The Letdown

Four

Quietly, I walk up the rocky hillside, jamming the walking stick into grooves as I climb. Sidon trails behind me a good distance, constantly asking why we're going so far. I can feel his eyes on my back and I suddenly understand how Zelda felt with me.

She felt vulnerable, until she realized I wouldn't do anything.

Yes but it was your job. Sidon could kill you at any moment and he'd suffer no consequences. Nobody would suspect him at all

I run my hands quickly though my hair to dispel the thoughts that come rushing at me suddenly. They're getting worse for some reason. I've been slipping up, and Sidon's odd glances are making me jumpy.

"Link?" I didn't realize I'd stopped. "Are you alright?" He stops beside me, looking curious. 

Definitely not

"Yes, I'm fine." I say, shrugging off the question. "I'm great. Fresh air, sun on my face, the smell of grass..." I trail off, stuck in a fake state of content. I smile at him and he inhales sharply but quietly, staring me right in the eye.

I look away.

Keeping my previous pace, I jab at the ground absentmindedly with my stick, which is a little tall for me but I like it. It's my stick and I like it. I see the cliff point and the Lynel, which Sidon gasps at when he sees.

"Are you stupid?" He says quietly, tapping my shoulder gently. "Link?"

I take a Guardian arrow out of my quiver and shoot the Lynel in the face. It disappears in blue light. Sidon exhales a long breath, the cool air hitting my neck in a pleasant sensation. I clap my hands together and grab my stick, picking up the singular Lynel horn that it dropped on my way to the cliff point.

I sit, legs dangling over the precipice.

"Link, dammit, that's quite dangerous," Sidon says, kneeling behind me. He places both hands on my shoulders, sending a wave of thoughts my way. I take my legs away from the precipice in case the voices take control again.

I don't want to fling myself off a cliff because of an episode.

He's TOUCHING your shoulders TOUCHING them yes TOUCHING touching TOuc HINg TOUCHINGTOUCHINGTOUCHINGTOUCHING

I hold my head in my hands, looking down. Why now? Why now? Can't I be alone when this happens?

"Link, are you feeling alright?" Sidon leans in closer, making the voices scream louder, an endless cacophony of noise. I can't distinguish my own thoughts among the noise, growing louder and louder until it's intelligible what the voices are saying. 

"I'm... I'm..." I can't form a sentence. "I'm, you're..."

"Link?" I'm alone, his melodious voice is projected out of nowhere. 

"Where are you?"

"I'm here, in front of you. What's going on? Are you ill?" I can hear him, I can feel him touching my shoulder, breathing quickly. But he isn't here. Was he ever here?

"No, no, no." I can't remember how I got here. "Not you, too. You can't be fake."

"I can't understand. What are you seeing?"

I don't answer, squeezing my eyes shut tight and blocking out any noise from outside. I sit, alone, in the darkness of my mind. I move my arm and raise a stone wall. From behind it, thoughts hit.

 I build a hut around me, closing it on top. 

The thoughts cease.

I open my eyes slowly, folding my hands in my lap. 

"Link?" Sidon faces me, looking very worried. "Please, what happened? Did you get another memory?" He moves to touch me again and I flick my hand to stop the movement. I look at the sky, where small droplets of rain have started to fall, much slower now. One is almost stopped in front of me.

I get up and walk around, pacing. I need to make a story to cover up the episode. He's not stupid... I can't just make a willy-nilly fantasy and pass. He'll nitpick everything, so I need to be careful.

Thankfully, I have all the time in the world. I look around. Sidon is in the same position I left him in, moving to touch my shoulder. I sit, cross-legged, beside him and flick my wrist once again.

Time regains its natural flow and I sigh. Sidon looks confusedly at me and at the spot where I used to be, then folds his hands in his lap. "What happened?" His voice is gentle and, if I didn't know better, I'd say he had empathy.

"I got a memory. A hurtful one. I'm sorry, I should've kept my composure."

"Shush with your apologies. Are you sure? Just a memory? It looked quite real."

"Feels real."

He looks at me with some sort of emotion before giving a curt nod and standing. "We should return." Crossing his arms, he walks back down the mountain point, staring intensely at the place where the Lynel resided earlier.

I smile softly as he avoids that spot like the plague. 

. . .

Sidon

That was most certainly not a memory.

Link lays, eyes closed, across my bed. His blond hair flops back off his face, the hair elastic loose and falling out. He looks melancholic even in sleep. 

No, that was not a memory. I've seen something like it before, in my youth, of one of the patients in the hospital. They kept spouting nonsense about a fire, although when everybody checked, there was nothing. It was all some sort of delusion. I later stole the doctor's notes and hid them in my room somewhere. If I could find them, maybe I could have another piece of the unsolvable puzzle of Link.

He swipes at the air in his dream, face confused.

I open my desk drawers, where all of my personal notes are kept, and rifle around for one in doctor's handwriting. Yellowing, water-stained paper is all I can find, written in my own quick scrawl. Most of my notes are bound together, making the process slightly easier.

I open the last drawer, finding nothing inside but a singular packet of paper. Upon closer inspection, it's all the papers I've stolen from my sister.

Buried deep in the middle is the one paper from the doctor, written in neat, tidy handwriting. How strange; his nurse must've written it.

June 2

The patient was clearly having another delusion. Ever since she saw her brother, they've gotten slowly worse. She kept describing fire, although everywhere we'd checked showed nothing. She acted as if she was burning and it took hours to console her.

I am considering moving her to the asylum. She's a danger to herself and others.

I check both sides of the page, more notes transcribed about said patient. I know her name, birthdate, and there are details of other incidents, as the doctor calls them. It all seems quite similar to what I saw today, but I'm trying not to jump to conclusions.

Link sits up and looks at me, then at the note in my hand, then around the room. "Huh."

"Had a good sleep?" I muse, reading over the note again and checking the facts. He kept asking where I was, as if he couldn't see me. Link seems fine now, although he's in a staring contest with the floor.

I put the note on my desk and escort him to his chambers.