Link's Awakening

Chapter Nineteen: Indecision

Three times I tried again to paddle myself away from Koholint Island, convinced that I had somehow gotten turned around in the darkness, and three times I found myself right back on the shore where Agahnim was waiting for me. As ridiculous as it was to think that this whole place was some kind of waking dream that the two of us were trapped in, my friend's evidence was pretty convincing. But now that there was at least the chance of him being right, I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next… what was I supposed to do?

The more that Link thought about everything the wizard was saying, the more his head hurt to the point where he had to sit down on one of the larger rocks. Okay, say for a moment that Agahnim was right about everything, and that the whole island would simply vanish if the Wind Fish woke up… the obvious thing to do would be to not wake the thing up in order to save all of the people, but then again… if this was a dream, then what was happening to him back out in the real world?

Princess Zelda had remained motionless for hundreds of years during her cursed sleep, but if she were also living in that old cottage the whole time, then was the same thing happening to him? Was the young man's body simply asleep wherever it had ended up after the storm was over? Unlike the Princess, who had a whole wing of the North Palace dedicated just to her, the last memory of the real world that Link had was his ship getting struck by lightning, so… so was he floating out in the open water, or… what?

"I know it's a lot to accept, Junior." Agahnim said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But after a while, you'll see that being trapped here isn't so bad. I mean, over the years, I gained a wife and family, and I heard that girl, Marin, over in the village is sweet on you, so… who knows? Maybe you can have the same thing."

"But what about our real families?" The young man replied, looking at his friend. "Are you telling me that you're fine with never seeing your father or your sister again? They'll just spend the rest of their lives worried about us, and never knowing what happened?"

The wizard hesitated for a second, but then shrugged, before calmly stating that if it meant that he was able to preserve Tracy and his children, then Agahnim was completely fine with that. After all, he had turned against the owl and put back the instruments that he had found twelve years ago, even going so far as to leave them in the hands of his friends, and… and suddenly Link got a sinking feeling in his stomach when he wondered what would happen if he chose to keep collecting them.

His friend was adamant about keeping the Wind Fish asleep, with absolute faith that the island and all its people would vanish otherwise, so… so what would happen if the young man challenged that stance? He wasn't saying that he was going to keep collecting the instruments, at least not until there was a chance to have a long conversation with the owl in order to clear everything up, but then what? If Link chose to keep going in the direction of waking the Wind Fish, how far would the wizard go to stop him?

Agahnim was a powerful wizard, wielding the same kind of devastating magic that his father used, and not that the young man was a coward or anything, but he absolutely did not want to be on the receiving end of those spells. At the same time, though, if this place really was a dream world… damn it, he just didn't know what to do. This whole situation was like something a drunken lunatic would come up with, leaving him with an impossible choice: Either wake the Wind Fish and lose Marin, or stay there and condemn himself to eternal sleep.

"Stop thinking about it; you'll drive yourself crazy." The wizard said, shaking him a bit. "Look, Junior, why… why don't you take a few days and try to relax, you know… go spend time with Marin, maybe? Figure out for yourself what is truly important, and then before you know it, you'll probably decide to put the Siren Instruments back on your own. See you then."

With that, Agahnim vanished, causing everything to go dark again since his flame vanished as well, and leaving Link just sitting there in the pouring rain by the beach. All right, there was no way for him to find the path back to Mabe Village, so the young man sought shelter in the only place that was still illuminated: Zelda's old cottage that still had all of the burning candles. Stumbling over rocks, and slipping once or twice in the mud, Link pulled the old door shut behind him after entering the cottage, and then began removing his wet clothes. Hopefully, they would at least mostly dry out by the time the rain stopped, and then the young man blew out all of the candles except for the one next to the bed, which creaked as he sat down.

"Were you really here for hundreds of years, Zelda?" He asked, speaking to no one. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You have to make a choice." A familiar voice answered. "Just like Agahnim did a long time ago."

Startled by the sound, Link picked up the candle and held it up to see farther away, surprised once again when he saw that it came from the owl, sitting on the empty frame of the nearest window. The animal shook the water from its feathers, nearly putting the flame out if he hadn't moved it back just in time, and then the owl jumped down so that it was sitting on the night stand next to him. Apparently it and the wizard had a pretty severe falling out over the truth of the Wind Fish, which might have explained the animal's attitude toward castaways, but at least now there was a chance to get some answers.

"Owl, have you been keeping things from me, because of Agahnim?" He asked, setting the candle back down. "Is what he said true? Will this whole island just… vanish if the Wind Fish wakes up?"

"That's the thing, kid, no one knows for sure." The animal replied. "Those ruins have been here for as long as anyone can remember, but the only one who could probably tell you the whole truth is the Wind Fish, and… and Agahnim was so head over heels for Tracy by the time he found that carving, that he didn't want to risk it."

At least the owl wasn't brow-beating him this time, and it was surprisingly forthcoming when asked about whether or not Princess Zelda was ever on the island. Not only had she lived there for a very long time, but according to the animal, she and it had been great friends until the Princess just up and vanished one day. Her sleep had been different from that of the Wind Fish, so she had been unable to wake the mysterious creature, leaving it all up to people like Agahnim. Others had come before, only a few, and they had been killed by the original guardians of the instruments… powerful creatures that crumbled to dust against Agahnim's magic.

"As much as I want to, I can't force you to keep searching." The owl continued. "You could choose to stay and make a life with Marin, as your friend did, or you can press on, just… I've known that wizard for a long time, so be warned… Agahnim most likely has a plan for if you decide to continue… so watch yourself, kid."

As quickly as the wizard had vanished, the animal flapped its wings and vanished out the window into the night, once again leaving Link just sitting there on the bed. Blowing out the last candle in order to try and get some sleep, the young man was surprised that he was still able to see the area around him, and that was when he remembered the bell he had taken from Prince Richard. It was odd that Agahnim hadn't even mentioned the instrument, nor had he asked about where the others were hidden, almost as if the owl was right… was the wizard really prepared to stop him?

Well, no one was attacking him tonight, and Link was exhausted, so he laid down on the bed, setting the bell on the stand. Outside, the rain continued to pound on the old roof, with some of the water blowing in through the open windows, but the young man was too tired to care about that right now. As the fatigue overtook him, all he cared about was getting a good night's rest, so Link closed his eyes just for a moment, only for them to snap open again in reaction to a bright light. Sitting up and instinctively reaching for his sword to defend himself against whoever was holding the lantern, the young man stopped when he realized that there was no lantern… nor was there an intruder for that matter.

The light was instead coming from outside, brilliantly illuminating the whole interior of the old cottage as the sun rose up across the horizon, meaning that he must have been asleep for several hours. Everything was a lot quieter now, since the wind died down, and no more rain could be seen falling through the windows, and in fact… the air was a lot warmer as well, to the point where it might have been pretty muggy if not for the light breeze that remained. It was tempting to just spend the day in bed, but the young man's mind was still spiraling around with everything both Agahnim and the owl had told him.

No, Link needed to get up and head back to Mabe Village, not just to make sure the other three Instruments of the Sirens were still there, but also because he agreed with the wizard that he needed to spend more time with Marin. The clothes the young man had stolen from the Prince were still a bit damn, nothing a good walk in the sun wouldn't fix, and Richard's sword… it would do for now, since Link had been unable to recover his own sword and shield after being arrested at the health spa, but oh well, at least now he looked more presentable for attracting the attention of a young lady.

Putting the bell back around his neck, the young man reminded himself to stash it underneath Tarin's bed with the others, if there was room… yeah, he really needed to find a better hiding place for those things. But that could wait until he found his way back to Mabe Village, which shouldn't have been too hard, so long as Link remained close to the beach after leaving the cottage. The sun felt really warm on his face after a couple days of nothing but rain, and the sand was still a bit wet, making the young man almost lose his footing a couple times while moving around some of the larger…

"Link!" A voice called just as he was passing some palm trees. "Hey, Link! Over here!"

Startled by the sound, he quickly looked toward it while reaching for the sword… only to relax when he saw that the voice belonged to Marin. The young woman was waving to him with a smile on her face, sitting on the trunk of a tree that must have fallen over in the storm, down by the water. Well, Link had wanted an opportunity to spend more time with her, and this was his big chance, but was she real? As he walked over to where she was sitting, the young man understood why Agahnim had chosen to stay with Tracy instead of waking the Wind Fish, but could Link do the same? If the island really was just a dream, could he stay there and abandon the real world?