Ghosts of the Pasts
by tir-synni
Chapter IV: They Keep Calling Me
Someone take these dreams away
that point me to another day
A duel of personalities
That stretch all true reality
They keep calling me
Keep on calling me
They keep calling me
Keep on calling me
High, maniacal
laughter echoed in Link's ears. He
gasped. Shifting around, his sword
gripped tightly in his hands, Link searched for the source of the laugh. The shadowed room spun dizzily, whirling
faster and faster as Link turned around.
Dizzy, the young warrior fell to his knees.
Go-LOOG-a-LOOG-a...Ga-LOOG-a-LOOG-a....
The sword fell
from Link's numb fingers. He raised his
hands to cover his ears, wanting only to silence the horrible, familiar
noise. Link paused. Dazed and sick, Link stared at his hands.
His...childish...hands.
I
didn't-- Link thought frantically. He shook his head hard. His loose, pale hair whipped his face. No, no, I would know if I did! I didn't!
Shrill,
taunting laughs tore through Link's mind, and the blond child collapsed. That laugh horrible...but he had silenced it
forever....
Right?
The wild sound
wailed on and on, never pausing, never slowing.
It drummed on Link's mind, on his soul.
The boy began to gasp for air. He
couldn't breathe. Link was barely aware
of it. His heart pounded, his flood flew
blazing hot through his veins. His soul
thrummed with a primal beat.
"Stop,"
Link breathed. The voice keened on. "Stop, stop, stop, stop--" Link closed his eyes tightly, seeing red. "Stopstopstopstop! Stop it!"
Power exploded
throughout Link's body, and he screamed.
The wretched, familiar sounds of seven years ago were lost in the storm
of Link's rage. Heady fire burned away
Link's frail flesh, leaving behind liquid steel. He no longer held the sword, He was the
sword, strong and swift and unbreakable...invincible. Existing not for the glory, but for the
battle, to feel the heat of frailty burning along his edge and dying in a sea
of red. The small of the Kokiri sword
shattered under His heel as He stood.
Carelessly, He glanced down at the glittering shards--and froze.
"No,"
the figure whispered, his once musical voice a hollow echo. "Nooo!"
"No!"
Link screamed, bolting up. His
reflection burned behind his eyes.
"No!"
The sound of a
yelp and a thump tore Link from his reverie, and he blinked. A simple, yet elegant bedroom greeted
him. Link blinked again, and the
haunting vision from his dream faded.
What in the name of Farore...?
"Is that
revenge for when I knocked you out of bed?"
Link blinked
for a third time. "Sheik?" he
murmured. Suddenly, he was utterly
exhausted. "Sheik, what--"
Then his lover
was there. Link felt Sheik crawl back
into the large bed and pull him into his arms.
Link listlessly collapsed against him.
His blue eyes stared blankly at the far wall. It was so real. Was it just a dream? Or did a prophesy slip through?
"Link,
are you okay?" Sheik's hot breath tickled Link's ear, and he shivered at
the familiar sensation. However, Link
did not respond. He only stared at his
hands.
My hands, Link
thought. Not a child's hands, not His
hands, my hands, dammit!
Smooth hands
wrapped around Link's fingers, and Link looked over to meet warm, loving, but
worried rubies. "Are you all
right?" Sheik asked softly, pulling Link into his embrace.
Still, Link
remained silent. He was the Hero. No one should have to ask him that
question. He shouldn't be lying here,
weak and weary in bed, depending on others.
He was the Hero of Time! He
should be doing something!
Abruptly, the
arms circling Link shook him hard. Link
gasped in surprise and jerked around to face Sheik.
"What was
that for?" the blue-eyed elf demanded.
Sheik
huffed. "Don't ignore me! I'm right here. Don't get lost in your own head again."
Link shrugged,
earning a fierce scowl. He raised his
head defensively. "I'm all
right! I answered you!"
The
frightening scowl lessened. A Sheikah
was a bad person to piss off.
"Good. Now keep
answering. What's going on, Link? What's happening to you? You know, don't you? The prophesies, the magic Rauru sensed in
you...you know."
The reflection
flashed in Link's mind, but he ignored it.
"The magic Rauru sensed in me?" Link demanded. "What's happened since I left you,
Sheik?"
Link saw the
temptation in Sheik's eyes to question why he had ran off. To his relief, Sheik filled him in
instead. The part where he blasted
Darunia piqued Link's interest. As soon
as this was over, he was going to figure out how he had done that.
Link finished
listening to Sheik's report with a nod.
"I see." Absently, he
swung his legs over the bed, lost in thought.
The sudden desire to move flooded him, and his mind struggled to match
the adrenaline rushing through his veins.
This wasn't an external enemy, this was an internal one. The usual rules didn't apply. Link had to concentrate on different
ones. Seeing one of the Great Faeries
was essential. Also--
"Hey!"
Sheik yelped. Next thing Link knew, he
was back on the bed. "Where do you
think you're going?"
Link stared at
him like the large eye on his tunic had suddenly become real. "To work?" he offered slowly, as if
speaking to a mentally deficient child.
The look in
Sheik's flashing eyes was more intimidating than Majora itself. "You're ill," he replied
flatly. "This isn't a normal enemy,
Link. You can't charge off into some
battle to win this one."
Link flushed
hotly, but his eyes were like ice.
"I know who my enemy is, and I wasn't planning on just 'charging
off.' I didn't realize I just 'charged
off' to win my other battles."
Again, Link
tried to get up. Again, he was pushed
back into the mattress. Link's pink lips
straightened into an angry line. First,
Sheik insulted him and implied he couldn't do his duty. Now he was mocking him.
"Let me
up, Sheik," Link snarled.
"Now." He felt the fury
of Din's Fire blazing through him, and he bared his teeth. Never before had he been so tempted to use it
on his lover. How dare Sheik imply that
he couldn't fight?
Still, Sheik's
lovely face remained resolute, even as he sensed the growing rage of the young
man beneath him. "There's something
wrong with you, Link," Sheik said softly.
"You're not yourself. This
is not like you! You are the most
even-tempered person I know. Stop and
think! I have never heard you use that
tone with me."
Sheik's little
speech cooled Link's fervor. Link
paled. He recalled the dream, and the
power he had felt. And he recalled his
earlier indignation at the idea he couldn't battle and his readiness to attack
Sheik--Sheik, of all people! More than
anything else, he remembered his reflection in the Kokiri sword's broken
shards. Link collapsed limply on the bed
and stared blankly at Sheik's face.
"Nooo...."
Link moaned, and Sheik pulled him into his arms. Link didn't resist. He recalled the battle with Majora. Even after all these years, Link remembered
the primal rush going through his body.
It filled him with exhilaration, even as it ripped away who he was. The memory of the sensation he felt before he
yanked the mask off made him shudder.
The Fierce
Deity had been...soulless.
"Sheik,"
Link whispered, "I'm sorry. It's
all my fault. I...I didn't know what
else to do. I had to stop him, and I
didn't know what else to do. It's all my
fault...."
With a low
moan, Link buried his face in Sheik's shoulder.
Quietly, the Sheikah rocked his lover.
For once, instead of protesting Sheik's protective actions, Link nestled
closer.
"He's too
close to the surface," Link continued quietly. "Every other time, I've been the Hero,
but not this time. I don't trust myself. No fighting will win this. No sword or bow can beat Him."
Sheik's eyes
were wide. "Him? Who is he?
What's going on?"
Link
shivered. "For the first time in
seven years," he murmured, not noticing Sheik's question, "I'm
helpless. Damn, I don't like this."
Growling,
Sheik tightened his grip on Link.
"Link, please! What's going
on! Who. Is. He?"
Link closed
his eyes. "A god."
~~~~~
By the time
the Sages returned from the respective missions, Link was asleep again. As the power in the Hero grew, so did the
discord in the
Pale and
shaken, the assorted group circled the large bed and the sleeping Hero on
it. Sheik kissed Link gently on the
forehead before sitting beside Impa. Of
them all, the young Sheikah appeared the grimmest.
"What
have you discovered?" Rauru began immediately. "Whatever harms our Hero is very
grave. The magic infecting him is strong
enough to affect the Triforce of Courage.
If seeps through him to curse all under his divine protection. Whatever harms the legendary Hero of Time
affects everything under him."
"So since
he's fucked, so are we," Nabooru translated with a groan. Sheik's icy glare silenced her.
"That is
my lover you speak of," Sheik warned softly. "Don't be so glib."
Impa laid a gentle
hand on her son's shoulder, but said nothing.
The other Sages looked on.
Finally, Zelda
spoke. "My people are in
danger." Her quiet voice traveled
the room as well as Darunia's deep bass.
"The animals sense it and rebel.
The very young and the very old are beginning to fall ill. The evil is stirring once again in the
temples. Please, Sheik, if you have
learned anything, tell us."
Shadows
haunted Sheik's crimson eyes. Silently,
he reached up on the bed to stroke Link's pale hair. The sleeping figure didn't stir.
"Something
happened to Link soon after he left Hyrule seven years ago," Sheik began,
his face distant. "Soon after, he
gathered information on the occurrence.
When time passed on and the information was not needed, Link repeated
all of it into a diary and hid it. Until
now, Link has forgotten it, not needing to regain the journal. I have yet to read the book, but from the
sparse facts he had related to me, I know we are in grave danger."
Sheik fell
silent again, staring at his hands. Fear
and grief pinched his face. When he
spoke again, his voice was hollow.
"He told me where to find the journal. Let me retrieve it and look it over. Until my return, please, place a permanent
guardian over Link. The force possessing
him grows stronger and gains more control."
The Sages were
frozen. Only Impa spoke.
"Sheik--" she called, reaching out.
But, with a small, sad smile, Sheik vanished in a flash of light.