Chapter 25: Breaking the Unbreakable
The rain and grey clouds had dissipated long before sunrise, giving way to a bright and glorious morning. The warm light of day cascaded over the wide green fields, carrying with it a moist feeling of freshness lingering from the previous day's storm. This bright sensation brought even more comfort to Zelda, who awakened with a sense of looming sadness, though it was overpowered by a burst of warm happiness, both of which she associated with her all too brief conversation with Link last night. In the first few moments of the morning, she pined for her hero more than anything else, before she realized that hopefully today they would be reunited once more. However, as Zelda was mulling over this, she caught onto the sound of nearby voices, specifically those of Sheik and Fi, and suddenly became curious. Since her back was turned towards the two of them as she lied on the ground, neither of them knew she was awake yet, but all the same they conversed with one another in hushed tones, talking about something that they apparently did not want the girl to hear, which gave her all the more reason to eavesdrop.
"You are aware that he does not return the affections you have for him, correct?" the sword spirit asked, her tone towards the Sheikah leader surprisingly straightforward rather than condescending as it usually was.
Sheik hesitated in answering, but when her response came it was terse and defensive. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I believe you know very well what I am talking about," Fi said knowingly. "There are not many things that can be kept hidden from me. Even my master is unable to conceal such matters, though you seem to protect the feelings of your heart better than he does."
"Well that's because he's an open book," the Sheikah leader scoffed. "And besides, I don't need to talk about this with anyone, especially not you."
Fi was silent for a moment, before continuing in a level tone. "I realize that my actions and attitude towards you may not have been exactly… cordial," she said, though there was no sign regret for her previous behavior in her voice at all. "And while it is not my own personal preference to collaborate with you, in light of the situation I find that I must, and the most efficient way to do that is to quell our disagreements at the source. After all, it is what my master wanted from both of us from the start, and it is clear to see that it is what her grace wants from us in order to aid them both now."
"So what do my so-called 'affections' have to do with any of that?" Sheik asked, sounding bored.
"It lies within the simple fact that my sole purpose is to serve my master without question," the sword spirit began. "It was his will that we learn to work with one another under the current situation, but as I am now reevaluating my earlier behavior, I realize that I had blatantly disrespected him and disregarded his command. You may not realize this, but I was created by the goddess to be loyal to her chosen hero until the end, and I am in every sense of the word, which means that whatever he desires, I take it as my own personal responsibility to see that I can either fulfill or protect that desire, whatever it may be."
"So what's your point?" the Sheikah leader asked, obviously getting frustrated at how the sword spirit seemed to be dodging the question. Zelda herself was admittedly confused about what she was talking about, but she continued to listen in on the conversation nonetheless, wondering where it was going.
"The point is that my master holds a mutual desire for the goddess," Fi said point-blank. "They are, as you humans call it, in love, one of the few emotions that have not been imbued to me personally, but I understand the concept nonetheless. And, from what I have observed, despite the standards of your people, it is one that you are familiar with as well, am I right?"
Sheik let out a huffy breath, clearly growing angry with the sword spirit, though for what the girl had no idea. "Save your breath," she said hotly. "Whatever you think you're assuming is wrong. Just as your sole purpose is to serve the hero, my only two purposes are to protect the goddess and lead my people. Nothing less and nothing more."
Fi scoffed at this remark critically. "It would seem that you are hypocritical," she said, bemused. "Your statement is contrary to how you feel and there is little point in denying it. You do not have to worry about me revealing anything to my master or her grace. Considering the circumstances, they both have much more to be concerned about than something as trivial as this."
"Figures that you would call something like this trivial," Sheik muttered. "So what if I do… love… him? It's not like it means anything or matters at all. He's with the only one he wants and there's nothing I could ever do to change that. I've moved on and accepted it. End of story."
Zelda suppressed a gasp upon hearing this, finding it hard to believe it to be true. Sheik harbored a hidden love for Link? The girl never could have guessed this in a million years, especially since the straightforward Sheikah leader was so well at hiding her inner emotions. At the same time, Zelda wasn't really sure how to feel about this new revolution. On one hand, it was somewhat understandable. She knew that her hero and husband was someone hard to resist in her own eyes, not only because of his natural handsomeness but also his overflowing bravery, honesty, charisma and kindness. It was easy to see that other girls could be attracted to him for all these reasons and more. But Sheik? Zelda had to wonder how such feelings could have developed over the relatively short period of time that Link and Sheik had known each other for, and if the hero knew anything about them at all. If he did, then he really didn't have much reason to tell the girl about it, lest it incriminate the Sheikah leader in her eyes. But if he didn't, then that would most likely complicate things even further in the long run.
But all the same, Zelda didn't know what to make of this news, much less how to respond to it. It would be easy for her to be angry with Sheik over this. After all, the Sheikah leader certainly knew that Link and Zelda practically belonged to each other, something that was completely mutual for both of them. They had pledged their undying love to each other on almost every level imaginable and there was nothing, not even the great trials they were currently going through or the miles that separated them now, that could break that strong love apart. But the girl knew that it would be nothing more than petty to show any form of malice towards the Sheikah leader, especially after all she had done to help both of them. At most, Zelda found this revelation of Sheik's feelings for Link to be little else than awkward, considering the fact that the hero was already married, but to the Sheikah leader's credit, she had not tried to stand between the couple, despite her own feelings, and had shown nothing but complete support for the two of them. It was easy for the girl to see why Link trusted Sheik so much; she put her responsibilities and those tied to them first, placing them before even herself and her emotions. And it was because of that fact that Zelda knew without a doubt that she could trust the Sheikah leader as well.
Fi took a long moment to respond to Sheik's statement, but when she did, her words were as stoic as ever. "But you still love him, even though you know that you could never have him, don't you?"
The Sheikah leader sighed morosely. "Yes…" she said quietly, shame and regret in her voice. "But I know that he's happy with her grace, and as long as he is happy, then so am I. I only wish… I wish that he had more time left to actually be happy…"
"As do I," the sword spirit said with a hint of remorse. "It pains me to know that my master must meet such an end as that, and even now I fret for his wellbeing at the hands of the Interlopers... We should not tarry here much longer, lest the situation grow more dire than it already is But first, I do believe that I may owe you an apology. I acted in error against you, and in doing so I disobeyed my master. And so it is for his sake that I say I am sorry for how I treated you upon our initial meeting and I ask for your forgiveness and future cooperation."
Sheik was silent for a moment as she realized that Fi was being sincere in her apology. "Alright, fine," she said with a slight grin. "I guess I can forgive you. For Link." The Sheikah and the sword spirit shook hands as a symbol of their newfound camaraderie. Zelda, still turned away from them, smiled to herself, knowing that Link would certainly be proud of both of them if he were there.
"Wait," Sheik said tensely a moment later as she rose to her feet, a hand already on the handle of her knife. "What's that?"
Fi took note of whatever the Sheikah leader had seen and responded. "I am sensing a form of dark energy approaching," she said calculatingly. "There is an 80% chance that it is of the same type that the Interlopers wield. We should awaken her grace and-"
The sword spirit was suddenly cut off by the sharp sound of an arrow being fired off from nearby, followed by grunt of pain from Sheik. Zelda instantly sat up to see that the group of approaching Interlopers was already upon them, and that one of their archers had managed to hit the Sheikah leader with one of their arrows. Fortunately, her thin armor had protected her from any serious injury, but it still managed to dig deep enough to elicit a small cut. But nonetheless, Sheik yanked the arrowhead out of her skin and drew her small blade as Fi summoned her twin rapiers. The girl rose to her feet to get a better view of the situation, but before she could even make sense of what was happening, much less prepare her bow, the sword spirit raised one of her blades to protect her from an oncoming blast of dark magic that had been shot off by one of the attackers.
"It's an ambush!" Sheik called out as she ran out from the rock formation that the three of them had spent the night under. Zelda and Fi followed close behind, and it was then that the girl was able to see that there were surrounded on all sides by a legion of Interlopers, all of them wielding not only their various deadly weapons, but, as she could clearly sense, an increased capacity of dark power, no doubt granted to them by the Fused Shadow.
As the Interlopers began to launch a string of consistent attacks, the women were quick to repel their strikes of both blades and magic. Already caught up in the heat of battle, Sheik and Fi used their respective blades to defend Zelda, while she used her Bow of Light to subdue the rebels one by one. The three of them stood close quarters to each other as they fought, all of them knowing the reasoning behind this sudden strike. No doubt Veress had found out that they were on their way to infiltrate the Interlopers' underground fortress and rescue Link from their clutches, and the hero was a prize that the rebel leader certainly had no intentions of giving up easily. The newfound increased strength granted to her followers was a sure testament to that fact. But all the same, Zelda was determined to not let them or anyone else stop her from reuniting with her husband. The only thing that really stood between the two of them now was the fact that the girl had no idea how they were going to get into the underground stronghold. However, as she put aside her bow for a moment to watch a new group of Interlopers make their way towards them from the north, a sudden, albeit dangerous idea came to her, one that she prayed would work.
"Listen," Zelda said to Sheik and Fi in the midst of the melee, speaking in a hushed tone that only they could hear. "I have a plan, but it's a bit… risky…"
"Well I'm open for any suggestions at this point," Sheik said as she rammed the hilt of her blade into an attacking rebel, knocking them unconscious. "What do you got?"
The girl let out a deep breath as she fired off another light arrow into the crowd. "We have to surrender," she said resolutely, hating the idea, but hoping it would not be in vain.
"What?!" Fi and Sheik exclaimed in near unison.
"I know it sounds crazy," Zelda began. "But if we surrender, then they'll 'capture' us and take us down to their fortress…"
"Which will lead us right to Link!" Sheik grinned, realizing just how perfect this plan truly was. "That's brilliant, your grace!"
"Please, Sheik," the girl said with a confident smile, feeling at more ease with who she really was for the first time in weeks. It was true that she was the reincarnation of the goddess, but more than anything else, she knew that she was simply Zelda and she always would be. "Call me Zelda from now on, ok?"
"Alright," the Sheikah leader nodded. "So we're going through with your idea?"
"Yeah," Zelda said turning to Fi. "I trust you know what to do when I give you the signal once we're down there?"
"But of course, your grace," the sword spirit nodded in confirmation. "Or should I say, Zelda."
"Good," the girl said, drawing her bow back once more. "Now, try to make it convincible. I don't want them catching onto anything until I'm sure this will work. And if it doesn't… well, let's just hope that it does."
Sheik and Fi exchanged a brief glance, but nodded in assent nonetheless as they continued to battle, just long enough to make everything seem real. And then, in one clumsy movement, Zelda allowed one of the Interlopers' to knock the Bow of Light out of her grasp, acting as surprised as she could when they did so. The Sheikah leader and the sword spirit took this as a signal, as they also intentionally relinquished their own respective blades, though they made sure to make it look like an accident. Bereft of their weapons, the women raised their hands in the air in surrender and, just as Zelda had anticipated, the Interlopers stopped attacking them right on cue.
Without a word, the rebels roughly apprehended the three of them, robbing them of any and all weapons and tightly bound their wrists behind their backs with ropes to restrain them. They were clearly relishing the fact that they had the goddess, the loyal Sheikah leader and the spirit of the Master Sword within their grasp and they were certain that their leader would be quite pleased in their latest catch. Zelda, Sheik and Fi put up no protest or resistance as the Interlopers flanked them on all sides and started to lead them towards one of the secret entrances to their stronghold nearby. After all, it was all part of the plan, one that for the sake of the girl, the Sheikah leader, the sword spirit and especially the hero, simply could not fail.
"Get up!" Veress's harsh command, accompanied by a brutal kick to the stomach, were the two things that Link abruptly awakened to. The comforting memory of the bittersweet conversation he had with Zelda before falling asleep flashed through his mind all too quickly as he recoiled from the sudden strike. However, before he could even gather his bearings, the Interloper leader gripped him by the front of his shirt roughly and pulled him up, grinning at him with superiority. The hero groaned softly, still feeling incredibly sore from the agony he had endured the previous day, but he knew that things were only going to get worse for him from here.
"I'm so sorry that we didn't get to spend more time together yesterday, hero," Veress said menacingly, leaning into his face as her dark smirk grew. "But of course, it wasn't a day wasted in vain. After all, I did finally learn all about your well-kept dirty little secret…"
Link glared at her, not allowing himself to appear as weak to her any longer. "So since you've finally gotten what you've wanted, what now?" he asked distrustfully, hiding his worry over the fact that his corruption was now known to her. "It's not like you can use it against Zelda or anyone else. That would be breaking our deal."
"True," the Interloper leader said thoughtfully. "But it's not like you'll ever find out if I do."
The hero found the strength to pull himself out of her grasp and rise to his feet, clenching his fists in anger at this statement. "But you promised me that no one would get hurt!" he protested hotly, realizing that once again, the Interloper leader had deceived him. "You gave your word!"
Veress rolled her eyes at him as she silently commanded two of her nearby lackeys to restrain him and drag him into the torture chamber once more. "You should realize that I hardly ever mean what I say," she said with a callous laugh, her dark red eyes alight with greedy violence. "And as I've come to understand, once you're fully corrupted, you won't be aware of anything, not even if your beloved goddess just so happens to… oh, I don't know… die…"
"You're a liar!" Link shouted in raw fury as he started to struggle against the hands holding him. Before he could break free from their grasp however, they managed to secure the chains around his wrists once more, but unlike before, he pulled against them, realize that he no longer had to keep up his end of the bargain if Veress had no intention of keeping up hers. "You tricked me!" he said in hot rage, hating the Interloper leader's smug grin and wanting to wipe it clean off of her face.
"Well of course I tricked you!" the Interloper leader said, as if it was obvious. "And it wasn't even that hard. It's clear that you have no regard for your own life and well-being as long as that goddess of yours is kept safe. You're such a fool; seeking death and destruction just to keep her alive. Why do you place her value above your own when she certainly doesn't do the same for you?"
"Because I love her," Link said firmly, refusing to believe any claim that Zelda did not feel the same for him. "But I doubt someone like you would even know what love is."
"I know that love is both weak and foolish," Veress said coldly. "It is a pathetic, useless idea that both of you cling onto so strongly, and yet it never seems to do either you any good. It won't last. It won't keep either of you alive in the end." As she spoke, the Interloper leader slowly stepped closer to the hero, ready to begin the next phase of her wicked plan. "Your love will lead you nowhere but to your own demise. You'd live so much longer if you just let it go and considered your own survival for a change…"
"Not as long as I can do anything at all to protect her," Link said with determination, reminding himself that keeping Zelda safe was his ultimate goal above all else.
"Well then," Veress cooed quietly and twistedly as her hands began to glow in a dark shade of violet. "Perhaps you will change your mind when you see just how much she truly values you…" The Interloper leader laughed wickedly as she placed the tips of her glowing fingers on the hero's forehead, and before he could even respond, his vision went black momentarily. When he regained his sight, he found that the chains no longer bound his wrists and he was free to move, yet he was still within the chamber, which was sealed off and empty save for the soft sound of footsteps coming from behind him. Link clenched his fists once more and turned around, anticipating it to be Veress but gasped in shock at who it was instead.
"Zelda!" the hero exclaimed as he immediately began to rush towards her. However the girl rigidly backed away from him before he could even embrace her, which was what he wanted to do more than anything else at the moment. Instead, she gave him a look of such contempt and anger that it made him stop in his tracks and wonder why such expressions were darkening her beautiful face.
"Link…" Zelda said quietly, still glaring at him with her lovely azure eyes. "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?" the hero asked in nervous confusion.
"Why are you trying to kill me?" she asked as a tear slipped down her cheek.
"I'm not trying to kill you!" he exclaimed as a sudden panic filled him. "You know that I never would! It's the corruption. I… I can't…" He trailed off before he could admit that he was too weak to stop the force that was constantly trying to push him into slaughtering the woman he loved more than anything else.
"Why won't you fight it then?" Zelda asked accusingly. "If you love me so much, why don't you try to resist it harder to keep me alive instead of putting me in danger every minute of every day simply by being around me?"
"I'm trying to fight it as much as I can!" Link protested, but all the same he felt guilty, for he knew that no matter how hard he fought, there would be no resisting it in the end. "That's why I came here in the first place. To keep you safe from… from me…"
"By leaving me all alone and heartbroken?" the girl asked bitterly, her distaste for him clear in her voice. "I don't know what hurts more, that or the fact that all you want to do is end my life even when I've done nothing to you at all!"
"But Zelda-" the hero began, growing desperate to make her understand. However, she was quick to cut him off, her tone harsh and hateful towards him.
"Don't you see, Link?" she asked, tears slowly spilling from her angry eyes. "Can't you see how much you're hurting me? How much you're hurting all of us?"
"Link…" a new voice called out to the hero and he turned to find Sheik standing nearby, her arm still broken and hanging from its sling as tears of pain streamed down her face. "Why did you do this? Why would you hurt me like this?"
"Sheik, I didn't mean to…" Link said, his guilt over everything he had done starting to overwhelm him. "It… It was an accident… I…"
"Your hollow excuses mean nothing!" the Sheikah leader hissed as she gave him a scarlet glare. "You hurt me with your own two hands! You can't do anything to change that and you know it! I can't believe that I ever placed my trust in someone so… so worthless!"
This burning remark hit the hero hard, but before he could respond to it, he turned see the third figure standing in the room and waited with dread to hear what hate-filled remarks the sword spirit had to say to him. "You are not worthy of the honor of the heroic title bestowed to you," Fi said, enmity in her calculating voice. "You are a hero no more. You have fallen from the light and into darkness and you will never rise again. It was foolish of me to ever give undying loyalty to someone so weak and impure. I refuse to regard you as my master any longer."
"What a mistake I made in choosing you to be my hero," Zelda said bitingly, taking on the stoic tone of Hylia rather than her own. "It has become clear that you are far too weak to protect me and my land. You have outlived your usefulness."
"Zelda…" was all Link could manage to weakly say, his heart breaking from hearing the people he cared about turn against him so quickly, all because of his own imperfections. "Sheik… Fi… I… I'm sorry… But… But I can't…"
"You can't what?" Sheik asked hotly, venom in her voice. "You can't stop yourself? You can't fight it? You can't control it? We've heard it all before. It just proves that you're weak, and nothing more. You deserve everything you're getting."
"If you were truly strong enough to be the true hero of the goddess, then you would have been able to fight off this corruption ages ago," Fi remarked coldly. "All you are now is a fading shell of who you used to be, unable to save yourself, much less anyone else."
"You have failed me, Link…" Zelda said as her look of anger turned to one of sadness. "You didn't even try to save me and now, because of you, no one can. It's so clear to me now that you just don't love me. You were lying to me this whole time and I was a fool to ever believe that you did. And… because of that… I've finally realized that… I don't love you either."
To hear these soulless empty words come out of the girl's own mouth was what finally caused the hero sink to his knees and break down into tears of sheer heartbreak and emotional agony. In a few simple words, she had taken away the sole thing that he needed to survive above all else. He knew that he wouldn't be able to go on without her love to sustain him and so he simply caved in, letting his held-back emotions flow to the surface. He was too overcome with grief and sadness to even try to protest what any of them had said because most of their statements had been correct. He was weak, unstable, fading, impure and worthless. He couldn't control what was destroying him, he couldn't fight it away and he couldn't beat it, no matter how hard he tried. He was scarred by guilt and shame that would never go away because of what he had done and how much he had hurt the people he loved. Perhaps the Sheikah leader had been right in what she had said; perhaps he truly did deserve to endure all of the pain and suffering that was being pushed upon him.
"You are so very weak, hero…" Majora's voice called out to him louder than ever before in the midst of his grief. "So very pathetic... You are on the very edge of being broken… You are so very close to being mine for all eternity… And really, how bad could it be for you to fall into my corruption now? Your dear goddess despises you, as do all of your friends and allies. There is no one left who cares for you. Why resist to keep fighting on for people who hate you? You could forget all of the pain you are feeling and never have to experience it again if you give yourself to me… You would never have to know such heartbreak and agony ever again… Does that not tempt you?"
A flash of the heavy pain that usually came along with a spell of corruption came over Link as the demon spoke, only this time it was more intense than it had ever been before. The hero felt as though his very life essence was being constricted and crushed and it was unlike any kind of pain he had ever felt. "S-stop!" he barely managed to choke out as tears of both misery and desperation streamed down his face. "Please!"
"That's right, hero…" Majora laughed sadistically, clearly enjoying watching him suffer. "Writhe in agony! Beg for mercy! Recognize me as your master! Your eternal destiny awaits you. All you have to do is succumb to it! Surrender to my might and live forever! Accept limitless power and strength and serve me for eternity! You are mine! You will never be free! Look and see what you have become!"
As he tried to struggle against the heavy grip of corruption, Link hesitantly turned his gaze away from Zelda, Sheik and Fi and towards the reflective surface that had suddenly appeared a few feet away from him. The hero gasped in shock and horror at the sight his own image in the mirror, barely recognizing himself as he realized just what the corruption had done to him. So much of the color had been drained from his skin, making it so pale that it was almost paper white, no doubt a result of the pure white blood flowing through his veins. The red and blue markings on his face stood out significantly, bold and pronounced and taking on a continuous soft glow that would not fade away. So much of his hair had turned silvery white that it was hard to find even a single lock of its natural honey golden color among it. For several minutes, Link simply kept his gaze fixated on his own reflection in awe, hating what he was seeing. The corruption had changed him for the worse both inside and out and it was on the very brink of destroying him completely. And after everything he had just heard and seen, the hero wasn't so sure if trying to stop it was even worth it at all.
"Do you not see, hero?" Majora continued to taunt. "This is who you are and who you always shall be, now and forevermore! Your fate is nearly upon you. Your destiny is about to be fulfilled…"
Link was silent for a long moment as he continued to stare at his mirror image, watching as the crimson color in his eyes started to fade into emptiness and letting the corruption numb his great inner pain. "My… destiny…" he muttered in hopeless resignation, realizing that it was futile to keep resisting what was ultimately going to claim him anyway.
"That's right…" the demon said in a beckoning whisper. "Accept your new role as my slave… As the sword spirit said, you are a hero no more. You are a creature of darkness now, existing for the sole purpose of following my every command."
"You are impure and fallen," Fi spoke up, her smooth tone showing ire for the hero.
"You are weak and worthless," Sheik spat angrily, glaring daggers at him.
"Link," Zelda was the last to say something as she stared at him piercingly, her radiant dark blue eyes still wet with tears of betrayal. "You are a traitor, a failure and a liar. You've broken my heart for the last time and I will never let you deceive me again. You mean nothing to me now. You are a disgrace. You are my enemy. You are a monster!"
The hero looked at the girl in grief, wanting nothing more than for her to see the truth, but he knew that no matter how hard he could try to make her believe him, she never would. Her hatred for him was like a burning fire that was quickly consuming him, driving him to corruption and ruin.
"Do you see, hero?" Majora asked hauntingly. "Do you see just how much they hate you? Do you see how weak and pathetic they think you are? How little you mean to them? They do not want you or need you to protect them. But you could prove them wrong… You could make them see that you are not weak. With my power, you could be stronger than any of them could possibly dream… You could make them pay for changing their respect for you to hatred. We could rule the world. It is all within your grasp… All you have to do is leave everything behind and relinquish yourself to me for eternity…"
Link kept his gaze locked on Zelda alone as he listened to the demon's offer and found that he was attracted to this promise of power. In the midst of his sorrow over losing the love of the girl and the friendship of the Sheikah leader and the sword spirit, he was also angry over the fact that their opinions of him had changed so suddenly and largely without cause. It was true that he had done unintentional things to hurt them, but they had always forgiven him for it, understanding that it was the corruption that caused him to do it and not his own will. But now, they were acting like it had been his own doing all along, accusing and criticizing him with remarks that cut deep. Yet now Link was being given a chance to show them that he was not as worthless and pathetic as they claimed he was. With the great power being offered to him, he could prove to them and to everyone who stood in his way that he was stronger than they realized. It was certainly a tantalizing thought.
But just before the hero willing submitted himself into corruption's cold grip once and for all, he remembered the words of love and encouragement that the girl had said to him the previous night. "Nothing could ever change how I feel about you…" she had said with kindness and sincerity. "I love you, Link… Don't forget that…"Upon thinking back to those gentle words, the hero glanced towards Zelda as she stood before him now, giving him a burning glare of sheer hatred, one that he had never seen on her face before and he realized that something was wrong. She would never lie to him about her true feelings, but rather she would totally honest with him, just as she always had been. He knew that she wasn't the kind to change her mind easily, and certainly, after years of strong friendship and a deep flowing, passion that existed between them, her love would not turn to hate so easily. In a flash of newfound fury, Link realized that the girl that stood before him now, and by extension the sword spirit and the Sheikah leader, were not the real Zelda, Fi or Sheik. He had been deceived by Veress and Majora yet again.
Finding the strength resist once more, Link rose to his feet and broke free from the sedated spell that the demon had placed him under in the midst of his former grief. "I told you," he said firmly to Majora, his tone rigid and filled with determination. "I will never give into you, no matter what!"
"You fool!" the demon screeched in rage. "Why do you continue to struggle, even when everyone you know and love hates you? Even when you have nothing left to fight for at all!?"
"Because you're wrong," the hero proclaimed boldly. "They don't hate me. This is all just one of your tricks."
"How blind can you be, Link?" the apparition of Zelda asked, crossing her arms and giving him a dark look. "I do hate you. How could I ever love someone who is so ready to murder someone they claim to love?"
"Because," Link said as he turned towards her with an equally cross look. "You're not really Zelda. The real Zelda loves me and I love her, more than anything or anyone else."
"What are you talking about?" Sheik asked harshly, though it was clear that the ruse of the demon and the Interloper leader was starting to fall apart at the seams.
The hero simply smiled victoriously, knowing that he had just about broken through the trap that his enemies had created to break him. It was true that they had gotten close, but what neither of them could have anticipated was his will to survive and protect those he cared about most. And so, with broad determination, he turned towards the mirror showing his reflection once more, still marked by corruption but standing strong and unbroken nonetheless. "This isn't real!" he shouted firmly, which in turn, began to destroy the illusion he was trapped within. The mirror suddenly shattered as all three of the women vanished, screaming in fury along with the demon, who had lost its grip on him once more. Link only had a moment to breathe in a sigh of relief, before his vision was flooded with light and he was set free to return to the real world once more.
Veress screamed in pure frustration as she ripped her fingertips off of the hero's forehead. "How did you do that?!" she shouted in rage, grasping him by the front of his shirt as he found that he was bound by the chains once more. "How did you break through that illusion!? We specifically created it to break you once and for all! How are you able to resist like that?"
Link grinned triumphantly, taking pride in that he had beaten the Interloper leader and the demon even in this simple way. "It's like I said before," he said firmly, noticing of the sheer fury in the Interloper leader's dark eyes. "You can do whatever you want to me, but you will never break me."
"Oh yes I will!" Veress shouted, not caring about how undignified she was being. "You're nothing! Pathetic! Weak! I will do whatever it takes to break you!"
"And I'll do whatever it takes to resist you," the hero said with resolve. "And I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep Zelda and everyone else safe from you. It looks like I'm not as weak as you think I am."
Unable to contain her wrath towards him any longer, the Interloper leader let out a fierce cry and lashed out, striking the hero across the face with her hand harshly. Link recoiled for a brief second, but he was able to easily ignore the sting in his cheek, which was minor compared to the pain that he had already endured. "You impetuous little-" Veress stopped herself suddenly as she turned away him and let out a deep breath to quell her frustration. She then left the room without a word, only giving a small glance of ire towards him before she went to control her burning frustration.
As soon as Link was sure he was alone, he immediately started planning his escape, something that he had not bothered to do when he thought that Veress was going to keep her promise. But now that it was clear that she wasn't even going to bother to do that, he was free to break his end of the promise and find a way out of the stronghold so he could get back to Zelda before she could get hurt looking for him. His first attempt was to tug hard on the chains around his wrists, but he found that they wouldn't budge at all. With a sigh, he turned his gaze towards the wall of weapons only a few feet in front of him, but still out of his reach. With any one of them, escape would be easy, especially if he were to get his hands on a sword. However, that would have to wait, for as he began planning on how he was going to get one, the Interloper leader sauntered back into the room, her former anger gone as she walked towards the hero with her hands held behind her back and a calm grin on her face.
"I apologize for letting my temper get out of hand like that, hero," she said smoothly, though there was a hint of suppressed delight in her tone. "I needed a brief moment to collect myself and while I was out there, a few of my followers came to me and told me some news that I'm sure you'll love to hear…." The Interloper leader's grin grew wide and malicious, one that made Link nervous and filled him with dread. "As it turns out, your dear little goddess decided to come after you to try and save you," she said mockingly. "Now, isn't that sweet? Such foolish, misguided affections…"
"I don't think you'll have to worry about her, because I'll be long gone before she can even get here," the hero said confidently, determined as ever to keep Zelda safe from harm.
Veress simply laughed wickedly at this statement, much to Link's confusion. "Well hero, I hate to rain on your parade, but I'm afraid she was already here," she said cryptically.
"Was?" the hero asked, wary of being fed more lies. "What are you talking about?"
"It was all so tragic…" the Interloper leader said dramatically. "All three of them managed to sneak their way in here early this morning, but we were ready for them. In the end one of them could hope to stand against the might of the power of the Fused Shadow…"
"What did you do to them?" Link asked, trying to hide his growing worry for Zelda, Sheik and Fi, but failing. Veress remained silent for a moment, wanting to drag the tension on for as long as possible. "What did you do?!" the hero demanded more firmly, pulling on the chains once more.
Veress smiled darkly as she revealed what she had been hiding behind her back. Link gasped in shock when he realized that it was the sailcloth, torn and soiled with what looked like blood. "I think you can figure that out for yourself," the Interloper leader said as she held the cloth out for him to see fully.
"No!" the hero shouted in desperate rage, the very possibility that his wife could be dead at that very moment making him ill. "You're lying!"
"Am I?" the Interloper leader raised an eyebrow at him as she snapped her fingers, causing the chains binding Link to lengthen so he could move his arms down to his sides, allowing him much more movement. Before he could even question why Veress had decided to do this, she carelessly tossed the sailcloth to him and he caught it immediately, holding it tightly as he examined its poor state. The thing was tattered and filthy, a state Link hadn't seen it in since he had used during his first journey on the surface. After it was all said and done, Zelda had taken great care to clean it and sew it up, making it look like new. Though neither of them had ever really acknowledged it, the sailcloth was something of a symbol between the couple of how much they meant to each other, a sign of the love that had bound them together. But now, that symbol had been tarnished by the evil that wanted to destroy them and their love. The soft cloth was barely recognizable, and, what made the hero almost break down into tears was not the fact that it was still wet with what was clearly blood, most likely the girl's; rather it was the fact that despite its ruinous state, it still carried the pleasant, comforting scent that he always used to associate with her, only now it was mingled with the metallic scent of blood. As much as he didn't want to believe what the Interloper leader had said, it was hard to deny the clear evidence he was holding in his hands.
"No…" Link muttered in heavy grief as he held the bloodied sailcloth close to his chest, knowing it was the only thing he had left of Zelda. He took on the full guilt for what had happened to her, as well as Sheik and Fi. If he hadn't been so foolish and given himself up to the Interlopers in a futile attempt to save them, they never would have had reason to come to this death trap in the first place. It was because of him that they were gone. But perhaps what hurt most of all was that the hero had never even gotten a chance to truly say goodbye to the girl. All of the hope that he had received from their brief conversation last night shattered all at once. He would never see her again, he would never hold her again, he would never kiss her again. And all because he had been unable to protect her. They very thought made him feel like his entire world was collapsing around him and burning to ashes, from which nothing could ever rise up from again.
"Oh, there's no need to cry, hero," Veress smirked wickedly when she noticed that tears of mourning were already starting to stream down his face. She stepped up close to him, reveling in the possibility that, if nothing else, there was a good chance that losing the goddess he loved so much would break him once and for all. "At least you didn't have to see her as she suffered and cried out for you in vain as she was dying… She actually thought that you would come to her rescue… How foolish…"
As the Interloper leader laughed coldly in her apparent victory, the hero's heartbreak turned to rage. Veress and her wicked followers were the ones who had murdered Zelda without a second thought and now the Interloper leader had the audacity to laugh about such a heinous act right in front of him. Link was unable to contain his anger towards them for all they had done any longer as so, as Veress continued to celebrate her victory over both the girl and the hero, he dropped the sailcloth and before the Interloper leader even had a chance to react, he lashed out quickly, wrapping his hands around her neck and holding on tight. She didn't stop grinning evilly, even as he began to choke her. She simply gave him a confident grin as she gasped out for air, hardly even resisting his hold. Link glared back at her hatefully, wanting to put an end to all of this once and for all, but as Veress noticed, he was hesitating to finish her off despite the fact that he had the complete ability to.
"G-go ahead… hero…" she choked softly and twistedly, her grin cold and challenging. "K-kill me… Just like w-we… killed her…"
The hero kept his rage-filled gaze locked on her as he tightened his hold, but only slightly. The Interloper leader was breathing in broken gasps at this point and he knew it would only take another moment or two to kill her, but it was at that moment that he realized he was about to do something he had never done before: he was about to intentionally take another human's life. And despite all of the terrible things that Veress had done to him and Zelda, all of the pain she had put him through and all of the sorrow she had caused him, Link found that he just couldn't do it. And so instead of strangling her to death, he hesitantly let her go, not even bothering to watch as she collapsed to the ground, heavily gasping for air. Instead he kept his heartbroken gaze on the ground at his feet, where the soiled sailcloth lay as a reminder that the love of his life was gone and that nothing he could ever do would be able to change that fact.
Veress recovered from her near death experience quickly, rising to stand as if nothing had happened at all mere moments later. "Look at yourself," she scoffed, crossing her arms and frowning at him. "You're pathetic. You can't even bring yourself to end the life of the one responsible for your wife's death, even when you've got nothing to lose! You're weak and I've realized that I don't need you to meet my ends anymore." She turned on her heel to leave the room, but not before giving Link one last hateful glance. "You can spend the rest of the few days of your life that you have left rotting in here for all I care," she said coldly. But before she left the hero, she smirked to herself as she saw him sink to his knees and gently pick up the sailcloth, holding it close as he lowered his head in defeat and began to weep softly over all he had lost in one fell swoop. The Interloper leader suppressed a laugh of victory over yet another successful deception and instead left him alone to mourn, knowing that even if he hadn't been pushed into complete and utter breakage just yet, he was almost there.