Chapter Text
Ooooo boy! We're nearing the final battle! You guys better get excited! I'm pretty happy with how I wrote this chapter. And now the story has over 100,000 words! Woohoo! Enjoy!
-Joost
A Terminian and the Twilight of Danger
Chapter 24: Are You Willing to Die?
After finding the Gilded Sword, Link returned home in a good mood. But, when he rose to greet the new morning, his head was stuck in the clouds. He knew it was about time to form a plan. A plan to finally defeat the witches and their dark pawn.
Entering the bathroom, Link undressed and prepped himself to wash up. All the dirt, sweat, and blood had started to irritate his nose, and the scent spread to his sheets. As he got his tunic off, he stared at the mirror, and back at himself. He had new scars lining his body, some on his chest, some on his arms, some even on his face. After a moment he looked down and sighed, stepping into the tub for a bath.
As he sat, surrounded by the water, he thought. For what seemed like an eternity, he was alone, and he contemplated whether or not it was truly best to continue going down the path he was headed. Over a month ago, it would've been an easy thing to answer. Now, however, the hero and the commoner were split evenly, and both wanted to go separate ways.
Link placed himself at his desk and held his pencil. Beneath his hands was his journal, and in it were lines of possible ideas. Some were scribbled out, some had little notations saying, 'think about more', and some were just there to get the stupid things out of his mind.
At the very bottom of the page was something different. It was to a friend. Link wanted to tear it off and burn it, but his conscience wouldn't let him. In small lettering, it read, 'Forgive me'.
For over an hour the teenager in green sat there in silence, mind struggling to come up with a decently fine plan. All he could think about was their plan. To bring Ganon back. Every time he played with the thought, it sent a chill down his spine.
The only sound that could be heard was the scratching of a pencil on paper. Every few minutes it'd resume, and then stop a few seconds later. Then the chair would creak and there'd be a soft 'hm'. Perhaps boots would shuffle, but other than that, it was unnervingly quiet.
Then there was a knock.
"Come in." Link said, keeping his attention on the journal. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the short, curled, red hair that only belonged to his mother. A smile crept onto the boy's face as he greeted her.
"Honey… I wanted to talk." Anju said, looking to her boy.
"Alright." Link replied softly, not thinking much of the prospect.
Anju opened the door further and slowly walked over to Link's bed. She made a mental note of the faint smell she picked up from it. Adjusting herself on the sheets, she folded her hands together and started to talk.
"Romani told me about yesterday. About how you saw… him. And you two fought." Anju began, averting her eyes. She hadn't a clue why, but she felt the need. Something about how she thought her son would react made her nervous.
"Oh…" Link's mood lessened. His own eyes gravitated to the floor and his voice became a mumble. "What else did she say?"
"Well…" The innkeeper grew more anxious. A little part of her told herself to leave the matter be. It'd solve itself and wouldn't be any kind of problem. But her motherly instincts begged to continue. It felt so familiar.
"She said that you had this- glint in your eyes… That it was almost hard to… r-recognize you." Anju said, her voice a little weary. She didn't want to delve into Link's personal affairs, even though she was his mother. While adoptive, the bond of mother and son had been established years ago, and it still kept strong. To Link, she was his mother, and to Anju, he was her son.
"M-Mom… I-I…" Link tried to explain, but the side that Anju was referring to kept hidden away deep inside his heart. It was a part of him he never thought he had, but it seemed to consume him with every minute he thought about his darker side.
"Baby, it's alright." Anju muttered, scooting a little closer to Link.
"Something… is…" Link didn't know exactly where he was going. "It's- It's the…" He felt helpless to explain himself, even if he knew exactly what he was feeling. "I don't know."
"The thing is, dear… I know that look." Anju admitted. She didn't dare see Link's reaction. She sighed before continuing. "You want revenge."
Link leaned back in the chair and looked at his hands. He didn't answer right away, taking time to collect his response. After a while, he opened his mouth. "I do."
"Link…" Anju started. She gave a stern but loving look to her son's somber eyes. "I know what it's like to feel that way. But you need to know… before you go and set out on revenge… first, you have to dig two graves."
Link refrained from tilting his head like he usually did when he was confused. He just stood from his chair and walked to his bed, sitting himself right next to his mother.
"One for your enemy, and one for yourself." Anju finished, putting her hand on Link's hand. Now he understood. A single tear fell down her cheek. All her thoughts from the past few days finally revealed themselves, and she quietly started crying.
Link, without a word, wrapped his arm around Anju's shoulder. He let her get her emotions out, glad that even he, a teenager, could give her that. For a long while, the innkeeper silently sobbed, overwhelmed with worry for her only son.
After a bit, Anju's sniffles and inhales grew further apart. Her breathing went back to normal, and she wiped her face with her sleeve. Her eyes, still red and watery, looked at her boy with a loving admiration.
"Just… are you ready to make that decision?" Anju finally said, mustering up the courage. Link simply looked at the floor, staring at the circles that lined each wooden board. He slowly nodded.
Anju rested her head on Link's shoulder again, fighting to not break out into more tears. She won the battle, but a part of her heart dropped when she saw her son nod.
"When you can do the things that I can do… but you don't…" Link said with a calm but valiant pride, staring off into space. He thought about his four years without the sword. "The bad things that happen afterwards… they're because of you."
"This mess happened because of me… so I need to end it. Even if it sees me getting my… you know." Link finished. At heart, he didn't like how it sounded. Something so personal was foreign to him, but he wanted to avenge his friend.
"I promise I'll do my best to come home, mom." Link looked Anju in the eyes and smiled weakly.
"Alright…" Anju said, giving Link another long hug.
The afternoon air felt almost blissful. Walking across the grass of Hyrule Field, Link had his eyes set on Death Mountain. He had to get another look at the place where he and Dark Link fought the day prior. Something was on his mind.
Entering Kakariko Village again, he immediately made his way towards the gat leading to the mountain. As soon as the guard standing post by the gate came into view, he smirked lightly.
"Morning." Link said casually. The guard reciprocated the smile and waved.
"Morning to you as well, Link. What brings you all the way here?" The guard put one hand on his hip and raised an eyebrow. The gesture, Link thought, looked amusing.
"Oh, I was just going to check on the Goron's. See if they need anything." Link chuckled as he tilted his head upwards to see the peak of the volcano.
"I see. Well, enjoy yourself." The guard gladly opened the gate, letting the Defender of Faith through and up the trail to Death Mountain. "Oh, and by the way…"
Link turned back to face the guard.
"You know Link the Goron?" The guard asked. The hero just nodded. "Tell him I said hello."
"Will do." Link replied, before turning to start the walk up the mountain trail.
Link's boots raked across the dirt path, the occasional pebble getting kicked out of the way. As he walked, the boy thought about the Spirit Temple. That infernal fortress that used to be a place of worship. Now, it was the dominion of evil, where that maniacal trio was planning his death.
Koume and Kotake. Ever since Link's first adventure in Hyrule came to a close, the witch sisters never crossed his mind. He thought he had vanquished them, but when dealing with time, he guessed that when he warned the kingdom of Ganondorf's deceit, their past selves hadn't been dealt with. The hero wished he hadn't been so careless. Perhaps if he hadn't gone back to his childhood, things would be better.
No! That couldn't be true! Link recalled all the things he'd accomplished after he was sent back by the princess. He'd gone to Termina, saved it from destruction, stopped the Garo Master, and almost settled down. All of that would be lost if he was never sent back. Those unruly thoughts were pushed aside as Link found comfort in Zelda's choice to give him his lost time. Even if the Zelda he knew now had no knowledge of that decision, he wanted to thank her as soon as he got the chance.
Before Link knew it, he was up the trail and at his feet was the descent towards Goron City. He elected to stay outside for now, just to be with his thoughts for a bit longer. Walking down the small decline, he turned and walked to that little alcove that oversaw the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern. The shoddily placed fence held a single bomb flower, which he decided to pluck and throw just for fun.
The bomb flower. That special plant had helped him dispatch Dark Link just before he tried to sooth his soul with the Song of Healing. It occurred to the boy that this plant had helped him quite a lot throughout his life. It was a shame that the plant couldn't be found in Termina.
As Link stood alone, he didn't hear the low rumble of a Goron rolling up. It stopped and was replaced by small footsteps, slowly getting closer to the hero.
"Hey there, Link!" Link the Goron said cheerfully. The sudden voice made the hero jump in surprise.
"Haha, sorry about that. I should have hollered when I first saw you." The Goron apologized and looked up to Link's face. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd stop by. See how everyone was doing." Link said, turning to face the Goron.
"Would you like to come inside? Everyone would be glad to see you!" Link the Goron told his counterpart. The offer sounded nice, so the boy in green agreed.
"Oh, the guard who usually stands post by the gate says 'hi'." Link said, making sure not to forget.
"Tell him I said 'hi' too! He's a kind fellow." The Goron held a high respect for that guard, as he was the first one to help him when he needed it the most. Something like that would never be forgotten.
Entering Goron City, the lively hominess made Link's mood increase. The faint but upbeat drums heard in the distance, the Goron's rolling around on the lower levels without a care in the world, and the smile he was greeted with. All these factors put the hero at ease.
"Has everything been alright since yesterday?" Link asked the Goron beside him.
"Yep! Things have mostly calmed down. Some are still a little on edge, but they're fine." Link the Goron replied, walking over to the staircase across from the entrance.
"Good. Very good." Link said with confidence.
"The perfect amount! You did well." Koume grinned at the bottle of blood Dark Link had extracted from his lighter half. That'd be all she needed to pave the way for the return of the King of Evil.
"You're welcome." Dark Link said indifferently. He simply looked unamused at everything around him, his mind on something he thought would be more fun.
Koume handed the bottle to Kotake, and she took a moment to examine it. The lid was capped tightly, none of the contents had spilled, and the blood itself hadn't separated. Giving it a light shake, she ensured it would stay that way. A part of her was filled with sadistic joy, ecstatic to start work on the ritual that would bring back the chaos. She flew up to a private platform to fetch a certain tome she'd need.
"Is anything the matter, dear?" Koume noticed the bored, expressionless look gleamed along Dark Link's face.
"Yes…" Dark Link muttered, his honesty being a little surprising. "I'm just… thinking about the other one. My other half."
"Oh, don't think about that fool. He'll be overcome with fear when he lays his eyes on Ganon once again." Kotake snapped from across the chamber, her voice echoing for long after her words finished.
"I am aware. It's only that… he truly thinks he's the righteous one. He's so blinded by his quest for revenge, it makes it seem like emotion is all that drives him." Dark Link said, thinking about the glint in the hero's eyes.
"Your point?" Koume asked.
"Well, it makes me wonder if all heroes are driven by emotion." Dark Link looked down at the floor.
"I think they likely are!" Kotake shouted from afar. Dark Link chuckled at her comment.
"Then surely we can use that against him. If he's so driven to avenge that little imp, then I'll be certain I remind him of that. If emotion is an easy tell, it'll be easy to abuse it." Dark Link finished, his neutral face becoming a large smirk. His blood-red eyes glowed slightly as the malicious thoughts filled his head, proving his malice to the sisters. It made them proud.
"I know they'll be coming here soon. In force. With whom, I could care less, but he'll definitely be searching for me." Dark Link predicted with an eerie confidence. He aimed to make sure Link would be unfocused, distraught, during their next confrontation, so a heartless idea slinked into his mind. "Give me a weapon that'll remind him of that imp!"
"Bold, aren't we?" Koume giggled. She pondered what to give the living shadow. There were a lot of choices, but her mind eventually settled on a certain idea. "I think I know a good thing to go with your sword."
"Lovely. What did you have in mind?" Dark Link asked, a little perplexed.
"You shall see, don't worry. Just make sure you've rounded up all of those puppets in the lower cells in order to match whatever forces the hero brings along." Koume asked, without any hint of politeness.
Dark Link nodded and exited the arena, making his way down to the holding chambers. Before he got to the door, he unsheathed the dark Gilded Sword and prepared to wash it after he was done. His way of 'encouraging' others was through more brutalist and demented means. All of which involved weaponry.
Link wondered just how many Gorons there were in Goron City. Every time he thought he introduced himself to the last one, another three would show up to shake his hand. His palm ached, but he didn't have the heart to tell them to ease up on the greetings.
Every Goron held a fine, jolly attitude towards the boy, even if he looked exactly like the one that had threatened their lives just the day before. They were a forgiving people.
Leaning on the railing that faced the large, clay statue of a Goron, Link took a deep breath. Everything about Goron City was nice. The people, the look, the sounds, all of it. It was a mystery as to why Darunia could be so sour all those years ago. The boy looked down to the little stone wall that blocked Darunia's former residence. That little rug that Navi seemed so fascinated in when he first visited, which hinted towards the song that would let him through.
Looking to the side, a strange splash of green color caught his eyes. The two bomb flowers were attached to the walls that provided the doorway to the shop. Strange how they could grow sideways. And to rocks no less.
Taking his mind off the flowers, Link walked down the stairs to go to the shop. He wanted a quick drink.
"Hello there!" The shopkeeper was eager to have a customer.
"Hello, I'll take a red potion, stirred lightly." Link said, giving the keeper one of his empty bottles to fill up. The request was a little odd, but the Goron complied.
"Here you go. Enjoy!" The Goron poured out, stirred, and handed the bottle back to his customer. Taking a long sip, Link enjoyed the taste of the fresh potion.
"Say, you do know that you have explosives right outside your shop, right?" Link asked about the bomb flowers as he lowered the bottle from his lips.
"Yes! Whenever I close up shop for a weekend, they help make sure I can keep everything secure!" The Goron happily explained the arrangement that was in place. The whole thing fascinated Link, who was glad to have something else besides problems on his mind.
"Wonderful things, aren't they?" Link nodded in response to the question. "Yeah… They can grow anywhere where there's rocks! Here, in the volcano, underground, even in the desert if you plant them there!"
The mention of the desert made Link freeze. Not in surprise or nervousness, but instead with curiosity.
"Anywhere?" Link asked, hoping he heard correctly.
"Anywhere with rocks, yeah." The shopkeeper repeated.
Link kept silent for a bit, lost in deep thought. The plan that he'd almost entirely put off popped back into his head, accompanied by a new piece of the puzzle.
"Excuse me. Thank you for the drink." Link dug into his wallet and paid the shopkeeper before leaving.
"Hey Link! What's up?" Link the Goron was happy to see the hero in green again.
"I need to ask you something." Link said with some sternness.
"What is it?" The Goron asked, a little perplexed.
"Is it true that those bomb flowers can grow anywhere where there's rocks and such?" Link pointed to the plants that were on the nearby wall. The Goron before him became a bit more confused.
"Yes, why?"
Link didn't respond right away. The thought was still brewing inside his head. It evolved into an insane idea that could still work. If they got the right amount of seeds and had enough time, it could lead to success. As it developed, it seemed more and more feasible. The boy's ambition broadened, and soon enough, he decided to follow through with it.
"Would you and your people be interested in an offer… to do a lot of good?" Link asked. The question came off as vague.
"What kind of good?" Link the Goron asked.
Link didn't know how to word it. It seemed crazy and reckless, but it bore a stem of possibility.
"Some gardening in the desert." Link said, smirking.
The front door to the house burst open, and Link dashed inside with a hurried look. Startled, Navi, Tatl, Tael, Jim, and Romani looked at their friend in confusion, wondering why he was so quick on his feet.
"Link? What's got you all riled up?" Tatl asked in her normal tone. She narrowed her eyes at her companion, sensing something was up.
"We have to get ready. Tomorrow morning, we're heading to the Spirit Temple." That was Link's response, and it made the concerns of all five listeners multiply tenfold.
"Grasshopper, what's going on?" Romani reached quickly and latched onto Link's hand, refusing to let go. The teen looked at the ranch woman with excitement. The sparks in his eyes were fully ablaze, and it made her smile.
"I have a plan. The Goron's are going to help us." Link said, pulling Romani in to hold both of her hands.
"What kind of plan?!" Jim leaped over the couch in an instant. He could tell the plan was forward and rash, but it was better than just wondering what the plan was. His own bandana became crooked as he dashed over to Link's side.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Navi chirped, with Tatl's ringing going off to ensure they caught the others' attention. Both fairies looked at the group, arms crossed. Noticing her brother wasn't with her, Tatl coughed before flying down and nudging Tael's shoulder.
"What are you planning?" Tatl asked, frowning. She didn't like to be left out of the important things.
Link took a second to fully collect his thoughts. Everything was going so fast, but with the Goron's agreeing to assist in the plan, he was far too excited to speak before now.
"I have a plan to finally beat them. The witches and the darkness. We just need to cause of damage to their hiding place." Link said. There was no better way to put it without overcomplicating things. "Tomorrow."
It was quiet for a moment. They had to process the idea.
"Grasshopper, are you sure?" Romani asked.
"Yeah. I can't do this without you all. I know… it's going to be risky, and dangerous, but we need to do this. For everyone. So… will you join me?" Link answered Romani's question with his own question.
"As long as we get to finish this for good!" Romani said, smiling wide. "They'll never know who's arrows hit them!"
"If I can use my new bomb bag, I'm down." Jim added, reaching into his bag and pulling out another bag. He looked inside carefully, smirking at the contents. "And if that cowardly shadow is there, I'm already pumped!"
Link chuckled. He turned his head to the fairies.
"Anything to keep them from hurting more people!" Tael nearly yelled. Link's excitement was starting to get to the purple fairy. Tatl scoffed, but when Navi spoke up to second Tael's affirmation, she felt helpless to object.
"Alright, let's do it. You'll need our help anyways, you big dork." Tatl flew over to Link's hat and leaned on it, looking cocky. The Hero of Termina and Time smiled the biggest smile.
"Well, then lets gather our things, eat good, rest, and go on a witch hunt." Link said. His voice oozed a sense of heroism, and everything fell into place.