and things take a darker turn for our hero
The four of them (Sheik, Zelda, Link's mother, and the Queen) sat in the room where Link lay, discussing the issue. Sheik had to tell and retell what had happen quite a few times before everyone came to understand exactly what had happened.
"The question is; will he be alright?" Zelda asked the entire room.
"Depends on how many memories were reawakened" Link's mother said. "Hopefully it wasn't a lot, considering Sheik got him away from the blasted sword pretty quick."
"Can you tell?" the Queen asked, looking at Link's mother expectantly.
"Give me a second." Link's mother put a hand on her son's forehead. After a few minutes of deep concentration she took her hand away. "As far as I can tell, he doesn't have much more than previous hero's memories. He'll be fine if it's only that. He might have some issues sorting these memories once he wakes up and decipher which ones are his and which ones aren't."
"In other words, he'll be fine" Sheik said.
"For the most part, yes."
"Will he be able to fight the evil that will threaten us?" the Queen asked
"For all we know, this might give him a better reason to fight it." Link's mother gave them an 'I don't know' gesture. "Just depends on who or what shows up."
They all sat there in silence for a while, all thinking. After a while, Sheik asked: "How bad will he be when he wakes up?"
"What do you mean?" Link's mother asked, turning to look at the not so young Sheikah warrior.
"Delusional, in denial, driven insane, muttering random things, hallucinations," Sheik named a few things. "If you've got another person's memories inside your own head, don't you think you'd be a bit out of it? What do you think he'll be like when he wakes up?"
Link's mother sighed and took a second to think about that. "At worst, he'll think he is that hero and get confused when everything doesn't match up to what he remembers. At best, he'll have no problem at all." After a second of thinking she added: "we best keep an eye on him though."
"I've got nothing to do" Sheik said, "I can stick around."
Zelda laughed. "I've still got to find Link a proper weapon. It's not like he can do much with only the Light Arrows." She turned to look at Link's mother. "Can't he just use the Master Sword now? He's already pulled the dang thing."
"No! If he pulls it again it will just start the process all over again and he'll unlock even more memories. He's already got two people inside his head, he doesn't need twenty. It would be best if we just leave that sword alone." Alice took a few breaths, and then said: "I wouldn't mind helping you look for a weapon though."
"I'd love to get some help" Zelda said, grinning.
"Well, now that's all said and done," the Queen stood up. "I've got other things I need to do." She left the room.
After a minute of silence, Alice turned to Zelda. "Research?"
Zelda nodded.
The two of them left.
Sheik looked over at Link, who was still unconscious.
"I guess it's just you and me then" he said, and laughed.
Something didn't feel right. Something wasn't right. He wasn't sure exactly what, but it definitely didn't do his brain any good. It felt as if there were a million things shoved in it. Half of those million things didn't belong to him either.
Did they?
Now that he thought about it, those memories were… comforting somehow. But how? He didn't know. They were all… dark, and lonely, and, well, he didn't know. There was something wrong about them.
They weren't his. They couldn't be. There was too much… bloodshed in them. That wasn't him. Sure, he killed a few monsters, but never at this high of a scale. They were being slaughtered left and right, left to die.
"That's not me!" he yelled at the darkness that surrounded him. He would never give into that bloodlust. It was despicable! It was wrong!
Or was it? He couldn't place it, but something in him almost enjoyed it.
He shook his head, he couldn't be thinking that way. That wasn't him. That wasn't him at all! That was…
The memories were strong. It was him. Same hair, same eyes, same green tunic and hat, this person even had a sword that strongly resembled his.
"This can't be me…" Link whispered. But it was. It was the same hero.
No it wasn't. This person's eyes were different. Same blue, yeah, but there was something different about them, they looked as if they belonged to a wolf.
He had only seen a wolf once, up on Snow Peak. He had expected it to attack, but it didn't. It stopped a few feet away from him and stared. Well maybe not stared exactly, but the way it looked at him couldn't be described as anything else. After standing there for a few moments, it turned and walked away.
This hero person, his eyes were so wolf-like it wasn't even funny. But Link soon knew why. This hero person actually was a wolf. Literally, he would transform into one. The most notable times seemed to be when he entered the Twilight.
Link paused. "How do I know that?"
'Because those memories are your memories.'
He had no idea who said it, but he immediately decided he didn't like that person.
"They are not my memories!"
'But they are. You cannot deny it little boy. Those memories belong to a past incarnation of you. They are yours whether you like it or not.'
"Incarnation?" Link asked.
'Silly child, you know so little' the voice replied. Link frowned. 'I shall enlighten you. Throughout Hyrule's past, there have been many dangers. Who else to rise to face these dangers than a hero? Of course, a new one would have to be born each time due to the fact these dangers liked to keep appearing lifetimes apart.'
"So what does that have anything to do with me?"
'Everything. You are a hero boy. Destiny chose this fate for you. Trust me, no one seemed too happy about it. Your parents were devastated. You're the reason they were separated.'
"That can't be true!" Link told this voice angrily.
'But it is. It's not like it's your fault. It's no one's fault really. No one's fault but Destiny's.' The voice let out a menacing cackle.
"Who are you?" Link asked. "How do you know so much?"
The voice merely kept laughing…
Sheik looked up from his book and at Link. Something was wrong.
Mental battle, he concluded after a moment. He'll have to fight this one on his own.
Sheik went back to his book.
After a while, the voice finally stopped its laughter. 'I'm just a little piece of Darkness' it sneered. And then it left. How Link knew that it left was a mystery, but he knew it. The voice left him to conquer these memories.
These memories that might just swallow him whole.
