Chapter Sixteen
Vita Ante Acta
"A Life Done Before"
The Interloper that took the form of the Hero had tricked Link.
The darkness smiled, watching as the one of mixed blood slowly reached with a shaking hand for the object of immortal lore. How he wished he could do this himself instead and not simply witness it, but he knew that couldn't be helped. After all, he was only a figmentation of the Hero, not a whole – not a truth.
He was just a shadow, something of the past that had been cast aside and forgotten once it had been found to be a nuisance. The darkness scoffed. If only the Goddesses had never intervened then they would have succeeded in this world as well, seeing their intentions through to the end in all paths of time. Then they would finally have accomplished what they so desperately wished after all of this troub—
"No," a stern and determined voice broke the cold and still silence.
"What?" the darkness spat, aggression and shock simultaneously radiating from the single syllable. Link spun to face his shadow, fists gripped tightly so his knuckles turned white.
"I won't fall for that. I will carry my personal past in this life – and that of my soul – to the very end. I don't care what I have to bear. I don't want Midna to suffer… I don't want anyone else to suffer… so I can't do this. I won't do this," he spoke, choosing his words carefully as he grit his teeth in an attempt to stay composed.
The Interloper was furious.
"Don't you realize that by not wishing for the redemption of the Twili, it would only let her pain continue?" he questioned maniacally, knowing exactly what the Hero would have tried to fix. "You would knowingly do that? You, who would do anything for the one you love, are going to let her endure the suffering of carrying on the sins of her people's past? She could be a simple Sheikah! The two of you could have a happy family together! Isn't that what you've always wanted? Never to be burdened with this weight of destiny? Link, you can undo all that. You can destroy the shackles that bind the two of you to your fate, undoing the sins of her people and ridding your spirit from the burden of the Triforce of Courage once and for all by simply making this choice!"
"That is exactly why I won't!" Link shouted. He, too, was furious now and unable to keep his emotions under control any longer. The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments, the redness that crept up in Link's eyes a reflection of the solid color in that of his shadow's. The darkness broke the stillness after a short time, more composed than it was not long ago.
"Your spirit would never again have to endure pain and suffering if you were to simply follow through with your actions," he twisted the Hero's wish in his mind the slightest, his own shadowy form wavering as he attempted to make Link regret his hesitation and denial of what the Triforce just might have given him and the path he could follow as a choice of this test. "You'd be a normal person; she would be too!" he lied, knowing that was far from the truth. That the darkness locked within Link that was birthed from his own struggles would take control once he laid his hand to the object of the Goddesses – the Interloper would make sure of it. "I know you never asked for this, to be tried up in the strings of destiny like a puppet. Why don't you take this chance to cut yourself free from those binds?"
"Because it would mean the end of not only her happiness, but the end of everything the Goddesses created! It's exactly what you've always wanted!"
The shadow could no longer deny it. The mixed-blood known as a Hero had seen through the ruse the dark one had so carefully laid out. He froze, ruby eyes wide as the Interloper stared at Link's intent and serious gaze of mixed red and blue in disgust. It took the darkness a handful of moments to fully process the fact he had lost, but spoke once more in an irritated manner not much later.
"Tch. I suppose some of the wisdom from Zelda's spirit rubbed off on you over the many lives the two of you have shared. Since you have no deep emotional bond with her in this one, in addition to the struggles of your soul in this life in particular, I thought you would be an easy catch. Especially so thanks to your parents. I guess I was wrong, but…" the darkness drifted. "You still have a choice to make Link, a choice of your blood. Will you join those graced with light? Or follow the path of the ones who are forever cloaked in shadow? Choosing neither will result in your painful death," the darkness smiled, eyes wide, and Link could have sworn he saw a bloodied fang slip over the edge of the Interloper's lip.
The one who saved two realms had completely forgotten about the reason he faced the test in the first place: to make a decision, one that would cure him from his suffering and the pain he had put others through.
A decision that could, in a way, very well damn him instead.
The mixed-blood who thought he was a Hero had no idea how to go about making that choice, but wasn't given much time to think on it, as his concentration was broken by the sudden and familiar presence of another.
It was at that moment a golden wolf approached from the Hero's left side. Light radiated from the beast's fur, sending streaks of shining hope through the otherwise dismal black infinity. One eye of the canine was gone, a long scar crossing where it had once been, and the other was fiercely glowing red, just like the irises of the Interloper and the edges of Link's. For all three were one and the same. The darkness tensed, glancing to its right to watch the creature as it neared.
"Looks like my turn is up," the Interloper said with revulsion before meeting the Hero's eyes once more. "But remember Link, know that whatever you choose affects not only yourself, but the lives of others you hold dear. You will never escape your fate or the suffering of your eternal duty…"
At the words of the shadow, the wolf leaned its head back and howled; causing the blackness around to fade into a white expanse as the beast transformed into a familiar figure. Link's gaze was still stuck on his likeness, a deranged smile contorted the face of the darkness as light pierced its being, causing the figure to disintegrate. Its glowing red eyes vanished last, reminding Link of the crimson that crept across his own bloody irises that he had in a way inherited from the one that stood before him only moments ago.
As the last speck of darkness became that of light, Link ever so slowly turned to fully face the one who was more similar to him than he had initially believed.
"How I thought we would never again meet, my child," the familiar voice of the Hero's Shade spoke. Link wondered if he what he saw was a sad smile on the ghostly face of his mentor.
"I… at the time I wasn't sure… but now I know," Link said, voice fading a couple of times with the words. He hadn't expected his teacher to appear again, but considering what he had seen so far the idea shouldn't have come as such a shock. He had so many things to say and ask the spirit that he never had the chance to, yet Link had no idea where to start as he took a deep breath in an attempt to organize his thoughts.
The Hero's Shade waited patiently for Link's words, knowing all to well what he would speak now that they faced this situation together. Their gazes locked firmly and the one that currently held the Triforce of Courage spoke in a determined voice.
"I am you."
"Yes, just as the darkness here moments ago is as well," his past self responded. "I represent one time, and he, the other. The Sheikah of your blood were loyal as you know, but you have corrupted yourself in the process of these events. You willingly but unconsciously took upon yourself the darkness from ages past," said the wise words of the previous Hero's form.
"What… do you mean?" Link asked, deeply confused as he looked to the figure before him skeptically. His mind was already full of so much from this ordeal. At this point he couldn't tell what was right and what wasn't. This was by far the hardest test he had faced in his lifetime, and if he failed, Link may not have that much life left.
"Your love for Midna…" the translucent face of the spirit softened as it spoke. "Your care and connection to her people… Link, you want to make her happy, to be one of her kind and no longer carry the burden you had during your time as a Hero. You only want a normal life with the one you love, so you saw the faults of her tribe's past as your own. You took up a false history and in turn have prevented your own happiness, but you don't have to carry their past in a bad way. You also don't have to shoulder the burden of your destiny as Hero any longer in this life."
"But if I had wished to fix the past, to free myself, wouldn't everything have become much worse?" Link frantically questioned, now really wondering if he made the right decision in not following through with his actions just as the Interloper had said. He desperately looked around the void for the Triforce, but hadn't noticed when the object of the Goddesses disappeared. It was probably when the darkness had left, taking with it the slim chance of redemption. Link didn't know whether to blame his shadow, the Master Sword, or the Divine Three themselves for the difficulty of the ordeal and disappearance of the pure power.
"No, Link. Listen. You still don't understand who you really are."
He let his eyes come to settle on his past self in confusion. The Hero's Shade continued.
"Remember the contents of your parents letter?"
Link thought on it. That seemingly simple and straightforward note contained so much information. He'd read it over countless times and still somehow felt that he didn't fully understand the meaning, missing out on or misinterpreting a key detail.
"You are the link between two races, the sole living Hylian with Sheikah blood, or Sheikah with Hylian blood if you prefer. Part of what the Interloper spoke was the truth, the history of their people being undistorted."
"I know that," Link sighed with dismay. "Yes, what the Interlopers did was wrong, whether or not my ancestors themselves were corrupted since they stayed in Hyrule. Whatever the case, the ones that betrayed the Royal Family made so many others suffer."
"Exactly, so you must follow through with the final wish of your parents and mend the torn past."
"How can I fix something so broken? There are so few Sheikah left, Impaz is the only one I met! The only one remaining!" Link shouted; his face pained. He thought the disappearance of the darkness would solve his problems, not make them more difficult.
"There is still a way. That path is right before you, but you are guided by the wrong light," the Hero's Shade slowly shook his head.
Link tilted his own in confusion. In response the spirit before him did the same, mirroring the still living being that was blessed by the immortals.
"I-I don't understand," the one who currently held the Courage of the Divine Three spoke, voice shaking as he tried to contain the many emotions that threatened to overflow from all that he had been presented with. Link wanted to run away from it all at this very moment, not facing the struggles he was forced to endure but knew that it would be impossible to escape at this time. "What are lies… and what is the truth?"
"Much you have yet to figure out on your own, but it is true that you must pick one side to survive. You know this from the suffering you've had to endure that was triggered by the magic of another world. Your parents didn't know of the pain you would have to struggle through, or your destiny as the Hero of this era, but nevertheless they understood your life would be much more burdensome than theirs and so they feared for your happiness and safety. Link, your parents didn't want any of this for you. They only wanted peace this entire time. Peace for you, peace for the ones you loved, and peace for all of Hyrule as well as every other world… Even though they knew that if it were accomplished, it wouldn't last. It never does," the Hero's Shade spoke sorrowfully, placing his left hand over where his heart would be if he were more than a spirit. His single eye drifted closed with the movement, head bowing.
"I regretted my actions from the era I lived in. As a result, this form of me – of you – was left behind to teach what happened in order to prepare ourselves for what we must face. Indirectly what I did caused your pain and suffering." Slowly he brought his sorrowful gaze to Link's once more. "Zelda and I… we should have never thought we could stop it all, simply seeing it as nothing more than a childish game. It was because of us that the troubles in my time came to pass. Once we realized our mistake it was too late, but we tried to fix what we caused... only to make it so much worse for you. When it came down to that final moment… all of us were so eager to end everything that we forgot what was truly important. We should have stripped the power from the Evil before sealing him, but… We weren't wise and we weren't courageous…. In a sense, it is the same mistake someone very close to you made, and yet they still haven't realized it," the Hero's Shade explained, drawing his hand from his chest and looking to the back where the Triforce of Courage once resided.
Link didn't understand anything, especially that last part, confused more so than ever, but the past Hero brought his gaze to the current one once more and continued nonetheless. "But unlike the one I speak of, who was willing to deny happiness, we only did what would give ourselves a brief joy, rejecting the truth and running from it. We forgot everything, acting as if it didn't happen and so history repeated itself even worse than it was destined."
What his past self spoke directly mirrored Link's own actions, reinforcing the supposed Hero's fears. The one thing he couldn't seem to do though was forget, no matter how much he wished to not know what had happened, but maybe a choice would allow him to let go of the past Midna had told him of. Yet Link still didn't fully understand his options, only seeing information given, not decisions that could be made from it.
"Taking the power and sealing it separately from the darkness might have prevented the Interloper War, but it wouldn't have broken the cycle, as the Evil would have found a way to bring another era of pain and suffering. That is something that can't be stopped unless we wish to end existence itself. Something none of us could do, knowing it would go against what the Goddesses wanted for us, and fall right into the palms of the Interlopers and their plans."
The Hero's Shade turned his left hand so the palm was upward as he slowly clenched it into a fist. "From our actions – from your actions too – Evil will come again. You must fight the same struggle in a different life, but in this one you are done with that. Link, you are so very close to being free."
Link looked to his regrets, completely lost by its words. What did his past self want from him? To lament? To accept? To endure?
"I see I've only made the choice harder…" the Hero's Shade let his arm fall to his side. "Know that the past isn't something you should fear. It is something you should learn to understand. You must grasp it and find the truth in a bed of lies. That truth is something only you can see. Understand that regardless of who you are in this life, the Goddesses blessed you. They know the potential and Courage our shared soul holds. You don't have to carry on the mistakes of the past or be weighed down by them and you don't have to undo what has come and gone. The past is there for a different reason, and that is something you have yet to figure out on your own… No matter your decision, you still have one duty left, and then you can aim to achieve your peace."
"The Interloper told me my curse is to never attain peace. It's a cycle, just like you said!" Link shouted. He was furious with all the seemingly contradictory information he was given. Nothing was straightforward. But then again, nothing had ever been straightforward.
"Yes, both happiness and hate are part of the same cycle. They ebb and flow like the tides. You need to go with them, not against them. Please, stop struggling and take a step back. You need to see the bigger picture that is around you… You have two choices. Now you know the good and the bad, the truths and the lies, even if you can't tell which is which, you have to face this decision. To live the life of a Hylian you would be what others always saw you as: the Hero of this era, but heroism isn't what would give you happiness, is it?"
Link looked to his feet, eyes drifting over the tunic he wore that symbolized the courageous spirit he possessed. No, it wouldn't. Did that mean he had to sacrifice his own happiness for that of others? Apparently someone close to him had attempted to do so. His parents caused the suffering of others and attained their peace, for a time, so it couldn't have been them. The mind of the one with two pasts spun. If he broke free of who he has been in this life and embraced happiness, then he hoped he would be able to, in a way, forget all the pain and suffering… but the cycle would continue just as badly or even worse than before. After a moment his past self continued.
"The other choice is to live the life of a Sheikah. You wouldn't be a Hero any longer, but you could be by the side of the one you love. Everyone would see you differently than they have previously, and that would be something you would have to live with… Either way you still hold secrets, and you must decide what to do with them." Link looked up at his words. He felt he was so close to the end of all this.
"Now, this was my life and the temporary peace I grasped after my duty had been fulfilled," the Hero's Shade spoke, extending his ancient arm as Link looked to it, eyes setting on the open palm. "Witness it and know that you still have the option to finally gain your happiness, even if you must first wade through a bloodied sea of pain and suffering to reach it."
As the words of his mentor faded, the white expanse brightened until Link was forced to close his eyes. "Look," the voice of the Hero's Shade echoed around him a moment later. In response to his instruction, Link did so, eyelids slowly drifting open to be greeted by bright and colorful surroundings that were familiar to his core yet unknown to him upon the surface.
Now he saw the world through the eyes of a young boy. He stood in a courtyard, alone other than a little girl in a pink bonnet that gazed beyond a small window before her. He unconsciously took a step forward, the action not done by him, but by a feeling that he was drawn to something so familiar about child in front of the glass pane. Upon hearing his movement she turned to face him with an expression of shock, which quickly changed into a smile that he returned, the laughter of the two echoing in the courtyard as they recognized the all too familiar yet foreign one before them. But only the Hero's Shade within him understood who she was. Link still couldn't place the feeling of knowing the child.
The next thing he knew the girl was older, her features more defined and much less child-like as she seemed to have taken on a womanly figure from the time that had passed in the blink of an eye. The two sat on the ground in the courtyard, legs crossed and facing one another, her smile wide from the words she spoke to him moments ago, and his breath catching in his throat from them. The voice of a young man left his lips after a short pause, yet Link had no control over what he said or the actions that accompanied his shocked reply.
"B-But I'm of common stock, an orphan even. I never knew my parents and spent my childhood in the forest while you…" as his voice drifted his gaze followed, looking to the grass before him as his heart raced. "You're royalty. I-I am not worthy of being loved by one as great as the Princess of Hyrule."
"You are more than worthy: singlehandedly defeating the Evil King and bringing an era of peace to this kingdom." He lifted his sight with the words of the one who sat facing him and met the Princess's blue gaze. "To rule by your side would be an honor for me. We will make this work," she said, holding up the back of her hand where the mark of Wisdom rested. Her other hand reached for his, lifting it next to her own, his crest of Courage glowed in response to the closeness of their hands that bore the symbol of the Divine Three.
"The Goddesses destined the two of us in this life from the struggles and memories only we share. They will approve of our union and the people will see this," she leaned forward, suddenly laying her lips to his. When she pulled back the environment was different.
The same young woman, albeit a little older, stood before him. As they looked into the other's matching eyes, the two embraced one another, her arms hanging over his shoulders and his about her waist. The window of the room they were in let a small breeze through and the woman shivered the slightest with the movement of air, her nightgown swaying with the motion. Not a moment later she turned her gaze to look out the window next to them and into the darkness of the recently cloaked night.
"Something wrong?" The question left his lips worried as he looked to her with concern.
"Of course not. Tomorrow is your coronation," she spoke with a smile, turning to face him once more. He felt his own lips curve up in happiness at her words as she brought her face close to his again.
"We truly have come so far," he said almost unbelieving, the tip of his nose brushing hers, arms wrapping around the woman's figure further and pulling her closer as she smiled.
"Yes, and you will be King of all Hyrule by morn, but…" she leaned her head forward, bringing her mouth next to the side of his face. Her breath was warm on his skin as she whispered into his pointed ear, "tonight you will be my King, and my King alone."
She giggled, the scene changing once again with her laughter. This time the two stood in the same courtyard that the vision began in. The woman was some years older, as was he. She looked up to his face while hers was contorted in sorrow. She seemed a painting: two-dimensional and no depth other than the emotions she displayed. The woman rested her hand on his cheek, softly stroking her thumb across his skin.
"Your eye…" she drifted sadly, water in her own threatening to overflow.
"I still have one more, and it wishes dearly to see your joyous smile," he spoke, pained at her sorrow as he reached out to brush aside a stray hair that had fallen in front of her face. His depth perception was off and he accidentally poked the woman's cheek just beneath her eye. She flinched the slightest and he cringed from his unintentional actions. Not a moment later, the edges of her lips curved upward in a doleful but loving smile and she pulled his face close to hers, gently and kindly laying her lips to where his once blue iris gazed at her lovingly. He closed his remaining eye and savored the moment.
Once he opened his lids again he was sitting on a chair next to a bed that the woman lie in. She was propped against a pile of pillows atop the mattress, fabric wrapped around something in her arms. Although exhaustion plagued her, the smile she wore was one of contentment.
"Look," she spoke softly, carefully handing the bundle of cloth to him. Gingerly he took it, warm in his hands as he pulled aside some of the fabric to see the treasure that lay hidden within. A newborn was swaddled in the wrap and the father couldn't help but show a loving expression to his child. "A new life… One we brought into the world."
The baby shifted and the mother laughed quietly in response, reaching out and letting it grasp her finger with tiny hands. "Thank you…" she spoke, eyes drifting from the infant and meeting that of his single remaining iris that gazed joyously to the new mother. "I am glad we will be able to raise this one in a time of peace because of your valiant efforts to save this world. I love you Link…"
And with those words, the vision ended. The last scene had hurt Link the most, memories of what the shadow had told him plagued his mind, realizing he very well may not be able to give Midna that happiness in this life, if she even cared for him in the same way he did to her. As the thought drifted it took Link a moment to notice that he was once more in the void, but the Hero's Shade was nowhere to be seen.
He was truly alone yet again.
Link spun around, wide and panicked eyes frantically searching for something – anything – to let him know he hadn't been abandoned by life itself. It seemed like after all this, the notion wasn't that far fetched. The faint warmth on his skin where the mark of the Goddesses rested was his only proof that he was still living, though it felt like the warmness wasn't his own but that of another.
Eventually his gaze came to rest on the Master Sword.
The weapon stood, propped upright in the void by an invisible force, but something within Link clicked at the moment his sight settled on the Blade of Evil's Bane. Although it was struck in a nonexistent stone here, he knew at the same time it was in the Sacred Grove. That is where Link was the whole ordeal: within himself and not once alone as his physical form resided in the world of Light. Somehow, he had begun to understand once again. The Princesses he had shared so much with were close by, watching over him concerned. He couldn't keep them waiting.
"It is time to make your choice, Link. Do you understand at least some of the truth now? There are still secrets and lies that you must face, but the past isn't a bad thing – far from it. What you accept to do with it, and how you reveal all that keep it hidden is key. You don't have much left to endure, but it may be a struggle just as difficult as this has been," the voice of the Hero's Shade echoed. Link looked around once again, searching for himself. It was then he noticed that at some point the void had become neither light nor dark. It was glowing. A serene beauty, that of which resembled the hour of twilight and the shadow realm named after it. Or had the time of day in Hyrule been named after the other world? His thoughts were broken by the sound of a familiar beast.
The call of a wolf echoed remotely around him and in time faded to nothingness.
"Goodbye," Link thought briefly. Silence pressed down on him once more, almost preventing him from moving. He didn't know how long it would last, as the seconds of nihility seemed to drag on forever. Link was relieved when the quiet was broken, even though it was done by an unexpected sound.
"Master… I know you will make the best choice," an ethereal voice resonated in the expanse. Something about it was vaguely familiar, as was the one that followed.
"Hey! Listen! You can do it!" a high-pitched call echoed, and finally someone all too familiar spoke. Someone Link desperately wished to see the beautiful face of once again and finally find a way to start exposing the secrets that kept the two apart. The simple words of hers held so many memories and emotions.
"Link… I…"
As the unfinished statement drifted he looked to the sword before him, not realizing that tears had begun to obscure his vision. He blinked them back, taking a deep breath while he placed his hands on the hilt of the ancient blade, preparing to draw the weapon that had accompanied his soul through almost every era; for it was the last time he would be worthy of its majesty in this one. Link lifted the sword almost effortlessly, drawing the blade from its invisible stone to leave behind the Sacred Realm and, in a way, the Courage he had been blessed with, once more entering and enduring that of the worlds he had saved. Link was aware he could no longer hide within himself now.
He knew what his decision would be, and hoped the two who put so much on the line for him would accept what he had become.
Most of all, Link hoped he would be able to accept himself.
A/N: 10,000+ story views?! 53 reviews, 50 favorites, and 86 follows?! Yay! People are actually enjoying this! xD Thank you so much everyone! :3
Anyway, yes, I snuck some OoT Zelink into this TP Midlink story. :p (I've got multiple OTPs, so deal with it.)