Work Text:
like acid to open wounds
"You've come so far, Link…"
The soft tones of her voice caressed his ears.
"…I'm glad you made it."
His chest constricted, stealing away his breath.
"I think it is time you learned the whole story…"
He watched her lips move, his ears not even registering the words tumbling out of her mouth.
She was well. She was alive!
These were the only thoughts echoing in his mind.
She knew him so well. So well that she could tell he was only half-listening. Her lips curved into a knowing smile. However, the same did not reach her eyes.
"Link, before I say another word, I feel like I owe you an apology…"
He remembered that somber look she wore when she returned his gaze.
"I…I knew that if it meant saving Zelda, you would throw yourself headfirst into any danger without even a moment's doubt…"
It was all instinct to him.
No further pondering needed.
"I…I used you."
He watched as her face crumpled under the weight of her words.
"Link…I can't say it enough. I'm so sorry —"
The slight crack in her voice rippled across his chest like a quake.
"—I wanted that feeling to last forever."
He did too.
He wanted it to last too.
Suddenly, Link felt the ground beneath him crumble.
He heard her startle and gasp along with the telltale sound of the earth giving way before they could even react.
He watched her fall.
Swiftly, he spun on his feet, throwing away the sword to the side. He dashed towards her, watching her slowly sink in mid air.
Her hand was raised, stretching out, reaching out to—
A shield.
He watched as she studied it with excitement, her eyes twinkling as she turned it over in her hands. The shield lacked size, and seemed flimsily carved at most. He wondered what went through her mind to pick such a prize. Even the owner of the stall looked at her with incredulity. Before he could ask, she held it out to him, her eyes looking at im expectantly.
He takes it.
"Now, if anything happens, you can protect me with that shield!"
Her smile had been radiant. Her laughter tickled his ears as he posed jokingly with the shield. Everyone had turned to study them, murmuring as he gave them a show.
He turned back to look at her, words of thanks dancing on the tip of his tongue.
She had disappeared.
He had lost sight of the girl he just met.
He looked and looked. But alas, she was nowhere to be found in the crowd.
His heart beat loudly in his chest, drowning the becks and calls of merchants along the street.
He needed to go.
Where exactly, he did not know.
His feet certainly knew though.
Eventually, he found himself in a garden, watching her from afar as she peered into a small window.
She turned to him, eyes widening in what seemed to be recognition.
"What is your name?…Link…strange…it sounds somehow familiar…?"
She wasted no time pulling him to her side, her voice low and trembling as she spoke of bleak dreams, of a nightmarish future that would likely come to pass.
Before he could ask more, she turned to him.
Suddenly, icy blue had become a warm red.
She dipped her face deeper into her hood, hiding all she was under tattered cloth.
"I have been waiting for you, Link."
This was not how he remembered her. He could clearly remember her gentle smile, her glowing hair, and her gleaming eyes.
Hesitant, he reached over to remove the errant hood, wishing to reveal the face he always saw in his dreams.
Instead of rough linen, he felt soft blonde locks brush over his knuckles.
Now he saw her again, as she truly was.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she held up the instrument to her mouth. He watched her mouth move slowly.
"Thank you, Link…Goodbye…"
He had reached out to wipe a stray tear from her cheeks. But as he blinked, he found his hand reaching towards the ceiling of his bedroom.
She was gone again yet her voice sounded clearly in his mind.
"…Help me…Please help me…"
His body moved before he could even comprehend her request. He found himself grabbing the lantern beside his bed, freeing himself from thin blankets.
She was beneath the castle.
She needed his help.
Without a thought, he ran towards the castle, and ventured deeper and deeper into the dungeons. He rounded a corner, finding himself standing before a spiral of stairs.
Abruptly, he felt his knees buckle beneath him. He fell to the floor with a thump, his lantern falling out of his grasp and into the foul waters of the castle sewers. But he did not falter, he forced himself to his knees, resolutly crawling his way up the steps of the staircase. A friendly hand opened the door for him, taking mercy on him with a mischievous laugh.
There she was again.
This time she was cloaked in black, melancholy plain on her beautiful face.
"…You were imprisoned? I am sorry."
Her voice had been gentle. Prior to that moment, he had always imagined it to be commanding. But it was all the same whether the tones of her voice had been demanding or comforting, he would find himself following her words to perfection.
A rattle of armor sounded.
"—You must leave here, quickly." She turned to him quickly, worry etched in her features, her eyes pleading.
With no choice, he found himself running from her again, the chain wrapped around his leg tinkling as he ran and ran.
"Are you sure you shouldn't just quit right now?"
He heard her voice from behind him. Even without looking, he knew her lips were turned into a smirk.
"There's still time, you know…Are you sure we shouldn't just turn around and take you back to your island?"
Memories flooded his mind: his sister crying as she struggled to escape the talons imprisoning her, a girl soaring across a gap in the mountains, one korok whimpering for rescue in a dark forest, and her, lying unsconscious in a bed as a dark king loomed.
Suddenly, exhaustion washed over him. Before he could fall over himself, he felt her grab his side, allowing him to lean on her as they watched the ocean fall in salty waterfalls.
"I think it's time for us to say goodbye to this place."
She winked, smiling with confidence.
Yes.
"Help! I need your help!…Why can't anyone hear me?"
Her cries had fallen on deaf ears. He wondered why none of her retainers bothered to comfort her when she was clearly distressed.
"Back to our ocean!"
No.
As soon as he felt her touch disappear, he fell, tasting the ground beneath his feet.
No.
He could not afford to turn back now.
Hadn't she called out to him?
How dare he leave her?
Pulling himself upright, he followed her cries as he navigated around the castle. Soon, he was right before the doors of her study, two suits of armor stood at its side, as if guarding their charge.
Before he could reach out and open the door, a sword fell in front of him as if preventing him from venturing further.
He jumped back in surprise, ready to pull out his own when he heard her.
"Don't look so scared, Link! It's Zelda!"
The armor jumped giddily.
"I'm stll your Zelda."
Her voice was muffled behind amber.
"Help me, please!"
Her voice echoed in his dream.
"Link…please…"
Her voice cried for him.
"Save me, Link…"
It was as if she was being taken away.
"Link!"
Light burst forth, devouring her, erasing her from this blighted world completely.
Leaving only a husk of horns and scales.
Sweat dripped from brow, his breath ran ragged as he found himself once again beneath the stars.
He tasted sea salt on his tongue. The scent of Silent Princesses cloyed in his throat.
Seeking purchase, his hand clutched the sands of Rist Peninsula in a futile attempt to rip the whole coast from the earth itself.
It was a dream.
It had to be.
Yet the way his body trembled spoke of reality.
Stubborn, he refused to believe that it was so.
He was going to retrieve the Master Sword.
Zelda had only made the dragon carry out this duty for her.
She merely pointed the way.
As if to convince himself of this lie, he wasted no time in bringing himself to the dragon once again, peering down determinedly on the Master Sword. Challenging it to change the truth he had conjured in his mind.
Without fanfare, he placed his hands on the hilt.
Closing his eyes, he pulled.
He felt his consciousness separate from his body.
He opened his eyes to blinding white.
He seemed to be somewhere and nowhere at the same time. All he had for company was a pale golden glow.
As if in a trance, he found himself walking idly toward it, his eyes widening in recognition as he walked closer and closer.
There she was.
His mind had immediately registered that angelic shade of blonde, the pink of her lips, and the shape of her glassy eyes.
His hands shook as he stepped closer and closer to the creature kneeling in the center of the white void. Long jade antlers extended from her hairline, branching out above her head with a glow. Her kaleidoscope eyes gazed at nothing, reflecting the million thoughts running through Link's mind as he gazed at her. Her talons-- hands curled over the sword protectively, as if she was guarding it from any who would dare steal it from her grasp.
Link found his breath getting shorter and shorter.
'No...' His vision blurred the closer he got, as if his own body decided to censor such a creature from his sight and memory.
Link could do nothing but fall to his knees, breath stuck in his throat.
Shakily, he lifted his hands to grab at her shoulders, his nails leaving tracks on her skin.
At his touch, the creature looked up at him in recognition. He saw himself reflected in her eyes.
She smiled.
He screamed.
.
.
.
"...Master, I must speak with you."