You… You can see it?
I jolted awake, wincing at the pounding in my head. For once, I had drifted off into a dreamless slumber, and I emerged from the depths of sleep like I was yanked to the surface of a lake. Violently.
What…?
Where…?
As the dim room came into focus, I noticed the familiar form of blank walls and window slits, just wide enough to stick a fist through. I was back in my old room?
Poking around my memory, I tried to recall the day before. Indigo-gos, okay, yeah, I remembered them playing, and the new guitarist. It started raining. Sheik appeared like a wraith behind me and–
Oh.
Bits and pieces of the night before suddenly emerged all at once, flashing through my head like a gazillion deku nuts, and my face burned. I buried my face in my hands, mortified. Oh sweet Hylia, I did not–
My eyes caught on a slight movement next to me, and I drew in a sharp breath once I finally noticed that I wasn't alone.
Sheik was perched on the stool next to my bed, leaning against the bland white of the brick wall, arms crossed over his chest. His chin was dipped forward as he slept, leaving his head hanging like a ragdoll. His still-wet hair hung in a blonde curtain, covering one of his eyes. His breathing, even in sleep, was silent. I quietly took the sight in, just grateful that I could see him again.
"You… You can see it?" I tried to stop it, but hope soared through my chest as if I had been shot with it.
Sheik stared at me like I was a special sort of slow. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be able to?"
The relief that crashed through me at that moment… It was hard to describe. No one else had been able to see it; Din, I couldn't even see it unless I was in nightmare-hell, though I could always feel an oppressing energy signature surrounding me.
Yet he saw it.
Sheik shifted, and I froze. His kohl-lined eyes fluttered open and in that moment all I could think of was how pretty of a color it was. Red like rubies; crimson like blood. He sat up, alarmed that I was finally awake, and his spine straightened. He looked… uncomfortable. Why?
Then I noticed fresh bandages wrapping his forearm, and everything else came together. My fingertips were cold.
"Finally awake?" Sheik asked, still groggy. He rubbed his face with a hand.
I couldn't muster up a single word, my attention snared by the bandages wrapping his arm. This. This is. This is exactly what I was afraid of.
I-I need to get out of here.
I was already halfway out of bed before the end of that thought, but Sheik was a step ahead. His firm palm was on my chest in an instant and he slammed me back down onto the bed, and a choked noise escaped me at the impact. I stared up at Sheik's murderous expression, bewildered, and his bandaged fingers tightened on the rough fabric of my tunic.
"Good. You have a lot of explaining to do, Hero."
…He smells like rain, I thought dazedly.
/-/-/-/-/
Sheik gestured for me to follow him down the dark, winding path deep inside the castle, lantern in hand, and I followed, albeit hesitantly.
After Sheik released me from his death-grip of super death, I told him everything I could remember, down to the first time I came into contact with that… thing. Sheik didn't interrupt me once, his arms crossed and brow furrowed in thought. After I finished, he bounced his knee distractedly, thinking.
Then he got up, and told me he thought of something.
Sheik led me down a series of narrow, spiraling stone staircases, winding left, right, left again. The air was thick with the musty smell of mildew and moisture, the stones beneath our feet crumbling and worn from time. The silence was almost oppressive as we ventured deeper into the earth, my own footsteps the only thing I could hear. My breath came out in puffs of fog as the air gradually grew colder.
I chanced a glance behind us, but it was only the void that stared back. I shivered at the depth of the darkness, and quickened my pace to walk alongside him. Sheik snuck a concerned look at me from the corner of his eye, but I said nothing, jaw set.
Eventually, we came across a heavy wooden door with the royal family's insignia burned into the surface. Its dark wood, though rotting and flaking splinters, still stood strong and barred the outside world from gaining access.
Sheik passed me the lantern and rubbed his stiff hands, which were probably just as numb as mine were. He pulled out his lyre and plucked six notes in quick succession, and the deadbolt made a heavy kachunk as it turned by itself. Sheik gestured with his chin as he opened the door with a gentle hand.
A powerful breeze came from behind us, and the candelabras on the wall flickered to life as we entered the cavernous room, my footsteps echoing. Shelves upon shelves were lit up, a maze of them, filled from floor to ceiling with books of all shapes, sizes, and ages. Dust and cobwebs coated almost every surface.
I expected Sheik to lead me somewhere into the labyrinth of shelves, but instead he veered off to the left, strides purposeful. I dimmed the lantern and trailed after him, confused. We weaved through dusty furniture, ornate but unused in this secret chamber deep in the belly of the castle, and Sheik ducked into an alcove.
There were multiple stacks of tomes and books, taller than I was, in the little nook. As Sheik dug through the stacks for what he was looking for, my eyes wandered around the rest of the little space. A crumpled blanket and dirty teacup were in the other corner of the alcove, and sheafs upon sheafs of scrawled notes and crumpled pages were strewn next to it. My heart jumped at a sudden thought.
How… How long did Sheik spend down here?
I set the lantern down by my foot as I bent down to fix the blanket, and stopped.
There, buried in the tangles of the plush fabric, was a little carving of a deku scrub.
I snuck one more glance at Sheik, breath caught in my throat. Sheik was muttering about Gods-knew-what, flicking through book after musty book, the discarded stack growing taller and taller behind him. He swept his fringe to the side impatiently, and threw another tome onto the pile.
I caressed the edges of the carving with a finger, my heart beating in my ears.
"You said that thing came from the Water Temple, right?" Sheik asked over his shoulder.
I jumped guiltily, snatching my hand away from the deku scrub.
"Yeah."
I thought for a moment, then slowly reached into my qiankun pouch to pull out my newest carving. My fingers brushed the smooth surface of the Fierce Deity mask, and I suppressed a shiver. I eventually managed to find the carving and tucked it into the blanket, next to the little deku scrub.
"Luckily I was reading up on the Water Temple while you were gone. From what I remember of the monster descriptions, it seems like the creature attached to you is," He scrunched his nose, thinking, "Ah, yeah, a shadow mimic. It feeds off of fear. And, once it's strong enough, it can take over its host's body like a parasite, causing 'fear and suffering' wherever it roams."
That… actually made sense. I'll be the first to admit I wasn't feeling as spry as I usually was.
"...You were doing all that while I was gone?"
Sheik snorted, "Believe me, you didn't make it easy with your cryptic shit. That Water Temple guess took me a week to piece together."
I winced. "Sorry."
There was a beat of uncomfortable silence, and Sheik stilled. He finally turned to look at me.
His voice was as quiet as a murmur, yet in the deafening silence he may as well have yelled it.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Another guilty pang, and I set my jaw. I shoved a hand roughly through my hair, contemplating how I could phrase it without sounding like an idiot.
"You saw what I did to you," I said instead, gesturing at the fresh bandages wrapping his forearm. Sheik's fingers flexed unconsciously, and he thought for a moment.
Then he snorted, raising an eyebrow as he said, "A heads up would've been nice."
The tension in my shoulders drained, but I couldn't help grimacing. Sheik flipped through a few more pages, and said, "You said you beat it before. How come you didn't just…?" He made a stabbing motion with his hand. I gave him a dead look, annoyed.
"You think that if I could, I wouldn't have done it already?" I asked indignantly. Seriously, does he think I'm completely stupid? That was the first thing I tried!
"This time around, the bastard doesn't even have the guts to show me his physical form, and you know I can't see any of that veiled magical shit without the Lens of Truth."
"Hm… physical form… physical form," Sheik flipped through the book in his hands rapidly, his movements growing more and more frustrated.
"There's nothing on giving specters physical forms, besides possession anyways. Is it even possible?"
A light went off in my head. "Did you say… give them physical forms?"
Sheik waved it off, absorbed in the book, "It was merely a suggestion–"
"No, it might work."
"But we don't know if it's possible to trap spirits in the physical world–"
"Yeah we do. I've done it."
"What?"
I didn't answer Sheik, but I started digging around in my qiankun pouch again. My mind was racing a mile a minute, flashes of memories from long ago finally breaching the surface. Termina. The Deku Scrub. Mikau. Darmani. Majora. The object in my qiankun pouch, trapping a being strong enough to stop the moon from falling, practically burned as pieces began flying into place in my head.
"Killing it the first time didn't seem to work, so… Sheik, this is gonna sound crazy, but I have an idea."
Even though he must've been confused beyond all hell, Sheik still grinned mischievously up at me. He slammed his book shut, and dust puffed out in a cloud.
"There's the Link I know."
Link sat in the corner of the alcove, legs crossed, hunched over a large chunk of wood. Shavings littered the ground around him, but he paid it no mind, his attention wholly absorbed in his task. I could see the rough beginnings of a mask being made, but I had no idea what form he'd choose for the face. The shadows around him flickered and moved strangely in the light of the lantern.
I ran through the plan one more time in my head, biting my knuckle absently. A lot of it's going to rely on luck. A lot more than I'm comfortable with.
"You sure this'll work?"
Not looking up from his carving, he simply said, "Nope."
He brushed off some stray shavings, and blew on it quickly. Link frowned at the mask in his hands, tilting his head as he examined it.
His blonde bangs fell into his eyes at the movement, and I suppressed the itch in my hands to fix it for him. Though he still had dark shadows under his eyes, they were once again full of an animated vigor.
Link shrugged, and unceremoniously shoved the mask into his qiankun pouch. He stood up, and held out a hand for me, which I gratefully took. I groaned as he hauled me up from the floor, my back protesting after sitting for so long.
"Okay, what's next," I asked, brushing dust off of my legs.
A draft from nowhere whistled through the support beams high above our heads, making an eerie whistling noise.
"You have your lyre?"
"Always."
"Good," Link said, nodding. "Once we start playing the song of healing, there's no going back. And if all else fails, then…" He suddenly faltered, not looking at me.
"Then what?" I had a bad feeling that I wasn't going to like what he said next.
He took a deep breath, and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I was not reassured.
"Then you might have to kill me, Zel."
"What? I'm not–"
"ZELDA." He snapped, cold as iron, and my heart lurched in my throat.
His piercing blue eyes searched mine, and his grip on my hand tightened. I didn't know what he saw then, but his gaze suddenly softened and he sighed, bumping his forehead against mine.
"Please. I don't want to hurt you again," he pleaded.
Once again, I was faced with a choice that was not mine to make.
"...Alright."
The relieved smile he gave me made me sick to my stomach, but I still managed to muster a weak smile to return to him.
/-/-/-/-/
The shadows flickered. I set down my lantern and pushed ancient desks aside to make room in the center of the royal archives.
Link tossed me his qiankun pouch, and pulled out his ocarina. The warm brown undertones gave it an earthly touch, and the green accents were made to resemble twirling leaves. I pulled out my lyre, hands poised over the strings familiarly, with muscle memory that was not entirely my own. Link sat on one of the desks nonchalantly, and grumbled, "You better come out, you shadowy bastard."
The first few notes were deafening in the stillness of the archives, echoing and revibrating through the cavernous room. The tune itself was wistfully sad, but as the last note rang out…
Nothing happened.
Silence flooded back in to occupy the space that our instruments left behind.
"Well, that's a little anticlimactic," I muttered, setting my lyre to the side.
Link chewed his lip in thought, carelessly tossing his ocarina up and down with a hand. Strange. Usually he's much more careful with it.
"Maybe he's too smart for us?"
I bristled at his tone. "What?"
He shrugged easily. "Well, I'm just saying. Maybe he's too strong for Hylia and her 'chosen hero' to handle."
The temperature in the air immediately dropped to freezing as the smell of burnt hair invaded my senses. I slowly turned my head to look at the Hero of Time, at my childhood friend, at the man I trusted with my life.
Link smiled at me, his cheeks dimpling as he playfully looked back up at me.
It was almost a perfect imitation, wasn't it?
I honed my Sheikah sense, and finally Saw what had happened to my best friend.
His eyes glowed a haunting red, as fathomless as a deep well, and the dark circles on his eerily still, rigid face were fully pronounced. Tears as black as tar ran down his cheeks, dripping from his chin, and his hair had paled to an ashy white. The smile, which had seemed so natural before, now looked as if it had been haphazardly pinned onto a doll. He tilted his head at me, and I saw and Saw two things at once.
"Zel?" He called sweetly. He rasped leeringly.
My blood ran cold.
He jumped gracefully off the desk. His limbs jerked unevenly as he jumped off the desk and lumbered towards me.
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a̶͍̦̤̍ ̵̭͉͖̚ġ̷̟͈̠h̴̰́̀o̸̼̿̑̋s̶͍̄̀t̵͕̥̟̃," He laughed lightheartedly, his nose scrunching cutely. He rasped, staring at me intently. He reached his arms out towards me, and I flinched.
A headache began to form between my eyes as I processed the two images at once. One of the man I loved, and the other of a nightmare given life.
We made a mistake.
The image and the reality both frowned, merging into one another as I unfurled my chain slowly, not taking my eyes off of him. My frame was tense, ready to act at the drop of a pin.
The mimic blinked in surprise, before a deep, guttural laugh escaped his throat. He tilted off-kilter left, then a little right. He pulled out a little carving knife and twirled it between his fingers as he stared at me.
"Well that's a new trick. The kid didn't tell me you were actually part Sheikah." His voice was exactly like Link's, yet not. It was twisted, wrong somehow.
His dead grin only widened at my open display of hatred. I scowled, my mouth a thin line underneath the cowl covering half my face.
"You know, you're much prettier like this."
"Murderous?" I slid one foot back, chains wrapping around my bandaged knuckles. I discreetly removed three needles from my arm wraps and held them in my palm.
"Afraid."
He lunged for me, cackling, but I rolled out the way just in time for him to embed his knife in the shelf behind me. I threw my needles out at his face while I ducked low and snapped my chain out. Link raised an arm to absorb the needles' blow and sidestepped my chain easily, grinning like a madman. His foot landed on my chest with a heavy kick that sent me flying backwards. The ancient bookshelf I smashed into splintered and groaned, books raining down around me onto the floor, and I saw white.
Where was I…? How…? Ugh…
I crumpled to the ground, my head feeling like it was about to split in two. The bitter taste of burnt hair was almost suffocating, and I spat to the side to get rid of the taste.
I looked up just in time to see my needle darts deeply embedded in his forearm.
Guilt chilled my heart at the sight of blood oozing from his puncture wounds. It's not him it's not him it'snothimit'snothim–
The mimic yanked the needles out of his arm casually, as if they were just toothpicks, and dropped them onto the ground. The smooth wood clattered to the stone floor, spattering black blood with the impact.
"I thought you were supposed to be a fighter," he jeered, amused. He yanked the carving knife out of the shelf and took a step towards me.
…Come on, that's it.
"That brat made me think you were actually worth something," he laughed. The knife flipped in a well-practiced hand. Over. And over. He was savoring it.
A little further.
"But now, even the reincarnation of Hylia herself cowers before me–"
There.
I yanked the chain still in my grip with all my might, and the metallic head that was embedded in the shelf behind him pulled the top, and the shelf slammed down on top of him, books flying everywhere. The smell of burnt flesh and smoke slowly grew stronger and burned my nostrils as the holy runes I wrote on the shelf branded his skin.
I tried to tune out his screams, but it sounded so much like him.
"I am going to kill you and make him watch as everything he loves is torn to SHREDS," he snarled, any resemblance to life gone. He clawed at the ground as he struggled with the shelf on top of him, leaving deep, bloody gouges in the stone.
I fumbled for the bag at my hip. My whole body was shaking as my fingers brushed wood.
HurryhurryhurryhurryhURRY!
He had almost freed himself from my trap when I grabbed the mask Link had carved and slammed it on his face.
The mimic's eyes widened in terror the moment it realized what was happening.
"NO! NONONONONONONONONONO," it shrieked, thrashing to escape. I slammed its head down onto the stone, and I heard a crunch as I broke his nose. Black blood flowed from his wound freely, but he still struggled against me. I gritted my teeth, and slammed his head onto the ground a few more times, all while trying not to retch.
"HAHAHAHAHA IF I GO IN THERE, HE COMES WITH ME," Link said, and I flinched. Was he telling the truth?
I…
I can't do this anymore.
Link, I'm sorry.
He had almost fully wriggled free from underneath the bookshelf.
There was a gurgle from the monster under me. "ZeLDA–yOu pROMISED–!" A choked gargle, and he was gone again.
…I did, didn't I.
I took a deep breath.
"...I love you, Link," my voice wavered, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
I slammed his head onto the ground one more time, and despite the tearing in my heart, I whistled those eleven notes. It screamed in agony.
T̷̖̐̽H̷͓̺̞̓͘I̵̖͇̙̲͑͒̍͌S̸͍̗̿ ̶̮̣̒̈́̀̚Ȉ̶̻̪͖S̶̛͓̗͇̰̔ ̴̩͐͒͝͝N̸̨̯̳̽̄̓͠Õ̷͍̎͛̚T̵̖̱̊͑̎͝ ̵̺̀Ṭ̵͍̹̇̀̈̍͜H̶̡̲̞̼̉̋͂È̵̯̝̑̃̚ ̸̻̬̿͌Ë̷͓́̋N̵̪͇͒̏̐̌D̴̡̾̾͛—
And then suddenly, everything stopped.
The smell dissipated into the air, leaving nothing but the tang of blood and the musty smell of old paper. The man I had restrained went limp, head lolling to the side as his muscles finally relaxed and the parasite drained from his body into the mask.
Terror screamed through me, and I threw the mask to the side and tried to lift the shelf off him. My blood-soaked fingers scrabbled for purchase on the smooth shelf's surface, and I grunted as I tried to lift it. I just needed a little bit–!
I hurriedly kicked a chair underneath the shelf to prop it up as gravity reclaimed it, and it fell onto the chair with a rattling BANG!
The thick silence that ensued was only broken by my heavy breathing as I dragged him out from underneath the shelf, and I sat down heavily next to him. I could only stare, uncomprehending. He… he can't be dead.
Fuck, my hands are shaking.
"...Link?" I whispered, voice hoarse. His bloody and ashen face looked even more sunken, with burns and new bruises forming everywhere I could see skin. Assessing the damage further, I was sure that he had broken a few ribs as well from the bookshelf slamming down on top of him. I was too much of a coward to check for his pulse.
I pulled him halfway onto my lap, and I sat there, brushing his sticky bangs away from his face with trembling fingers. His head lolled at an unnatural angle. I was still suspended in a numb disbelief.
Then I heard it.
A quiet, shallow rattle of a breath. Relief crashed through me as I realized what it meant.
"Link? LINK? Din Nayru and Farore, I–" I swore colorfully as I rummaged for my emergency vial of blue chu jelly and practically force-fed him.
After a few moments, he shoved me away as he coughed and sputtered. However, the vial was already empty. He turned onto his side and retched, groaning.
"Did you just feed me snot," he asked shakily, voice rough. Link blearily looked at me, his movements and expression pained.
I was about to warn him about the side effects of the chu jelly, but instead I just let my annoyance wash over me and waited.
Link grunted a cut-off curse, slamming his fist onto the ground as one of his broken ribs presumably un-broke itself.
Goddesses, I felt like shit.
Sheik wrapped my arm around his shoulder as we slowly made our way back up the winding staircase leading back into the castle.
(- "What about all the books on the floor? And the mess?"
—"Link, I swear to Din I'm about to break your nose again.")
The silence was thick as we climbed, the soft yellow flickering from the lantern hanging at Sheik's waist the only real source of light. He kept stealing concerned glances at me. Did I look that bad?
"I thought I lost you."
I blinked, but Sheik wasn't looking at me; instead, he was focused straight ahead, staring into nothing. His voice was so quiet I almost thought I imagined it, but that wasn't the case.
The gravelly rocks underneath my feet crunched as we ascended. Sheik, as always, was as silent as a spectre.
I didn't know what to say, so I considered opting for silence. What was I supposed to say? Haha, yeah, I thought I lost me too. My head hurt too much to think, and I felt sluggish from the after-effects of the chu jelly.
So I decided to choose something, anything. After a long pause, my pain-killered ass blurted:
"I love you, too," I said drowsily. Sheik stiffened underneath my arm.
"What?"
I made a face, scowling with as much gravity as I could muster. "You said you loved me. I'm saying it back."
Goddesses I'm tired.
Sheik laughed quietly, and said, "You look like you need to sneeze."
"Heyy–"
"Mn, I think you need to lie down."
"...Don't let me go to sleep again. Please," I mumbled. I suddenly felt like I was ten again.
"..."
Sheik gave me an unreadable look, but my head was already drooping.
"You're safe now," Sheik said quietly.
In my two lifetimes, I had only ever trusted those words whenever it came out of his mouth. Sheik lied to me about a lot of things before, but never when it came to something as important as this.
I nodded tiredly, closing my eyes. I leaned on him more heavily.
"Alright."
After putting Link in the infirmary, I journeyed back down into the Royal Archives one final time. I grabbed the mask that I had abandoned, and wrapped it in a dirty cloth before shoving it in my qiankun pouch. Then I sidestepped the tipped-over bookshelves and slipped back into my little alcove. The tall stacks of books by the wall suddenly seemed less imposing as I disregarded them, too. I went over to pick up my blanket and pillow from the corner of the alcove when something fell out of the blanket.
Surprised, I reached down to examine the hidden items and my breathing stopped.
There was my deku scrub.
And next to it…
My fingers traced the grooves in the wood, each strand of hair thoughtfully carved and every detail exact, as if he had committed the image to memory a long, long time ago. Sheik's face stared back at me, eyes somehow both full of mirth and indescribable sadness.
There was an inscription on the bottom of it.
I read it once, then read it again.
Always.