A Link Without Zelda [COMPLETE]

14. Deceit And Determination

Link shakes his head. "You're lying. The Goddess wouldn't do this."

It rolls it's eyes. "I am not THE Goddess. I cre-ated the goddess of Elrule. So, are you going to do what I say?"

"No."

"But you want to see Zelda so bad."

"I won't hurt her or Ellemy to get what I want. Nothing is worth their safety."

It snarls. "Fine. Then we battle!" It dashes at Link so quickly that Link doesn't have time to guard. Instead, he lunges to the side, rolling down the snowy bank. Without thinking he stumbles to his feet, unsheathes his sword and now begins to guard. This thing is so fast that Link is having trouble finding an opening so for now he continues to block. After several tries, he sees an opening but he can't bring himself to hurt it with a sword, worried as to what might happen with Ellemy. He uses his fist and punches Ellemy, sending her rolling across the snow. She stays down for a while.

"Ow," she says in a soft and gentle voice that is familiar to Link.

"Ellemy? Ellemy, are you okay?"

"Link," she says looking up at him, her face soaked with tears and blood. "I'm scared Link. What happened?"

He runs towards her then puts his hand on her face, looking at her bloody eye now beginning to swell. The same eye her father struck. "I don't want to hurt you Ellemy," he says crying. "I don't know what to do to protect you."

She takes his hand that's on her cheek and moves her mouth into his palm, then she licks his hand.

"Ellemy?" Link tries to take his hand away but he is unable to. When he looks at Ellemy again, her eyes are gone, as is she. She forces his hand into her mouth where she chomps down as if she was a lion mauling apart her prey. Link closes his eyes in pain and when he opens them again, to his surprise, his hand is on the monument, his blood an offering. In the past, he has wanted this ritual to work so bad but now he finds himself wishing that the plan will fail. 

The rumbling beneath his feet says otherwise.

"Damnit," he says, finally able to take his hand back. He does a double take though, when he realizes the inverted force that was embedded in his palm for possibly his entire life, has been placed on the monument, with the triforce glowing around it.

"Shit. Ellemy, what did you do?" he says weakily. He can yell or cry, but the forces behind all this are too powerful. He, Ellemy and Adel, and perhaps all of Hyrule and Elrule are at its mercy.

His surroundings begin to fade and are replaced with something else. He is somewhere he has been before. The Ephemeral realm, the threshold between Hyrule and Elrule. Almost like a purgatory. It's serene, the ground a watery reflection of the clear blue sky. But it can be a dangerous place. He and Adel had to fight a dangerous monster in their previous journey but fortunately, Adel was able to purify it. He shutters and what unexpected events will come to surface.

"Now, we are one step closer to getting to Hyrule, and ultimately, Zelda," says whatever has possessed Ellemy. "All we need is Zelda to grant us permission and then I can cross over. Then I can complete my goal."

****

"Are you going to the shrine again, Adel?" says Arth.

She sighs. "I know I look insane but--"

"You're still unsettled by something?"

"I'm sorry I can only give you feelings and hunches. But it hasn't left me, this feeling that something is lurking beneath the surface. I fear that I was unable to seal Gannondorf away. Maybe Link was the one needed to do that. Or the both of us... anyways, if Gannondorf is resurrected, I want to plan ahead. At least try something to get Link here."

Arth looks at her, the woman who he once admired and has grown to love. He knows the feelings are mutual but there is something about her and Link that just seems right. Even to him. Two people who have are chosen by the goddesses and spent lifetimes together. He is sure they have spent time together outside their role as princess and hero. As much as he wants to intervene, he cannot. It's not fear to her or the kingdom.

He walks up to her and places his hands on her shoulders. "Let me help you."

She smiles. "Stand guard here. Send out extra troops to patrol the kingdom, but there is no need to get the public involved at this time." Then she kisses him on the cheek and takes off for Hyrule's shrine. Arth watches her and his heart hurts. He hopes that she will come back yet he graciously accepts and will respect whatever she chooses.

Adel enters the shrine, not realizing she has been living a life similar to Link when this feeling of unease sets in. She tries to use her power but she has little in comparison to the Goddesses. So, she does what she recalls seeing Link do. Drawing blood from her own flesh and placing it on the tomb, asking for permission to connect the lands.

And every time, there is no response.

But when Adel arrives this time, she gasps. While the Triforce was engraved in the tombstone, now the center upside triangle, what she knows as the emblem of Elrule, is growing a golden hue like the color of the sun as it rises in the morning.

"Link," she says to herself, "He must have done something."

Eager, she takes out her knife and for what feels like the hundredth time, offers her blood to get Link back home. Now, she needs him more than ever. She holds her breath...