"If you would seek the sacred triangle, listen well...The resting place of the sacred triangle, the Sacred Realm, is a mirror that reflects what is in the heart...the heart of one who enters it...If an evil heart, the Realm will become full of evil; if pure, the Realm will become a paradise. The Triforce...the sacred triangle...it is a balance that weighs the three forces: Power, Wisdom, and Courage. If the heart of the one who holds the sacred triangle has all three forces in balance, that one will gain the True Force to govern all. But, if that one's heart is not in balance, the Triforce will separate into three parts: Power, Wisdom, and Courage. Only one part will remain for the one who touched the Triforce...the part representing the force that one most believes in. If that one seeks the True Force, that one must acquire the two lost parts. Those two parts will be held within others chosen by destiny, who will bear the Triforce mark on the backs of their hands."
Chapter Five: The Mysterious Newcomer
"Are you sure you want to see him? He does hate you, you know."
The 45-year-old Midna of the Twili, among those in the secretive Hyrulian Resistance, walked through an underground hall. Jail cells held starving inmates, most imprisoned due to the recent "purges." Her small entourage of Twili guards accompanied her and they gave the inmates, mostly disloyal Hyrulians, small amounts of food.
The Twilight Queen stopped in front of a jail cell that had many black and green seal talismans on its bars. Midna could see chains binding a person in the dark and their rattling told her that the person was alert.
"Why are you here…?" the person asked.
Midna peered into the cell and saw the wraith that she had fought years ago in the lantern cavern at Lake Hylia. The majority of his appearance hadn't changed at all after a quarter of a century. His green tunic was still stained from old blood and was worn and tattered. His previous self's traditional green cap was missing, revealing near snow-white hair.
He glared at her with harsh red eyes and said, "Why are you here, Midna?"
"And you haven't aged at all…The dark magic in your body has given you an 'unlife', similar to ReDead Knights and Gibdos," Queen Midna said, not answering the wraith.
"Why are you here? To tell me that I'm dead, again? To say I'm not your precious 'Hero'?" the wraith asked.
"No. I just…I needed to see if…" the Twilight Queen started.
"To see if I died? If my remains had turned to dust…?" the wraith told her, his glare deepening.
"And you haven't decayed yet. Seriously, that…is not normal. You're among the dead now. You should be in shambles. It's been 25 years…" Queen Midna said.
"You should know why," the wraith said, a small smirk crossing his lips.
"The crystal only gave Link the power to transform into his lupine state…not grant pseudo immortality…Unless…Unless the Dark King..." Queen Midna said.
The wraith's smirk turned into a sinister, toothy grin and the Twilight Queen gasped.
"I…I won't let you tarnish his name any further. I'll find a way to destroy that crystal," she yelled.
The Twili and her entourage disappeared.
A figure clad in a black, hooded robe sat by a small fire in the valley near Aboda Village. Snowflakes fell silently around him and he paid no attention to it. The light winds rattled the snow-covered fir trees around the campsite and a slight chill caused him to shiver. He kept his gaze on the fire and didn't see a shadowy figure stealthily approach from the treetops.
Tired, he rubbed his eyes and turned around, hearing a noise.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
A slender, older woman clad in a blue and white leotard appeared, jumping down. The white armor with a red crying eye in its center was around her torso, along with armor for her forearms and legs. The attire suggested that she was battle ready. A naginata was on her back and she brandished it, pointing it at the robed figure.
"You are...the one terrorizing these mountains, yes?" she said in an odd accent.
"'Terro...rizing'? What does that mean?" the figure asked.
The white-haired woman stared at him with blood-red eyes and told him, "Don't play dumb with me, monster!"
"'Monster'? I'm not a monster. I'm me," the figure said.
"Enough talk! Have at you! Hiya!" the woman shouted, leaping towards him.
"So, you're telling me that Link has...?" Sigmund asked Elder Aginah.
The elderly man sighed and said, "Yes. His mind, in order to cope with the injury and the amnesia, created 'others'."
"'Others'?" Lydia asked.
"Other personalities. Two have already revealed themselves, but did not mention their 'names'. I fear that there may be more," Elder Aginah told them.
Lydia turned to her husband and all Sigmund could say was, "We'll just have to keep an eye on him."
"And do not tell him or anyone else of the 'others'. I fear for his safety if we do," Elder Aginah warned.
10 Nabooru 1015, Aboda Village, thoroughfare...
"Okay, now that school's out, what're we gonna do?" Groose asked.
Link turned to Groose and said nothing as he hadn't a clue what he was going to do. He thought that he could do a few odd jobs around town, like helping out the town's blacksmith or shoveling some snow for the elderly.
"Well, I'm going to work at the defense wall," Pipit said.
Karane, Aryll and Agitha gasped at what the teen announced, thinking it was a crazy idea. Link remembered that the mountain fortress was hiring and paid well, but the defense wall was so far away from Aboda. That and the empire being at war with their neighbors made the place dangerous as attacks from Holodrum could've happened at any time.
"But...!" Karane said.
Pipit smiled, put a hand on her shoulder and said, "I'll be back before school starts up again, Karane."
"Okay. But please be careful," she told him.
Grinning, as the group of family and friends knew about the pair's relationship, Groose yelled, "Will you just kiss her already?"
Pipit and Karane blushed, with the former saying, "Wh-What are you talking about, Groose? We're just friends."
"Y-Yes. Just friends," Karane said.
Link didn't believe them as the two were friends since childhood. Due to certain circumstances which included Pipit saving Karane from a pack of rabid Wolfos a few years ago, the two gradually became attracted to each other. They didn't say anything on it, but Link could tell based on the way they would look at each other. Like an eternal longing for the other.
Groose and he would suggest that Pipit would ask Karane out, but he would refuse every time. When asked why, the teen would make odd excuses, such as he had to make soup for his grandmother or his having to stay after school for a nonexistent book report. Link thought that Pipit was scared, but with the right motivation he would gather his courage and ask the girl out. Wait, where did that idea come from?
"Okay, well I plan on learning Forest magic," Agitha said.
"Why? Hylians can't use it," Groose asked.
Karane nodded and added, "And the ones who used it vanished long ago. So, no one really knows how to use it."
Agitha was a bit miffed and said, "It's just an evolution of water magic, so I'm sure that Zoras know how to use it."
"But the Zoras left. There aren't any around here anymore," Aryll told everyone.
"Then I'll go traveling. I'll find a Zora that'll teach me," Agitha said.
"But Mom won't let you go by yourself," Aryll said.
Her twin turned and glared. Link wondered why Agitha would want to learn magic. He thought that it was just weird, people controlling elements like that. According to Groose, he used magic against him during his blackout days ago.
Pipit asked Link, snapping him out of his thoughts, "So, what do you plan to do?"
Link shrugged and Aryll replied, "He's probably going to take more speech lessons with Elder Aginah."
Link really didn't want to, but knew he was going to be forced to. He suddenly felt dizzy, stumbling backward. Before he could fall over, Karane and Aryll caught him. The teen pinched the ridge of his nose and shook his head, trying to recover.
"You okay?" Aryll asked.
Link nodded and the group split up, headed for home. As Aryll, Agitha, and Link walked, he couldn't help but feel that something...bad was about to happen. He became worried as those feelings of his usually were right and were usually followed by a blackout.
Just as he came out of his thoughts, a figure in a black cloak barreled towards Link and his sisters. Before he could move out of the way, the person crashed into him and the two tumbled onto the ground.
"Ow!" the person, male, cried out in pain.
"Hey! Watch where you're going! You knocked over my brother!" Aryll yelled at him.
Link was a bit dazed and the figure helped him up.
"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" he asked.
Link nodded and his sisters glared at the newcomer. The cloaked figure looked toward the direction he ran from and told the trio, "Uh...If anyone asks, you didn't see me."
He ran off, heading for the town's inn. Link thought that the man was odd, but said nothing of it. Just as he thought to leave for home, the three saw a white-haired, slender woman run towards them. She was armed with a naginata and slid to a stop when she saw the teens.
"Hey! You three!" she said with an odd accent.
"Um, hi," Aryll replied meekly.
"Have you children seen a man in a black cloak?" she asked.
Link remembered what the hooded figure told him and thought to say that he did. But something compelled him not to. Agitha, however, said, "Well, we saw him head for the town's inn. It's in that direction."
Link noticed that she was pointing to where the chapel was. The woman thanked her and resumed her sprint.
"What was that for? Why did you lie, Agitha?" Aryll asked.
"The man did say if anyone was to ask that we're to say that we didn't see him. Last I remember, I'm not bound to him or anything like that," Agitha replied.
"B-But w-why d-did you...?" Link asked.
Agitha turned to him and said, "Why did I tell that Sheikah the inn's over there? Well, I think it will give him a head start in leaving this village. I don't want any more trouble here than we already have."
"Raven! Lord Raven! The imperial army is here!"
"Yeah, and they've surrounded the castle! What do we do? Oh! What do we do?"
"Stop panicking."
"But, milord! The emperor's among them!"
"Er…Why…Why are you smiling?"
"We will show him what the people of the Sunken City of Holodrum can do."
"Uh…Why?"
"Yeah, isn't that crazy?"
"Take the women and children towards Mt. Cucco and then to Goron Mountain. The Gorons will protect you there."
"What about you, Lord Raven?"
"I'll stay here with the remaining soldiers and fight…"
"But, isn't that…?"
"If I don't, who will buy you time to escape?"
"We understand."
Loud banging woke Link up from his sleep. He groaned, wondering who could be at their home so late at night. Walking from his room, passing his sisters' and mother's rooms and entering the home's small front room, Link headed for the door and the banging became persistent. He thought to look out the nearby window and heard his mother sleepily ask, "Who is it?"
His grandmother came out of her room and angrily yelled, "We don't want any!"
Lydia pushed passed Link and checked the peephole.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Uh...I really need some shelter and it's very cold out here," the person said.
Recognizing the voice, Link told his mother that it was the man that had run into him earlier that day. Lydia didn't trust him and asked the man, "Why are you here? Why didn't you get a room at the inn?"
"There weren't any available rooms," the man said.
"Poppycock!" Lydia declared.
"It's true! A retinue from the empire just took up all the rooms and they won't let me stay there. Please, I really need somewhere to stay! I'll pay you as much as you want," the man told her.
Lydia looked at Link and he looked back at her. He didn't know if it was a good idea to trust the guy. He thought that no one in the village would open their doors to a complete stranger in the middle of the night, lest something terrible should happen to them. But he felt that it was the right thing to do. So, he opened the door.
The figure that he met earlier that day stood in the doorway and thanked them profusely. To Lydia's chagrin, he entered the home, sat on the couch, and took off his hood, quickly getting comfortable. Link was taken aback as the man's face seemed familiar somehow.
With a sigh, the man smiled at the mother and son, revealing ruby-red eyes and sharp front teeth that made his expression look feral.
"Thank you very much. I really appreciate it," the man told them.
Lydia yawned and asked, "Who are you, and what brings you to Aboda?"
The man's face fell and he stared at the bare wooden floor.
"Hmm...I don't really remember," the man said.
Link saw from the corner of his eyes Aryll and Agitha. They, with sleep in their eyes, looked at the man and Aryll was the first to ask, "Who is this...?"
Agitha, waking up, asked the man, "Aren't you...the same man that ran Link over?"
"Yes. I'm sorry about that," the man told her.
Lydia seemed to become more interested in him and asked, "So, you said that you don't remember your name. You have amnesia?"
"I guess so. The only thing I remember is living in a snowy ravine near this massive wall for a few years...And then one day, a woman calling me 'Oni' started chasing me and..." the man said.
"So, your name's 'Oni'?" Lydia asked him.
The man became lost in thought and replied moments later with, "I think so. I can't think of any other names. So, 'Oni' it is."
Link thought that the man was odd but seemingly harmless. Oni looked to Lydia and asked if he could stay in exchange for housework. Link's mother turned to her children and then back to Oni.
"I really, really don't know. I'm not comfortable with strangers in my home," Lydia said to Oni.
Oni clasped his hands together, as if in prayer, and begged the woman, saying, "Please. Please. I really, really need a place to stay. I'll cook, clean, and do whatever else you need to be done."
Remembering that there was an attic in the home, Link told Lydia, "Um...W-We h-have th-the at-attic..."
"Yes, but that place hasn't been cleaned in years," Lydia said.
"I'll clean it. Please, I have nowhere else to go. I'll make myself useful. So, please," Oni begged.
Lydia caved in and said, "Alright. Link will show you to the attic, but...If you do anything that makes me suspicious, I'll drag you out to the town's gate myself. Are we clear?"
Oni nodded, agreeing to the woman's terms.
Two days later...
"So, Pipit's gone to the fortress, Karane was hired for village guard duty and Groose elected to work in the ice caves for the summer. What will you do, Link?" Elder Sahasrahla asked.
Link sat in the elder's home, as it was time for another therapy session. The elder was accompanied by Granny Matilde, Elder Aginah, and Lady Umma. They watched him carefully as he tried to form his words without a single stutter.
"I...I w-was going t-to st-stay here," Link told them.
"And do what?" Elder Aginah asked.
The teen turned to his right and couldn't think of what he could do. The Nodor's had the reluctant pleasure of hosting a house guest. He thought that watching the man like a hawk was a top priority. He had thought to return home but remembered that his mother was still at home. If the man tried to pull anything, she would stop him, using the magical and martial arts that she knew. His worry for her lessened after remembering that.
"Um, I-I was g-g-going to...um...help around t-the house...Or he-help pick emb-ber s-s-seeds," Link replied.
"And you're going to keep practicing your speech, right?" Elder Sahasrahla asked.
Link nodded, but knew that he wasn't going to like it.
"Why not?"
Link looked to the elders and asked, "Um...Di-Did y-y-you s-say something?"
"Say what?" Lady Umma asked.
"You're scared of failing at it? Nonsense. You're getting better at speaking every day."
Link heard the voice again and started to become terrified. He got up and started leaving when Granny Matilde stopped him.
"What is wrong?" she asked.
"I-I heard...um...Y-You really d-d-didn't hear th-that?" Link asked her.
His grandmother shook her head and Link quickly left the elders. He rushed home and entered, only to have his jaw drop at the sight of Oni...cleaning the front room with a cloth in one hand and a bucket of cleaning mixtures in the other. His mother was sitting on the couch and sipping what looked like some tea. As Oni, dressed in all black, scrubbed the floors while on his knees, the woman was pleased.
"Don't forget the corners," Lydia told him.
Oni nodded and the two noticed Link staring at the odd scene.
"Oh, hi Link," Lydia said, smiling.
"Who is he?"
Link searched for the owner of the voice and started to feel terrified as he felt that he was losing what was left of his mind. Without greeting his mother, the teen rushed for his room, slamming the door behind him. Panting, Link began pacing around, wondering if he was really losing it.
"Are you okay, man?"
The teen covered his ears, thinking that the voice would go away if he did.
"What's wrong?"
"St-Stop...t-talking to m-me," Link muttered, falling to the floor.
"Don't be scared."
"B-Be...q-quiet, Mr. V-Voice," Link said, closing his eyes.
He was nearly in tears when he heard, "'Mr. Voice'? Who is that?"
"G-Go..." Link started.
He opened his eyes, looked up, and saw a worried Oni. The young man bent down to his level and said, "Your mother heard you talking to yourself and told me to check up on you. Are you okay?"
Link turned away, not really wanting to talk to the stranger. Oni sighed and said, "I can't really help you if you don't say anything. And I know of your terrible stutter and I vow right now that I will not make fun of it."
The teen glanced back at the young man and muttered, "I-I th-think I'm l-losing it..."
"Hmm...need to see a psychiatrist or something?" Oni asked him.
"I-I already h-have one," Link told him.
"So, I heard. But, if you don't really talk to him, then they can't really help you," Oni said.
Feeling that he could trust him, despite only meeting him two days ago, Link told the young man of the voice that he had started to hear that day. The voice sounded as if it wanted to speak with him, but the teen refused for fear that the voice was from something sinister. After telling him, Link saw Oni's furrowed brow.
"Hmm...Well, I guess you really are losing it. Maybe you should pray at the chapel for salvation from it or something," Oni said.
Link sighed, feeling that it was a bad idea to have told him.
"Is what I would say, but I've heard a bit about you. You, like me, have amnesia. So…maybe that voice you're hearing is actually a memory or memories trying to resurface," Oni added.
Link felt a bit relieved, seeing that the young man didn't think that he was crazy. Oni stood up and told him, "Maybe your memories will return to you soon. Hopefully, it'll be soon for me as well. I would really like to know where I came from and what my real name is."
The newcomer left the room and Link felt a bit better. But he still had that same gut feeling that something terrible was about to transpire.
Well, happy new year to everyone, despite the new year happening ten days ago. It took a bit to write this chapter as I had a bit of writer's block and other things that happened like work. Hopefully, this chapter came out good. So, without further ado, review anyone?
-miano53