AN: No words, other than the most apologetic of feelings for the delays that have unfortunately only been becoming longer as life gets busier. I feel the shame, trust me.
Apparently packing up your entire life into boxes takes a considerable amount of time to do. Time that could be used to write.
Again, apologies. I know it's been a while, but here you go!
Finally.
[ZELDA]
I slowly rise up from the darkness that surrounds me, gradually feeling my harsh reality more the closer I get to consciousness. I feel my whole body trembling with aching pain even before I open my eyes.
The moon is out again. Every time I wake, it appears to be nightfall. I have lost all sense of time in this cell. At some point it rained, and the water pooled throughout the entire building. The water is about half a foot deep; cold, dark, and unforgiving. There is no warmth here, and there never will be.
I am beginning to lose hope.
No one has visited me this entire time. No food or water. I am withering away, becoming nothing but skin and bones. My stomach rumbles as a rude reminder of my situation. As if I wasn't already aware.
The tears fall, as they always do now, and even if my hands were accessible, I wouldn't even have the dignity to wipe them away. They splash against the water pooling around my waist.
I have been reduced to something vile. A pebble on the side of the road, ignored. My worth in this world is slowly diminishing. I am breaking, falling into eternal darkness.
I close my eyes and try to fall asleep again, for that is my only escape of reality. That is where I can see light again.
I can see Link there.
I think that he is the only reason I have lasted as long as I have here.
Link.
Even simply thinking his name gives me courage, hope, and peace. He is the light in this dark place, and pushes me to continue onward. So I can see him again.
I look up to the moon and see my wrists in the chains at the corner of my eyes. I learned shortly after being put in here that these chains restrict the use of magic, and do terrible things to me if I try to wield it. For example, when I tried to use magic so far they have electrocuted, cut, and burned me.
I take a deep breath and look at my wrists more thoroughly. They are covered in blisters, cuts, and even more dried blood. I can't even believe how much blood I've lost, but somehow I am still here. There has to be a reason. I look past the blood and notice that my wrists have become frail.
Then an idea hits me.
I unclench my right fist and begin to pull as hard as I can. My wounds on my wrists reopen and fresh blood slowly begins to drip down my arm, but this is what I was hoping for.
As the blood trails down, my arm gradually becomes slicker. It covers the inside of the cuff as I slide my hand painfully downward. It is a tight fit, but gradually my hand slips through the cuff.
Breathing out a laugh, my arm falls to my side, into the water. I barely register my stinging wrist as I move to free my other one, but just as I do, I hear a clang in the distance; a metal door opening. I freeze. What do I do?
I quickly bring my wrist up to the other one to make it look as if I am still bound. I look at the pool of blood slowly diffusing into the water next to me as I hear the sounds of footsteps splashing closer to my location. I look to where I hear them coming from and see they are wearing a long black hooded cloak to conceal their identity.
"Who are you?" I whisper, my voice hoarse from lack of use.
The person stops midstride, turning to me. A chill climbs up my spine as I drop my gaze.
"You're awake," they simply whisper, and my head jolts up.
"Ilia," I say. "What are you doing here?" I stare in disbelief.
She simply stares back. After a bit of silence, she removes her hood.
"It would seem you don't remember that day," she states. "Otherwise you would know why I am here." She makes her way to my cell and opens the barred door. I try to control my breathing.
"What do you mean?" I whisper, my confidence wavering.
"I sent you here, dear sister," she says. There is no emotion in her voice. "Lord Ghirahim needs you to raise his master, so he had me send you here for when we need you. Care for some bread?" She pulls out a small loaf of wheat bread from under her cloak. "Don't worry, it's stale." She throws it into the water in front of me. I don't take my eyes off of her.
Then she glances to my right, and sees the pool of blood. Her eyes narrow as she looks to my hands.
"Dear sister," she moans, "you have made a grave mistake—"
I stand with all the energy I have, which I will admit isn't much to begin with, and kick water towards her face. I pull with all my might on my left wrist, but before I can even begin sliding it through the cuff, Ilia is moving toward me in a rage. She wraps her arms around my body to restrain me, digging her fingers into the cuts on my right wrist. I shriek in pain as I collapse to my knees. She laughs.
"Do not worry, sister, Lord Ghirahim wants you to be in one piece."
"So you can sacrifice me?" My voice shakes. She half smiles.
"Why else?" She straightens, then turns to leave.
"I'll let you keep that arm out, but if you so much as come close to releasing your left wrist, I will cut off your hand." She begins to walk to the door as I give a weak chuckle.
"I thought Ghirahim wanted me in one piece?" I tilt my head up and give her my best snarky smile I can manage.
She looks over her shoulder and returns my smile with a grim one of her own.
"That doesn't mean I can't keep it in a jar on a shelf, as long as we have all of you."
My eyes widen in shock as she laughs.
"Now sister, would I actually do that to you?" She shuts the door behind her and walks out of the room.
How am I supposed to know?
I look to the bread in the water. It floated about three feet away from me. Not that I could have been able to eat it anyway.
I lean against the wall behind me and curl my legs in. I wrap my free arm around them and lay my forehead on my knees.
Is this all I can do? Cry?
My breathing becomes staggered between actually taking a breath and holding it as the panic settles in again.
Link…
[LINK]
I hear my name being called from the first floor.
"Link!" they call again. I get up from the desk in my room and walk over to the dresser to grab a shirt. I pull it over my head as Tetra opens the door.
"No wonder she likes you," she breathes. I laugh.
"What do you mean?" I ask as I close the dresser then grab my glass of water to take a drink.
"You're ripped!" Her cheeks flush. I spit out my water.
"Excuse me?" I wipe my face dry. She laughs.
"Never mind, Link," she waves her hand. "Impa is calling for you," she says as she shuts my door. Shaking my head, I leave to find Impa. I find her in front of the fireplace on the main level.
"Link," she turns around, her figure cast into the dim light of the fireplace. "Are you ready?"
The seriousness of my expression must have convinced her. She nods.
"We leave at dusk."
Over the rest of the day, we gather everything and saddle up on two horses loaned to us by Renado. The windstorm has finally calmed enough to the point where we can see our way out of the village without needing a map. The sun sets on the horizon, but there isn't any happiness in it. For a sunset, it is actually quite grim. I never thought I would see a more depressing sunset in my life.
"The darkness is spreading. Fast," Impa states. I nod.
"Let's stop it," I simply say and urge the horse into a trot. Impa follows.
We ride through Hyrule field all night, taking short breaks here and there. I go over the plan in my head multiple times to ensure I have it down. We are silent for the majority of the trip. The sun begins to rise on the horizon. A line of light blue gradually overwhelms the dark navy color in the sky, bleeding into a stream of purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows. The world feels lifeless despite this simple beauty. Stale, like tasteless food. The light before actual sunrise is pale, brighter than the moonlight, yet dimmer than actual daybreak, which doesn't seem to want to come today. Clouds roll in over the sunrise and before we know it, the world is cast into a gray darkness of cold rain and wind.
But this does not stop us.
We plan to enter the castle through the sewage tunnels underneath the city. As we make the approach on the Zora River that leads to the tunnels, Impa stops in front of me and turns around.
"Link," she starts, a sad expression forming on her face. "Zelda has been in captivity for two weeks now. We cannot expect our image of her to be what is truly there. She will be weak, but not broken. If I know my daughter, she will fight through until we get there, but I would be lying to you if she were the same Zelda we remember."
I nod, my eyebrows furrowing.
"Captivity does things to people. We can only hope she is still there, fighting."
She turns around to proceed to the river. I bring my horse to a trot and fall in rank behind her, looking up to the sky as the deluge continues to wash away all of my emotions.
I try to focus all my energy on fighting Ghirahim. I will be distracting him so all his attention will be on me. I can't mess this up. This entire world is riding on our shoulders, and if we fail.
Well.
I sheathe my sword and pull on the reins to stop the horse. Dismounting, I step into a deep pool of mud but it barely registers. I unhook my weapons I brought with me and loop my quiver and bow over my shoulders, clasp my hookshot onto the other side of my belt, and strap on my cloak.
The plan is to make it look like Impa is surrendering alone. She will go ahead while I trail behind using the tunnels to find the jail cells underneath the castle. She believes once she is brought into custody, they will lead her directly to Zelda. Or she will make it happen at least. She will release a tracking beam that only the Sheikah can detect to help me locate them.
She will also use any and all techniques necessary to heal Zelda if need be. Once we have Zelda, Impa believes Ghirahim will show.
She is the key to his operation, she had said. He needs her alive and in his grasp. If we can remove her, he will fail.
I tie the horse's reins to a nearby tree and take off my hood momentarily to wish Impa luck. I turn and see Impa taking something out of a sack tied to the saddle of her horse.
"Link," she turns to me. "You will need this."
She gives me a blue instrument. The royal family's ocarina now sits in the palm of my hand.
"How did you—"
"Know it was missing?" She smiles. "Intuition; I found it in the shed of the Lumpy Pumpkin after you and Zelda were attacked."
I didn't tell anyone that I couldn't find the ocarina after that night. I looked everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found.
"Thank you," I whisper, "but what will I need it for?"
"When the time comes, you will understand," she turns around and begins riding toward the main gate of Hyrule.
Well, way to be vague, Impa.
I put the ocarina in my pocket after donning the hood of my cloak and begin to make my way over to where the river meets the castle. Where the tunnels begin.
We're on our way, Zel, just hang in there for a bit longer.