A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my oldest friend Chris Sutera. The world has lost one of it's most imaginative minds of all time, and it shall surely suffer greatly because of it. R.I.P man. - 3/01/07

A Slimmer of Hope Emerges

Link's mind was a haze. Incoherent thoughts and images flashed past his mind in a blur causing his head to throb incessantly. His entire body was numb. He had no feeling whatsoever, and he couldn't move any part of his body even an inch. Slowly, Link's mind began to clear and he struggled to open his eyes. Not even his eyelids wanted to move, yet Link forced them to open with what tiny strength he could muster. His eyelids began to roll up at a snail's pace, and as they did so actual light crept in to greet Link's weary eyes.

The first thing Link noticed once his eyes were opened was that he was back in his bedroom in Hyrule Castle. It was no longer night, for the sun was already high in the sky, although it was still being eclipsed by Lord Arcana's magic so that only a dim glare was able to reach Hyrule. Link's mind was still a little hazy, the events of the previous night one giant blur wrapped up in the most intense beating Link had ever received.

"Well look who finally woke up," came a warm, friendly voice next to him.

Link struggled to turn his head to the side. With great effort, he managed to turn his head enough to see that it had been Nabooru who had said those words. She was standing next to the bed along with Darunia and Ruto. They were all smiling, apparently glad that Link had finally woken up. Link managed a weak smile back at them and then began to look around the rest of his room.

"Where's Zelda?" Link asked in a hoarse voice after realizing she wasn't in the room.

"Yeah, figures you would wake up the one time Zelda leaves your side," Darunia laughed. "She's at the apothecary at the moment, getting you the strongest medicine there is."

"How did I get here?"

"While out on patrol, our sentries found you lying unconscious in Hyrule Field, along with . . ."

"Darunia!" interrupted Ruto. "Don't you think that we should let Link conserve his strength until Zelda returns with the medicine?"

"Yeah, perhaps you're right."

Link couldn't understand what they were babbling on about, but Link didn't have the strength to question or fight with them at the moment. He just rolled his head back upon his pillow and closed his eyes. He didn't want to, but his body was just so worn out that he couldn't resist. He could hear Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru whispering to each other, but he couldn't make out any of the words. As he laid there, Link soon heard footsteps coming down the hallway. They stopped at the entrance to his bedroom, and Link opened his eyes to see Zelda standing there with a bottle full of a thick, orange liquid.

"Is he awake yet?" Zelda asked of the three Sages in a soft voice before turning to see Link staring back at her. "Link!"

A look of relief swept over Zelda's face as she ran over to Link, nearly letting go of the potion in her excitement. She wrapped her arms around Link as a few tears of joy ran down her cheeks. Link, however, didn't return the hug out of both his weariness and the shame he felt at having pained Zelda the day before. He just shut his eyes and looked down in disappointment while Zelda hugged him.

"Zelda," Link finally said after pulling her away from him, "I'm sorry. I was a fool, an overconfident fool. I should've listened to you. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Forget about it," Zelda smiled as her face blushed slightly. "I'm just glad you're okay. Here, drink this potion. It'll help relieve the weariness in your body. I've even infused it with some of my magic to heal the scrapes and bruises you received."

Knowing he would be too weak to do it himself, Zelda uncorked the bottle and held it up to Link's mouth. Link downed the bitter tasting potion and immediately felt strength returning to his body. The numbness left him as well as all weariness. His mind finally cleared fully, and where his body was bruised it was instantly healed. Although still a little sore, Link stretched himself out upon his bed and sat up.

"Easy there boy," Zelda commented coyly. "Don't rush things."

"Don't worry," Link replied with a smirk. "I'll take it easy. After all, I'm going to need all the strength I can get if I am to defeat Lord Arcana."

"Lo . . . Lord Arcana!" choked Nabooru. "No, that's impossible. His own son killed him a year ago. Lord Arcana is dead."

"Then that must have been a ghost that kicked my ass up on top of that Black Tower last night. I'm telling you; it was him. He is the one behind all of this."

"Exactly what did happen last night?" Zelda inquired.

"Well, I was about to go to sleep when the robed figure ambushed me in my room. I agreed to a duel with him, and he transported us to the tower. Imagine my surprise when I discover that I'm not fighting him, but rather Lord Arcana instead, who ever so humbly showed me no mercy whatsoever."

"In a way it does sort of make sense," said Ruto. "After all, only someone with Lord Arcana's skill in sorcery could be performing these feats. Plus, we never did find his body. We all just assumed that it disappeared as Ganon's had."

"Link, are you okay?" Zelda asked noticing the far off look in his face.

Link was sitting in the bed with his head low and his eyes downcast. Recalling what had happened the previous night brought only one painful memory to mind, and he couldn't avoid it forever; nor could he deny it. After he had finished talking he just slipped off into his own little world. What Ruto and Zelda had said went passed unnoticed by Link as he stared down into his hands with disbelieving eyes.

"Link, what is it?" Zelda continued, now shaking Link as she did so. "What's wrong?"

"It's . . . it's . . ." Link began, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. "Where's Navi?"

"What does this have to do with Navi?" asked Darunia, his interest peaked.

"Nothing . . . it's just that . . . where is she?"

"She's out in the castle courtyard with Malon," said Nabooru. "She's training Malon in some basic sword attacks. If they had known you would have woken so soon, they would have been here waiting with us. Do you want me to send somebody to go get her?"

"No! She can't know this; at least not yet."

"You're starting to scare me Link," said Zelda as she stared into Link's cheerless eyes.

"I know the identity of the robed figure," Link said glumly, lowering his head again.

"Is that all it is?" chuckled Nabooru. "Finally, some good news. Well, out with it already. Who is it? Have we met this person before or is it somebody totally new?"

"He's Gerik."

The room instantly fell deathly quiet. Zelda just sat there next to Link with her hands held up to her mouth in shock and her eyes full of horror. Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru just lowered their heads in total bewilderment, Link's words striking a heavy blow against all their hearts. Link didn't need to look up to know that all this was happening. A state of disbelief hung heavily in the air. There was a short muffled sound from the hallway outside the room, but it went unnoticed by everyone in the room.

"It . . . can't . . . be," Zelda finally muttered through quivering lips while tears began to fill her eyes. "Gerik's . . . dead."

"Those were my words at first also," Link replied morosely, "but I saw him with my own eyes. He claimed that Lord Arcana raised him from the dead."

"Are you positive that it was Gerik though?" Ruto asked, her voice slightly strained.

"To tell you the truth, I really don't know. He looks, acts, and talks just like the real Gerik, and he even knows things that only he would know. His body looks like it was dug up from the grave. He's still wearing the shredded clothing he wore when we buried him, and all the wounds he had are still there. The only difference is that he now has pale skin, and white hair. I just can't believe that it's him though. Even if Lord Arcana could revive a body, I don't think he's strong enough to convert somebody, especially somebody like Gerik, into an evil manifestation. The real Gerik would never turn his back on us."

"I know he wouldn't," Zelda sniffled. "I knew him longer, and better than any of you. Gerik didn't have an ounce of evil in his heart. It just can't be him, it can't."

"But if it's not Gerik, then who could it be?" asked Nabooru with hopelessness evident in her tone.

"Maybe it's a clone," offered Ruto with slight joy. "Remember Link, when you went to the Water Temple? Ganon had created an evil clone of you and forced the two of you to fight. Sure, the clone's appearance was nothing but a shadow and he couldn't talk, but he had all your skills and abilities. Since we all know how much more powerful Lord Arcana is than Ganon ever was, it wouldn't be that hard to create a perfect clone."

"That's a good theory," Darunia finally spoke up, "but do we really want to get our hopes up? Why would Lord Arcana go through all the trouble of making a Gerik clone?"

"No, that must be it," Link said, but the tone of his voice said otherwise. "There's no other explanation as to why Gerik would turn his back on us. Lord Arcana probably knows how close Gerik was to all of us, so he made a clone to throw us all off guard."

"Oh no!" Zelda suddenly shrieked. "What are we going to tell Navi? We can't keep this from her."

"No, we can't," Link agreed. "Even if we don't tell her, she will find out sooner or later. It would be impossible to keep her out of any future battle where they might meet, plus he's proven once already that he can get into the castle with no problem. She shouldn't know yet though. We should probably wait until we've proven whether it's really him or just a clone first."

"But how are we . . ."

"Hey Navi," came Malon's voice from out in the hallway as she opened the door to Link's room, "what are you doing out here in the hallway? I thought you were going to check on . . . Link, you're awake!"

Link and Zelda turned their heads toward the doorway so fast that they both nearly fell out of the bed. Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru turned to look as well, worry written all over their faces. Standing in the doorway was Malon, whose chipper expression greatly contrasted with that of everyone else, and next to her, with a visage of complete horror, was Navi. Malon's smile faded slightly as she turned from Navi to everyone in the room back to Navi again, but she couldn't understand what was going on. She did notice, however, that everyone's eyes were focused entirely upon Navi.

Navi just stood there staring back at everyone, her body shaking uncontrollably. Several tear stains ran down her cheeks, but other than that her eyes were dry; yet they were filled with sorrow. Her hands covered her mouth, and it appeared as if she were mouthing wordlessly. She was shaking her head slightly back and forth as she stared at the dismayed expressions of everyone in the room. Before anyone could say a word, Navi turned her head away and bolted down the hallway, several sobs echoing back to the room.

"I'll go talk to her," Zelda quickly said as she stood up and headed to the doorway.

"What's going on?" Malon asked of no one in particular, her cheerfulness completely gone now.

"I'll tell you on the way. Come on."

"I think we may have made a mistake," Ruto said once Zelda and Malon were gone.

"What a way to find out," Nabooru agreed.

"I'm sure Zelda and Malon will be able to calm her down," said Darunia. "We have more important matters to attend to at the moment; such as what caused this?"

Darunia brought his right hand out from behind his back into full view by Link. In it was the broken hilt of the Master Sword. His head was lowered as he did this, and upon sight of the broken blade Ruto and Nabooru lowered their heads as well. Link just stared at the cracked blade, the final moments of his and Lord Arcana's battle playing itself over in his mind.

"When you were found, the hilt was still in your hand and all around you were the broken shards of the sword," said Nabooru when she noticed the blank stare Link gave the broken hilt.

"It wasn't just a dream then," Link said through thin lips. "The sword is really broken."

"That's right," answered Darunia in a less than pleased sounding tone. "How? The Master Sword is the sword of evil's bane. It was created by the goddesses. No one should be able to destroy it."

"Dragonflame," was Link's only response.

"Dragonflame?" said a confused Ruto. "What is that?"

"It's Lord Arcana's new sword. He called it the sister sword to the Master Sword, that it was it's polar opposite and in every way it's equal. It . . . I don't know how to describe it, but it's power is frightening. He claimed to have made the sword himself, saying that he forged it in the fires of Hyrule, whatever that means, and that he infused it with his own powers."

"Forged . . . in the fires of . . . Hyrule," Darunia said in disbelief. "Link, are you sure that's what he said?"

"Yeah, why? What does it mean?"

"Hidden deep within the Fire Temple is an ancient forge. The forge was responsible for creating some of the most powerful weapons Hyrule had ever seen. A few days ago, two of our Goron guards standing watch outside the Fire Temple were beheaded, not an easy feat to perform on a Goron. I considered it an internal matter, which is why I didn't bring it up before now. What a fool I was. I never even thought to check the forge. It must have been Lord Arcana. It's all my fault."

"Darunia, snap out of it!" shouted Ruto, but Darunia continued to rant, but now it was more to himself than to anyone else.

"That's not important," said Link. "What we need to focus on now is repairing the Master Sword. Without it we don't stand a chance of defeating Lord Arcana. What? Why are you looking at me like that? The Master Sword can be repaired, can't it?"

"Not that we know of," Nabooru replied glumly. "The sword was created by the goddesses, and only they have the power to reforge it. No mortal could even hope to repair the Master Sword, even with that ancient forge Darunia mentioned."

"Then all hope is lost."

"Not all hope my young friend," came a new, yet jolly voice from the side of the room. "There is one way to repair the legendary blade."

Link looked up to see the jolly, old face of Rauru smiling back at him. Ruto and Nabooru turned to see him standing there as well, and even Darunia finally snapped out of his ranting to acknowledge Rauru's presence. The three Sages, upon seeing him, bowed their heads in respect, and Rauru bowed his head back.

"Rauru, do you speak the truth?" asked Link, his eyes wide with excitement. "Can the blade really be fixed?"

"In theory, yes," replied Rauru, more serious this time. "Hidden deep within the mountains north of Hyrule Castle lies the Queen of the Fairies. She was one of the first creatures given life by the goddesses. They charged her with being a great protector of Hyrule, and as such imbued her with godlike powers. Her powers obviously pale in comparison with those of the goddesses themselves or the Triforce, but she's the next best thing. I do not know if she has the power to repair the Master Sword, but she's our only hope."

"Great! Any hope is good hope in my book at this point. So how do I reach her?"

"That's the problem. There is only one path from Hyrule Castle leading to the Queen Fairy's Fountain. Normally, it would be a two days journey to the fountain, on horseback, but nobody has traveled the path in generations. There's no telling what kind of condition the path is in. Not only that, but there are countless dangers along the way, and I'm sure even more so in these dark times."

"Well can't you guys just teleport me there?"

"The mountains are heavily protected in order to ensure the Queen Fairy's safety. We can't teleport you there, and half those dangers I was telling you about are traps designed to keep the fountain safe from those who would do it harm."

"That sucks," Link replied blatantly, some disappointment in his voice. "I have no choice though. We can't defeat Lord Arcana without the Master Sword, especially with that new sword of his. I have to make the journey."

"Make what journey?" asked Zelda from the doorway. Everyone turned to see her and Malon standing there.

"I'll tell you later. How's Navi doing?"

"She's not talking to anybody," replied Malon. "We managed to corner her, but she teleported away, and we have no idea where."

"Hold on a second," interrupted Zelda. "Let's get back to this journey thing a second. You're in no condition for anything at the moment."

"I'm afraid I must agree with Zelda," said Rauru. "You should rest up, conserve your strength; especially considering there's no telling what dangers you'll come across. I also don't think you should go alone."

"Listen, except for a little soreness, I'm feeling a whole lot better," replied Link. "Time is not our friend at the moment, and every second we waste the closer Lord Arcana gets to victory. I'll take it easy the rest of the day, but tomorrow at daybreak I head out. Alone! Hyrule is going to need all the troops it can muster, and it can't spare a single one. Besides, something is telling me that this is something I must do alone. Malon, could you please find Captain Huntley and tell him to lay out enough provisions for two weeks?"

"Why two weeks?" asked Ruto.

"Well, Rauru said that it used to be a two day journey, so that means four days total back and forth. Since there's no telling what condition the path is in, it could take longer, not to mention we don't know how long it'll take the Queen Fairy to repair the Master Sword if it's even possible."

"Hold it!" shouted Zelda. "I still want to know what's going on. What are you people talking about?"

"Alright Zelda, sit down. This will take quite a bit of explaining, and some understanding on your part."

"In the meantime, I shall return to the Sage Room," said Rauru. "Darunia, Ruto, Nabooru, would you please accompany me. It appears that Impa and Saria are in serious trouble, and we should try to lend whatever help we can."

Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru all agreed and walked over to Rauru. Malon meanwhile, went off to find Captain Huntley as Link requested, and Zelda went over to sit by Link. Link and Zelda waved goodbye to the Sages, but the Sages didn't disappear. Link and Zelda just stared at each other in bewilderment while the Sages stood there in shock.

"We can't get back to the Sage Room," Rauru declared in stunned tone. "Lord Arcana has blocked our access to the Sacred Realm."

That night was just as dark as the previous. The only difference was the lack of fog this night. Link made his way cautiously across Hyrule Field, making sure to stay close to the riverbank. He held a lantern in his hand, but even with the immense light it was giving off in the complete darkness surrounding him, Link could only see a couple feet in front of him. He couldn't even see the river next to him. Instead, he was relying on his ears to keep him from accidently plunging in.

The running river next to him and the torches lining the top of the outer wall above him were the only sounds Link could hear. Occasionally the sound of footsteps from the soldiers patrolling the wall and the low murmur of soldiers talking wafted to his ears. Despite the eerie surroundings, Link kept on walking. He had taken great care to make sure that no one noticed his departure from the castle. This was just something that he had to do alone. He just had to know the truth for himself.

As Link rounded the bend in the river, he saw another light in the distance. This light came from the memorial graveyard. Link tried peering through the gloom to see who it was that could possibly be there, but he was too far away. As he got closer, he realized that even had it been daytime he wouldn't have been able to see the person. Whoever it was had been digging up one of the graves, the exact same grave Link had come to dig up, and all Link could see now coming from the deep hole was the shovel as it threw out dirt. It didn't take Link long to figure out who it was.

While Link entered the graveyard, he noticed that the shovel had stopped tossing out dirt. He crept his way over to the grave for fear of making a sound and startling the person down there, but he listened intently. He soon heard the soft sound of a coffin being pried open. Once Link heard the coffin pop open, he heard several quick, sharp gasps. They were followed by an eccentric Navi stumbling her way out of the grave and smacking into Link. In her current state it never occurred to her that it could have been an enemy she bumped into, so she didn't run away but rather looked up into Link's face.

"It's true," Navi cried, tears streaming down her face. "It's really true. I didn't want to believe it, but it's true. The grave is empty. His body is gone. Gerik really is alive, and he's working for the enemy."

"Shhh," Link tried to calm Navi down, but his own insides were turning in knots. "It's going to be okay Navi. It's going to be okay. We'll get through this."