A Link Without Zelda [COMPLETE]

12. Death By Princess

There is no adrenaline right now. No urge to flee or fight. Why would she be scared when the person in front of her is almost half her size?

"Who are you?" says Ellemy in a soft voice.

"Elule," says the little girl in a tiny voice. Ellemy hasn't seen anyone like her before. Her red hair and dark skin really stands out.

"Like Elrule... as in, where we are right now?"

The little girl shakes her head. "No. No R. El-lule," she says annunciating.

"Are you lost?"

"No," she says matter of fact, as if she knows exactly why she's here. "But you are."

Ellemy looks at her quickly. "I'm not lost. I'm from here," she says nodding her head in the direction of the village.

Elule points to Ellemy's chest. "Your heart is lost."

Ellemy lowers her eyebrows suspiciously then shakes her head, not about to be taunted by a little girl. "I think you should go on, little girl. I got something important to do." The little girl walks past Ellemy and when Ellemy turns around, she is no longer surrounded by trees and stillness. Instead, she is somewhere she has never been before. A place of cobblestone paths with bustling people.

"Where... what happened?" she says to herself.

"This is Hryule," says the little girl. "You're trying to help someone very close to you. You want to help because you know deep down that's what people who care for one another do. Not like your parents." Ellemy grips her fists. "But there's another part of you that knows if you help him, you might lose him. And that makes you scared and angry. You don't like that part of you because it was reminds you of your father, so you pretend it doesn't even exist."

"Why, you," says Ellemy snarling her teeth but before she says anything else, she is somewhere else. Now they are in a big executive room. A huge bed, cherry wood furniture, plush red carpets. Someone comes out of the attached en suit and Ellemy's mouth drops.

"Adel?" she says. It is Adel alright, there is no mistaking that. But she has changed. She had matured and wears her royal status very elegantly. She's stunning. There is a knock at the door then someone enters.

"Link," says Zelda, startled, "What are you doing here?"

"I know you and Arth have gotten close and if you love him, I will respect that. But I know that we had a connection back when we were together in Elrule... and my feelings won't go away no matter how far apart we are."

Ellemy watches as Adel walks to Link then gently places her hand on his face.

"How can it change, Link? We have done this for so long."

Ellemy's eyes well with tears and when Adel guides Link to her bed she cannot take anymore. She covers her eyes and begins to sob. After a few moments, she feels a tug at her arm. She thinks it is Elule, so she ignores it. But she feels it again, this time the tug is stronger, yet tender. Her hands are guided down. She opens her eyes and Link is holding onto her wrist. They are now in his bedroom. He tenderly puts his arms around her, and she feels relaxed. Like this is meant to be. They are meant to be.

"It's clear you love him."

When Ellemy looks at Elule, Link is no longer there nor Adel. They are alone under an open sky that seems to go on forever. It looks like they are walking on water. The ground so clear and skill it reflects the sky. She has no idea where she is but it is mesmerizing.

""I guess I do," says Ellemy sighing.

"You are only helping him by driving him into the arms of another woman. You will lose him. Then you will have no one." Ellemy feels tears well up again.

"There is another option. One you haven't thought of."

Ellemy doesn't want to let her the little girl know that she is interested in what she has to say, so she says nothing, giving her space to continue.

"If the princess doesn't exist, Link will have no choice but to turn to you."

Ellemy shakes her head. "I can't keep his home from him. That's not right."

"That's not really what I meant. You can get the best of both worlds. Get Link home, be his savior... and not have the princess in the picture at all."

"I'm not sure I'm following."

Elule nods and Ellemy looks in her direction. When she turns around, she is standing in front of Adel, holding a a sword that has already penetrated Adel's stomach. She watches Adel fall to the ground.

"It's you? No... this can't be true," says Adel through raspy breaths of airy. Ellemy, shaking, lets go of her sword and she watches Adel slide down the wall and lay in a pool of her own blood.

"Not like this!" Shrieks Ellemy to the top of her lungs. "I'm not a murderer."

Adel and that horrible vision is gone again. "But it's in you, Ellemy. It's anger and hurt you carry... your father."

"What does my father have to do with this?"

"You really don't know? Or maybe you forgot. Ellemy, your father is a murderer."

Ellemy stands still for a moment then shakes her head. "No. My father is abusive but he hasn't killed anyone."

"Your mother?"

She huffs. "My mother died."

The little girl smiles. "How?"

Ellemy opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out. She doesn't know.

"Let me show you." With that Elule changes. She grows and morphs and turns into Ellemy's mother, lying on the ground, her face blue and her father on top of her, his hands so tight around her neck that that it looks like her head might pop like a balloon.

Ellemy falls to the ground, unable to look away from the horrific sight.

"I... remember now. How could I have forgotten something so horrible?" 

She witnessed it all. Her mother had planned to take her children and flee her abusive husband. That is until he found out and got his hands on her before she could leave. Her brothers were speared, but she seen everything.

"You didn't really forget," says Ellemy, speaking to her as her suffocated mother. "You suppressed it to protect yourself from becoming the demon your father is."

"I won't become him."

"Not even if it means it will be you and Link for life?"

She doesn't respond.

"If you let me help you, I promise you won't remember a thing, just the same as you forgot how your own mother died. Then, I will let you and Link pass through and the two of you can be together without Zelda to interfere."

"There's got to be another way," says Ellemy, almost whispering.

"I don't need your permission. Right now, your heart is weak enough and your emotions quite vulnerable. I have my opening, and that's all I need."

"What do you--" But before Ellemy can get another word out, the little red haired girl charges towards her, her face no longer innocent looking. Ellemy covers her face but there is no time to process what happened for Ellemy's mind is far away and her heart cold with vengeance. A desire for blood lust.