Continuation from Spirit... enjoy.

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The golden light began to dissipate, leaving the two swordsmen standing within the large stone temple. Knil glanced around, feeling uneasy. "What is this place?" He asked, his gaze finally landing on three glowing stones, hovering above an alter. The glow was similar to the Spiritual Stone of Light, but it wasn't nearly as bright. He made his way over to examine them more closely.

Link watched him, having not yet answered his former question.

There was a red, a blue and a green stone, all of varying designs, and each perfectly describing themselves. A flame, a leaf and a snowflake, the three blue crystals almost seeming like bubbles. Each of them were trimmed with gold, to accent and focus the energy of the crystals. Being so close, it became more apparent that the energy from these were far different than the Stone of Spirit. While the Light Stone's power was intense to the point where you could almost breath in its energy, these were a lot more subtle. Kind of like a warm aura that comforted him. Like a connection, bound by a promise, made over these three stones.

For some reason, he felt more drawn to the blue stone, and a rock fell into his gut as to why that may have been. This had to be the Spiritual Stone of Water. All his years in that temple had given him an unbreakable connection to that place. It made him angrier just thinking about it.

"You alright?" Link asked, peering over his shoulder.

Knil's gaze was momentarily venomous, but he drew it back quickly, shifting back to the stones. "What is this place?" He asked again, standing up straight.

"It's the Temple of Time." He pointed across the alter, into the small room, in the back. "Right back there was where I found the Master Sword." An almost regretful look sparked in his eyes. "That's how I wound up in the Temple of The Sages."

Knil cast a sideways look to his lighter half. That twinge of kinship hit him again. Did this place make Link feel uneasy as well? Was it, possibly, for the same reason, or was Knil just picking up on Link's empathy? The shadow shook the thought from his head, and started back towards the entrance to the temple. "What are we doing here, anyway?"

"We're going to see Zelda." Link stated boldly, following him.

Knil just froze, his entire body clenching with the fists at his sides. Link just walked past him, trying not to laugh. He knew he'd react like this.

Resisting the urge to openly face palm, Knil just growled. "Why?"

"I believe she can help us." Link spun around, standing in the doorway. The daylight, from the open door haloing his form. "Zelda knows more about the Spiritual Stones than anyone else, I know." A rather sappy smile of camaraderie slid onto his face, as he spoke, eyes seeming unfocused. "She holds the Triforce of Wisdom, and is the Princess of this land." The gaze cleared, and Link smiled back to Knil. "She's bound to know some way to help. Come on." He started off, waving a hand for him to follow, and called back. "She's actually really nice, if you give her a chance."

Knil continued to glare, huffing in aggravation. Still, he resolved to get this mess sorted out, and followed.

xXx

The guards around the palace reminded Knil a lot of the Gerudo. They seemed to accept Link well enough, but continued to glare at his shadow as though he were a vicious beast that would lash out and bite their faces off. Pretty fair assessment, but it still wasn't nice for them to judge.

Link seemed to find it amusing, and starting off in some story that Knil was only half paying attention to. Something about how he had to sneak around guards, and climb through some kind of waterway, but it didn't matter. Knil's eyes continued to scan the area. He felt an odd sense of foreboding, even more so than he had in the Temple. Considering they were so close, maybe this was where the feeling was radiating from. Even with the sun gleaming brightly over the turrets, Knil still felt as though each one was a dark shadow looming over him. The entire castle looked black for some reason. Which was odd, considering it was constructed entirely of white marble. The closer they got to the castle, the more the feeling of unease grew, but Link seemed completely oblivious to it. This place was pristine and orderly. Filled with guards, and all kinds of rules... that had to be it. The castle was another prison. That had to be why he was feeling so trapped.

That is, until they got to the castle. There was a small mote tracing the walls, but when Knil looked down, his knees buckled from what he saw. Flaming lava flowed around the castle, burning deeper and deeper into the Earth, until it seemed as though it stretched down for miles, with no way of ever repairing itself. His hands shook, against the railing, hearing a deep mocking laughter in his head.

"Knil!" The laughter died down, and Knil's head snapped around in time to see Link pull his hand away, startled. He had just became aware of how badly he was sweating, mouth dry from being unable to catch his breath. Link looked a bit lost, and concerned. "I-is something wrong?"

Not even sure himself, Knil glanced back over the side seeing the lava had now, somehow, become a fresh spring of water, outlining the castle. At the moment, seeming the lesser of two evils.

Link gently put an arm around his shoulder. "You look terrible. Come on. We're both tired. We can rest, once we get inside." He started to lead him inside, when Knil's eyes drifted up the front of the castle. A strong surge of terror flooded through him, again. The tall white towers turned pitch black, the sky fading into a shade of dark blood red. Lightning streaked across the sky, and Knil jerked himself out of Link's grasp. "No!"

"What's wrong?" Link's confusion was masked with concern. He had known Knil to be scared before, but showing it this openly? What was going on? Cautiously, he approached his shadow, as the frightened animal he seemed to be. "Knil? Are you ok?"

Knil was visibly shaking, staring wide eyed up at the castle. "G-Ganon." He gasped, holding his arms around himself, as if suddenly cold.

"What?" Link had actually had trouble hearing the soft voice, but glanced up, as if trying to see what he was seeing. "Knil, this is Zelda's castle. It's safe here."

Ivan had drifted back a bit, floating along side Navi, confused as to her master's actions.

"N-no. No, he's here. I can feel him. I know that energy. I know that feeling." He rambled softly, all the while, backing away from the castle.

"He who?" Link asked calmly, still making his way over to him. "You mean Ganondorf?" Given his reaction, Link was sure that was who he meant. "Knil, listen to me... Ganondorf's gone. Zelda and I took care of him. He's locked away, in the sacred realm. We're not ever going to see him again."

Knil seemed to suddenly become aware of Link's presence. "Locked away?" His voice was a bit louder now, and very quick with panic. "He's still alive?"

"Well, yes, technically, but there's no way for him to ever get out." Link gently took Knil's shaking hands, shocked at how cold his skin felt. "Knil, listen to me. He's gone. Ganon is never going to hurt you, or anyone else, ever again."

"No. He will."

"Do you understand?"

That deep laughter reverberated in his head again. "No."

"Knil, it's fine. You have to trust me."

"NO! Get away from me!" He shrieked, shoving Link away.

"Knil!"

Knil's eyes snapped up the side of the castle again, but he turned away quickly. He suddenly felt very hot, running a hand through his sweat soaked bangs. "Even if you, somehow, manage to break my barrier, you will never escape me." Knil felt his eyes haze over, wanting to run, but his legs felt too weak.

He collapsed to his knees, and Link ran over, dropping down next to him. "Knil, are you alright?"

"I will hunt you down, and kill you for disobeying me."

"Link, what's going on?" A new voice seemed to echo in the area, but Knil didn't see, nor care who it was. All he could make out was someone else kneeling in front of him, when Link acknowledged her. A soft hand touched his temple, and a bright light flooded his vision, soon fading into darkness.

"You are mine. Never forget that."

xXx

They had brought Knil to what was like an infirmary inside the castle. There were a total of six beds, each looking as though they themselves were fit for royalty.

Link was sitting on the bed, watching over his shadow. "What happened to him?"

"Although he is gone, Ganondorf's influence still holds within the people." Zelda stated, making her way over, holding a bowl of cold water. She dipped the rag in, and ran it over Knil's face. "His energy is still strong, in the area, even I still feel uneasy." Her eyes fell into an almost pitying gleam on Knil. "Your friend must have a very strong connection to him."

Link felt sadder, brushing Knil's bangs from his face. "Far stronger than I realized."

Zelda smiled timidly at Link, sliding his hat from his head. "You look tired." She ran her other hand over his cheek. "You should probably get some rest, as well. We can discuss our business once you two have fully recovered."

Link gave one last look to his shadow, and stood up. "Alright." He felt really uneasy about the situation, wondering if he should just take Knil out of here, and talk to Zelda on his own.

"So, you said he's a part of you?"

Link glanced back to see Zelda was now staring at Knil with an odd crease between her brow. "More or less, yes."

The princess gave a thoughtful hum, leaning over him. A hand traced over Knil's face, as if taking in his features very carefully. "So he's your polar opposite. Your dark side... a shadow." Her voice started to trail off in thought.

Having settled into the bed, Link watched her, a bit unsure as to why she was so on edge. "He's not as bad as all that." His arms curled around his knees, gripping onto the covers. "Knil really came through for me." His eyes shifted down to Navi, who had floated up to perch on his knees. "I might not even be here, if it weren't for him."

As if pulling herself from her contemplation, Zelda tore her eyes away, and smiled over towards Link. "Oh no, I didn't mean anything by it. I was simply making an observation." She started from the room, waving a hand back towards him. "Sleep well, Link."

"Yea, sure." Link responded, though there was still a note of unease in his tone. A short while of silence, and he glanced over at the dark faerie. Ivan was standing on the pillow, next to Knil's head, seemingly glaring through the door to Zelda.

"Is he going to be ok?"

Ivan finally snapped out of whatever was holding her gaze, and turned to look at him. Her wings lifted her a couple inches from the pillow, so that she could see her master's face straight on. "He should be." She drifted back down, and nestled into the crook of his neck, whispering softly, to herself. "At least I hope so."

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AN: Wow, that was a lot quicker than i thought. I still need to work out the actual adventure part of it, but i had an epiphany where i could actually use the initial ending i was intending for the first one, and it worked perfectly with my brilliance. So yea, maybe by the time i get through the set-up, the adventure aspect will have filled itself out.