Chapter 8

"How's your progress going?"

"Very well my master…"

"How many?"

"Four have been taken care of… three remain…"

"Very good my servant."

"Thank you master…"

"Once I have returned…"

"The world will be ours"

"yes… ours…"

Zelda stood within the same meeting room she had met with Saria and Sheik almost a week ago. Saria had already arrived, her face with that constant determination, yet innocence that showed she had been through a lot in her life, but not enough to completely kill the young girl she had once been. With her she noticed the change that had happened to all of them, the dramatic difference than what they were before, when Link had his crusade through time.

Link of course, was one of the most dramatically changed, he almost seamed a completely different person. Even as a child, he always tried to help others in need, even if they were in no real danger. Zelda had fleeting memory, of a boy picking on her while they had several of their few times through the market together, looking at the town. She had always worn the clothes of a street urchin, so that none may notice her true identity, and Link, had the unique ability to fit in with any one, so people did not see this as strange. The boy had been mean and arrogant, finally making her weep from the things he had said. It was true that she and the rest of the sages held all the memories from what happened to them during the time of Ganondorf, and yet she still acted childish to an extent, even though she had already spent 7 years growing up.

Link had told off the bully, for even though the boy was several years older than he, and bigger, Link was not afraid. After watching him leave, he had smiled and knelt down beside her, asking if she was ok, and if she needed anything. She had kept crying, acting very childish for a girl of twelve, and Link did something that the Link she knew now would never be caught dead doing: he laughed. He laughed as if it was the funniest thing he had ever seen, the poor girl, sitting there crying her eyes out because of a stupid bully, that had stupider reasons to mess with her. She had looked at him for a moment, wondering why he was being so cruel to her, but she couldn't help it, she laughed as well. They both laughed so hard that she soon had tears of laughter, not of pain flowing down her face, and it always bothered her that she didn't understand what they were laughing about, but it was the fact that they were, that mattered.

She finally concluded that their was no joke, no funny happening, just Link, laughing. His laughter led her to forget her sorrows, and mild the pain she had felt under the bullies words, he had helped her even then, in a way that most hero's could not. It made Zelda sad to look back towards that memory, seeing him like that, laughing to no content with her, over something as trivial and stupid as a bully making fun of her. The fact was, that if any other would laugh at her, she would grow angry, and would have been sadder than before, but his warm smile, and kind laughter lifted her spirits, it was one of the best memories she had of him.

Suddenly, a knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked over towards the one being admitted, and she saw the complete opposite of the boy she once knew, now in the body of the same person as a man. He held upon his face that same expression, that look of sadness that he always held, that of a person that had no more teas to shed, and yet was always ready for them. She knew that he cried, but only when no other was around, for she had herd him several times within his bed chamber, screaming of fright and sadness.

He sat down upon the seat that was on the opposite of her own on the table, it being less than 5 feat from her position. He looked up towards her face, and for the briefest moment, their eyes met. Zelda saw into his eyes, and saw the hint of what may have been a smile, but she had been fooling herself, and it never came. The man before her now, was a completely different person than the boy she knew, to the extreme that neither could stand to be in the same room with each other. What's with this guy? He would ask about his older self, a look of pity on his face. Who are you, and why are you here? His older self would then ask, not caring about the child, unless it has a task to finish, then doing what was necessary to get rid of him.

Whatever happened to him, had to have been so monstrously horrible to change him like this, that he would become his complete opposite. It must have had something to do with that girl… she thought to herself, someone so important to her, that he would become his worst nightmare, a soulless man who had no cares left in the world, and had no intention, of gaining any. As much as Zelda wished to know what had happened to him, she almost dreaded it, for she knew that such a thing would be offal for her to see for herself.

Sheik had done what she could not, and invaded Link's mind as he rested, watching his dreams through Link's eyes. He however, knew that what he saw was a violation, and determined that what he saw stayed between them, until Link felt other wise, a thing that most likely would not happen. The information to her now, was more crucial than they could have dreamed, for he may hold the key to who this Sage killer was…

Zelda finally, after all of them were there, sat down to her seat. All of the figures at the table were waiting for her to begin on what she had called them there for on such short notice. All of there eyes met hers in expectance to be told something important, besides Link, acted like he didn't like being here, staring at the desk before him with that same solemn look on his face. They were waiting for something good possibly, however, this meeting was not for a good time, it was to tell them on what has been going on. Finally, getting restless in his chair, Sheik spoke up.

"What did you call us all here that was so important that Link and I had to stop our battle? If I am not correct, you are the one who made me start training him in hopes that he might be able to help us…"

"In what…" said Link, speaking up as if for the first time. "You have never taken the time to tell me why you brought me back here. If I'm going to be the tool in your plan to destroy someone, you might as well tell me who."

This caught Zelda off guard, he was right, she had never told him why they had brought him back. It never occurred to her that she had been so empty headed to forget such a thing, and yet as these thoughts passed through her head, she felt it, someone else had died. Another of the sages.

"No…Darunia… not you…" The others stopped what they were saying, and looked at her again, tears dropping from her eyes.

"What happened?…" asked Saria, not understanding what had happened. "What happened to Darunia?" Zelda looked towards Saria, and still saw a slight amount of curiosity, the slight cocking of the head sideways like that of a child. She didn't know? Why didn't she understand?…

"The very reason that I called you here." said Zelda finally, having a look, of sadness still on her face. "Someone…or something…has been killing us…"

"What!" asked sheik, rising from his chair. "Who? What do you mean?" However it wasn't Zelda who answered it was Link.

"Someone's killing the Sages… and I have to stop him…" They all looked towards him, a look of surprise on their faces.

"That's why you brought me back…someone, or something has been causing destruction throughout Hyrule…"

"The forest…" said Saria, looking as if she finally understood.

"Lon Lon Ranch…" said Sheik, also the look of understanding on his face, sitting down once again into his chair.

"Now, whatever it is, has been hunting and killing the sages off…one by one…" said Link finally, acting as if he thought it wasn't the biggest deal in the world. "Now it is my job to stop him…" he finished, looking up from the table to their individual faces. "Because if I don't, the seal from the Sages will be dispelled and the evil King will return…" Zelda heard these things, knowing that they were true, but how could he know?… Link answered this question as well.

"Why do you look so surprised princess? Your not the only ones with prophetic dreams."

End of Part One