Thank you HunterSpire, Regal, Gabbiez, and Zello for being the first to review! It's good to have ya'll back. I had fun writing this chapter... you'll see why in a second. And since Shea is now banned from doing disclaimers...
Blaize: ...
Me: Get it over with.
Blaize: ShinjirudoesnotownZeldainanywayshapeorformbesidestheboughtversionsofthegame.
Me: ...eh, we'll work on it.

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Chapter 2

He was trying to find someone… he just didn't know who. He kept screaming the name, but the sounds didn't register in his mind. The black was endless; an abyss of nothing. He was searching in nothingness.

The only light was on him… he was watching himself run into the misty nothing. Why was he crying?

A spotlight shone a red light, and he stopped. Someone screamed his name, and he turned his head to see a figure stabbed through. Black blood burst from the figure's back where the black sword held by nothing permeated through. The red light was gone, and he started to run again, black tears streaming down his face.

He didn't know how long he was running, but he screamed a name… where was the person he was searching for? Why didn't they come?

Another red light appeared, and he stopped again, heart pounding against his sternum in fear. The figure was a silhouette, looking at him… the figure started to fade away. He took off running towards the black figure, reaching out… the figure turned to mist, dissipating between his finger-tips.

He fell to his knees. He knew he was lost… he felt cold despair overcome him like an ocean wave. An ocean wave filled with self-doubt, fear, and terror. He had lost two of them… how many more would he have to lose before he found the person he was searching for? His insides squirmed with the thought of losing everything he cared for… but who ever said that the figures he had lost only moments ago were the things he cared about?

He looked up, sight burry with tears, when another red beam of light shone through the black nothing. This time, two people stood in the ray, the red illuminating their features. He saw a familiar smile, and familiar eyes… but he couldn't place who they were. But they were both smiling at him.

Finally, something to warm the black coldness overcoming him… and then the figures turned away, one of them burying their face into the other's shoulder. He couldn't figure out why they were suddenly so sad… he wanted to stand, to walk over to comfort them, but he found that he couldn't. His legs were immobilized as he watched the red beam turn into blazing fire, consuming the figures.

The light disappeared, and he was able to stand once more, shaking with turmoil. With every scene, he felt a bit of his heart tear away… why?

He began to run again, resuming his search for that person that continued to elude him.

This time, he ran for much longer than he had before when a second ray of light shot through the darkness. It hit a wall, and there was the person he was searching for, back facing him. He called out, but the person didn't turn all the way to face him. The person merely turned his head to look at yet another ray. A girl stood there, staring at him with fear, arms crossed over her body and shoulder's hunched. He reached out to her, but she flinched away. The movement made his tear-ducts sting, as he said the girl's name. Soundless words floated through the abyss, shattering when they reached the girl's ray of light. She was crying, her eyes were full of terror… she was afraid of him.

He reached out to her, and he screamed soundlessly, turning away from him and beginning to run. He became angry, hand snaking out to grab her wrist. Cold flesh registered in his mind as she snapped her head around, eyes wide with fright… before she shattered.

Ice-cold tears fell over his cheeks as he watched the girl run from him into the darkness. He turned to look at the person… and realized that the person was crying as well. The person was on his knees, face buried in his hands. He shook with agony as his heart felt like it was being torn apart…

"Why so sad, little boy?" A low voice broke through the silence of the abyss, cutting through the darkness. He looked up to see a bright figure walking towards him, every step illuminating the darkness. He squinted against the light. The man walking towards him looked at him with golden eyes, long, yellow hair flowing around his face by an invisible breeze. Lightning crackled at the man's finger-tips.

The man laughed, almost menacingly. "Do you not remember me, Boy? I am the one who saved you during the worst moments of your life. I am the one who controls your very destiny."

He looked at the man, before recognition hit him… the very first person that he recognized was Rhairu. What was Rhairu doing here, in this personal Hell?

Rhairu laughed at him again. "You can't even stand your own nightmare..." He crouched by him, golden eyes meeting his violet ones. "How pathetic."

Shea averted his eyes. "Why?"

"Why what? Why are you having this nightmare? Because you are troubled. Your troubled little mind is worried about losing everything you ever cared about." Rhairu waved his hand over a section of the black ground, and there wavered Zelda, Link, Claire, Emri, and Blaize.

"Why is Blaize-"

"You care about him, don't you? You still believe that he can come back..." Rhairu smirked, "Your hope hangs by a thread. He can only come back if he so chooses."

Shea watched as the image of Blaize faded away. There was a pang where his heart was.

"And her," Rhairu pointed to Emri, "her destiny is inertwined with Hyrule's. Her decisions affect the entire outcome of the very war you want to stop." Emri's figure faded away. There was another pang on his heart.

Shea watched as Claire, and his parents stared up at him. "What... what happens to Claire? My family?" He asked with dread.

Rhairu chuckled, snapping his fingers over the images of Zelda and Link. "If this war does not come to an end in your favor, then their lives will be extinguished." The figures faded before Rhairu went on, "And your heart's desire... she worries for you." He sneered, "Love is a fickle thing... it can be tended like a spring garden, kept fresh and beautiful... but one false cut can ruin a rose." Claire's image faded, like the other four before her.

Rhairu stood, looking off into the distance of the abyss. "Your nightmare is coming to an end."

---

Snapping upright, Shea gripped the sheets tightly, knuckled white. His chest heaved as his heart convulsed...

As his breathing calmed. Shea swung a leg over the bedside, feeling the cold wood under his feet. He put a hand on the bedpost, and slowly stood.

Now, to see if he could walk. Putting one foot forward, Shea warily let go of the bedpost.

He laughed in triumph when he didn't crumple. He took another step, and another, until he was shakily walking with success.

Shea opened the door, leaving the room. He shut the door behind him as he looked around. The stairs were that way… okay…

Keeping a hand on the stone wall, Shea slowly made his way down the hall. As he walked, Shea thought about the dream. He couldn't shake the feeling that it had been a vision, a prophecy of some sort. He would never have had a dream when Rhairu came fortold of destinies, and what-not. Dreams were supposed to never make sense... but then again, this one had been more confusing than any other dreams of his put together. Shea grumbled. He just had to be the carnated form of a god who liked to speak in riddles!

Suddenly, the floor seemed to disappear. Shea looked down, and found himself at the top of the large staircase at the main lobby of the castle. He examined everything, before he heard his mother's voice, and a very distraught man.

"…they came and burned it all! I'm telling you, Your Highness, if you don't give the order to attack the Exelians now, they'll walk all over us. Your people will gladly take up arms against this… filth!"

Shea ducked back behind a wall as his mother and the man appeared. The man was wearing common clothing, but he had a cutlass at his waist.

Zelda rubbed her eyebrows, "I can't give that order just yet. You know as well as I that not everyone is able-bodied! I rule by what the Goddesses want, and they don't want me to declare war on the Exelians yet-"

"But we practically are already!" The man countered.

"-I will send cartloads of supplies to help you build up your plantation once more. Levi, you're our biggest supplier of cotton. If you go down, our entire economy plummets, and we don't need that right now. If the people continue with their lives, then it's the first step to get Hyrule back on its feet." Zelda dropped her voice to a whisper, "Leave the fighting to those who are trained to do so."

Levi stared at the princess defiantly, before letting loose a long sigh, bowing low, "Yes, Your Highness."

Zelda placed a hand on the man's shoulder, "May the Goddesses be with you."

Levi rose and strode out of the double doors. The soldiers closed it behind the man.

Zelda's shoulders slumped, as she turned around. Seeing Shea, she smiled, "Good morning, sleepy-head! How'd you sleep?"

Shea leaned on the banister, slowly making his way down, "Just fine, thanks."

Zelda watched with worry as her son reached the foot of the stairs. He paused to catch his breath, before he raised his head and asked, "How long have you been up?" His eyes flicked to the door.

Zelda turned to see where Shea was looking, and frowned, "Oh, that was nothing. Don't worry about it." She strode forward, and hugged Shea, standing on her toes to kiss him on the top of his head. "Breakfast is in the kitchen. Cook's got it all prepared."

Shea's mouth quirked up as he started to walk stiffly once more. He was stopped by his mother, who whispered in his ear, "I love you."

Shea swallowed, and smiled wordlessly. In truth, it was very awkward for him… he hadn't had anyone say that to him for a long time. And he didn't know what to say back.

As he slowly walked in the direction that Zelda had given, he made a mental note to find a map of this place. There were doors and hallways splitting off into every direction possible…

"...Claire! What have I said about taking more than what you can eat?"

"Aw, Emri! I can eat all this. And plus, half of this is for Shea!"

"Liar! You have bigger eyes than your stomach. Put that pile of fat back!"

Claire walked out of a door, holding two plates of food, eyes closed and nose held in the air defiantly. Shea watched her walk by, before Emri burst from the kitchen, "Get back here with that!"

Claire looked over her shoulder, before sprinting down the hall, cackling like a mad-woman.

Emri looked at the retreating form of Claire incredulously, before shaking her head, "Good morning, Shea."

Shea looked between Emri and the place where Claire had been, "What was that about?"

"Oh, Claire has a tendency to take more than what she can actually digest." Emri explained as she held the door open for Shea. She followed him back into the kitchen.

Shea sat down at the small, wooden table, oblivious to anything but the food sitting right in front of him: sweet, delicious, eatable pieces of matter.

Emri sat down as well, picking at the food, "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," Shea said through a mouthful of egg. At Emri's skeptical look, he gave her wide-eyed, what expression, "Seriously!"

Emri raised an eyebrow, leaning her head on her hand, "C'mon, Shea. I know you better than that. You always have something bothering you."

Shea scratched his hairline, "You know yesterday… when we were talking about…" he couldn't bring himself to say it. It angered him too much.

Thankfully, Emri understood, "Shea, these people will gladly die to protect you. I've been around them for a month. You should have seen their faces when we carried you through the town to get you here in the first place. You could almost see the vow they took to keep you safe written on their expression," she took his hand, and squeezed it, "You're their only hope in ending this war."

"But if I am," he started slowly, "then shouldn't I be doing something about it? I mean, if they're giving up their lives for me, then I should be doing something to repay them, at least!"

"Shea, you're not thinking rationally."

"No, Emri, listen to this. I was thinking last night, and I was thinking back to when the Exelians were extracting Rhairu from me. If they can do that, think of what I could do! With the abilities that you and Claire have, we-"

Emri interrupted him, "That's too dangerous. Remember, I told you the warning that Rhairu had left. If anyone, not just the Exelians, abuses the sacred powers again, he will take them away. I saw it written on the wall in the room that youhad destroyed. The room that Rhairu had destroyed. The Exelians had underestimated him far lower than what he is really capable of. And Shea, I don't even think that was the full extent of what he could do. Do you understand how much of a gamble that would be, to put yourself in that situation again? Instead of helping Hyrule, you might just blow it off the face of the planet if you lose control again!"

Shea looked down, and sighed in defeat, "You're right, Emri. As always. But then, what else can I do?"

"Just get better. You're still very weak from the extraction, and the coma you had been in," Emri smiled warmly, "You are very lucky, Shea. The average man wouldn't have been able to survive what the Exelians did to you."

With that, she stood up, and began walking out the door, "Now, to go find somewhere where I can finish reading my book without having to answer random questions…"

------

The average man wouldn't have been able to survive what the Exelians did to you… The words of Emri echoed around his head. Shea watched the clouds roll overhead, contemplating what had been said that morning. If I'm not so average, shouldn't I be able to do not-so-average things?

He looked at his hand, examining his palm. It was hard to imagine that… lightning, of all things, could be generated from his hand.

Emri was right: the Exelians had underestimated Rhairu by a long shot.

"Shea!"

Shea sat up. Claire was trudging up the hill, waving her hand.

She plopped down next to Shea, breathing hard, "That was a long hike! How long did it take you get up here?" She turned her head towards Shea.

He shrugged, "A while, I guess."

Claire brought her knees up to her chin, "What's on your mind?"

Shea rolled his eyes, "Not you too! Emri already asked me this question!"

Claire raised her eyebrows, "And… what'd you say to answer?"

"Nothing," he lied, "just except that I hadn't slept well."

"You are such a horrible liar."

"Am not!"

"It's written all over your face. Something is bothering you, admit it!"

Shea sighed, "Fine. I'm not comfortable with 'everyone being willing to die for me' and blah blah blah."

Claire furrowed her eyebrows, "Care to elaborate?"

"Innocent people have been losing their homes, their families, their lives, to protect me. I just feel like I'm obligated to do something to repay them, to help end this war."

Claire crossed her legs, and turned so that she was facing Shea, "You aren't obligated to do anything right now. There's not a lot you can do, except wait. We don't know the full extent of what you, much less Rhairu, can do. You have no idea how much your mother has been working to figure that out."

"You sound like Emri," Shea grumbled.

Claire exhaled, running a hand through her hair, "You used to accept help from other people. I don't know what changed that, but you're going to have to start accepting again! Shea, you can't win this war by yourself."

Shea glared at the grass, not bothering to reply to Claire. He knew that she –along with everyone else—were doing the best they could.

Claire stared at him, before sighing again, nudging Shea on the shoulder, "Come on. We should go back." She stood, helping Shea up. "You know, if you can walk up this hill by the second day of waking up, by the end of this week you could be walking by yourself."

"Hopefully."

-----

"Shea seems… agitated today. Very irritable." Emri told Claire later that day as they walked through the castle town.

Claire nodded, "Yeah…"

"Has he told you about his idea to stop the war?" Emri said quietly.

"No."

Emri shook her head, "Ever since he woke up, he's been more withdrawn."

"He used to accept help from people more easily, too," Claire offered.

"You think it's because of the sudden… break of his trust? You know… from him?" Emri whispered the last word.

"You mean Blaize?"

Emri cringed. "Yes. Blaize."

Claire put her hands behind her head, "That could be it. I mean, if I were in Shea's position, I wouldn't want to trust anyone after that kind of thing happened to me. Blaize and Shea had this bond between them, and then it just kinda… shattered."

Emri nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and you have to take into consideration that he's got another presence that's become more prominent, now. And that presence isn't exactly happy at the moment with everything going on."

Claire exhaled, "I guess."

The two walked in silence, before Claire turned her head, "Do you miss him?"

Emri cocked an eyebrow, "Miss who?"

"Blaize."

Emri choked, coughing, "Absolutely not! I say we're better off without him, that dirty traitor!" She shook her head, and coughed again.

"You know, when we saved Shea, I saw Blaize. I think. It looked like him, anyways."

"All the Exelians look the same."

"But—"

"Claire," Emri interrupted sharply, "we're not going to talk about this anymore."

Claire closed her mouth and looked down at her feet as she walked.

Emri looked at the girl through the corner of her eye, and sighed, "Claire, I'm sorry for snapping. It's just that I don't like talking about Blaize. I'm not comfortable with it yet."

"Okay, Emri."

----

The next day, Zelda was pacing the halls. Shea, Claire and Emri had a fever! It was ridiculous! The day before, they had all been fine and it wasn't the normal time of year when the fever went around, so Zelda had no idea why.

The nurse walked out of the room, wiping her hands, "She's got the symptoms of a fever; exhaustion, aching, the sorts. But she's complaining of not being able to move her left hand. As is Emri. They both lack feeling in their hands—as if the appendage is numb."

Zelda frowned, "Was the Triforce on their hands glowing?"

The nurse pursed her lips, "I thought I saw it flashing, but I couldn't be sure. Now, I have to go check on Shea. His condition wasn't any better than the girls' when I left him last. Excuse me, Your Highness." The nurse pushed past Zelda, briskly walking down the hall.

Zelda opened the door, and walked in. She was met by loud complaining-

"I want to move my hand, damnit! Stupid nurse, get back here! I'm NOT a cripple! Oh, hi Zelda!"

"Claire, shuttup! You're giving me a bigger headache than what I've already got!"

"Oh, just because your empath-y powers are going haywire doesn't mean that you've got better privileges. I can yell all I want!" Claire slammed her right hand down on the bed defiantly.

Zelda put a hand to her forehead, "Claire, could you please stop yelling?"

"Sure."

Emri's jaw dropped before she looked away from Claire and crossed her arms.

Zelda walked over to Claire, and gently asked, "May I see your left hand, Claire?"

"Yes'm." Claire held up her stiff hand. Sure enough, the faintest image of a Triforce was flashing, getting dimmer and dimmer.

Zelda's eyes were wide, now. "Emri, is yours…?"

"Yes, Your Highness. Although, I can barely see it now…" Emri drifted off.

Chewing her cheek, Zelda rushed out of the girls' sick-room, almost running towards Shea's.

Forcing the door open, Zelda strode quickly to her son's side, oblivious to his irritated snapping. The Triforce was very, very faint…

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much! I don't need any stupid medicine." Shea snapped as the nurse poured a serum into a cup.

Zelda grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her; she didn't hear his intake of breath. There was a slight yellow-white gleam in his angry irises.

Shea jerked his head away, glaring at the cup that the nurse was handing him, "I'm not drinking it."

The nurse glared back, "You have to. It'll stop the pain."

Zelda's head snapped to look at the nurse, "What pain?"

"He's aching more than the girls. Even the slightest touch hurts him," despite this, the nurse grabbed Shea's hand, wrapped his fingers around the cup, and forced it to his mouth. She tilted his head, forcing the serum down his throat.

Shea gasped, leering at the nurse, "That hurt." The nurse ignored him as she re-capped the bottle of medicine.

Zelda was shaking her head, whispering to herself, "He's been crossed… how can the Exelians be so dense?"