Fan Fiction ❯ The Mirror Tells All ❯ Fifteenth ( Chapter 15 )

You Wish! Productions presents...

The Mirror Tells All

A Legend of Zelda fan fiction

By: Blue Taboo

Proud member of Darkscribes.org

Complain about the (lack of) updating...and I...I'll be annoyed. *shakes a fist*

Summer strolled tediously into the halls of Hyrule Castle. With spring's delicate air gone, the world seemed to take on a more determined mood, and there was no exception among the politics of Hyrule. The Princess Zelda still baffled the Emperor Terinae, who still held her throne within his ever-so innocent-seeming grasp, and the Squire Link continued to gain immense favor in the court, particularly amongst those loyal to Zelda. In those who were loyal to Terinae, mostly his generals and a few easily swayed Hylians, he gained only enemies, but he was not to be bothered. Terinae and his men made it a point to avoid the young man that stood in such high regards of Hyrule's rightful ruler, but the hero knew that behind his back, the men did nothing but follow his every move. Terinae didn't just dislike him and his relationship with Zelda, he suspected something of him, but no one could tell Link what that something was.

It was frustrating to say the least. Half the time he felt as if he were fighting a battle that would never end, and never could. He trained relentlessly with the Old Knights during the days, pounding on training dummies and posts with a vivid rage. It reminded him of Dark Link, and how the shadow always either copied or evaded his attacks because the shadow already knew them. Though, this time, Link did not have a hammer to use against the Emperor and his lies.

The other half of the time, though, Link began to relish. He found himself unexpectedly starting to enjoy life in the castle, something he had never dreamed of. He had come there a wanderer, in search of something familiar, but with no intention of permanence. He had always supposed that he would go see Zelda and Hyrule again, make sure everything was all right, and wander off again. It was his nature, or so he had thought, to seek out new lands, but in the castle he found himself fitting in. That was a luxury and a rarity for link, who had always been singled out for something. The Kokiri despised his fairylessness, and though he later knew it was because he was a Hylian, it still singled him out. Among the Hylians, once he had left the Kokiri, people were generally confused by him, seeing as he still dressed as though he were from the forest.

It was in this lie, and within Zelda's ever watchful gaze, that he blossomed. People liked him and associated freely with him. Link had never had a problem with women, seeing as he was one of the better-looking Hylians in the world, but the ladies of the court certainly seemed to whisper a lot in his presence. He'd even caught a few young men walking around wearing hats similar to his own, and it made the hero crack a smile now in then, at seeing his own impact on Hylian high society in plain view.

After all, he was just a commoner, an orphan even. No one knew of his former heroics, but that didn't matter. He was already a hero in the castle, just by showing up and creating another diversion. And besides, it was here that he could be with Zelda.

It seemed nearly every night now that he came to her study and sat with her. Usually, she would be pouring over ancient texts, searching prophecy and history for clues on their situation, and he, unable to read the ancient language, would just enjoy her company, and often make her work rather impossible, though that never seemed to bother either of them.

Lately, though, on the hot nights when they often retreated to his room for the greater amount of breezes that filtered into its high windows, Zelda had set upon teaching him Ancient Hylian, and though he had never really been much for lessons, Link was picking it up quickly. But none of that really mattered to him. He was with Zelda, and that was what mattered. Link stopped noticing the whispers of the other ladies of court, and the jests the other young men made with him about said whispers. He had the night, the large book that sat half on his lap, half on hers, and the sweet sound of her voice trying, but failing to make an excuse to keep his company. They would laugh and 'flirt' as the nobles called it, and never end up getting too much done.

Calandra, though, would often spoil this. She brought the two halves of Link's life in Hyrule Castle together with a violent ferocity. She would report of Terinae's doings, none of them leading to any conclusions, and frustration would break into the comfort Link found in his Princess. She too would get angry and blame herself as he blamed himself. They would end up going their separate ways unhappy and hating the fact that two halves indeed must make a whole.

It was this way for the first summer month, and nothing ever changed.

That is, until Link found himself in the Knight's Den, waiting with his masters for Zelda to arrive so that he might escort her as he always did. The Princess arrived, looking very different than she usually did. Link immediately knew that something had happened, and quickly went over to her and away from the otherwise oblivious Knights, who were adamantly discussing and arguing about some old battle.

"What is it, Zelda?" he asked, taking a hold of her hands, "What's wrong?"

"Calandra just told me," she explained. "Terinae is going to move his army back into Castle Town. He's going to do something, Link, otherwise he would keep them in Kakariko. As if I needed to hear anymore about it, Impa contacted me right after Calandra went off again and said the same thing. I knew he was talking about it vaguely with his men, but I never thought he'd do it. Something big is going to happen in the next week, and I have no idea what. This does not bode well."

Link nodded grudgingly. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Nothing that we aren't already doing." Zelda sighed. "I used to think I was good at this game."

"You still are," Link reassured her. "You've just met a tough match."

She didn't reply to that. "Not a word at dinner."

"I know," Link responded simply, though he was confused by her. He instead offered her his arm, in hopes that the traditional aspect of dinner at Hyrule Castle would calm her down a little. Zelda was too nervous about this, though, for him to be anything near calm. He hid it well, though.

They marched off to dinner and Terinae sneered at the Princess and her escort as he usually did. To anyone else, it seemed still as if nothing had changed. The dinner guests did not know that the Princess was racking her brains for reasons between the small talk, and they did not notice that the much esteemed young Squire of the House of Red Lions barely touched his food.

No lessons tonight... Link thought to himself as he pushed around the roast cucco on his plate.

He couldn't forget that he was still fighting, but truly, he wished that there were no halves to the day, and perhaps, the day would only consist of the few hours he spent with Zelda. He was more worried about her than what Terinae's move meant.

After and excruciatingly long dinner for both parties, Link promptly excused himself from spending any time in the Den with the Old Knights. The men were baffled then, but understood on some level. Indeed, Link knew, they would soon get word of Terinae's move as well, and would break it down and argue over it from a military standpoint. He would be glad to be with a worried Zelda, and not a bunch of angry old men that night.

Calandra admitted him as she always did and then left for her nightly eavesdropping. Link shed his coat on the back of a chair in Zelda's little foyer and then let himself into the small study. He walked in concerned and his reason for being so sat in front of him, looking as if she had not slept in days. He understood that Zelda's kingdom hinged on Terinae's actions, and that was all very severe and such, but he wondered if she was making too much of this. It hurt him, obviously, to see her so worked up.

He approached her silently, but she interrupted his steady steps. "Impa is coming back to the castle. She should arrive some time tonight."

"Well, that would make sense, seeing as you will need her more than Kakariko does now," he responded, trying to be as optimistic as possible to ease her.

"The Three are really trying me, Link. I think perhaps I should just give Hyrule to Terinae and then just flee off to some wild place. Wouldn't that be nice?" Zelda spoke this all with an enraged, yet somehow flat voice, her eyes never moving from the page she studied.

"No. It would be wrong. Hyrule is yours, not that conniving bastard's! Regardless, Zelda, please, just calm down a little for now," he pleaded with her.

"If I stop, then I give Hyrule to him."

"Even just for a minute or two?"

"There isn't time."

Link knew about time, certainly. He had seen the stream of it with his own eyes, felt its cool rush upon his body as he flew through it, but because of this, he didn't know time like others did.

"If I could make time for you, I would. The Three should have given me time, after all I have done," he chuckled, again trying to lighten the mood.

Finally, Zelda's hurried visage cracked and she allowed herself to sigh. "It would be nice, to make time...to have an extra hour in which only you lived."

"Indeed," Link agreed, and finally moved to stand over her chair, placing a friendly pair of hands onto her tense shoulders.

"I'm sorry if I've been crazy about this," Zelda apologized, looking up from her book. "I just want to be ready for whatever is thrown at me."

"I understand that," Link told her. "It's just that you might be making too much of it."

"Possibly," she confided.

"It's not too hard to make time. You just have to pretend that nothing else matters but what you want, and then you have to stop pretending that, of course, but the hour in-between is nice," he said. "I was once in this strange place called Termina, where the moon was going to crash down upon the entire land in three days. It's a beautiful place, near the ocean, with diverse terrain like Hyrule. In fact, it is very much like Hyrule, but still very different. Anyway, dispite the urgency of the problem, I seemed to find time in Termina. I once went swimming in that gorgeous ocean for an entire day, but then again, I could start time over there."

"Start time over?" Zelda inquired, obviously intrigued by his tale.

"At first, when I first came there that is, I didn't know how to. The Skull Kid that was responsible for the moon's falling stole the Ocarina of Time from me, and lured me into Termina. It was when I got it back from him that I suddenly remembered when I last saw you. You played the Song of Time, saying it reminded you of us, and then gave the Ocarina to me. And then, when I played the song in Termina, the entire place reset itself back to the way it was three days before, and I was able to stop the moon from falling."

"I'm glad," she responded, now openly and calmly smiling up at him. "That song does remind me of us, though, in many ways. It would be nice, though if you could use it to send us back to before Terinae came here..."

Link chuckled slightly to himself then gently hummed the short tune. Upon seeing no effect besides Zelda's getting up from her chair, he promptly replied, "I guess it doesn't work that way."

She just laughed in return and slid one arm around his shoulders. "Thank you, Link. I think I was a bit too worked up."

He pulled her into a light embrace, careful not to break her calm. "You're much better company this way."

As she retreated from the hug, Zelda looked back down at her book. It was one she had been perusing quite often, since they had found the book of Mudora too cryptic. This was a book of ancient prophecy set down by the first Hylian King, who, like his granddaughter of many greets, was also gifted with prophetic dreams. They often made little sense or pertained to things that had already past, but it was another place to look, another possible answer hidden like a cucco feather in a haystack.

Link followed her gaze. "'When all else'...hmm..." he attempted to read from the bottom of the open page, but stumbled upon an unfamiliar word in the scrawling Ancient Hylian script.

"'When all else fails to tell light from dark, the mirror tells all,'" Zelda finished for him. "He dreamt of a masked man that went about committing silent wrongs in the night, and during the day he was known as an upstanding citizen. Only he knew of the man's crimes, yet the people would not listen to him. The old King then saw a mirror rise from the west after the sun had set, and he brought it to the man's face, allowing the people to see through his mask."

Link moved closer to the book and skimmed the words over once more, trying to see if he could get the gist of the story from the book itself and apply his new knowledge. "Sounds more like a fable than a prophecy," he commented.

"Yes," the Princess agreed, "But it's one of the more interesting and understandable visions. I keep coming back to it, mostly out of boredom," she admitted.

"Well...I'll get a magic mirror if I ever need to prove that I'm not crazy," Link told her with a grin.

Zelda pushed him playfully, to no effect of course, and grinned herself.

"You need to go walk with me," he told her plainly, pressing back the urge to push her as well.

"Aren't I supposed to be the royalty around here?" she demanded, sounding as snobby as she could. "I'm supposed be giving you the orders."

"Well then, Milady, I am truly sorry," Link said as he mockingly bowed and backed away, looking as ashamed as he could.

"Of course, Master Squire, you do realize that this means you shall have to do my bidding for an entire hour, to rectify this vile offense."

"I shall do whatever you deem necessary, Highness." Link could hardly keep a straight face, but he did.

"Then accompany me to the gardens, Master Squire. Should some low creature attack me while I complain about everything and pick at my roses, I should need you to defend my completely helpless yet utterly royal being." Zelda's voice dripped with wit and sarcasm, as well as much needed relief.

After that was said, neither could help it, and they both burst out laughing at their own antics.

"If her Highness...wishes so..." Link managed to get out between boughts of laughter, and offered her his arm.

Without even a thought of the Emperor in her mind then, Zelda promptly took his arm and set the off on a course towards the gardens. She and Link strolled around the hedges there, just idly chatting, trying to get their minds off the situation at hand. However, they did not expect company down in the darkened gardens.

Damen met them as they came upon one of the many fountains. It seemed as if he had known to come there. "Link," he addressed his pupil, "May I speak with you? No need for you to leave, Milady. I only ask that you spare him for a moment."

Link, in fact, had not spoken to Damen, nor even seen him for nearly a week. He saw the other Knights almost daily, what with history, swordplay, and chivalry lessons, but Damen was always away. He was no ambassador, no diplomat of any kind, and Link could not guess what role he played that would require him to be away for many days at a time, but he was.

"Of course," the hero responded to his "uncle".

"I will be frank and short," Damen began, looking grave as he did for exactly half of the time he spoke, while the other half he was practically jovial during. "Terinae does not like you, of this I'm sure you know. He researches in vain about your past, and of this you also know, but you do not know this. I've seen a strange thing concerning you and the Emperor. I believe him to be some sort of wizard, and though many people in the castle say that this belief is rooted in rumor and general superstition, I do not think so. Terinae has fourteen servants, just for himself, and most were once very able men. These men come to their beds after a day's work looking utterly drained and more exhausted than an over-worked oarsman. This was proof enough for me before.

"But, what this wizardry has to do with you is perhaps stranger. I chanced upon Terinae last night, since I had come home very late. I was going to my room and saw a flash from the south wing. I looked down the hall to see what it was, and there was one of Terinae's servants, looking like a man possessed. The Emperor himself stood over this man, who was writhing and muttering upon the stone floor, kept mildly under control by one of the round-eared soldiers that stands at Terinae's door.

"The man then said, loudly enough for me to hear, 'I see that the boy can see. He can know. He does not know yet, but he can. The lies that are truths and the truths that are lies are drawn to him. Linked together, they call upon him.' The man went silent and his eyes rolled back into his head, though he still continued to writhe. Terinae badgered him to speak more and to give details, but the man then stopped moving.

"The Emperor told his guard to haul the man bodily back into his chambers, since it appeared he couldn't tell him what he needed to know once again. They all went back in, and then I waited for a while, just to see if anyone would appear again, but they did not, so I went to my own chambers. I believe, though this is a guess, that you were the subject of that particular raving, Link."

Link himself was still trying to see how the words related to him.

Zelda, however, interjected, "It seems that we are not the only ones seeking answers in prophecy, though I know better than to make a prophet myself." Anger did not just hint in her voice, but burned within it. "He is harming the people of my own castle to plot against me, Damen. I cannot have this."

"Aye, Milady, I know this cannot be good," the Old Knight agreed.

"'See' what?" Link thought aloud.

Damen grunted. "That's the question indeed."

"It's only a matter of time before one of us finds out what these things mean. The first one to figure it out will be the first one to know how to defeat the other side," Zelda rationalized.

"With that, Milady, I will tell you that upon my last visit to Kakariko, I informed Lady Impa of your request for Sheikah prophecy. I've no doubt that she is now personally bringing it to you," Damen reported.

Apparently, he was much more important than Link thought, and much more knowledgeable of what exactly was going on. The Old Knight has been going to Kakariko, so he must have known of the move, and of any other things that went on with Terinae's actual army. Though Impa was a fine enough connection for Zelda to the town, Link supposed it was good for her to have another man to give her another view of the situation as well.

"Thank you, Sir Damen. I'm sure that she is," Zelda told him, though her eyes were now wandering with other thoughts.

He bowed slightly to her and then nodded to Link, then left them without any further word.

The lighter mood that had been present for the last little part of the evening was now overshadowed with even more cryptic news.

"When does it end?" Link found himself asking no one in particular as he sat down on the edge of the fountain.

"It should never have begun," Zelda replied, sitting next to him and putting her head in her hands.

"Now you know it could not be prevented, or else you would have done so," Link reassured her. "The bastard just keeps getting more mysterious the more we try to find his weakness."

Zelda sighed. "Perhaps we are looking in the wrong place..."

"Perhaps," Link half-heartedly agreed, feeling overall let down that night.

"Perhaps it...will never end..." Zelda stated, her tone defeated and caught in her throat.

Link had no response. He sat, looking straight ahead into the wall of stone that lay before him, that is, until he heard her crying.

Zelda was not one to cry, she never had been. Though tragedy had constantly befallen her, she had never let herself, or her enemy, take pleasure in any weakness. She was stubborn and strong-willed, and it was what had kept her alive many times, but she was losing hope in this fight. She did not know what to do anymore, and if she did not know, then surely no one else would. She felt helpless, frustrated, and useless in this war.

Link instinctively slipped the defeated Princess into a comforting embrace. He knew enough not to tell her to stop her tears. She was under too much stress to deny her emotions. He only offered her a shoulder to cry on, and she was glad to accept.

Zelda, who had lost her beloved father twice, who had sent away her closest companion and fellow sage to keep her kingdom together, at least had her hero to steady her.

"I am sorry," she whispered as she pulled herself together.

"No need to be," Link reassured her, patting her back to emphasize his point.

"I should not be crying over this. I should be strong in the face of adversity," she told him, still clinging tightly to his tunic.

"That's my job, not yours," he told her simply. Link truly felt at home once again serving Zelda as he had before, but now, being so close with her and so close to her, he felt even more in place. Perhaps, if he held her away from Terinae, the Emperor would have no choice but to give up, for he would not get to Zelda without going through the Hero of Time.

Zelda, of course, was more than delighted to have a true friend, but she knew Link was different. Not only would he protect her and help her with a tenacious loyalty that knew no other master...but...

Link found himself suddenly smiling. He had made a realization. A lonely traveler such as himself, though admired as he was, had only heard tales of romance and all of that sort. He had never afforded himself the opportunity to know true attachment to much of anything. So this is love, he mused, having finally found the answer to a riddle of equal importance that had trodden on his mind during the time he spent with the Princess. And once he had found his answer, there, as she was warm in his arms, he couldn't help but somehow be amused.

And Zelda too, knew that she could not simply regard him as a friend or another man that served her cause. She pulled away from his just slightly so that her head was now level with his, and off of his shoulder. Staring into his moonlit blue eyes, looking at the little bemused smile upon his face, Zelda could only think of one appropriate action that would express how she felt.

Their lips brushed just slightly against each other, it seemed, and though both were elated at the meeting, it was abruptly ended.

"Dreadfully sorry to interrupt anything," came a voice that Link had not heard in a very long time.

The two young Hylians nearly fell from their embrace straight into the fountain at the sight of Impa staring down at them.

Needless to say, the old Sheikah nursemaid laughed, and laughed.

Zelda regained her composure with royal speed. With one embarrassed glance in Link's direction, she swiftly put on her best offended face and asked Impa, "Well, are you going to tell me I'm a bad girl now?"

Link, however, was already too terrified to speak. He had faced many a monster, but never before had he been caught kissing royalty by the most intimidating woman in all of Hyrule.

Impa let out a sigh to end her laughter and regarded the two Hylians with a beaming smile that seemed uncharacteristic of the evening. "Not now, Zelda, but when I won't wake the whole castle with a proper tirade," the Sheikah woman joked, then turned to Link. "Welcome back to Hyrule, Link. I trust you are enjoying life in the castle."

He nodded only, for fear that any comment might lead him to death's door.

"I've scared him mute," Impa noted, and chuckled again.

"For your information, Impa," Zelda told her vehemently, "Your interruption came at a very bad time..."

"Ah, I suppose," she retorted, "But I believe that you would be perfectly willing to be interrupted at any time for these." With that, Impa pulled out a handful of small scrolls from the satchel she had been carrying.

"You found them!" Zelda exclaimed immediately and sprang from her seat to take the scrolls like a greedy child hungry for sweets.

While Zelda examined the old things, Impa nodded towards Link once more, who was now beginning to realize that the Sheikah bodyguard was no intent on his death at the present time. "These are the very scrolls that led Zelda to find out you were the Hero of Time," she imparted on to him.

"Oh..." Link said slowly as he rose. "I suppose I should greet you as well, Impa, seeing as it's been seven years."

"You're not so different from the last time I saw you in these gardens, granted, you have certainly grown. How do you fare, hero?" Impa asked.

"Well. Well enough I suppose," he replied.

Link could see that it was going to be a very long night.

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/_\ /_\ Blue Taboo /_\ /_\