Chap 9: The Lurking Horror
(A/N) Hello everyone! It's been far too long, I think. What has it been, two, three weeks? I know some of you aren't reviewing. I have nothing against you guys who don't review. If I did, I'd be a hypocrite of the highest order. But I ask that you do anyway. I honestly don't know if some of you guys want me to continue. So, please, take some time to review. Anyway, here's chapter nine. It's a first-person chapter from Dark Links POV. Hope you enjoy!
Italics means thoughts or someone is speaking sharply, or it means someone has spoken Hylian. It can also mean a flashback. Bold means an author's note, which I will seldom use. Underlined text implies importance. I am unlikely to remember that. Have fun!
Oh, and I don't own any piece of The Legend of Zelda. I own, literally, more air than Zelda.
Before my eyes was a single door. This door, an otherwise unremarkable door, had one key feature: a lock (bad pun). I got to searching immediately, looking for anything gold or silver. Every now and again I picked up a rock that was the same color as the key I was looking for, which I would toss over my shoulder. Why would I need a worthless rock?
When looking for a key proved a worthless endeavor, I stood up. I made my way to the door, stopped when I was about a meter from it, took a deep breath, and kicked it with all my might. I was blown back, not being ready for the force the door would put on me. My foot felt like it had a few broken areas, which didn't surprise me at all. The door, unfortunately, didn't budge even a little. "Fuck!" I screamed. I stood up unsteadily, not sure if I was even able to walk. I gasped sharply when I set my left foot (the door-kicker) down, annoyed by the thought that I couldn't walk on it. "Goddess-dammit," I said to myself.
Okay, there's no key, and the door can't be broken down. What haven't I tried? My eyes go wide at the realization of the stupidest answer I could give for my question: turn the knob. I limp to the door, shaking my head along the way. I grab the knob and, with a deep sigh, turn it. The door opens up without resistance, as if the lock was nothing.
I step through to another room; this one has a deep pool at one side with a vortex, a door on a platform near the pool and a hole leading to nowhere above the platform. I'm still shocked at the fact that the door was just an illusion, more or less. "I can't fucking believe that happened," I say, vocalizing my disbelief to nobody.
To my immediate right was a chest, elegantly designed. I knew from my time watching Link that there was some sort of dungeon treasure inside, so I opened it up immediately. To my shock and annoyance there was just a stone slab that said in Hylian "The only answer is the least pleasant (and sometimes most annoying) one." I sighed and sat down, my back against the wall. What the hell does that mean? I thought. "Fuck! Where are you, Link?!" I yell.
I stand up, having figured out the meaning of the slab, tossing it into the vortex as I do so. I wait a moment to see if I was right, believing what I believe. To my delight, it falls from the hole near the door, forty seconds later. I take quick, shallow breaths before one deep breath and jump into the pool.
The water is ice-cold, the vortex is nauseating, and the portal is deep underwater. I hold my eyes shut and my mouth closed, making sure not to let any air out. I go limp to retain air, hating the feeling of being tossed around like a ragdoll. Eventually, I could see the ground on the other side of the pool. I try to twist my body around so I don't fall on my head, but fail mostly. I drop out and land on my back, crying out as a piece of the slab lodges itself in my ribs. "Goddess dammit!" I shout. I lay there, not willing to get up again, for about fifteen minutes.
Slowly, I try to stand up, only getting to my knees. I can barely breathe, the pain from the stone in my ribs making my whole body ache. I reach into a satchel on my waist, giving a dry laugh when I pull out a small leather belt. I fold it until it can fit in my mouth, then think about what I'm about to do. "Fuck it. I don't really have a choice." I put the belt in my mouth and grab the small part of the stone sticking out of my ribs. I count to three mentally, and yank it out. I can't hold the belt in my wide-open mouth, and it falls to the ground, slapping against the damp floor. I take deep, ragged breaths, the pain in my side eventually subsiding.
I stand up the rest of the way and begin limping to the door. You'd better be here, somewhere, Link. I open it and see a pitch dark room. "Pfft. Illuminatos spheros," I whisper. A ball of light as bright as the sun, appears in my hand. I take one step through the door and it slams shut behind me, and the immense darkness of the room smothers the light. I gasp, shocked at the sudden aggressiveness of the dark. What did that? Where is it? What does it want? All these thoughts and more race through my head as I momentarily let my guard down, feeling that there is nothing near me. I take five more steps, plunging myself further into the darkness. That was a huge mistake.
A serpentine figure of some sort slithers up my legs, and my torso, and my arms, and around my neck. It constricts, crushing me and asphyxiating me. I try to let out a curse word, but the lack of oxygen in my body doesn't allow me to. I begin reaching my arm down to my satchel, smiling when my fingers touch it. I open it and begin digging around in it quickly, silently praying that I'll find what I'm looking for. My finger runs into the tip of the blade, but I don't care. I grab it by the blade and turn it around, openly smiling when I hold Ron the Swift's dagger by the hilt. I'm nearly unconscious from lack of oxygen when I ram the blade into the serpent's body. It screams in agony as it quickly uncoils, allowing me the best breath of oxygen I've ever had. It also brings on a horrendous coughing and gasping fit.
When my gasping and coughing fit is finally over, I stand up and cast the same light spell. Nothing stops me this time. I limp to the door on the far end of the room, but I never make it. If I had Link's Lens of Truth, I would've seen the massive hole in the ground covered up by a rather impressive illusion. I would've jumped over it, and continued. But I didn't have it. And I fell right through.
I landed about thirty feet down, in a stone cell. I landed on my left foot, breaking it completely and snapping my shin. "SON OF A BITCH!" I scream. I collapse on my right side, writhing in agonizing pain, not knowing how to deal with the pain, not knowing how to properly fix my leg, and certainly not knowing why I could hear laughter just ahead of me. Eventually, I decide I'm done complaining about my leg, though it is still in excruciating pain.
I stand, putting all of my weight on my right side. In front of me is the Queen of Dementia: Dimesia. "Hello, dark clone of Link," she says. I growl, knowing that she was the reason my leg was completely fucked up. "Not very friendly are you?"
"What do you want?" I ask, not in any mood to be talking to this crazy fucking bitch.
"You might want to choose your thoughts more carefully, Dark Link," she says. My eyes open wide. She can read my mind? I think. "Like a book opened to my favorite page."
"You can probably tell that I fucked my leg up pretty bad out there, can't you?" I ask.
"Oh, yes. I'm terribly sorry about that. I would think you'd have seen those coming, being a copy of Link and all, but I guess not. I mean, really? You didn't even see the hole in the fucking ground? How stupid are you, Dark? How fucking stupid are you?!"
I begin limping away; pressing my back against the wall I didn't realize was a mere meter behind me. I turn my head briefly to see if I did in fact back against a wall, and when I turn back she was gone. I sigh in short-lived relief. "Dark…" she whispers. I jump away like a startled rabbit. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I startle you?" she asks. I am visibly scared, and I know she feeds off of fear and pain, but I don't care. It's too much to contain. I begin to break down, crying, thinking of all the people I'll never see again. Link, he'd be fine. Light clones don't need their Dark clones, unlike Dark clones. Ruto, she'd never know. It's good that she never would, too. Saria, I barely knew her. She probably didn't even remember me after the first time we met.
I wait for the slow, painful, agonizing, death. I wait for the quick, painless, instantaneous death. Neither arrives. I dry my eyes and look up, finding the Queen of Dementia sitting on my bed, smiling. I'm still gasping and whimpering, while silently thanking the Trinity that she didn't kill me. "The Three had nothing to do with you living. I honestly don't see why Hylians worship them, and I especially don't see why any full-fledged Dark being would ever worship them. You want to hear the truth? They don't even exist."
Having said that soul-shattering wisdom, she stands up, probably feeling accomplished. Happy. Complete. "Enjoy your stay! I worked my ass off to make sure the experience here is as horrible as possible. Oh, and Link? He's not here. I let him go a long time ago. He's probably back at your camp near Goron City." My spirit is now completely broken. I fall to my side, barely breathing, and she teleports somewhere else in the prison. "FUCK! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!" I scream. "I'm going to kill you Link! I'm going to kill you!"
Dark broke his leg badly, was imprisoned by Dimesia, and found out that Link was never there? Darks life must REALLY suck right now. Goddamn, I don't even know where this is going sometimes. Seriously, this is one of those moments where I just have no fucking idea where I'm taking this and how I'll get there. A little info on my writing process: I make up my ending and beginning first, then write until I've finished the story. It's an easy way to write, I guess. Hey, do you guys think I should make this a Link and Dark Link story? Please review, it lets me know whether or not I suck. It also lets me know if I rule, which I'd love to hear about. Until then, if there are no questions, I'm out. Peace.