Chapter 7 - Revelations

Days went by quickly, and springtime turned to summer on Lon Lon Ranch. A lot of changes had been made, even over the short time since Link returned from the castle. Both Link and Alena had settled in happily, and the sceptical Cam had stopped hating Link for what he had done. It was easy for him to hide the scars of his past, to camouflage his strange eyes - the sign of the deity's spirit somewhere within - and just as easy for those around him to pretend that nothing had happened now. As time's flow passed gently, even the memories of Link's fierce days were beginning to be eroded by the current...
It was the flow of time that bothered Link, as he sat in the shade of the old apple tree idly playing the harp and ocarina. He still hadn't found out the reasons why he'd been leaping between timelines - and the jumps hadn't stopped after his encounter with 'Sheik' in the ruined castle. They hadn't even stopped when he'd had the Master Sword repaired and replaced in the temple - and he'd been sure that would be the key, when it had led him between times so long ago. He could only guess that the cryptic phrase the sage had used - "you are not just the hero of time; you are its guardian..." - was somehow relevant. But how? He hated not knowing the answer, and not knowing what would happen to him next...
A wind began to blow. The sky flickered.
Link recognised the signs.
Aw, Din... not again...

-there-

He looked around, trying to acquaint himself with where he was. The ranch, of course - even if he moved between worlds, he still found himself in the same place in any world he visited. The more appropriate question was - when? His question was soon answered.
"Hey! Who're you?" a young boy's voice yelled from the branches above him. Link glanced up - and was surprised to see what looked like a twelve-year-old version of himself sitting in the tree, a wooden flute on a long string looped around his neck. He had never been twelve years old, not as most people understood the term... "'Scuse me, but Sis gets annoyed if strangers turn up on the ranch."
"I'm sorry. I got lost." After about the fifth time, he'd gotten used to making up excuses. Suddenly, it struck Link what timeline this had to be. "What's your name, then?"
"Kaelon."
"Thought as much... Mine's Link."
"What? You mean, like the Fierce..."
"...Deity. That's right. But I don't think he'd be too happy if he heard you calling him that." I wasn't. So... in this world, I've never found out who I am... He dimly became aware of Kaelon chattering on.
"I shouldn't really be talking about, uh, you-know-who. Sis gets mad if I mention him. You won't tell her, will you?"
"No. No - go ahead. Say what you want..."
"'S okay. Nothing to say. Except... do you know if dreams mean anything? In the real world? Only, 'cause I've had these really weird dreams. I didn't want to tell Sis, but he was in them..." Kaelon gave Link a stare. "You were, too! I remember! I've seen you before - you were arguing with him, he said something like you couldn't escape him, you said that you could try... and then you looked at me and said I had to remember... Sorry, I'm talking nonsense."
"Don't worry... You're young. You're allowed to."
"I'm not so young! I'm nearly thirteen... Hey, what's up?"
Link muttered under his breath. "Enjoy it while you can, Kae. I never did. Not as you're going to."

-here-

He got up and brushed himself off, heading for the barn - and something to do to keep his mind off things. But the things in question weren't going to keep off his mind so easily.
In that world, Kaelon's nearly thirteen.
At thirteen, the Deity stopped... I stopped being myself. There was no 'Link' anymore, just the Fierce Deity.
I never had the chance he's going to have.
I envy the kid.

He toyed with the Sheikah stone around his neck. The one thing that had stopped the boy seeing him for who he was - the figure that had so terrified his sister that she couldn't even bear to hear his name anymore...

-

That night, he dreamed.

...He gallops through the darkness of the night, a wild storm whipping at his horse's white mane as well as his own... The drawbridge gives way before him, and he charges onwards... His burning white eyes pick out a solitary figure standing by the moat's side, their face a mask of fear - fear of a mask?... It's... him?... As a child, the child he should have been but never was... He calls out. "Who am I? Who are you?"...

He woke up with a bolt and looked around, aware of a faint glow illuminating the darkness. With a lurch inside, he realised that it was his own white eyes giving off the light. Silently, he blinked, and looked at Alena sleeping. He envied her her peace of mind - at least she could be certain who she was.

-

"Link - something's up, isn't it?" Alena asked, as they walked down to breakfast. "You haven't been yourself since two days ago. I saw you... well, go... - did something happen when you were away?"
"Mmm."
"That's not an answer. It's a syllable. It's not just that, neither - I heard you talking in your sleep again."
"I was what?" Link burst out in surprise.
"Talking in your sleep. You were saying something like 'Don't call me Link, call me...' I can't remember what you said. Oni-something."
"Oni'kara."
"That's it. Is there a problem?"

Link paused for a second on the stairs, whispering to himself and seeming to ignore Alena's insistent questioning. He turned around to her. "Alena. What did you do on your thirteenth birthday? Can you remember?"
She seemed surprised. "What's that got to do with...?"
"Please?"
"My birthday... oh, yeah," she laughed. "That's it. We went for a picnic up Snowhead way. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! Mum made a total idiot of herself - " Link tried to picture the staid Impa embarassing herself, and failed - "she thought it would be a really good idea to give these little Wolfos cubs some titbits. Well, they were totally cute. But - you know what Wolfos are like if you touch their tails. And Mum did just that when she fed them. It wasn't funny then, she got really badly scratched up, even from those little babies - but we had a real laugh about it after. It's one of those things, isn't it... Why d'you ask?"

Link began to speak in a hollow voice. "On my thirteenth birthday, I came across a village in the woods. I say woods - it was this really thick forest to the south of Lake Hylia, but you don't want to know that. Well, this place was the prettiest thing you've ever seen. There was a handful of houses, a stable, that sort of thing. A bit like your old home, really, just in the woods not the mountains. It would have made a lovely pictograph, but I wasn't there for sightseeing.

"I destroyed it all. It took no more than a swing of the sword to bring each pretty little house crashing to the ground. People were running, screaming... it was absolute chaos… I didn't really pay any attention then, but it turned out it was a Sheikah place. Ironic, that... could have been the last in Hyrule, but I wouldn't have cared. I don't have a clue how many survived. Could have been the whole village - could have been just three or four... It didn't matter then, but every time I think of it now it tears me up inside to think I could have... could have..."
Alena put a hand gently on Link's shoulder. "If it hurts you so much - you don't have to go on. I understand perfectly."
He shook his head. "No. I've got to finish, now I've started telling you..." He sighed. "So I moved on. But later that day, I found someone - one of the survivors - alone in the woods. I could hear her sobbing. I'd never heard the language before, but as I was, I could understand every word.
'Rai'sus nos oni'kara'. 'Save me from the chaos'...
That's where my other name, one I chose myself, the one I've been calling myself in my sleep, came from. Oni'kara. Or, for short, just Oni. Chaos. I don't know why, but the name just stuck, and I used it until the day I returned to how I am now. A pretty good description of who I was, I'd say... While you were just a kid, laughing with your mum at some stupid things, I was a full-grown man - a demigod, even - and I thought as such. But now... what I wouldn't do to have the chance to be that little kid... If only I could turn back the clock, one more time... If only... Just one chance... When I was... away... I saw the boy I never was... but I only wish I had been..." He sat heavily on the steps and hid his face in his hands, a grown man crying the tears of a child who never had a chance to grow up... "Perhaps Link died that day, ten years ago, when I refused to bear that title... perhaps I should just give it up and go by my other name again..."

"Link. Oni'kara. Call yourself anything you like, Oni Link even, if you're that worried about it. Whoever you are, whatever you call yourself - the past is done. Even you can't change it. It's time to move on..."
He blinked the last traces of tears out of blue eyes. "Thanks, 'Lena. You always seem to say the right thing. But I think I'm going to stick with plain old 'Link' for the time being..." He paused, suddenly aware that he was very hungry and the smell of food was coming straight at him. "Hang on. Why're we sitting here, while breakfast's going cold?" Alena burst into giggles, and soon enough Link followed her, his worries forgotten for the moment.

-

-there-

Why can I not find him? He eludes my grasp, wherever I try... Does he realise his power as yet? Has he come into his own already?
If he has... are my plans ruined?
No!
I will find the foolish boy eventually.
And then...
Revenge...
No matter which face he bears...

-here-

-

A knock at the door. "Could you get that, Link? I'm kind of busy here..." yelled Malon from the kitchen. He got up and opened the door, but no-one was there. He dismissed it as some sort of a practical joke, and sat down again. Alena nudged him, curious.
"Practical joke, Link? Who d'you think it could be?"
"Don't have a clue. But - is it just me, or does it feel sort of chilly in here?"
"Hmm. It's not just you. Do you think it was a ghost, then?"
"Nah. I don't think a ghost would bother knocking, somehow."
"Probably nothing, then." She reached out for a slice of toast, then stopped and groaned. "I'm going to get a drink. My head is killing me." She got up from the table a little unsteadily. Worried, Link followed.

"Alena - what's up? If that's just a headache..."
"It's not just... ah! Alena collapsed to the ground, head held in both hands. "There's... there's something in my mind!" She screamed. "Whoever you are - get out! Get out!" She screwed up her eyes tight.
"What's happening to you, 'Lena?" The only thing it reminded Link of was putting on a magic mask - but it clearly wasn't that...
Alena ceased her struggle. A faint green aura surrounded her form as she stood up.
"Are you okay? Alena?"
"She is safe. But you do not address her at the moment."

She opened her eyes.
Link took a step backwards. Impossible! his brain yelled.

They were green. Pure emerald-green, with no whites and no pupils.
The eyes of a deity...
"I am Farore. Goddess of Courage."