53) Keeping a Secret

Link and Porky sat against the walls of the steel prison that they had been locked inside, exhausted after the events of the past half hour. As soon as Giygas had them thrown in as punishment, Link immediately got to work on stabbing the boy trapped with him, which was honestly the only way things could have gone. Porky had gotten up a few seconds later, as both of them were in a universe where death was just a slap on the wrist.

So it enabled Link to kill him again.

And again.

And several more agains.

And until Porky just started seeing it as an annoyance.

And until Link finally got bored.

So now the two villains sat against the wall together, recovering after a long period of death and rebirth. Link started to drift to sleep, his hand reaching into his pocket, for whatever reason. Porky glared at the sleeping ex-hero. Now that he was asleep, maybe Porky could get his revenge for the various deaths Link subjected him to?

No, no. Porky was a petty boy, sure, but he had the feeling that Giygas would keep them there longer the more they fought. In fact, now that he thinks about it, that's pretty much the point. This is probably some bullshit friendship exercise.

Porky groaned. How long until Giygas lets them out? He was bored. Link broke anything that he had on him that would be considered entertaining and he could sleep, but sleeping is also boring and therefore sucks.

It led to the boy looking around for something interesting. And then he gave up. The steel cell had nothing for them. So, it led to Porky's gaze drifting toward Link, this time in curiosity rather than hate.

…What was he holding in his pocket?

Porky looked at Link's face. He was fast asleep, because unnecessary ultraviolence really does tire someone out. Taking the risk he slowly reached over. He carefully pulled Link's hand out of his pocket (while keeping a close eye on his other hand, holding his sword) and reached into his pocket…

Porky felt a glass jar. He pulled it out.

There was a small blue fairy fluttering inside.

Porky wasn't much of a Zelda fan, but he could recognize the small being inside of the jar.

He decided to take a step forward and opened the jar.

The being named Navi fluttered out.

"…Try not to wake him up, okay?" Was the first thing she said, quietly, staring over at her… companion?

"Aren't you that annoying fairy?" Porky said – though quietly, because he wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of an awake Link.

"…I'm not that annoying." Navi said, with a hint of contempt in her voice.

"…Why has Link been keeping you around?"

The fairy floated contemplatively. She floated over to Link then floated back to Porky and honestly answered, "Because I was one of his first friends."

"Snrrk, really?" Porky tried to keep himself from laughing. "Man, what a lose-"

Navi bashed herself against Porky's face. It was an ineffective attack, but the fact that she even struck him at all was enough to shut him up. "Be quiet – and don't call him a loser."

"Defensive much?"

"Link may be… different now, but we've always been friends." She stated firmly. "You can call me annoying all you want, but…" She rested on Link's chest. "I was his companion during all those lonely journeys he had. He's… the only one that understands that I'm well-intentioned when I say, "hey, listen." Why did he think he was looking for me in Majora's Mask?"

"He was?" Porky asked genuinely.

"Well, it was implied in the opening narration and he kinda did get distracted by a falling moon."

"Seems fair. But still… why the hell is he still keeping you around? Isn't he a little too psycho to keep a friend with him? Isn't he totally brainwashed to work for us?"

Navi floated toward him. "Well, he's not exactly brainwashed…" She then asked him, "Do you know how that gas your boss makes works?"

Porky tried to rack his brains. "Uhhh…" He then shrugged. "Nope."

"Well, it enhances all the hate and negative qualities in someone. It's something that I've observed from my bottle…" Navi explained. "Do you know why Link is super violent? That's why."

Porky gave cautious, confused look to the sleeping swordsman. "He's always been violent?"

"He's… kept it on the down low. We started journeying together when he was a young kid… do you know how it feels as a young boy? To swing at things with a sword? To kill other creatures at a young age? To have the weight of the entire kingdom – no, the world – on your shoulders?"

"I didn't have a sword, but sure." Porky answered casually.

"Well, you were always trash." Navi snapped. "But Link used to be innocent… but in saving the world, he corrupted himself. Even when he grew himself up, he still had the mind of a child, and all the violence and nightmarish things he experienced broke him. It became an urge for him... the urge to commit violence. And when he was exposed to your… boss," she spat out, "It just grew that horrible urge. The other Links, I'm not sure if the same goes for them, but I dread if they faced the same thing…

"But despite all that, Link is still my friend and he's still mine. Sure, he keeps me in a bottle to keep me from blabbing to people – like in that other universe – but he still values me." She sighed. "I just wished that he were on the right side."

"So... Link was always psycho?"

"I wouldn't use that word but... yes. He's been like this for a long time. It's just that your boss brought it out." Navi answered quietly. "Link didn't 'turn' evil. He just... turned to the side who he feels would give him the most things to fight, because that's the only thing he has on his mind... but... he's still a tender person. I know because I'm the only one he talks to sincerely..."

Link suddenly twitched in his sleep.

Navi got into a panic. "Ah, you should put me back!"

Not wanting to evoke Link's wrath, Porky quickly followed her suggestion.

But before closing the lid, she added: "But this is a secret to everyone."

"Why?"

"...Link doesn't want other people to know that he was always like this. He sees it as a source of trauma - it's only under Giygas that he can justify his violence." Navi replied, quietly. Fluttering nervously, she added, "Now hurry up!"

An angry Link was a bad Link, so Porky nodded and shut the jar tight. He forced it back into Link's pocket – though gently.

Link's hand reflexively reached to the bottle in his pocket and a smile appeared on his sleeping face. A smile with genuine warmth instead of the bloodlust induced grin he tends to make around others.

Porky had to admit that it was nice, though he felt a strange feeling. However, he simply can't place it. ...Nah, he must just be bored. He gets bored pretty quickly, he's definitely not feeling anything other than boredom right now.

"...When are we getting out of here?" Porky asked himself.