Chapter Twenty-Six - The Return of Dark Link!
"Link!" Sarah shouted as she rushed in, followed by the doctor. Link looked up and wiped his tears away with his sleeve.
"Oh no... Are we too late?"
Link merely turned back to Zelda and stood. He carried her to her bed and gently laid her down. The doctor walked over and placed two fingers on her neck.
"We've got a pulse. Its faint, but steady. She's alive. I don't know how, but she's alive."
"Thank the Goddesses," Sarah replied. Link nodded.
"She needs her rest. She's alive, but there's something wrong with her brain. It reminds me of one case of sensory overload I had several years ago. Her brain needs to, um..."
"Reboot?" Sarah asked.
"Perfect word. No idea what it means, but I like it."
Sarah nodded and walked to the door. The doctor started to leave, but then stopped. "Is he coming?"
Sarah shook her head. "Leave him, trust me. Nothing would make him leave unless Zelda walked out first."
The doctor nodded and Sarah closed the door.
-
Wha... Where am I? Zelda thought as she sat up. Looking around, she was surprised to find herself surrounded in complete darkness. She saw a figure walking toward her in the distance. She was weak from the poison, and whatever had just happened wasn't helping. She remembered telling Link that she'd fight it, and so she did. A split second later, she had felt as if someone was trying to take over her body. She had resisted as much as she could, then she blacked out. Now she was here.
"Who are you?" Zelda asked the stranger.
"Me? I go by Shiek."
"Do you know what happened?"
Shiek nodded. "The Triforce saved you."
"That's it?"
"Well, its actually a lot more complicated, but you'll remember soon enough."
Zelda nodded. "One question. You said that Shiek's what you are called, so what's your actual name?"
"My true name? My true name is Zelda." And with that, Shiek vanished.
Zelda blinked, then realized that the darkness was gone. She sat up and looked around. Her room looked the exact same, except for the lone figure hunched over in a chair, an occasional tear dropping to the carpet.
Zelda stood and walked to Link, who looked up to her.
"Stand. Stand and dry your eyes."
Link obligingly stood. "I thought I had lost you before I could tell you..."
"Before you could tell me what?"
"Before I could tell you that I," he stopped for a second, then continued. "That I love you."
Zelda smiled. "Well, I'm glad I was around to hear that."
Link leaned in a bit, and with an almost unnoticeable nod from Zelda, kissed her. Zelda had no idea how long they stood there, but when Link pulled back, she decided it hadn't been long enough. She leaned forward and returned the kiss.
-
"Are you sure that guy will be okay?" the doctor asked Sarah.
"No. However, Link's a strong-willed individual. I'll check on him when I take him some food. I was serious when I said that he won't leave until she does."
Suddenly, Zelda and Link walked into the room. Sarah jumped up and ran to Zelda, who seemed oddly happy. "You're okay! You had us all worried! Link over there wouldn't even leave your room!"
Zelda smiled. "I know."
"You need food," Sarah declared, all but dragging Zelda to the table which the cook had taken the liberty of covering the table with food.
"Now this I like."
Zelda laughed. "Do you ever think of anything besides food?"
"There's a few other things," he replied with a wink towards Zelda, who merely smiled.
"Did I miss something?" Sarah asked.
"Yup," Link responded.
Sarah shrugged. "Always left in the dark, I am."
"You'll get over it. Now, lets eat!"
-
"Well, its official. There is no trace of the poison. You are cured."
"Good. I'd really rather not die from leftover poison."
"Yeah." Link grinned mischievously. "Besides, I'd have to come up with something else to tell you after you miraculously cured yourself."
Zelda laughed. "What, running out of confessions?"
"Well, no, I have a ton, its just the ones I wanna tell you about are dwindling."
Zelda rolled her eyes. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"I prefer the term clinically insane," he said, trying not to laugh.
"Nuts is more like it."
"Why thank you, my Queen," Link said.
"Of all people, I never expected that out of your mouth."
"Well, what do you expect? You are queen, after all."
"So unfortunate, isn't it?" a voice asked. Link and Zelda spun around, only to see Dark Link stand up on the windowsill.
"It's you!"
"Well of course it is, my dimwitted alter ego."
"Watch it. Now, what do you want?"
"I came to finish what I started." He jumped down and drew a sword from his waist. On instinct, Link unsheathed the Master Sword and charged toward Dark Link.
Zelda reached over to her dresser. In a flash, the drawer was opened and Zelda held a sword as well.
"No, Zelda, stay back! He's just as good as I am at swordfighting and it would put you at risk!" Link shouted, blocking several blows.
Zelda watched as Dark Link continued to rain blows upon Link. Putting as much strength as she could behind it, Zelda hurled the sword at Dark Link. The sword flew through Dark Link, but it distracted him enough for Link to get back to the offense.
"Heh, you know that we are evenly matched. Even our swords are equal," Dark Link said as he slashed at Link. Link brought his sword up to block and the two swords collided and slid to the hilts of the other.
"Evenly matched," Dark Link affirmed. "The only difference in our swords is the color."
"Now that's where you're wrong. My sword has been blessed by the Seven Sages. It carries the energy of the Triforce of Courage, the powers of the Goddesses. Your sword is just a shadow of mine!" Link shouted, shoving his sword forward, sending Dark Link's sword flying. Dark Link himself fell back against the ground. Link walked up to Dark Link and placed his sword at his throat.
"Yield."
"You truly are clueless. Me and you, were like two sides of a coin. Light and dark. You are no more powerful than I."
"Then how did I win?"
"You used a slight flaw. As long as I am not entirely real, you will appear stronger. Your blade, your mind, your heart will all be stronger, but remember that I am a shadow, and I will always be right behind you."
"Not if I can help it. Zelda, I suggest you look away." Link brought his sword up, ready to deliver the killing blow.
Dark Link instantly sunk into the ground, becoming a puddle of darkness. It started to move, but Link brought his sword down to stab into the puddle near the edge. There was an unnatural shriek of pain from the puddle as it all but flew to the window and slid out it.
"Link, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the help," he said, handing Zelda the blade she had thrown at Dark Link.
"So it was Dark Link who poisoned me."
"He's working for Ganon."
"Oh well. He's gone now."
"He'll be back, and soon."
-
Dark Link materialized near the Zora River. Cleaning and bandaging the gash Link had left him right below his arm, he started the walk to the Gerudo fortress.
"So, the legendary Master Sword is the only blade that can hurt me. If I hadn't moved, I wouldn't have come out alive. And to think I thought he didn't have it in him to kill anyone, least of all his own reflection."
-
"What happened in there?" Saria asked.
"Dark Link's back," Link replied, sheathing his sword.
"Oh great."
"I'm going after him."
"Link, don't. We don't know where he is. Besides, what if he comes back?"
"He knows better than to come back here."
"Link, please..."
"No, Zelda. I have to do this."
Zelda nodded.
"I know you probably don't understand, but this is something that I need to do."
"You're right, I don't understand. I have a good feeling that you don't either. However, I do understand that you need to do this. Here, take this with you." Zelda handed Link a small glowing stone. He pocketed it and walked out the door.
-
Where could that shadow be? Link thought, walking across Hyrule Field. He stopped and watched the sun sink below the trees. Even in these days of peace, Stalchildren still rose at night. Link readied his sword, but none came. Instead, a person walked toward Link.
"Twilight, my favorite time of day. Just watching the darkness sweeping across the land, sending children running to their houses, draining all color from everything, the eventual fate of the land."
"You're a sadistic person, you know that?"
"Why thank you. I didn't know you cared."
"You do know that darkness will not win, yes?"
"Of course it will. Light gains ground, only to have it taken back the next night. Even people are dark-hearted."
"That's not true!"
"Yes it is. Think about it, what do you do when the last light goes out?"
"I fight to relight it."
"How foolish. Tell me, what is the best source of light?"
"The sun..."
"What happens when the sun goes out?"
"The sun can't just go out."
"And why not? The sun is simply a large candle, and a candle can just go out."
"The sun is a giant ball of fire at least a hundred times the size of the planet."
"So's a candle, if you made a large enough one."
"Forget it. If the sun went out, everything would die."
"And darkness would reign supreme."
"So? Who would care?"
"I would."
"You'd be dead."
I cannot be killed. I live as part of the darkness."
"Oh yeah? Let's test your new theory." Link brought his sword up and dropped into a combat stance he barely used. Dark Link drew his own sword. Within seconds, they both charged and started trying to land blows on each other.
Link brought his sword to slam into Dark Link's, sending the force of the impact shooting down both Links' arms. Link withdrew, only to lunge forward. Dark Link spun his sword, knocking Link's off its course. Link used the misguided motion to continue the circle, only to land on Dark Link's sword on his other side. Link shifted into several slashes, all of which Dark Link blocked.
"Well, something's got you mad."
"You float into the castle and try to kill Zelda, and yet you're surprised that I'm mad?"
"I didn't think you had what it takes to seek me out."
"Well, I'm glad I proved you wrong." Link attacked again, each attempt blocked by Dark Link. Dark Link took the offensive, stabbing and slashing at Link, who blocked each blow. Link took a half a second to back up.
"What, are we retreating now?"
"Not on your life."
Dark Link charged forward, but Link jumped toward Dark Link, swinging his sword to his side. Dark Link, startled, tried to block, but was too late.
Link landed and spun around to see Dark Link standing there, clutching his right arm.
"Well then, it seems that the Hero of Time can fight."
"You got that right."
"Good. I like a skilled opponent." Dark Link let go of his arm and a small drop of pure darkness landed on the shadowed ground, sizzling as if on fire. "You drew blood. I don't remember the last time I saw my own blood. It feels good."
"Lets see if I can make you feel any better."
Dark Link laughed. "Good, Link."
Link charged again, this time dropping to his knees and sliding under Dark Link's sword. He jumped up and spun around, spinning his sword once more. Dark Link, however, managed to block this one. Link started swinging at Dark Link in a seemingly random set of slashes. Dark Link managed to block about half, but the rest left cuts in Dark Link's outfit.
"Vicious," Dark Link commented, examining the wounds. "Now it's my turn." He charged at Link, throwing his sword into the air. He ran up to Link, then jumped over Link's sword only to grab his and falling, sending Dark Link's sword cutting through Link's tunic. Link pulled back, clutching his shoulder. The wound wasn't deep, but it ran from his right shoulder almost all the way to right below the left side of his ribcage. He pushed through the pain and attacked Dark Link again.
For several hours, the only sounds were those of metal slamming into metal. The two fought nonstop, not even pulling back to assess injuries.
Fed up, Link jumped into the air, over Dark Link, dropped to the ground and spun his foot around, knocking Dark Link to the ground. Link placed one foot on Dark Link's chest and pointed the Master Sword at Dark Link's throat.
"I told you, you can't kill me."
"Then why don't you just leave me alone?" Link shouted.
"I am your shadow. My only purpose is to ruin everything you accomplish. Already, a rumor is spreading that you were the one to set fire to that market stall yesterday."
"You did it, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did. However, we look so much alike from a distance."
"A man died because of you!"
"He wasn't the first, and he most certainly wont be the last."
"Just leave us alone!"
"I told you, the only fun thing in life is to watch you suffer. I ruined your title, and soon I'll be after your little forest friend. After that, I'm coming after the grand prize, Queen Zelda herself!"
"Not if I can help it!" Link shouted, plunging the Master Sword into Dark Link's throat. Dark Link grunted, then started laughing.
"You fool, you can't kill me." Dark Link faded into the shadows and reappeared near where he had been. "Soon, Hero of Time, soon I'll show you exactly how dark your heart already is. You tried to kill me, Link. Let that fact bear on your conscience. Had I been a normal person, you would have been a murderer. I can see it now. Link, Hero of Time, Cursebreaker, Dreamweaver, Murderer." With that, Dark Link vanished into the receding darkness, the sun already rising on the Hero of Time, his clothes stained with his blood, his sword blackened with Dark Link's.
