underFlorence

Hey! This is something a little different! A fanfiction! Note that I’m taking a lot of diversions from canon here—you might notice some events described here won't line up with the canon; I intentionally did that because I felt it better suited to this story.

Link felt helpless. Like a total failure. He’d climbed Hyrule Castle all the way to the top, only to find out he was just barely too late. Agahnim was already there, the princess unconscious before him. Or maybe he was just in time, and the wizard had been waiting for his arrival for days now, wanting to get his evil monologue underway—be it to break the hero’s spirit or just because he liked the sound of his own voice so much. Link couldn’t relate to that. He didn’t have much to say to Agahnim, so he stayed silent. He’d never had much to say to anyone, so he’d stayed silent. He’d always been that “silent boy”, though after his eighteenth birthday he’d become “a man of few words”—not that he’d ever liked either term very much. Not that anyone had ever asked him if he liked those terms.

The princess disappeared into thin air right in front of Link, and he once again cursed himself for having been too late. Not that he hadn’t tried to save her, of course. She’d been right in front of him, messy hair framing closed eyes. He could’ve just jumped between her and the sorcerer. He could’ve taken out his bow and shot an arrow at Agahnim. He could’ve done all these things and more if he’d been able to move. As soon as he’d entered the room and registered the situation, his entire body froze up. Not out of fear, although that was Link’s first instinct. No, it must have been some vile spell to freeze his muscles in place; maybe an invisible barrier all around Link’s body. In either case, Agahnim was sure to flaunt this situation over Link with a mind-numbingly long monologue. Not that it really mattered, it went into one of Link’s ears and out the other. No use giving a power-hungry traitor like him any more attention than what would be necessary to disarm him. 

After the usurper finally finished boasting, the spell over Link’s body subsided. The newfound freedom immediately made him collapse in on himself, his muscles not used to the fact that they were functional again. When he got up again, shaky muscles struggling to support his weight, the room was empty. He would’ve turned around on the spot, shameful of his failure, if it weren’t for him noticing the slightest breeze in the curtains on the other end of the room. He went to investigate, slowly pulling them aside and seeing an open balcony.

At first he was overwhelmed by what he saw. Sure, Link knew what Hyrule looked like. He’d seen its fields and forests and cliffs. He’d studied his map for many hours while resting at a campfire, plotting out the best route to take through the expansive region. But he’d never seen the complete thing. He’d never seen this. Before he even realized it, he’d already dashed all the way to the railing to marvel at the view. He’d never seen the way Death Mountain loomed over the horizon, taking up a gigantic portion of the view. He could see the Sanctuary, this landmark that had always been gigantic to him now a tiny speck before the mountain range. He craned his neck over to the side, and almost out of view he could see it: his uncle’s house, the place he’d grown up in. Memories of his humble beginnings dashed back to him.

However, when he looked over to that side of the balcony, he caught something else out of the corner of his eyes. A bright red cloak. Agahnim. His hands conjuring up a spell, gathering power. A ball of pure concentrated energy coming his way. Running on pure instinct, he turned around. The motion was so swift his hat fell right off, the breeze carrying it away from the balcony. Soon it was no more than a dot amidst the breathtaking view. He raised his shield to block the orb, thankful for his training. At the end of the day, these magical projectiles had never been anything more than slower, rounder arrows. And he’d been trained to block those until it all came naturally, even when half of his brain had been busy reminiscing about his uncle. The soldiers roaming Hyrule Field and the castle—former instructors, former classmates, former role models—had made sure that Link would never forget. If he had, he’d have died long, long ago.

And so, the slow, round arrow moved towards him, his shield still covering its path. He stood firmly, his boots pressed against the ground. He knew that even if such magical orbs moved slowly, they could still pack a punch and knock a trained soldier back as if they’d been hit by a boulder. He braced for impact. The orb hit his shield, and Link almost stumbled forward because the impact he’d been bracing for wasn’t there. And then, the orb appeared through his shield. Shocked, Link couldn’t help but watch as the ball appeared from the shield. The inside of the shield. It was as if to the magical projectile, his shield simply didn’t exist.

The orb went right through his tunic—not that he’d expect it to do much good protecting him now that the ball had pierced his shield—and as it made contact with his skin, he cried out in agony. It burned. It burned so, so much. Link had become acquainted with fire before. A few stray fire arrows had made its way past his defenses in the past, and being hit by those was awful. Plus, they’d always, without fail, ruin his tunic. The Zora’s fire magic, the closest analogy Link could think of, was all the burning of fire arrows with none of the piercing. It’d burn his skin until it was beet-red and it hurt to touch it or move it or even look at it, and only a potion could make that pain bearable. He’d soon learned to avoid bodies of water unless absolutely necessary.

But this? This was the Zora’s magic with none of the impact but all of the fire and more. Usually, getting hit by a fireball meant an immediate burst of pain and trying to figure out in the aftermath how to treat it. Agahnim’s magic, however, didn't burst. There was no explosion of sparks, no. That would at least mean the impact would be over quickly. This orb didn’t scatter, it didn’t disperse, it didn’t explode. It went through Link’s body at an agonizingly slow pace, burning his insides in a straight line, and it just didn’t end. It kept on burning and burning, but it was inside of him and he didn’t even dare move out of fear the fireball would move with him. He just stood there, shield firmly held in front of him, legs set apart to absorb any impact, in the defensive stance of Hyrulean soldiers, and yet he was utterly defenseless.

After what felt like hours but was likely mere seconds, the fireball finally left his body. The source of the burning may have disappeared, but the pain persisted. With the initial shock gone, Link fell to his knees, grasping the wounded area. He looked up at Agahnim only to find him grin that signature cocky smile of his that the wizard loved to flaunt. Panicking, Link’s hands went into his bag, rummaging around for a fraction of a second and producing a glass bottle filled with a viscous red liquid. He hastily popped the cork and gulped it down in record time. As soon as the potion hit his taste buds, he could feel the pain subsiding. Far from gone, it was still there in the back of his head, a grim reminder of the fact that he’d need to actually treat the wound soon. The temporary vitality from the potion would wear off in a few hours, and if he hadn’t done something about this injury by then he’d regret it. He carefully stored the bottle in his bag before getting up again and facing Agahnim.

The foul wizard was already preparing another spell, the now all-too familiar energy gathering in his hands. Link wasn’t gonna let him get another spell off. With newfound energy, Link took off and dashed towards the cloaked man at speeds that surprised even himself. While running, he stole a look down at his own body, a circular hole burned into his tunic. Behind it was scarred skin, and Link had to look away before he’d throw up. This was worse than even the worst of the burns he’d gotten from the Zora. In just a few seconds, he came face-to-face with Agahnim, a look of bewilderment written all over the sorcerer’s face in place of the cocky grin. Holding his trusty sword in both hands, he observed his foe. He’d used his hands to channel the orbs, so he figured that would be a fitting target for a strike. He readied himself, went into a stance that was now second nature to him and sliced at Agahnim’s shoulder.

A smile crept over the wizard’s lips. Link’s sword connected with him. A spark of electricity jumped from Aghanim’s cloak onto the sword. It wandered down the sword before dashing from the handle onto his hands. A surge of electricity jolted throughout Link’s body. His muscles spasmed. A clang of metal hitting the ground. Then another. Then a softer thud as Link tumbled onto the floor. He tried to get up, but whenever he tried to steady an arm to lift himself up, he’d feel his muscles spasming again. A meaty hand grabbed his neck, pinning him to the ground. He could hear Agahnim monologuing again, likely something about Link’s upcoming destruction. Link didn’t give him the time of day. Link’s eyes darted over the ground, trying to find a way out. To the left, his sword, just an arm’s reach away. To the right, his shield, roughly the same distance from him. And, of course, right in front of him was Agahnim. Instinct told him to grab his sword. However, then he recalled the spark. Had that cloak been enchanted to electrocute anything that came into contact with it? Or did he put up a magical shield around him? In either case, he had a feeling that direct hits would be useless at best and self-destructive at worst.

His eyes wandered to his shield, almost as an afterthought. It had been utterly useless so far. At this rate, his best strategy would be just throwing it at the wizard if it wasn’t going to help him defensively. It took him a few seconds to realize this might actually be a decent idea. If he wasn’t touching his weapon when it made contact, he hopefully wouldn’t get shocked. He turned his look up at Agahnim, who was currently facing away from him, arms outstretched, likely at the conclusion of some self-important speech. Link considered that to be the best chance he was gonna get. He carefully reached his arm out to grab the shield, holding it firmly by its side. He considered the best way to throw it. He wouldn’t have much space to get a decent shot, considering that he was currently being pinned to the ground. As such, Link decided to aim for the elbow currently holding him captive. With any luck, the wizard would at least be surprised enough to release the grip on his neck. He gripped the shield, wound back as far as he could and released it at the arm gripping his head, or at least what he assumed to be the general direction of it.

Link’s aim was off; the weapon collided with his foe’s arm lower than he’d anticipated. He could hear a “zap!” and a spark flew onto the shield, frozen in midair next to the sorcerer’s forearm. The spark wandered over the shield, this time not finding Link’s arm to jump onto. Instead, it journeyed back around to Agahnim’s arm, making him cry out in pain before releasing his grip. Immediately, Link pulled himself up, his own spasms thankfully having subsided. There still seemed to be static roaming through the shield, so he decided to only grab the sword. As soon as he could feel its grip in his left hand, he turned on the spot and dashed back, gaining some distance from his opponent. His breathing was strained; the electricity that had run through him must have had a bigger impact than he would’ve thought.

Agahnim, who was now on his knees, gritted his teeth. He spat out some words, but once again, Link ignored his foe. He ended it off with maniacal laughter before eyeing Link’s trusty shield, now lying on the ground next to him. With a cocky grin, he reached for it before pulling back his arm and kicking it to the side, sending it flying off the balcony. Link was about to run after it, but it was already long gone before his legs could begin moving. He gritted his teeth and did his best to remember their current position. Hopefully, he’d find it lying on the castle grounds on his way back after he beat Agahnim. With the shield now out of the picture, the wizard charged up energy in his hands again. Link instinctively took a stop towards him again before remembering how well that went last time. He didn’t want to admit it, but Agahnim had the upper hand both in close quarters and when operating at range.

Link grabbed his wooden bow from his back and pulled an arrow out of his quiver. A quick inspection showed him that there were only two arrows. The guards in the castle had been tougher than he’d expected, and he had to take out some of them without getting too close. He now cursed his lack of resourcefulness. He could think of at least three arrows he easily could’ve saved in hindsight. Either way, having two arrows meant he had to make every single shot count. Not an easy task for someone trained with a sword and shield from childhood. He pulled back the bowstring with the arrow lodged in it, took aim and released it to the satisfying noise of the string snapping back in place.

Agahnim made no effort to dodge or even cease the casting of the spell, and it became clear why. The arrow just bounced off him as though it had hit a brick wall. The wizard was completely unfazed and finished his incantation, sending yet another orb of energy flying at Link. Now that he knew that blocking it was useless, he immediately dodged out of the way. However, when he did, the orb followed. No matter where he went, the orb would immediately course-correct to home in on him. After a good few seconds of that game of chase, Link was backed against the very corner of the railing. To his sides and his back was the railing. Behind that was a drop that would no doubt be painful. He mentally crossed out that option. The only way to go was forward. If only that wasn’t blocked by the incredibly bright orb. Beyond the sphere, Link could see Agahnim laughing heartily. Not wanting to just stand there helplessly, Link decided to throw caution to the wind and slice at the projectile. If he was going to be hit anyway, he at least wanted to make it quick.

To his surprise, he actually felt a collision when his sword collided with the glowing orb. In fact, his attack sent the orb back the way it came, right at Agahnim, who was currently laughing at the sky, blissfully unaware of what was about to hit him. And hit him it did. As soon as it went through the sorcerer’s robes, he let out a bloodcurdling scream, frozen for a few seconds while it passed through him before continuing to fly off the balcony, towards Death Mountain. Eyes filled with pure hatred turned to Link, and for the first time, Agahnim didn’t have that stupid grin that always filled his face when he addressed Link. He decided that this would be a good time to at least listen to what he had to say—it might be more than empty monologues this time.

“Pfah!” he spat, “you might have figured out this simple trick, but as long as I don’t send any orbs, I am invincible!” At that point, the grin returned, and Link knew it was time to tune him out again. All that being said, Agahnim did have a point, as much as Link hated to admit it. Arrows were useless. He could try throwing his sword, and it might stun Agahnim for a while, but it’d likely end up with the sorcerer kicking it off the ledge like he did the shield. The images flashed back in his mind. His shield lying on the other side of his balcony, him just having dashed to relative safety. Agahnim kicking it away after reaching out for it. The shield sailing off the railing. Link paused at that. Why did he reach for it before kicking it? If he wanted to throw it off the edge, throwing seemed like an easier way to accomplish that, especially with an object shaped as oddly as a shield. It must’ve been hard to kick it in such a way that it actually flew high enough in the air to reach over the railing. So why didn’t he just grab it? Link thought back to when he threw the shield at the wizard. It wasn’t a very hard throw, it couldn’t have been, and yet it still transmitted electricity. So that meant the barrier activated as long as it was touching anything. And the fact that Agahnim could kick the shield meant that his feet must not be protected by it! Otherwise, doing that would’ve electrocuted him!

Finally, Link had a plan. Attack his feet, make him lose his footing, and then figure out the rest as he went. Not the most solid of strategies, but an improvement over the status quo, which was “hope for the best”. He dashed at the wizard once again, his exhaustion making his legs feel stiff and heavy. Agahnim didn’t seem to even register Link’s arrival, or maybe he simply didn’t see him as a threat. Good. As Link approached, he curved to the right, and as he passed the wizard, he lowered his sword to cut through the ankle. There was a small splatter of blood, and then yet another cry of pain from Agahnim’s throat. Link rapidly came to a halt and turned around. Agahnim was kneeling, holding his hands over his injured foot. Blood was pooling under him.

Now Link had the wizard where he wanted him. He usually dreaded going up against other people. Monsters were so much easier to intimidate. A flourish of your weapon, maybe a small but ultimately harmless cut, and they’d be out of his face. But people? That required negotiation. That required talking. And Link dreaded nothing more than opening his mouth and hearing his own voice. Even so, he had to do this. Now more than ever. “Agahnim, why are we still doing this? Do you wanna keep doing this until you lose both your feet?” He already felt like vomiting. He swallowed his disgust and took steady steps towards the usurper. Look strong, look competent. Look intimidating. He pointed his sword and his foe’s still uninjured leg. “So why don’t you just tell me where Zelda is and then go? You don’t have to keep doing this.”

Agahnim cackled. “Fool!” He gathered energy in his hands yet again. While previously it had shone a brilliant white, it now seemed to suck the very light out of his surroundings. “You want to know where Zelda is?” he screamed maniacally. There seemed to be some sort of storm brewing, Link’s pink hair fluttering in front of his face. “Well, let me just take you right to her!” The palm-sized ball of inky darkness floated away from his hands before suddenly expanding rapidly, enveloping the whole tower. The world turned on its side and Link stumbled to the left. But when he took stock of the situation, nothing seemed to have changed. Agahnim was still cackling to himself as if the world hadn’t just turned on its side. So this effect was limited to just Link. He tried to walk towards the wizard, but then the world decided to turn again and he fell forward. The whole world was spinning and stretching and moving. He could only see Agahnim grinning at him before he finally lost consciousness.