by an awesome blossom
Sometimes the difference between real and imaginary is just perception.
Last chapter with notes following.
VIII.
"Easy girl," Link murmured as he drew his bow and fired a single arrow that flew through the air at an incredible speed. "...Got it!" Epona whinnied at the tell-tale squeak of a Poe shot and set into a brief gallop. She slowed down considerably, though, at the sensation of her master stroking her mane. "Farore, I'll be glad when this is all over," he said, "and we'll never have to hear one of those damned Poes again."
Well that wasn't very nice of you. That could have been our desert guide for all you know.
Link sighed and brushed a strand of hair from his face. "Well it wasn't, and even if it was, we don't need it anymore."
A very unheroic thought. What if the Princess shot you after you defeated the King of Evil because she didn't need you anymore?
"Oh, so you think I'll defeat Ganondorf now? A big improvement from what you were telling me earlier. I'm flattered."
Darling, you know I was just expressing my reservations after you threw up in the middle of fighting Bongo-Bongo.
"It was all that bouncing, but thanks for encouraging me continue this quest in my time of need. I really appreciate it," Link said as he rolled his eyes; the castle town's broken gate came into view shortly after he righted himself.
Just keeping your best interests in mind. After all, it would do us no good for you to die from your own stupidity.
Dismounting Epona, Link breathed in deeply as his heart beat loudly within his chest. They were so close... "So is that why you returned to help me with that pit with all the invisible ledges?"
After you stupidly dismissed your Sheikah eyes? Yes. But...since we met I haven't left your side. You just don't listen very well sometimes.
Link nodded, knowing very well that it was true, and rubbed the place where Epona's chestnut coat became her beautiful and wild mane. He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't decide what. Eventually he figured that they didn't need words anymore, and so he silently sent her off to the ranch. After a few moments of watching her gallop off into the distance, he murmured, "I guess this is it."
You act as if going to the Temple of Time will be the end.
"I...I'll be seeing Sheik and..."
And.
Link finally turned around, setting his eyes on the broken gate and the ruined marketplace within. He exhaled suddenly and said in a wavering tone, "I really, really hope she can fix Navi."
There was silence inside his head, so Link treaded through ankle-high water and crossed the threshold of the decayed town, his stomach beginning to churn. He watched the building to his right carefully for any signs of the shifty Poe collector as he passed and came full into the old marketplace. The familiar scent of rot plagued the town as he crept through, keeping a zigzag path because the straight shot in anything was always rich in traps.
He picked up a soft, groaning sound of a ReDead in the distance, and at once his stomach flared up violently. With his hand cupping his mouth, Link struggled to ignore the sound and crept up the steps to the temple courtyard. There it was, the Temple of Time. And just inside...
"You know, I...I'm really tired of the darkness. I just want the light."
...I know.
Link scoffed and began to toe some stray weeds that had grown near the gossip stones. "You're a monstrosity born from the darkness. How can you possibly know?"
You're so damned clueless, aren't you?
He bent down to pull a weed that had grown between two stones and then continued down the cobblestone path.
I may have been born from the darkness, but I am not that bad...though you yourself are not that good
Something within him bristled. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"
Back during our fight in that room...think.
Link came upon the large doors of the temple and pushed through. "I don't have time to think."
Therein lies your fundamental problem.
Inside the temple with the cathedral ceiling looming overhead, he spied Sheik leaning against the altar. At once his throat went dry and his heart beat faster.
I don't how I came to be, but I know that I was always waiting for you to realize my presence.
Sheik nodded in acknowledgement and straightened but the expression in his eyes was foreign to Link. "I'm glad to see you safe and in one piece."
He wanted to say something but again the words vanished from his lips.
"Link...you have done well to overcome the many hardships fate has bestowed unto you. You have fought many battles and awakened the six Sages. And now you face the final challenge: the King of Evil, Ganondorf."
By the time you entered my world with that fairy companion of yours, you were already cold, tired, and hungry.
"If...you would seek the sacred triangle, listen well. The house of the sacred triangle, the Sacred Realm, is a mirror that reflects what is in your heart."
He didn't want to think about mirrors.
You two were bickering in illness, so it was the perfect opportunity to show myself and attack.
"If one with an evil heart enters, the Realm will become full of evil; if a pure heart enters, the Realm will become paradise. The sacred triangle - the Triforce - is a balance...that weighs the three forces:"
She saved your life by alerting you to my presence. I don't know if you remember.
"Power."
You were strong, but I was stronger.
"Wisdom."
You used your resources against me in ways that made me proud to fight you, but I already knew all your moves.
"Courage."
You had spirit, but with your lack of success in injuring me, you began to second-guess yourself.
"If the heart of the one who wields the Triforce has all three forces in balance, he will gain the True Force to govern all. But, if the heart of one is not in balance, the sacred triangle will separate into three parts."
Do you remember this, or is another memory you no doubt repressed?
The story sounded familiar, but Link couldn't recall if he had heard it before.
"Of Power, Wisdom, and Courage, only one part representing the force that one most believes in will remain for the one who touched the Triforce."
You were weak against me, and your friend...Navi, she saw this.
"If that one seeks the True Force, that one must acquire the two lost parts."
I could see it in your eyes; you were deluding yourself into thinking that you could still win against me in your present state.
"Those two parts will be held within others chosen by destiny who will bear the Triforce mark on the backs of their hands."
She panicked and tried to butt into the fight to help you, tried to tell you where I was and where I would be. An admirable effort, but ultimately distracting for you - an opportunity I certainly didn't miss when I attacked for the final time.
"Seven years ago, Ganondorf, the King of Thieves, used the door you opened in this Temple to enter the Sacred Realm."
Blood spilled from your last wound; she shrieked and tried to help, but of course I was not going to miss another opportunity to win the battle. Though instead of defending against me...
"But when he laid his hands on the Triforce, the legend came true."
Link closed his eyes and just wanted everything to STOP. All this never happened; he didn't want to know it happened. He didn't want to remember.
You lashed out at her with not your words but your sword.
"The one who holds the Triforce of Courage..."
Victory was yours because I was no longer an evil for you to stop. I was your heart's reflection, but you weren't so innocent anymore...
He looked at his hands with new eyes and wondered through the noise in his head if he could even do such a thing.
"...is you, Link!"
In his heart, though, he...
"And the other, the one who holds the Triforce of Wisdom..." Sheik continued as he held out his hand.
...He did know and knew all along.
"The seventh Sage who is destined to be the leader of them all is..."
In the bright light that emanated from Sheik's hand and consumed his vision, Link knew he wanted nothing more than to hear Navi's voice again. He wanted to cup her within his hands and tell her just how much she meant to him because he realized then that he never did.
When the total light dwindled, there was a rustling in his hat and then, "Hey! Look! It's Princess Zelda!"
In the newfound light and emotional relief that followed, Link could see himself clearly inside for the first time. He opened his mouth to tell Sheik and his reflection about his discovery when he realized that all he could see was Princess Zelda and all he could hear was Navi's twinkling. And then a sudden weight overcame him as he realized he was alone.
Just as it did in absolute dark, what existed in absolute light was
Nothing.
I owe a tremendous thanks to Mazoku85, Chaotic Serenity, and Paul Nolan for both encouraging and threatening me to see this through. Thanks, guys.
Dark Link and Sheik are two of the most incredible yet strange characters in the Zelda series for the simple reason that they don't actually exist in the games in the same way that they do in various fanart and fanfiction (Dark Link especially). What is it about these two that attracts fans? When it comes down to it, Dark Link and Sheik don't actually exist at all. Sheik is Zelda, and Dark Link, alternately called Shadow Link, is basically Link's shadow that you must fight and beat to prove that good (light) triumphs once again over evil (dark). Anything beyond that is mere fanon.
So thanks for bearing with me while I tried to explore that concept. Your reviews (and even silent support) are greatly appreciated.