THE SANDS OF TIME
Link raced through the twisting corridors of the palace blindly, running from his pain just as much as he ran toward his fate. Goddesses, what have I done... He wanted to scream. He wanted to weep. But instead he ran, ran from the emptiness that seemed to follow him like a curse.
"Link!" Navi called out to him. He ignored her. He shut her out, shut the world out.
Never again, he swore. Walls. He had let himself get too close – let his walls come down. Never again. He didn't have friends. He had been a fool to ever think he could.
All around him, servants recoiled as he ran past. Some cried out, fearful of the armed stranger sprinting through the palace with a face like thunder. He paid them no mind. He could feel the Oni bulge against his belt pouch as he ran. Just more pain.
A contingent of soldiers appeared ahead of him. At their head was an enormous man covered entirely in black armor. He wielded a thick sword that seemed too heavy for any human to carry. Link didn't bother to hide; he could feel the evil that emanated from the steel-clad figure. A Darknut. He growled deep in his throat – almost feral.
The soldiers didn't even have time to shout before he was upon them. Pain turned to fury and fire in his chest. He tore through them like paper. He was a wordless tempest – a whispering blade. The soldiers he left bloodied, yet alive. But the Darknut clattered to the ground as little more than broken bits of armor.
Three more contingents of guards fell before his wrath. He never slowed – never stopped moving. Soon, he stood before the grand doors of the throne room, the motionless bodies of two more Darknuts flayed about his feet.
Link growled again as he looked upon the door. "You ready, Navi?" he asked. The little fairy bobbled up to him hesitantly.
"You're angry," she said, sounding frightened. "You shouldn't be angry. Not now."
"You're either with me or you're not!" he yelled. "Which is it?"
Navi recoiled from the fury in his voice. He trembled. There was so much pain. Slowly, she nodded.
Link walked up to the door.
He was death.
Roaring, he struck out with all the rage he could muster. Wood exploded into the throne room. Stepping through the debris, he entered, blade drawn, looking for the thing he was there to kill.
He didn't immediately notice Zelda as she sat upon her golden throne, but it soon became apparent that she was alone in the room. The princess quickly veiled her shock at Link's sudden appearance, but beneath a mask of composure, surprise still glazed her eyes.
"Link," she said hesitantly. "How—"
"Where is Vaati?!" Link cut her off. His eyes darted around the room as if the Picori might be hiding behind one of the columns that lined the chamber.
Pause. "Who?"
Link's glare shot back to Zelda. His eyes narrowed. "Vaati."
The princess laughed. "Oh Link, whatever are you talking about?" Standing, she descended from the pedestal upon which sat her throne. With a wide smile, she began to walk toward him. "You've been gone for some time," she said warmly. "Come, let us celebr—"
Link growled. With a flick, the Master Sword was at her throat. "Vaati," he repeated.
Pealing laugher erupted from Zelda's mouth. "You continue to impress, Hero of Time!" she exclaimed. Still giggling, the possessed princess drifted backward. Floating a dozen feet off the ground, a monster studied him through Zelda's thin eyes. "I will admit, I am curious as to how you managed to escape from Mother Isle."
Link didn't answer. But Navi chose that moment to emerge from beneath Link's hat.
Zelda laughed loudly. "Ah, the riddle is solved! I did not imagine that any of the fairies had escaped my grasp." Her laughter vanished. "But rest assured, I will not make that mistake again." Raising her hand, she flicked her fingers, and whirl of dark energy shot toward the fairy faster than Link could follow.
"Navi!" he yelled as the little ball of light was hurled against the far wall. The magic surrounded her in a dark swirling cage.
"I can't get out!" she exclaimed, throwing herself against the barrier uselessly.
Link spun toward her, but suddenly Zelda was there. Link leapt away from the princess. "Release her, Vaati," he growled.
"Who?" Zelda replied with a snide grin. "The princess, or the fairy?" She laughed. "This body may be a bit...constricting, but it is oh so much fun to feel your Zelda's pain as more and more of her subjects die. Soon, the people will rise up against her. Perhaps beneath the headsman's axe, I will leave her. A fitting end, don't you think? To be extinguished by those you protect."
With a roar, Link leapt forward. His blade lashed out.
There was an explosion of sparks as the Master Sword met the jagged black blade that suddenly appeared in Zelda's hands. She cackled. "You sorry fool. You cannot touch me without killing the princess!"
Link's glare was full of dark fury. "She knows her duty. If her death will bring balance back to Hyrule, then she would welcome it."
Dancing away from his sword, Zelda chuckled. "My, aren't you a gloomy one? Why don't we ask her, shall we?" Without warning, her face went slack, and her head slouched against her chest. Slowly, she pulled herself erect. A different soul stared out through her glassy eyes – eyes that were drawn wide in shock and pain. "Link..." she whispered – pleaded. "Please..."
Just like that, the light faded from her eyes, and an unpleasant grin returned to her lips. "Ah, she seems so sad." Her eyes flashed hungrily. "I wonder why that is."
Link shook. He gripped his sword so hard that the tip of the blade began to tremble. "I'll kill you," he spat.
Zelda raised her barbed sword. "I'm afraid you can't, young hero."
Their blades met in a flurry of sparks. Link moved like lighting. The Master Sword flashed quicker than the eye could follow, yet Zelda effortlessly met him strike for strike. Faster! Link screamed at himself. He pushed himself to the edge. He was a blur. Zelda's eyes hardened in concentration, but she parried his attacks away with ease. It was almost as if Vaati knew his mind – knew his target even before the strike.
"Is this all you can do?" Zelda's voice mocked him. "Why, this isn't even worth my time." She snapped her fingers, and something crashed into Link's gut. His body flew through the air like a doll, crashing into the nearest column with a dull thud. The Master Sword was thrown from his grasp and skittered away across the marble floor.
Pain shot through Link's body. He doubled up, and blood splattered across the ground as he coughed violently. His vision blurred.
"Tch tch tch," Zelda admonished. "Don't you go losing consciousness on me just yet." She waved her hand, and something wrapped unmercifully around Link's body, dragging him into the air. He screamed as the pressure tightened around his broken ribs.
It's over, a small voice within him whispered. It's finally over. He relaxed, and began to drift into darkness.
No. Something in him stirred. No. Not yet. The darkness receded. It was being pushed back. Pain shot through his chest. Not yet. You aren't done yet.
"Swordsman!"
His eyes slid open. Though the haze of agony, he felt shock. Who? He wondered if he were seeing things, for there, just inside the shattered remains of the door, stood Kin. She was yelling something, but Link couldn't understand. He couldn't piece together the words.
Zelda was laughing, he thought, at Kin. Her mouth was moving. A sneer. It was hard to concentrate. Then Kin was running, but not towards him. Zelda's sneer became a yell. The magic surrounding him disappeared, and he collapsed onto the floor. Zelda shrieked. Something flew from her hands. Something black. Link could only watch. He couldn't move – couldn't yell. Kin didn't even try to evade. Her harp was in her hands. She dove forward. Navi's cage. She swung with all her might.
The harp shattered, and the blackness struck her. Her body smashed into the floor, and didn't move again.
Link screamed.
A moment later, the fairy's prison exploded into a thousand black shards. Navi burst out like a bullet. She zoomed toward Link, seeming to become brighter, and brighter with every passing moment. Her glow overtook Link's vision, and everything became light.
"Link."
The voice was familiar and soothing. Link opened his eyes. He had no idea where he was. Everywhere he looked was the same white expanse that seemed to stretch out into infinity. And then there, standing before him, was Venus.
"How...?" Link asked, mind reeling. "I watched you disappear. I watched Vaati destroy you."
The fairy queen smiled. "He did not relieve me of all my magic, though he believed it. I was able to splinter away a small piece of myself and conceal it so that I might continue to guide you on your journey."
Link stumbled backward. He felt numb.
"Yes," she said, her silver eyes twinkling. "I am Navi, and Navi is me."
Dazed, Link shook his head. His mind felt as if it were falling into sinksand.
"Link, your journey is not yet done," Venus said softly. "You must unlock the Sands of time."
"How?" Link asked, his voice strained.
"The magic within you is not dead, but dormant. It has coagulated, in a way, and hardened from disuse." She smiled. "But it is not dead. I can pour the last of my power into you and crack the shell around your own abilities."
He blinked. "But what will happen to you? To Navi?"
Venus's smile was sad. "We will fade away, but Hyrule will live on. You will live on."
"No..." Link whispered, reaching out. "You can't..."
Venus lay her silver hands in his. When she looked up again, it was with a wide grin and an all too familiar giggle. "I had a lot of fun with you, Link."
"Navi...please don't leave me..."
She smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Goodbye. My friend."
Like smoke in the wind, she vanished, and light overtook him once more.
The throne room snapped back into focus. Vaati hadn't moved. He could still see Kin's body as it lay motionless on the floor. It seemed that only a moment had passed.
Something is different. He felt...hot. Looking down, he almost expected to see steam rise from his skin. This feeling, he wondered numbly. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet. What is this feeling?
"Ah! So the fairy was able to mend your body?" Zelda's voice called out mockingly. "It makes no difference! I shall just break it again. You cannot escape death, young hero."
Link's brows furrowed. Colors. New colors that he had never imagined swam through the air. The world was alive. He could see it breathe. He looked up at Zelda. Colors danced around her as well, but they were different, foreign. They didn't belong. He reached forward. He could almost touch them. He could touch them. They didn't belong.
He pulled.
Zelda screamed, rising to her toes as if a thread pulled at the top of her head. Darkness began to billow out of her nose and mouth, muffling the shrieks that continued to rent the air.
The last of the darkness left her, and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Link," she rasped. "Run."
The dark plumes of smoke began to converge, swirling and twisting into each other. A shape began to form within the miasma, and Vaati's voice rang out, "I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL TEAR YOUR SOUL UNTIL YOU BEG FOR DEATH! YOUR POWER IS NOTHING!"
The Sands of Time. Navi's voice seemed to echo from deep within him. He looked down. The Oni was in his hands. You must unlock the Sands of Time. The mask quivered; it vibrated against his palm. Slowly, it rose into the air before him – hovering, revolving.
The Sands of Time.
Link grabbed the mask and thrust it onto his face.
Light exploded outward. Wind ripped through the chamber, crashing against the stone columns with the force of a typhoon. The floor shook, and whole sections of the ceiling began to crumble and fall. The wind coalesced near the top of the chamber, then, with a roar, it crashed down into the center of the swirling vortex, the floor cracked, and everything became still.
The dust gently settled, slowly revealing a crater in the middle of the explosion. Within stood a lone figure, shrouded by vapor that rose from the ground around his feet.
"What—what is this?" Vaati asked. His voice unsteady.
"Link?" Zelda whispered.
Suddenly, two white eyes shone out from within the mist. He took a step forward, and the vapor burst away into nothingness.
Zelda's breath caught. She saw Link, but it was as if he had become a demon. White light shone out from beneath his eyelids. All around his cheeks had appeared frightening red symbols that reminded her of claw marks, and upon his forehead lay an inverted blue diamond that faintly glowed. The color had been burnt from his tunic, leaving it completely white, but affixed to his chest, calves, and arms now shimmered a set of crystalline armor that seemed to reflect the light in unnatural ways. In his left hand was the Master Sword, but even the legendary weapon had been bent and perverted by whatever had possessed him; the blade looked like it had been twisted helically along the blade, but the metal had somehow torn and bent in on itself, creating a nauseatingly beautiful shape that the eye could not follow. Zelda shivered. A demon.
Suddenly, Vaati screamed out in a rage. "THIS CHANGES NOTHING! YOU ARE NOTHING NEXT TO ME! I AM A GOD! I AM A GOD!" Eyes wild, Vaati threw up his hands, letting loose a terrifying storm of dark magic. The black energy ripped through the chamber, crashing into Demon Link with the sound of thunder. The ground began to shake once more. Vaati grew larger and larger, slowly transforming as he drew upon more and more of his power. He grew into the darkness, and the darkness became him. Soon only an eye remained – a massive eye that peered out maliciously from within the black mass.
Zelda looked, but couldn't see Link, so torrential were the magics that pummeled him.
Laughing, Vaati finally ceased his attack. "I AM SUPREME! I AM A GOD!"
A burst of wind exploded outward from the far end of the chamber, dissolving the smoke. There stood Link, unscathed. His white eyes pierced through Vaati like a spear.
"This...this isn't possible..." the Picori whispered.
Wordlessly, Link raised his twisted sword into the air. It began to glow, growing more and more radiant until it shone like the sun.
"No!" Vaati hissed.
Link struck out, and light burst out from the Master Sword in a monstrous arc. Searing through the air like a scythe, it touched Vaati, and exploded. Zelda cried out, desperately trying to shield her eyes as the entire room flashed with blinding incandescence.
Then, the light was gone. Vaati was gone. Zelda slowly pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the pain that shot through her.
"Link?" she whispered.
The demon turned towards her. There was no recognition in its eyes. It raised its sword.
Suddenly, a small sound shattered the stillness. A voice – a wordless song. It rang out through the columns and across the wreckage, and Link paused. His sword fell from his hand and crashed to the ground.
Even terrified as she was, Zelda gasped as the music took her. It led her through lakes and rivers, over cliffs and under mountains. It took her far out to sea, and underneath it. It told of hope, and love, and loss. Of timelessness and death. And adventure. It rang with pain, and sincerity. There was joy and laughter and companionship. Each note – each chord was the word to a story.
His story.
Link's story.
Slowly, Link walked up to where Kin lay. He looked down at her. Her body was broken. Her skin was burnt. Her face was pale. Blood matted the front of her shirt. But still, she sang. With reservoirs of strength that surged up from deep inside – from not the body, but from the spirit – she sang.
The song took him too. It reached deep inside the torrent of power that ravaged him and pulled his spirit to the surface. This is who you are, the song seemed to say. Remember.
The glow that surrounded Link began to fade away. The markings on his face vanished; the armor that plated his chest dissolved. With a thud, the mask fell from his face and rolled away along the floor.
Link sucked in air like a man nearly drowned. Gasping, he fell to his knees.
Kin's song dwindled into nothingness. Her chest fluttered weakly.
"I'm sorry," she breathed out. Her eyes fell shut.
And then her chest moved no more.
Zelda stumbled over to where Link was bent over the body of his friend. Leaning down, she lay a hand on his shoulder.
He leapt to his feet.
"No." Link's voice rang with power, tearing through the silence. "Not this time." He breathed out, and magic swirled around him. Suddenly, the Ocarina of Time appeared in his hands. Bringing it to his lips, he began to play. The magic fused with the music, and the music surged into Kin's body.
Zelda could only watch, dumbstruck, as the girl's wounds disappeared. Her burns faded away, and color returned to her cheeks. Suddenly, she gasped. Coughing for air, Kin opened her eyes.
"Not yet."
Link cast the ocarina aside. More and more magic swirled around him – erupted from him. Zelda gazed on in breathless wonder as he began to pull...something...from within himself. It was magic, she realized, but it wasn't his. Finally, it burst free. The tempest faded. And a little fairy floated in the air before them.
"Hey!" she sang out. "I'm back!"