Veil of Twilight

Chapter XXII

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It was all too perfect. Princess Zelda smiled in satisfaction, looking down upon the child before her. Not a child, a vessel. The babe’s every feature was generic, from it’s colorless eyes to it’s sexless form. A blank human body, born of fairy’s brood and heroes’ blood, ready to house the soul of another. His soul, making him whole and vital once more.

 

Well, Zelda’s smile widened, a shark’s grin.

 

It had been meant for his soul, initially. He had conspired with the fairy to have her bear child, to have her borrow both the boy’s seed and the imp’s fertility, something she as an immortal could have never provided on her own. And once the task was done, he had ended her, tying off any loose ends. His plan had gone just as he had expected it would; accordingly. He had not expected circumstances to change his course of action.

 

Not that he minded. What he had in mind now was so much better.

 

The vessel lay looking up at Zelda’s  face blankly, the both of them surrounded by the cold walls of the castle tower. In her hand was the Fierce Deity’s mask. He smirked with Zelda’s mouth once more. How careless this new hero had been, to leave such a toy lying around.

 

He had briefly wondered if perhaps it was too ambitious. This wasn’t just another underling he was dealing with. This was a god, an immortal soul who’s power may have well rivaled his own, tempered in image as the twisted reflection of the Hero of Time, Termina’s greatest mockery of Hyrule’s order and law.



But flesh made the spirit weak, it was a fundamental law of power. A god housed in a skin and bone frame was but a demigod; mighty indeed, but nonetheless bound by the restrictions of the mortal condition, and the hands who gave them life.

 

The deity would be his to command, if it came necessary. Which was unlikely, considering the deity’s likely objective: the termination of it’s doppelganger, it’s other half. In this case, the boy hero.



Zelda’s grin became his audible laughter as she placed the mask upon the blank vessel’s face, watching gleefully as his victory was born.

 

…

 

Link reached out to knock, but hesitated, practically chewing on his tongue. He did not want to go in there, would rather stand out in the street and continue to be bumped past by the bustling townsfolk.

 

“Oh, just do it already!” Midna yelled within his head. He ignored her with the ease of a seasoned veteran. Much to his dismay, the others echoed her sentiment soon after.

 

“Well…?” Shad was the first. Link fumbled for an excuse.



“I - um…” he stalled. “Just give me a minute.”

 

“Link…” Ilia this time. Ashei finished her sentence.



“We’ve been standing out here for a half hour. She’s going to be dead of old age by the time you work up the balls to step inside.”



The City in the Sky. That was all Vaati had said, when asked, somehow even more solemn and quiet since Saria’s departure. Weeks of searching, following cold trails, weeks of Shad’s invaluable research into the subject, had led them to a series of very strange clues. The biggest one being, as Shad called it, the Tree of the Sky. Supposedly this tree was the doorway to wherever the mirror shard was. And the search for the tree had led them here. It was no dead end or false hope; the tree was in there. Link had seen it once before.

 

But damn it he didn’t want to go in there.

 

“Besides,” Ilia added. “Somebody’s bound to recognize you before too long. You’re a wanted man, remember?”

 

“You guys don’t understand,” he pleaded. “She can’t be more than twelve years old and the last time I was here she-”

 

“Oh, look at you, afraid of a little girl,” Ilia scolded him playfully. She stepped in front of him and knocked. Like the time before, there was no answer, but the door creaked open. Ilia looked back at the other youths of the resistance for reassurance before stepping inside.

 

Link was already familiar with the surroundings. A mild mannered house, by all accounts, except for one thing…

 

“What in the name of…” Shad drifted off. “I know the texts said the tree grew where castle town is now, but I didn’t expect it to literally grow out of somebody’s -”

 

His sentence was cut off with a start as Link was tackled to the ground by a small blonde figure in a dress. Shad, Ilia and Ashei all huddled closer, their eyes wide with a mixture of vexed bewilderment and slight alarm.

 

“Oh, hello there green one!” Agitha said cheerfully, nuzzling into Link’s chest. “I was hoping you’d return! I was afraid you didn’t want to play with me after last time!”

 

“Uuuhh…” Link groaned as he stood to join his teammates, the wind knocked out of him. “Hello, Agitha.”

 

The girl smiled adorably at his greeting, before twirling in pirouette fashion to observe the others.



“And you brought friends!” she squealed. “I’m so excited for all the games we’ll play! What should we do first?”



The three stood around Link, all staring, all slack jawed and at a loss for words. Finally Shad spoke.

 

“Um… actually, um, miss… Agitha…” he stuttered. “We really came to ask for your help.”



Agitha’s sparkling eyes widened. “Oh! You want to use my tree, don’t you?”

 

Shad’s face froze. “What?” Agitha giggled coquettishly.

 

“My tree, cutie. Don’t you want to use it to get to the sky town?”



Shad opened his mouth but no words came out. Ashei stepped forward.



“Little girl…  you know about the city in the sky?”



Agitha nodded, her pigtails flopping up and down. “Yep! Sure do. I go all the time to play with my bird friends.” She paused, finally faltering in her cheery demeanor. “Well, I used to. But ever since the dragon came, he chased all of my friends away.”



Link and Ilia, both of whom had been examining the tree up until that point, both froze and wheeled towards the strange little girl. Link looked as though he had seen a ghost, his skin pale and his eyes wide.

 

“What dragon?”



“Argorok, silly!” Agitha said, as though she were merely talking about the weather. “He’s been up there for a while now.  He’s really really scary. Are you sure you want to go up there?”

 

Now they were all staring at Link, silently, awaiting his reply. As if he could say no. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat and sighed.



“Yes,” his voice cracked at first. “Yes we still want to go up there. The dragon has something we want.”



“If you say so,” Agitha shrugged. Her smile faded again, her brow furrowed. “But… if you all go and get eaten by the dragon, then who will play games with me? I was very much looking forward to the games. Especially with you, green one.” She stared at Link with the wide shining eyes of a child about to weep. Then as quick as it had vanished, her smile was back, and she was all cheers and bouncing exuberance once more, speaking giddily.

 

“But, I won’t be greedy! I’m a big girl after all! How about this?” As she spoke, she took Link be the hand, walking him toward the tree. The butterflies fluttering about the branches seemed to gravitate toward her as they reached the trunk of the tree. She placed Link’s hand upon the bark with hers, their fingers laced as she continued.



“If you leave your friends here with me to play with, I will send you to sky town. Sound fair?”



Link nodded. He had seen that part coming, going alone, and it didn’t appear he had much of a choice.

 

“Yes. Take me to the city in the sky.”



Agitha smiled. “If you say so. It’s a shame. I was looking forward to the games we would play together. Maybe when you get back we can play? If the dragon doesn’t kill you?”



“Thanks,” Link said sarcastically. Even as he said it, he could feel some manner of teleportation taking effect. The butterflies that had hovered around the little girl were now swirling in a whirlwind around him. He could feel himself lessening physically. Agitha and the others watched the butterflies whirl and whirl around the hero. When they finally stopped, he was gone.

 

Agitha turned to the others, all of whom were staring in absolute disbelief once more.



“Well,” she said cheerfully, her innocent smile never leaving her face. “There’s time for plenty of games while your friend is gone. Shall we all take our clothes off?”

 

…

 

When the spinning stopped, he was on a huge platform covered in moss. Giant square slabs of stone tiled the floor and walls of the buildings before him, some of them cracked and falling away to reveal networks of cogs and gears underneath, much like the Arbiter’s Grounds.

 

Link rose from a kneel and looked behind and above him. Another tree, Identical to the one in Agitha’s house, stood behind him, growing out of a small patch of grassy earth amidst the cold stone floor. Link’s eyes narrowed as he spotted something perched in one of the higher branches of the tree. It was flesh colored, quivering. Link felt as though he recognized it, his stomach sinking with realization a moment to late as it dove out of the tree towards him, hitting him hard in the middle.

 

“Oh, it’s you!” the Oocca shrieked over Link’s winded grunt. “The one who helped me in the forest. I’m so glad you’re here! It’s me, your old friend Ooccoo!”

 

“How could I forget?” Link said, dropping her disinterestedly and dusting himself off. Agitha had mentioned ‘bird friends’ in the sky city, but he never thought he’d be seeing this character again. “Where am I?”



“You’re in my home city,” the Oocca said, flapping her wings to stay eye level with Link. “This is where I and all the other Oocca live in harmony. Until recently, when we were attacked by-”



The Oocca trailed into a shriek that was muffled by a much louder, menacing roar. Link turned towards the city to see the dragon soaring over the rooftops. It was huge, as big as a house, it’s grossly reptilian hide jet black. As they watched it perched upon a spire of a building, scanning it’s surroundings hungrily. Link prayed it did not spot them.

 

“Wow,” Midna said, from Link’s shadow. “So that’s Argorok… he’s a dragon of the Twilight realm. My father used to tell me stories about it to scare me… Zant must‘ve cast some sort of spell to keep it alive in the sunlight.”

 

“It’s been eating everything and everyone in sight,” Ooccoo said. “It never seems to be full!”



“Great…” Link said, not even surprised at the rapidly worsening circumstances. “Well, let’s just get this over with…”

 

As the three of them started down the walkway towards the city, all fortress walls and castle spires magically suspended in the clouded blue sky, Link and Midna felt a familiar gust of wind at their backs. Sure enough, they turned to see a slim pale figure before the tree, his face partially covered his wispy locks.

 

“I’ve come to assist,” Vaati said in a strangely slurred tone uncharacteristic of him. Link raised an eyebrow, his shadow coming up off the ground and eyeing the wind mage suspiciously.

 

“Are you…” Midna started. “Vaati, are you drunk…?”

 

“No,” he replied quickly, defensively. He swayed a bit in the open air of the platform, surrounded by blue sky, his visible eye heavily lidded. “I just thought…” hiccup “I couldn’t sit in the forest anymore…”

 

Link cringed, and in his head he could hear Midna sighing, as well. What a team they had assembled. A hapless bird woman and a drunk wizard. Somehow it didn’t seem to scream success.

 

But on the other hand, Ooccoo probably knew her way around the city, which would certainly be beneficial. He couldn’t think of any similar pros to having Vaati around, intoxicated a he was. He might even be a detriment. But they couldn’t turn him away, he and Midna both knew. They still felt partially responsible for tearing him away from his beloved Saria. He sighed and shook his head.

 

“Alright,” he resigned. “Let’s go.”

 

…

 

Zelda stared ahead, wide eyed and silent, as the last of Ganondorf’s tale caught up with her. Out of her peripheral she could see him doing the same, too shamed to look at her. They still sat at the mouth of the doorway on the tallest spire, under the overhang. The rain still came down in sheets just before them, their clothes having just dried of it.

 

He told her of his life before he was king, of his first love, Nabooru, and of the cruel doomed fate of their life together.

 

He had told her of the desert, of his isolation, of the evils he had encountered there, the daemons and voices of the sand, things no mortal eyes should’ve ever seen nor heard. Of how he had fallen limply into the shifting sands, exhaustion and crumbling resolve squeezing life from his body.

 

And he told her of how he had been saved. How a voice had appeared to his senses, and offered him a bargain in exchange for life. He told her how, when he had returned to his people, he had not returned alone, not in spirit, nor in influence.

 

The rest she knew from the history books. She knew all about the ancient evil Ganon’s reign of terror, and his defeat at the hands of her own ancestor and the Hero of Time. But nothing she had ever read had told her - or prepared her - for this. Looking at him, she felt something stirring within her; empathy, maybe. It was hard to say, but looking into his eyes, after seeing the eyes of the beast that pursued her, she knew in her heart that they were not one and the same.

 

“But…” Zelda started. “It wasn’t really you, was it…?” The Gerudo boy shook his head at her, still not meeting her eyes.

 

“The spirit, demon… whatever it was in the desert, it saved my life. In return it asked for the shelter of my body. I could not deny it. I felt it’s influence as soon as it entered me. But only in influence. It fed the fire of my already burning rage, whet my already growing thirst for power.” Finally he looked at her.

 

“Whatever I met in the wasteland that day took my hand and led me down the path to darkness, but I alone put one foot in front of the other. It was my choice. That is why I do not fight my exile here, do not seek to escape my prison. It is a just sentence. I can only hope that your new hero succeeds in his quest, so that when the evil is vanquished I, too, will know the mercy of eternal sleep.”

 

He rose and made to walk into the castle. He felt Zelda’s hand firmly at his wrist, keeping him from running away.

 

“Bullshit!” she spat crassly, unbecoming of her regal nature. “That’s not what you want! That’s not you, I know it. If you really thought you deserved this then why would you save me? Why not suffer forever?!”

 

Ganondorf merely sneered and made to turn away. “You have no idea, princess. I was a monster to start with. The desert just gave it a face.”

 

He made to step away again, wrenching his wrist from her grasp. “And you’re right. I should just leave you here to be found. Perhaps then you’ll see that I have no hidden agendas of heroism.”

 

But again, he felt her grab him, with both hands this time, pulling him hard out from beneath the overhang with her. The both of them were soaked through in seconds.

 

“STOP IT!” her furious yell was accentuated with a crack of thunder in the swirling overcast sky. “You are not Ganon! None of us are perfect, there’s the possibility of corruption in any of us. That doesn’t make you evil!”

 

His heart jumped in his chest as she felt her hands leave his wrists and lace her fingers with his. He forced himself to meet her eyes as she continued. What beautiful eyes she had, he couldn’t help but notice.

 

“What happened to you is exactly what’s happening to me right now,” she soothed. “There are some things, some forces that you cannot control. But I know you. I’ve seen good in you, undeniable good. And by protecting me, you have proven to me, the one that should hate you the most, that you are not beyond saving.”

 

He stared down at her for a long time, watching the rain hit her face. She searched his eyes for any answer, any sign that she was getting through to him. But she saw nothing. She laxed her grip, her hands falling from his.

 

“Fine!” she yelled up at him, a few tears secretly mingling with the rain drops on her cheeks. “If that’s how you want it, then wallow in your misery forever! I’ll leave you here. I’ll end up being found either way, at this rate.”

 

She pushed passed him, leaving him standing away from her in the rain. She hurried to the doorway, feeling rejected and undignified, stupid for even trying. She almost screamed when she felt him grab her. He spun her around, his face partially shadowed in the darkness of the overhang. He opened his mouth to speak, fumbling for the right words. Finally he resigned to grabbing her hands, intertwining his fingers with hers as she had done.

 

“I-” was all she said before he silenced her with his kiss, pulling her close. She melted into his embrace as thunder cracked once more in the distance.

 

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To any of my old readers still out there, sorry for the wait. For any newcomers, enjoy. Next update in the next week or two. Getting back into the swing of it. Let me know what you think!