Owned

Chapter Two: Courage

"Where have you been?" Impa growled once Link arrived at last, his every step painful.

He staggered, but Sheik - Zelda - caught him and held him steady as he winced and raised a shaky hand to point out where he had been located on the map. The keep still belonged to the enemy.

"Why didn't you at least capture it?" Sheik questioned.

At this point a very drowsy Proxi appeared. "He did, but then Ghirahim attacked. They captured it on his way back." He knew she was just making assumptions for him, and he was glad she didn't know the truth.

"Are you okay? Did you defeat him?" Lana exclaimed, her eyes wide in concern.

Link bit his lip, his eyes shining with crushed pride. That was enough of an answer for all of the present company.

Impa placed a hand on his shoulder. "Next time, take at least one of us with you. We can't lose you. Got it?"

With slight hesitation, he nodded.

He wasn't sure he could. Would he even be allowed to raise a finger against Ghirahim, now that...now that he was a slave to the demon?

"Lana, help him with his wounds, please," Sheik said softly, continuously in the lower voice Zelda tended to use when she was in her disguise.

Lana nodded and crossed over, gently taking his arm in her hands. "Is there anything else?" she asked. "This seems so small."

"He was out for awhile," Impa replied. "And it's still bleeding. Look." With her rougher grasp, she pointed out where the knife had driven completely through his arm.

"Ouch," the sorceress murmured before starting to heal it.

Rather than mutter a sarcastic response that came to mind, Link kept his lips as sealed as they had been when he couldn't speak. When Lana finally finished, he nodded and smiled shakily in thanks, then went off on his search to find Agitha, ignoring their protests that he should get some sleep.

~*~

"Oh, hi, Link!" the little girl greeted him, setting a bug she found back to the earth. He waved in response, then took her hand and pulled her along to an isolated clearing by an overflowing stream.

There, he let out a soft breath. He had discovered earlier that the Hylian script on his back had stopped bleeding, likely sealed permanently, but it still hurt if he sat or bent over or even twisted in the wrong way. Thus, he continued to stand even when Agitha sat down.

"I need to ask you a favor," he said quietly, still unaccustomed to formulating words.

Agitha looked startled to the point of fear. "How are you speaking? I mean...ask whatever favor, but...how?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about. Can you settle down a little, so you don't make me feel worse?"

She paused, then nodded, setting her basket aside as she watched his every move with a wide-eyed gaze. He unstrung and pulled off his tunic as he explained.

"I'm sure that you heard about me engaging Ghirahim in battle." She nodded. "It didn't go as expected. I lost. Badly."

"How badly?"

He shut his eyes tightly before pulling off his pale yellow undershirt and turning his back to her. "This badly."

She gasped. He heard her stand, heard her walk over, and felt her fingers gently trace the outline of the letters.

"Are you - do you have to work for him now?"

"I think so," Link whispered. "Which is why I have to ask you this favor."

He felt the air shift a little. She nodded. "I'll do it. Whatever it is."

He pulled his shirt back on, his cheeks aflame, and called forth the Triforce of Courage. It shed a gentle golden light over the clearing. Agitha's eyes were wide as he offered it to her.

"You want me to...hold on to this?"

He nodded. "It's more like...I want you to keep it. It isn't safe in my hands anymore, and Ganondorf would never suspect I gave it to you. Stay away from any sort of attention from the enemy. Do what you always do."

Agitha let out a little breath before pulling a tiny bottle from her basket and opening the cap. The Triforce hovered in, and she quickly shut it before stowing it away at the bottom.

"I won't let you down, Link!" the girl declared. "I'll protect it no matter what happens."

"Thank you," he breathed. "And...please, keep all of this a secret. Even me speaking."

She nodded. "Got it! My lips are sealed."

"Linky..." a voice chimed in his mind. His eyes flew wide.

"Agitha, go. I have to..."

Her eyes softened and she gave him a hug. "I understand. Good luck." With that, she fled from the clearing, and Ghirahim spoke again.

"Come."

~*~

"You've enslaved their Hero." Link winced. Ganondorf's voice was full of glee. "There is no way they'll win now."

Ghirahim let out a soft breath. "Except...they still have two-thirds of the Triforce."

"What?!"

The demon tugged at Link's ear, forcing a hiss out of him. "He's determined. He gave it to someone else, and no matter what I do, I can't get it out of him."

Link allowed himself a small flutter of pride at that. He could keep that one secret, and that one secret only, as long as he put everything he had to it.

He would never tell Ghirahim, never mind Ganondorf, who had the Triforce of Courage.

"Then he's worthless!" the demon king insisted. "If he has nothing, there's no point in keeping him alive."

Before Link knew what was happening, one of his enemy's long, curved blades was pointed at his throat. He would have moved back, but Ghirahim was standing there somewhere.

"My lord." The demon spoke softly. "They still believe he has the Triforce. Besides, he also wields the Master Sword. He is still the Hero of Legend. They have reason to keep him alive."

"Not if they know he's a slave to you," Ganondorf snarled.

Ghirahim patted the top of Link's head. "Not that that would be a deterrent to them, but they don't."

"They will!" a tiny voice exclaimed as Proxi fluttered out from Link's cap and made a run - or, fly - for it.

Ghirahim, however, caught her in midair by just one wing. "My lord, what do we do with the fairy?"

"We kill it."

Link's eyes widened in horror, and Ganondorf smirked as his blade went from Link's throat to the air just beyond Proxi with a single solid swipe.

Half of the fairy's pale glow fluttered to the ground with her wings, while the other half remained in Ghirahim's grasp.

Link shut his eyes, his head lowering.

His idiocy had cost him both his free will and a dear friend.