Champions of a Fallen Age

Awakening

The young man was afloat, facedown in the inky black waters that surrounded him on all sides. No matter where he looked, all he could see was an inky blackness. It frustrated him to no end that he could only see darkness. A feeling within told him that the darkness should have been full of something, yet there was nothing but silence.

Sometimes, images would appear just below him. Blue feathers, deep brown skin, silky blond hair, and a rocky figure that was larger than life. Images of running through a battlefield, broken and burning, or sitting on a grassy hill as a young woman tried to shove a small, green frog down his throat. He watched them passively whenever they appeared, wondering who the people he saw were and why the things he saw nearly crushed him with feelings of culpability. All he could do was watch helplessly as the scenes played out before him and, slowly dissipating as they took their memory with them. All he was left with was an empty darkness and a ravenous guilt that tried to swallow him whole.

He watched passively as the images came and went, feeling a peculiar sense of loss as each one dissipated. It was as though something was being peeled away each time, but he was unable to identify exactly what it was that he was losing. When he saw the girl with red and white scales he began actively reaching for her, but no matter how hard he strained she drifted away. He could only watch helplessly as her amber eyes gazed back at him as she began to disappear.

And then, there was nothing.

And so, he remained motionless, drifting in the endless silence that had become his reality. All he could do was consider questions that he had no way to answer.

Where was he?

Why was he there?

What was there to feel guilty for?

Why did he feel as though everything was missing?

And most importantly: who was he?

It didn't matter how hard he searched the recesses of his mind, there were no answers to be found. So, he drifted, and drifted, and drifted until he decided to stop thinking altogether. Thinking brought loneliness. Thinking brought emptiness. Thinking brought a nameless guilt.

""

He roused himself, listening for the sound again. He wasn't sure how long he had been left in silence, but he was beginning to think that there was nothing but the silence.

" Open your eyes" a young woman called quietly.

What did that mean?

" Open your eyes"

Hearing it a second time made it no clearer.

"Wake up, Link."

Link. As soon as he heard it, something inside registered it as a name, which he recognized as his own as a bright, golden light appeared before him. He reached for the light, feeling it draw closer to him until it overwhelmed him entirely.

A soft blue glow blinded him as his eyelids peeled back. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed that the glow emanated from etchings on a black ceiling. While there were a variety of shapes to study, they were of no interest to him. He sat up, looking down at the remains of a viscous liquid that had surrounded him. He watched the rest of it drain away from the depression he was sitting in, wondering for a brief moment if it had covered him entirely. He discarded the thought, deciding that it didn't matter.

What mattered was finding the source of the voice.

That was his primary thought as he climbed out of the pool and looked around, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to remind himself how his body worked. The blue glow on the black background made it nearly impossible for him to see what lay in his surroundings. Despite the limited visibility, Link could make out several other pools, much like the one he had been laying in. As he narrowed his eyes, further focusing his vision, he could just make out a silhouette climbing out of another pool.