The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Mini Boss 17 - Phantom of the Woods

 ...alone.

"Alone?"

The voice that spoke that word sounded more in Link's head than it did in the room itself, but somehow Link knew it wasn't just in his mind. The door swung shut behind him. He only briefly heard the calls of surprise of his companions before he was plunged into darkness.

"But you have all those friends of yours, and you come in here alone?"

Link reached his hand back, his spacial awareness thrown by the darkness. Finally, his hand found the Master Sword, which he slowly drew, unsure where an attack might come from.

"What is that going to do for you? Are you going to hit an enemy you can't even see?"

"What are you?" Link demanded, keeping his blade steady in front of him. The blade shimmered a faint blue light, but it wasn't enough to see whatever was in this room.

Suddenly, the room was a technicolor mess. Link shielded his eyes at the colors whirled at a nauseating pace. Slowly, the colors stopped spinning. Link lowered his arm and blinked as sunlight stared back at him. He could hear the lowing of cattle and goats, the gurgle of a stream, the whisper of wind through the trees. Eveningale.

Link turned, taking in the sights of his childhood home. How? What was going on?

He felt something in his hand. Link clenched the hilt of the Master Sword, drawing it into this illusion with him. That's all this was. An illusion. It had to be. This blade had never belonged here.

"Link, my boy."

Walking towards Link was the old figure of the Headmaster, whom Link hadn't seen since he left. The sight was frighteningly realistic, so real that Link started to forget that this was a mind trick.

The Headmaster frowned. "Link, you know you can't be running around with swords. You're nameless. If the village knew you could-"

Link raised the blade. "What are you?" The Headmaster would never have spoken to Link like that, even if he had been reckless with a blade. Even more so, Link knew the Headmaster was aware that Link was no longer nameless, whether or not they had seen each other. This wasn't the man who had raised him.

Putting up his hands, the Headmaster started blubbering, "L-L-Link! After ev- everything I've done for you!"

Raising the blade an inch higher, Link stood his ground, staring back at the image of the Headmaster with a steady glare. He didn't know what this shadow had in mind, but Link wasn't going to let his closest friends be turned against him.

"Wh-what are you going to do? Kill me?"

Before Link could process the sentence, the world snapped to another image. Narizah stood in front of him. The two fatal blows Parijan had dealt were now replaced by one single wound, a wound that look too much like a blow from the Master Sword. The Gerudo cupped the wound, blood dripping from her lips and her side. "You're...more like him, ah...that I thought..."

Link felt the blade in his hand start to burn. As his stomach lurched, he wanted nothing more than to cast it aside. But a voice in the back of his head shouted at him, reminding him that his sword was the only thing confirming that this wasn't reality. This wasn't real.

"This is not real!"

Endeavor's voice cut through the dream. Link could hear Yore flapping his wings frantically, panicked. The message wasn't for Link, it was Endeavor soothing her bird. But it had found him all the same.

Tightening his grip again, Link turned back to the form of Narizah. "Whatever kind of demon you, you are not going to turn my mind against me."

Narizah's form straightened, grinning wide. "You're really something, aren't you?" The form started to turn transparent. "I guess scaring you out of it would be too much for the Hero, wielder of the Triforce of Courage. Shall we see how brave you really are then?"