Free to Love - A Zelda x Link Fanfiction

LXIX: Muffled Sobs

Link's Perspective:

I could feel Zelda pulling against me, her screams and sobs (occasionally drowned out by the crumbling of the building around us), her wrist trying to pull its way out of my hand. I dragged her down the stairs out of the king's room into one of the main halls, trying to think frantically. We had to get out of the castle. With the attacks against it, via the turned guardians, it was inevitable that the building would crumble. I had to find the quickest way out.

My feet slid on the red carpet, partially lifted and torn and covered in muddy footprints, as I took a sharp turn, rushing down a series of stairs. The king's rooms overlooked the courtyard and if we could pass by it, perhaps by one of the sanctum's halls, we could end up at the dining hall and escape through the eastern field.

Zelda yelped behind me, stumbling after me as we ran down the stairs into the servants' halls. I focused on my footsteps, trying to find my way in the dim passages. The only source of light was several torches against the walls, which made our shadows dance behind us. We couldn't hear the explosions from here, only the muffled booms and the shaking of the building. Our voices echoed and it made her sobs all the louder and heartbreaking to listen to.

As much as I wanted to comfort her, I didn't have the time. Instead, I ran forward and pulled her behind me, finally running up the stairs to the sanctum halls. The beautiful stained glass windows were shattered, allowing us to view the chaos in the courtyard in horrifying detail. Thankfully, only one guardian was left, the rest having already scattered. Its legs whirred and grappled against the ground, tearing up the field, mechanical head swiveling left and right before its blue eye focused on us. I yanked my arm, shoving her ahead of me. 

"Wait for me at the end of the hall!" I shouted, drawing my bow. The guardian turned its head, moving towards the passage mechanically, following after Zelda. I squinted, taking aim and firing. Mark hit.

The guardian paused, smoke beginning to billow from the interior, head jerking back and forth. I used the moment to jump through the window, charging and slicing at the guardian's legs. They seemed to be thin and vulnerable, meaning I only had to slide my blade under the white, ribbed armoring to slice its wires. The machine hummed angrily, forced into jumping back at the sudden loss of a limb. The eye landed on me again, beeping menacingly as it hobbled towards me. I barely managed to sidestep the laser, the smoke behind me igniting, before it was quickly snuffed out by the rain. I rushed forward again, angling my blade under the shelling and using the mud to my advantage. While it made the guardian's footing only more unstable, I lowered my body, knee digging aginst the muddy earth and sliding under the main body of the beast, cutting through the wires at its legs. 

The machine jerked back, exposing its underbelly. I slashed quickly, glass shattering and mesh tearing apart at my blade. I tried to shield the glass, but that didn't stop some shards from grazing my skin and leaving my bloody marks in their wake. I could barely see its power source through the rain. It was a large blocky battery, nestled deep in the interior of the machine. The guardian whirred, trying to find a way to haul itself onto its three legs. I  barely had time to shove the blade into the battery, allowing the guardian to sputter out and die. I backed away, trying to catch my breath as I jumped through another empty window frame, jogging to the end of the hall.

Zelda stood shaking, arms wrapped around her body, quieter but tears still rushing down her face. I grabbed her wrist wordlessly, dragging her through the crumbling entrance of the dining hall and out the large wooden exit. I heard her yelp at the cold rain, feet sliding in the mud, but I didn't stop.

I dragged her along, barely able to hear her labored breathing as she tried to keep pace with me. The guardians were everywhere, crawling through the field and eyes blinking to find something, anything to shoot. I heard her shout behind me, yanking me to a stop, to point towards Zora's Domain. We could barely see it from the distance, but we could make out the silhouette of Mipha's beast. No, wait. Its usual blue hue was gone and it too had turned a dark red. We could make out the trunk sweeping back and forth, presumably hitting the fragile structure of the Zora palace.

"M-Mipha!" Zelda wailed, putting a hand to her mouth. I choked down an angry shout that crawled up my throat, dragging Zelda along. I could make out the swamp, fight in front of a forest. The swamp was mostly abandoned and I could only hope that its thick mud would deter the guardians from getting close. I glanced through the trees, trying to find anything reminiscent of a machine before we managed to shield ourselves with the thick trunks of trees.

I managed to find stable footing, but Zelda lagged and finally slipped, her hand sliding out of mine and she crumbled, pitching forward so her knees scratched against the mud. I nearly slipped as I swiveled back, going to help her up when I heard her sob sharply, looking down at the ground. 

"How?" I barely managed to hear her over the crackling lightning. "How did it come to this?" Her voice was soft, raspy, and I found myself kneeling to hear her. "The Divine Beasts, the guardians..." She muffled a sob, hands curling into fists. "They've all turned against us. It was... Calamity Ganon! It turned them all against us!" She beat her knuckles against the ground, looking up. I couldn't tell what were tears and what was rain. Her eyes were haunted, dark, normally a vibrant yellow-green now had turned into a desaturated forest-like color. I had never seen this sorrow in her eyes before. It sent a shiver down my spine. "Everyone -- Mipha, probably Urbosa, Revali, and Daruk, too -- are all trapped inside those things..." 

She paused, eyes glazing over before a sob shook her entire body, and she hid her face in her muddy palms. "It's all my fault!" she practically screamed the words, another sob making her shudder with its intensity. "Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost all because I couldn't harness this stupid power! Everything, everything I've done up until now, was all for nothing..." Her voice grew soft again like she had come to a realization. "So I really am just a failure."

She murmured those words, shaking her head and looking up. "All my friends, the entire kingdom, my father most of all... I tried and I failed them all." She glanced around, crawling toward me, murmuring, "And I left them... all to die!" She buried her face in my arms and I grabbed her, hugging her to my chest.

"I'm still here," I muttered to her. I tilted her chin up, kissing her cheeks. "I'll always be here, and I believe in you." She choked on a cry, swiping at her tears. "But we have to get out of here, we need to figure out what to do, okay?" She shuddered, but I took that for a nod, because I hoisted her up, feet sliding in the mud, and pulled her forward. 

I could see the exit of the forest, the edge of the bottomless swamp. "We're almost there!" I called over my shoulder, bursting through the trees.

Only to be greeted by the hulking body of three guardians, blue eyes all focusing on me.