"If a person who has an evil heart gets the Triforce, a Hero is destined to appear...and he alone must face the person who began the Great Cataclysm."
-a descendant of the Seven Sages
Chapter Two: A Shattered Mind
"What in the name of…?" the Zora Prince, Ralis, said.
His entourage of loyal Zoras stared at an odd scene in a dark and rainy Northern Hyrule Field. Originally headed for Hyrule Castle Town to pledge their "loyalty" to the "Demon King", Ganondorf Dragmire, the Zoras spotted a young man in tattered, green clothing who stumbled around near the eastern road leading to the Eldin Province. What scared the group of Zoras was the massive chest wound he had and the evil aura radiating from him.
Prince Ralis, using a binocular device called a Hawkeye, looked at the man more carefully and gasped. The man was none other than…Link. Or at least the Zora thought it was him. But he wasn't very sure and was confused as he was presumed dead for over a year after going missing.
"Link" spotted him and stumbled towards him. The Zoras, suspicious, surrounded their prince and Prince Ralis asked, "W-What are you doing? It's Link."
"Sir, that's not him! Look at the glowing spot on his chest and how pale he is! He looks like Death!" one of his guards told him.
Prince Ralis looked at "Link" again and saw a glowing black and red crystal in the massive chest wound he had. The young man's skin was deathly pale and unhealed wounds covered his body. Markings, Twili in appearance, were on his neck, on his jawline, and on the exposed parts of his arms. "Link" turned to face them and Prince Ralis shuddered as his eyes were a piercing red, reminiscent of a monster's.
The Zora prince began to back away, along with his entourage, frightened. The young man caught up with them and Prince Ralis gave a weak smile. His smile was also frightening as his teeth were sharp like a predator's.
"P-Prince...R-Ralis?" the young man asked in a weak voice.
"L-Link?! Is…Is that really you?" Prince Ralis asked.
Link had a lost expression on his face and the prince knew something was very wrong. The Zoras aimed their spears at him to defend their prince and the young man gripped his head. Link then fell to the ground and cried out in pain, scaring Prince Ralis. His face contorted to that of an undead monster and stared at the royal with hatred in his red eyes. The Zora guards charged at him and attacked to protect their prince. The monster attacked, belching powerful fire magic from its mouth, burning some of them to ashes.
Prince Ralis headed for the river as his guards were being massacred by who he thought was his friend. He jumped in, swimming upstream back to Zora's Domain. As he did, the Zora prince heard a horrifying, monstrous shriek coming from behind along with the horrified screams of his brethren.
3 Nabooru 1015, 6th Era of Water, noon...
"Alright, so the twelve months, starting with the first month of Seres. What are the others?" Granny Matilde said, teaching Aryll and Agitha's class of 20 students.
Aryll, worried for her brother, kept staring at the classroom door. Agitha, the scholar, noticed her absentmindedness and quickly answered with, "The season of winter...or what was supposed to be the season of winter, includes the first month of Seres, the second month of Oren, and the third month of Rutela. The season of spring includes the fourth month of Laruto, the fifth month of Saria, and the sixth month of Gulley."
"Summer has the seventh month of Nabooru, the eighth month of Rauru, and the ninth month of Darmani. Lastly, Autumn includes the tenth month of Fado, the eleventh month of Irene, and the final month of Impaz."
Granny Matilde nodded in approval and asked, "And can anyone tell me why the months are named in that manner?"
Another student raised their hand and replied with, "Aren't they named after the ancient sages?"
"Yes. They are named after the sages of the elements that govern our world. And can anyone tell me what the elements are?" Granny Matilde asked the class.
A third raised their hand and asked her, "Why are we reviewing all this? We learned this last year."
"Because of the national exam. It is expected for you to know the basics," Granny Matilde told him.
Aryll raised her hand and answered the original question with, "The eight elements are Forest, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Spirit, Shadow, and Light. The sages are masters of the elemental magics and they taught Chosen Ones and others how to use it...right?"
"Yes. And the elements also determine which era we're in. The current age is the 6th Era of Water, also called the 'Age of Endless Frost'. Since ice is another form of water, it was natural that people called this age an age of water."
"The other eras such as the first Era of Wind was also called the Sky Era, where many humans lived on the sky continents that float above the Great Sea. Now the Wind Tribe and the Rito, live there," Granny Matilde explained
A third student raised their hand and asked, "Aren't the Wind Tribe the people who fly on those giant birds?"
"'Loftwings'? Yes, though many believed the species to be lost for many millennia. When the empire began making use of airships, the birds were rediscovered, living with the wind-magic-wielding tribe above the clouds, in a place simply called the City in the Sky," Granny Matilde replied.
Aryll remembered her grandmother's many tales of the different eras. She also remembered that whenever the eras change, a great warrior was supposed to appear. She wondered if one would appear soon since she heard what the elders had said about how the current era was an "evil age". She didn't know much about it beyond the stories, most of them blaming the Kingslayer for the Ice Age.
"Aryll? Aryll!" Granny Matilde yelled.
"Oh...Uh...What?" she asked.
"And what was the next era after the 'Sky Era'?" Granny Matilde asked.
"The 2nd Era of Earth...?" Aryll asked.
"And what is the common name?" Granny Matilde asked.
"Uh...Um...Uh...I-I don't know!" Aryll yelled, becoming flustered.
"The 'Force Era'! Seriously, Aryll, pay attention!" Agitha told her.
Some of her classmates giggled since the young teen didn't answer the question. Embarrassed, Aryll sunk into her seat, hoping that the others would stop staring at her.
"I'm telling you! Link's still alive!" Prince Ralis yelled.
He spoke to the deposed Hyrulian royal, Zelda Hyrule XVI. The Zora prince met with her in a hidden alcove in Lanayru Province, overlooking the Great Bridge of Hylia. She was joined by the remaining loyal Hyrulian Knights and Telma's resistance group originally stationed in her bar at Hyrule Castle Town. Princess Midna and her loyal Twili following, able to exist outside of the Twilight Realm due to the darkness becoming stagnant in the world of light, sat next to the Hyrulian Knights and were skeptical.
"Link's dead. We saw him get stabbed in the chest with the Sages' Sword and torn asunder with a powerful spell of darkness. There's no way he could've survived that," Princess Midna spat.
"But!" Prince Ralis said.
"The Hero Chosen by the Gods died during the battle. There's no way for him to return as he had nothing to revive hi…" Zelda started.
"But he had this glowing dark crystal in his chest and he was alive!" Prince Ralis told her, interrupting.
"Dark cry…Oh no…" Princess Midna muttered.
The group looked at her and she said, "That's…the embodiment of the dark curse that Zant cast on him. It…That crystal…It shouldn't have, but it seems that it managed to revive his body, but the Link we know is gone."
"Then why did he respond to me in a friendly manner when he saw me?" Prince Ralis asked.
"That crystal may have copied all of Link's memories after we decided to keep it. I kept it in his shadow and it allowed him to turn into a wolf at will, but…it had other side effects too…just like the Fused Shadows we collected. I didn't tell him…I really should've…" Princess Midna explained.
"What…side effects, hon?" the half-Gerudo bartender, Telma, asked.
"He would become more aggressive than usual and had a somewhat feral look in his eyes when he fought enemies afterward. But since he had the Master Sword, those effects were curbed…most of the time," Princess Midna explained.
Prince Ralis hadn't a clue what to say, not knowing that the Hero had dealt with that.
'So…Link really is…?' Prince Ralis thought.
"Yes. He died. I felt his life force leave his body when the Dark King sent him into the darkness. Now it's been replaced by dark power, turning his remains into an abomination," Zelda told him.
The group fell silent.
"Are we going to fight back? We have to save the world in his place! He would've wanted that, I'm sure of it," Rusl asked.
"No. Not yet. We must gain allies from all the races of Hyrule…including the Gerudo," Zelda told him.
The Hyrulian soldiers were all confused and Zelda told them that a few Gerudo stayed in Hyrule after Ganondorf's botched execution 300 years ago, giving an explanation of how "halflings" like Telma came to be. Many more left the country, terrified of what the Hylians would do after the imprisonment of their leader.
Prince Ralis kept silent, still in shock that the Hero was truly dead.
"So what are we going to do when we see him?" Prince Ralis asked Princess Midna.
Princess Midna, unable to take the title of queen of the Twili due to Ganondorf dissolving the Twili monarchy and taking over the realm, sighed and shrugged. She replied to his question with, "I guess I'll just have to get close enough to the monster to rip out the shadow crystal from its chest."
"So, what'll happen if it doesn't work and he attacks?" the knight, Ashei, asked.
"Then we have to run. The wraith's too powerful as it knows everything Link used to and, according to Ralis here, then some," Princess Midna told her.
"'And then some'?" Auru asked.
"He knows powerful magic. I mean…REALLY powerful magic. He belched out flames from his mouth like a dragon! I've never seen a human able to use magic in that manner," Prince Ralis replied.
"So, should we keep our magic at the ready?" Shad asked.
The Twili nodded and Rusl said, "No matter what we thought of Link…We have to remember that he's dead and that…thing is masquerading around as him. So, do not hold back if it attacks."
"But if he's too strong, we must flee," Auru added.
The group agreed and headed for the darkened lantern cavern at Lake Hylia. Apparently, the wraith was hiding out in the old mine and was attacking passersby. They could feel darkness and evil spilling forth from the entrance and Princess Midna knew it came from the shadow crystal.
"Uh...has anyone seen Mido and Fado?" one of Mido's friends asked the twins.
The girls sat outside in the school's enclosed courtyard with a few of their other schoolmates and were waiting for Link, Pipit, Groose, and Karane. Said friend of Mido's was a teen named Cawlin. The quite-wide-in-size-and-quite-short Cawlin was a giant jerk to many, as he had what Dame Lydia called a major "Inferiority Complex". He had a major crush on Mido's sister, Fado, and hung around the bully twins in hope that he could date her.
Aryll and Agitha didn't like the guy, as he would constantly bully Link over his stutter and muteness. Usually, Groose and Pipit would stop him, threatening to beat him up. But since they were nowhere to be found, the girls had to deal.
"No. Why?" Agitha asked, annoyed at the teen's presence.
"We were supposed to meet up to head home. Where are they?" Cawlin said.
"Well, we don't know. Go talk to Stritch or something," Agitha told him.
Cawlin left, muttering several choice words about the twins under his breath. Moments later, Karane came rushing towards them and asked, "Uh...Have either of you seen Mido or Fado?"
"Cawlin was just here asking about that," Aryll told her.
Karane was worried and Aryll didn't see why.
"Hmm...And Link's gone too. I would think he's in the library doing homework. But I won't be surprised if the twins found him and locked him in a closet somewhere..." Karane said.
"KARANE!"
The trio saw Groose rushing towards them. He was quickly followed by Pipit and the two were flustered.
"Okay! Okay-okay-okay!" Groose said in a panic.
"Please breathe before you pass out again, Groose," Agitha sighed.
Pipit told the girls that they had found Link after Cawlin, Stritch and the rest of Mido and Fado's flunkies started their search for the bully twins. They found him in the library, eerily calm. They tried calling his name, but he didn't respond. After five times, they rushed to find the Nodor twins.
"Yeah! He didn't respond when Pipit called him!" Groose yelled.
Scared for Link, the group headed for the school's library. There, they found him, doing homework. Aryll thought it was odd as Agitha and she never saw him get started early on work.
The teen was surrounded by stacks of books and didn't acknowledge their presence. Even after Aryll called out to him, the teen didn't respond. He kept writing, apparently oblivious to them.
"Link? Link? LINK!" Aryll yelled.
Link stopped writing and placed his pen down onto the paper he wrote on. He turned around and, without a single stutter, asked, "This is a library. Why are you yelling?"
His demeanor was different. He seemed...standoffish, much different than Link's "normal" self. Link looked at the five and Aryll could tell that he didn't recognize them. It was like that time before, three years ago.
"Link, have you seen Mido and Fado?" Pipit asked.
"Again with that name…" Link told him.
The five were shocked and Groose asked, "Uh...That is your name, right? Link. That's the name we've been callin' ya all these years."
"What...? Oh, I see. I'm 'awake' again," Link murmured.
"Link, you're scaring me. Why are you talking like that?" Aryll said.
Remembering why they were looking for Link, Agitha asked him, "Never mind that. Have you seen Mido and Fado?"
"'Mido and Fado'? The twins?" Link asked.
"C'mon. You know them! Y'know. The ones that annoy the heck outta everyone and make fun of you all the time 'cause of that stutter!" Groose said.
Link thought about it and asked, "Are they the children who tried to put me into a closet that contained a mop and bucket?"
"'Put you into...'? Oh no. Did you...?" Karane asked him.
Link stood up, gathered his things, and said, "All I did was just turn the tables on them. The boy I threw into that closet while the girl ran off."
The group turned to each other in shock. Aryll, scared, asked, "Uh...Which closet...?"
Link, after putting his things in his book bag, asked, "The one near here. Why? Why help someone that wishes to harm you?"
"Because...the Link we know now wouldn't do anything like that. He's more of a coward," Agitha told him.
Aryll turned to her, glaring, and Link shrugged, not seeming to care. He left the library, with Pipit and Karane leaving soon after, mainly to free Mido from his predicament. Groose turned to the twins and asked, "Uh...What was that?"
"It happened again. We have to tell Elder Aginah about this," Aryll said.
"About what?" Groose yelled.
The twins ignored him, heading for the elder's home. Groose followed, not sure what was going on.
Three years ago...
"Link? Link, are you okay?" the nine-year-old Aryll asked, entering Link's room one day.
She saw the 12-year-old sitting at his desk, writing something in his journal. She remembered that her mother had told him to start writing his thoughts in it and hoped that it would help regain his memories. As she started to approach him, Link turned to her and rudely said, "What do you want, kid?"
Aryll was taken aback and noticed that he didn't stutter. He had an annoyed look on his face and Aryll stammered, "Uh...Um...Well..."
"Spit it out already," Link said, still being very rude.
"W-Who are you? What happened to the kind brother I have?" Aryll asked.
Link scoffed and told her, "How should I know? I'm not him."
"Then who are you?" Aryll asked in disbelief.
Link turned from her and was about to answer when Lydia showed up. She looked at the two and asked, "Everything okay in here?"
"Um...y-yes," Aryll told her.
The woman was unconvinced, but said nothing further on the matter. She left and Aryll told Link, "I don't know what's going on, but you have to snap out of it...I'm your sister...We're family."
"'Family'?" the drastically changed Link asked.
"Yeah. I'm your sister, Aryll, remember? And you're my big brother, Link," Aryll told him.
Link glared at her and roared, "That's not my name! Stop calling me that!"
He then said several things in what sounded like gibberish and stood to his feet. Aryll was scared and quickly ran out of the room. She ran into Agitha, who was joined by their mother.
"What's going on? Who's yelling?" Agitha asked.
Aryll told the two about how Link started yelling at her about her calling him by his name. She then said how he started speaking in gibberish. The sound of something being thrown at a wall was heard and Lydia told the girls, "Go and find your grandmother. I'll see what's going on."
That night...
After speaking with Elder Aginah and telling him about the sudden shift in Link's personality that day, the elder became worried. They also told him of how he told them that his name wasn't Link, but didn't provide an alternative. Elder Aginah listened intently and told the girls that the others elders and he were going to speak on the matter later. In the meantime, they were to go home and not tell their mother. The reason why was that the woman was a worrywart and the elder didn't want her to have worry cloud her judgment during her patrols.
At the dinner table, the twins noticed Link's silence. He didn't make eye contact with anyone and kept staring at the bowl of goat stew in front of him. Granny Matilde noticed and asked, "Are you alright, child?"
Link paid no attention to her and kept using his spoon to stir his food around. Lydia looked at him and asked, "What's wrong? You're never this quiet around us."
The teen seemed annoyed and kept silent. Agitha turned to Aryll, who was at a loss as to what to do. They couldn't let their mother find out that Link wasn't behaving like himself...again.
Moments later, Link got up, took his bowl of food, and went into the kitchen. He then headed to his room and closed the door behind him. Lydia looked to Aryll and asked, "What happened? He's never been this quiet. He, at least, tries to speak and tell us about his day..."
"Um...I don't really know," Aryll told her.
"I'm sure he'll be fine, Lydia. Don't worry," Granny Matilde said.
"I do have the right to worry. He's my only son and I..." Lydia told her mother-in-law.
The old woman sighed and said, "You have to forgive yourself and let him live. What happened I don't believe anyone could have predicted. But the boy does need to live and you need to stop worrying, lest you make yourself sick again."
Lydia shook her head, not wanting to heed her. The old woman helped her to the kitchen and the twins wanted to know what was really going on with their brother. Aryll wanted to barge in and demand Link to tell her what was going on. Agitha thought it would be a bad idea and told her to leave him be.
Aryll whined and said, "But...!"
"If we go in, he'll just get defensive and become highly aggressive, like last time. Let's just go to bed and leave him be," Agitha told her.
She grabbed her protesting twin's arm and the two entered their bedroom. The bedroom was able to fit the twin's bunkbeds, with Aryll having the top bunk and Agitha having the bottom one. A single window, at the home's western side, allowed for a small amount of light to enter the room. Two small desks held the girls' schoolbooks and favorite things, located at the sides of the window.
Like all the other rooms in the home, the room was lit by oil lamps. Two small wardrobes held the girls' clothing, since they had different fashion senses, with Agitha usually wearing darker clothes and Aryll wearing lighter ones. Small pots of flowers were near Agitha's things while pictures of birds were near Aryll's. To tell the time, a small wall clock powered by a Timeshift Stone hung near the door.
The girls prepared themselves for sleep, changing and doing the last bits of homework. Just as Aryll was about to turn off the oil lamp and Agitha hopped into bed, there was a knock at the door.
"Uh...Who is it?" Aryll asked.
"Me," the person behind the door said.
The voice was Link's, but the twins were very suspicious.
"What do you want, 'Mister Me'?" Agitha asked, wanting to go to sleep.
The door opened and they saw Link, but...
"Okay. Are you Link, our brother? Or...?" Aryll asked.
"Someone else?" Link asked.
He grabbed the chair at Agitha's desk, since it was closest to the door, sat down and he began asking questions. The girls were a bit flustered as they never saw Link do such a thing. His questions were also odd, as if he was in, what Agitha called, a time displacement. He also looked…older, somehow.
"So, you are Aryll and you are Agitha. Hmm...How can the boy tell you two apart?" Link said.
"The 'boy'?" Agitha asked.
"Link" nodded and said, "The boy you call 'Link'. He is your brother, right?"
"Link, you're our brother. Why are you talking like that? You're scaring me," Aryll told him.
"Link" didn't respond and Aryll had a good mind to tell Granny Matilde. Before she could do anything, Agitha asked him, "Then...Who are you since you keep saying that you're not Link?"
"My name is Raven," "Link", or "Raven", said plainly.
"'Raven'? What? What kind of name is that?" Aryll asked.
"Raven" had a questioning look on his face and asked the twins, "What? Is there something wrong with my name? It doesn't sound too odd, does it?"
"Yeah! Your name isn't Raven! It's Link! Link Nodor of Aboda Village! And we're your sisters, Aryll and Agitha! Our mom's Dame Lydia Gale-Nodor, a Knight of Hyrule. And our dad was Sir Sigmund Nodor also a Knight of Hyrule! And our grandma is Granny Matilde Calais-Nodor!" Aryll yelled.
"Raven" was a bit surprised, his face showing it.
"Huh..." he muttered.
"What is going on here?" Granny Matilde said, entering.
She scanned the trio and stopped at Link. Getting close to his face, she said, "Hmm...You're here again?"
"'Again'?!" the girls yelled.
"Raven" nodded and told her, "I don't know why I'm awake, but..."
"But what...'Mister Raven'?" Agitha asked.
Granny Matilde kept her stare at "Raven" and said, "Come with me, please. Girls, go to bed."
"Raven" followed and closed the door behind himself. Since the house was small, the girls headed for the door and tried to overhear the conversation.
Granny Matilde started off with, "So...which one are you?"
"Raven's" voice, which was Link's at first, deepened and his accent changed from the mountain peoples' to that of a Holodrumi. He replied with, "Raven. That's really my name."
"So, you're the third one to 'reawaken' these past several months...This isn't good," Granny Matilde said.
"Meaning?" "Raven" asked.
"Do you...remember anything before waking up? I mean, the first time you woke up," Granny Matilde asked him.
"I…remember fighting. Fighting in this half-submerged city against Hyrulian forces...I fought my hardest to repel their forces and then...nothing. I remember waking up about six months ago...and a thought to write in the boy's journal came to my mind," "Raven" replied.
"Hmm...Just like the other two..." Granny Matilde told him.
"'Other two'?" Aryll muttered.
"I will speak to the other elders of the matter. Until then, try not to draw too much attention to yourself when you're...awake," Granny Matilde told "Raven".
"I will try. But I cannot promise anything," "Raven" said.
The twins heard a loud thud moments after "Raven" stopped speaking. Seconds later, they heard Link speak, saying, "G-Granny? Wh-What's g-g-going on? Wh-Why am I-I...?"
"Don't worry. Just go to bed, Link. We'll speak about it later," Granny Matilde told him.
The girls could hear nothing else and headed back to bed. Before she could sleep, Aryll began praying, hoping that what had happened wasn't an ill omen.
With trepidation, the group entered the dark cavern. As they carefully treaded in the cave using the light from the lanterns, she noticed that markings were on the walls. The markings vaguely looked like words, but the Twili couldn't make it out.
Once in a circular chamber deemed safe by Rusl, Princess Midna grabbed a lantern and saw the words "sword", "mine", and "mission". She figured that the crystal was trying to force the deceased Hero's body to remember what happened before.
The sound of metal scrapping was heard and the group readied themselves for what could've been their final fight. The Twili silently prayed to the gods of the Twilight Realm to help her.
"Um…What is with all this…scribbling?" Prince Ralis asked.
Princess Midna, knowing what it was, said nothing to him. Rusl of Ordon, however, read the Hylian writings aloud.
"'Sword…Mine…Mission'…Hmm, I believe it wants to use Link's body to...complete what he could not," Rusl said.
As the group of the Hyrulian Resistance, Princess Midna, Prince Ralis, and his entourage of five Zora guards traversed farther into the cavern, the writings on the walls increased. Shad noted that some weren't in languages familiar to him. Princess Midna stopped when they arrived in a chamber with two lit torches and an empty chest. A portal with a bright light coming from it was on the far side of the underground room and she said, "Okay, if things get too tough, head for the nearest portal and get out of here."
She gasped as more writings, this time in the Twili dialect, were found on the ground. The Twilight Princess read it as "sword", "Ganon", "hate" and "back." Another series of writings was quite peculiar. It was in the dialect of Hylian used during the Era of the 3rd Hyrulian Civil War, nearly 3,000 years ago.
Shad translated and said, "Hmm…It says 'Must find her'…'Need my sword back'. It seems that the Shadow Crystal managed to control his body well enough to write coherent sentence fragments."
"And this is helpful, how?" Ashei asked.
"It's not. It means that the wraith will be a difficult foe to defeat," Shad told her.
Prince Ralis wasn't too happy with the news.
"Um…I know showing cowardice isn't a way a king should act, but…" he said.
"You haven't had your coronation yet, Your Highness," a Zora guard told his charge.
The Zora prince trembled slightly with fear and Princess Midna sympathized with him. The sound of metal scrapping on the ground was heard, silencing everyone.
"Okay…Ready yourselves, people. If we die, we die protecting what's left of Hyrule," Rusl said.
Okay. So, here's chapter two. In the original draft, Link's mind was split, giving him many alter egos and whatnot. Unlike the original draft, Link has two sisters instead of one cousin and an uncle.
Now with all that said, review?