Seeing All or Nothing

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Epilogue

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It was quiet in the throne room, which was usual when the king and queen were away during this time of the year, visiting the Gerudo queen, leaving Princess Zelda in charge. She sat on her mother’s throne- the one made of velvet and rimmed with gold lace and jewels the size of her thumb. Her hair was braided back, still shimmering in light that I couldn’t see. Beside her stood Impa- still as stone, eyes that bore into nothing but the wall opposite her.

“How do you think they are faring, Impa?” Zelda asked, voice jaded and callous, eyes half open.

The Sheikah shrugged, “Just as usual, I am sure.”

“They are running out of time,” the blonde didn’t seem fazed by her own words, “It has been too long.”

Impa was growing impatient with the eighteen year old, “Only two years has passed…”

“And nearly thirteen in theirs,” the princess snapped, glancing with narrowed eyes at the Sheikah.

Impa sighed, breaking her staring contest with the wall to shake her head in dismay.

“Where is my brother?” Zelda muttered, “I told him to return before sunset.”

“He hasn’t stepped foot in the forest since…” Impa trailed off, knowing she couldn’t win the argument she had been fighting over for the past year. Since he ran away.

The double oak doors that led into the throne room creaked open a little more than a foot. The soldiers near didn’t move the slightest, looking like the stone statues they stood next to. Protect the Royal Family was scrolled in ancient Hylian below the Griffin, gleaming in gray light.

“Brother,” Zelda’s voice echoed through the hall, and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling quivered, “Where have you been? I was so worried.” Impa suppressed the urge to roll her eyes like she always did when the princess couldn’t see.

The blonde’s hair was frazzled, clothes wrinkled and stained with grass. He smiled half-heartedly. There were dark circles around his eyes. He glanced around the room, eyes passing the darkest corner of the hall before resting upon Zelda. He stuffed something in his back pocket, and advanced forward on the royal blue carpeting- the one void of rips or bloodstains for the past two years. I marveled at that.

He motioned with his hands, telling her he was sorry that he was late. An old lady along the trail had dropped her groceries and he had stopped to help her. He was lying, I could tell. He was too busy searching for something, and Zelda knew it, too. By the look in her eyes, I could tell she was pondering what to do. Instead, I didn’t focus on it anymore because whenever I did, I would remember. She was a coward then, and was still; she even had to keep her guard up around Link, no matter how imprisoned he was in Hyrule, how helpless he would be if it was just him against the family that forced him to stay.

I left the room quietly, unnoticed like always.

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Each time my fingers blended with the stone, I feared it would stay there- as if I would solidify and have my hand stuck in a bunch of stone. But it didn’t happen that way, I mean, how could it? I couldn’t feel the texture of the rock, the coldness that should have seeped into my skin. There were no indents whenever I tried to scratch the rock, only a few grains would loosen and glide to the floor, unperturbed by me, only by time.

And with time, the castle aged, the people living in it did as well. Those on the outside world had grown and aged and even died as well; the world was changing, without me. I couldn’t remember faces or sounds or smells, only those that I had seen or felt or even tasted on that day. It didn’t change; that was all. Everyday, it ran through my head. I saw Kenny, eyes watering, holding onto this lifeless form with skin that seeped in black because of this scar that overcame it, and killed it. There was this blonde boy, about my age, grabbing hold of this Sheikah’s collar, forcing him to stand- to run. The Hylian soldiers, dressed in armor of silver and gold and black, would kill them all if they didn’t run. Behind the blonde boy was another, with brown hair instead of black. He held a vial in his hand, with liquid as crystalline as the blade of my sword- the one that sat up in the tallest tower of the castle, broken.

So they ran, stumbling out in distress where a girl with shimmering hair and wings waited. Instead of a smile that would have lit up the room, she was grimacing, just as the brunette behind her. The soldiers were closing in on them; the word traitors still fresh on their lips. But they jumped out the window, glass shattered, scattering on the smooth marble tile. They fell in the moat, cold and wet just like before. I only assumed a couple of them made it, and some had stayed- or had been caught trying to escape.

One sat in his room, up in the second tallest tower, where he usually had to be in the afternoon if he wasn’t allowed in the courtyard. House arrest, he had murmured to the thick air filled with dust and more dust.

I reached over to him, fingers stretched as far as they could go, but I never touched. He glanced toward his shoulder, where my fingers should have been. I could only see that same horror-stricken face, the beads of sweat that had dotted his forehead from anticipation to escape. I pulled away, wishing I could give him some air. There was a small window adjacent to the wall with the door, raggedy blue curtains covering the light that should have seeped in. But I couldn’t touch those either.

“I have the mirror,” he mouthed, but to whom I didn’t know; I watched his mouth form the words anyway, “Kenny said he would buy this for you, remember?”

If my heart still raced it would have. Why would he talk to me? Had he heard me, screaming in distress for what happened, what could have happened?

“He gave me money to buy it…” He stood up from the bed, and reached for something in his pocket. It was a velvet pouch, a little lengthy but the item inside must have been longer. He undid the tie and slipped the item out. I winced, and it had been forever since I had winced for something.

It was familiar, and not in the way that made me wish I hadn’t seen it. A mirror, rimmed with small mosaic tiles the color of the rainbow, stood awash in light that I never knew existed. It jumped out, more than anything, and so did Link. His eyes alighted in it; a deep, sharp blue I had forgotten.

Link, my mind whispered it over and over. His head snapped up, eyes wide with shock. I called his name again. His hands shook.

“Jade?” he mouthed, eyes frantic and searching.

I’m here, I’m here. What’s that mirror supposed to do? My voice was hard to distinguish from the reality he lived in. But when he stumbled for his notepad and pencil, I knew he had heard me- in what way, I wasn’t sure.

“He said it would help, I don’t know what else.” He scrawled, penmanship messier than I last remembered. He was fumbling so bad that he couldn’t even form voiceless words with his mouth anymore.

I nodded in understanding, and then stopped when I grasped the fact that he couldn’t see me. Instead, I outstretched my hand toward the mirror, glowing like millions of tiny prisms in the sunlight. The mosaics were smooth, the glass mirror even smoother than that. Looking through it, I saw my reflection: brown eyes, pale skin, matted dark hair. And everything came tumbling down. The humid air washed over me, suffocating me enough that I began to convulse in a raspy cough, and then the weight of gravity settled in, the texture of the air, the rough feel of reality.

A warm hand clamped onto mine, and I jumped away, falling to the floor. In that instant, I let go of the mirror, unable to see my reflection any longer. Everything swirled away, the hard stone of the floor gone. Link collapsed next to me, resting on my leg. He jumped away, eyes wide. His pale, gray form shivered uncontrollably, as he rested his back against the wall, gray and cold like him, like everything else.

“Jade,” his lips quivered, “Where’d you go?”

I backed away from him, eyes unfocused. Beside the bed was the mirror, still gleaming. Surreal. The glass was cracked, my reflection gone.

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“And what do you say we do, now?” Impa’s voice echoed as she paced Zelda’s oversized bedroom, nearly six times the size of Link’s.

The princess sighed, tapping her fingers on her forehead as she sunk deeper into her feather-soft mattress, pillows the size of her small form enveloping her further. “What should we do?” Zelda sighed, stretching her elegant arms over her head. For once I didn’t remember her fierce gaze, those smoldering blue eyes that had stared me down. I saw what she would do, if she got her way.

“Neus is heading here, now,” Impa stated, “With the entire family at our disposal. If you have no action to stop this charade, then I have nothing more than to send a message to the King telling him you are unfit to rule.”

Zelda sat up, expression furious, “You wouldn’t dare!”

Impa grimaced, “Watch me.”

And the Sheikah stormed out the door, exactly where I stood. She passed through me; I gasped, coldness prickling up my spine like pins and needles. The Sheikah stopped in her tracks, shoulders rigid.

“What?” Zelda hissed, jumping off her bed, nightgown swaying along with her, “Did you forget to add some more insults?”

Impa craned her neck toward the blonde, gaze reaching just above where my head should have been, “No. I just forgot to tell you that you have a ghost in your room. And it isn’t very please. But, I should have guessed, you haven’t had a good night’s rest in over two years.”

Zelda’s eyes widened, mouth gaping, the realization that I was actually here killing her insides. The Sheikah slammed the door behind her, a smirk quirking her lips.

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“They have arrived, Your Highness,” Cal announced, after he had kneeled in front of the princess in his heavy armor.

Zelda smiled, “Bring them in.”

Cal nodded ever so slightly, then stood up. Motioning behind him to the two soldiers, the oak doors swayed open, sending an unnatural breeze that passed through me like everything else- even that fly I had tried to swat away during the beginning of summer that first year.

Standing there was Neus. Next to her was Ariella; both holding grim expressions unfamiliar with the likes of myself. Their faces were haggard, circles around their eyes, backs drooping. As they moved forward, I could see those behind them- the ones conned into entering the real world with them. I wasn’t exactly familiar with all the faces, but I recognized Leander and Zeus, still as grim as the two before them. The other three were soldiers, helmets off, the weather too hot for it, as they carried motionless bodies into the throne room.

“Finally,” Zelda murmured, standing up. I snuck up behind her, glancing at the sword in its hilt from where it rested against the armrest. “It took you thirteen mortal years to find the child,” the princess sneered, “Any longer and I would have placed you all as dead.”

Neus stepped forward, wings glittering in ashen gray mist. “The boy was hard to find, Your Majesty…”

“The parents…” Ariella began, glimpsing toward two fallen forms on the carpet. The boy was still in the soldier’s grasp, head lolling. “Took up a fight.”

Zelda glided toward the parents, leaning forward every so slightly to glare at them. “They look familiar… How is this?”

Zeus glanced at Leander, a smirk lighting his tiresome features for a split second.

“Is that so?” Neus voiced, an unfamiliar edge in her tone.

Zelda glared at the two for a moment, before returning to the couple. She kicked the father in the stomach, lolling him on his back.

I froze then, eyes unable to tear away.

He looked nothing like I remembered- hair shorter, circles around his eyes, taller, muscular, older. Thirteen years older.

Kado...

“Ah, the human,” Zelda mused, before turning to the mother… the mother…He had a kid… There was a ring on his left ring finger…He was married… The woman’s face was more haggard, hair long, clothes wrinkled like her husband’s. I doubted they would go without a fight, and they hadn’t- not at all.

Isabella, a voice sneered in my head.

“I should have known,” Zelda drawled, walking toward Neus and Ariella. They lowered their heads, avoiding the princess’s gaze. “You two found the boy, congratulations, and brought the parents, as well… You are free to go. Don’t return to the castle, or I’ll have the soldiers kill you on the spot.”

Ariella mumbled something under her breath, glancing at Zeus. He took her hand, squeezing it lightly. Zelda narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the two.

“Love,” the princess sighed, “So unpredictable. Who would have known those two would have a chance- when grief gripped his heart.”

Neus sneered, “It was your doing; they weren’t meant…”

“Silence,” Zelda snapped, turning to the fairy, “I have granted you freedom, pixie, and this is how you repay me…? Guards, have these free immortals removed from my sight before I change my mind.”

“You can’t do this!” Zeus exclaimed, as gauntleted hands gripped his arms, “Leave the parents be.”

Zelda smirked, turning around on her heels, back facing them. Neus could see it, the forged remorse once present on the princess’s face no longer there. She tore away from the guard that held her, reaching for the dagger that rested in the folds of her dress. But she didn’t get far, when the soldier groped her translucent, glowing wing. She cried out in pain and exasperation, swirling around on the balls of her feet, dagger flying into the soldier’s neck. He cried out, stopping mid to finish off in a gurgle, and released her wing.

“Neus!” Ariella screamed, elbowing the soldier in the abdomen, trying to writhe away. But it was too late. The soldier with the dagger sticking from his neck, blood pouring from the wound, fell to his knees, eyes heaving upward. He died before his head hit on the floor, his soul rising up, eyes as hollow as the Griffins lining the throne room.

“Have her executed at dawn,” Zelda said, voice uninterested as if one of her men hadn’t just been killed, “And make sure they all see it, including the mortals- as a lesson.”

And they were led away, into the lowest part of the castle, where sunlight didn’t reach, where rats scurried and fought for rotting human flesh, where the mortar that held the stone together still looked fresh, but smelled like mold and dirt and feces.

“What shall we do with the boy, Your Highness?” Cal finally spoke, eyes distant, lips held in a grim line.

It was quiet for a few seconds, as thoughts raced through the girl’s head. “Take him to the place where we have prepared for him, up in the tower, undisturbed for the rest of the night. Make sure His Highness stays away.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” And they were led away, other than the Oren family.

They were dragged away.

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It was my entire fault- all mine. If I hadn’t been such a bitch to him, hadn’t turned him away when he had needed me the most. Maybe I wouldn’t have lost my concentration, had turned my back on Impa, and had let that damn sword get to me. It was my fault- entirely.

He wouldn’t have aged thirteen years, maybe he wouldn’t have had to go through this hell, had to marry Isabella…unless he was happy. But he was unconscious, next to his wife. I glanced at her wedding ring, the sparkling diamond ring. There was nothing I could do. He looked happy, at least, I thought he did. Maybe he was happy with her, and I would have thought as much, since they had a thirteen year old kid with them.

But I still didn’t like it- that feeling that pulled at my invisible heartstrings. A kid… And how long had they been married? How long after I'd been dead did he knock her up? How long after that did he propose?

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“I can’t believe it’s broken,” the Sheikah’s voice resounded through the walls, reaching my hearing from all the way to the throne room. Even the servants’ voices couldn’t deter me from hearing him.

I could see him now, lounging on the wooden rocking chair, holding the broken mirror in his hand while he gazed into it. Link sat on the bed, looking ashamed.

“How do we see her, now? We won’t be able to help her,” Kenny shook his head, running a hand through his hair, “What do we do, Link?”

The blonde shrugged, glancing at the mirror. It looked less bright, glowing in the iridescent, unnatural light that I couldn’t see, and maybe never.

“They’ve found the boy,” Kenny sighed, eyes turning to Link, “Do you know who the parents are?”

Link shook his head in a negative gesture, looking curious still.

The Sheikah sighed, slumping his shoulders, “Jade would hate this…” Link leaned forward, lips parted, “Kado, apparently. And Isabella.”

Link’s eyes widened, mine would have narrowed if I remembered to. Instead I screamed, irritated.

“Did you hear that?” Kenny asked, eyes wide, as he searched the room.

Link shook his head again. No…

He was too busy thinking about the fact that he’d finally seen me, again- in over two years.

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Usually when you have a haunting, there’s a reason to it. A few years of watching ghost shows and I’d say I’m an intelligent haunting… No, not like that. But I know who’s there, and who’s not, and what’s going on. I can scare the shit out of you, or I can help you- depends if I like you or not. I admit, I get a kick out of scaring you, but being what I am, and only able to materialize the best after a thunderstorm isn’t so much fun. You can guess why I’m such a moody being. And I’m no floating orb, if you’re wondering. I can even be a silky if I wanted to be one, but I’m not. I’m a ghost.

And when there’s a ghost, it means something. Did I say that already…? Maybe, but I can’t exactly see my own brain…or my head…or my entire body for that matter. So my IQ may have gone down. I’ve even tried walking through walls- and it’s worked! But I’ve only once seen myself in the last two or so years, and that chance is shattered, literally. So, I’m stuck haunting the castle along with a few other ghosts too stupid to know where they are, repeating the moment they died. A residual haunting, if you were wondering. I stay clear away from them, knowing that my own memories of the day I died were enough to keep me moaning in grief for hours, sitting in Zelda’s or Impa’s room, hoping they heard me crying out, knowing I wouldn’t let it down until I felt peace.

I wasn’t the only ghost haunting them, and I certainly wouldn’t be the last. Of course, I’d say I would be the first to get some real payback. That boy up in that tower was going to live a life imprisoned in a world he didn’t know, wondering why he had a scar all along his body, why every time he met a Sheikah, or simply saw one- he would feel this gnawing coldness forcing him to do something he would never do.

I wouldn’t let it happen, ever.

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His name wasn’t exactly scrawled on his baseball jersey, other than his last name- Oren. He looked like a younger version of his father: messy hair, curved nose, freckles. I wanted to lift his eyelids, see the color of his eyes, but then I remembered- I couldn’t see color anyway.

The boy’s breathing was slow, even- chest rising and falling, a peaceful look on his features. I was hoping he was having pleasant dreams.

“So, this is the kid,” a soft murmur that made me jump, knocking the chair that I had been standing by onto the floor. “Who’s there?” Kenny asked, voice low.

But I stared at the chair, shocked. It just wasn’t possible, I could never have…

“Jade?” He kneeled to the floor, placing his hand on the cold stone, “Give me another sign…please…”

I can’t… It was hopeless…

Minutes past, and he gave up, sitting on the floor. I placed my hand on his arm, wishing more than ever that he could see me, feel me there as solid as himself, as the kid. There had to be another way.

“Jade,” his gaze had fallen on his arm, “the mirror’s broken…”

Yeah, I know…

He smirked, shaking his head a little, “But…I think there’s another way.” I pulled away from him. The smirk disappeared, his twenty-year old face looking more and more like his brother’s.

How? How?? I repeated over and over again until he answered.

“You remember the game, right?” He whispered, gaze shifting to the boy. For a moment I thought he meant the dream, my dream. But, that hadn't been what he meant. Not at all. “And I won’t lie to you. I hope you’re listening…”

I am, yeah, tell me, I snapped. I hoped he felt the impatience somewhere in the air.

“It’s…” he stopped mid-sentence, a small groan cutting him off. He disappeared into the shadows, the words caught in his throat. But I could finish it for him, as easily as if I could read his mind.

…The Lens of Truth…

The thing was- how do you find something that's been missing for centuries?

A questioning whimper escaped the boy's lips, breaking through my thoughts, as his eyes fluttered open to meet his fate. And I made a promise then and there, that I would undoubtedly be there to greet him.

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Fin

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Well, there it is, guys. What a relief, neh? Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did writing it. Thank you for all your guys’ reviews throughout and for those who’ve stuck around until the end. I love you guys and you’re all totally awesome!

I’ve got one last little, itty, bitty favor to ask: if you guys can review this epilogue, tell me what you all think. And I’m asking all of you- those who’ve alerted, faved, or just stuck around and read to see what happened next. Tell me what you think, what I can improve in, what you liked, what you would love to see more of or never again, and any questions at all, or more stuff you would love to see in the prequel. Advanced critique is loved so just click on that lil’ blue or purple or whatever button below and review and I’ll definitely get back to you. Stay posted for the prequel, savvy? Until next time.

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