Generation: Hero

Chapter 10 - My Name is Saria

Kokiri stumbled to her feet, blood covering her face as she turned towards Leo and Luna. Both children stared up at her in horror, and she realized immediately what they must be looking at. 

She ran her hand over her face, making the marks disappear before limping towards them. 

The youngest one, Luna, was in Leo's arms, bleeding half to death, but still conscious. "You murderer" the girl whispered, glaring daggers up at Kokiri. "What... Kid, you didn't actually believe that, did you?" she asked, but Luna was already unconscious, and Leo seemed too afraid to let Kokiri anywhere near her. "Leo, please, follow me. We need to leave as soon as possible, you're not safe here anymore" The boy moved away from her, a look of fear and hatred in his eyes. "Please Leo... That monster, that thing.... It wasn't a regular demon. I'm begging you, come with me. We can find your father again and he can take care of it..."

"NO!" cried Leo suddenly, gripping Luna tightly. "NO! You keep my father out of this! He'll blame me! He'll have me executed. PLEASE!" Kokiri's eyes widened, and then her face fell. "Leo, please listen to me. Your father loves you, no matter how much you want to believe otherwise. But above that, he loves Hyrule, more than anything. If we don't go to him, that monster might... Oh, forget it for now. The attack is over, I'll bring you both to my room, can you walk? Yes? Alright, follow me, and bring her with you" Leo nodded, standing and following Kokiri through the crowd. People were still panicking, but most of them had begun to pick up the dead and the injured. Nobody seemed to realize that a teenager had just turned into a god, and no one seemed to care about the little girl who was bleeding half to death. 

Leo didn't have the will power to think about why.

All he could think about was his mother's face as she fell to the ground, dead. Less than a few hours before, they had been together, happy, smiling even. And now? She was gone. The only parent who had ever loved him was gone. And he was pretty sure that the rest of the acting troupe was as well. "Leo, hurry up, we need to get us all healed and get out of here. Before they find out that I was lying, and try to kill us all again" the boy nodded and headed inside the inn, making his way up a set of stares and into Kokiri's room. Luna was laid down on the bed, and he realized that his palms stung more than ever now. 

"Grab that bag for me, it has some fairies and potions in it" Kokiri didn't look at him as she pointed to the bag in the corner. Leo brought it to her, and Kokiri swore under her breath. "It's empty... well crap" she pulled out the same mask from earlier. "He's gonna kill me for this... Leo, this is going to be terrifying, but you can't scream" Leo raised an eyebrow, surprised and confused. Kokiri took the mask out, placed it on the ground, and then slammed her heel down on it. A crack appeared in the wood that made up the mask, and suddenly, a bright white light seemed to appear from it, making Leo shut his eyes. 

When he was able to open them again, a man was standing there. His skin was as pale as a dead man's, his eyes had no pupils, and there were marks on his face that copied those of the masks. Kokiri looked at the ground, as if ashamed. "Why have you summoned me, Daughter of Time?" The girl glared up at him suddenly. "You know damn well why. Would you mind helping her?" the man glared back, and she dropped her gaze, as if scared. "The Daughter of Twilight, and the Son of Legend" his gaze stayed on Leo for a moment. "Good or Evil has gained a great ally today" he turned away and stared at Luna. "Yes, I can heal her, the wounds are not as fatal as they appear" The man moved his hand about a foot above Luna's skin, and with a blinding flash of light, all that was left was the blood stain on her tunic.

"Now, as for you" he said, turning on Kokiri angrily. "Saria Lonlon. Your father may have been the Hero of Time, and my so-called 'master'. But the roles are not the same with us, as you very well know" He grabbed Kokiri's chin and made her look at him. "We will speak more of this later, when there are not so many people around... not so much at stake. But you are not to summon me unless the circumstances are dire. I granted you a bit of my power because I trusted you with it. Not because I wanted you to summon me whenever you messed up and got one of your friends hurt. This mishap will not go unpunished mortal" Kokiri nodded, a bit scared as she tried to turn her head away from him. "I know you can speak"

"Screw you" she growled, trying to pull away. The man... no... he was more like a god, finally released her. "You'll pay for those words Saria. Trust me when I say you will" Then he was gone, and it was just the three of them again. The mask was back, no longer showing any signs of a crack. "What was that?" asked Leo, looking at it and backing farther into the corner. "Kid, can I see your hand?" Kokiri.... Saria asked. He looked spectical for a moment, but then unwrapped the bandages that had been put on that day. His left hand looked normal.... but his right hand... "That's the Triforce of Power... just as I thought" Leo opened his mouth as she said this, looking at the glowing thing and preparing to scream. Saria covered his mouth. "Shh... Shh... Kid, kid, it's gonna be okay. Okay? I promise. The Triforce of Power doesn't mean you're a bad person. It just means that you've been chosen by the Goddess Din" 

Leo looked up at her, rubbing his hand...

And then ran out of the room. 

Saria sighed, face in her hands as she picked up the mask and glared at it. "I'll pay for those words my butt, you really think that after everything you can make me regret anything?" she placed the mask at her hip and went to follow the younger boy, shutting the door quietly behind her. She raced down the hallway, the way she had heard Leo go, and found him inside one of the inn rooms, slamming his hand in the door and yelling at himself. "STUPID! STUPID TRIFORCE! STUPID DAD! STUPID...." Saria threw herself against the door, knocking it open, and Leo stumbled back, surprised. "Get away from me" he hollered, backing into the corner of the room. 

"Leo... I'm not going to hurt you..." Saria promised, moving closer to him. The kid started sobbing, trying to back farther into the wall. "Kid... come here. I have a potion for your hand... Hey... it'll be okay. I promise" He tried to back up more, and in the dim light, she could see his hand, probably broken in every possible way, and bruised up something terrible. "Kid... Hey, come here. Leo... Listen to me"  

Leo looked up at Saria, and then back down at the symbol. "The people with the Triforce of Power always end up corrupt and evil"

"Do you want to be evil?"

"No"

"Then you won't end up evil, I promise... Now come on, let's leave Luna alone. She can talk to us once she's up. For now, do you have an inn room?" Leo nodded, wiping the tears off his face. "Alright then... let's go, I'll see if I can find you something to eat, and then you can get some shut eye. We leave bright and early tomorrow" His eyes widened. "Wait, leave? Why should I go with you?"

"We're going to see your father, whether you like it or not. He's one of the eight heroes left alive who can help us with this" she said, taking out a potion and handing it to the boy, who drank it. "Listen to me. I'm Gerudo alright? I'd expect you wouldn't know that, seeing as I don't look it, but my mother was Gerudo, just like yours. And you know what? I have two brothers. The oldest had the same problem you did, and someday, the younger one will too. I promise, just because you have the Triforce of Power doesn't mean you're going to end up like... you're going to end up evil. I promise... But you can't go breaking your hand left and right. That won't help anything. You hear me?" she glared at him now, and Leo couldn't help but think of his mother, Din, for a moment. "A - Alright..."

"Alright then, does it feel better? Yes? Good. Now, get some sleep, we have to travel tomorrow" she demanded. 

"W - What about mom?" Saria's face fell. "We'll worry about that later kid, now come on, you need to get some rest"