are called Link, like me.'
'Your name is Link? Not Phantom?' Zel asks, her eyes going wide.
'No, Phantom is not my name. Link is. Why?' I inquire. Zel and Kal eye each other suspiciously.
'Link,' Zel says, and she looks like she's choosing her words very carefully, 'in those visions, have you ever seen something like a Sword? A mighty Sword?'
'Well, I've seen Ocarinas and books and monsters and fairies and mountains, and a strange flying fish, and a crazy extendible hook, and a funny mirror. And of course, there's this horrible blue fairy, which never shuts up… And there's a weird old owl. And yes, I suppose I've seen swords. The one that looked mightier must have been the Master Sword, I guess. But there was this great broadsword made by a funny giant, I liked that one…'
They're paying no attention to the last words. They look stunned. 'Did you say Master Sword?'
'Well, yes. Why?'
'How do you know the name? How do you know the Sword?' asks Kal.
'Ok, calm down, ok? I've seen the Sword and I just know it is it. And I've checked it, on the Book.'
'What book?' this time, Zel is almost screaming.
'The Book of Mudora, of course. I keep it.'
'You have the—'
OK, if they want to see it, I'll show it to them. Maybe that will keep them quiet. I lift my tunic; on the back of it there's a small hidden bag, which I carefully take off. It has many things in it, neatly packed. There's the Ocarina of Time, the Book of Mudora, some red rupees… The girls look like they've just won the lottery and Zel throws herself at——
'Hey, take your hands of it, your Worshipfullness!'
'Link!' Zel tells me with shining eyes, 'do you know what this is?'
'Of course I know. Duh. It's the Ocarina of Time.'
Part 4
'Link,' says Zel. 'Kal and I have been talking to each other.' Blast, I was having such a nice nap, and a dream where I was fishing… Aaaahhh, fishing. And now in comes Zelda-lass waking me up. I am not pleased.
'Hmph, more like, when have you ever stop—'
'And we think there might be more in this than you think.'
'Howsat?' I ask, rubbing my tired eyes. And my neck hurts. Crazy Sheikahn sleeping customs.
'You know about this enemy, Link. You know it's not a normal army. For years we've been fighting it, and being defeated, no matter what. We think the explanation is not merely natural anymore. We think there may be something greater here. We think we're on a time of crisis...'
Blah, blah, blah. Here we go again.
'…not normal… you know how many times…'
I know this already, ok? I know they're demons, I know they control the weather, I know they're hardly more than five hundred, I know all of this. I know their powers are unnatural. I know it. Can't she stop talking?
'…so you must have thought, just like us…'
The worst thing is pretending to be paying attention to this. Oh well, one can always admire a beautiful lady in front of him, no matter what she's saying.
'…it has made us remember of the Imprisoning War and the Great War…'
Truly, she still looks very pretty when her— Huh? What was that?
'…heard of it, the thief-no, Ganon…" Those words trigger something, er, inside me… Like, something is bubbling up in my brain and—
'Aaaaarrrghhhh!' the pain is unbearable! I can see Him again… flashes, hundreds of shards of strange visions, red hair, black eyes, pig face, enormous, strong, he flies, a dark horse, raining, thunder, laughter…
'Link!' Zelda is holding me. I'm on her lap. Must've fainted.
'Ganon…' I whisper. I think I can hear the echo of His laugh in the distance… And then, again, blackness comes.
Part 5
'So,' finishes Zelda, after I've woken up and she's gone over all this with me again, 'we think this may be the time of a Great Cataclysm.'
Cataclysm. Cataclysm. Cataclysm…
«The maiden's crystal flows in front of me, like always. I smile, happily. It was horrible this time. This Mothula guy, and that horrible ghost-hand, and the whole damn Skull Palace! Blasted old cursed forest. I gently lay down on the cold stone floor. And then I take out one of my bottles, with a fairy in it. The fairy comes out and happily tends my wounds, while the maiden in the crystal seems to grow larger, and I hear her sweet voice…
'Link, I thank you for saving me!'
You've got that right, girl. It was a pain in the—
'…for it, Link. Do you know the prophecy of the Great Cataclysm? This is the way I heard it...
If a person who has an evil heart gets the Triforce, a Hero is destined to appear... and he alone must face the person who began the Great Cataclysm. If the evil one destroys the Hero, nothing can save the world from his wicked reign.'
Tell me about it. So, I'm alone against Him, right?
Alone against Ganon… all alone…»
"Alone… all… Ganon… no!'
I'm on the floor again, but I quickly stand up. Zelda and Kal are looking at me, bewildered. I can't stop me from throwing them a hateful glance.
'No! NO! I don't know who you are, or what are you doing to me, but this is wrong! Leave me alone! ALONE!'
And I take off running. I don't know where I'm going. I just saw a tunnel and went through it. The floor is irregular, but I don't care. I keep going. Some torches illuminate some passages, but I don't want light. I hate it. I want to be alone, alone. I take on a dark corridor. Suddenly, the floor fails before me, and I fall into an abyss. I don't know how long or how much I fall. Maybe a second, maybe an hour. More memories are trying to come up to my consciousness, but I hit the floor. Pain is back. And then, the sweet feeling of nothingness. And nothing more.
