They headed out from Saria with the rise of the sun. The night before, they had decided that heading out in the darkness would not be in their best interest. After a good night's sleep, they were ready. They traveled light so they could move faster.
"Where is this cave?" Sean asked.
"North of here. We'll need to cut through a forest to get to it, and the forests aren't exactly the safest place to be."
"How far away is it?"
Link thought for a moment. "I'd say it's only about a few hour hike from here. Barring any serious trouble, we should easily be back in Saria by nightfall."
They walked north along a path that seemed like it had been there for quite some time. Off to their left was a mountain range, although none of the mountains seemed as tall or deadly as Death Mountain. To their right were fields and random groups of trees. Sean enjoyed the scenery; it was so much different and a whole lot better than Old Hyrule which he had seen only days before. Above them, there was not a single cloud in the sky, allowing the sun to shine down on the land unobstructed.
They continued walking in silence for the next hour, Sean taking in the environment around him, while Link tried to figure out for himself if he was doing the right thing. After all, he had no idea who these people really were, or what they were doing here. Finally, he decided that he wanted answers. He grabbed his water skin and took a quick drink from it.
"So, Sean," he started as he returned his water skin to its place. "If that is your real name…"
"No," Sean answered. "It's not my real name."
"I figured as much. There's a lot that I want to ask you. Why don't you start with who you three really are?"
Sean sighed deeply. This was the moment of truth. He would've much preferred it if Ian and Evan were there with him to back up his story, but he would have to go it alone.
"Here we go," he said under his breath. "What I'm about to tell you is going to sound strange and, well, it will sound crazy. But it's the truth. Please don't judge me by what I tell you."
"It will sound a little crazy, huh?" Link repeated. "I figured you guys were off your rockers."
"Just hear me through. If you want to confirm my story, you can ask Ian and Evan when we get back to Saria."
"Fine, go ahead."
Sean sighed deeply again. "My name isn't Sean. It's… it's… well, my name is Link."
Link stopped abruptly. "Yeah, right. You're name is Link. That's a bunch of bull," Link stated not amused. "Let me guess. Evan's name is really Link, too."
"Well," Sean said. "Yes. Evan's name is really Link."
Link began to laugh loudly. He began to talk with a sarcastic tone. "And I suppose that Ian's real name is Link! You guys must be my past, present, and future! Of course! You're here to warn me of some ancient evil that is going to attack Hyrule!"
"Knock it off!" Sean yelled. "If you're not going to take me seriously, then I'm not going to tell you why we're here!"
Link began to calm down. They began to walk again.
"And no, Ian's name is not Link. It's Ian. That's his real name. Evan and I use these names because it would be confusing if we both were Link."
Link didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but he kept his mouth shut.
Sean continued, "And during your little ranting just now, you were partially correct. We are your past, and an ancient evil is attacking, but not in this time period."
"What do you mean you're my past?" Link was very confused.
"Evan and I are your ancestors. And Evan is my ancestor as well."
"Go on," Link was very curious now.
"Evan is Hyrule's first hero. During his life in his time, the evil man Ganondorf rose to power. Evan fought his minions and battled his way to the Evil King himself. After Evan defeated him, Ganondorf used the Triforce of Power to transform himself into Ganon. However, Evan was victorious over the demon with the help of the six sages and Princess Zelda."
"So if he defeated Ganon, how come I had to fight him?"
"Because he still held the Triforce of Power," Sean explained. "Eventually, Ganon was able to escape from his prison in the Evil Realm and wreaked havoc on Hyrule in my time. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I ventured to Hyrule Castle to save the Princess. Eventually, I faced off with Ganon and was victorious."
"And then he came back again, and I took on the quest of defeating him," Link stated. "So, then, why are you here?"
"The timeline between Evan's time and my own has been tampered with. A man from this time period was summoned back by Ganondorf. Once in Evan's time, this man released the seal and allowed Ganondorf to return to Hyrule," Sean went on. "Evan once again fought against the Evil King, but this time, Evan was killed, allowing the Triforce of Courage to fall into Ganondorf's hands."
"That still doesn't explain why you're here," Link said frustrated that the tale didn't seem to lead anywhere.
"I'm getting there," Sean replied, annoyed. "It wasn't his time to die yet. When he reached Purgatory, he met up with Ian, who was the man that brought Ganondorf back into this world. They both were given a mission by the Goddesses – travel through time and find Evan's two descendants so that Ganondorf could be defeated."
"Wait," Link interrupted. "Ian was the cause of all this?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you traveling with him?"
"Because he is trying to right his wrongs. If we are successful, the Goddesses will forgive him and allow him to enter the heavens. He has been a tremendous help."
Link remained silent.
"So," Sean said, "what do you think?"
"I think… I think that I'm going to have to play this over in my mind a few times."
"Of course, take your time. In the meantime, let's get this plant so we can save Evan."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan opened his eyes slowly and let out a small groan. His head was pounding and half of his body felt like it was burning up while the other half was freezing. He moved his hand to his forehead and felt a moist towel.
"You're awake."
Evan turned his head to see Ian sitting up in his bed. Evan acknowledged him with another groan.
"Well, it's good to see you too," Ian quipped.
"What time is it, Ian?" Evan said painfully.
"I have no idea," Ian replied. "But it seems like its still morning, although I'm not sure what day it is either."
On the table next to him, Evan saw a full glass of water. He tried to reach over, but his muscles hurt like hell. He let out another groan as he gave up. Ian stood up from his bed and grabbed the glass of water.
Placing the glass next to Evan's mouth, he asked, "What happened to you?"
Evan drank almost half the glass of water. "Some wench poisoned me. Sean and Link are searching for the antidote now."
Ian's eyes widened. "Link? Did you say Link?"
"Yeah, he helped us bring you here. He's definitely my descendant."
Ian nodded his understanding. "Speaking of which, where are we?"
"In the town of Saria," Evan answered, twitching in pain.
Ian patted him on the chest. "You rest some more. I'm going to find out anything I can about our situation."
Before Ian had even finished his sentence, Evan passed out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They reached the forest with no troubles at all. Sean was amazed at how small "the forest" really was. In his time, he had seen and traveled through forests much bigger than the one they were currently in. The trees blocked out most of the sun, but it was still very easy to see ahead of them.
"So how far are we from the cave?" Sean asked.
"Not much further," Link answered.
"I thought you said that this forest could pose a problem."
"Well, we got lucky. Since we got here during the day, most of the devilish creatures should be still asleep. But don't let your guard down for any reason. Just in case."
The two travelers continued through the somewhat dense forest. Sean looked around him and noticed that the trees seemed to be of the same kind that he grew up around. Perhaps these trees are very common he thought. Or maybe the first settlers planted them here. Whatever the reason, Sean felt an odd sense of home as he walked through the forest, almost as if he had belonged there his whole life.
The wind blew, rustling the leaves on the extended branches. The breeze felt strange to Sean. It seemed that the breeze was too cold for such a warm day. He looked up to Link, who seemed a little more on edge as well. Assuming danger loomed ahead of them, Sean drew his sword.
"Link, what is it?"
Link responded by placing one finger over his lips. He then held his hand out, signaling Sean to stop moving. They both stood there, searching the trees around them. They stood there for several minutes, finding nothing.
"Let's keep going," Link told Sean.
The two continued through the forest, and Sean could now see the edge of the forest in the distance. He judged that it wouldn't take more than ten minutes until they were out, but he felt that it would be a long ten minutes. They moved along cautiously, keeping an eye out for any signs of danger. The cold breeze continued to blow. Sean felt an evil presence, and it was growing stronger as they moved closer to the edge of the forest.
Link could feel the evil as well. It feels so… familiar… he thought to himself. But I can't place it. He finally drew his sword.
"Link, do you feel that?"
Link simply nodded his head.
"What the hell is it? I've never felt anything like this at all."
"I'm not sure. Although," he paused, "I've felt it before."
They were now almost out of the forest. Their bodies tensed up as they moved toward the mysterious evil presence. Slowly, they exited the forest, into the waiting sunlight. Strangely, the sunlight wasn't warm, even though Sean could swear that it was hot when they had entered the forest. They stopped quickly.
"You!" Link shouted as he prepared himself for battle.
The creature in front of them just hissed. Sean looked at it, puzzled. The creature seemed to be an elf, but it didn't seem to have any real features. It was almost as if it were a shadow.
"What the hell is that?" Sean asked.
"That disgusting creature is an evil being, created from the depths of my own soul."
"What? From your own soul?" Sean asked surprised. "Are you telling me that you made him?"
Link shook his head. "No, not at all. A wizard reached into my soul and ripped out the evil that would otherwise never have seen the light of day. He manifested this evil into the creature you see before you, and I was forced to do battle with my shadow, and I was victorious."
"Well, what the hell is he doing here then?"
"Beats me. But it doesn't matter. I will defeat him again!" Link yelled as he charged at his shadow.
Sean sheathed his sword and remained where he was, confident that Link could once again defeat his shadow. He watched on as their swords met with a clang, every move an exact mirror image of the other. From Sean's point of view, it seemed that his opponent easily foresaw any move by each fighter. Link jumped up as Dark Link tried to take out his legs, and he immediately brought his sword down from high over his head, trying to cut through the demon in front of him. Dark Link easily blocked the blow and countered. The two continued their duel, matching each other's moves.
Sean continued to look on, now growing a little concerned, as Link seemed to grow tired. As far as he could tell, Dark Link didn't seem to be tiring at all. Link was no longer on the offensive at all, as he took a purely defensive stance, just trying to hold off his shadow. He dodged a thrust, and then blocked a slash, followed by another jump to save his legs. They exchanged parries once more.
Link continued to grow tired as he fended off another strike from Dark Link. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I need Sean's help. He dodged another thrust from his opposition.
"Sean!" he yelled while knocking away a horizontal slice. "Sean!"
Sean unsheathed the Master Sword once again. He tried to figure out the best way to attack Link's shadow. I have to make sure that he's still focused on Link, he thought. Silently, he faded back into the trees, out of sight of the two fighters. He made his way through the shrubbery until his was directly behind the shadow. As silently as before, he emerged into the open.
Meanwhile, Link was still doing his best to avoid being killed by his own shadow. They parried once more, and then again. Sweat was pouring down Link's face. He dodged two consecutive thrusts, then ducked down to the ground as Dark Link aimed for his head. Link attempted a quick up-slash, but Dark Link easily moved out of the way. A drop of sweat fell into Link's right eye, stinging it badly. Unable to wipe his brow, Link was forced to do battle with one eye closed. Dark Link swung low, but Link was able to block the attack with his sword. He moved to the side as Dark Link swung down. As he saw Dark Link pull his arm back for another thrust, a second drop of sweat fell into his other eye. Now, completely blinded and acting only on instinct, Link tried to move aside from the oncoming attack. Unable to judge his distance, Link stopped and then felt pain as Dark Link's sword just grazed his side.
Link cried out in pain as he felt the warm sensation of blood on his skin. Unable to do battle any longer, he dropped his sword and prepared for the final blow. He could hear the evil laugh of Dark Link. The creature was enjoying seeing his former dominant side beaten before him. He brought his sword back and prepared to decapitate the Hero of Hyrule.
Dark Link cried out his battle cry and brought his sword forward. Out of nowhere, Link heard a second battle cry and then the sound of two swords clashing together. Certain that it was Sean coming to his rescue, Link finally wiped his eyes and brow clear of sweat and could see that Sean had stepped between the two and stopped Dark Link's sword.
"Move!" Sean yelled to him. "You're in the way!"
Quickly, he rolled out of the way, allowing Sean ample space to fight Dark Link. He reached back and grabbed his water skin. Uncapping it, he took a few mouthfuls of water, savoring every drop. Exhausted, he held his side and stayed on the ground as Sean took his turn at his shadow.
The two were still locked in the same position when Sean had interfered. Dark Link tried to force his way through Sean's sword, while Sean tried his hardest to push the demon back. With a fierce yell, Sean was able to overpower Dark Link and sent him flying back several feet. Dark Link landed on his back, completely surprised by the sudden change in the battle. He lifted his head up and saw Sean standing a couple yards from his feet. Sean stood with his legs apart and his arms at his side, the tip of the Master Sword rested on the ground beside him.
Dark Link pulled himself up off the ground, and the two squared off. Neither of them moved, each one waiting for the other to make the first move. Sean gripped the Master Sword tightly, and prepared himself. He ran forward, the Master Sword held out behind him as he rushed toward Dark Link. With one powerful swing, he attacked. Dark Link knocked the sword away from his body and countered with a thrust. Sean quickly dodged it and tried to anticipate the evil creature's next move. They parried and each was pushed back slightly. Dark Link came at Sean with a powerful horizontal slash of his own, but Sean was ready for it.
Sean was getting no further than Link had. I've got to do something different, otherwise he'll beat me too. He tried desperately to think of a way to defeat the demon. Dark Link swung again, and Sean deflected the blow away. Before Sean could do anything else, Dark Link brought his sword around for another attack. He reacts so quickly! I've got to do something to stun him.
Sean swung at Dark Link again, only to have his shot blocked. Dark Link countered with another thrust, then went for Sean's head. Sean quickly dodged the thrust and ducked down to avoid being decapitated. Thinking quickly, he grabbed some dirt while he was still crouched. He threw the dirt directly into Dark Link's face, causing the evil creature to stagger back. As the demon tried to wipe its face clean of the dirt, Sean charged up the Master Sword for his most powerful attack. He slowly moved closer to Dark Link until he was within striking distance.
Dark Link finally cleared the dirt from his eyes, but what he saw didn't please him. The instant that Sean saw the demon's eyes, he unleashed his swirl attack, cutting the defenseless creature into two pieces. The two halves of his body fell to the ground and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sean caught his breath and sheathed the Master Sword.
He walked over to Link. "How bad is it?"
Link grimaced slightly. "Not too bad. I'll live, but it'll need to be looked at in town."
"Can you walk?"
"Yeah, that's no problem," Link said. "Besides, we reached our destination. There are some Ivy Plants just over there." He pointed in the direction of a large bush.
Sean walked to the bush and found numerous plants beside it. "Which one is it?"
"It has two leaves on its stem and three big, white petals."
Sean looked over all the plants and found the one Link had described. "This is more like a flower than a plant."
"So what?" Link asked rhetorically. "It's the one we need."
"If you say so," Sean replied.
He bent down and helped the injured hero to his feet. "Are you sure you're going to be able to make it back okay?" Sean asked.
"Yes. Don't worry about me. The bleeding has slowed significantly."
"Okay, but if you…"
A violent shaking of the ground cut off Sean. The entire ground seemed to be vibrating and the rumbling was intense. Both heroes fell onto the ground, unable to maintain balance from the severe shaking. The phenomena continued for ten more seconds before it stopped suddenly.
Sean pulled himself up. "What was that? An earthquake?"
"Earthquakes don't occur anywhere near this area. It was something else, but I have no idea what." Link replied.
Sean had an idea of what caused the strange occurrence, but he decided to keep it to himself for now. He wanted to talk to Ian and Evan about it first. He helped Link up once again.
"I think we better get back," Sean said.
"Yeah. Let's get going. We can still make it back by nightfall."
The two adventurers headed back into the forest.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ian sat at the bar, swirling his drink. He had been down there for a few hours, talking to random people to find out anything that he could. It seemed that the town of Saria was mainly a fishing town, located just south of a rather large swamp. They didn't get many tourists here, mostly only some military men who were either passing through or bringing news. Entire families lived and died there, never leaving the town.
Another customer came up to the bar next to Ian and threw some rupees down.
"Hey bartender, give me a nice cold ale."
The bartender swept up the payment and went to fetch the ale. Ian continued to look straight ahead as the stranger turned to look at him.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're name is Ian, right?"
Ian turned his head quickly to face the stranger. "How the hell do you know my name?"
"Easy now," the stranger said. "I helped bring you in here yesterday. You should be thanking me."
"I apologize," Ian replied. "I haven't been told too much about how I got here. Just that some men and elves brought me here."
"Name's Dave," he said as the two men shook hands. "Those two over there helped you here as well." He pointed to the only occupied table.
"I thank you," Ian said to all of them. "I am in your debt."
"Don't worry about it," Joseph said. "Just as long as you're safe. By the way, the name's Joseph. This here is Brian," the other human raised his mug as acknowledgement.
"Come. Join us," Dave offered as the bartender returned with his ale.
Ian walked over to their table with Dave. He sat down in the sole remaining chair and placed his drink in front of him.
"Sir Link had a lot of questions to ask the three of you," Brian stated. "But seeing as how two of you were unconscious, he resorted to asking your friend Sean about you three and your business here."
"My friend upstairs tells me that Link and Sean went out for an antidote," Ian said. "What exactly happened?"
"Well," Dave started, "he was poisoned by a notorious woman. She goes by the name of Sheila and she gets pleasure from seducing and poisoning men and elves. Your friend met her here tonight, but he is stronger than most men, otherwise he would be dead already."
"The only way to save your friend is the antidote made from the Ivy Plant," Joseph explained. "And if he doesn't get it soon, he will not survive."
Ian took a drink from his mug. "So I guess we just wait then."
"That's all we can do right now," Dave agreed.
The four of them sat silent, all impatient, waiting for Link and Sean to return with the antidote. They sat there for nearly ten minutes before a messenger coming through the hotel door disturbed them.
"Jake!" Brian exclaimed. "Good to see you lad! Come! Sit!"
The messenger quickly walked to the table, but did not take a seat.
"Hello, Brian. I have no time to sit. I have come with urgent news," Jake informed him.
"Urgent news?" Joseph repeated.
"Yes, sir. There seems to be some sort of disturbance to the west."
"What kind of disturbance?" Dave asked curiously.
"Well, sir, it seems to be some sort of opening."
"Opening?" Brian repeated.
"Yes, an opening," Jake said.
"Excuse me," Ian said, "but could you explain what this opening looks like?"
"It's circular, contains blue and white swirls that meet at the middle, and is about seven feet high."
Ian's eyes widened as Jake's description of this opening matched the description of the portals that they had been traveling through.
"Ian?" Joseph asked. "Do you know something about this disturbance?"
Ian thought for a moment. "I have a suspicion of what it is, but I can't be sure until I actually see it with my own eyes. Can you take me there?"
Brian, Dave, and Joseph all looked at each other, trying to figure out if it was a good idea. None of them could think of a reason why they couldn't bring him there, so they agreed.
"Yes, we can take you there," Dave told him. "How soon do you want to go?"
"Immediately," Ian responded as he finished the rest of his drink.
"Very well," Dave continued. "Brian shall stay here and look after your friend upstairs. The rest of us will accompany you."
"Thank you," Ian said.
"It's no problem," Joseph said. "We'll leave as soon as we finish our dri…"
He got cut off. The entire building began to shake violently causing all the bottles of liquor to crash onto the floor. The four of them hit the floor and tried to protect themselves from falling objects. Jake remained standing and tried to hold himself up with the wall.
"Is this an earthquake?" Ian yelled over the noise.
"No, not in this area!" Joseph yelled back.
"Then what the hell is…"
Suddenly, Jake began to yell out in extreme pain. Curiously, the other four looked in his direction while still watching out for danger. None of them could believe what they saw.
Jake continued to yell, his hands placed firmly on the top of his head. Out of nowhere, a white dot of light appeared at about his midsection. The light began to spread throughout his body, first covering his torso, and then moving to his appendages. The light then began to become brighter, and with that, Jake's screams become more bloodcurdling and painful. Slowly, the light broke through Jake's skin. The now exposed light was too much for the others and they were forced to hide their eyes. Jake's screams grew louder, then began to fade away. Then silence.
The unexplained shaking had ceased. Brian was the first to get up and he began to frantically search for Jake.
"Jake? Jake? Where are you, buddy?"
The rest of them pulled themselves up and surveyed the scene. All the bottles of liquor were broken on the floor, chairs and tables were overturned, and wall ornaments lay in shatters. The chandelier also had fallen, spreading broken glass everywhere.
"What in the world was that?" Dave asked.
Joseph shook his head. "I don't know. I've never been through anything like that before."
"Jake? Jake!" Brian continued looking for his friend.
Ian whispered to himself, "Time."
"You say something, Ian? Time?" Joseph inquired.
"Nothing."
"You're hiding something. What is it?" Dave jumped in.
"I can't explain now," Ian said. "But I think we need to go see that disturbance. Now."
"Okay, okay," Dave said. "Calm down. You act as if time is running out."
Ian looked Dave directly in the eyes. "You don't know how right you are."