The Legend of Link:
The Bastard Prince
13. The Master Sword
The whole while Mina was giving her a tour of the strangely convoluted halls of the Palace, Zoelda feigned interest, her mind elsewhere. She really did try to listen to everything the enthusiastic little Princess told her about each room they went through, but she couldn't seem to focus for long enough to hear the end of every sentence. It was not only the exhaustion at having been awake and active for what had to be around twenty hours now, it was also the gnawing feeling that something was very different about Alarink - and not just in his appearance.
While she was now certain that finding out about Alarink's lineage was the big thing that was going to happen in Gerudo, she couldn't help but feel there was an even bigger revelation about him yet to come. And while she really hadn't known him all that long - less than a week in fact, which surprised her a great deal - she had come to care for him in her own way, and the idea that he had secrets left to reveal made her slightly uncomfortable.
Especially since he'd been acting so out of character.
Zoelda had him pegged as someone who enjoyed putting himself in danger, heedless of his own life in the face of monsters. Now something had changed. It wasn't that he was more cautious, it was more like he was saving his dying for later. Even on their way to Arbiter's earlier, he had sworn and blustered his way through skirmishes with Moldorm, but there had been something different in those encounters, something profound.
And Zoelda suspected that something had to do with the question that had lingered behind his eyes all day.
As Mina - still holding her hand and grinning all unaware - lead them and the half a dozen guards who were ordered to follow them through another door, Zoelda pondered that question again. While she couldn't for the life of her figure out what he was silently asking, she did have a few suspicions. And while that silent question and her suspicions had been on her mind most of the day, there was also the matter of her dream and that cut across his chest.
That clear diagonal bisection of his Twili skin nagged at Zoelda, teasing her with almost understanding. It clearly had to do with the Triforce, that much was obvious from how it had glowed when their respective hands had, but it also seemed to have another purpose. The more she thought about it and her dream, the more she came to think it had something to do with their final showdown with Ganondorf, and, more importantly, Alarink's part in it.
Since she found out about her part in this, about their mission to take down Ganondorf once and for all, really, she had assumed it would involve Alarink putting the Master Sword through his chest again with the two broken pieces of Triforce in the room with him. As she thought about it know, she realised that assumption was faulty, there was going to have to be something far more momentous happening in that final confrontation than that to make sure Ganondorf was completely gone.
And not knowing what that was going to be set her on edge.
"And, finally," Mina said as she let go of Zoelda's hand for the first time in tour. The lack of grip on her hand drew her back to reality as she watched the young girl grab two door handles in front of her and swing a pair of heavy double doors open with surprising ease. As the doors swung open, the young Twili princess span around to look at the other girl with a huge, bright grin. "This is the balcony of the Palace!"
The balcony was large enough to be a room in and of itself, railed off with an intricate blue and black fence, the likeness of the Triforce in the middle of the fence. There were no chairs or tables or the like on the balcony, a fact that lead Zoelda to suspect this was a ceremonial balcony rather than a functional one, and the sky and city just beyond the rail were as black and murky as one would expect from the Twilight Realm. In fact, the city itself was so covered in shadow that she could barely make out anything more than the occasional flash of blue skin as small as an ant in the city below.
It wasn't the height or the sight before her that boggled her mind, it was the fact that she was standing on the ceremonial balcony of the Palace of Twilight, still wearing Alarink's robe, now with the hood down and around her shoulders. She hated to admit it, but she felt an awful lot like she was on display as Alarink's chosen conquest then, looking down on the people he could have one day ruled with her by his side.
That last thought stopped her short.
A few days ago, she didn't even know Alarink. She had thought the Palace of Twilight and Hylians were all things out of her games, made up by the conjoined imaginations of a group of Japanese men. Now, she was stood overlooking the realm of Twilight, vaguely wondering what it would be like to be their queen in some alternate universe.
Zoelda was a little worried about how much that thought appealed to her.
"So," Mina galloped over to where the other girl stood, folding her arms behind her back and looking up at her with giant, innocent blue eyes that, for some reason, looked less out of place than her brother's. "What do you think?"
"It's, it's, um, very impressive." Zoelda tried to bring her mind back to more rational thoughts, but a part of her still spent time wondering 'what if?' "And this will all be yours someday?"
"Yeah." The girl made a face as she stood next to Zoelda, crossing her arms over the tall railing. The brunette glanced back then, trying to gauge how much the obtrusive guards by the doors would hear of their conversation. "It wasn't exactly my choice though."
"You don't want to rule the Twili?" Asked Zoelda, somewhat surprised to hear that.
"It's not that," Mina rested her head against her crossed arms as she unseeingly stared at the realm before her. "It's just that I wasn't meant to rule, you know?"
"You've only earnt your place as the heiress to the throne because Ala- Link doesn't want it?"
"Exactly. I mean, Link was already gone to Hyrule by the time I started to remember things, so I suppose I should be used to the fact that I was always next in line, but it doesn't make it easy."
"Link was already gone by the time you started retaining memories?" Zoelda was a little shocked by that. She knew she shouldn't be, since the girl before her was barely over 10, but it struck her as strange all the same.
"Yeah," sighed Mina, still not looking at Zoelda. "I only see him a few times a year. That's why I love it so much when he makes a surprise visit."
"Did you not know your father, then?" She asked before she realised it might be a hard question for the girl to answer.
"No." Mina answered flatly. "He died before I was born, that's why no one in Hyrule knows I exist."
"Are you not allowed to visit Hyrule?"
"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?" The girl turned to her with a grin, though there was also genuine curiosity behind it.
"Sorry," Zoelda lamely apologised. "I'm a curious sort…"
"It's fine!" Mina reassured her, taking her hand as she grinned again. It was the kind of innocent and loving face that Twilis lost as the grew older and Hylians retained so long as they stayed innocent at heart. Zoelda could tell that Mina was going to be a good thief with a face like that, people would automatically trust her because of it and her royal status. The girl could probably steal a house, its contents and the family it belonged to and get away with it with a face like that. "So am I! No, I've never visited Hyrule."
"I'm sorry about that." Zoelda mentally berated herself for all her lame apologies.
"It's not your fault!" Mina laughed before making a face again. "It's Link's if anyones. He doesn't want me to be treated the same way he is. He wants me to grow up loved in Twilight rather than have to face the people in Hyrule as Father's bastard daughter."
"You're not missing much, Princess." Shuddered Zoelda as she remembered how Alarink was treated back in Hyrule, of how much he wanted to keep his sister's life a secret from everyone in Hyrule. It was all too clear that he loved his little sister, just by how protective he was of her never going to the realm in which he had set up his home.
"Well, either way, it's not like I know what I'm missing, is it?" Mina pointed out maturely as she turned back from looking at the city to look Zoelda full in the face again. "Plus, Link kept his promise to introduce me to the best Hylian one day!"
Zoelda self-consciously tucked a dark strand of hair behind her pointed ear, blushing slightly that the girl would think of her as the best Hylian. "Oh, I'm no-"
"There you are." Midna said, striding onto the balcony with Alarink right behind her. They both looked a little red eyed and Alarink's looked very haunted behind his constant grin. The haunting definitely had something to do with that question in his eye, because it had changed it to an answer, an assurance on something that Zoelda wasn't sure she liked.
"Where did you think we were, Mother?" Mina asked her with a grin, galloping over to her and wrapping her arms around her. "You told us to wait out on the balcony for you and Link!"
"I suppose I did, didn't I?" Midna absently ran a hand through her daughter's hair as she looked out over the shadows that were her kingdom. There was definitely something about her that was significantly different than an hour or so before. Then she'd been somewhat the Midna that Zoelda remembered from the Twilight Era, now she was more pensive and thoughtful, emotions the brunette didn't necessarily associate with the Queen of Twilight. Obviously, the private discussion between mother and son had been significant, since Alarink was equally quiet, though his emotions were harder to read. Even in his natural Twili form, Alarink was in total control of the emotions he showed.
Old habits of hiding his feelings from Hylians seemed to die hard.
Midna took Mina's hand in hers and walked over to stand next Zoelda at the railing, looking out on her kingdom of Twilight in silence. The mood the Queen brought with her was as heavy and oppressive as the shadows covering the kingdom, and just as difficult to break free of. After a few moments of standing a little ways back, Alarink walked up to stand on the other side of Zoelda, crossing his arms over the railing and looking over the dark horizon.
Covertly watching him out the corner of her eye, Zoelda was a little surprised to note the tear tracks hiding on his cheeks and ginger stubble, and even more so to notice the unshed ones standing in his eyes as he stared into nothing. Those pale eyes of his that were so peculiar in his Twili form were perhaps even harder to read now than they were back in Hyrule, though the haunting and unwavering answer to the question that had stood there since the morning was still there, looking perhaps worse now than it did an hour or so earlier.
Then he shuddered, turning his back on the shadows of Twilight and walking back a ways with his arms crossed.
"You alright?" Zoelda moved to stand next to him, weighing up whether or not to comfortingly put a hand on his shoulder as she asked.
"Yeah. *ahem* Yeah, I'm fine." Alarink muttered, shifting his weight from foot to foot in uncharacteristic unease. He shuddered again, running his hand across his face after he did.
"Are you sure?" Asked she, a part of her wanting to tease him a little, though more of her was concerned with the odd way he was acting.
"Yeah! Yeah, no." Finally, he looked at her for the first time since he came to the balcony, seeing all the compassion and concern in her dark eyes and noting the sincerity of her question. Then he laughed, a nervous, almost hyperventilating laugh that Zoelda knew all too well from when she tried to laugh off tears. The grin wavered and tears stood plainly in his eyes as he put on a brave face.
Then he hiccupped, tried to look away and muttered, "No. No, I'm not fine."
Suddenly, Zoelda took him in her arms, holding him close and consolingly stroking his back. After a few bemused seconds, he hugged her back, silently sobbing into her shoulder as he did.
While the embrace had been spontaneous and only meant to last a few consoling seconds, Zoelda found herself not wanting to let go even after Alarink stopped sobbing and shaking. She continued to rub his back as his grip on her loosened from fearful to comforting.
Though she had never been a hugger, Zoelda had to say she wouldn't have minded holding onto Alarink a few moments longer than when he broke it off. There was a strange pang in her chest as he let go, one of regret that she couldn't quite understand.
However, she was anything but regretful or sad as she saw the genuine, though wavering smile on his face and his still wet but no longer haunted eyes. "Thank you." He said simply.
"Anytime." Replied Zoelda, a simple smile in her features.
"… Hey! I got the Twili blessing, we can go get the Sword and finish this now!" He suddenly grinned, a grin that filled her with uncertainty. Not at the fact that it was an obvious fake smile, but at the fact that she wasn't sure she wanted it to be over.
When it ended, she'd have to go back to her world and say goodbye to Alarink, something she really didn't like the idea of. Worse, as her eyes drifted to the line bisecting his chest, she suspected that the parting between her and Alarink would be a little more permanent than crossing the boundaries of worlds that Zoelda now knew she could cross again anytime.
"…Why are you looking at my chest again?" He asked her after a moment, causing her to flush ever so slightly as she realised she'd been a little more obvious than she'd intended to be. "Seriously, Zo, what's the deal with you and my chest today? Did our conversation last night pique your interest?"
Flushing even brighter at the suggestiveness of that statement and the memory of opening up to him the night before, Zoelda turned away and began to pull off his cloak from her shoulders.
"Ooh, steady!" He grinned. "While I like where this is going, do you think we could go somewhere where my mother, sister and a regiment of royal guards aren't to carry on this line of thought?"
"Don't be stupid, Link." She tried to fold the cloak into some semblance of neatness before giving up, balling it up and shoving it towards him, hoping her cheeks weren't too obviously red still as she looked away. "I noticed you were quite cold when I was hugging you and thought you needed this more than I do at the moment."
"I'm always cold, Zelda." Replied he, taking the cloak and putting it on anyway.
"Perhaps you shouldn't spend so much time half naked then."
"Touché." Alarink said as he settled the hood around his shoulders and allowed the front to waterfall down. It appeared to be tailor made for him, fitting him closely and enhancing his natural skin colours and shape. Quite a contrast to how bulky it had looked on Zoelda.
"I've just let Mina know that we're going down to the city to retrieve the Sword and Ganondorf's spirit." Midna said as she came over to them, her face still sad and her hand in her daughter's. "She's going to grab her cloak and come with us."
"I'd rather not make a ceremony out of this, Mother." Alarink protested as they made their way back into the Palace, Mina leading the way to her quarters to grab her version of what Zoelda was now suspecting to be the royal Twili cloak.
"But it's an important event, Link!" Mina said. The girl now had tears standing her eyes too, making Zoelda think that she was missing something here, something the Twili royal family knew that she didn't.
"Yes, I suppose it is, but we also don't want to blow it out of proportion, Mina."
"You're not letting me not come, brother." The Twili Princess said with uncharacteristic forcefulness, leading Alarink to start slightly.
"Mina…" Mumbled he as they reached Mina's quarters, which looked a lot like any other place in the Palace to Zoelda. She probably should have paid more attention to the tour the girl gave her.
"I want the opportunity to say goodbye, Link." Whispered Mina, on the verge of sobbing as she ran into her room, leaving the rest of them standing a little shocked in the hallway.
"How much did you tell her?" Alarink asked his mother in a slightly strangled tone.
"All of it."
"Why?" He demanded, his tone sick and stricken. "Why would you do that to her?! She's just a kid!"
"She's the Princess of the Twili, Link. She needs to know what's going on in both worlds, the good, the bad, and the ugly."
"Hyrule's pretty much an exclusively bad and ugly place, Mother. She doesn't need to know about it."
"Of course it is, it's ran by an immature Princess who's probably having sex with her 'hero-knight' as we speak." Midna said frankly, her sorrow seeming to have abated enough to allow her to speak more frankly. "But one day, Mina's going to succeed me and have to know what's going on and how to handle it. You threw yourself in at the deep end of Hyrule when you were her age, you know."
"I had a heavy destiny on my back, I was forced to grow up quickly." Alarink said defensively.
"So did she, as did your friend here." Midna gestured to Zoelda with a little less contempt than she would have earlier, causing the brunette to blink in surprise. "Everyone grows up in their own pace and time, Link. It's time to stop hiding your sister from the pain the world holds, at least the Twili world."
"… Don't introduce her to Hyrule until this is over." Said he to his mother forcefully, his face unhappy but clearly displaying that he knew this was how it had to be.
"I'll keep her from Hyrule as long as I can." Midna promised as Mina came back out, tear marks on her face that she was obviously attempting to hide in the deep cowl of her hooded cloak.
Silently, Alarink extended his arm to his sister. Hesitantly, she took it and lead the way at his side, muttering quietly between themselves as they went down the corridor to the Palace entrance.
This left Zoelda in a slightly uncomfortable position next to the Queen of the realm, who was silently scrutinising her. The brunette was simply trying to wrap her head around what had happened in the last few hours, but the constant and silent watching of the Twili Queen made that a little hard. So, she kept her head held high, tried not to limp too much on her once again hurting leg, and followed Alarink and his sister into the Palace courtyard and down into the busy throng of people in the city.
The siblings conversed animatedly with the towns folk, giving no indication of the fact that they'd both been crying only a little while before and effectively being model royalty as they invited the Twili mass to follow them to the pulling of the Master Sword by the new hero. A little to Zoelda's surprise, the commoners flocked to the Prince and Princess and all but ignored the Queen walking beside her. There were the occasional nods of respect in her direction, but most of the attention was on the royal siblings.
Just as Zoelda started to wonder why the Twili were ignoring their Queen, about the same time as the plaza before the broken mirror came into view with the impaled Ganondorf in its centre, Midna spoke directly to her for the first time.
"He'd die for you without a second thought, you know." She said simply, her face forward and in no way looking at her, though it was clear who her words were directed at. Zoelda stared up at the tall Twili, her face a mask of shock as she saw her regal bearing behind an impervious though saddened face. "Would you do the same for him?"
For a few seconds, Zoelda could only gape at the frank way the Queen had spoken about her son. There had been no doubt in her statement, and it almost sounded as though Midna knew that shortly her son would give his life for a girl he hadn't known a week before. It was a statement that struck her core, not because she was afraid that he'd do that for her:
But because she was afraid about the fact that she would do the same for him.
It made no logical sense, Zoelda knew that. The two of them hadn't know each other anywhere near long enough to be saying they'd die for one another, yet, at the same time, Zoelda knew that she knew Alarink better than anyone, except perhaps his mother. And, though she didn't like to admit it, Alarink knew her almost as well as her father and Impax did.
So, perhaps, it wasn't time that qualified the level of a solid friendship, it was more how well you got to know one another in that time.
And that struck Zoelda hard. She was still young and relatively inexperienced in the way of the world and friendships, so she had always thought that it was time that formed a firm bond between people, that no matter how well you got to know one another in the first week of meeting, it would still need more time to be a firm friendship. Now, as they approached the tall and dead Ganondorf in the middle of the plaza, a crowd of most of the Twilis in the realm around them, she knew that she'd see this through to the very end, even if it meant Alarink or her giving their life for one another.
Though she had to admit she didn't want to leave him, she knew as soon as the Sword was pulled from the hulking figure in the plaza, they would both be fully committed.
"I-" Zoelda started to respond to Midna before being cut off by a sudden silence as Alarink raised his hand.
Standing before the beyond giant figure of Ganondorf, Alarink looked ever inch a crown prince of Twilight, his odd eyes amused and seeming to attract everyone's attention. Midna and Zoelda had moved to stand next to Mina close to Alarink, though still far away enough for him to command almost all the attention. There were a few glances towards the rest of the royal family and more than a few looks levelled at Zoelda. The stares directed at her from orange, yellow and red eyes made her highly nervous as she kept her face natural, looking from Alarink to the slightly petrified figure of their enemy.
"People of Twilight!" Alarink raised his voice, addressing the vast crowd of people before him and commanding their attention from within the cowl of his hood. "We are gathered here today to witness something stupendous. Although, I'm sure we'd all rather wait until it was out of our, our children and our childrens children's life times, it is time to revive Ganondorf again."
He, rather theatrically, gestured to the figure behind him as groans of anger rumbled through the crowd. Once again, he put up a palm to quieten them and Zoelda started to suspect that he had been addressing the mass of Twilight like this a few times.
"Please, I know you'd all rather this not happen, and I know you all know what this will mean for me." The mumbles of agreement suggested to Zoelda that she was the only one in the dark about what Alarink's role in all this would be. "So, why don't I introduce you to the one who's causing it to be time to put an end to Demise's physical form? I promise you can't stay mad at reviving Ganondorf after you meet the product of the Twin line."
It took Zoelda a moment to realise that Alarink had grab her by the wrist and brought her to stand next to him to be shown off, and even longer to realised that everyone was now staring at her in a kind of awe. Then it hit her, as she grinned a bit sheepishly, that they weren't only staring at her because she was the product of this long-forgotten line of royalty, but because she was likely the only female Hylian they had ever seen. Princess Zelda of the Twilight era had never visited herself, so it was highly probable.
"Now, now, no need to gawk, people!" Alarink laughed as he strapped the Master Sword sheath on under his cloak. Zoelda could honestly say she had no idea where that had come from, as is the case whenever she sees a Link in one of the games already miraculously have the Master Sword sheath. Ultimately, she decided not to question it, deciding to keep the mystery around it alive instead.
"There's just one more thing we need. Mother," he turned to look at Midna, something subtly changing in his gaze as he looked at her. A kind of pleading filled with sorrow and an apology so profound it almost made you cry to look at. "Do you give the one of Hero's spirit permission to draw the Sword and unleash Ganondorf one last time?"
"I do." Midna spoke clearly, her eyes watery but firm as she wrapped a comforting arm around her daughter, who was all but weeping openly.
"Then if you'll all wait here a moment, I'll go fetch Alarink!" Exclaimed he with a laugh, running off into the crowd and direction of the former Mirror. The crowd laughed with him as he turned back, leaving a path open for him to walk back through. It seemed only his family and Zoelda could see that him making a joke out of this was a way for him to mask his fear. All the same, he turned back around, still laughing as he looked directly at Zoelda, a few metres from him now. "I'm kidding, of course! Allow the true Hero to take the Sword!"
Then he began to jog, slowly a first before quickly working himself up to a sprint back through the crowd to Ganondorf's body and the Sword in his chest. Almost without thinking, Zoelda took a step to the side, knelt down and held her hand on the floor, waiting for him to run into them. On the last step, he launched himself into her hands and she, completely in sync, lifted her hands into the air with great force as she stood back up. It was a perfect movement that allowed Alarink to grab a hold of the Master Sword with his left hand, hold onto the monster's shoulder with his right and brace his legs against his waistband as he pulled.
And with one swift and complete movement, Alarink pulled the Master Sword from the man that his father had killed, holding it high above him as he slid down the crumbling body, landing in a crouch, his hood fallen back from the force of it all.
While most of every realm that knew this reality watched the sky above them turn a gaseous purple and red, Alarink and Zoelda saw a much different view of the worlds than the one before them – one that was dominated by the crumbling figure of Ganondorf and his gaseous spirt spiralling away in malice.
The two saw the cloud of Ganon cover the sky above Arbiters, startling the Princess and Link out of each other's embrace as they watched. They saw the cloud pass over the desert and over Shad, who looked up from his books to watch it pass over him, his eyes saddened behind his reflective glasses. They watched Ganon travel over Zoras Domain to show Ralis that he was back, the Zora king watched in disgust, his daughter at looking troubled at his side. It circled over the Gorons of Death Mountain for a moment as they watched on grimly. Then it travelled past the Hidden Village, letting Impax know that her best friend's daughter was the one to put an end to it all. Finally, seemingly satisfied that it let the prominent people know of his return, Ganon drifted into Hyrule town. The townsfolk took one look at the cloud and immediately ran to their houses as it passed through the main square.
While many guards stood their ground against the cloud, none of them were able to hold him back and they all unfortunately perished.
Finally, Ganondorf set upon Hyrule Castle. He swirled for a bit before finally entering and settling, covering the Castle and its courtyard with an impenetrable purple and red fog.
They felt, rather than heard, Demise issue them with the challenge to come and meet him head on one last time. The duo clearly saw the sneer and grin as he taunted them, wanting the full Triforce in his hands one more time to remake the world in his image.
And then they were looking at the Twilight realm again, the realm of shadows and an empty plaza. Alarink, shakily got to his feet, holding the Sword in a tight grip before putting it over his shoulder and into its sheath. All the while, Zoelda was staring at him with a look of resolution and determination. She nodded to herself once as Alarink looked at her confused, pushing his fringe off of his perspiring forehead and out of its circlet. Then she took his wrist in her hand and pulled him behind her as she ran, much like he had towards Ganondorf's body and the Sword, towards the place where the former Mirror of Twilight had stood.
Instinctively, she knew that she could open a portal back. Despite her sheer exhaustion and limp, she was determined to end this now. She didn't want Ganondorf out there any longer than necessary.
And so, she lifted her Triforced hand and opened a portal, dragging the Prince of the realm they were leaving behind her.
As he run/stumbled behind her, he turned to face his mother and sister and flashed them a grin that was meant to say, "I'm sorry, I love you guys, I'll miss you every day, and I promise I'll be back." He instead flashed them a gentle smile of wonder, sorrow and, perhaps most obviously of all, and certainly most confusingly, love.
The last thing Midna saw of her son was his grin of love for the girl dragging him to his inevitable destiny.
AN:
First, I want to thank everyone who reviewed last week. It really means a lot to me that people enjoyed the last chapter and took the time to review. To the person who sent me two reviews, thank you for sharing your story and taking the time to review despite not normally doing so, it really means a lot. I considered your suggestion to change the warnings and what I've actually decided to do is up the age bracket - I've been mulling it over for a while and, looking ahead to the last few chapters, it gets a little more violent and gruesome that what's normally accepted in a T story - so this is now a M story, though by this point, you probably know what to expect rating wise.
As is probably clear now, chapter 12 meant an awful lot to me and it really does make me happy to know that people enjoyed it and Alarink's confession.
Little story about that confession that I probably should have included last week: it wasn't intended. In my scene planning that was actually meant to be the moment when Alarink tells Zoelda that he's going to die and this chapter was meant to be her coming to terms with that fact. Instead, it got to 7pm the day I was writing that chapter and I was all in an emotional tizz, so I decided it was time to actively show Alarink's true character, who he really is underneath all the smiles and swears.
And before I knew it, I had a 2000 word confession going over the entire events of the story so far. When I looked at it again the next day, I was thinking that I needed to really cut it down since it was already a long chapter. But I didn't dare touch it. It was too emotionally raw, too perfectly showing who he actually is.
And for the longest time, that was the last thing I wrote. As I mentioned last week, circumstances prevented me from writing, as did my mental health. So, by the time it came to writing this chapter I thought the only was down, that in that confession I'd peaked and I would never write anything better.
So many things interrupted me while I was writing this chapter, to the point where it took me over a month to complete, only managing 500 - 2000 words at a time. But the thing that held me back the most was the thought that I could never write anything better than that confession.
Let me tell you, self doubt mixed with depression messes with you like a bitch.
But this is what I eventually managed, and I'm happy with it. Perhaps not as proud of it as I am with 12, but happy with it all the same. It's the start of the last part of the story (though it's not split quite right, you could even consider it the end of act two and start of act three, though I'm not sure I would).
And in this last part, I've gone for a more emotional writing style. I still can't think of a way to actually describe the change, but it's probably clear that I'm using this story as a way to work through some of my own problems from this point onward.
Anyway, I'll let you decide for yourself if you think I peaked last chapter as the story goes on (perhaps nothing will top that confession, but the second to last chapter sure as hell tries). I hope you stick with me, and forgive me for these last two longer than usually ANs.
I hope you continue to enjoy this story going forward, it's more interesting than the first half at least and focuses more with Alarink's love for Zoelda and how she deals with it and, later, the knowledge that he's going to die.
So, thanks for reading and - despite the fact that I say this every week and things still haven't improved for me - here's to a better next week.
~WWQ