Chapter 11

Zelda

She was in a dark cave, Malice clinging to the walls like a fungus. Evil yellow and red eyes watched her every movement. The air was thick, hard to breathe through. A huge dark figure appeared from the shadows, the miasma circling him like a snake.

"Oh, dear," said a deep, sneering voice. "Poor foolish goddess. It's not fair, is it? Your loved ones all missing. Or perhaps they waited for a savior, only to be cut from life like puppets on string?"

Zelda took a step back. This man radiated pure evil, one so ancient she could scarcely recall it, even with vague hints in her mind.

"I suppose I must give some cordiality. Perhaps one last glimpse of those you supposedly love, before your inevitable demise?"

She suddenly stood in Hyrule Field, the sky dark with clouds, the only light from the city, alight with fire. The scent of smoke and death permeated the air. Bodies lay around her. As she tried to get a closer look, she cried out. Her mother lay there, blood leaking from her mouth and a wound in her stomach. Then Sonia stood, swaying ominously.

"Zelda, dear. Where are you? You haven't left me, have you? Left me to die?"

Her father, skull bashed in, rose and stepped next to Sonia. "But she did, my love. She left me and our children to die. She didn't even try to save us." The words cut deep, and she stepped back fearfully from the impressions of her parents. "After all," Daphnes continued, sneering, "no goddess has time for mere mortals."

"I- I did try to save you! I... I ju-just wasn't fast enough," she stuttered, mouth dry.

"That's not true!" shouted two voices in harmony. "You waited and watched, too scared for your own skin!" Her siblings' bodies lay on the ground convulsing, half merged together by some twisted magic.

"No! I tried! I really tried!" Zelda yelled hoarsely.

"What about me?"

Her heart lurched painfully. She turned. Link was hovering there, a mutilated ghost. Blood poured from cuts and lashes and his limbs and neck were twisted at horrific angles. A wound in his side smoked with Malice, black marks showing his veins.

"You didn't try to save me seven years ago. You cowered while I was tortured trying to protect you. And I lived, hoped that you cared. But..." He pointed to where his heart used to beat, now full of smoking, pulsating Malice. "See, Zelda? It reached my heart. I died, and you let me. You... YOU hurt me more than anything else!"

As her family and Link surrounded her, Zelda felt a sob rising up in her throat. "N... no..."

"Uncaring..."

"Selfish."

"Coward!"

"MONSTER."

They were sinking now, the black-burned ground swallowing them up. She tried to escape, but with with hisses and ugly words, they pulled her with them, down, down, down...

_/|||\_

She could feel the tears streaming down her face as she sobbed. They're gone... and it's my fault. A goddess who does nothing, is worth as much...

Blackness began to encroach on her vision again as her breathing quickened. She flailed, terrified of being in the dark again, feeling the hatred of those she loved but hurt so terribly.

A light touch on her cheek, barely perceptible, shocked her. She could see a pale, warm light through her lids, but they were too... heavy... to... open. And someone... was... humming? Yes. Humming mother's lullaby. "...I'm... sorry," she croaked. The humming stopped.

Hair was ever so delicately pushed from her face - as though by a breeze - and someone spoke, though she had trouble identifying who. "N-no. I... I know the nightmares are... are terrifying. They... the-ey make you hate your-yourself, don't they? F-for what you call... failures. B-but..."

Now, who do I know who stutters like that?

"But i-it'll be okay. We have... we ha-ave each other, a-after all."

Her breathing slowly eased. "Will you sing? You have a lovely voice," she murmured sleepily.

She heard a sharp intake of air. "Wh-what? I mean... what... would y-you like me to sing?"

Continue her mother's lullaby... but no, that hurt too much. She didn't know the details of Sonia's death, other than that the Yiga were involved. But her mother, in the nightmare... the ache was too fresh.

"How 'bout... You Are My Sunshine?"

"Uh... al-lright." They cleared their throat.

"Y-you are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I..."

The voice trailed off. "Go on," she said softly, already fading back to sleep.

"How much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away..."

_/|||\_

"Mornin' kiddos! Now, what's going tah happen, is Miss Impa is gonna go after this Yiga spy of ours. Then, we load in that van out there, and get on tah Faron. I got mah sword an' some supplies packed in there las' night, m'kay? But if 'e sees yeh, Zellie, then he'll likely get after us. So make sure yer all ducked down, yeah?

Zelda nodded in confirmation. "Anything else?"

Mori fingered his mustache thoughtfully for a moment. "Ah! Mrs. Impa has somthin' for ya. Just go down the stairs righ' there; she's waitin' for both of ya."

Zelda led the way down the steps, eventually finding herself in a stockpile of ancient weaponry: maces, broadswords, katanas, halberds, claymores, daggers, everything. Impa stuck her head out of an adjacent room. "Ah, you're here. Give me a moment, now." She came out with two rectangular cases of wood, masterfully crafted. "In this room here are weapons, and they'll be useful, of course, though perhaps not up to modern standard. I've another room for those. However..." she placed the cases on the table and opened them.

Inside were the most beautiful instruments she had ever seen. A violin on red velvet glowed with gold light, its wood shining like it had just been made, with intricate gold designs swirled on its surface. She turned her head to see Link bedazzled by a flute of the brightest silver, with white light gently emanating from it.

"These are very powerful instruments. The Flute of Spirit and the Violin of Light. They should aid you well in the coming days."

"If I may ask, Impa, why do we need musical instruments? And won't they get scuffed up while we're traveling?" Zelda asked.

"To answer your second question, the instruments will be fine; they are magic after all. For your first, in many of the old legends, music was the key for many gateways, puzzles, and challenges. I don't know if the same will be true now, but since magic can be annoyingly specific, you ought to take them."

"I... haven't played the fl-flute since..." Link whispered.

"Since before the Yiga captured you, I know," Impa said bluntly. "Don't worry, its natural magic will help you remember. And I know you've been in symphony for a while, Zelda, so this should be easy."

"Thank you for these, Impa." Zelda stuffed the instruments into the pockets Hestu had given her at her hip - one for her and one for Link. "Now, is everything ready for us to go?"

"Well, you should change into better clothing, but other than that, we're ready." Zelda glanced down at herself and had to admit that a blouse and leggings were not the best attire for adventuring.

"I'll get on that then."

_/|||\_

Zelda, Link, and Mori all waited behind the door, waiting for Purah to tell them when Impa's signal went off. She was now dressed in warm boots, jeans, a too-large cream t-shirt, and Link's camo jacket. And of course the necklace he had given her. Zelda felt tense, shifting from one foot to another, rolling her shoulders. Just be patient.

"H-hey, Zelda?"

She looked over at Link. "Yeah?"

"Are y-you feeling okay?"

"I'm... fine. Why?"

"Just, uh, you, um, w-were screaming and crying l-last night. D-do you feel better now?"

She hunched her shoulders as she remembered the nightmare and the fear and self-hatred that came with it. But she also remembered the gentle glow and voice that had comforted her once she was awake. Wait... that voice was...

"YOU?!"

Link flinched back, wide-eyed. "Wh-what?"

"That was you, wasn't it?! And..."

He hesitated at that last part of the song - 'how much I love you'. What does that mean? Why'd he stop?

Before she could finish working through her thoughts, Purah yelled, "NOW!" and Mori wrenched open the door. The threesome raced outside.

Zelda and Mori jumped in the car, passenger and driver, respectively. He put the key in the ignition, turned, shifted into drive, stepped on the gas - all in moments.

She and Mori panted slightly, winded from the adrenaline of what they were doing. Link stayed in the backseat, staring vigilantly out the rear window. Minutes passed, but then-

"Oh, sky! Faster!" Link shouted.

"What?!" Mori said.

"He said go faster! They must be coming!" What is that... underlay in his voice? Ancient Hyrulian?

Mori pushed harder on the gas pedal, whirring through intersections and around pedestrians at terrifying speeds. "Z-zelda! Head down!" Link ordered, face panicked. "We can't le-et them see you!"

Just as she slumped down - BANG! The side window in the middle shattered, and some black-robed thing crashed to the floor of the car, a whoosh of hot air following it. As she peeked around the seat, it scratched at Link... leaving a mark? But he's a spirit! That must mean it's...!

"Link, watch out! That's a Poe! If it hits you with the lantern, you'll-" she gasped.

The Poe swung at Link again, this time with the lantern. He threw himself back, was only barely missed, then smashed his foot into the middle of the Poe. Before it could recover, he grabbed its lantern and hit it over the head. The Poe screeched hideously, twisting and spinning into the heart of the lantern, which flared brightly.

She saw him look out the window. "Sky! Aeralfos!" A winged, reptilian creature sped in the broken window, hissing and spitting. Link desperately swung the lantern at it, but only knocked it back. It shrieked and tackled him. He let go of the lantern to keep its snapping jaws away from his face, and the monster dropped through him.

Seeing how its quarry could no longer be harmed, it hissed and lunged at her, only for Link to slam it with the lantern again. It crumpled to the ground with an ugly whine. Link reached into the back seat and grabbed Mori's sword, pointing it at the beast. It leapt up, ready to charge again. Somehow, it didn't seem to notice the weapon, and jumped at Link, only for him to shove the sword through its gut. It writhed and screeched for a second before falling limp and dissipating into purple-black mist.

Link looked at the lantern. "Huh. This makes me physical again. Definitely useful." She blinked. His voice sounded so... clear. Not shaky, no stutters...

Perhaps he just needed a confidence boost?

Mori glanced at her. "What in Malanya's name was that?"

"Some kind of monster? Link, you called it an Aeralfos, right?"

Link nodded. "Yes. The other one was a Poe."

Mori jumped in again. "Yeah, yeah, th' monsters, but Link, wha' did you say?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Link," Zelda said, "you were speaking in Ancient Hyrulian. I know; I've studied it rather extensively."

"But I just said to go faster. I was just talking! ...?"

She missed his next words. They sounded odd, like she was underwater or far away. "What?" she asked.

"...?!"

"What?" she repeated.

"Faster. The Hunter is after you now. You must retrieve the Emblems!"

Who are you? Who's the Hunter?

"You... must... retrieve the Emblems!"

Tell me!

"... the... Emblems... Zelda."

"...Zelda..."

"Zelda!"

Her eyes opened quickly - when had they closed?

"Z-zelda, are... are you o-okay?" Link asked desperately.

Stuttering again?

"Y-yeah. I just..."

She looked out what was left of the back window. She could feel darkness approaching, steady, steady. "...We have to keep going."

"D-did you... hear something?" he whispered.

Zelda hesitated, then nodded. "She said that 'The Hunter' is after us."

Link's eyes narrowed. Does... he have an idea of who this may be?

"Hey uncle, Zelda's fine. We just have to hurry; they're still chasing us."

Mori didn't respond, just stepped on the gas.

A/N: If anyone has suggestions on how to improve stuff, please let me know. (: