Alright, so I finally went back and edited the other chapters. Flashbacks are all in italics. For the most part, unless it's a flashback with running commentary from Dark Link and Sheik, the flashback is not one that takes place during the current story. The Dark Mirror references and the flashbacks in this chapter, for instance, take place during the Four Swords manga. Actually, the two flashback scenes should look somewhat familiar to anyone who has read the manga.
Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda. I do own a cute little Link Klik candy dispenser. It had OoT's young Link on it, and I was really excited.
"Dark Mirror? What's that?" Vio looked over at the lounging Shadow in confusion.
Shadow grinned. "Come on, I'll just show you." Nearly skipping, the Shadow took Vio's hand and led him from the celebration hall. Down the stairs they went, to the hidden room that held the mirror. Shadow smirked and giggled to himself, imagining Sheik's face when he saw the pair of them together.
Now he'll know what it feels like! Shadow snarled internally.
So engrossed in his thoughts was he, Shadow did not at first hear the sounds of the rambunctiously drunk monsters in the mirror room. He rounded the corner of the stairs and gave a startled yelp, a sudden flash of fear shooting through him as he beheld the monsters pawing at the mirror and shoving each other in jest. One of them stumbled and crashed into the mirror, which was only saved because it fell on the other, who roughly pushed it upright.
They were manhandling the mirror like it was some useless trinket. They were manhandling Sheik! His Sheik!
"What are you doing you fools?" He screamed, rushing forward with fists clenched and dark energy swirling around him. He would have shot it at the monsters, but then he would risk hitting the mirror. "Don't mess with it, are you trying to break it? GET OUT!" The monsters ran from his anger, stumbling slightly in their drunkenness. Shadow kicked them both up the stairs (he wanted to kill them, oh how he did! But he had to check on Sheik first, so he satisfied himself by blasting their butts with dark energy), then hurried up to the mirror, placing both hands on it to peer inside.
Sheik lifted his head weakly. There was a look of disgust on his face, but Shadow told himself that it was directed at the monsters, not him. Relieved, and calmer now, Shadow turned from it and Sheik faded into the darkness of the mirror. Vio still lingered by the stairs, peering at Shadow curiously.
"This is the Dark Mirror. It provides us with unlimited dark power." Shadow announced with a smirk. He beckoned Vio closer, placing an arm around him as he gestured to the mirror. "It's like a dark fountain. As long as we have this mirror, we're invincible!"
". . . I see. . . ." Vio murmured, peering into it. And for a brief moment, he did. A flash of a bloody red eye staring out from under mussed blond hair and bandages, a cowl hanging limply over a well-muscled, but slim chest, obscuring the red eye displayed there. Tan lips mouthing a plea Vio could only just make out.
Help him.
"Happy birthday Vio!" Announced Dark Link with a grin, ruffling Link's hair as he returned from training. Link ducked out from under him, laughing.
"Thank you, Shadow. I'm eight now, right?" He asked, grinning like a fool as Dark Link guided him to their make-shift table. A small cake sat in the center, chocolate with neat violet lettering reading Happy Birthday Link (Vio was etched sloppily underneath. Dark Link had been adding it to the cake when Sheik caught him and smacked his hand away for sticking his finger in the frosting).
Sheik smiled, though only the crinkle around his eyes suggested it. "Yes, you're eight." It was troubling that Link still did not remember, but Sheik supposed it was probably for the best.
"Practically grown up!" Put in Dark Link proudly, ignoring Sheik's eye roll. "Do you want cake or presents first?"
Link cast a look at Sheik, then grinned at Dark Link. "Presents please. You'll start bouncing off the walls once you've had cake, Shadow."
"I will not!" Dark Link protested, affronted.
"Will too." Came two deadpan voices. Dark Link pouted, muttering something about conspiracies and Sheikah-mimicking little menaces as he fetched his large purple-wrapped gift from where he'd hidden it behind a log.
Vio thanked him politely as ever as he took the gift and peeled back the paper. A gasp, then a gleeful shout as he held his present high. "A bow and arrows! Thank you, Shadow!" Vio threw his arms around his darkness, clutching his new bow tightly.
Dark Link laughed and lifted him, squeezing him just as hard before setting him down. "All right, all right, let's see what Sheik has for you."
Sheik's package was much smaller, wrapped in plain brown paper from Hyrule's Castle Town market. "Happy Birthday, Link. Use it well." Link pulled the twine to open the package, lifting the small instrument from its leather pouch carefully, as though afraid it would break.
"An ocarina. Thank you Sheik." He hugged the Sheikah too, with a bit more reserve than he had his shadow. It really was a thing of beauty; made with twelve holes for a better range, sweet potato-shaped fired clay painted a light shade of purple. If one looked closely, the Sheikah eye could be seen inscribed in red near the top.
Dark Link's eye twitched and he scowled over Link's head. Sheik chose not to acknowledge him as he led Link towards the cake. "Eat, and then I'll teach you to play."
With Link suitably distracted, Dark Link cornered Sheik out of the boy's sight, fist slamming angrily into the rock by his head. Furious, he hissed, "An ocarina? You enchanted it, didn't you?"
Sheik didn't so much as flinch, giving Dark Link a baleful stare as he ducked under his arm. "Contrary to what you may believe, Dark Link, not everything I do is designed to turn him into the Hero of Time. Yes, I gave him an ocarina. You will recall that the Hero often plays one. I feel he will need it soon."
Dark Link let out an irritated growl. "That's not why I'm angry, Sheik! You don't have the power to spare for something like that! I know you've been strengthening the barrier again! You're stretching yourself too thin!" The anger in his voice dissolved into worry as he pulled Sheik into his arms, holding him close. "What if you get hurt? I couldn't stand it if something happened to you."
Sheik's eyes reflected a sadness deeper than Dark Link could know as he gently returned the embrace. He wanted to reassure the shadow, but he knew that anything he said would be a lie. "Princess Zelda and Lady Impa assisted me. Do not worry." His eyes slipped closed for a moment as he relaxed in Dark Link's hold. "I assure you, the enchantments were necessary. Many of the old warp paths still work, and I suspect that he will need to know how to use them soon."
Dark Link tilted Sheik's face towards his, leaning in close. Sheik's eyes slid shut as their lips pressed together, gently at first, then more desperately. "I love you, Dark Link. Whatever happens, do not forget that."
"Never. I love you too." Murmured Dark Link, pressing his forehead to Sheik's for a moment before the slightly shrill notes of one unused to an ocarina split the air. "Ow! Alright! Alright we're coming!" With one last chaste kiss, the pair returned to the camp.
"I don't know what he sees in a little twit you, I honestly don't." Dark Link glared at the princess standing fearlessly at the edge of the Tower of Winds.
Zelda stared back at him, unafraid. "Link has been my friend since we were children-"
"Not him, salope!" Dark Link spat angrily, "Sheik!"
A startled look crossed Zelda's face. "S-Sheik? How, but, not even Link knows about him!"
Dark Link laughed coldly, stalking up to her. He leaned close, finger in her face. "Let's get one thing straight, right now. Sheik is mine. He was mine before you were born, and he will be mine after you die."
Zelda scowled and her eyes narrowed. She smacked Dark Link's hand away angrily. "Sheik is not a possession! I don't own him, even if he is my shadow. What do you even know about him? You. . ." Sudden understanding crossed her face, "You! You're the reason he won't answer when I call for him! You've done something to him, haven't you? You better not have hurt him!"
Dark Link snarled, shadows flaring around him. "Shows what you know, you little idiot. He's not even your real shadow! You wouldn't like your true shadow." He hissed.
"Very good Link. There's just one more song I want to teach you tonight. This is the melody that will draw you into the infinite darkness that absorbs even time. Listen to this, the Nocturne of Shadow." Sheik lifted his lyre and closed his eyes, the haunting melody surrounding them. Obediently, Link lifted his purple ocarina to his lips and played, Dark Link humming a soft harmony in the background.
"It a very sad song, isn't it?" Link whispered as the echoes died away, feeling as though if he spoke too loudly he would break its spell.
"Yes." Answered Sheik, lowering his lyre. "It was written long ago, to embody the very spirit of the Shadow Temple, the final resting place of the Sheikah."
"The Shadow Temple?" Link's head tilted to the side as he regarded Sheik curiously.
"Yes. It is a gateway of sorts, between the realms of light and shadow. Most who dwell in the light won't go near it." He smiled, placing a hand on Link's shoulder. "But you've grown up here amongst the shadows. They obey you now. I think you would be fine within it. You're a brave boy."
Link smiled back at Sheik, pleased by the praise. The firelight threw Sheik's shadow onto the rock behind him, and as he watched it, something occurred to Link. Sheik's shadow looked. . . off, somehow, and not just because Link, sitting beside him, never cast one.
"Sheik?" Link asked curiously, "Why do you have a shadow when Shadow and I don't?"
Sheik's bloody gaze drifted to his own shadow, too dark, too humanoid, curved where it shouldn't be. . .
"You do have a shadow, Link. You don't cast one because he's sitting right there." Sheik nodded towards Dark Link. Link blinked at Dark Link, his head tilted to the side. Dark Link grinned at him over his cake and shifted, taking on Link's appearance and imitating him. Sheik rolled his eyes. Link waved and Dark Link did too. Link stuck out his arm and so did Dark Link.
"Link is the smartest boy ever." Said Link.
"Link is the smartest boy ever." Dark Link copied. Link looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Dark Link is a smelly Moblin."
"Dark Link is a-HEY!" Yelped Dark Link. Link laughed and Dark Link changed back to normal, pouting. Antics like these were precisely the reason Sheik limited his sugar intake. . .
Sheik smiled at the pair, shaking his head before he turned serious again. He motioned towards the shadow he cast on the rock. "Most beings don't cast shadows in this world. I'm sure you've noticed that the monsters don't either." Link nodded, and Sheik continued. "My shadow. . . is unusual. Think of it as an indicator of sorts. If it becomes too dark, too solid, it's very dangerous." Sheik turned his bloody eyes to Link, and his expression left no room for jokes. "If you see my shadow becoming too solid, get to Dark Link and get away from me as fast as you can. Do you understand?" This, Sheik thought guiltily, was something he should have explained to the boy weeks ago. The shadow was far darker than was safe. The magic binding her was growing very weak.
Link stared at him, wide-eyed and with a shiver of fear. "Yes, Sheik, I understand." He didn't quite understand, but Sheik would never lie and this was the Dark World, the realm where monsters lived. If Sheik was telling him this, then Link knew that it must be so.
"Very well. It's getting late, so I believe that you shoul-" Sheik cut off abruptly, his eyes shooting wide open in horror. He leapt to his feet, gazing towards the swirling clouds at the center of the Dark Realm. "No. . .NO! Dark Link, the barrier!" A flash and he was gone, Dark Link reacting too slowly to catch him.
"Sheik, wait! Dammit! Come on Link!" Dark Link gave Link barely a moment to direct the shadows to gather his things before Dark Link seized his hand, the pair of them running from the safety of the camp and across the dead, dry fields of the Dark World.
"What just happened?" Link called as they ran.
"I don't know, but I don't like it!" Dark Link answered as he cut down a Moblin in their path. A scream from up ahead spurred them on, and in minutes that felt like hours they had reached the malevolent cloud that swirled under a flickering golden barrier. Black lightning shot along the surface, attacking it.
Another cry of pain tore from Sheik's lips as they reached him. He had his hands clasped in front of him, chants and spells pouring from his lips as his body crackled with power. Link reached for him, and Dark Link pulled him back.
"No! We can't touch him. We can't handle that level of power! It will destroy us. . ." Dark Link's voice broke as he stared longingly at Sheik, and Link knew that he wanted nothing more than to run to his suffering love.
"Dark. . . Dark Link! There's-There's another wizard in Hyrule! He's trying to break the barrier!" Sheik shouted as he gave another push of power he didn't have. "Dark Link, you have to go! I- I can't-"
The barrier cracked. A ray of darkness deeper than the blackest Dark World night flew from the breach to surround Sheik, forcing him to his knees. Dark Link and Sheik screamed together, Link struck mute as his eyes widened in horror. Sheik's shadow cast beyond the column of darkness, stretching, shifting until it took the shape of a Hylian woman.
Ruby red eyes in the shadow's head snapped open, regarding the spectators with cold amusement. The shadow peeled itself from the ground, and dove into the column of darkness. Sheik's scream turned high-pitched before cutting off abruptly.
"NO!" Link tore from his shadow's grasp, flinging himself at the column with his blade held high. Dark energy blasted him back, sending him flying into Dark Link, knocking both to the ground.
The column began to die down as an insane giggle rang out. When the darkness cleared, Sheik was gone. In his place stood a young woman with Dark World pale skin, raven-black hair, and cold ruby eyes sparkling with insanity. Her elegant floor-length dress was black, trimmed with silver. Dark Link stood frozen, staring at her with wide, terrified eyes.
"Hello Darkling." She crooned. After so many centuries, Dark Zelda was back.
And worst of all, she didn't cast a shadow.
Uh-oh. She's back.
Thank you to the Chapter Six reviewers Darkwolflink1 (Don't worry, the Dark Mirror is only in the Four Swords flashbacks. I'm using it to establish background, basically. Yay cookie! *noms*), Kick-Aft (Your guess was correct, but I can't clarify because that's a plot point in a couple chapters. Enjoy!), and Sergeant Dreamer (The ocarina was missing. That's one reason why Sheik gave him one. I really liked the idea of Dark Link singing, so I put it in. ^_^).