Chapter 10: Liari's Concern

Back in the castle. Yay. Zelda plopped onto the chair in her study, plotting escape routes. I could use one of those deku nuts and escape Sheikah style.

No. I haven't had any Sheikah training, so I don't even know how that works.

Then another thought shot into her head like an arrow through parchment. What about Sir Link?

I don't trust him. Zelda thought, nodding. She knew that for sure. He cut himself off in the middle of a sentence, and after talking more than usual, he shut off again. If only he spoke what he was actually thinking.

He's hiding something.

Perhaps a dark secret? Was he secretly working for the Yiga Clan? He was certainly stealthy enough.

Zelda shook her head. If the Yiga Clan got their hands on the wielder of the Sword that Seals the Darkness, they would either kill him, or cripple him and keep him imprisoned. Even if he was one of their own.

And how did he know Liari, Purah's assistant? When she spoke of him, she spoke with familiarity and fondness. How was Sir Link familiar with a Sheikah?

He also knew Mipha. Zelda thought back to when she had asked Mipha to become a champion.

'Princess… may I ask who the other chosen champions are?'

'Goron vigilance, Daruk; Rito confidence, Revali; Gerudo spirit, Urbosa…. And also…

'The hylian with the Sword that Seals the Darkness. Sir Link.'

Mipha had turned away from Zelda, the hands that held her trident shaking slightly.

'Oh…'

Mipha had seemed a bit saddened to hear this. Clearly she cared for Sir Link in some way.

He has so many secrets. Zelda thought, biting her lip. Yet why am I thinking about this? An arrogant knight who most likely despises me?

Zelda shrugged it off. Later, when it was darker, she'd sneak out. No one would notice the failure of a princess going missing for a couple days, would they?

Link…

Fear. Such great fear. He could feel it down to the depths of his bones.

Link…!

Inky blackness surrounded him. But he could still hear the familiar cries, loud as ever.

"Link, wake up!"

Link was dragged back to reality.

"Link, are you alright?" Liari's hands were on his shoulders, shaking him.

Link stared at her blankly. He completely ignored the ache in his arm.

"Link, speak to me!"

Link shook his head. "I'm fine."

He was back in the courtyard. Liari had said she was going to show him a spell, and then…

Liari released him and huffed, resuming her position across from him with crossed legs. "I am never doing that spell again. At least, not on you."

"What spell did you use?" Link asked suspiciously.

"Oh, uhhh…." Liari rubbed her arm anxiously. "It's supposed to make someone dream while they're still awake. Kind of like having visions."

"Well then," Link said calmly. "I suppose you succeeded."

"Oh, really?" Liari gasped. "What did you see? You were shaking really badly…"

Link let himself shiver. "You don't want to know."

Liari's eyes grew wide. "So you had a dream about… that?"

Link let himself shrug. "Depends on your definition of 'that.'"

Liari frowned and furrowed her brow. "This is serious, Link." She said quietly. "You know this is not something to joke about."

"It's in the past." Link replied calmly and blankly. "It's not important."

"It is important if nightmares have started up again!" Liari argued.

Link shook his head. A hero doesn't dwell on the past.

"You know, I've been working on my mind reading." Liari huffed. Does that mean- "Yes, it means that I heard you, idiot."

That's fair. Link thought before quickly shoving it back inside. Blank. Emotionless. No thoughts. Bury it ten feet under and cover it with boulders.

Liari frowned, but did not comment. Instead, she stood up. "I forgot. I have another lesson with Impa in a bit, so I should start heading over."

Link shrugged. "If you say so." He, very carefully, thought only what he had said. Over. And over. With Liari being able to read the surface of his mind now, he would have to put up an even better barrier.

Liari quickly left the abandoned courtyard, only to see an image that was on the surface of her brother's mind.

Liari shivered, quickly blocking out the image. She thought of what Link had thought- 'A hero doesn't dwell on the past.'

He was beating himself up. Not just emotionally, but physically as well. Liari thought that he'd accepted that he could have done nothing about it a long time ago, it seemed that his guilt had returned for another round.

He's always hidden his pain if he believes it to be a burden on another. Liari thought. But this is a whole new level. What happened to him to cause him to become so blank faced?

Liari honestly had no clue.

It was a while before she finally made it to the Sheikah wing of the castle. Then she finally got to Impa's room.

Liari knocked.

"Enter."

Liari went in to see Impa sitting at a desk, studying a map. Her brow was furrowed, but then she looked up at Liari with her deep scarlet eyes. "Liari."

"Impa." Liari greeted with a dip of her head.

"Do sit down." Impa gestured. "I have much time on my hands, because no one knows that I arrived yesterday except the king and yourself. Purah and Robbie wanted an excuse to go off to Kakariko, because they discovered another of those shrines. But I'm sure you heard of that."

Liari nodded sat at the other side of the table.

"Something is troubling you." Impa pointed out. "Might you tell me what?"

Liari shifted slightly. "It's Link."

Impa raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

"He's cut himself off." Liari said quietly.

"He's done that before." Impa said, tapping the table. "Though it's usually difficult to notice unless one inquires about him."

"I know." Liari said anxiously. "But he's gotten even worse than usual. He's become completely blank faced, and when I tried that dream spell on him he…"

"He had another nightmare about that time, then?" Impa guessed.

Liari nodded. "He was shaking, and I tried to bring him back. Usually you can simply call their name once and they'll come back to reality, but he stared blankly until I shook him myself."

"You've been practicing your mind reading, yes?" Impa asked.

Liari nodded. "I jokingly called him an idiot and he thought 'that's fair.' And then he shoved it back inside as quickly as he'd thought it and said-"

"'Blank.'" Impa quoted. "'Emotionless. No thoughts. Bury it ten feet under and cover it with boulders.'"

Liari looked at her with wide eyes. "How did you-"

"You're not the only one with mind reading abilities." Impa said calmly. "Oh, and he also thought 'a hero doesn't dwell on the past'?"

Liari nodded mutely.

"I think I might have an idea of who is behind this." Impa said. "Or at least part of it."

"Who?" Liari gasped out. "I'm going to rip them into tiny piec-"

"Sir Fuer, captain of the Royal Guard." Impa said.

Liari shrunk a bit. A captain? That makes ripping him into tiny pieces much more difficult.

"Somehow, the king is still in the dark about that captain's true colors." Impa said calmly. "Perhaps he has heard, but assumes it all to be rumors."

"Then…" Liari bit her lip. "What has he done to Link?"

"Your brother has probably been beaten many times." Impa said coolly. "Even when one does everything right, the captain abuses and beats the lower knights of the Royal Guard."

"Then why is Link-" Liari paused. "He's Princess Zelda's appointed knight…"

"...Which makes him part of the Royal Guard." Impa finished.

"How can he abuse a champion?" Liari choked. "And he has no idea what Link has been through!"

"The captain is slightly insane." Impa said as if this was completely normal. "He abuses Link because Link refuses to show weakness. The captain doesn't like not getting a reaction."

Oh no. Liari thought, continuing to bite her lip. So Link will be so stubborn that he'll eventually be beat to death?

"Pretty much." Impa said calmly.

Oh no. What can I do?

Zelda glanced out her window. The crescent moon was glowing in the sky, and stars twinkled like diamonds in the sky.

Zelda pulled on her cloak and her sack. It was time to get out of this prison.

The princess quietly snuck out of her room. There were no guards posted at her door yet, for reasons unknown. Oh well. All the better for me.

It wasn't long before she made it to the desolate stables. Not a person in sight. She found Storm, and dragged the stubborn steed out of the stall.

Finally. I can do something useful for once.

The princess mounted and left, riding for the Ancient Columns.

Liari's point of view! And we have an idea of what's up with Link.

Zelda's getting suspicious. But she probably still won't investigate for a while... or will she? HA! Confusing people is great.

Another few hints about Link's past. But it's still kind of vague. Feel free to speak your suspicions in the reviews!

REPLIES!

SmokeyMirrors: I wish I could tell you everything, but that will come in time. In the mean time, enjoy the suspense! This chapter may have answered some of your questions. If they did, good. If they didn't, even better. MORE SUSPENSE! YAY! Fi... I don't know for sure. I think I'm going to leave that up to the mind of the reader, because it's not like emotionless Fi is going to tell anyone! Maybe she and Link have more in common than I thought. About the wound... not going to tell you! Maybe you caught a hint in this chapter? OR MAYBE I DIDN'T PUT ANYTHING ABOUT IT! Muahahahaha! I wasn't going for PTSD on purpose, but that is literally the definition of what is happening, right? So yeah. Let's go with that. And the rest... some of your questions were probably answered here. And Zelda? The world may never know. Until probably next chapter. Or the chapter after that. We'll see...

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Until next chapter...