Chapter 14: Complication and Division

"Zelda, it's great to have you back!" someone said, coming up to the already crowded table.

"I'm glad you're all keeping safe," she said, smiling. While she worried some about Ganon pulling the same trick on her, she was happy to be out of the castle again. The townspeople were happy as well; it was an almost festive atmosphere inside the tavern where they had rented rooms for the night. People gathered around to see if it was her. Some didn't stay long as they went off to spread the good news, but more people came to see for themselves.

"Did you break that cursed storm?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes, I made sure to do that as soon as I could. I'm going to see what I can do against the spread of other dark magics as well."

"Where's the hero who rescued you? I've seen him around before; he fought off a terrifying phantom on a horse a while ago."

Glancing around, she noticed that he had slipped out of this room. Maybe he wasn't fond of crowds or all this noise. Thankfully, one of the first things he'd thought of was to contact two female knights to keep guard over her during their stay here in Kakariko. "He probably went off to bed to make sure he's in top condition for tomorrow."

"That's too bad, I was hoping to hear about his adventures. There's lots of rumors of things he's done already, like slaying a giant Likelike."

"He's done that," Zelda said with a nod. "And he was at a great disadvantage too. I could tell you some things that I've seen thanks to the powers of the Triforce." Although she was glad to tell them Link's story, she kept his love out of what she told them that evening. She still didn't know much about that man and it was a personal matter not to be shared without their permission.

It was close to midnight by the time the crowd had thinned enough for her to excuse herself for the night. The two knights followed her upstairs. "We've been on night duty, so we're fine with keeping watch for you overnight," one said. "We don't want to lose you again."

"Thank you, that puts me at ease," she said. If Ganon decided to come get her, there still wasn't much anyone could do to stop him. The tavern here did have teleport wards to keep people from using magic to get in and out. In a way, it could be worse if he had to fight his way to get to her.

Before they got back to her room, Zelda noticed that the light in Link's room was still on. How was he holding up? She knocked on the door. "Link?"

After a moment, he opened the door partly. "Isn't it late for you to be up?" he asked.

She smiled at that. "Not really; I was talking with everyone here. What about you?"

"I'm practicing," he said. That did make sense of why he had his sword still at his side. "Are you going to be all right with these guards?"

"Since this inn is teleport warded, we won't be caught off guard," one of the knights said.

"The town guard is alert too, though I do worry about them," Zelda said. Ganon could easily set the whole town ablaze if he really wanted to get at her.

Link leaned against the door frame, thinking about something. The other guard added, "We're determined to do all we can after the failures of stopping him so far."

"I don't think he'll be coming after you this time," Link said, his voice quiet.

"Right, he might just kill me instead," she said, frustrated about it.

He shook his head. "No, not that either. As long as you're alive, he knows where your Triforce piece is. He must suspect that something's gone wrong on my end, and probably knows that the Master Sword is missing. I think he let us get away since you're the one most capable of helping me fulfill my role."

"That could be," she admitted. "Though that also gives us a better chance of doing more to stop him. He'll come to regret that."

Oddly, Link didn't seem enthusiastic. "Right. Sorry, but I should get some sleep soon."

Or maybe he was tired from what practice he'd done. It had been a few hours since she'd noticed him leaving. "Of course. See you in the morning." She smiled and hoped that encouraged him.

When they stopped at the Kakariko inn to get a pair of rooms, people soon followed in to see if it really was the princess with him. They eagerly said that they were glad to see Zelda safe and hoped that Link could help to end the terrible things going on. And that he could defeat Ganon. While he understood what they meant, just getting rid of the villain they saw, he was unsettled by it all and had to leave after a while. It was even worse when it was Zelda herself saying it, a look to her eyes like she'd torch her own castle it that would end Ganon. She wasn't supposed to be a violent girl, but he had heard that she'd lost someone dearer to her than her parents. Although he knew it was an excuse, he managed to get out of the conversation without having her realize what he was going through.

It didn't work as he'd hoped. As soon as he shut the door from talking to her, he turned and faced his shadow self again. He really had been practicing, to burn off the tension from before. But then the shadow summoned itself and gave him one of the harshest lessons yet. Perhaps if Gregio had been in better shape, he would have been better able to keep up.

"You're not following the path of a hero," it said in its grating voice. It really was a nightmare version of himself. "You're dividing yourself further from her; she's the one you should protect."

Maybe it healing him was to drag out this torment. Link was tempted to put a Light Arrow through the shadow. That would surely destroy it. But at this point, it was a challenge without a real risk of death. "I'm not against her, I just don't want to talk to her."

"Don't make excuses. Will you betray Hyrule? You're deluding yourself with this plan to save a farce of a person."

"How do you know about that?" He'd not said anything about it.

"I am your shadow, of course," it said.

"Gale is not a farce, he really exists," Link said. "No one else is going to think of him."

"Once someone says they have lied to you, they can't be trusted to start telling you truths," the shadow said, starting to fade.

"I believe him, he really does love me," he said, tense.

"Then you will fall into corruption, bringing Hyrule down with you," the shadow said. Then it vanished, its warning given.

"That won't happen," Link said, although there was doubt about that. But Gale had shown his emotions when he kissed him, right? That had been such a strong connection; he wanted to believe in it. If Link was wrong about that belief, a lot more people could suffer the consequences. But if he was right, he was also right in that he would be the only one thinking about Gale.

He was tired, but it was long night with too many conflicting thoughts to sleep.

Dear Gale:

Are you going to be all right being alone in the castle? I wasn't sure about writing, but I ended up more worried about you than not, so obviously I've gone ahead.

I still feel confused about this. Mostly conflicted; I can tell now when something tries to guide my decisions. Whatever it is even called up my shadow to guilt trip me. But I still love you. You've been put into an awful position by life and you've done what you could to make the best of it. I really want to help get you out of that mess.

Are you sure there's no way you could escape the fate of the villain without one of us dying? If the two of you could become separate again, I'd do what I could to save you.

From Link, with love.

There was a brief thought of if Link was being cruel with his first question, pointing out that the three of them had escaped his watch. But no, Link wasn't the sort to be cruel. He'd be legitimately concerned. As much as he shouldn't be; he should be more concerned for himself.

But that helped Ganon, so he let the thought slide. He knew about Shadow Link as it had been an obstacle to past heroes. Was it talking to him this time? That would make sense of it trying to guilt trip him. Although it was a surprise to hear that the shadow had ended up on that summoning chain. As long as it didn't talk Link out of siding with him, Ganon didn't care what the shadow did. It might even end up helping him if it stressed him out further and Gale seemed to be the only one with sympathy.

Still, he was at a part of his plans where he needed to be patient. Keep up this connection to Link, don't let him drop it, get him to drop any connection to Zelda, and help him get to the point where the Triforce of Courage finally showed up. There really wasn't anything more Ganon needed to do. He could put more pressure on the provincial leaders to swear allegiance to him. But they'd hear that a hero was around and be less likely to give in.

He should make them all suffer for that. He should make the entirety of Hyrule's new lands despair so much that they wanted everything to end, with no hope in the hero. While the hero would win in the end because that's what was demanded, he should make sure they all had to struggle to get back to a semblance of peace and normality.

Ganon pinched at the back of his hand. That was the voice of evil again. But he had to be doing something to satisfy it or it would flood out his own thoughts. Maybe he should find something of moderate cruelty. Like some kind of bloodsport competition; such things had popped up in the past.

He wrote down a few ideas for that before turning back to responding to Link.

Dear Link:

I am glad to hear from you. You've got a head injury, so don't do anything stupid to aggravate it. The healing process for those can take a long time and symptoms might not show to others. If you start to feel overstimulated or overwhelmed, get to someplace quieter. You might keep away from crowds of people to be safe in that regards. And please keep writing me, even if it's nothing important and all inconsequential natter. I don't want to further lose myself; I was trying to keep some other people around me as countermeasures, but it's grown risky to them. Any social contact would be appreciated. Just be careful not to incite the darker voices if we end up meeting up again. And I hope we can meet up, I don't want to go crazy.

But if you've got a connection to this shadow self of yours through the summoning chain, there might be something you could do with that kind of magic...

Would you be my hero? That would be nice. Sorry if this ended up rambling and complicated. I want to help but I'm not sure how clear I'm being. Please let me know when you'll be alone so that I might come find you.

Love, Gale.

This letter had been three pages long, the middle of it being a discussion on summoning magic that Link couldn't fully understand. Gale would start to explain something, then introduce another idea without explain it. But he'd explain other things with the thing he wasn't explaining… Link ended up skimming it for anything he could understand. From what he could tell, it seemed that the horse Balrog had accepted him as a summoner and would obey him loyally. Because Shadow Link did not accept him, it would not obey him if he tried to call on it. It could potentially come out whenever it wanted. But it was easiest when he was alone like last night, and summoning Balrog drew from the same energy pool. So he could lessen the chance of Shadow Link appearing by calling on Balrog often.

There was no way to tell if Gale was lying in his writing. Maybe if he contradicted himself; Link wondered about comparing the letters. Yet if he was trying to teach him about summoning, did that mean he cared? Or he might be showing off. Or it might be Ganon confusing him with too much information. After too long of thinking it over with no clear answer, Link put the letter away and tried to focus on what he had to do today.

Although Link had offered to pay for the rooms, the innkeeper wouldn't take payment as it was Princess Zelda with him. They also got meals without charge, which Link appreciated after the limited food as a prisoner. It meant that he shared breakfast with Zelda that morning; she still seemed cheerfully oblivious to his discomfort. Then again, she'd been imprisoned for longer. He didn't feel right rebuking her.

"Are you not feeling well?" she finally asked. She'd been talking mostly with one of the town knights about taking back command of the Hylian forces. "You look like you didn't sleep well."

"I didn't," he said, focused more on finishing his food. Which was, he glanced down to see, fried eggs and hash browns with crumbled sausage and cheese. Not that it mattered, he was hungry and didn't care what it was.

"That's not good, not with you just having escaped the tower," Zelda said, furrowing her eyebrows in worry.

"I'll get you to Sudai's castle, don't worry," Link said. Balrog could go fast enough to evade most monsters. The dragons might be a problem. Still, he couldn't find the worry that he should have trying to escort the princess through unfamiliar places.

That did nothing to keep her from worrying. "Even if Ganon doesn't come after us, we should get there soon. You could stay there a few days, make sure you're in good shape before you go off hunting dragons and the sword."

There was a 'no' that he really wanted to say, but it got caught up in his throat unsaid. Their views were different, but he should be getting along with her as the hero and princess would help each other. That was…

He'd spent so long trying to find her and now here she was, out of his reach just in front of him. That orange crystal would be impenetrable. While it would keep her safe, there was still so much to do. She'd given him an incredible task, to destroy a demon that not even the goddesses could get rid of. She'd done so much to help him; some might say she was using him. However, knowing this gave Link confidence that he could do this impossible task for her. He had to. As otherwise, he wouldn't be seeing her again.

He would not give up; his spirit would not break.

...Link closed his eyes. That was how things should be… wasn't it? But that meant they were just following in the footsteps of the first legend, treading this adventure yet again. Things were different every time, such as how he barely knew her in this lifetime. That was how things should be, and yet he wanted nothing more to do with her once he got her to the castle in Sudai.

"Link? Is that all that's bothering you?"

He looked back at her and saw that she was leaning on the table, ready to listen. While she might think she was ready, he had a good idea of how she'd react on hearing what was really on his mind. "No," he said, trying to work out what to tell her. He had little connection to her this time but still felt uncomfortable outright lying to her.

"Is it about losing your horse?" she asked, sounding sympathetic. "Sorry, I saw signs of what was happening. It's an unfortunate loss."

And there was that too; Link tried not to grimace. There was an impulse to leave the table or just not talk anymore. Still, this kind of thing might be why the mark of the Triforce hadn't appeared with him yet. He would probably never be a chatty person, but he should be able to maintain some kind of conversation. Even this difficult one.

Of course, Zelda couldn't know how difficult she was making this for him. She must only want to help him. "She wasn't even a threat, but monsters don't discriminate. If it wasn't for..."

"That's not it," Link said, trying to stop her before she realized how much her words were driving him away. But that got him saying the wrong thing and having to get out of a misunderstanding. "I mean, it was my fault she died. That..."

She kept quiet this time, thankfully. Zelda had paused in her eating too, so she was listening. Unlike Gale, it didn't make him feel any more comfortable talking to her.

"It makes things worse," he finally said, feeling pathetic in this. The dining hall was quiet too, making his face get warm at the thought of others listening in. "It was distracting; I let someone else plan out trying to rescue you. I failed him too in getting captured. And, well, Gale's in trouble because of this mess I made. He's really important to me, and he's been helping me try to speak better. Not that I'm doing great, but, I'm actually talking, so.." where did he go from there? He couldn't tell her who Gale was.

"Is he the one you love?" she asked sadly. "When I was healing you, I kept getting dream-like images of someone like that. You're going through many hardships and not even I was fully aware of it. I'm sorry, I wanted to stop this before it started. But I couldn't do that in time and many have gotten hurt." She smiled, though her empathy made her seem on the brink of tears. "Still, you're a hero and you've done great things already. You can save him too, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so," Link said. It made him feel a little better. If he could believe in his feelings without doubt, then he was sure he could save Gale. But that doubt warned him that this could be worse than a life or death decision. Whatever he decided, the lands and peoples of all Hyrule would be affected. "Though I wish I wasn't so important."

"What was that?" Zelda asked.

"It's a lot of pressure," he said, making himself speak up. "I'm sure you understand."

"Yes, and I can understand you better knowing all that," she said. She might think that, but Link doubted it. "Let's focus on what we can do now and see about getting to Sudai's castle."

"Yes, we'll do that." Once they were finished with breakfast, they checked out of the inn and headed out on the day's trek.

The trail into Sudai moved ever downward, at a lesser slope than the Zora river road. At points, they could hear a noisy rush of water in the distance. When the road came out of the mountains, they found that they were about a mile from the river from Lake Hylia. It was swelled with rains from the storm, spilling out into the floodplains. An earthen wall had been built up to protect the road, but water lines showed that sometimes this road got flooded out. That was no threat to Balrog, though.

"Where's their castle?" Link asked as Balrog kept along the road.

"It should be in the hills to the north, further down this road," Zelda said. "There's an obelisk at the turn that leads there, we shouldn't be able to miss it." Not long after saying that, she tugged at his sleeve and pointed up in the sky ahead. "Look, see that golden falcon?"

Link nodded; it was a bright spot in the blue sky. The large falcon wasn't flying that high and was easily seen.

"That's the great falcon spirit that obeys the wearer of the Falcon Ring. It could lead us directly to Joachim. If it's noticed us, I'm sure it would go to inform him."

"We'll follow the bird then," Link said, signaling Balrog to slow down as he was quickly catching up the falcon. The bird spirit flew along the road for a while, but then veered off to the south, not the north. When it started circling down to descend, the obelisk Zelda had mentioned was in sight.

As was a large group working along the earthen dam. Part of the road was washed out and muddy due to a break in the dam. Although he was supposed to be the king, Joachim was down there with the group helping out. He held out his arm to let the falcon land. While he didn't seem strong enough to carry a large bird of prey like that, he didn't have difficulty speaking with it there. The falcon took off again as Link brought Balrog across the washed out part of the road to reach a higher part before stopping to let Zelda get down.

Joachim came right over once the falcon was gone. "Zelda, you made it!"

"Joachim, I'm so glad to see you!" she called over, waving. She dropped off as soon as Link brought Balrog to a halt, going to hug him tightly.

Link dismounted as well, but kept Balrog summoned and stayed by him, figuring he'd give those two a moment to enjoy their reunion. "You are an incredible spirit," Link said quietly to the horse, patting its neck. Balrog didn't even twitch his ears or turn to him. "Don't seem to have any emotions though. You're good for fast trips, but I'd prefer a partner horse like Epona."

Since they were out in a muddy field, the pair kept their moment together short for now. "Link, I don't know if I can thank you enough for getting Zelda out here safely," Joachim said, smiling at him like a new friend and offering a handshake. "Well done."

He took the handshake and nodded. "You've got to keep her safe now."

"We've got some of Velken's bodyguards here, we'll do all we can," he said. "Could you come back to the castle at least? We can get you a good lunch and discuss our plans for how to deal with Ganon."

Link was about to give a polite acceptance to that when Zelda frowned and added, "He's gone much too far; we'll all be better off without him."

His throat tensed; he was strongly tempted to just nod and pretend to go along with it. It was clear that he was going to get no help from Zelda in his plans to save Gale. If he could convince her that it could work… but would she even listen to the possibility that there might be some good in him? Someone worthy of saving. "There is a lot to do," he said, but even he could tell his words were stiff and unnatural.

Fortunately, they ignored it politely. The dam repair were going fine, so Joachim got his carriage driver to take them back to castle. Zelda gave him more specifics on finding the thief's hideout in Trickster's Grotto. Surprisingly, he had seen the tablet that would open the hidden path before; it was a short distance from the center opening. It had just never seemed important, like an outdated trail marker.

"There's also the matter of the Septdraco dragons to deal with," Zelda said.

"I'd rather deal with them before Ganon," Link said.

Thankfully, she nodded in agreement. "Yes, that might work out. I was thinking about what you said last night. While you can take him on fairly once you have the Master Sword, he may be waiting on the reunion of the Triforce now. That means that he could keep quiet until he hears that Courage has manifested. It would match up with the events of past legends."

"We shouldn't rely entirely on that line of thinking," Joachim pointed out.

"I need more practice," Link said.

"That would be the prudent course if you feel that way," he said. "We have Leonidas stationed near Hyrule Castle. Did Velken leave with you or is he staying?"

"He left with us," Zelda said. "There was something he wanted to get done, but he told me he'd come here once he could."

Joachim nodded. "All right. I can show you both on a map where Leonidas' camp is once we get back in the castle."

"Then what about the seven dragons?" Link asked. It would be handy to know where the general's camp was, but he wanted to get that information from Zelda soon. After all, he might not get another time to speak with her like this.

Thinking it over, she put her right hand over her left. There was a slight golden shine there. "I've seen them while the storm was raging, yes. They each bear a marking of the Septdraco on them now; it's a weak point designed to make them easier to recapture. Even if the seal mark is a weak point, you must prove the strength of your will to keep control over them. Dragons do not submit easily.

"I've not been able to properly locate all of them. The Prism Dragon, Thorn Dragon, and Sulfur Dragon seem to be roaming, so they may be up to chance to find. The Rotting Dragon is here in Sudai's marshes and Twin Fang is far south in Laverre's bay. Those two are most dangerous in those areas, although if Rotting heads upriver to Zora territory, it could put anyone around those waters at risk.

"However, the Clockwork Dragon and the Great Wyrm are tied as the most dangerous overall. All the rest are dangerous as beings of great magic, strength, and resilience, of course. Those two are extraordinary for dragons, being godlike in their capacities. For instance, the Clockwork Dragon has been theorized of being capable of razing the entirety of Hyrule Castle and the castle town in a matter of minutes if it utilizes its full capacity. It's a force of pure destruction. Thankfully, it's not seen fit to let loose like that yet. It's roaming the skies of central Hyrule and resting in Gerudo Desert; we were lucky not to see it yesterday.

"The Great Wyrm is a slow mover and it may not even have a method of direct attack. But it is the largest of the seven, able to create earthquakes at will once it digs itself fully underground. From my visions, I can tell Ganon gave them orders before he lost control over them. It may be a side-effect of the summoning process, but each of the dragons, including those wandering about, has been compelled to go to the locations he specified for them even if they did not submit to his will. The Great Wyrm is still making its way into the snowy lands past the northern mountain range."

"I've heard of that one," Joachim said. "Once it gets underground, it would be capable of tearing the earth apart across the whole continent. You'd want to get the Great Wyrm taken care of before it has that capability."

Link nodded, a plan for this forming in his mind. He'd take their invitation to a late lunch at the castle; there were some things he was curious to look into here too. This evening, he'd warp back to Taven in order to find the Master Sword. Then he could head north to get the Great Wyrm, maybe the Clockwork if he came across it. For the rest, he could decided on the order to take them on later. The trek down to Laverre would be a long one too.

And once he had the Master Sword, hopefully he could disprove his shadow's opinion of him.

Thankfully, Ganon had not attempted the same stunt to take Zelda away. With the resources at the Sudai castle, she was able to come up with a means to make it harder for someone to teleport near her. That should give plenty of time and warning to her new guards that something was wrong. And she was back with Joachim, so things seemed brighter.

When they were on their own after lunch, she told Joachim about what Ganon's plans for her were. "I don't know if he's right, that times like this will keep cropping up as long as someone of my bloodline is around," she said, leaning on the carved railing to look over the southern landscape. The flooded areas shimmered under the afternoon sun; she'd heard that this place was an amazing sight when the marsh plants were in bloom.

"They do keep calling such stories Legend of Zelda, even if the princess is out of the picture most of the time," he said.

She nodded. "Right. But they're more than just one person. The Triforce alone is capable of triggering times of strife. As a keystone of our world with the capability to grant the wish of any who touch it, people will fight over it. That's why it often hides away, either in the Sacred Realm or within three separate people." She rubbed the back of her left hand, causing it to sparkle. "The pieces hold great powers as well, often imbalanced."

"But he's still got it in his head that he can stop it from going if he kills you before you have a child," Joachim said. Then he smiled thoughtfully. "Except I don't think this is a good time for that, so I'll abstain from problematic actions for the time being."

Zelda laughed, glad to have a reason to even as she rapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Oh come on, I know what you're really thinking." He grinned, then chuckled himself. "Though I'd prefer that a child not be born in a time of darkness like this. You never know what could happen, especially with someone that has dangerous ideas like Ganon around. But, someday in the future, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Right, someday," he said. Then he took her arm. "Actually, if he seems dissatisfied with these legends, and of course he would be when villains always die at the end, might he decide to spare you should you step out of the normal course? Like marry me and become queen instead of staying a princess?"

"It's what we want," she said, pulling him closer. "I don't want to be apart from you, so let's go ahead with it."

"It's a long shot, but I hope it works," he said, then hugged her tight.

Zelda smiled and put her head on his shoulder. "Right, me too." And it reminded her of something else happy. "Actually, I found out something nice before Link left. He's got a man that he loves, so you don't have to worry about him."

"Well that's good," he said, amused at it. "I'm glad, he seems like a good person. Did he say anything about him?"

"Not much, just that his name was Gale. Link is worried about him being in trouble. I'd like to help him with that, but I'm having a hard time focusing my vision on him." It was a strange thing, perhaps because she was still getting the hang of this ability.

"Of course..." then he pulled away from her, looking thoughtful and worried. "Wait, Gale, I've come across that name recently. Gale Fellclaw?"

"I don't know, he only gave the one name," Zelda said, partly closing her eyes. The Triforce of Wisdom acknowledged her silent question, thankfully. "That seems to be right."

"It's someone I've been trying to track down because he doesn't seem to exist," Joachim explained. "He's supposedly a member of nobility in this province, but no noble I've spoken to recognizes the name. He owns several businesses and valuable properties throughout Sudai, but no one has met him. A few said they did, but they can't remember details about him."

"Like a con artist?" Zelda said, now worried as well.

He put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. "There is an importance to the name Fellclaw: it's the name of a small clan of Gerudo women who wander around Sudai and a few other lands. It's also the maiden name of the last queen of Sudai, Ganon's mother. I suspect that it's some hidden scheme of his here."

"That means.." some of the images she'd seen previously became clearer to her. He had red hair, dark skin, and the right facial structures to be Gerudo. Only one Gerudo male could be alive at a time; the spirits that watched over them ensured that. And there was something new, of Link chained to the wall with his heart in painful turmoil while Ganon kept tormenting him with perverse glee. "He's in love with Ganon. And he knows it."

"That's not right, they should hate each other," Joachim said.

That reminded Zelda of what she'd seen herself. Link had gone to bed early last night, after being tensely withdrawn with all the attention they got in the Kakariko inn. According to the people there, he had been talking just fine with them and the Gorons, especially with a handsome stranger that he'd been with on a previous visit. Yet just today, he seemed happy when she showed concern for his love.

"Link had said that Gale might be in trouble, but I think he's the one in serious trouble," Zelda said. She rubbed at her eyes so she didn't end up in tears. "This is bad, we have to do something. But Ganon's going to have him tricked, maybe even delusional. Link's supposed to get the Master Sword, but what's he going to do with it?"

"We may have to consider back-up plans," he said, clasping her hand. "Link seemed like a good person to me, but given what others think about him, there's a lot at stake in whatever he does. Ganon could ruin everyone if he manipulates Link into being his ally."

"You're right, but I hope it doesn't come to needing such plans." Because things would have to get even worse than they already were for a power like the Triforce to decide that it needed a new bearer for one of its parts.