Chapter Text
Link surfaced from the lake with a gasp, the wind cool against his wet hair. He swam to the surface, trying not to think of how strange Rauru’s arm felt. It worked like his had, bending and flexing when he wanted it to, but the strange sensation of wearing another person’s appendage almost made him wish that the limb would disobey him, if only to make up for the strange sense of surreal that he hadn’t been able to shake since waking up in the cave.
Thoughts of the arm brought him back to thoughts of Zelda, of Ganondorf, of what had happened–
Link forced the thoughts from his mind, setting off for Hyrule Castle. It floated above the ground in a haze of dark red smoke, sinister against the night sky.
He tried not to think of that either.
As he drew closer, he gazed with somewhat apprehension at the new wooden construction in front of the Castle. Wearily, he drew out his decayed sword, gripping it tightly in his hand as he approached.
At the entrance, however, was a friendly face.
“Drozer?” Link said with caution, not yet sheathing his sword.
“Link? Link, is that really you?” Drozer replied, a note of incredulousness in his voice. “I don’t believe it! Is Princess Zelda with you?”
Link swallowed down the heavy rush of emotion: guilt, regret, loss. He shook his head, his unbound hair flying in his face. “Where’s Purah?” He asked instead of answering the question.
Drozer pointed over his shoulder. “She should be in there, but, Link, what happened?”
Link was already walking away. His thoughts had grown dark and cloudy with Drozer’s question. In vain, he had somewhat been hoping that Zelda were here already. That she was the one who had built this place.
Behind his eyes, the image of Zelda falling into the pit flashed across his vision. He winced, placing his palm against his forehead. Something heavy settled in his gut, filling his head with a cloud of dark thoughts and his stomach with nausea.
Link quickly found Purah, though, and bore her shock at seeing him alive.
“Where’s Zelda?” She asked, and Link couldn’t take it anymore. He dropped to the ground, leaning his back against the walls of her lab.
“I don’t know,” he said, ignoring the painful vision of her hand slipping through his. “We– we got separated.”
Purah put her hands up to her mouth, then slowly came to sit next to Link. “What happened?” She asked quietly. “You look terrible. And what is going on with your arm?”
“I lost it,” Link replied, pulling it out of reach of her science-minded poking and proding. He knew Purah well enough to know that she wouldn’t be able to restrain her curiosity for long. “And I found a new one.”
“How?”
A bone deep weariness settled into Link’s skin. “Long story. Tell me what I have to do to fix this.”
“Your arm?”
“This,” Link gestured to the Castle, rising to his feet. He clenched and unclenched his fists, restless to be moving, to do something.
“Well, there’s the matter of the depths, and the sky islands, and all of the strange happenings in the four regions, but, Link, I really think you should rest first.”
“What are the depths?”
“Link, look at you,” Purah demanded. “You’re thin and pale and tired-looking. You need to sleep, you need rest. When was the last time you’ve eaten something?”
Link didn’t bother trying to answer the question. “I’ve slept for weeks, Purah. I have to do something. I have to start trying to fix this mess. The sooner we do, the sooner–”
He cut himself off before he finished the sentence. The sooner we know what happened to Zelda.
Purah sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Fine. I will tell you everything, but only if you sit down and have something to eat with me. I’m famished and you look half-dead.”
Link agreed, but only managed a few bites. He was hungry, but his stomach clenched with the knowledge of just how much had gone wrong. He pushed his plate away feeling sick.
Purah’s eyes traced the movement, but she told him everything regardless.
~~~
Link stood in the depths, his head spinning. The red mist around him was burning painfully beneath his skin, sapping his strength by the second. His missing arm was practically screaming in agony.
“What did you say you were calling this?” He asked in a strained voice. The researcher next to him stiffened.
“Uh, Gloom, Sir.”
Link didn’t bother to correct the researcher’s formalities like he usually would have. He just stared at the darkness of the depths, feeling empty and hollow. He pointed at an orange light in the distance. “What do you call that?”
“None of us have gone near it, Sir,” the researcher replied, his voice quavering slightly.
Link set out toward it, fueled by desperate desire. The researcher stumbled after him, shouting about Robbie, but Link didn’t look back. Eventually, the researcher let out a small shriek at the sight of Gloom and halted in his tracks.
Link looked up at the softly glowing orange bulb as he neared it, his vision fuzzy from the Gloom exposure. He paused to catch his breath, leaning against the roots of the bulb.
A soft sound caught his attention. He looked up to see a teal handprint like the ones from the sky island on the underside of the bulb. Cautiously, Link reached up toward it.
A bright burst of light emanated from the bulb, and Link dropped to the ground, almost overwhelmed at the sudden feeling of Gloom drifting from his body.
“Link! Are you alright?”
“F-fine,” Link said through his teeth. He felt sick and shaky, fighting to keep down the food Purah had forced him to eat earlier. He staggered to his feet, locking his knees to hide their shaking.
“Where have you been? What are you wearing? What happened to your arm? Where’s Zelda?”
Link just looked away, a cold feeling settling over his body. “I don’t know,” he said.
He closed his eyes, remembering Zelda’s hand slipping through his, remembering the moment he’d almost, almost had her in his arms, safe and sound. He bit down on his lip, fighting the urge to sob.
“I don’t know,” he said again.