Selfish

Past, Present, Future

Link had been patrolling the area surrounding Zora’s Domain for quite some time now. After the defeat of Ganon, blood moons had stopped rising, but Ganon’s minions still lurked about. Link had been fighting all morning through the evening and he was exhausted. His body wanted to crawl up and die after he defeated his third lynel of the day, but he heard news of a Hinox at Ralis Pond that was causing trouble and it needed to be dealt with quickly.

As Link trudged towards Ralis Pond, he couldn’t help but notice the strange building on the edge of a cliff. It was an overwhelming visual of bright purples, greens, and reds. It lured him in. His body moved on its own volition towards the strange building. As he got closer, he discovered that it wasn’t a building at all. It was a small shed connected to a hot air balloon.

He walked up closer to the small shed and deduced that it was a small shop. He recognized the items for sale, Moblin Horns, Bokoblin Hearts, and even Hinox Guts that were very expensive.

The vendor of the shop was veiled in a black cloak. No portion of their body was visible. Link studied the vendor, cautious as to what dangers could occur if he made the wrong move. The vendor slowly reached behind their desk and pulled out a stack of cards. They placed the stack of cards directly onto the surface of the desk.

From underneath the black cloak, a withered, red hand reached out and picked up the first card off the stack. The red hand placed the card onto the table on Link’s left side. The hand then proceeded to pick two more cards off the top of the deck and placed them in a horizontal line next to the first card.

In front of Link lied three cards, one to his left, one in the middle, and one to his right. The wrinkled hand hovered over the card on the left and flipped it over.

Link realized what these cards were now, they were tarot cards. The card to his left was named THE MOON. The picture contained two dogs howling up at the back side of the sun.

The hand hovered over the next card and flipped it. A knight with a skull for a head was riding a white horse and stood over the corpse of a king. DEATH.

The last and final card was flipped over. Naked people were rejoicing as an angel from heaven played a trumpet. Water flooded the earth underneath the heavens. JUDGEMENT.

“Love can be a deadly thing.” The cloaked vendor grumbled. Their voice was so familiar to Link, but he still couldn’t put a face to the voice.

The wrinkled, red hands of the vendor slowly raised to the hood of the cloak and pulled the hood backwards. A frail, decrepit version of Sidon stood in front of Link. His face had become overcome by wrinkles and there were holes in his smile.

“Isn’t it, Link.” Sidon’s face stretched into a smile and his face began to melt like candle wax.

LINK! Link! LiNk! LInK! The name kept replaying in Link’s head. Different tones and volumes bounced around his skull like children in a bouncy house. A wave of terrifying emotions flooded Link’s sensus.

LINK! Link! LiNk! LInK! He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t think. He was trapped in an unbreakable cage, his own mind. His vision turned to black. Panic surged into his muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones.

LINK! Link! LiNk! LInK! A light shined through his black eyes. A small fragment of what he used to see. How cruel, how bleak, how depressing.

WAKE UP, LINK!

Link bolted into an upright position, his eyes that were no longer coated in black could see the light of the morning sun. Panic still surged through his veins.

“Link, are you ok?” Sidon asked sincerely. Link gently turned his head in the direction where he heard the familiar voice, hoping with all his heart that the Sidon he knew was standing there instead of melting like a candle.

Sidon was beautiful again. The refreshing image Link had remembered him to be. A reminder to Link that everything was ok.

“I came into your room to wake you up, and you were trembling in your sleep. Do you need some water or something?”

Link had no time to think. His body lunged forward and hugged Sidon on its own volition. He was warm and comforting, soft but strong, everything Link needed.

At first, Sidon was taken aback by Link’s actions, but he hugged Link back. Wrapping his arms around Link, protecting him, sheltering him, warming him, loving him.

They remained that way, holding onto each other, until the morning light faded away.