MindTrap
Chapter 8: The Face Inside...
Memories cascaded through Link's mind, flaring, conflicting - and dying. He flashed back through his past. Years flew by in split seconds - but time, of all things, was not his concern.
Who... who am I?
It took every effort to hold on to his sense of self. And it seemed to be
a struggle not worth fighting.
Let it go, Oni'kara... his mind whispered. Let that life go. Every
relic of it...
No! he cried. I'm...
You know who you are!
Even as he thought, more and more memories flew by.
2 years ago...
12 years ago...
Every last detail, even long forgotten recollections of his first childhood, came into focus.
I am... Link...
H... Hero of Time, keeper of Courage...
That's... that's it. Or was... But... I cannot hold it any more...
Gift of my sisters, fly to someone who deserves you!...
Releasing the Triforce of Courage to he knew not where - only hoping its bearer would be worthy - sent him further on through the timestreams, as his link to his past was severed.
24 years ago...
For a fleeting moment, he realised the truth behind his family, as Link's
earliest memories sprang past. How long had he wondered where his roots lay?
That one clue from Twinrova's dream-trickery had rung true, after all...
but it was hardly his concern now.
They were no longer his family. If they ever had been.
100 years...
500 years...
1000...
2000...
I... I am...
The waves of time broke in his consciousness, leaving him standing on the shores of the past.
I am...
Oni...
Always... now and forever...
-
Powerless, Koume and Kotake watched. The spell that had trapped the Fierce
Deity was wearing off. The blazing light in his eyes was even more brilliant
than it had been before.
Scattering the witches, he sprang to his feet. They could sense something
was wrong.
"You!..." he hissed, angrily. "You dare to try and deceive me?"
"Easy..." Kotake made a pretence of apologising. She was terrified. This
was never supposed to have happened. "I can... I can explain, Lalandin..."
On that, he leapt towards her like a predator. She backed away, as did her
sister. "Can't you even say my name, witch?" Kotake began to open her mouth,
but the words were held in check. "Link, you're saying? Wrong. So wrong.
I... am Oni'kara. Creator of Time. And I will make you pay for your
trickery!..."
"Trickery?"
"Your... illusions. Your little dreams. None of that was real, was it?" the
Fierce Deity virtually spat, seizing the ice witch by the collar.
"What do you mean, 'real'?" her sister asked, trying to distract his attention.
"Nothing you saw - well, almost nothing, I'll admit - came from anywhere
but your own experience. Every place, every face - they were real, weren't
they?" Grudgingly, Oni agreed. "We just... arranged things differently, in
some cases..."
"And that makes things better, does it? Your little justifications for your
lies? Oh - I remember it all now. Every detail. Every single thing..." He
threw one witch into the other, and readied the Sword of Eternity. Now, he
began to remember what it was. More than simply a weapon - but the one time
heart of the Golden Power. And the only powers he had salvaged after his
exile.
His exile... Suppressed fury rose within him. The blades hissed through
the air, but stopped a literal hair's breadth from Koume's neck. She tried
not to breathe.
My problem is not with this pathetic pair. Maybe I should kill them here...
but no. Perhaps I owe them their lives... for they have restored mine. But
for what they did to me before that... they must pay.
"You forced me into another world, did you?" Keeping the sword perfectly
poised in his left hand, he raised the right. Dark energy shimmered around
his fingers. "Let's see how you like it, now! Another timeline... another
date... ah, yes! Two hundred years should do it, do you think?"
Oni'kara yelled, and threw a sphere of brilliant black light skywards. Unable
to stop themselves, Twinrova were sucked towards it.
They vanished, helpless.
-flashforward-
"Where... where are we?"
"You're new here? This is Labrynna..."
-flashback-
Impassive, he watched them go. Part of his past. Part of Link's life.
Not the life he now had to lead.
But what sort of a life was that, he wondered. Although it had been two thousand
years since he had been cast away into a mortal life, the memory was as fresh
as if it was only yesterday.
With a faint, grim smile, he looked down at his gauntleted hands. I'm
all here... it's all returned. I can feel my power, waiting...
And now, to reclaim what was taken from me! So long, I've waited for this
moment...
Almost casually, he began to feel for the gateway into his own realm as he
would have any other. He would know it if he found it... Yet something was
wrong. Something did not match up.
With a start, Oni realised what had happened.
No mortal could ever reach our realm... yet...
"No!" he roared, plunging his sword into the ground. "Am I to be cast out
forever? And I thought I was... I was myself!" But that little part of
me that was born truly human will keep me away... Lost forever! What sort
of a fate is this?
In a way that Link could never have understood, he now knew the true
meaning of eternity. And it was possibly the only thing that could scare
him. Angrily - at himself, at his sisters, at fate - he yanked the sword
back and lunged at nothing at all. It did nothing, except to steady his
thoughts.
What do I do now? When I was so certain... I thought I was all that I
was...
But these powers are not enough. He paused. No. But I know what would
be...
I should never have sacrificed that piece of the Golden Power. No matter.
I will just have to find it the hard way.
He looked back up the face of Snowhead Mountain. The path open to him was
clear. Twinrova's illusion of a mountain pathway had been nothing - but he
knew where the worlds were bound together now. His destination.
Home.
Or what had been.
-
The heat of Death Mountain's crater hit Oni'kara like a suffocating wave
as soon as he came through the portal, bringing with it a memory he doubted
he could share with any other being in the many worlds. One of his own death.
Twenty-four years ago... the last day he had spent as himself alone.
Yet the boiling lava had destroyed that body he inhabited, as powerless to
avoid it he had plunged into its fiery depths. Even his nerves were shaken
at the recollection of the searing flames cascading through his body, one
of the precious few things that could have destroyed him. Even now, even
returned to power, the lava could still prove to be his downfall.
But I have nothing to fear here...
To prove it to himself as much as anything, he walked up to the cliff's edge
and looked into the searing sea of molten rocks.
It's nothing, he thought. But, if I was to... Casually, he
reached up and slid his cap off. A long platinum braid fell down his back.
With a faint smile, he threw the simple white hat down into the lava. In
the glow, it gained a pinkish tinge as it fell before being swallowed by
the flames.
One thought crossed his mind. Goodbye, Link.
Without looking back, Oni set off across the rocky paths.
-
The castle was deserted as he arrived. No-one proved to be any trouble -
except that one guard. But he should have known not to stand in his way.
If he was strong, Cam would recover from his wound. But it was far from Oni's
concern.
What was his concern was finding the queen. Or more specifically, the Triforce
element she carried almost unknowingly. And so far, he was having no success
in finding her. The courtiers and guards were too afraid to say anything,
but he could see in their minds that they had nothing to say. Except one.
A Goron - and a familiar face at that. Twelve years on from those years of
innocence, before Link had ever known what 'Fierce Deity' meant - he'd finally
found the parallel to the warrior Darmani whose face he had taken before
his own.
"For the last time... where is she!" he hissed. He had no need to shout -
his cold, icy tones said it all better than mere volume.
Danno's black eyes grew wide in fear. "I... I really don't know, sire! I
saw her... as she was escaping... but I don't know where she's gone - I think
she was riding towards the ranch..."
Oni'kara threw the Goron away roughly. "The ranch, you say?" he almost laughed.
"This is better than I expected!"
-
Zelda held up a hand, as Malon and Alena began to run on. "Please - quiet!
I thought that if I came here, I would be safe. After all, I doubt that he
will look for me here..."
"He won't look for you," Alena remarked. "But... Link lived here for two
months. That's why I'm here in the first case." She gave Zelda a potted history
of her arrival in Hyrule. "You say he's come back. If it's my Link who's
returned... we've got nothing to worry about. But... you said Oni, instead.
And that's... that's got me worried."
"We're missing the point, here," Malon interrupted. "Surely the question
is... what threat would he pose either of you? What do you have he might
want?" Suddenly, she stopped. "Dear Nayru - of course! Your highness..."
"Just Zelda. Please. I told you, already."
"I'm afraid you might have made matters worse coming here. The one thing
I can think of that he might look for, if he's gone to the bad again... The
Triforce. Two pieces are in one place..."
They looked at each other, worried.
-
He began to run.
Of course! It's so clear, now... She had to... when I gave my old powers
up, who did I expect would receive them?
Who else could be the bearer of courage?
And if they're together now... what could be easier?
Ha! I'm sounding like that fool Ganon... but I have other means than his
to recall what is rightfully mine.
At his pace, he arrived at the ranch in no time at all - for all that time mattered to him. As he entered the gates, Epona whinnied in shock. Her old master had returned. If it was him.
-
For a moment, there was silence in the ranch house. "We don't stand a chance,"
Zelda whispered. "You only really knew him as a friend. Never as a warrior,
never as who's coming back to fight us now. There's no way we can stand up
to him..."
"We can't think like that!" Alena snapped, seeing the hopeless expression
in her parallel's eyes. She paused. "There's always a chance. And I'm going
to take it. I'll go out there and stop him, if that's what it takes."
"What? How do you expect..."
"First - we don't know for sure that he's really gone... And even if he has
- he's still Link. Somewhere. Somehow, inside. I can reach him, I know I
can..."
"I thought that at first too," Zelda sighed. "I remember when he first arrived...
as who he now is. I tried to talk to him like the friend I knew... but it
was no good."
The words hung heavy in the air. "If that's the case..." Alena blinked. "I'll
still do it. He would have given his life for me... maybe it's my turn now."
Impa sighed, and looked at Alena. She had never seen that sort of fire in
that face before. "You know, you may be right. You... may be able to do this.
I hope you can, for all our sakes... Here. Take this." She unstrapped the
short sword she carried from her back, and passed it over. "I wish there
was more that I could do for you... but I think that we're all just going
to be hoping for the best."
Alena smiled. "I will." Mum. "I don't have a choice." She began to
walk away towards the door, silently. Suddenly, she stopped. Hang on.
She turned and ran up the stairs.
"What are you doing?"
"Wait! I've got an idea..."
No-one could see what she was holding as she finally fled out of the door - all too conscious of a screamimg, burning pain in her hand.
-
The open space of the fields was perfect for Oni's purposes. He laughed as the storms built up around his location. The dark energy in the air would assist him greatly.
At last! My time has come again...
And all that was taken from me... all I lost in my exile... is truly my
own...
Two thousand years, they stole from me. Forced me aside. But what do they
know of true emotion? They have never seen the worlds they claim they protect.
To them, it's all a game.
And I am one of their pawns - when once, I was their brother.
They call me the Fierce Deity.
Now - I will show them the meaning of the name...
"Sisters!" he yelled. "Do you hear me? Here and now - I will take back what is mine!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Alena running towards him. What
does she think she is doing here? Still. No matter. This way will be
quicker. He lifted his sword towards the sky, streamers of light crackling
around the blades.
Four into one... The Golden Power reunites!
"Link!" Alena yelled. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Get my name right," he replied, not shifting his focus. "But what I am doing?
Making up for the time I was exiled for... I will see how my sisters like
it!"
One last surge of energy flared up the sword, spreading into three bursts
of brilliant light. One shot for Alena herself - towards her hand - while
another sped past her to the house. The last vanished.
Her heart racing, she realised what he was trying to do. His words made sense.
With a violent wrench, she felt the Triforce of Courage pulled free. It joined
its two partners - three, if she had known - and hung, silent and spectral,
in the air. They cast a strange shimmering glow over the fields. Above them,
the sky began to tear.
Alena watched the strange expression on Oni's face. It was unlike any she
had ever seen on it before - cold and calculating. Utterly remorseless. She
looked on, spellbound.
He's going to...
"No!" she yelled, and made a wild lunge forward. It was the element of surprise
as much as anything that allowed her to push the Fierce Deity to the floor.
His concentration broken, the Triforce pieces flared and vanished.
"What did you do that for?"
"I wasn't going to see you go and destroy the world, or whatever, because
of a grudge!"
"A grudge?" Oni'kara laughed. "This is more than a grudge. You have no idea."
He got to his feet. "But because of your interference, it is all spoiled...
I have no intention of killing you - yet. But stand in my way, and I will."
Shaken, Alena stood up. "I liked you better when you were Link," she remarked.
"You know? The hero?" Slowly, she pulled something from behind her back.
She almost laughed herself as she saw Oni's confused, surprised expression.
That mask... "All that remains of the Link you know..." I thought...
Lightning-fast, she whipped it to her face - and screamed, as a blinding green light engulfed her. Strange new forces, unknown memories, unlocked themselves inside her body. It was barely seconds, but seemed longer, before the world returned to normal.
"Who do you think you are?" Oni whispered, as he looked at Alena. She seemed slightly younger than he knew her - about seventeen, now - and now wore a simple yet familiar green outfit.
She smiled, and readied her sword. "The Heroine of Time."