Blinded Truth

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Chapter 1

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"A long time ago... There was a man in this very village who had an eye they said could see the truth! Now usually, you have to train your mind's eye most strenuously to actually see the truth... But this fella, no, they say he had a different way of doing things... His house stood where the well is now..."

-Old Man in Kakariko Village.
Ocarina of Time

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It grew dark quickly that evening. Right after dinner, the sun had set. The village elders knew it was time. They packed quickly and quietly, taking along with them those children that had waited all summer. A few cried, red eyes streaming with tears, others smiled and laughed, while some were too mature to care. They sat in the wagon, the glamoured black canvas bonnet hiding them from the outside; blending with the darkness the night creatures were so blind to.

"Be careful, Erebus," a woman with blazing red hair held a small boy in her arms, her eyes not on the squirming child, but on the man before her, "Come back safely, you hear."

The man called Erebus laughed light-heartedly, leaning forward to place a kiss on the woman's cheek, and then the boy's. "Always, Semele. I will be back before tomorrow's night."

Semele smiled, red eyes alighting with his, as she leaned toward him- looking as though to kiss. Instead, she whispered into his ear; "I will watch your eye."

He craned his neck sideways and caught her lips with his. They parted, as the boy in Semele's arms tugged on Erebus's curly brown hair, catching his attention. "You, Fido, will be good to your mother."

Fido laughed, eyes wide- mouth as well, the comings of his second tooth on the way and showing like white diamonds.

"See you then?" Semele said, smiling.

"See you, love," he said, eyes lingering on her face for a few mere more seconds, until someone grabbed his collar.

"Erebus, hurry!"

The said Sheikah laughed, letting him be pulled away from his family. He waved to them before turning around and running after the elder silver-haired woman that had yanked his collar.

"I'll get back at you for that, Impa!" he remarked, climbing onto the wagon to sit beside her.

She chuckled, grabbing the reigns to the pack of six mules, "Want to bet on that, dear cousin?"

Erebus rolled his ruby red eyes as he fixed his tunic, "Won't I?" He turned to her, eyes wide.

She rolled her own before glancing behind her. "All the children are ready?"

"Yes, I believe so," he said, turning to see if a certain redhead was nearby. He spotted her auburn head of hair above the steps to his cottage in front of the windmill. She waved at him, before grasping Fido's and waving his.

Erebus smiled, waving back. "I will miss them," he murmured to himself.

"I'm sure you will," Impa mused.

He turned to stare at her in surprise, "I didn't think you heard."

She grinned; forgetting to answer him as she finally led the horses forward, jerking the wagon into movement.

Erebus gripped the seating, too riddled into his thoughts to notice the stares he received from his cousin.

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"Do you accept your status in our society, child?" The king's voice boomed throughout the throne room, shaking not only the crystal chandeliers that hung from the ceilings, but nearly all the bones in the child's body. "Will you forever keep your allegiance to I, and the Royal Family in any time of need?"

The girl kneeling before the white-haired king stuttered, wishing she could be anywhere but be in front of him, gazing into cerulean depths that made her want to cry into a fit. "I-I…of-of c-course… Y-your Majesty."

The king smiled, creases outstretching from the sides of his eyes, as he stood straight, lifting the silver-streaked blade that had rested on her shoulder. "You may rise, Ophelia."

She did, legs shaking. Her eyes burned ever so slightly, something that tingled with exhilaration and pain at the same time. She bowed once more, and turned away, unaware that teardrops had fallen from her eyes.

"Erebus, boy," the king called, searching the crowd before him. A soft murmur arose, as the Sheikah group parted to let him through.

He knelt forward quickly, almost awkwardly, letting his curly brown locks fall over his eyes. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

The king placed a hand on Erebus's shoulder, motioning for him to look up. He did, into dark depths. "You have achieved greatness, Erebus, even if you do not know it."

"But, Your Highness…" He began, bewilderment edging his tone.

"Wait, son," the king said, "I know you are too young, but even the Queen agrees with me."

"Do not forget me, Your Majesty," Impa added with a grin, as she stepped behind Erebus, sending both the king and queen a knowing smile.

"Agree with what, Your Highness?" Erebus asked suspiciously. When his cousin was involved, it usually always meant trouble.

The King of Hyrule smiled, "We have all agreed to knight you as the head leader of the Sheikah clan, to lead this new race to a different kind of legend- alongside Impa."

Erebus was utterly speechless, to say the least. Eyes wide with shock, he glanced toward Impa. She nodded in appraise, as if telling him it was all right. Really, it was perfectly fine.

"Th-thank you, Your Majesty," he finally croaked, "I am honored."

He was knighted, marked with the Sheikah sign, and supposedly honored forever amongst everyone, and every other race out there. Supposedly, anyway. He didn't exactly feel like he was that important, or that courageous or daring. He still felt like everyone else: frightened out of their wits.

"That was very unexpected," Erebus sighed as they exited the castle, feeling as though he could breathe for the first time since they had arrived, "I hadn't expected so much."

"As if none of us knew the eye that you have," Impa drawled, stepping ahead of him, leaving him speechless.

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The Eye… The Eye… He hoped to the goddesses it was all right. He had worked forever to construct it with all the magic and glamour he could conjure and use. It was a beautiful invention, one so that any Sheikah could use to see inside the very being of one's soul, know their truths, their desires. They would know everything, feel everything, be anything to anyone. As long as they could handle it, as long as they could withstand the pain they felt for their people, their King, then so be it.

The Eye… The Eye… He wondered if Semele had used it yet. He knew her suspicions, her fears, but he loved her as it is. She would never betray him- never. They would lead the clan to prosperity. Forever and ever.

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"Do you see that?"

"Is it smoke?"

"It's too high! They're clouds!"

"Shut up, you spoiled brat! It's smoke!"

"Quiet, all of you!" Impa exclaimed, sending the children in the wagon to silence.

But they were right. Well, whoever that had said it was smoke, anyway.

Erebus gazed up at the western sky, black with smoke and soot. His heart raced, adrenaline pumping in his veins, as dark thoughts began to race through his mind.

"No, no," he murmured in disbelief. He could smell it now. Death. Destruction. Everything ablaze. It just couldn't be.

"Erebus," Impa said, grabbing hold of his arm before he could jump out of the wagon, "Stay inside the wagon."

He turned to her, enraged. But her eyes gave away nothing. So inexperienced he was. He sat back, trying to take a deep breath. The smell of smoke washed over him, making him frantic once again.

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They reached the village; wagon long deserted, to see everything they hoped hadn't been true.

Houses, ablaze with whatever residual flames remained, were left to crumbled, black walls and fallen roofs. Stumps of furniture remained; some contained nothing but ash and embers. The windmill, now visible beyond an unrecognizably jagged stump of wood and brick and flames, still stood. The fans mere long sticks glowing with dying flames, creaking as the wind picked up speed, carrying embers that swirled around the village like the dark shadows of morning fog.

"What happened here?" Impa's voice broke through Erebus's thoughts, cutting through the darkness that clouded over him. He could only stand there, unbelieving.

There was no answer. There couldn't be. No one was there to answer her question, when all that they saw were burnt grass and crumbling houses.

"What do we do?" Erebus murmured, more to himself than to anyone. He couldn't let them hear. He was the leader, for goddesses' sake! He should be telling them what to do…!

But, the words didn't form in his mouth. He rushed forward, past Impa and the children, toward where his house used to stand. When his feet hit the last step, he crumbled, just like the home before him. Gone. Completely. Even the fern that hung outside his door had burnt to a crisp, withered to ashes and left in the cracked pot on the last step.

"It wasn't just any normal fire," he said quietly, hearing footsteps behind him. His eyes watered, embers flying into his eyes. "It was his…wasn't it?"

"Erebus…" Impa's voice was too far away, as if she weren't standing behind him.

"You are correct, boy…" this voice was closer to him, but it wasn't the voice he wanted to hear.

He swirled around, standing up. "You…" he seethed. Despite the fact that his vision was blurred, he could tell perfectly well who stood before him, who dared to come face-to-face with him after what he had done.

"Be kind to me, boy," the man's voice boomed, yellow eyes aglow with rage, "After all, I was the one that helped in the creation of your pathetic race. Too bad I will help destroy it."

Erebus sneered, "The goddesses would never allow it, thief."

Ganon laughed, shaking his head, "If only…" And then he disappeared, for a second unaccounted for, before returning again, with a girl in his arms. He pushed her forward, to face Erebus.

"Semele," he gasped, reaching for her arm.

She flinched away, eyes narrowed in disgust, "Away from me, peasant."

"Semele…" It left a bad taste in his mouth, when usually he felt nothing but love for her. All he could feel was Ganon's hatred, and his evil in her. "What have you done to her?" he snapped, turning to the Gerudo, outrage evident in his expression.

The dark-skinned man laughed, hand still firm on the redhead's arm; "Nothing you aren't familiar with, I'm sure."

Erebus could feel the pain wrenching his heart, driving him toward madness if he didn't handle this now. But Impa was there, so suddenly he hadn't seen her come.

"Where are the others?" she demanded, arms folding across her chest in clear defiance.

Erebus wanted to slink away. What leader was he, unable to deal this for himself?

Ganon smirked, a haunting guise that darkened his eyes to a sickly yellow, "Wallowing in the misery for their dead ones. I thought it a good idea to let them see what their kind will become after this war."

Erebus glanced at him, but he was too busy focused on Impa. So he turned to Semele, and alas, her once beautiful eyes were now focused on the wicked Gerudo next to her. A small smile, unlike any he had seen before, graced her lips.

"Semele," he dared to whisper her name; "Where is Fido?"

Her gaze snapped his direction, and he caught it unintentionally. A malevolent smirk twisted her expression into a deriding glare. His eyes began to burn, this time; he wasn't so sure it was from the soot in the air. He could see it clearly. The truth was obvious, unyielding- as much as he didn't want to admit it.

"Dead…" he mouthed, his shoulders stooping.

"Lying amongst the rest of our scrap of a home, dear Erebus." She said, placing a hand to his chest, "Enjoy your trash."

He tossed her hand away from him and glared, one so impossible he thought he could never do to one he had loved so much as her. "You forget everything, Semele, what I could have accomplished for us."

She laughed bitterly, "Nothing. All that is left is rubbish. Go look for yourself."

"Be as it may, Impa…" Gannon then turned to Erebus, "Gather your kind and swear your allegiance to me, or perish like your town." He spat.

"No," Erebus snapped, "We have sworn our allegiance to the King. It is too late."

Semele interjected, "I am the leader's wife…"

"How did you know?" Erebus interjected. Had it broadcasted to everyone but him that he would be the first leader, aside Impa?

"Everyone knew it," Semele replied curtly, before turning to Ganon; "We will accept. Our allegiance is yours."

He saw the tears riding down her dirt-stained cheeks, the way her irises welled with the color of blood. She endured the pain, just to be with him.

"You cannot fight away the truth, Semele," Impa voiced, her tone calm but firm, "You can never disobey the King."

Semele mocked, "Pain will no longer be mine to bear, dear Impa. I will be free. Forever. This curse will not bind me. As should it not for any of you."

Erebus turned to Ganon, "I will not kneel to you, thief."

Gannon shrugged, armory clinking together as he moved, his cape following along with him like a curtain to shield him. "I will give you a week, boy. You and your cousin will fall. As for the rest of your kind, they will be with me."

Erebus set his jaw, heart still pounding in his chest, but still firm. His answer was set. If only he knew what to do when that did not quench the want for the man's greed.

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Yes, this is set way back- before Ocarina of Time, during the wars. My take on the Sheikah past and based after the Seeing Truth Saga. This is also found in Seeing Past Darkness, but I thought I would separate the stories. Please tell me what you think and keep reading.