The Heroes' Rebirth | BOTW Sequel/Zelink (The Legend of Zelda)

Chapter 6: Malice

He couldn't see anything. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't hear anything. His senses were gone. He couldn't remember anything past last night. He had no idea what was happening. Where was Zelda? Was she ok? What about the village? Or Kakariko? The castle? The kingdom? Why were these thoughts running through his mind?

Little by little, he felt his senses return to him. His whole body tingled with numbness for a few minutes until he gained control again. He felt a sharp, stinging pain on the right side of his neck. Had he been drugged? He felt cold metal on his wrist and ankles. He was on his hands and knees and felt a rough ground of sand? Dirt? Maybe sandstone. He heard nothing and saw nothing. All was dark. He tried standing but the things on his wrist held him down to the ground. He traced the metal on his wrist down past his arm.

Chains.

Link was chained.

He tried to reach for his sword to cut them, but the chains were tight. His hands only reached his ears There was no way he was reaching all the way to his back.

He tried looking around but everywhere was dark. He just kept kneeling. And kneeling. And kneeling: that's all he could really do.

Suddenly, a metal door, about 20 feet away, creaked open. It scraped up revealing a dim light outside. From that light came a man. A man wearing a white mask with a red eye.

Yiga

The man was dressed exactly How Link remembered Master Kohga, except this man was fit. Younger body, taller stature— more confidence.

The door slammed shut and echoed throughout the room. Link still couldn't tell how big it was. The man disappeared in the darkness. Link could hear the footsteps around the room. They grew closer and closer to where Link was chained. Then, out of no where, the Yiga's face was lit by a torch he was holding. He was maybe 5 feet in front of Link. He continued to walk to him until he was inches away from his face.

"You're the hero?"

Link looked up at the man. His mask was still covering his face. He then bent down so his face was in line with his.

"The Hero of Hyrule?"

The man moved the torch over to Link's face. Very close to Link's face. It began to burn at the close proximity of the torch, and the man showed no sign of stopping it. The flame drew closer and closer. Link tried his best to jerk his face away but not much distance was made. The torch kept creeping closer to his left check until it was a mere an inch away.

"Hmm... you don't look that special."

There was absolutely no question that the flame was burning his skin now. Link squinted and clenched his teeth at the burning pain on the left side of his face. The man held it there for a few more seconds as Link attempted to hide the pain he felt. He grunted as the Yiga stood back up, moving the torch away from Link.

"What a waste."

He threw the torch on the ground, showing the tan color of the ground.

Yiga Hideout

The man took out a large bottle from behind him. It seemed to move in his hand. It was black. No, pink? Red? Link's eyes still had trouble deciphering what exactly was happening in the room.

"You know," the man started to walk around the room. "I really should thank you for killing Master Kohga, hero. It allowed me to take command of this... joke of a people. They could finally realize that their purpose was..." he looked at the bottle, "...something spectacular."

He walked up to Link and knelt to his level. Link's face was still pulsing like mad from the intense burns.

"You defeated Ganon. You swung your darkness sealing sword. You used your power of... courage? Wisdom? Ah, I can't remember. I guess it doesn't really matter now, does it?"

Link looked at the man's mask. What was he talking about?

"I'm sure you know what this is." The masked Yiga said. He held the bottle up to chained hero's face. Link's eyes widened as he finally realized what it was.

"This malice was birthed from Ganon as he took over this world. You've probably encountered this many times on your travels."

Link knew exactly what malice was and what it could do to him. He had to try the sword again. For one last time, he forcefully yanked his right arm off the ground to try get to the sword on his back but felt the bones in his wrist snap under the intense pressure of the chains. He yelled as his whole body fell to the ground. The pain from his face and now his wrist was overwhelming.

"So the hero is scared of some things." The man chuckled a little as he opened the bottle. "The spirit of Ganon lives in malice. Even he was dubbed: Hatred and Malice Incarnate."

Link couldn't do anything but pray he would survive. Malice could easily and quickly kill him. He tried to think of a way out. He had proven he couldn't grab his sword. He tried looking around the room again but saw nothing. He—

The Sheikah Slate!

It was close enough on his waist to where he could strain himself to grab it. He lifted his left arm to his waist, but felt nothing. He tried reaching farther back despite the pressure on his wrist. Was he not going far enough?

Then he remembered. He had left it at the house.

Dear Hylia...

He looked up at the man who was still kneeling in front of him.

"You killed Ganon, but you will still die by Ganon." The man tipped the bottle over Link's head.

"Goodbye, hero."

The pain started at the top of his head. It was sharp, like one thousand needles digging into his scalp. It trickled down his back and face, spreading the pain. Then it continued to envelope his entire body. Not one part of him was visible from the outside. The liquid had taken over his being and began to convulse around him. Every pulse brought more and more pain to him. It was indescribable. He tried to yell but no sound drew from his mouth. Instead, the malice traveled into his open mouth and then into his eyes and ears and traveled throughout his body. He couldn't breathe. His insides began to burn. Somehow he felt the liquid wrap around his very soul. His eyes felt as if they were falling out of his skull and saw spots of black, white, and pink. Link couldn't think of anything. He couldn't feel anything. He became numb.

There was nothing he could do.

Master Kanto watched the malice convulse on Link's body. He couldn't help but smile as he saw Hyrule' sacred hero be taken over by Ganon's own creation.

The convulsions slowed down. The malice began to trickle off the body, revealing Link: motionless and lifeless. The malice still pulsed behind Link in a pile. Kanto spat on the ground and walked toward to door. He pounded twice and the metal screeched open. A young man with a mask of his own stood behind it. He held a large brown bag in the doorway.

"Take him. Dump him somewhere no one will ever find. I never want to see him again," Kanto ordered and walked out of the room.

"The malice sir?" the boy asked.

"Leave it," Kanto kept walking. "It'll be a reminder of what used to be."

The boy cautiously walked into the room and stared at Link. The young Yiga thought that he probably wasn't older than Link was. He got on the ground, careful not to touch the malice, and rolled Link delicately inside the bag.

His hands were shaking. The boy took a long breath out and peered behind him. Kanto was no where to be seen. He looked back at the bag.

"Here we go."