Chapter 2: An Unforgettable Sight

The world dissolved into darkness, then erupted into harsh light. A jolt ran through his body, like a rude awakening from a deep sleep. Thoughts, scattered and cobwebbed, tumbled into existence: "Where am I?... Who am I?...". The questions continued as his mind grappled with what relatively easy questions should be yet, the elusive answers slipped through his mental fingers, obscured by his confusion.

Panic gnawed at him, urging him to return to the comforting oblivion. But a voice, velvet and rich, cut through the fog.

"Open your eyes."

It was a command, yet spoken with an enchanting lilt, familiar somehow. He strained, searching, but his eyelids felt like lead weights.

"That voice... majestic, enchanting... where have I heard it before?"

As those thoughts lingered, a focus on the unknown voice emerged, motivating him to find answers amidst the growing cascade of questions. He strained to catch the words, feeling submerged in a warm bath, the water muffling the sound.

Yet, another emotion began to surface—impatience. It was as if the voice held crucial information he urgently needed to hear, even if he couldn't explain why. It became the anchor preventing him from slipping back into sleep.

His thoughts swirled, but the voice snagged his attention again, insistent and impatient.

"Open your eyes!"

"Open my eyes...?" The words finally registered, unravelling the mystery of his confusion. The revelation struck him, the realization dawning like a light in profound darkness or perhaps the darkness of having his eyes closed.

Having rediscovered the miraculous gift of sight, he instructed his body, but surprisingly, it resisted more than expected. His being rebelled, resisting the urge to open his eyes.

He gritted his teeth, summoning a strength he didn't know he possessed, and fought against the weight. His eyelids cracked open, then slammed shut as searing brilliance assaulted his senses. Darkness, for a blessed moment, became a welcome refuge.

"Wake up, Link."

The voice, softer now, coaxed him back from the precipice of blindness. With another deep breath, bracing himself for the onslaught of light, he forced his eyes open once more. The world dissolved into focus, morphing from a blurry haze into an alien landscape.

"Im… Link…?"

Escaping his lips the boy's voice, was rough and unpolished, but he was more concerned with the smooth and elegant voice he was clearly hearing. Was Link his name? He wasn't certain, in actuality, he wasn't certain of anything as he struggled to remember anything, even his own name, felt like grasping at elusive strings even if it was as important as his name.

Struggling against the stiffness in his neck, he turned his head, taking in his surroundings to find he laid submerged, half-swaddled in a pool of luminescent blue liquid, within a cavern bathed in the same eerie glow.

"Link… Link… Link…" " The repetition of the word out loud further emphasized its importance. A strange sense of familiarity continued to resonate. Given his situation, the only rational conclusion was that the name belonged to him. After all, he had assumed the voice was speaking to him.

With that thought in mind, Link pushed himself upright from the peculiar, nearly drained oversized bathtub where he had been lying. Still trying to gather his thoughts, he looked around anticipating finding the origin of the voice speaking to him to answer his ponding questions only to be met with disappointment with the presence, or lack of one of anyone.

Still feeling sluggish, Link had to rub his eyes to adjust his eyesight. As far as he could tell, he was in an empty room that lacked any presence, excluding himself. Nevertheless, the room wasn't devoid of light, as the strange radiant symbols of the bath he was in provided enough illumination.

Link looked down at his body, clenching his hands and toes while flexing his body as if ticking an invisible checklist. Visually, everything seemed ordinary about his body, except for the unusual surge of energy he was feeling. Despite this, Link couldn't shake the disconcerting feeling that something was amiss about his body.

Well, he still couldn't remember anything, so it's not like he would know the difference. Shrugging off this uncertainty for the time being, Link grabbed the side of the pool he was in and climbed out. Looking back at the device, he was intrigued.

He didn't know the purpose of the device, but he noticed that, although he was partially submerged in some kind of blue liquid a few seconds ago, his body was now dry. Upon closer observation, the bathtub interior even had a human-shaped outline with a headrest.

The sight above the pool drew Link's attention—a sizable circular plate adorned with blue orbs interconnected by radiant blue piping that extended up to the ceiling. Link found it slightly harrowing to see from below, but he didn't appear to be injured so he wasn't overly concerned about its appearance he was more focused on how to get out and figure out what was going on.

Link's eyes darted around the room landing on a terminal in the corner of the room that was seemingly made of stone it was of course glowing the signature blue colour he had now seen multiple times. Link approached the terminal with the suspicion he would be seeing this colour more times than he cared for.

Upon his approach, the terminal's stony surface flared to life as if reacting to his presence, its mechanisms twisting and shifting like a collection of gears and mechanical cogs and, without warning a small tablet presented with a handle facing Link, ejected from the terminal's intricate workings. It almost seemed as if the device was extending an invitation, silently prompting Link to take hold of it.

"This is a Sheikah Slate," the voice whispered, though no form accompanied the sound. "Take it… It will guide you after your long slumber."

Startled by hearing the enchanting voice once again Linked quickly looked behind him only to be welcomed by the same barren room which offered no solace. Afterwards, the realisation struck him that he had instinctually placed his hand behind his head as if to grab something. For what reason he wasn't sure of but considering he was almost naked he sure looked silly.

"Hello… is anyone here..."

Lowering his hand Link quickly understood that he wasn't going to gain a response. There were many things happening that he didn't understand, his long slumber. The words echoed in his mind, sparking a cold panic. How long had he been here, adrift in this sea of oblivion? How long had it been since he felt the wind caress his skin, the rain soaks his soul? He also couldn't really deny the weirdness of hearing a voice seemingly right behind him.

'Perhaps I'm suffering from hallucinations…' he wondered briefly

Link faced his attention towards the glowing terminal and hesitantly reached out and grabbed this 'Sheikah Slate'.

Deciding to remain focused on getting out, Link placed those thoughts on hold and adjusted his focus on the Sheikah Slate before him, it felt smooth and cold to the touch but it had coloured glass lying on the front of it displaying a blue symbol he didn't recognise while the back had a glowing eye with distinguishing patterns.

Link didn't recognise the patterns or symbol, but he felt that there was something familiar about it and it was around now Link hoped he regained his memories soon feeling slightly irritated he wasn't recognising anything.

With the Sheikah Slate in hand, Link's focus was abruptly interrupted as the terminal retracted, unveiling a door that opened in a peculiar manner, pointing him toward another chamber. With no other clear path in sight, he stowed his Sheikah slate into the side of his underwear and continued forward.

The hallway, illuminated by blue-crystal torches casting flickering shadows on the walls, led to a chamber lined with ancient chests. He rummaged through them, finding worn trousers and a rough shirt, gladly shedding his newfound nakedness. The clothes felt coarse against his skin, a stark contrast to the smooth embrace of the liquid, yet they offered a comforting sense of normalcy.

Link naturally found this suspicious, but he was more or less happy he didn't need to walk around almost naked and attached his Sheikah Slate to a well-worn leather utility sash he found with the shirt.

There were some old large boxes as well almost the same height as Link, but they were still made of wood so Link quickly gave up on trying to break them open without any tools and moved on.

Continuing forward he found himself at another locked door with a terminal standing next to it comparable to the last one although this one had a flat face shining a more orange colour than blue. Standing before it he had expected and even waited to hear the enchanting voice once again for instructions but heard nothing.

'Fine I'll do this one myself' Link mused, grabbing his Sheikah Slate believing the two were connected in some way and did the first thing that felt natural which was simply holding it in front of the Terminal. Upon doing so the terminal flashed a bright blue light removing the orange colouring away as if identifying its owner but what he hadn't anticipated was for it to speak.

"Authenticating…"

The unexpected voice, echoing once more in the chamber, startled Link for the third time within half an hour, prompting an instinctive, cautious step backward. The surprise was becoming a recurrent theme in his little adventure but that didn't mean he was warming up to it each time it occurred.

"Sheikah Slate confirmed."

Upon confirming his Sheikah Slate Link noticed that the previously derelict symbol on the wall had illuminated blue followed by the sounds of gears revolving and watched the once immovable door begin to unlock itself like a jigsaw puzzle. Link positioned himself at the front of the door and watched as it spent a small time readying itself before opening.

Link quickly covered his eyes as another blinding light covered his vision as the door opened presumably leading to the outside world. Link slowly opened his fingers as he stared at the light hoping to readjust quickly.

"Link… You are the light – our light – that must shine upon Hyrule once again… Now go… "

As the voice ceased Links's eyes quickly adapted to the flooding light. Link had contemplated shouting to the voice again but opted not to reasoning that he likely wouldn't receive a reply.

Laying ahead Link could see a staircase exiting out of the chamber and to what he correctly guessed was the outside. With his gaze fixed on a distant tree, he was capable of leaving yet he stood still.

Comparing the latest message to the ones he previously heard Link could confidently say this message's voice had a more desperate and despairing tone and whatever the message, it seemed to have placed an expectation or hope upon himself.

Link really couldn't really say it was a comfortable feeling. Regardless, he had his questions all he needed to do was seek the answers and that was ultimately dependent on him. Link finally stepped forward proceeded up the staircase and strolled out of the manmade cave for the first time.

Link after stepping out the first thing he did was breathe in the fresh air as a gale of wind brushed past his unkept golden hair tickling his pointed ears. The air was refreshing incapable of being compared to the stuffy air of the cave he slept in for an unknown time.

Taking note of the direction of the cave Link steadily walked forward taking in the luscious landscape around him. The area didn't appear to be dangerous although the last thing he wanted was to get lost as the tall bushes almost reached his height. The wooden boxes combined with these bushes made Link wonder if he was unnaturally small but thankfully the area wasn't densely populated making it easy enough to look around unimpeded although the reason, he was confident in walking forward was that he saw the land didn't stretch on endlessly but stopped not far ahead.

Wondering if he was on some kind of hill or elevated landscape Link marched on but he didn't have to wait long. After a few minutes of walking the trees departed leading him to an open space leading off a cliff.

Link hurried his footsteps jogging to the edge and jumping on top of a rock sitting at the edge of the cliff to get a better look and was left speechless by what he saw.

Stretching beyond the forest at the base of the cliff Link was standing at there was a luscious green valley that seemingly stretched on for kilometres, Mountains peeking into the clouds and vast glistening lakes. It was truly a beautiful and breathtaking sight that could easily be at the top of any traveller's bucket list without contenders.

Among the striking features were a large towering seemingly active volcano which was the tallest mountain of the valley and a tremendous Castle within the centre of the land, but Link wasn't in the right state of mind to notice the finer details.

Link stood stunned, rendered speechless at the breathtaking perspective before him. However, his fixation was anything but voluntary and not because of the secular sight rather It was as though an invisible force had ensnared his senses, trapping him in a trance-like state. His eyes twitched uncontrollably, his body experiencing involuntary spasms that continued for several minutes until the ill effects were subsidised with seemingly no consequences.

Exiting his scene and regaining control of his body, Link immediately collapsed to the ground, his breaths short and quick as he slowly lowered his head and inspected his body as if it were foreign to him. His expression slowly contorted into despair as dug his nails into the soft soil beneath him.

"You couldn't even get my name right."

Link quietly cursed the voice he heard in the cavern. It was with great strength did Link's gaze slowly lifted back to the breathing view as memories, once buried, resurfaced with unwelcome clarity.

As he watched the fields, the skies, and the distant silhouette of Hyrule Castle, recognition dawned upon him. But this familiarity brought forth more than he was prepared to handle. A rush of memories and his identity surged forward, overwhelming him. Tears welled up in his eyes, as his lips parted.

"…I'm not Link…" escaped his lips, his tone filled with sorrow and disbelief. With his jaws clenched and his nails dug deep he continued to stare out into the distance

"You resurrected the wrong goddamn person..."