Living With Myself

Chapter 29

Zelda had refused to lay down after Nabooru transported her back to the castle. She was too on edge to lay down.

Link was gone.

Link had been replaced by a shadow being.

And Ganondorf was crashing his way closer with every minute that passed.

"Zelda, please," whispered Nabooru, pressing a hand to her shoulder.

Zelda jerked away from her. "Has nobody found Sheik? He couldn't have disappeared. I had patrols all over the kingdom, and they can't find a blonde Sheikah?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes. She refused to accept the fact that she was seeing her kingdom fall apart before her eyes. And after she had used all her power to seal away Ganondorf. After Link had sacrificed years of his life. After Zelda had sealed away Sheik herself. After she had erased him from existence. After she had sacrificed everything. Even that which she had no right to sacrifice.

"If Link is gone, I think we can safely pinpoint to Ganondorf as the cause for all of this," said Nabooru.

"Ganondorf might as well have sent his minions to break the seal and kidnap Sheik," said Saria

"Kidnapping is such a loaded word," said a sarcastic voice from behind the throne, and Link's shadow stepped through one of the hidden emergency passages.

"I told you to stay back," said Link, jogging in after him. He gave Zelda an apologetic look. "Sorry, I had to sneak in."

Zelda stepped back, and Saria and Nabooru stood between her and the two Links.

"What is this? Who are you?" asked Zelda.

Link sighed and lifted his hands in a pacifying motion. "Don't attack, please. It's me. For real this time," he said. When none of the sages moved, he took off his left glove to show the glow of the triforce of courage. "See? Now, can we all calm down?"

Zelda gritted her teeth. That was one of the things she hated about him. Ganondorf was about to crush the barrier of the dark world, the timelines were about to crash into one another, Link's evil shadow had tried to attack her; and here he was, wanting everybody to calm down and chat.

"What is that thing Link?" she asked, fighting to keep all her patience about her.

Link lifted an eyebrow at that. "That is me, Zelda," he said, pointing to the shadow.

That didn't sound like him. What if he was another shadow? What if there were many copies of him around? What if Ganondorf's darkness had already infiltrated the world?

"Why don't we all stop talking about me?" said the shadow. "And instead talk about how Ganondorf, the crack in the sky, and Sheik suddenly being an actual person that exists, are all related things."

"A crack in the-," started Zelda, but stopped herself and ran to the window. The sun was coming up, and the clear light shining over the castle showed cracks all over the clear blue sky, as if a glass barrier over the world could start falling apart all over them at any moment. "No. No, no, no..."

"It was me," said Link. "The one who got Sheik out of the shield. I was at the temple for...something else, and when I saw him, I thought it was you. I thought you had been attacked by something. So I set him free, and he's been with me during these days. Well, with me and Dark here, who is my shadow. It's a long story, but don't worry about him for now."

"Of course. No one else could have done it," said Zelda, feeling suddenly very tired. "And I don't suppose it was your shadow's idea to go to the temple for whatever you needed to do?"