Hero of Time Chronicles

Part 2: Reality's Revenge

Problematic Temperament

For the third time in as many days, he woke up screaming.

As it had the few nights before, his crying alerted her. She burst into the room. Had she even been sleeping? If she hadn't, it was because of him. His fault...

She found him, hugging himself tightly and sobbing loudly, where she had tucked him in hours ago. She rushed to his side and put her suntanned arms around him in a motherly manner. She cooed many reassuring things; that everything was alright, nothing could hurt him anymore, that she was there for and with him.

He wanted desperately for her to be his mother, someone whom he only knew very briefly at the start of his life. No... not for this girl to be her. He wanted his mother to be there with him. He wanted to talk to her, to be with her, for her to be the one holding him in that moment. This was the first time he had had these thoughts. Even after everything the Hero of Time had gone through before that moment, it was only until just then that he yearned for that particular kind of comfort…

Malon could not understand this. Her mother had died during her birth, as she had confided in him many years ago. She was not at all familiar with the touch of a mother. He, of course, could not say much of his own experience. He was only, at most, a year old, when his mother passed. Yet, through the mess of his mind, he felt Malon emulated that motherly touch all too well.

Not for him, though. She wasn't what he wanted. So he curled up into himself, wanting to just drift away into nothingness. He no longer wanted to be Link, the Hero of Time. Link the Hylian. Link the Kokiri.

He wanted nothing more than to be nothing.

But he allowed Malon to embrace him, time and again. He wasn't sure if it was more for her comfort than his at that point.

He would not tell her to leave. That was all he was sure of.

Scenes from his recurring nightmare replayed behind his tightly shut eyelids. The distant and hazy memory of his family meeting their deadly fates. The fear of facing his greatest enemy to save the innocent. His friends falling before his very eyes.

Himself wielding the blade of judgment that felled the Desert King.

Every muscle in his body contracted painfully at that memory. He could not breathe properly. He pressed his fists into his eyes to rid them of the image.

He pushed until little lights twinkled within the blackness. He held his breath until the memories became far off dreams, no longer attached to his reality…

…

"How is he?" The voice of a young girl reached her ears before she made it all the way to the downstairs common area. Her downcast eyes raised to meet the adjacent pairs of the four people awaiting an answer.

The thing was, she didn't have an answer that could alleviate their worried expressions. Well, Saria, Darunia, and Ruto all looked appropriately concerned. Impa still held her stoic countenance, her arms crossed and leaned against the farthest wall from the group, as per the norm. Even the ever resilient farm girl was fighting back the furrow of her brow, the flaring of her nostrils, the tightness of her throat. She was just as distraught as the others.

What could she say? It had been three days since the Sages had brought Link to her house, bloodied and beaten and unconscious.

She remembered the first words to come out of her mouth. 'What happened?' The answers she received were jumbled and incoherent. All except for one resounding reality.

Ganondorf was dead. She had felt it before she was told, though she would never be able to completely explain why.

Link was behind it all. How could he not have been? He was always so busy being the Hero. It seemed that that had taken its toll on him. Though his wounds were healing, there was something else going on inside his head. As she thought it, she remembered finding him in his catatonic state, eyes shut tight, rocking back and forth, locked away in some unfathomable private torment.

"He is… doing better," she hesitated. She felt the need to explain herself. "It didn't take as long for him to calm down."

"That's good," Saria breathed. Darunia hummed deeply. This development had not been what they had hoped it would be.

"His injuries are great, both inside and out. It will take time."

No one knew what exactly had happened. Link would not speak of it. Between them all, they only had pieces of the story. Ganondorf's demise. The Gerudo were involved somehow. The Hero's companions were missing in action. And Nabooru.

It was easy to tell that that was weighing heavily on the Sages. They had lost one of their own and had no idea of how. Malon understood their pain. She liked the Gerudo woman. Nabooru had told the best stories when she visited the Ranch. That thought always brought a sad smile to her lips. Everyone had lost something in this cold war.

She was also worried about Link's friend, Marickiya. She was told that she wasn't with him when they found the remnants of the final battle. That hadn't set well with her. She knew Marickiya. She knew of her vow to fight with Link. It wasn't like her to be absent in these times. Impa pushed herself off of her wall to speak.

"He should remain in your care." The wise Sheikah nodded to Malon. "As it has been said, he needs time to recover. You are the best candidate for this task."

Malon wasn't sure what Impa meant by her words. She almost felt overwhelmed by her appointment of being Link's caretaker. She also felt that with everything Link had done for Hyrule he didn't really need any coddling. Still, she nodded all the same, hoping that she could do what she could for one of her dearest friends.

Once that had been established, Impa changed the direction of the conversation and began a new discussion with the other Sages. Malon had always felt out of place during these sorts of meetings and elected to remain quiet until she could slip out to tend to her chores. While she waited for the right time, her mind wandered to her friends.

'What happened to you, Link?'

0000

It had been an hour, he guessed. An hour of feigned peaceful sleep, before Malon had left him in her room, in her own bed, alone again. He couldn't sleep, though.

Once she left, he listened for her footfalls on the stairs until she reached the bottom.

He heard voices. He could make out some of the things they spoke of. He heard enough to know they were talking about him. He scowled into the graying room, slowly lit by the rising sun.

He didn't need their help. What help could they possibly offer him? They didn't understand. They could not understand. To do what he did… It was something he had to deal with.

The physical scars he would have for the rest of his life, that was something he could accept. They were almost like achievements, trophies he could carry with him as proof of all that he'd done, all that he'd suffered. That wasn't a problem. Those wounds would heal.

He could not, for the life of him, understand why this one thing he'd done, struck him so hard. He knew it had been expected of him from the beginning. Taking the life of his enemy.

He knew he had to do it. And he had done it. So why did it hurt so much?

He didn't even fully comprehend what it was that was hurting. The fact that he took a life? That he was able to do it without any hesitation? He had already tried reasoning with himself that it wasn't a human life. It was the life of a god. A god of destruction. He had to be stopped.

But… How was he different from the monsters he'd ended before now? The senseless beings that attacked without thought, without consequence. How were they different?

Ganondorf wasn't without thought. He wanted something. He wanted to rule without opposition. He wanted obedience. He wanted the world.

Why wasn't that enough? Why did it feel like there was something else?

The last words spoken by the Evil King fluttered through his storm of emotions.

'My belief was balance...

'What would this world be without that balance?'

The Hero didn't want to think about it then, and he didn't want to think about it now. He knew what he had done had been right. So why did it feel so wrong?

No one could help him, any more than he could help himself. He was confused and he did not believe any answer would sate him. There was no correct answer to why he had to take a life.

'THUMP'

He jumped, the first reaction he'd had to anything around him in the last few days. He sat up, His eyes scanning the room wildly, searching for the source of the offending sound. Then, a different, quieter sound reached his ears. A scratching noise was coming from the window. As he looked on from the bed, stock still and nervous, he noticed a silver blade poking out underneath the sill. The window suddenly popped and a slender hand reached inside to pull it open.

Aine gave him a salute from the other side of the open porthole, suspended by a rope to reach the second story.

"Yo."

"Aine! What are you-" the Sheikah swiftly moved his finger to his lips, shushing Link, and deftly crawled inside. He took a sweeping look around before closing the shutters.

"Impa has been making it an impossibility for me to visit you." The boy gave as an explanation for his less than socially acceptable entrance. Link groaned.

"They're treating me like an invalid!" He swore in frustration. "They're keeping me from doing anything!" Aine held up his hands, a gesture to keep his voice down. He did, however, grin at the restless Hylian.

"Well, you were severely injured in your battle with Ganondorf." He said it with a light teasing tone. When Link took to brooding at his jest, Aine knew he must have touched a nerve. He at least thought the Hero would be happy enough about the end of Hyrule's struggle with her greatest threat. Was he upset with him?

"I am sorry. I was not my intention to bring up what I can now see was a bad memory." He bowed to show his sincerity. Link gave a halfhearted grin and mock scoff.

"You're starting to sound like Vaati."

Link had caught himself off guard with his own statement and he knew his face must have shown it. Aine raised his eyebrows.

"I-I suppose I am a bit." He stumbled a bit. "My teachers always told me I would start to sound or act like those I admire-" Aine had rambled off a piece of information he hadn't meant to and his face reddened considerably. It appeared as though Link hadn't heard him, however, as the Hylian still had the same stunned faraway look. He cleared his throat. "Where is Vaati, anyway? He was always around..."

He knew he had said something else to hurt the Hero of Time, his face darkening when he had uttered the mage's name.

"I don't know where he is." Aine swallowed.

Clearly something had happened, but he wasn't too keen on talking about it at length. The last thing Aine would do was press him on it. He had a feeling he was going to push his luck with Link's mood with his next question. But, he had come here for this explicitly.

"What about Mari?"

And there it was. Link retreated to his bed and tucked his knees up close to his chest, his eyes becoming glazed over.

"I don't know that either." There was almost a hint of a growl in his voice. "I told you, they're keeping me in the dark." The Sheikah wasn't sure if the Hero's asperity was just because of him being cooped up in his room without any information for the last few days, or something else he didn't know about.

"Were they not with you for the fight?"

Link breathed in deeply and then let out the loudest and deepest sigh.

"You're completely bent on having me relive this, aren't you?" He said evenly. Aine held up his hands.

"Link, I- I'm sorry! I just-" He faltered when Link placed the heel of his hand to his forehead. He couldn't read his face. After a moments' pause, the Hylian spoke up again but with less flare.

"I relive it every night in my sleep." Link pulled his fingers through his hair. "Nothing new at this point." He sighed deeply "Though," he tongued the inside of his cheek as if he were chewing on what it was he wanted to let out, "Maybe I need to..." He got quiet again and seemed to be locked within himself. Aine had an idea.

The Sheikah walked over to the table in the center of the room and sat himself down, facing Link.

"How about," he said, reclaiming Link's attention, "I start with what I know."

He began with what little he heard from Impa, both personally and from the conversations between the Sage's that he'd listened in on.

They had found the Hero amidst a ruined battlefield outside the Gerudo's Fortress entrance. He had been brought to the Ranch to tend to his injuries that same morning. They had known what had happened before they arrived at the scene. Aine had not been there himself, but he had heard that a few of the Sages had gone back to clean up the scene. They had somehow, he was convinced through magic, gotten rid of Ganondorf's body, and tried to remove any other remains.

They knew about Nabooru. They had all felt it when it happened. It was fairly easy to ascertain that it had been the Evil King's doing as well. Her residual aura at the sight was evident. They did not speak of her much outside of that, though.

Anything else beside the obvious, Aine had to get his own answers for. He rode out to the place where everything had happened, looking for the smaller details to tell their own story.

He knew immediately when he had arrived. The landscape was devastated, the grass black with death and no breath of any animal could be heard. He saw the remnants of everything he'd been told of, the ash between the green blades. The darker than dark dirt, soaked with the life of those who'd left the world that day. Such destruction for such great loss and great victory.

He found traces of another story, what he had been looking for. His keen Sheikah trained eyes could see the places where the other participants of the battle had been. Footprints in four different areas meant there were four different people present at the time. Ganondorf, Link, Nabooru, and another. One of the smaller sets ended in that gray pile of ash. He assumed that had been the Sage of Spirit. Nothing else of her remained. The largest set must have been the big man himself, Ganondorf. They were all over the place with no real reason for their wandering.

There were impressions on the ground where two bodies lay. Then they were dragged away from the blackened ground, presumably trying to get away from an imminent threat. Then, the medium sized feet led to the center of the dead circle, their owners final stop before falling to the ground. That had been Link.

He could see the story along with the smaller indications, but something was still missing. The other unknown party. He had tried retracing their path all the way to the bridge in the Gerudo Gorge, but could go no further. He had seen Link and Nabooru's paths had also come from that way. They had all been together. Aine could only come to one conclusion.

"Marickiya was there. She was with you." He finished his retelling. "But Vaati wasn't. That's all I know for sure."

Link had been listening, still trying to collect himself. The images that coincided with the Sheikah's findings came back ever so painfully. He wouldn't let them take him. He stayed rapt until Aine's final statement.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and nodded, a confirmation. Aine remained quiet, waiting for the Hero of Time to speak. He would wait, even if it meant pushing getting caught by Impa.

"You're right. On both accounts." Link, not entirely sure why or when he had decided that Aine was the perfect person to confide in, uncurled himself and sat himself cross-legged on his bed. This would be tough, but he had the same thing on his mind as the young Sheikah. "I don't know how far I'll get, but I'll start with what happened four days ago…"

He didn't want to begin with how calm everything had been before. How they had grown comfortable and had somehow separated themselves. That would have made it harder to tell. He already felt like an idiot, he didn't want Aine thinking something similar. He began with Ganondorf's first attack.

"He caught us off guard," was what he simplified it to, "Ganondorf trapped us. It looked like we were doing well at first, we had him outnumbered. But then…"

He didn't want to go into a lot of detail, he merely told Aine that Ganondorf had tricked them, and Vaati had paid a great price. He had managed to drive off the Evil King in the end, but the damage had been done.

"Vaati's… gone?" Aine was breathless. He had seen firsthand the kind of power the mage had. It was a difficult reality to believe. Link scoffed lightly, still reeling from that day.

"I… I don't know."

Aine questioned him further and Link explained what he had seen after it appeared Vaati the Wind Sorcerer was finished. The bright white light, his disappearance, and Marickiya's last words.

"She said, 'don't take him,'" he grimaced as he thought back on that particular moment, "I don't know why she said that-" his breath hitched and he had to calm himself, "W-who she was talking to... He was… in a bad way." His knees came to his chest again and he had a hand to his throat. "I just don't know. He was gone… I don't know what happened..."

He was lost for many moments. It was clear he was very sad for the loss of a friend. Aine was also having a hard time coming to terms with this revelation. It was so unclear. What had actually happened?

"Alright," Aine didn't want to press his luck, but he needed to know, "After that?"

Link's demeanor grew dark. He was angry. Though the Sheikah hadn't known him for a good amount of time to tell, he might say this was the most grim he'd ever seen the Hero. He was unsure he wanted to even hear the rest of the tale.

"The Gerudo." It was all he said for a moment. They were both still. "I… made a mistake." He didn't elaborate for a long time, and yet Aine waited. This was important. Then, "They killed Lana."

Aine had heard the name. He knew Marickiya didn't take a liking to her. He knew there was something between the trio and Lana that he had no knowledge of. But hearing Link so angry about her death… She must have meant something. He wouldn't probe about her now. He would allow Link to tell him what he wanted.

"I was taken to the Gerudo Fortress. They were going to present me to 'The Great Ganondorf'," He was bitter with his words. But then, he suddenly sounded defeated, perhaps what he felt at the time. "I was beaten.

"Marickiya," All of his previous emotion had left him. There was hope in his voice. "She came for me." He shook his head with a small, sad grin on his lips. "How silly for a 'Hero' to need to be rescued."

Aine could see it, the disappointment in himself because of his failure. He'd gone through that so many times himself. This was so much worse than anything he'd experienced. Everything rode on the Hero of Time's success. And at that point, he had failed. Aine had to interject.

"No one can succeed on their own. You had your friends, and they were all there for you." He sucked in a nervous breath when Link gave him a grave stare. But he would say what he had to, whether Link accepted it or not. "It didn't matter if you did or didn't wanted help. Those who love you will help you." He took a steadying breath when it looked like Link wasn't going to go off on him.

"Vaati and Marickiya wanted to help you." He decided to change his approach. "You did a great thing, Link," He started. "And people saw that. Everyone wanted to be there with you. I-" He wasn't sure what to say next. That he shouldn't blame himself? That it wasn't his fault? What could get through to him, Aine did not know. They were both silent.

"I," Link broke that silence, "I understand what you're trying to say. And," He swallowed hard, "I don't want to get into that part of this mess right now." Link was having a hard time keeping himself calm, but he managed as best he could.

"I can come back later," Aine said, attempting to give him a way out. Link shook his head.

"No." He said firmly. "I'm fine. I-… I want to keep going."

And so, Aine waited, and Link told the rest of his side of what had happened. He explained his and Marickiya's and Nabooru's escape from the corrupted Gerudo Fortress. How he and Nabooru were injured and Marickiya had given them time to escape while she cut off anyone who would follow. Then they were ambushed by Ganondorf. Nabooru had been killed before anybody knew what was going on. It was just Link and Marickiya. It was over. There was nothing they could do.

"Then Mari. She used her power-"

"Marickiya use the power of the Phoenix?!" Aine was in disbelief. Link nodded.

"Yes. She lured him to her. He didn't know what she was doing. He was trying to stop it when he did realize. I thought it was over."

Both of Link's fist were shaking.

"I thought we'd done it. I thought we'd won…"

He could see the light of Marickiya's power flaking off of her in waves. It was a beautifully mesmerizing display, a strange thought for the moment, but he would not deny it.

Ganondorf was trying to fight it. Link had half a mind to actually get up to help, but then he saw that for all of the Evil King's struggling, Marickiya was untouched. Her powers were protecting her.

This was it. Everything he and his newly-found sister and Vaati and the Sages had done was for this moment. Even with so little planning, triumph was finally a reality. Link could only stare in awe.

Ganondorf must have known he was at his end. The big man's shoulders slumped and looked like he was going to fall to his knees. So close…

Then, that haunting sound that had followed him in his dreams from eight years ago and beyond, flooded his senses.

HEH, HEH, HEH.

He watched, confused and helpless, as Ganondorf reared his head back and guffawed with gusto at the sky. He shouted something Link couldn't understand. What did he say?!

With a great sweep of his arm, he pulled an ugly jagged blade from somewhere on him. It began to glow a sickly green. No. NO! Marickiya was in danger! He had to get up!

He weakly called out to her, knowing he wouldn't be heard, and tried to push himself up. But he wasn't quick enough. Ganondorf brandished his blade…

And then yanked it upward, slicing off his own appendage, separating himself from Marickiya.

A wave of magical energy blasted through the canyon. If Link had been standing, he would have been knocked straight back down. He shielded himself from the dirt and debris flying into his face. Once everything was still again, he was almost too afraid to chance a glance at the scene. But he pushed through the fear and looked.

Marickiya was gone. No, wait. She was on her stomach, picking herself up from being thrown by the force of the eruption. She looked stunned, but otherwise unhurt.

The true horror was that Ganondorf was still standing where he had been, without an arm, but still very much alive and kicking. And angry. Very angry. The madness in the Gerudo leader's eyes was a heart-stopping sight.

The end that had been so near not a moment ago was now a far off dream…

"I remember thinking that I was going to die in that moment." His shoulders sagged and he had a strangely peaceful look to him, as opposed to his stressed and anguished demeanor he'd had since the beginning of their meeting. "He was transforming into a beast. I didn't have the strength for the fight. Marickiya was down. There was nothing else we could do."

Helpless. That was what he had felt in that moment. Aine could see that in him as he studied his face. He was reliving those moments as if they were happening as he told his tale. His own heart seized, not knowing how the conclusion he knew of had come to be.

"Then..."

Link began a hazy recollection of what happened next, his words choppy and disorganized. It seemed Ganon was in pain, but he did not know from what. Before his eyes, the monstrous being was devolving. He could only guess that Marickiya's power was working on him, that he was turning mortal. He was falling apart quite literally. Great chunks of flesh fell from him in pieces until there was nothing left but a frail Gerudo man kneeling in the dirt.

"It wasn't much of a battle." Link said. He and the Evil King had traded some words, but it wasn't much of an end to some great war. The Hero of Time was already wounded beyond what any normal person could withstand. It was almost easy at that point.

"I just... did it." He made a motion, like he was swinging a sword diagonally through the air. "He was down. So I did it." It was fairly clear he didn't, or couldn't, go into more detail about what he had done. That was just the end of it.

"You defeated him? Just like that?" Aine said, his mouth slacked. It was almost anticlimactic, but he was still in awe.

"Yeah," Link replied in a defeated voice. "He was gone."

He went quiet again. Aine became restless after this finite sounding sentence. He needed to know what happened after he killed Ganon. He needed to know what happened to Marickiya, or any clue about where she may be now. Could Link keep going?

"Link," Aine said quietly, gently. The Hylian sensed his hesitation and gave him his attention. "I have to ask what happened after that." The young Sheikah winced at the flash of animosity he received in response, knowing what was about to come next.

"Why do you need to know all this!? I already told them! I told them everything and they won't tell me anything!" He slammed his hand onto the pillow on his bed, grabbed it, and chucked it in Aine's direction. Aine did not move as the projectile bounced harmlessly off of his leg. He would not break under Link's frustration. If he had to endure his redirected rage to get to the bottom of things, he was going to do it.

"Mari is missing." He said, nearly matching the ferocity in Link's tone, though without the volume. The Hero ceased his minor tantrum and had a fearful look about him. It was almost as if he already knew something was wrong from the way the Sages were willfully hiding things from him, just not exactly what.

"...Missing?" The word was a weak question. Aine gave him a solemn nod.

"I don't know everything yet. That's why I came to you directly. She isn't anywhere. Not at the house or any of your usual places. Her horse is also gone."

Link adopted a deeply pensive expression at his declaration. He was thinking back hard about anything strange concerning her.

"Her horse fled. That's why he's gone." He said evenly as he remembered the day the trio were attacked directly in the middle of the field. That explosion had thrown them and Trysting had galloped away in a fright. He had been a good horse to Marickiya. He knew that loss had already been hard on her. And then everything else…

He had to focus. He had to know more. It was just so difficult to recall. She had used her power in the fight, as he had already retold. Then she was down. He did not see her get back up after Ganon's transformation and then subsequent self-destruction. Everything was so blurry in his memory after dispatching their greatest enemy…

All except one thing.

"I heard her." Aine was raptly hanging on to his words. Link placed the heal of his left hand to his head and stared intently at the floor. He was trying to remember.

He had just completed his Goddess'-appointed task. He was exhausted, just like after the first time. Looking up he could see the sun rising to its fullest, a most beautiful sight after so many years of darkness. The moment was marred by anxiety and adrenaline.

"She was screaming..." His memory caught up to him. How could he have forgotten that? In his mind's eye he searched his surroundings for the source to find her, his sister, his only family left, screaming in agony, enveloped in a golden light. He relayed this to Aine.

"A golden light..." Aine said aloud in thought. He didn't really know what that could mean. "Anything else?"

Link wracked his brain but could only see blackness and nothing more. He was worried. Frightened. He had no clue what happened that day to her, why she seemed to be in pain. Was it something Ganon had done? She was in trouble, he could feel that.

"I need to get out of here." Aine was startled by this.

"Woah, woah, hold up," he held up his hands to halt the Hero going after his belongings. Link gave him a stern glare. "You can't just leave."

"What do you mean I can't?" He demanded.

"They're all downstairs right now. If you made a scene it would be all the harder to get out." That wasn't good enough.

"So?"

"You'll have to go through my Auntie." Link gave him a raised eyebrow. "Impa." He added quickly, "She and the others would stop you."

"I'd like to see them try." And he continued gathering the assortment of things around the room to pack.

"She's a Sage."

"And I'm the Hero of Time." He spat.

Aine let out a defeated breath.

"Link, you're still recovering..." This stopped him, but he looked up with a loathsome and spiteful glower.

"You're like them. You're trying to keep me here."

"Link," he matched his anger again, "It is clear to me that you're perfectly capable of making it out there on your own. I want to help you find her. I'm worried." He wanted to make sure Link understood that it wasn't just sympathy, that it was also his own concern for a shared friend. He put his hands down. "I'm not going to stop you. I'd rather we work together."

Link was still fuming. He let out his agitated breath through flared nostrils. But he conceded. Help would not be a bad thing.

"What do you suggest we do then?" Aine visibly relaxed.

"You should get your things and plan to leave in the night. Impa won't be anywhere near the house then and I know everyone else are planning to return to their homes before nightfall."

He said this with vigor. He had been keeping tabs on them all, like he had already been planning some kind of escape.

There was something else to his request to help. He was also asking for help. Link was suspicious.

"Aine," he let go of his anger for the moment, "You obviously know things about the Sages. About Impa. Is there something I should know?"

The boys face let on more than he could have with words. He had him figured out. He crossed his arms to show he was awaiting an answer. Aine grinned.

"I'm supposed to keep myself in check. Not show any 'slip of resolve'," he recited. "It seems I'm too comfortable around you." He laughed lightly then. "We haven't even known each other long either." He paused for a second. Link had spilled everything to this boy. It was his turn for impatience.

"What is it?" Aine breathed in and out slowly.

"I've come to trust you, Link. More than my Sheikah brethren." He wasn't sure what to make of that. The boy continued. "We are the Shadow Folk, shrouded in secrets. But some secrets..."

Something had shaken his loyalty to his tribe. It was something big. Aine's head shot up.

"I will tell you about it later." Link was thrown a little by his abrupt change in demeanor.

"Later tonight?" He asked.

"Possibly." He was edgy, like he wanted to tell, and then didn't want to all the same. "I plan on making a trip to your house in Kakariko to see if I can find anything to give us a hint about Mari's whereabouts." Link nodded.

"Alright."

"I'll meet you by the stables. Epona is there." He made his way back to the window he entered through. "Sound like a good enough plan?"

"It does." Aine already had one leg out of the window before he gave an answer. He gave a salute.

"See you later then," he said in a whisper before quietly closing the window behind him and scaling up to the roof. He sure was in a hurry.

There was a knock at his bedroom door. He swallowed and quickly sat back down on his bed, already knowing who was at the door.

"Come in," he said, feigning a hoarse voice.

Impa opened the door. She stood resolute, hand still on the handle, and scanned the room with her beady eyes. Then her gaze fell on the window to the outside.

She knew Aine had been there. That was why he had been so fidgety and keen on leaving so fast.

"Can I help you?" Link asked of her, hoping his nervousness wasn't showing. She looked back to him, then straightened her posture.

"Merely checking in," she covered. His earlier resentment toward her came back to him with his next response.

"I'm fine." They stared at one another, trying to read what they were each thinking. Eventually, Impa yielded that there was nothing for her to find in this room.

"Right. I'll leave you to your rest then." And then she sauntered out of the room and closed the door crisply behind her.

She was keeping such a tight watch on him. He no longer thought it had anything to do with his recovery. He had been kept in the dark about Marickiya. It was also evident from Aine's actions that there was more she was hiding. And he was at the center of it. She needed to know that he was under thumb.

As much as he desperately wanted to know what else was going on, he was focused solely on his sister. She needed him more than whatever it was Impa was being so secretive about.

It was time to leave.

…

At least one person was happy in the house that morning. That one person was humming happily to herself while something yummy smelling sizzled in a pan over the kitchen fire. Malon was making breakfast.

The Sages had left not too long ago, and she thought it was the best time to prepare a meal to begin the day. Not for herself, she was making food for Link. She wasn't entirely sure what he would like, and so decided to make a bit of everything. Eggs from the chicken coop, fried meat from their reserves, and greens from her small garden. Yes, it was all there. She smiled to herself through the sweat from the fire.

'CRASH'

She jumped at the sudden noise that came from upstairs, dropping her wooden spoon from the cooking food. She looked up to the door to the room where Link was staying, worry lines etching her face. Had he hurt himself?

She took the pans off of the fire and set them on holders to not burn anything, and raced up the stairs, holding her farm skirt up so as not to trip. She reached the door and slowly opened it.

It was dark, the curtains had been drawn to reduce light in the room. She took a sweeping look around and found the Hero of Time huddled on what was formerly her bed, his hands gripping his hair in tufts, his face hidden from her. Across the room was the Master Sword, laying on the floor next to a turned over nightstand. From the clamor she'd heard a moment ago, it appeared he had thrown the weapon.

She hurried over to him to see what was wrong. As she got near, she could hear him whimpering, mumbling. He said a variation of the same thing, over and over.

"Why is it so heavy?"

He… he was talking about his sword. Was that why he threw it? She really didn't know why it was he was upset. She knew next to nothing about swords or any kind of weaponry. Was there something different about the Master Sword? By the look of him, there would be no use asking him about it.

Slowly, she set herself down on the bed beside him. He did not acknowledge her at all. She bit her lip, not knowing how to handle this situation. Thinking back, she remembered those nights she could not sleep as a child. When she was scared or sad. Her father had come to her and comforted her. It had been warm and loving the way he would rub her back to calm her. She breathed out lightly and placed a hand at Link's back. He became quiet. Perhaps that had been enough.

But then Link snarled angrily a lunged from the bed. Her eyes grew wide at his reaction.

"I don't need your coddling! I'm not weak!" He yelled. He paced the room and would not look at her.

As shocked as she was, she heard him.

"Link, I've never seen you as weak," she pleaded with him. He wouldn't accept it.

"I heard you tell her I still need to recover. I've said it again and again! I'm fine!" He threw his hands up in the air to emphasize his point. She stood up from the bed.

"I'm only trying to help. We all are!" She could hear the rise in her voice and tried to take a step back. She couldn't be angry with him. He had been through too much. "We're your friends. That's all we've ever wanted."

'Friends.'

The word resonated within him. Marickiya. Vaati. Lana. They had been his friends. They wanted to help him, too. And now they were all…

A pained moan escaped him and he buried his face in his palms. He was so damn frustrated.

Malon watched him go from anger to sorrow instantaneously. What in the world was going through his head? She could not stop the expression she made. She almost wanted to cry. She wished he would let her in. Share some of his pain. She carefully approached him again. He did not move away when she moved her arms around him for an embrace.

That had been a wrong move. Link, in a blink, had a grip on both of her arms by her wrists. They faced each other, one full of confusion, the other with lifetimes of heartache. Her eyes shifted between his, not knowing what to do for him.

He leaned into her. When he was too close, she gasped lightly, unsure. She heard a growl before it happened. He was mad. At her? At what?

With nowhere to go, his lips met hers. What was this? She pulled away for a breath, and possibly to say something, though she knew not what. But he did not allow her.

He let go of one arm and grabbed her by the back of the head, intertwining his fingers in her long hair. She made a sound this time, one of protest. It was all she could get out.

His grip in her hair tightened and she whined, her eyes shut tight. She felt herself being moved backward and tripped over her feet until she felt the solidness of a wall behind her. Link pressed deeper in to his strong kiss and held her in place with his thigh. She grabbed at his shoulder and tried feebly to push at him, but he was too much for her. He let go of her other arm and placed a hand at her neck. She, in turn grabbed his wrist as he had done her, but she couldn't stop his fingers finding their way under her blouse. It was no use…

She tasted so good. He never knew someone could taste like this. This, all of this, felt good. Why had he never done anything like this before? Oh the sensations wracking his body! He could think of nothing else but this. For the first time in a very long time, he was happy. Oh, he was so happy. The waves of euphoria going through his mind. The heat, the smell, the taste…

The taste of salt.

He stopped abruptly, all the previous feelings leaving him as viciously as they had come. He backed away from the farm girl, getting a good look at her in the dim morning light. Her hair was unkempt and her clothes were hanging off of one shoulder. It wasn't that that had stopped him. It was her shining face. Though she kept a stoic countenance, her eyes bled with tears. All he could do was gawk at her. She was fixated on him as well, only with defiance and despondence. Before he could even think to say anything, Malon shouldered past him, wiping away at her face.

She did not slam the door, she closed it gracefully, elegantly. He was finally able to catch his breath. He ground his teeth together in anger at himself, his finger nails digging into his palms. What had he just done?

"Dammit."

0000

This wasn't his first time at the house. When the Hero of Time had first been brought to the Ranch, his first thoughts were about his companions. Link was the only one found. Where were the others? Obviously he did not believe, or perhaps did not want to, that they had been lost in the fight. It was just too ridiculous of a thought. Knowing now that Vaati had actually fallen was a bit much to swallow.

He had kept something from Link during their conversation that morning. It wasn't anything concerning Impa. He was sure she knew of these rumors, but it wasn't something she explicitly told him to be quiet about. Maybe she knew he himself would not want to relay this particular bit of information. He at least felt that way.

The rumor was about a powerful sorcerer, only glimpsed, but brought with them destruction. When he first heard it, he thought for sure it must have been about Vaati. But, with new gossip surfacing even after the mage and the King of Evil's deaths, he feared it could be some new entity causing the disturbances.

He only knew of one other magic user in the realm. One who who showed abilities of the Sheikah's Sight with presumably no training. One who took on a Golem without help or even much effort.

This frightened him. He had been afraid something had happened to Marickiya. Now, with Link's partial recollections, his fears were realized. There had to be something here, anything that might hold a clue as to where she had gone. There was something here and he would find it, he willed.

He cared some much for these three people. He wasn't even sure why he did. He hadn't known them long, but they were important. Not the kind of importance they held with the people of Hyrule, to him they were more than heroes.

They were kind, always wanting to help people. They were courageous, taking on dangers with little regard for the stakes. They were legends.

They were his friends.

He knew he should have more deference for his tribe, but it was getting to a point where all the secrets were too much to keep. Especially when so many of them revolved around his new friends. From the beginning, the trio to him had been a breath of fresh air. He was more comfortable around them, even with Vaati after hanging around him a bit. He came to implicitly admire them. More so, he was beginning to realize for himself, than his blood family.

It was a weird feeling, to say the least. He would never betray them. But he felt that Link deserved to know what was going on.

With these thoughts driving him, he had gone through everything in the downstairs portion of the loft, including every part of the shelf and each individual book. Disheartened, he climbed up the stairs, eyeing the second bookshelf. He took a brief glance around, a barren table and set of chairs, Marickiya's pallet of blankets near the back wall and some sketches pinned above it. He approached the area and gave a sweeping look over the drawings. They looked very similar to the runes that he watched Marickiya translate back at the Ranch house all those weeks ago. Not truly finding that of any use, he moved on to the books. Not wanting to step all over her bedding, he watched his footing to avoid the sheets. That was when he spotted it.

His heart trilled when he noticed the corner of a brown book sticking out from beneath Marickiya's pillows. Was this her book she'd been translating? Excited, he reached down and picked it up. Imagine his disappointment when the crying eye of the Sheikah was nowhere to be seen on the cover. It was just a simple and clean leather bound book. With a clasp. Hidden under Marickiya's pillow…

It was a journal! He kicked himself for not recognizing the obvious. Could this be it? Was this what he needed? His fingers were already unwinding the cord wrapped around the clasp. But then he stopped.

This was not his to read. As much as he wanted it to be, he was in no position to be reading something so private. There was no question about it. He would directly deliver it to Link.

With the sun setting over the land, he gave one last quick glance at the tomes in front of him and made way to the outside and back in the direction of the Ranch.

…

As soon as the sun had set, he began his preparations. When it became clear that most everyone had retired to their homes for the night, he headed out to the stables. Upon his arrival, Epona neighed with approval and he had to quiet her. She seemed to understand his hushed motions and followed his lead. He took his time to carefully saddle her up. As he opened her stall, movement near the entrance caught his eye. Fearing he'd already been found out, he tensed before peering up.

He rolled his eyes at himself. It was only a dark brown cloak hanging by the entrance, fluttering in the breeze of the open stable doors. He finished up readying his steed, mounted, and headed out. At the exit, he snatched the cloak from the wall before kicking at Epona's sides to a quick, but not hurried, trot out of town. Once outside where the lights did not touch, he pulled up the reigns and sat in the darkness.

He did not look back. He couldn't do it. Not after what he had done. He would not hold it against Malon if she never forgave him. He felt disgusting, deplorable, depraved. He knew that his own emotions were nothing compared to how he made her feel. How could he have done that? Was it because of his own hurt? That was no excuse. Nothing could ever excuse the way he treated her.

The truth was, he did love her. She was too amazing and he had fallen hard. He wasn't sure when that had happened, but he knew how he felt right then. He had ruined everything. He had shown he did not deserve her. He thought perhaps he had known that for a long time. She was purely perfect. And he was not. That door had closed.

Lost within himself and wanting nothing more than to be lost exactly anywhere else, he saw a shadowed figure riding up to the entrance. He already knew it was Aine, his small stature upon his tall silver mare was evident enough. Also, he thought, who else would be out for a ride so late into the night? When he was close enough Aine offered a greeting.

"I hope you haven't been waiting long." When Link only responded with a sour look, Aine continued. "Seems you were eager to leave."

"You could say that." Link mumbled. He really was ready to get out, Aine thought.

He wondered how long it would have taken the Hylian to escape without his help. Probably not long, he reasoned. He would not be the one to make this any more difficult. Except he was already going to…

"I went to your house." Aine began. Link looked like he was already about to nod but the Sheikah hurried his next statement. "I searched and found this."

He practically shoved the journal into the Hylian's hands. When Link took it, he wasn't really sure how to react.

"It's Marickiya's. I found it amongst her bedding." Then there was revelation upon his face. It looked like he almost wanted to open it then and there, but he didn't.

"Thank you." He said, without emotion, without conviction. What was he supposed to do with this?

"I understand that you feel no one will tell you anything," Aine started. Link looked up from the leather bound book to the young boy. "I told you I would tell you all that I know..."

There was a pregnant pause. Aine wasn't sure where to start, but he could see the Hero's impatience. He had to do this.

"Alright. I need you to wait until I'm finished to say anything. Deal?"

Link, a bit put off, nodded hesitantly.

"Okay." Aine took a deep breath.

"First, I don't know where Zelda is."
Already Link was opening his mouth to say something with an angry scowl. Aine gave him a fierce glare which shut him up.

"I know. It's bad. I'm supposed to be her caretaker. I know where I've failed and I feel terrible about it." He had rambled out his words and was wringing his hands in anxiousness. Link decided he would give him the benefit of the doubt.

"How have you failed?" He asked. Aine held up a finger as a sign to wait.

"I'm not done." When there was a clear indication that there would be no more interruptions, Aine continued. "There's been some weird stuff going on. With the Sheikah." He clarified. "Considering my position, they should keep me in the know, but they're not."

"Why is that?" Link interjected.

"I don't know." Aine said, his eyes saying so many more words than he was speaking. Fear, uncertainty, helplessness. "That is why I am telling you this now. I am not in complete agreement with their actions, especially as of late."

They stood in silence for many moments. Then something clicked for Link.

"They've taken Zelda." He stated, gathering his thoughts as they formed. Aine nodded. "They're..." He almost didn't want to say it. "They're manipulating her- no, the Royal Family. They're trying to-" He stopped. Aine looked up at him with the look of someone who was glad that someone was finally taking them seriously.

"I don't have any proof. Just what I feel..."

"You should always stick with your gut. It's never led me astray." Link said with a grin. Aine smiled at him, clear relief on his face. But then his lips fell into a grimace.

"There's one more thing. Impa forbade me from telling you." Link's own features dropped dismally. What else had the Sage of Shadow kept from him?

"It's about Navi."

Surely he had heard wrong. Why would she have anything to do with… well, anything? There must have been a mistake.

"Navi?" He asked, almost choking on the name. Aine's eyes glistened with tears. That wasn't a good sign.

"She was my guide." The Sheikah boy hiccuped uncharacteristically. "Throughout my training in the Lost Woods-"

"Wait!" Link interrupted with a hand up in the air. "You train in the Lost Woods? And you needed a fairy? What-"

"Yes, that is part of our training. It was supposed to be a normal training session-"

"What are you?-" Link wasn't fully comprehend what he was being told, but Aine kept sputtering on.

"But we were ambushed and there was no way out and she saved me, but I don't know where she is or what happened to her! She told me so much about you and your adventures and I-"

"STOP!"

Aine did stop his blubbering. As they sat and stared at each other, a single tear made its way down Aine's pale face. Link nearly lost his composure then. As much as he wanted to be angry at the boy, at anything, he chose one apt subject to fixate his hate on.

"Where's Impa?" He said through his teeth.

0000

(Author's note: I really really really want to apologize for the wait on the beginning of this second part. I've had a hell of a lot going on. You know, such is life. A small snippet; my dad had a heart attack and I've been taking care of my littlest brother and mom. I've had to replace nearly every piece of hardware in my pc. I'm trying to buy my first house… Things have really gotten in the way of me sitting down and writing. There's way more to it than just that but I won't bore you all with the details.

I'm also, honestly, a little worried about how this next part will be perceived. I'm still working on it being more coherent because I've had this idea for more than eight years and it's a little aged, but I still like the concept I've been working with. I'm going to write like I've wanted it, but I also need it to make sense. I'll tell you now, it will not make sense at first. My hope is to make it the best it can be for my first complete story.

I don't want to say I can't wait to finish because this fanfic has been with me for such a long time and has filled much of my time and many of my notebooks. I do want to say that I have more stories that I want to write and I can't wait to start publishing them as well.

I love to write and I won't stop. Everyday, I'm always getting new ideas even if I don't post often enough. I love hearing from people that read my stories, whether they love it or hate it. I write because I love stories. I love to read others' work and I love coming up with my own. Fiction is a sort of therapy for me. I feel like I'm embarrassing myself a little with these confessions, it's just I want those who are keeping up with this story to know that I will finish it not matter what.