The Legend of Zelda: Humanity's Last Hope (by LinkDaLegend)

Chapter 27: "I can't"

       "Why?!," I shouted to my past self, "Why would I do that?! I couldn't care less about how angry and depressed I have been, I am, and I will be, I won't give in! Why did you?"

       "I told you," he replied, calmly and with an evil smirk, "Rage has never felt better."

       "You need to get your mind off the parasite and what you don't have and focus on what you DO have."

      "Like you? Like the paranoid and furious kid who's only purpose in his entire quest was to get his revenge?"

       "If that were the case, the Master Sword would stop glowing, and I wouldn't be able to use it," I said, trying to unsheathe it. For some reason, it would not come out, so I pulled harder. It was futile.

       "Why aren't you coming at me to fight?"

       "I sense the parasite hasn't completely controlled you."

       "You mean the trinket you earned from the goddesses won't come out of hiding?" I didn't think he would nail me, but here he is, pointing it out.

       "My sword won't unsheathe, but the sword is not the only thing I have." I saw the same ball of light come from my sword, and it began to expand into Paige, but she was wounded badly. "Paige, what happened?" I asked her. She was too badly wounded to even sit up.

       "Oh, dear, it looks like she can't help you. It looks like no one can help you. After all, you didn't want them to help you."

       "I protected them from myself."

       "And look where it has gotten you!" There were a few seconds of silence before he spoke again, "Don't you see it yet? I'm trying to protect Hyrule. I'm trying to be the Hero everyone thinks I am." It now seemed as if he knew exactly what happened to cause the parasite because I couldn't help but understand him saying he's trying to be the Hero everyone wants and needs.

       "This could be different, you know. Something I've learned over time yet I am just now realizing is true is don't try to be the Hero. Do the right thing. There is no need to try if you are already doing the right thing. EVERY problem has a solution. Heck, I'll even say every problem has at least two solutions. We can figure it out together, but I can't do it alone. My friends can help me. You can help me. Will you?" Then there was silence, surrounding all of us, sweet as honey.

       "There- there isn't another solution." There was silence again, surrounding us all but with bitterness, fury, and much, much melancholy. "I can't." With this, he folded back into the parasite, and it began attacking. I pulled out my shield, but it merely came loose from my grip and flew to the edge of the pillar with the parasitic tentacle reaching out for my hand. I tried to grab my shield again, but he had a hold of my ankle. It wasn't long until I was swung around a few times then tossed into the wall above the entrance, already hurting when I began to fly. The moment I hit the wall was the moment I heard an odd, silenced, metallic sound from the other side of the walls. Then, I heard screams of surprise. When I hit the ground, though, Zelda came out and ran to me.

       "Link!" she cried. I tried to sit up but merely yelped. I tried to see but became blind. I tried to move but was told to stay still.

       "Y- you'll be fine. I'll find a way. I'll think of something. I will." She began to summon light to her hand.

       "N- no," I managed to grunt, "I can't let you do this. I wouldn't a- ask for my life if yours disappears."

       "You don't need to." With the summoned light, she used it to send me to the Goddess Room, where I was completely healed.

Zelda's POV

       Stay safe, and may you return with them.

My POV

       "Okay. I'm here, but I'm healed now. I need to go back," I said.

       "But you cannot." The voice was a familiar, soothing voice, one that would leave one's self at rest. Once I turned around, I saw her.

       "You escaped?" I asked.

       "Yes," Farore said, "I have, and it is all thanks to you and Zelda. I'm afraid, though, you aren't able to leave here yet."

       "But why?" I pleaded, "Why can't I leave? Why can't I save Hyrule? Why can't I save my friends and allies? Why can't I unsheathe the very blade only I can use? Why?!" I was on the ground, tears now rolling down my cheeks the way one's lips roll around another's. There was nothing I could do.

       "I can't believe most of my past has remained hidden from me until this moment, THIS moment out of all other moments of my life! I- I need someone to help me, someone to entrust my life with, someone to lean on."

       "Zelda offered all of that, but you did not accept it. Why?"

       "I was trying to protect her and everyone else because only I, the Hero of the Legend, can defeat the parasite welding the Master Sword."

       "They have their own unique abilities just as you." I was annoyed at this point. "They know they need to protect you just as you do, but you won't let them close. They come to your aid, but you resist healing. What, my dear Hero, is keeping you?"

       "I try to do the right thing, but it always ends in catastrophe!" I shouted. "Okay? That's why! I don't want them to die because I made a mistake. I can't let them die now."

       "They have great power that they would give up if no other choice came to mind and hand."

       "Why does my past run away from me?!"

       "It doesn't run from you. It hides from you because it is scared you will grow hatred towards it."

       "I am not wrathful toward my past. I am overwhelmed by the people and why they did what they did, but I must find my past. Please, let my past come out of hiding from me, so I can learn." There were a few moments of silence, stressful, painful silence.

       "The legend was only meant to be a one-time event. Nayru and I did not want it to happen, but it did. We had no way to permanently end it, so we had to prolong it - by killing your host and sending your parasite, stronger and wiser every time, to the Arctic to freeze for one-hundred years. The thing, though, is it is not a parasite; it is a parasitic worm. We haven't named it yet, but we made it for us to control the mind of the one with it how we please. I am sorry we had not told you sooner, but it was better that way." I began to gaze at the bigger picture and was instantly calmed by what I saw. I was ready to give up until I heard the soft hum of the Master Sword. I slowly unsheathed it to find it a flashlight- no, more than that- a floodlight.

       "It seems you have much understanding about yourself now and what you must do. Now go. Go save Hyrule. Go save the world. Go save your friends and allies. Once the parasite has fallen, you may tell them."

       "I call all my allies my friends," I replied gently. From there, I used the tip of the Master Sword to gently draw the Triforce in the watery floor. It became a beacon of light before my eyes, and I stepped into it, watching Farore be sucked back into a strange portal.