A/N: This chapter was revised as of 4/22/2021 - Polished, minor errors and typos fixed.
When Heroes Fall
By: Selphie Kinneas 175
Chapter 27: Voice
.:.
The sun did not rise the next day.
No light found their little town. None from the skies and none from within. The world seemed frozen in place; after all, what right did it have to carry on?
Rusl held Colin through the night. He dared not move and he spoke to no one who tried to reason with him. He held his son long after his skin turned white and his body went cold. Hours passed that turned Colin's muscles limp with death and stiff again with rigor mortis. Rusl cradled his first-born child and whispered apologies that the others pretended not to hear. He rocked and cried, and his once-deafening wails of agony reduced to hollow sobs. His chest ached and his body trembled weakly from exhaustion. Rusl was inconsolable.
Emeline wept that day. Openly and unabashedly she felt the cumulative agony of her friends. Locked high away in her cold chamber, far enough to be blissfully unaware of their pain if she so chose, she was suffocated in hopelessness. She, like Colin until the very end, held out unwavering hope for Ren. She believed he could persevere, and, perhaps, she had somehow underestimated her father's overwhelming wickedness. Still, she would not give up – she believed she could help, though she knew there was no repairing what happened.
Death was a vacuum. Grief pulled them down so far it was impossible to see the light. Things hurt that shouldn't. The sun, memories, an empty chair, the breeze the dead no longer felt. Things that once brought peace only offered pain. Solace was a distant dream. The hole in their hearts felt somehow simultaneously heavy enough to smother them yet empty and craving something to fill it that never could again.
Both those close to Colin and those not nearly so much so felt this agony. This suffocating, threatening hollowness that had a hunger insatiable. It devoured their grief like a mountain-sized monster and came back for seconds, thirds, and on and on. The unfairness to still be standing, living, breathing brought guilt like a lead weight heavy on their shoulders. Heavier still was the thought of Ren. How could they tell him what he had done? How could they look into his eyes again? Would they ever even get the chance, or was his fate now sealed?
Renado knew Colin's body did not have much longer before decomposition would turn the already traumatic event even more so, and the shaman longed to save his old friend as much heartache as he could. Renado placed a warm hand on Rusl's shoulder. Rusl was soaked from the rain, still clutching Colin close to him. He held one arm around his son's shoulders and pressed the other to his wound, hoping in some distant corner of his mind that he could still fix him. He did not acknowledge his friend's presence.
"Rusl..." Renado began in a hushed, calm voice, "You are going to get sick. Why don't you come inside and let us prepare a proper wake for Colin."
Rusl shook his head, "I can't Renado... I can't leave him..."
Renado knelt beside him, placing a gentle hand on Rusl's bloody fist that begged to seal Colin's wound. He looked at Rusl's closed eyes, his tired, red face, and he wished in that moment that he knew how to heal hearts as well as he could bodies.
"His body is cold, Rusl... He is not in there anymore."
"Just five more minutes..." Rusl whispered, "Please..."
Renado's heart sank. He looked at the face of the boy he cared for fondly. He remembered him as the smallest, sweetest child. He remembered how deeply he cared for others and how selflessly he loved. His expression looked peaceful, like he was merely asleep. Renado shared in Rusl's pain and could not bear to imagine how overwhelming his own despair would be had he lost Luda in such a way.
Renado stood up, "Yes... five more minutes..." and he left Rusl to himself.
Inside the inn, time was just as frozen as it was outside. Link came to sometime the night prior, but he did not move from the spot where he had been laid down. After Midna had collected herself in the cemetery, she stayed at her wolf's side. He made no attempt to communicate with her. She had never been sure how to describe it – she couldn't read his mind, but she could feel what he was trying to tell her as a wolf. In a way, she had always heard his voice through feeling. Now she heard nothing, and she felt nothing. She had thought that telling him what happened would destroy them both, but she could tell it wouldn't be necessary. She could see in his eyes that he already knew. He didn't have to be told.
All occupied a space of silent solitude. No one really spoke, because what was there to say? Midna sat beside Link and burrowed her fingers into his fur. Zelda sat nearby, alternating between praying and attempting to reach out to Link to no avail. Luda and Talo kept to themselves upstairs with their girls – Talo was utterly broken and could not stand to look into the others' eyes and see that same pain mirrored back at him. Ashei and Renado stayed outside near Rusl but gave him enough space to grieve. Shad sat at the table diligently scribbling on a piece of parchment, and the sound of the inn's door creaking open drew his attention.
The sound of the rain greeted those inside briefly before Ashei closed the door behind her. She looked at no one. She approached Shad and sat down across from him. Shad stared at her and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. She had been crying, they all had been, but her sadness always surprised him.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
He nodded. He understood.
He looked back down at what he had been writing. He forced a smile and looked back up at her.
"I'm writing a letter to Aveil back home. I hope she has gone easy on Telma and Auru."
He tried to get her to smile, but he was unsuccessful. He looked back down at his letter and his own smile disappeared.
"I... I hate to say it, but I am beginning to fear the worst."
Ashei at last looked up at him, but he did not reciprocate.
"I am also writing to Telma. Auru is old and has a hard time getting around... Should something happen to us..." Shad wiped his runny nose, "I am asking that she see to it that Aveil is taken care of."
Ashei said nothing. Shad met her watery stare with his own. Midna and Zelda did their best to pretend they could not hear their conversation.
Shad turned his letter around and pushed it across the table to her.
"Write our Aveil something, won't you?"
Ashei stared at the parchment like it might reach out and bite her. She gazed back up at her husband and he smiled as he passed her his quill and ink. She grabbed it with a reluctant, shaky hand. She wrote to the daughter she missed dearly. She clumsily treaded the line between saying her farewells and not making it obvious. She told her she loved her, and she subconsciously thought of Link and Ren. She thought of herself and Aveil in such a situation. Her heart broke. She dropped the inked quill and pushed the paper back. She leaned forward and pressed her fingertips to the sides of her head.
"Darling, you never get emotional. Are you alright?" Shad asked.
She battled her embarrassment to form an answer.
"I feel so bad..." she shook her head, "About everything that's happened here... the things I've said. All I can think about now is if... if that was us and Aveil..."
Shad frowned but said nothing. He looked down at his swirly, cursive penmanship and at his wife's messy scrawl, both bringing physical form to their daughter's name in their own way. He thought of her youthful, innocent face and he smiled.
He looked back at Ashei and grabbed her hand. He said not a word, he just stared with understanding eyes.
"How do I fix it?" Ashei whispered, "The things I've said? I can't take it back."
Shad grabbed her other hand and clasped them both between his with a squeeze. He leaned in and spoke with a voice so small the others could not catch it.
"Apologize. Sincerely."
He kissed her clasped hands and smiled. He gathered his letters and left to mail them with one last gesture toward the hero on the other side of the room. She followed his line of sight and understood.
Ashei looked at Link who lay like a wounded animal who knew its time was coming. She still couldn't quite understand his transformation to a wolf, but there was enough else going on that this just seemed like yet another shocking, isolated occurrence of many. She glanced at Midna, another one of those many occurrences, and she could see the bond the two shared. Zelda seemed in another world entirely, with delicate hands clasped before her in prayer. What did she ask for, Ashei wondered? She imagined she had a never-ending list to get through.
Ashei stood and approached. Midna looked up at her from her seat on the cold floor. Her back rested against the wall behind her and her fingers subconsciously combed through her wolf's fur. Link did not look at her. He stared sightlessly at nothing, laying on his belly with his head resting upon his outstretched front legs. His deep eyes were half-lidded and glazed over like he was in a trance. Zelda stayed locked in her mind.
Ashei twitched uncomfortably and wiped her wet cheeks. Midna continued to stare, no emotion on her tired face. Ashei cleared her throat and looked at Link, not caring if he refused to reciprocate – she knew at least he could hear her, and she could not delay her message another moment.
"Link, I'm sorry," Ashei stood tall and spoke with serious confidence, "I have said horrible things that I'm not proud of. I'm no good at sounding eloquent like Shad or the queen or Renado, all I can do is tell you honestly, from the bottom of my heart..." she placed a hand to her chest and knelt before him, "In my attempt to be helpful I have only been destructive. Ren is your son... I should have never spoken poorly of him, or Ilia. I am truly sorry," she lowered her head, "I hope you can come to forgive me."
Silence fell like a shroud. Ashei let the moment linger before she dared lift her gaze. When at last she did, the party before her were still unmoving, uncaring, shells. Midna stared groggily up at her, but Link was still vacant.
Ashei got to her feet, but her steadfast eyes never left Link's, "Whether or not you can accept my apology, I am with you until the end. I will do everything in my power to see that justice is done. I will follow you into any battle."
Link looked at her then. It was fleeting, but she thought she saw recognition there before he returned to stone. Midna gave her a nod in acceptance. Ashei reciprocated and was quick to take her leave back out into the drizzling rain to accompany Rusl.
Midna looked down at her hero. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, but still his voice did not come to her. He was giving up.
Enough time passed that Midna unknowingly fell asleep, resting gently atop her wolf's soft coat. The gentle rise and fall of his chest soothed her to a slumber she didn't know she needed. Zelda's quiet voice was what pulled her from her dreamland.
"Link will not reach out to me," the queen spoke with pain in her pretty eyes.
Midna sat up and wiped the sleep from her face. She noticed many of the others now occupied the room with them as night had fallen and the rain had not let up. They appeared no less broken, and she felt vulnerable with their eyes on her and her hero. She looked down at Link. He clearly had not slept as she had. His eyes remained open but distant, and his body and mind did just the bare minimum to exist.
She looked back at Zelda, "What do you mean?"
"I may be able to help him return to his true form... if he were to meet me halfway," Zelda frowned, "He will not reach out."
Link made no motion at her statement. Midna's face grew hot. He wasn't giving up, he already gave up. Now, she felt, he was simply waiting out whatever end should greet them.
Shad piped up from his seat on the staircase, "I do hope this does not come across as insensitive... but our time is running short. Why, I believe we have just above one week before the king returns for the final time."
A hushed pause fell between them, and all they heard was the pitter-patter of raindrops on the roof before Renado spoke up.
"I think we all agree that the time for action is nearly spent, but no one here is in any condition to stand and fight."
"How is Rusl doing?" Ashei asked.
Renado sighed, "He has pneumonia, but he will be alright... in time."
Midna perked up, "Rusl's sick?"
"Yes," Renado nodded, "We brought him upstairs while you were sleeping. Talo, Luda, and the girls are keeping him company at a safe distance."
Midna looked down at Link, expecting him to jump up and stage some foolish attempt at rescuing his father from illness. He made no reaction.
Midna turned back to Renado, "He's going to be okay... right?"
"Yes, yes..." Renado said, "The body does not do well combating common illnesses when it is under such overwhelming stress as he is, therefore what likely would have simply been a cold became something worse. With rest... he will be alright."
"What about Colin?" Midna dared to ask.
Renado frowned, "We moved his body to the cemetery to prepare a burial. Though, I am not sure many will be in attendance... He will need to be buried at first light."
Midna began to choke up. She thought of all the questions Link might want answered, all the things he would ask if he were strong enough to ask them.
"What about Uli? Calie?" she cried, "They should be there."
Renado's dark eyes were deeply burdened – it was clear he despised always being the one to give news no one wanted to hear.
"We lost much time in the decomposition process... It is not something we can wait on."
Midna wiped her eyes, "Who will tell them?"
Renado's voice grew quieter as he thought of his friends in Ordon, "Rusl wants to tell them in person. So... it will have to wait until he is well enough to travel."
Midna looked back at Link, desperate for him to have a reaction, any reaction, anything. He did nothing. He looked as empty on the outside as he felt on the inside.
"Link, please... Do something," she begged as she clenched his fur in her fist, "Zelda is trying to help you... please help her..."
Zelda gazed at her solemnly, "We cannot force him."
"Is there nothing else?" Midna said, "Is there nothing else that will work?"
Zelda's expression was grim. She could feel Midna beginning to spiral.
Midna jolted up, "The Master Sword! That's what worked last time! The Master Sword turned him back before!"
"Midna, I do not think-" Zelda tried, but Midna bolted for the door and out into the freezing rain.
The silver of that legendary blade sparkled in the raindrops that bounced off of it. Midna ran to it and grabbed the hilt... but it did not permit her. Her quick anticipatory turn back toward the inn nearly knocked her shoulder out of the socket. She whirled back to the sword in dumbfounded confusion. It would not move. The light plinking sound of the water hitting the steel mocked her.
"What? Now you refuse me?" she spat, her hand still wrapped around the hilt. She pulled and pulled, but it would not budge from its spot in the mud. "Fine!" she screamed, throwing her hands to her sides in a fit, "We don't need you!"
Thunder cracked overhead and she fell to her knees in defeat. Despair swept over her as she looked at the sword. It, like her hero, refused to move. It looked beaten, discarded, forgotten, and she wondered how much of the sword reflected the wielder. It lay, muddy and wet, and it remained there through the night and into the morning.
No one came prepared to Colin's wake. The only black that veiled them was that of the clouds and the matching sky. Link was not in attendance, nor was Rusl. Link ignored all who spoke to him, and Rusl came to only sporadically in exhausted states of delirium. Zelda remained at Link's side, never surrendering to doubt. Luda and her daughters stayed beside Rusl so that Talo could say goodbye to his brother.
No one spoke. All occupied a space of silence around the humble, wooden casket. Talo stood beside Renado, shivering from uncontrollable breaths but not making a sound. Renado comforted him with a gentle hand on his back, but Talo did not respond. Ashei and Shad stood nearby with solemn faces of their own – everyone looked just as devoid of life as the one they were laying to rest.
Midna could look at none of them. She only attended for Link's sake, knowing he would want to be here were he in a stable mindset. She heard naught but the quiet plinking of raindrops and the occasional sniffle. When those who worked in the cemetery began the process of lowering the casket into the ground, Talo ran up to it without thinking. He placed desperate, pleading hands on the coffin that held his brother and he sobbed.
"I'm sorry I was ever mean to you," his breath hitched, "Please know I didn't mean it... I didn't mean it..."
Renado approached him and held firm hands to Talo's quivering shoulders. Talo's sorrow burst. He turned to Renado and wrapped his arms around him.
"He knows I loved him, right? He knows I never meant to be mean when we were kids... He knows, right?"
Renado held him tighter, "Yes, my boy. He knows."
Talo cried and Midna had to turn away. She pulled her hood down over her eyes and tears fell without her permission, but she ignored them. When all again went quiet and the world seemed to settle, the pallbearers lowered Colin into his final resting place. All living things stilled as he did, and he was left to sleep facing the east, so he may yet greet a new dawn.
Across Hyrule Field, where death was of no concern and defeat but a distant memory, Viscen looked to reward Ren for his good deeds. The king brought him to an extravagant room lined with the most luxurious clothing and jewels. Viscen sat in a cushy red armchair and beckoned for servants to flock to him.
"You did magnificently well back there, boy," Viscen said with a grin and an outstretched hand into which a chamberlain quickly placed a wine glass, "It is time we clean you up. Just because you are my lap dog does not mean you should look like one."
The king waved his hand and a handful of laundresses and attendants pulled Ren behind an ornate dressing screen. They scrubbed the grime from his skin and the muck from underneath his fingernails. They combed his hair and spritzed a fancy cologne that gave Ren a headache even through the filter that diluted his senses.
"Put him in something regal," Viscen pondered as he swirled his wine glass, "Something that will make the citizens gape in awe at how their selfless king could turn a gutter rat into a lord."
The servants hastily grabbed garments both from chests and mannequins alike, moving quickly so as to not upset their king. Ren did not flinch as they removed his dirty clothes and dressed him in attire much stiffer and scratchier than he was used to. The keeper of the wardrobe lastly adorned Ren in a layer of extravagant jewels and placed satin slippers on his feet.
The laundress pulled Ren out from behind the partition and bowed her head in respect as Viscen scrutinized him. The king narrowed his brown eyes and stroked his beard. They had dressed Ren in a light blue, long-sleeved tunic with buttons up the front and close-fitting beige trousers. A gold necklace sparkled under the fuzzy collar of his brown cloak that caught Viscen's eye.
"The jewelry is too much. I said he should look proper not look like royalty," he scowled, "Get it off of him before he thinks himself worthy of it."
The woman bowed her head and removed it with haste. She stepped back as Viscen approached for a closer look. Ren stared back at the king with emptiness in his cold eyes, still no hint of the boy from the forest town with love for the family he only just murdered in cold blood. Viscen smiled and clapped Ren's shoulder.
"How grand does it feel to at last be rid of the stench of poverty," the king said with one final swig of his dark purple drink and again an outstretched hand from which a servant collected his empty glass. "Finally, you look like someone worthy of the company of kings, worthy of my company. That garishly embarrassing getup from that pathetic village of yours would be better suited for the swine lining up to be my next meal," he laughed, though no one else did, "Come, let us celebrate my victory."
Ren followed Viscen to the dining hall where butlers and servants waited to serve them their dinner. Just as before, Viscen sat at the farthest head of the massive table and Ren took his seat at the king's right side. Maids, servers, and cupbearers placed their meal before them and took their leave at Viscen's command. Viscen took a few bites but Ren remained as stone.
"Eat, boy," Viscen demanded, "I need your strength high – your job is not yet done."
Ren did as he was told. Viscen watched with mischievous glee.
"You dealt the enemy a devastating blow. Their morale will be weakened, their reactions dulled. They are now vulnerable, unstable, fragile."
Viscen took another bite, leaned back, and laughed.
"How pathetic to cling so desperately to something mortal, to care so deeply for something so easily broken, so easily killed. How powerless it is to be attached to something so delicate," he shook his head, "True power comes when you at last realize that you are all that matters, that everyone else is weak."
Ren chewed his food in silence. Viscen eyed him before continuing.
"You are quite the company, boy. You listen to your king with respect and do not interject your opinion where it is not desired. Your voice is not wanted and therefore I never hear it," he smirked, "Isn't that right?"
Ren nodded.
Viscen laughed, "Not that you have a choice. Perhaps I should keep you a bit longer than planned."
Ren said nothing. He stared blankly at the stone wall across from him. Viscen leaned forward.
"Since I have your undivided attention, we should discuss what comes next," he dropped his utensils and took a big gulp of wine, "Your job is to utterly break the will of the hero. I must say, I was not sure of your ability to execute devastation to the extent required, but your display at Kakariko proved your worth to me," Viscen grinned devilishly, "I can picture the pathetic hero now, sitting and wallowing in his failure. No doubt he blames himself for all that has happened. You may just have broken him already, but we must be sure."
As Ren took another bite, something happened. He felt the slightest tingle between his ears and an unusual warmth rooted itself there. Viscen continued to talk though Ren stopped listening.
"I have not forgotten about that day you cheated death in my dungeon," Viscen cut into his venison with a heavy hand, "I know where I embedded my dagger in you – there is no logical explanation for your survival."
Viscen did not look up at him as he proceeded to eat, for if he had, he would have noticed a pinprick of consciousness in Ren's eyes.
"I know it was my wife's doing," Viscen went on between mouthfuls, "I know she has the power to expend her own energy to save another. Her death is our priority now. I cannot have her using such cheap trickery to interfere with the death of the hero."
Ren dropped his cutlery and lost what little feeling he had in his body. The evil that controlled him began to battle with something else, something he could not understand. His eyes glazed over, and he was but an observer of the battleground in his mind.
Viscen took his time to chew and contemplate before continuing, "Though the queen's death is now imperative, it must be staged as an accident," his face lit up with mischief, "Or perhaps... It could be made to appear as if the hero killed her himself. Should the whole of Hyrule bear witness to such an act, not a single seed of doubt would survive among the people. The few remaining who question my prior claims would be persuaded, and I would at last regain the people's unwavering trust that became tarnished in that... display in the square."
Ren's heart alternated between rapid beats and slow, agonized pulses. His hands trembled and then went still. His eyes beheld nothing and then everything. He heard a voice, muffled, distant, foggy, as if he were leagues underwater. He heard nothing Viscen spoke of.
"What a marvelous idea," Viscen smiled, "And how pleasant it will be to carry out. After your previous actions, I have no doubt you will be the perfect pawn to ensure our success."
Ren's chest grew tight and it became hard to breathe, then his lungs drunk in deep, satisfying air like they had not tasted in eons. Anxiety swept over him, then calm, and in the brief space that peace settled in, the voice cleared.
'Ren.'
Viscen prepared the final bite on his plate with insidious laughter, "How funny it is that Zelda's saving your life worked out in my favor. I imagine now they all wished they had let you die."
Viscen's hateful words distracted Ren for the faintest moment. His heart stung but the voice in his head brought him back. It was a delicate, feminine voice, and he felt safe in its presence.
'Ren. Open yourself to me. I know you are still in there.'
Viscen wiped his face and leaned back with his wine glass, "How does that make you feel, boy? I killed you, they saved you, and then you singlehandedly destroyed everything they were working towards."
Ren focused on her voice. Who's voice? The voice. It was like a beacon of light in the darkness, oxygen in the void of space. In the shell of his body over which he had no control, he began to feel again.
'I can help, Ren. Just meet me in the middle.'
"How amusing it is," Viscen laughed wholeheartedly, "They foiled their own plans. They handed me my puppet on a silver platter! It is quite funny, isn't it?"
Ren did not hear him, did not notice his scrutinizing stare burning his flesh. Viscen began to suspect something was wrong, the voice could feel it.
"Isn't that right, boy?" the king pressed harder, leaning forward with anger rising in his eyes.
'Say yes, Ren!'
Ren turned to the king in a flash, "Yes."
The moment lingered and the air grew thick. Viscen's stare locked on Ren, but Ren did not back down. His ever-malevolent husk masked whatever gears were turning on the inside. Ren held his breath and so did the voice. After intense minutes that felt like hours, Viscen relaxed back into his seat.
"Finish your meal."
'Do as he says.'
Ren did as he said. Viscen watched.
This state of limbo was far more agonizing than being entirely succumbed. The voice desperately pulled him to one side, but the dark beckoned him back where it was comfortable. He treaded an invisible tightrope, slowly becoming aware of its existence. He still did not have control over himself, still had no idea whose thoughts filled his head and whose heart beat in his chest, but there was something there. Something was reaching out.
Viscen spoke no longer. Silence befell the room and his narrowed eyes never left his puppet. He watched as Ren cleaned his plate, an uncertainty pricking at the back of his mind. Something was amiss, he just didn't know what.
Ren finished, wiped a napkin across the corners of his mouth, and sat patiently awaiting further instruction. Viscen let the disquiet linger quite some time. At last, the gentle knocking of the castle servants brought the tense silence to an end. Viscen permitted them to clean the table, and when the king stood, Ren followed suit.
Viscen looked Ren up and down as he stood at attention like a soldier awaiting orders. Again, Viscen stared, and he contemplated. The tiny fragment of Ren hidden inside quaked in fear until at last the king released him.
"Go to your chambers and sleep. You will need your rest for what is to come."
Ren bowed in respect and did as he was told. Viscen watched him go. When he could no longer hear the clicking of his footsteps, Viscen instructed guards to stand outside the boy's door.
Just as Ren entered his room and closed the door behind him, the voice cried urgently in his mind.
'Ren, you must leave now before the guards have time to station.'
Ren froze. He heard the voice crystal clear but still he did not understand it. Still his body refused him. Still he was captive in bones that were not his own.
'Ren, please. Hear me! Leave now!'
In his mind he saw light cut through the overwhelming black and he was blinded. He twitched his fingers, he wiggled his toes. He felt his body.
'Go now!'
And he flew from the door with speed but with silence. He moved with purpose and she guided him every step of the way. She led him through twisting halls and past dead-end corridors, narrowly missing castle staff at every turn. She brought him at last to a back door, and he leaned against it to catch his breath once he was on the other side.
'You cannot stop. Go to the drawbridge at the south gate. You will find Mila there.'
'Mila...' Ren responded. How did he respond? Was that... what he sounded like?
'You will remember her in time. Go.'
But his body froze. The darkness crept back in. He clutched his head as it throbbed and ached. He sunk to the floor with a groan of pain. The voice spoke again, but he could not understand it. She battled his darkness. He heard her power like a blazing siren and the dark whispers went faint again. Her light grew strong and he could breathe.
'I don't understand what's happening,' Ren told her. How did he tell her? Who did he tell? He was sure he was going mad but what did that even mean to him?
'It is alright, just listen to me and you will begin to.'
In the intervals between the voice and the nothingness, darkness clouded his vision again and again. It was much too strong for him, but perhaps it was not too strong for her.
'I am Emeline, you are Ren. You are not this darkness. You are the hero's son and in you there is still light.'
'Emeline...' Ren spoke, but no sound left his lips, 'I'm... Ren...'
'Yes. Now get up, Ren. You are not safe yet.'
He got to his feet. He focused to move his legs, to control his hands, to feel his own blood in his veins. Through his tunnel vision there was a pinprick of clarity, and he followed it.
'Now do as I say. Go to the south gate. Ride Mila to Kakariko. Reunite with your friends as Ren, not as the Fused Shadow.'
Ren walked, though he was not sure how. Her words in his head willed him though his body still felt out of his control.
'I don't...' Ren's breath caught as his chest ached, 'I don't know how to get there... I can't remember... where...'
'I will lead you. Trust in me.'
She burst forth a light in his chest that empowered him. He stood tall and moved with purpose. He did not know how, but he knew where he was going. He somehow still felt comatose, like a prisoner in a cage of flesh. He had no memory of who he was, where he was, or what was happening. He felt he could not trust himself, but he could trust that voice, he could trust Emeline.
He pushed through the evening crowds, garnering strange looks at the boy with glassed eyes and lordly attire. He paid them all no mind. At last he came to the drawbridge, but the expanse of the field could no better clear his foggy mind.
'Mila grazes nearby. She is your friend and companion. Go to her.'
He felt the voice tug at his side and he turned in the direction she pointed him. Ahead in the distance he saw a cream-colored filly lazily chomping on the grass beside a pond. Ren tried to call to her, but he could not remember his voice, his real voice.
'You are Ren. You have a voice of your own. Use it.'
He was Ren... He had a voice... But did he truly? Did it still exist? He could not recall the sound of it, the vibrations it made in his chest, the power in commanding that free will. He hesitated, fear crept back in, and so, too, did the darkness. When his knees buckled from the weakness, Emeline fought back, and warmth again pervaded.
'You are not what seeks to lay claim to your spirit. You are your own spirit. Fight back against it with me. Use your voice.'
Ren felt her light empower him and he stood tall. From a place he did not know he possessed, the voice of the boy from the forest sprung forth, meager as it was.
"Mila."
His feeble whimper was enough for his mare to hear him. She turned with an excitable shake of her head and ran to greet him. She nuzzled his chest happily though no reciprocal feelings emerged. In the corner of his mind something told him he should know this horse, he should feel joy, but he did not recognize her, and so nothing surfaced.
'Take up your mount and ride where I lead you.'
'Will I be safe there?'
The voice paused. The voice was unsure.
'Yes,' she said at last, and Ren had not the capacity to doubt the one thing that felt like serenity amidst a raging storm.
The voice guided his hands which guided Mila. She ran at a breakneck speed, for Emeline worried every second they wasted that Viscen would discover Ren's absence. Dusk turned into the darkest night before Mila came to a halt at the outskirts of Kakariko Village.
'Dismount and enter with nothing on your person. You must be entirely unarmed.'
'Why?'
The voice paused again. Ren subconsciously hated that pause.
'Trust me.'
Ren did as she said, though he had not much on him to begin with given the flurry in which he evacuated the castle. He left anything he could in Mila's saddle bag, and when he looked down at the body he did not recognize, he saw naught but fancy clothes and funny shoes. The voice warned him to enter the village slowly. He did as he was told.
The town was empty. No one occupied the streets as the hour grew late. The friends he would not remember waited inside the inn, still entirely beside themselves. Luda tucked Orielle and Kina into bed upstairs, and Talo sat at Rusl's bedside and held his hand, sharing silently in his pain. Link still had not moved, and Midna sat next to him with her fingers buried in his fur. Zelda never stopped praying, reaching out, trying desperately to pull the hero from his place of solitude. Renado mindlessly tidied the space, eager to quiet the dark thoughts that fluttered in and out. Ashei stood at the window, staring out across the quiet town, and Shad sat on the stairs beside her with a book.
None had spoken for hours, the discomfort painfully acute. Shad looked up at his wife, then outside at the rising moon. The exhaustion hit him with a yawn and he set his book down beside him.
"Ashei, dear, why don't we turn in for the evening? It is quite late, after all, and forcing ourselves to stay awake will only dull our senses."
Ashei suddenly stiffened and her eyes went wide as something outside caught her attention. She froze but Shad did not catch on.
"We all need to be well-rested for the days ahead. We will not be at our best if-"
Ashei ignored him and turned to Link.
"He's here."
Midna perked up, "He who? Viscen?"
"No... Ren."
The very room itself seemed to hold its breath. Link picked up his head for the first time. He looked at Ashei with seriousness in his dark eyes. Ashei's gaze did not falter, and Link knew she spoke the truth. He made for the door but Midna stood in front of it.
"No," was all Midna said. She stared at him with intensity, and he did the same. He did not speak to her, but he would not back down. Neither would she.
In a flash, Link jumped through the window. Glass crashed and scattered and cut up his face and neck. Midna and Ashei shielded their eyes and Zelda approached the window. Midna flung open the door and went to chase after him, but Zelda held her back.
"Zelda!" Midna screamed, prying her fingers off of her, "This is not the time!"
"Wait," Zelda spoke plainly and elaborated no further.
The calmness in the queen's eyes infuriated Midna, but she trusted her. Midna huffed angrily and gave in. She and Zelda stood and watched, and the others were not far behind.
Link pumped four legs as fast as he could. He plowed into Ren's chest and pinned him to the ground. The air flew out of Ren's lungs and Link barred sharp teeth down at him. Ren's confusion reached its peak and fear set in.
'He will not hurt you. Remain calm.'
Ren could barely hear her voice. The wolf's lips snarled and his ears jutted straight out. His stare was fixed and his claws dug into Ren's chest. Ren was completely lost. Phasing between the boy he should be and the monster the evil wanted him to be, he could not grasp anything that was happening.
'I don't understand,' Ren told her, staring fearfully up at the beast on top of him.
'Your father has been afflicted by dark magic. You and I together can heal him.'
'My... father?'
'Yes. Inside this beast resides the man that is your father.'
Ren's brow furrowed deeply. Link pressed down harder and saliva dripped from his teeth. Emeline could see that Link would never hurt him, that he only needed desperately to protect those who remained for him to safeguard. She could see the hero's disdain for himself, the suffocating guilt that blotted out his once grand light. Ren could see none of those things, and so he only felt scared and confused. Emeline could see that, too.
'Look deep into the wolf's eyes. You will see that I speak the truth.'
Ren's unfamiliar eyes settled deep into Link's. There he saw the man he only vaguely recognized from distant dreams, the man he wasn't sure was real. Ren's heart remembered this man, and his body reacted though his mind did not. Ren's pupils dilated and his eyes flashed familiarity. Link saw Ilia there for the faintest second and he pulled away.
'Reach out to him. Heal him. You have the power.'
Ren sat up and did as he was told though he did not understand how. Ren placed a hand to the wolf's head and Link instinctively tensed up. Midna jerked forward from the inn, but Zelda's calm touch reassured her.
'Focus.'
Ren closed his eyes and he felt Emeline's warmth flow through him. Link relaxed into his touch.
'My power is only so much. You must use what the king has given you for good.'
'I don't know how.'
'Do not think it. Feel it.'
Ren breathed in deep and felt the malevolence rise in him like bile. It threatened to take him over. It threatened to use him for its twisted desires. Emeline fought it back, and without Viscen there to egg on the darkness, Ren began to overcome it.
'Yes...' the voice encouraged, 'Channel that goodness. Heal him.'
Ren focused. He felt light course through him and he remembered Emeline's face. He heard her voice as if she stood beside him. He remembered his father's face. He remembered his love for him, his desire to be loved in return. When at last Ren opened his eyes, he saw the man that was his father standing before him.
Link looked down at himself in astonishment. He examined his own hands and felt his own face. The wolf was gone. Maybe Ren wasn't past saving.
Ren stared up at him in wonder and got to his feet. One word spilled forth before he even realized.
"Dad?"
Link froze. He wanted to be angry, he should have been angry. Ren caused so much suffering, and Link wanted to make it known. But the sound of Ren's real voice uttering such a word, the face of the boy not the monster, the thought that maybe, just maybe, one thing could go right, did not allow that anger to surface. Not yet.
Link smiled, but as he took one step closer, Ren began to panic.
"What's happening?" Ren stepped back and held his throbbing head, "I don't understand..."
Link held out calming hands, "It's okay..."
Ren felt the Fused Shadow clinging to its property like a child desperate not to part with its plaything. It swept over him in waves of aching numbness, and every time he nearly drowned in its overwhelming nothingness, Emeline's purifying benevolence swooped in to cleanse it from him. Still, Ren staggered back. He wavered on a battlefield he could not escape from. Forces fought within him so large they were gods. His head grew dizzy as he looked around and recognized nothing.
"Where... Where am I?" Ren muttered, vertigo sending him backward without realizing.
Link moved to stabilize him, but Ren caught himself at the last second.
"Kakariko, Ren. You're in Kakariko."
"Ren..." Ren whispered. Was that his name? Yes... the voice said it was. Emeline said it was.
Link watched him cautiously. The others gazed on from afar, their hearts racing just the same. Midna spoke to Zelda but could not pry her eyes from her hero.
"I won't let what happened to Colin-"
"Neither will I," the queen interjected, "Wait."
Ashei, too, fidgeted uncomfortably, but she trusted in Zelda. Talo and Luda joined Renado in watching on in awe from the window. The rain stopped. Everything was still. Everything was silent.
"I'm... Ren..." Ren said weakly.
"Yes," Link said calmly, taking another step forward, "You're my son."
Ren's eyes narrowed and flashed familiarity. Link again saw Ilia in the brilliant blue that shone through for the briefest moment. How Link wished she were here now.
"Me...?" Ren asked.
Link nodded, "Yes."
Ren looked down and away, seemingly contemplating with all the might he had to do so. Half of him retained the memories of the boy the hero spoke of, the other half wanted nothing more than to cause destruction and sow evil. Another part entirely was invaded by the princess, an unwavering flame in the darkest recess.
'You are still in there. Ren is still in there. You are stronger than this evil. Overcome it.'
Ren held his head again and stumbled back. His world spun as memories pieced themselves together and his body settled into itself. He felt the limbs he thought had once been nothing more than a far-off dream. He felt a lightness in his chest and the throbbing in the leg that would never have its full strength again, and he remembered his history. His knees buckled and he fell back. Link only made it in time to spare Ren's head a painful crash. Link lifted Ren up and held him on his lap, looking down at the face that somehow simultaneously brought him so much love and so much anguish.
Ren lifted his own hand and examined it. He remembered the flesh there, the fingers. When he told them to move, they moved. He felt his toes in his shoes and his bad leg settled into the dull discomfort he was used to. The menacing yellow of his eyes faded, and he saw with renewed clarity. When he looked upon his father, he looked with his own eyes.
'There you are.'
Ren could tell the voice was smiling, and Link smiled just the same.
Ren blinked several times, still seeming drowsy and not entirely together. He sat up and looked around. He saw his friends at the inn, and he felt the chill in the night air. His senses returned to him, but his memory was cloudy. He looked down at himself with furrowed brows. He tugged at the frilly sleeves around his wrists and tapped the toes of his slippers together.
"What am I wearing?"
Link nearly chuckled, but he was quick to remember how bitter this moment truly was, and his face was again solemn.
Then, the voice spoke to Link.
'He has no memory of what he has done.'
Link glanced over his shoulder at Zelda. Midna looked confused, but Zelda nodded in understanding – she heard Emeline as well.
'He is not entirely free from the king's control. Father does not know Ren has left the castle. I am using my power to keep the evil of the Fused Shadow at bay until Ren can learn to control it himself.'
The voice paused and Link and Zelda shared knowing looks. Midna glanced between them, understanding that something deeper was going on.
'I am truly sorry I could not help sooner. I am... still learning the extent of what I can do. I will keep doing everything I can, for as long as I can.'
'Thank you,' Link replied.
Zelda placed a hand to her heart and Link turned back to Ren. Ren was still woozy, his head not entirely clear. He could feel that so much had happened, but he had no idea what. The last memories that came to him were happy ones, but the pained looks of his friends told him something was wrong. There was a thick air in the village that he couldn't place, but he felt immeasurably uncomfortable, like his presence was not wanted. The voice went quiet, and he was left with his own thoughts for the first time in what felt like decades.
Ren scanned the faces of those both outside and inside the inn. Then something came to him.
"I've been having the worst nightmares..." he said before turning to Link with a pensive expression, "I dreamt that I..."
Ren froze. Link's heart sank.
"Where's Uncle Colin?"
When yours is stifled, come back louder.
A big thank you to the following for helping me get this chapter out there!
Big Jake, Fez, Lee Glerum, Cynfall, Jacob Peachey, Moonfairy, Anonymouse, Damon Mendoza, Eponas, Gabby-J, InnerEnigma, Ivalee, Jessie H, Kevin Pham, Lotus Eater, Siren World, Taki23, Yami no Nokutan, emmydog1, Amber Milligan, Emily Zuber, Gavron88, Mandelbrot, wingdesire, Rob Walters, Sabine, Silvia Delgado, Tyli Ariegh, Mel
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