~Interlude~

I'm thrust into a cell. It's dark and cold, not at all like the warm house Marni and I have in Kakariko. It's a different cell then I was in before. If possible, it's even colder than the other one. At least in this one I can stand up, and they've decided not to chain me up again.

I guess the guards are trying to separate us all. And then kill us. This trip has turned out wonderful.

Not to mention Link is somewhere locked up too. Stupid kid. What in Hyrule went on his brain that he actually thought it would be a good idea to follow us?

He inherited it from me, I think ruefully.

Link.

It hurts my heart just to look at him. He really does look so much like me when I was his age. Same hair, same face. But he has Marni's eyes. And he's so grown up. I can't believe he's the little boy that would sit on my lap as I told him stories.

I first heard news about Link around four years ago. For ten long years, Marni and I (known as Kara among the Sheikah who don't know who we really are) had painfully kept our distance from Link. Zelda had been visiting Kakariko as Sheik for about a year. Impa knows who Marni and I really are, she's the one who gave us our Sheikah disguises. Using the same magic that she used to turn Zelda into Sheik, she changed Marni into Kara and me into Conner. She knew us from when I was a guard to King Phillip, and since he trusted me highly she does too, so I'm one of the few Sheikah who knows Zelda's real identity.

That night, Zelda, Impa, Jakob and I sat around a table eating. I sat across from Zelda, now in her regular form, talking to Jakob when I heard Zelda make a comment about a boy named Link to Impa. I almost choked on my food.

No, I thought, it couldn't be my Link.

"Link?" Impa asked. "Who's this Link person?"

Zelda looked down at her plate, her face flushed. I suspected she'd been keeping that a secret.

"Oh, just a boy I met." She waved it off.

"A Sheikah?" I asked without thinking.

"Um, no," She ventured. "No, he's a Hylian."

"What? You met some random boy somewhere? Zelda, why didn't you tell me that? He could've hurt you!" Impa exploded.

"Not Link! He's my best friend!" She hit the table in frustration as soon as the phrase left her mouth. Another secret.

"What?!"

"Zelda, this boy, where did you meet him?" I asked. I had to know if he was my son.

"In the Lost Woods, near Ordon Village, about two years ago." She answered, wincing as Impa's eyes widened even more.

"You were in the Lost Woods without my permission?!"

"Who does he live with?" I asked.

"An uncle. I've never met him though, he's a little protective and Link says that if he found out we were friends he'd freak out. He doesn't like Link making friends with people outside of Ordon. He told me the reason is that his parents disappeared about ten years ago for no reason. His uncle doesn't want the same thing to happen to him. It's kind of sad," She took a bit of her bread. "He's a year older than me, but he doesn't know that because I made it so Sheik is the same age as him."

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. It was Link. What were the odds Link and Zelda would become best friends? And was Link really 14? He was so old...

Impa's eyebrows raised as she made eye contact with me. She knew now that it was my Link. Then her eyes widened again and she turned to Zelda.

"Zel, this isn't the boy Ganondorf wanted Sheik to make friends with?"

My heart dropped to my boots. "What do you mean?"

Impa looked to me in sympathy. "About a month after Sheik got into Ganondorf's inner circle, he told her about this boy who was going to ruin everything for him. He told her where he lived and what he looked like, then ordered her to pretend to be friends with him to lead him to Ganondorf. Of course his Majesty and I refused to let her put the boy at risk." She turned to Zelda with a withering look. "And you went out and did it anyway."

Zelda stared intently at her food. "Impa, please don't tell Daddy. He'll never let me be Sheik again if he finds out I disobeyed a direct order. Besides, Link is probably one of the nicest people I've ever met, he won't hurt me."

Impa glanced at me. "I'm sure he won't."

My mind was reeling. I was so happy that Link had apparently turned out good. Hopefully he was more like Marni than me, or he would be driving Cody crazy. Bad enough he had to spend his childhood taking care of me, he didn't need to spend his adult life handling a mini-me.

But the fact that Ganondorf knew where Link lived bothered me a lot. I didn't even know exactly where Link was until today, it's been so long. For all I knew Cody could've abandoned Ordon and taken Link to live at Snowpeak Ruins. Sounds like something he would do. How had Ganondorf found out? Was Link no longer safe?

Impa put her hand on my shoulder as a silent attempt to comfort me. Zelda and Jakob were deep in conversation, so she took the opportunity to whisper to me, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Ganondorf. I didn't want to worry you more than necessary. Taylor, I'm sure he'll be completely safe. Ganondorf is in the dungeons, he can't lay a finger on him. We've got everything under control. But if you want, we can send guards out there to watch him."

I attempted at a smile. "No, it's fine. Cody can take of him just fine. I trust him."

And now look where we are. All three of us rotting in a dungeon. I should've taken Impa up on her offer.

But at the same time, because I didn't, I got to see my only son for the first time and fourteen years. It definitely came as a shock when I saw him laying on the ground next to Sheik, unconscious and bleeding. I didn't recognize him immediately. I still pictured Link as the little 4 year-old happily playing in the water. But as soon as I got a good look at him, I knew it was Link. I almost fainted, I was so surprised. I certainly hadn't expected my son that I hadn't had contact with for over a decade to show up out of nowhere. And I'd been amazed by how old he was, how much like me he was.

I sigh deeply and rest my head against the cool metal bars on the door, wincing as the numbing cold cuts into my forehead. He really is just like me. Running away sounds just like something my 18 year-old self would have done. Thank the goddesses Marni came along and put me in line. Why couldn't he be more like her? I mean sure he has enough of her sense to be polite and stuff, but he obviously has my brain. She never would've done something like that.

I wince at the thought of my wife. She'll be furious that I didn't tell her about Link coming to Kakariko, but I had a good reason not to. She would've wanted to see him and he can't know we're his parents, not yet. We can't take that chance while Ganondorf is so close to finding him. He'll use us against him. I know it.

She's probably worried sick about me. How long have I been here? A day? Longer? She's going to kill me when I get home. And then bring me back to life to yell at me and make me sleep on the couch.

"Who are you?"

I'm startled out of my thoughts and turn towards the new voice. In the dim light I can just barely make out the outline of a man close to my age. He moves toward the little light that shines through the barred window so I can see him better. He has thick whiskers and black hair with threaded through with gray, his bright blue eyes dimmed by the harsh nature of Ganondorf's dungeons.

My jaw drops in surprise. I didn't expect to get put in a cell with someone else, especially not with my brother.

"Cody?"

Cody narrows his eyes at me. "How do you know my name?" He asks in a hoarse voice.

I'm instantly comforted by the presence of my older brother. I've really missed Cody, missed him always being there for me. Before Marni came along Cody was the only one who could keep me out of trouble. I've needed him a lot lately.

I wait for him to recognized me, but then realize that as long as I have my Sheikah disguise on, Cody won't know who I am.

"Who are you?" Cody asks again.

I sigh, and for the first time in a long time I leave Conner behind and become Taylor again. Then I take off the scarf and stare Cody in the eyes.

"Cody, it's me." I say softly.

It's Cody's turn to gape in surprise. "Tay?"

I take a step closer to him. "Yeah, yeah it's me."

Cody stands in shock for a moment, then runs forward and embraces me, laughing and misty eyed. I have to admit, my eyes aren't the dryest either.

"Taylor! What are you doing here? I haven't seen or heard anything from you since you left and you show up in Ganondorf's dungeon of all places!"

I laugh softly. "You can thank my son for that."

Cody rolls his eyes. "Link? Great, what's he done now?" Then his eyes widen. "You mean you've seen him?"

"Yes. But he doesn't know it's me. I've been disguised as a Sheikah named Conner ever since you last saw me."

"Where's Link now?"

"Here."

"In the dungeons?"

"Yes."

Cody shrugs. "Can't say I'm not surprised."

"Cody, if we see Link anytime soon, I'm not Taylor, okay? I'm Conner, an old friend of yours and your brother's."

"You mean you're not going to tell him?" Cody asks.

"No, I am. Eventually. Just, not now. Not here with Ganondorf breathing down our necks. He'll use me against him just like he's using you. It'll be better this way," I say halfheartedly.

I can see from his gaze that he knows I'd rather Link knew I'm his father, but he knows I'm right. It will hurt more than it will heal.

"So, got any of your bright ideas on how to get out of here?" Cody asks.

"I was hoping you would," I respond.

"Nope, I've been here for a few days and searched every inch of the place. There's absolutely nothing."

I sigh deeply. How long are we going to be here?

"Are you sure you searched everywhere?" I ask as I start to search through the hay that lies on the floor. Maybe there's a trap door or tunnel that he overlooked.

I doubt it, but I continue looking anyway.

"I'm pretty sure," Cody kicks the hay at his feet. "I haven't had anything else to do for a while, so I put all my energy into looking for an exit. There's nothing Tay."

I kick the wall in frustration. "I am not going to let him kill Link. Not after all I've done to protect him."

Suddenly, a banging on the door echoes throughout the small cell. We both turn toward it and find Jakob grinning at us through the bars.

"Hey! I haven't seen Taylor for a few years, nice to see you've come out of your Sheikah shell." He winks. "And Cody! It's been a long, long time, friend."

"Jakob!" Cody says with a smile. "It's good to see another familiar face."

"How did you get out?" I ask.

He holds up a ring of keys with a smug smile. "A certain Princess/Sheikah saved me." Zelda, of course.

"What's going on with her? What does she think she's doing, helping Ganondorf take us like that?" I ask.

Jakob quickly unlocks us while relaying Zelda's story. "She told me she hadn't meant for it to happen, but when the ReDead knocked Link out she had no choice but to go along with it. She was planning a breakout, but she had to act sooner than she thought."

"Why?" I ask, getting a bad feeling.

"Ganondorf gave Sheik the honor of killing Link. Tomorrow." Apparently the horror on mine and Cody's faces are more than obvious, because he quickly adds, "She's already on her way to get him. They're probably already out."

"I hope you're right," I say as we quickly make our way to Link's cell. I turn back into Conner.

I will not let Ganondorf lay a hand on my son. Not now. Not ever.

~Chapter Eight~

I back away quickly and stand next to Sheik–I mean Zelda. Aiden sits up in shock, his arms finally free of the chains, while Navi whimpers and her light dims. She slowly flies away from him, weakly landing on my shoulder. She looks sick.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

Ganondorf laughs. "I usually have that effect on fairies. I'm quite special that way."

"I feel like he's draining my energy," Navi moans.

Zelda steps forward. "Ganondorf, you're reign of terror is finally at an end. The only reason you've not been executed yet is because you retained important information. But now that you've told me everything there is to tell, you're execution will be scheduled, soon. The guards are on their way as we speak."

"Well, well. If it isn't the little princess! I hate to break it to you, but I haven't confessed anything to you." Ganondorf smiles. "Now, do tell, how did you come to join us here, your Highness?"

In response Zelda lifts up her scarf and wraps it around her face. With it on she looks like she did as Sheik.

Ganondorf's eyes widen in surprise. "So, you were the Sheikah boy this whole time. I suppose I should have known. It seemed much too unlikely that you could have fooled the entire Sheikah population, not to mention Impa. I'm sure she's the one that thought up the disguise. Well, no matter. I can always hold you for ransom. Your dear daddy wouldn't dare let anyone harm you, he'll do anything I want." He glances at Aiden, Navi and me. "As for you three, I'll just kill you. It'll be much easier. Especially you," He points at me. "I want you dead as soon as possible, no offense."

"Offense taken," I growl.

"My father will personally make sure that you're dead by the end of the week, Ganondorf." Aiden growls.

"Your father is a weakling. I've fought him before, trust me, I know."

"He'll be the one to kill you."

"More likely I'll be the one to kill him."

"Ganondorf," I interrupt. "I want my uncle back. Where is he?"

Ganondorf thinks for a second. "Your uncle... the scrawny black-haired man? Yes... let's see, where did I put him? I do believe I put him in the cell with your daddy."

It takes a moment for me to understand those last words, and when I do time seems to stop.

"My–my father?" I ask. He's pulling my leg. Getting me to do whatever he wants. But I don't really know. Ganondorf has a sarcastic edge to his voice no matter what he says, making you doubt everything that comes out of his mouth.

"Yes. Oh that's right, you haven't seen him for a while, have you?" He continues. "Funny, since you've been with him for the last few days."

"What are you talking about?" I demand. That sarcastic tone is really getting on my nerves, can he say anything without it? "I haven't seen my father since I was 4 years old."

"Oh really? Because you were talking to him just a few hours ago."

"What do you mean?"

Ganondorf grins. "He thinks that little Sheikah disguise is fooling me. Please, it's obvious who he really is." He sees my shocked expression and his grin widens to expose more of his yellow teeth. "Yes, one of the Sheikah I've captured just so happens to have a double identity as your father. Care to know which one?"

I know I shouldn't believe him, but a little voice in my head is telling me he's speaking the truth. That voice is usually right. I may not listen to it all the time, but it's almost always right.

I turn to Zelda. "Did you know about this?"

I feel bad as soon as the words leave my mouth. They came out a little harsher than I meant. Her eyes drop to her boots and her shoulders are weighed down with guilt. Just because she kept her identity from me, doesn't mean she knew about Dad too. The only thing that did was make her feel even worse about lying to me.

"No, if any of the Sheikah here is your father he's done a good job about hiding it." She says.

"Not really, I noticed." Ganondorf says smugly. "I believe he goes by the name of–"

"Ganondorf, get away from my nephew!" A wonderfully familiar voice yells.

"Cody!" I yell in relief as he walks in and steps in between Ganondorf and I. Conner and Jakob walk in as well, flanking Cody.

"Ah, Uncle and Daddy are here. Good, now you can watch the death of your little hero." Ganondorf says.

Dad? I turn to Cody in surprise. He in turn looks over to Conner and Jakob. Jakob turns to Conner, who looks at me with a guilty face.

"So Taylor, how long did you think you could keep it from your son and I, huh?" Ganondorf mocks. "Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that. Do you want me to tell him or do you want to reveal yourself?"

Conner looks down to the ground, and then there's a flash of light like when Zelda transformed and he takes his scarf off. I step back in shock and Zelda gasps. Conner doesn't quite look like Conner anymore. He looks like... me. He's still vaguely recognizable, but he's definitely changed. His hair seems closer to my shade of blonde, just as messy as mine too. He's grown a couple of inches, his tan Sheikah skin now paler, marking him as a Hylian. His eyes are what surprise me the most though. They've turned a comforting brown, eyes that I now remember smiling down at me as a child.

"Don't touch my son," He growls at Ganondorf. Ganondorf laughs.

Conner isn't Conner. He's Taylor. He's my father.

All I can do is stare at him. The man I've dreamed about meeting my whole life, and here he is standing right in front of me. I can remember him now, his bright laughter when I did something childishly stupid and his warm smile as my mother sang me to sleep.

In the space of one day, I've found out my beast friend is really a girl (not to mention a princess) and now that my father has been a Sheikah in disguise. What else could happen? One of the Re-Deads turns out to be my long-lost brother?

Taylor looks at me with the most heartbreakingly guilty expression I've ever seen. "Link... I'm so sorry... I wanted to tell you so, so bad. But I thought it would've given Ganondorf the upper hand if he knew." He faces Ganondorf with a stone cold face. "But apparently, he already knew."

Ganondorf shrugs. "What can I say? I'm a smart man."

"You're a foolish man," Taylor spits out. "Yes, it's possible that you, the princess and my son could be reincarnations. I mean, it's happened before. But that doesn't mean history has to repeat itself. You don't need to do this."

Ganondorf laughs again, a bitter sound. "Oh yes I do. I hate to burst your bubble, but throughout all the times we have been reborn the hero and I have fought to the death. There's no escaping your son's fate, and you know that."

"It doesn't mean you need to kill him." Taylor says through gritted.

"I'm sorry Taylor, but I can't take any chances." Ganondorf barks at a Re-Dead standing nearby in its garbled language. The Re-Dead slowly shuffles out.

Uh oh, what did he just do?

"Ganondorf, what happened to you?" Taylor asks in a frustrated tone. "You were a good man. You were a king. You had everything. Why give it all up for something so ridiculous? What become a murderer when you had so much potential?"

"Because it is my destiny!" Ganondorf suddenly explodes. He has a crazy gleam in his eyes, like a madman. Zelda jumps and grabs my arm. "I will be the first of my lineage to defeat the almighty hero! I will win! And now, I shall watch the hero kill himself. What sweet revenge it will be!"

Holy Hyrule, he really is crazy.

Suddenly the room is spinning, and I have to lean heavily on Zelda for support. But then she's gone as well. I fall on the floor and look up in surprise. My father, Aiden, Jakob, and Cody are locked up in cages that hang from the ceiling. Zelda is chained up next to Ganondorf, who has Navi in a cage hanging from his belt. I'm alone in the middle of a large, circular room, armed with a sword and shield strapped to my back.

Ganondorf smiles at me, then grabs Zelda by her braid and yanks. She yelps in pain. Some kind of instinctive protectiveness over swells up inside me. My mind forms simple thoughts: I don't like that he just did that. I don't like that he hurt her. He has to be taught a lesson. With my sword. Without thinking I unsheath the sword and strike at Ganondorf. He instantly counters with his own sword. I swing around and take another swing, this time striking flesh. Where my sword gashed his arm now oozes blood. It's a deep cut, long too. The only thought in my head is that I really want to hurt him for all he's done to me. I want him to yell in pain at the wound. I want him to feel my frustration. But he just smiles in satisfaction, as if I've done something to prove his point.

"Don't you see Link? You are the hero." He whispers. "Look at what you just did."

I realize he makes a point. Why did I do that? It was like a whole other side of me came out of nowhere. I mean, I don't even know how to use a sword! I took lessons from Cody once, but that was a long time ago, and certainly not enough for me to land those blows. What just happened? I glance at Zelda to see she's just as surprised as me.

"Nice job, Hero." She whispers. "Thanks."

Ganondorf ignores the cuts and looks up to the cages. "Well Taylor? Do you believe me now?"

I turn around to see Aiden and Jakob nodding in approval while Cody and Taylor stare at me in surprise. Cody especially, because he knows I have no real training for sword fighting.

"I think it's time to really put you to the test, Link." Ganondorf says. "If you don't kill yourself, then you really are the hero and I will kill you instead. If you do kill yourself, then you aren't worthy of being the hero. Simple logic really."

"What do you mean about me killing myself?" I ask nervously.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Ganondorf says. Bars spring down from the ceiling, cutting me off from him, Zelda and Navi. All I have left is my sword and shield.

"Link, behind you!" Zelda cries.

I turn on my heel and find myself face to face with a strange, ebony figure. I take a step back in surprise. He's defying gravity by actually crouching on the bottom of his sword! While his sword is standing on its tip! Who is this person? A demon?

The figure laughs softly, a chilling sound that cuts right to my bones. He lifts his head and stares me in the eyes. I gasp, because I recognize this thing. For the second time today, I'm facing someone who looks like me. Exactly like me. This clone has my face. But instead of my green tunic, his is black as tar. His skin is gray, and so is his hair. His eyes are blood red.

"Hello, hero. I've been waiting for you." He says, without moving his mouth. His voice is something from my nightmares.

It's a shadow me.

A dark me.

A Dark Link.