Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda... NOT YET!

A/N: Err… I haven't updated this fic in a LONG time… Thanks to everyone for the kind reviews . Enjoy!

The Darkness Within

Written by: Pinguicha

Chapter Two: Disturbs

Night reigned when Zelda laid on her bed, her eyes shut tight. The Hyrule Castle was a quiet place at night… as was the entire Kingdom. It was said that at night, creatures haunted the green fields of Hyrule, searching for reckless people to kill or simply scare. But besides that, nothing happened. That night, however, Zelda felt something different. Something disturbing the natural balance of the Hylian lands. The Princess's eyes shot open in a mixture of surprise and fear.

Goddesses, what is this disturbing presence I'm feeling? It's as if a once pure being has been corrupted by hate and now haunts the Lands searching for vengeance! she thought and sat on her bed. She meditated every single night and not in a single one of those nights she had felt what she was feeling now. Getting up from the bed, Zelda walked to the small jaded basin she had on her room. The Princess dripped some water on the basin from the jug next to it and looked at the liquid. The water reflected her face like a mirror, and Zelda could see how tired she looked; there were dark circles around her eyes that seemed to stain her pale skin; and, truth to be said, her eyes had looked brighter before. Now they seemed to have lost their usual brightness, as if life had been drawn from them; the corners of her mouth were twisted in a sad way and her skin now seemed the one of a ghost: pale, transparent and lifeless.

Just how did I end up like this? she asked herself, Is this new loss of balance in the lands disturbing me so much that it's changing my body into a ghostly version of what it used to be?. She splashed water all over her face, as if hoping to clean all ghostly traces of her face, of her soul.

But it didn't do anything. She knew it wouldn't. Nothing had been the same since he had gone away and left nothing but an ache in her heart.

Her ghostly reflection looked back to her, Oh, Nayru, is this an image of what I look like now? Or is this just an image of how I'll look like in the future? Please, give me a sign! But nothing moved. Sighing, the Princess sat on her bed again and closed her eyes, falling asleep instantly.

Link remembered that before, when he was looking for the Spiritual Stones, creatures haunted the Hylian Fields. For what, he didn't know. He had never listened to their cries when he killed them. Not that he cared about it. Those creatures were evil and needed to be destroyed. They were Stalchilds. Small stalfos that would have killed him if he didn't kill them first.

Maybe that was what turned you into a killer… He said to himself. Everyday he asked himself if he really was a killer. He only had killed to survive, nothing else. But she… she had made it different; he remembered that when he killed Ganondorf, he had felt satisfaction. He felt happy. And even though he told himself he'd only killed the King of Evil to save Hyrule, he knew it was different: he had killed Ganondorf because it'd satisfy him.

He was a killer now. And it was all her fault; Zelda's fault. And she'd pay for that.

"Thicker with corruption, Sage."

"Yes…Why's that?"

"He has returned, Sage… But he's different now. No longer he carries the innocence of a child nor the pureness of heart he once possessed."

"How did that happen?"

"He's twisted… All's twisted inside him."

"Isn't there a way to stop this? From what the others told me, this will cause a great disturbance, and balance will be destroyed."

"Yes, that is right."

"What must be done?"

"Find a greater good to fight his evil or return him to his former self. Either way will be hard, but those are your choices."

"Very well. I'll go warn the others."

"Farewell, Sage…"

A/N: Once again, I'm sorry I haven't updated in months. I'm also sorry for the shortness of this chapter; I'll try to write longer ones after this.

As always, please review!