Linked Worlds

Chapter Ten: Interlude of Tenebrosity

They're trapped. They don't know where they are, but it's dark, and lonely, and painful. There's an utter lack of everything, no sound, sight, taste, smell, not even physical feeling except for the pain. They've been there so long, they only have scraps of memories. What they do know, is that the memories make absolutely no sense to them, and they've starting hearing voices. Just small snippets of conversations, but recently, it's been getting more frequent and clear.

"...not far from Castle Town, Zelda should be there..."

"...all faced him at one point..."

"...reach the Town of Rauru by nightfall,  then tomorrow..."

"The captain's group will go that way, Sky and vet, go that way, and we'll go there..."

"No, I encountered magic rocks that brought good luck..."

"I should tell you what happened here."

Usually, that's all they're able to hear. Right now though, they could hear the conversation loud and clear.

"Fuck."

"No shit, the moon's fucking red!"

"W-what's going on?"

"It's a blood moon, we'll be fine, it looks a lot worse than it is. Monsters that I've killed before will be resurrected tonight. I usually hide out in a village if I'm low on supplies, but as long as we stay away from monster camps, we'll be fine."

"Are you okay, old man?"

".........I- I...... I'm fine."

Whoever this 'old man' is, he certainly sounds not fine.

"Come on, Tarry Town isn't far."

It's silent again, but not like the silence they're used to. They can hear footsteps, and wind howling. The silence of the empty void was nothingness- this one is just an absence of voices.

Then, it's not dark anymore. It's gradual, but after looking at the same thing for who knows how long, it's noticeable from the moment it begins. There's a growing light, at first like the flame of a candle, then becoming as bright as the sun. They didn't like the sun, before they got to wherever they are. Now, even though it's a bother, it's a welcome change. The light expands until it's as overwhelming as the nothingness of the void was, then it's suddenly gone.

Then he remembers. He remembers everything.

He remembers waking up for the first time in his life, new to the world, confused, naive, his only memories of a boy in green. Then a shadow cast over him, and he cowered before the monster that stood before him.

Ganon.

"You were created to destroy Hyrule's future. Your job is to kill your counterparts, the heroes.

"Your name is Shadow."

And so, being easily manipulated, he followed suit. Shadow hunted the hero, tricked him into releasing the wind mage, and watched as his mind and body were torn apart by the Four Sword. He fought them, and was beat by a fucking fairy of all things (He picked up the foul language from the only one he had been around since being created, the great Ganon himself). His failure was not forgotten without a punishment.