Disclaimer: I no own Legend of Zelda, now you go read or me take "Boppy Hammer of Doom!" TM to your head.
Amendment to Disclaimer: I do however own the concept and name of Crystalline Dream(s).
Author's note: Updated profile with info regarding some questions, comments, etc from reviews.
"A Crystalline Dream?" Link asked Zelda, slowly standing up, his voice sounding like he almost knew what it meant.
"Yes, everything we've found points to that one thing, that Kage has used the power of a Crystalline Dream," Zelda answered unsure of its significance.
"So what is a Crystalline Dream?"
"Nobody knows, that's the thing, if we knew we might have been able to find a countermeasure for it," Zelda said standing up and walking over to a table, opening a book up and flipping through it, stopping she read while Link sat back down, "In Hyrule's darkest hours shall come the power of Crystalline Dreams. He who masters the dreams will master reality."
"Well I suppose that explains something," Link mumbled, Okay, I know you have to know something about this.
"Not really, though I think it could be related to the area we fought Majora in."
So you think a Crystalline Dream is something like that?
"Possibly, best guess I have, my worst is that it's a lucid dream where you somehow bring something from it to the real world."
"Okay, I have and idea of what this Crystalline Dream is," Link stated as he took out the mask depicting a more demonic version of himself, "I think that is where this came from."
"Excuse me? You have and idea? Well I never you..."
Well can you talk to her? And would I still sound sane if I said my other self has an idea?
"Fine, I'll admit you have a point. Just not a good one."
Asshole
"Pussy."
"This thing?" Zelda asked, Link setting the mask on the table, "Is it one of your transformations?"
"Yes, I however never made it, I just got it, and I don't even know who it came from,"
"So a Crystalline Dream is something you get things from," Zelda stated looking closely at the mask.
"I don't think that's it exactly, it could just be a coincidence that I got this,"
"At the very least we are closer to the truth now." Zelda said while Link put the mask up, "So Link will you help us fight the coming war?"
"Hells no, join the Gerudo."
"Give me some time to think," Link said in a rush, What the fuck are you thinking?
"Join the Gerudo, they've been oppressed for so long no bloody wonder they want a war. The Gorons probably see this and that's why they joined them. The Zora's are bloody elitists who ally with whoever benefits them the most."
What the hell are you talking about? You don't even come from this world, how would you even know about anything?
"Hello, Fierce Deity, means I am a god, I know a good deal more than you think I do."
Some god, getting beaten by Dark Link.
"Hey! That's not fair."
Since when has fighting been fair?
"Well you do have a point. Anyway, you need to ally with the Gerudo,"
Why should I ally myself with my worst enemy?
"The Gerudo?"
Ganondorf you dumbass.
"Who?"
The King of Evil and the Leader of the Gerudo.
"Come now, the King of Evil? Honestly, I don't believe that for a second."
He was.
"Come one, think rationally for a second. Whatever he did to you was done for a reason."
"Zelda, tell me something, why is this war starting," Link asked.
"Because Ganondorf is instigating it," was Zelda's quick and simple answer.
"Why is he though? We both know he's an immensely intelligent man, he has to have reasons beyond simply wanting power, that seems too base for what we know about him,"
"Why are you asking this all of the sudden?" Zelda asked suspiciously.
"Because I've had seven years to think about what happened, and it just doesn't quite add up now that I think about it again. He wanted to rule Hyrule, but whenever he took something over it became nothing but ghost territory, there must have been a reason beyond his drive for power,"
"What other reason would he need? He's evil," Zelda stated simply.
"Are you sure?" Link asked, looking her in the eye.
"Yes, he is the King of the Gerudo," Zelda answered looking Link straight in the eyes, her's full of conviction and confidence.
"If you ask me, I think she put some emphasis on that last word,"
What do you mean?
"I think she doesn't like Gerudo,"
"Why because of that?"
"Because all Gerudo are nothing but thieves, assassins, and brigands,"
"Told you."
Shut up.
"What do they want then? Maybe there's a peaceful way to settle this," Link suggested.
"There is no such thing as there being a peaceful way to settle this. Why are you siding with them?" Zelda demanded.
"I'm not siding with them," Link snapped a glare crossing his face, "I'm the Hero of Time, you yourself said that. That means I have to keep peace amongst all of people of Hyrule, the Hylians, the Gorons, the Zora, and the Gerudo. I understand your concerns for your people, but there's always another side to things, if we can find where the conflict is coming from we can prevent this war from happening. We can prevent countless lives from being lost."
"Countless lives? Link there has already been fighting going on, the Gerudo have ransacked several of the border towns, and the Gorons are attacking Kakariko city as we speak. Those lives are already being lost."
"...What about Hyrule's retaliation?" Link asked.
"What do you mean?"
"What has Hyrule down in retribution?"
"What do you think we did? We've already started fighting back."
"I have to think about this," Link stated getting up and began to walk away, a green light enveloping him.
"What? Where are you going?"
"Somewhere where I can think," Link answered as he vanished in a green flash.
"Gaston," Zelda called as a bookcase moved.
"Yes my queen," the black armored Gaston replied walking into the room and then knelt.
"What do you think he's going to do?"
"He's going to talk to either the Gorons or the Gerudo,"
"And no doubt be filled with their lies, send a summons to Queen Ruto, we have things to discuss."
"Yes my queen," Gaston replied as he began to leave.
"Wait, also send word to Kakariko village with his description and tell Impa that he should be detained at all costs should he try to get by."
Elsewhere, Link appeared sitting underneath a giant tree, one that had turned to stone, and one that was in the middle of a gigantic woods. He sighed while running his hand along it's exposed roots, and looked up at the rock wall that surrounded it. "Hell, this isn't a clear cut and dry as I thought it might be." he mumbled to himself.
"Nothing ever is," a very familiar voice rang in his ear, causing him to jump up, turn around only to see a small girl with green hair and green eyes dressed in a green blouse and green shorts looking at him.
"Sa...Saria?" Link asked, taken back a bit.
"Of course it's me Link," the little girl giggled, "Who else could sneak up on you of all people?"
"You do have a very good point, Good to see you Link,"
"You too Link, it's been far too long," Saria answered in kind."
"Holy shit she's so fucking small considering she's older than you."
"And hello to you too," Saria said with a smile.
"You just said Hello to me silly,"
"Oh I know, I was saying hello to the other you," Saria said still smiling.
"The other..." Link started to ask as he looked around, seeing no one else, he looked dumbly back at Saria, "But there's no one..."
"You mean you can't..."
"Wait a second...you can hear him?"
"Yes, quite the potty mouth he has," Saria answered like she was scolding Link.
"Well slap me silly and call me Frank. She's good, she can actually hear me."
"I would but I don't want to call Link 'Frank' nor do I want to slap him,"
"Well this is new, you're the first person to be able to talk with him besides me," Link said, completely and utterly amazed.
"We've always had a special connection Link, my song should tell you that, how we've always been able to talk with each other no matter where we are,"
Link sat back down with a smile on his face, "Yes, you're right about that. You've always been there for me, ready to talk," Link stated as he pushed his hair back, "Well do you know what's been going on outside of the forest?"
"You mean about the war that's starting?"
"Yeah. What should I do?"
"Follow what you believe is the right thing to do as you always have."
"Oh come on, you agree with me don't you? He should side with the Gerudo,"
"I won't say anything for either side, he's the Hero of Time, if anybody can stop this war he can," Saria said, complete confidence in Link, "He's done it before for Hyrule, and I expect that he's done it countless times elsewhere as well."
"Fine, what would you suggest he go and do?"
"Whatever he thinks is necessary,"
"You're infuriating,"
"I know," Saria answered, "I used to do it to Link all the time."
"Never won a single argument with her either," Link chirped in, clearly enjoying the little exchange, as he sat back down, "I suppose I should go hear what had happened on the other side of this war, I should go talk to Darunia, he's more likely to see me than Ganondorf."
"Taking the shortcut?" Saria asked.
"Yep, I'm taking the shortcut, best way to get there without worrying about being stopped." Link said, getting back up and stretching, "Definitely going to be harder this time without a fairy."
"I'll guide you," Saria chirped, "I'll make sure you get there safely."
"Thanks,"
Somewhere less sappy...
"So you let him go?" a large man with darkly tanned skin, a beak of a nose, and flaming red hair clad in leather armor growled at Kage in the middle of a light brown stone built room.
"Yes, what's your point?" Kage asked, unconcerned with the man's yelling, sitting on a pile of pillows on a raised part of the floor eating grapes.
"You let the Hero of Time go? He'll side with them now! Now we'll have a decent threat against us!" the large man raged, purple smoke rising from his fists.
"Calm down Ganondorf," Kage said with a yawn.
"Calm down? You are asking me to calm down when you let our greatest enemy go?"
"Who says he'll remain our enemy. Lets look at what he knows, he knows that I'm allied with you, and that you are leading the Gerudo. Now then, if Zelda screws up and lets her inbred prejudices shine through, our Mr. Hero raised away from Hylians will respond in not only disbelief but outright horror of that. Chances are he'll go talk to King Darunia, your ally. They are blood brothers, Darunia will speak with Link if he is asked for an audience because of that bond. Darunia is not prejudiced like Zelda, his alliance with you even though of what happened in that other timeline, which both he and you remember, proves this fact. He was willing to overlook that and see why you did it, and why you are starting this war now. Darunia agrees with you, and he will undoubtedly tell Link why he agrees with you and your reasons. Link will most likely join us. With both me and him, the Hylians and Zora's superior numbers and training will be nullified and we'll be on an even playing field," Kage explained, not once getting up or raising his voice, "Furthermore, if he won't join us, I've already proven I'm stronger than him. I can kill him at anytime or place of my choosing."
"You know, it's times like this I wonder why I didn't listen to you in that other timeline," Ganondorf sighed, plopping down on a pile of pillows set on a raised part of the floor opposite of Kage.
"Because power corrupts," Kage stated simply, "Your absolute power with your piece of the Triforce in the other timeline corrupted your judgement, turning you into a monster. Now you're more reasonable and realize I'm a hell of a lot smarter than you."
"So tell me, why did you decide to work for me then?"
"I'm just don't have that sort of desire that you do. I'm happy as long as I can fight enemies and enjoy myself when I'm not fighting."
"You're a simple man Kage Shindou," Ganondorf chuckled taking an apple from a nearby plate and took a rather large bite from it.
"Simple but brilliant," Kage answered with a smirk, "So what should I do next?"
"Wait for now, I want to see what Link will do,"
"Smart move, I'll take the liberty to set up some traps and ambushes in case Hyrule gets any bright ideas," Kage said slowly standing up, "War is like a game of chess, you must carefully set your pieces up before you go for the attack, and once you attack you should strike with relentless force." And with that Kage vanished in a plume of shadowy mist.
Link in his Goron form came running through a dark tunnel straight into the mountain city of the Gorons. Taking a quick look around he saw that no one was anywhere near him. "Wonder where they all went?" Link asked himself curling into a ball, rolled over the first edge and landed on the next level, then repeated it till he was at the bottom.
"What are you doing here solder?" a loud confident voice demanded, Link uncurling to see who it was, a young goron male in rock armor.
"Link?" Link asked.
"Who else would it be? I'm you general solder now get back out on the front lines," the goron replied while Link brought his hands to the sides of his face, and pulled the mask off turning back into a Hylian, "What the...a Hylian!"
"Hold it boy!" a loud, booming and commanding voice ordered, a gigantic Goron walked out from a tunnel from the northern part of the plaza they stood in, a grim expression on his face "Been a while Link."
"So it has Darunia," Link said with a smile, "I expect you know why I'm here."
"Indeed, so lets get to it then," Darunia said as he balled his fists and got into a fighting stance.
"What the? No!" Link yelled, "Sheesh, I swear you can be dense sometimes."
"Wait a second, you haven't sided with the...then that means you're..." Darunia said brightening his expression and smiling a little bit.
"No, I haven't sided with anyone, I want to stop this before it gets worse, since Zelda was being unreasonable I thought I could come to you for what's really going on,"
Several Gorons rolled into the plaza, uncurling revealing stone armor and stone spiked gloves, ready to fight, "Hold it! This is Link, Hero of Time, Hero of all those who inhabit Hyrule!" Darunia bellowed, all of the Gorons immediately standing down, "Good, now get back out there solders, you too my son, I have much to discuss with Link."
"I hope he won't be hateful of Hylians or Zora's like Zelda hates Gerudo and probably Gorons too now," Link mumbled, barely loud enough for anybody to hear.
"Nope, that I won't Link. We Gorons don't want to fight in this war, but the Hylians and Gerudo won't settle things peacefully. And quite frankly I do hate the Zora's smelly fish guts, but I do respect them as a people for what they are good at," Darunia stated crossing his arms, "Naturally good at all things involving water and fighting skill. They don't have the strength to be good at fighting naturally but they have speed for it and they train a lot."
"Well I suppose that I can deal with that," Link sighed, "Why can't people just get along?"
"For various reasons, we Goron's have always hated Zoras, we're like sugar and salt, we just don't go well together," Darunia stated as he motioned Link to follow him back through the tunnel, "Come, we may need to sit down for this."
The two of them walked through the tunnel into Darunia's throne room, both sitting on opposite sides of a table in stone chairs, "All right, so who started this really?" Link asked.
"The Gerudo were the aggressors, but the Hylians were the instigators I believe," Darunia answered, "You've seen how the Gerudo live, in that arid land while the Hylians have a land of plenty. That is the result of the war about twenty years ago now. That war the Hylians started."
"So this is about land?"
"It's about survival, the Gerudo are in a decline, they have a hard time gathering their basic necessities, even harder if they didn't steal what they do have with that land of theirs."
"So that is the reason?"
"Yes. It's also why Ganondorf started the war in the other timeline, because he wanted to bring his people out of that hell hole,"
"And that's why you've joined him?"
"Yes, I truly sympathize with them, Hylians have never cared so long as they stay in power."
"I see, I guess King of Evil may have been a bit..."
"No, he was the King of Evil in that timeline, he himself has admitted that he was corrupted beyond redemption at that time. The obsession with power will do that to a man,"
"Has he tried negotiation?"
"Yes, I was present at one of his attempts to plead for Hyrule's aid and mercy as well, they always turned him down,"
"What about Dark Link...no his name's Kage isn't it?" Link asked with a sigh while leaning back.
"He's joined our side to ensure the war is prolonged, if he joined Hyrule's side the war would have been over in a few months. He's only interested in the thrill of fighting and pleasure. He's a base creature and is truly evil, but he's a necessary evil for us to have a chance, at least without you on our side,"
"He's powerful, why hasn't this war ended yet?"
"Because he can only do so much, kill so many solders before he tires and it forced to retreat, usually after a long fight he's out of commission for a couple of weeks so he can recover from wounds."
"Indeed, but with you Link, you can easily fight armies of those weaklings do to your incredible magical skills, we would probably win in a few months," Kage said as he burst forth from the shadows, a smirk on his face.
"Kage," Link growled, reaching for his sword, Kage seeming to teleport in front of Link, his golden sword held at Link's neck.
"Now, now, I could have killed you back there. But there would have been no point unless you picked a side," Kage said.
"Kage, Link, stand down, I won't have my ally fight my brother," Darunia said, "Even if Link does choose Hyrule's side. He will be my brother, he's proven that this day because he wanted to know what we were thinking fighting his birth race."
"Oh very well," Kage said sheathing his sword, Link slowly bringing his hand away from his, "Now Link, I want to know, whose side are you joining?"
"I don't know, I'm going to talk to Ganondorf now, I have to hear this from the horse's mouth and verify the truth of it myself." was Link's answer.
"And my lighter half yet again proves he is smart, but overly cautious for my tastes," Kage said as he vanished back into the shadows, "Oh by the way, I suggest you hurry and choose."
"I really have a lot to think about," Link sighed.
And that be all for this chapter. So what did you think? The Good? The Bad? And the Ugly?...oh wait that's a movie title. Well anyway, just leave your review and give me all those juicy little details like how good it is, your favorite character thus far, what should I do to improve things, how pompous I sound, if these comments are getting stupid yet, what your last wet dream was, yadda yadda...stuff like that. And remember, this has been a chapter from your unfriendly neighborhood LunaticChaos, ciao for now.