Chapter 15

Link rode onward to his home. He stopped outside the Kokiri Forest and dismounted Epona and headed in. He entered his house and sat down on the bed putting his head in his hands. She knows, she knows Link thought. He got up made himself something to eat then grabbed the Megnaton Hammer and climbed down the ladder and headed off to Hyrule Field. As Link mounted Epona the voice returned to him.

"She knows what you did," the voice of Oyashiro stated.

"We don't know that yet," Link answered the voice.

"She knows and you will have to take care of her before it is too late," the voice continued on, "She will try to take you when you arrive at the Temple of Time."

"No," Link replied shaking his head, "She would not do something like that."

"She will turn on you," Oyashiro replied.

"Shut up," Link snapped at the voice covering his ears.

Slowly Link lowered his ears and listened to everything that was around him and silence encompassed him. What if she does know, Link thought, Will I be able to stop her from turning me in. As Link thought about this he looked up to the sky which was beginning to be filled with dark rain clouds and in a short amount of time it began to rain then it started to pour. Link soon found himself standing outside the entrance into Hyrule and slowly he crossed the drawbridge. The pitter patter of the rain as it hit the cobblestone streets of Hyrule could be heard everywhere. As Link walked by the first guard the guard called out to Link.

"Hero," the guard called, "The princess is waiting for you at the temple."

Link nodded his head as he moved forward into the marketplace. Link looked around and saw that the market was crowded as always even in the downpour of rain. Suddenly a loud noise filled the sky, BOOM. The downpour turned into a storm as the thunder and lightning cracked. Link headed over to the Temple of Time and stood in front of the massive stone building with the stained glass windows running along the walls. He looked up at the big stone doors that had the emblem of Hyrule carved into the eagle sitting atop the Triforce. As Link slowly ascended the stone steps to the temple's entrance he could feel his heart race in his chest. Finally Link stood before the giant stone doors and put his hand on them and pushed the doors open. The let out a CREAK as they moved forward and Link stepped into the Temple. Link looked around the temple that he had become so familiar with and standing in front of the stone display where he had put the three spiritual stones as a child was the princess her back to him her long blonde hair flowing down her back.

"Princess," Link broke the silence.

The princess turned around and upon seeing Link started to walk over to him. Link waited until she was over by him before he spoke again.

"I was told that you wanted to see me," Link stated.

"Yes," Zelda answered, "We are in very dire straits right now."

Link nodded his head and waited for the princess to continue.

"The destruction of the Lon Lon Ranch is something that is going to have a very bad effect on the people of Hyrule," Zelda began, "This along with the news that I receive from my father about the talks that are going on with the Gerudo which seem to be breaking down and war seems to loom ever closer on the horizon this event may cost us a war if it comes to it."

"Is there any other way in which we can get supplies here," Link asked.

"I have already sent messengers to Clock Town but if they are able to bring supplies here it will take much longer for them to get here until then we would be on their own," Zelda replied, "Link the things that have been happening over the past few days have been disturbing me greatly."

Link stood there silent not wanting to talk. He then noticed the princess looking at him in a strange way.

"Link," she started, "Why do you not have the Master Sword with you?"

"I guess I was a little sleepy when I woke up this morning and grabbed the Megnaton Hammer by mistake," Link answered a little shaky.

Link watched the princess as she shrugged her shoulders as she went on talking.

"There are some things that I have to ask you about," Zelda told Link.

Outside the thunder and the lightning cracked filling the temple with a very bright white light.

"See," the voice of Oyashiro started, "She knows."

"What is it that you want to know about," Link asked doing his best to ignore the voice.

"I need to ask you about what took place between you and Ingo up at Lon Lon Ranch," Zelda replied.

Link could feel his heart racing as the princess spoke those words.

"See," the voice began, "She knows and she will have you put in the torture chamber before paying a visit to the executioner."

"Why do you need to know," Link asked.

"It has to deal with the burning down of the Lon Lon Ranch," Zelda answered, "Since you were visiting there every day to talk to Ingo about his prices that means that you would have been the last one to see him alive."

"I see," Link replied.

"I will go get some guards so that way we can bring you up to the castle and just have a quick talk about it," Zelda stated.

Zelda started to walk to the entrance of the temple when Link heard the voice of Oyashiro return to him.

"She is going to tell the guards to arrest you," the voice started, "She suspects that you did it you have to stop her now."

Link ran after the princess and tackled her. When he did the princess let out a yelp of pain and surprise as she hit the hard cold floor of the temple.

Zelda was shocked at what was going on. Why had Link suddenly tackled her?

"I should have known," Link started, "You know that I killed them and are coming after me."

"You what," Zelda replied shocked, "I didn't suspect you."

"You're lying," Link replied as his hands wrapped around Zelda's throat.

He quickly applied more and more pressure as he choked the princess, but suddenly she tucked her legs in and kicked Link off of her. She started to run for the entrance to the temple but Link took out the Megnaton Hammer and ran after her quickly. Once he got close enough to the princess he swung the hammer like an ax and sent Zelda flying to the and away from the entrance. She hit the wall and fell to the floor and started coughing.

"You know. You know," Link repeated.

He walked over to her but when he got close to her she suddenly kicked him again and tried to make a run for it but Link quickly grabbed her by her hair and slammed her into the wall. She grabbed Link's hand and bit it. Link yelled out in pain as he struck her on the head with the Megnaton Hammer. She fell to the ground and Link swung the hammer at her legs. Zelda narrowly escaped the blow as the hammer hit the floor flinging some of the tiles up. Link swung again and again Zelda narrowly dodged clutching her side she now started to wheeze from the pain that she was feeling coming from her side. Link swung again and hit his mark cracking Zelda's ribcage. Zelda let out a yell of pain. Link then stepped on both of her arms and looked down on the princess's face. He turned the hammer around in his hands so that the pointed end of the hammer was pointing down.

"Link wait," Zelda began pleading, "Please do-"

Link swung the pointed end of the hammer straight into Zelda's eye causing blood to spurt from the wound. Link then pulled the hammer out and could see that some of Zelda's brains were on the pointed end. Link then fell to his knees with tears in his eyes as he realized what he had just done.

"See what happens when you disgrace me," the voice of Oyashiro rang out.

"I'm sorry," Link gasped his throat dry.

"I am afraid that it is too late for that," the voice stated.

Then Link noticed a tingling feeling in his throat. He began to rub his throat but that seemed to cause the tingling to get much worse. His rubbing turned to scratching which only seemed to irritate it even more and quickly he began clawing, digging his fingernails into his throat. He winced in pain as he broke the skin and he suddenly felt something in his throat. I almost have it, Link thought as he clawed frantically, Just a little more and I will have it. Link stopped suddenly when he pulled his blood soaked hands away from his throat and was shocked at what he saw. Maggots were wriggling around in his blood soaked hand and he could see them falling onto his tunic and then Link could feel the itching in his throat begin to increase rapidly. Link could no longer control himself as he frantically clawed deeper and deeper into his own throat and blood began to splatter everywhere with every shot that he took at trying to get the maggots out. Then everything started getting darker and darker and he noticed that he was getting colder and colder but he didn't care all he was focused on was clawing out the maggots. Soon he felt light headed and fell to the ground still clawing at his throat. He now heard his heart beating in his head. It was slow and it was slowing down until it eventually ceased and everything went black, and the Hero of Time lay there dead with the princess Zelda who he had also killed. Slowly like the vision of the Hero of Time during his last few moments alive the world would fall into complete darkness.

"I raised my nails in the dark and slashed the night.

Raindrops become droplets of blood and drip down the throat."-Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Season 1 Opening

The End