Chapter Twelve

Link sidestepped the blow, feeling the air of Eir's blade rush past his long ears. He held up the Master Sword, quickly deflecting both scimitars simultaneously.

"Eir," he shouted, trying not to panic, "calm down, please! You're—you're not right!"— He knew it: suddenly, it began so clear, it was astonishing. Just like Yeta was transformed into Blizzeta by the power of a fourth of the Mirror, Eir had changed into something else – Eir and Link locked blades. He tried to summon all of his power to push her to the ground, but she had twice as many weapons and no fear of death – She had been hoarding the Mirror Shard for the Goddess's know how long, and it had overtaken her. The creepy air about her…so obviously explainable now. Why hadn't he seen it?

"One who use it to corrupt; one who are corrupted by its use." Which one applied to Eir? She was certainly corrupted…but she was part Gerudo. Weren't they the ones who indulged in violence? – Her wicked blade narrowly cut his ear. Link backed away quickly, towards the bar – "The sand…the hidden…" Was she the hidden, or the sand? Why could the Sages never give clear instructions?!

Eir executed a thrust; Link parried and lunged, but she numbly skipped backwards. In a technique horribly similar to Zant's, she loosed a yell and spun her arms wildly, hoping to strike Link. She succeeded, renting a long gash down his right upper arm; he leapt out of the way, gasping in pain and clutching his arm. He released it, blood flowing, and turned back to face Eir. It was her life, or his.

Link charged at Eir, performing a quick moulinet, hitting with such force that one scimitar went spinning out of Eir's grip. She swung down with the remaining scimitar; Link rolled under her blade, towards a small table across from the bar, and grabbed one of the chairs by it. With all his might, he flung it at Eir, smacking her across the head. The force of this blow caused her to stumble, blood flowing into her eyes and mouth from a fierce laceration on her forehead. She laughed maniacally, licking the blood from her lips and spitting it at Link's boots. She dashed her eyes with the back of her hand and charged. Link was ready, with a terrible plan, too.

The Master Sword was tucked away in its sheath. As she ran towards him, regret and sadness flooded his chest. When Eir was near enough, Link drew the Master Sword and performed the worst Hidden Skill of them all: the Mortal Draw.

Eir flew across the room, blood droplets jumping from her body. It was gracefully disfiguring, a beautiful disarray, as she crashed into the shelves behind the bar, slumping onto the ground with a final gasp, coughing up blood. Glass mugs shattered around her, and the shelves toppled down upon her. She did not stir.

Remorse touched his heart: he had slain Eir. The young woman had been overtaken by the power of the Twilight Mirror, and could not have known what she was doing.

"I'm sorry," he grunted, pathos clogging his throat. He turned from the awful sight of the woman once lived, and walked over to the hole in the wall, his hands shaking. He stepped over debris strewn about and looked inside.

It was a very large secret compartment: perhaps it had been there since the town had been founded; perhaps it had been created by Eir. It was definitely big enough to hold the two scimitars and – there, in the back…it couldn't be…and yet – it was!

Link extended his trembling hands, blood slowly dripping to the ground from his wound. The Master Sword lay on a shelf, bloodstained and dirty, but he did not bother to wipe it. Excitement quickened his heart; he clasped it, tremulously pulling it free. He had it. He had a Mirror Shard.

A stirring noise, a groan, forced him from his glory. His grip reflexively tightened on the Shard and he turned, wide-eyed and disbelieving, as the shelves behind the bar moved and up stood Eir, looking mystified and scared. She was completely unharmed.

"Link…?" she began slowly, swinging herself over the bar and staring at him. Her face was very pale. "What just happened? I…" Her eyes no longer shone with greed; the previous changes that had encompassed her were completely gone. And Link understood.

Just like Yeta and Blizzeta, Eir had been possessed by another being which greatly changed her. Link had defeated Blizzeta and Yeta had not been injured. Same with Eir: the demon who had overtaken her had died, but Eir had survived. Link had not thought about it at the time that he had fought Blizzeta – fought Yeta – but now he truly appreciated it.

"What happened?" repeated Eir, dazed. She stared at the Mirror Shard in Link's hands. "Are—are you going to take that away? I don't want it anymore. Ever since I found it – ever since I've hidden it – that's when Juniper got violent," she ended in a frightened whisper, closing her eyes.

"Juniper?" Link took a step closer to Eir, placing the Mirror Shard next to the Master Sword. "Who's that?"

Eir shrugged, sitting down on a stool. "I don't know," she told him throatily. "She just came one day, without warning. My aunt tried to explain it, but I never understood it. Not really."

There was a scuffle, and the door to the bar burst open. Telma rushed in, dressed in day clothes, eyes rimmed with lack of sleep, followed by the other members of the Group.

"What happened here?" shouted Telma, running to Eir's side. "The neighbors told me they heard noise and I came here as soon as I could. What did you do?!"

Eir shook her head, unable to speak. Link quickly answered Telma's question: "It was Juniper."

Telma looked at Link, shocked. "Where did you hear that name?" Her voice was low and – angry?

"From her," replied Link, indicating Eir with a jerk of his head. He strode towards the two, pulled out a stool, and sat on it, between Eir and Telma. "Who is Juniper? She almost killed me tonight."

Telma sighed, then looked up at the Group. She signaled for them to sit down in the backroom, and they obeyed. She turned back to Link. "Three years ago, Eir was having these odd bouts and weird fits. She was diagnosed with MPD – Multiple Personality Disorder. The other personality was named Juniper." Telma shook her head sadly. "But Juniper really was crazy. She would brutally beat Eir, and threatened to kill people in Castle Town if Eir wasn't allowed to work in the bar. That was only recently, though. I constantly kept Eir in my sight in the bar, trying to keep Juniper mellow."

"He killed her," interrupted Eir vaguely, looking startled that she was talking. "Link killed Juniper, and I'm not hurt at all. How did you do it?" She gazed directly into Link's eyes, hers gleaming with tears.

"When did Juniper become violent?" he asked quietly, taking Eir's hands. "Was it when you found the Mirror Shard?"

Eir lowered her head, nodding shamefacedly. "Juniper threatened me, saying I oughtn't show my aunt."

"You communicated with—with your other personality?" Link asked, surprised. Eir nodded.

"She wrote me a letter. It was the only way I knew she was actually real and not something made up by my aunt and therapist. If you look, it's in the secret hole." She extended a hand, pointing. Link stood up and headed to the wall. He reached in and, after feeling about, pulled out a piece of parchment. He quickly scanned it, confirming Telma and Eir's story:

Dear Eir,

You have probably heard of me through your aunt Telma or your therapist, Dr. Howe. I used to be just dawdling along, but now my purpose has been discovered. I am to guard anyone from getting that Mirror Shard we found. Yes, "we". I am, as you may have suspected, Juniper. I am the other personality of yours.

You mustn't show the Mirror to your aunt. If you do, I will kill you, and your aunt, and I will blow up Castle Town. I will personally kill Princess Zelda. I will take a knife and run it through her pretty skull, and you will be tried for treason against the kingdom and murder. And you will be executed.

Quite honestly, that would bore me, so don't tell you aunt, okay?

From,

Juniper

Link passed the letter to Telma, who began to read it. As she soaked in the words, Link turned to Eir and asked, "If Juniper threatened you, why did you tell me?"

"I found a loophole," she explained in a rasp. "She only said 'don't show you aunt'. She didn't tell me not to show anyone else. I figured you would tell Telma, and Juniper wouldn't be able to do anything about that."

Link smiled despite himself. "That is clever." He strode back to the Master Sword and the Mirror Shard. He put the Shard in his equipment bag and picked up the hefty sword. "Telma," he called, "can I wash this off somewhere?"

She waved a hand in consent without even looking up. Link, after searching behind the bar, found a glass bottle of water and stepped outside the establishment to wash his weapon, shivering in the cold night breeze. As he did so, he thought deeply about the words of the Sages. Did Eir, perhaps, have two Mirror Shards? Juniper had been the one who corrupted, and Eir was the corruptible one? It was a definite possibility.

When Link finished cleaning his weapon, he sheathed it and reentered the bar. He resumed his old seat on the stool next to Eir, who was looking at her hands, clasped in her hands, very shamefacedly. Telma was gently patting her back.

"Eir," he began without any preamble, "do you have both pieces of the Mirror, or just one?"

Eir looked up, surprised. "Just that one. That's it."

Link could not help cursing aloud. He looked around the room, as though trying to find a meaning to the Sages' words in the stones of the bar. "Right. Okay." He folded his arms across his chest, leaning forward and resting them on the bar, trying to work through this mess of things. "Eir, I always have another question. I was thinking about that letter that Juniper wrote and, well…it just doesn't seem like any other case of MPD I've heard of. Certainly, you are the first person with—with it that I have encountered, but every time people talk about it, there's always something different. The other personality – Juniper, in this case – she shouldn't be aware that you are two people inside one body. She should think that you, Eir, are an entirely different person. Isn't that so?"

"It is," conceded Telma, speaking up. "But Eir's therapist, Dr. Howe, talked to Juniper before. He told her that she was another personality, made to deflect the trauma of her past, and that they had to merge together."

Link sighed, leaning back slightly in his chair. The other members of the Group were watching them, but the three kept their voices low enough so that they would not be able to eavesdrop. "I guess that made Juniper pretty mad, huh? I mean, I certainly would get annoyed, knowing that my existence would be cut short."

Telma nodded in fervid agreement. "I got very mad at Dr. Howe for doing that, for telling Juniper that they would have to get rid of her. He should not have done that so early in the healing process."

Link looked at Eir, who was still staring at her hands. "What childhood trauma did you face, Eir?"

The girl raised her red eyes slowly, staring intensely right into Link's blue ones. "I used to get beat up," she whispered. "When I was little. People knew about the Gerudos, and they beat me. I would never tell my mother. Eventually, I did, and it broke her heart that I couldn't tell her before. I guess Juniper was made so that I could forget about how much they hurt me."

At that moment, Eir seemed to hold all the innocence of a five-year-old child. She was looking at Link with such pain, such trust, her eyes filled with such a passionate hurt, that he had to look away. He could not face that look. He had seen it before: the look of eternal faith and so many pains tucked away behind the eyes. Before Midna had left, she and Link had exchanged that look.

"They won't hurt you anymore," Link told her, trying to keep his voice strong. "I will help you. You know that tomorrow I'm taking you to meet a woman who could, indeed, be your grandmother?"

Eir nodded, her eyes wide and hopeful. "I know. Thank you, Link. I would like to know anything about my father, if possible."

Link stood up, striding over to where he had placed the Mirror Shard. He picked it up, glanced at his shimmering reflection, and then tucked it away into his equipment bag. He turned back to Eir. "I suggest you get some sleep," he told her quietly. "I'll be back to lead you on your way round seven am, shall we say? We can ride on my horse there."

She smiled genially at him. "Thank you, Link. I really mean it."

He smiled back. "I know, Eir." He walked out of the bar, resuming wolf form, and trotted off to find a corner to sleep in.


Argh...I was going to say "I updated the next day! XD" But...okay, I'm 42 minutes late (East Coast Time)...but I did get this chapter out quickly(er).

Eir's case of MPD is weird. Yes, I called it MPD purposely, because that used to be the old name. The current name is DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). And this is, in NO WAY, schizophrenia. I have a real thing about hating it when people think schizophrenia is the same thing as DID. I will not lie; it bugs me to no end. So, if you want to really annoy me, act completely ignorant about psychology (it's my aspiration to be either a school guidance counselor or a ship's counselor (that latter will never happen, because that's only on Star Trek (laugh. I dare you))).

Well, anyways, that's all for now. Eir will go to her supposed grandmother and it will be all lovely and squishy. XD