Illusions and Lies (A Super Smash Brothers fan fiction)

CHAPTER FORTY THREE: THE WARRIOR.

Warnings: The ending of this chapter contains mild gore. Read at your own risk. (Also I apologize for the number of gory chapters in a row.)

If there was one thing Link could be said to hate about missions that ended up requiring weeks or even months of fieldwork, it was the way he received orders in bits and pieces. He never knew the entire plan at a time, which resulted in frequent strategy meetings with Zelda and Midna, his lieutenants.

Actually, he'd just finished with one of those meetings, and now he was trying to find the other members of his squad to let them know what they were going to be doing in the morning. Link had already talked to Ravio, since he had been nearby the spot where Link had conducted the meeting. Now all he had to do was find Hilda and Leonie.

Luckily, he found them pretty quickly. It looked like they were getting ready to spar, judging by the way they were both stretching and joking around. Link waited for a break in the conversation before clearing his throat. Both girls paused and looked up at him, mild confusion (or, in Leonie's case, irritation) written on their faces.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I've got our plan for the next few days." Link began, a bit hesitantly. He still wasn't quite used to giving orders like this, and it made him a bit uncomfortable if he was being completely honest. "I can come back later if now is a bad time...?"

"Nah, it's fine." Leonie said. "Orders are more important." 

"Right. Yeah." Link took a deep breath to steady his nerves. After four months of leading like this, he'd thought he would be used to this by now. "We're going to be moving out tomorrow morning to join the main front. We're about three hours out from the camp, and another fifteen minutes after that from the battlefield."

"Okay, so we're almost there." Hilda brushed some of her lavender colored hair out of her eyes. "Awesome." 

"That's all I have for you, so you can resume what you were doing. Sorry again for interrupting." Link waved and walked away, leaving the two to their own devices. 

It took about five minutes for him to reach his next destination. When he poked his head inside the tent he shared with Zelda, he was a little surprised to see her sitting on the ground with a clipboard in her lap and writing something. She looked up as he entered, an unreadable expression crossing her face for a second before she folded the paper she was writing on in half.

"Uhhh... Zelda, is everything alright?" Link asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." Zelda responded absently.

"Sure." Link sighed and crouched down next to her. "Look, I'm worried about you. Two months ago, you started getting... distant."

"It's nothing." Zelda shrugged and held the clipboard closer to her chest.

"...Look, you know you can trust me, right?"

"Of course."

"If something is wrong, I want you to tell me."

Zelda smiled sadly. "It's nothing, Link. Trust me."

"Alright." Being a commander did have its perks, he supposed. He was a lot better at recognizing a losing battle when he saw one, and this was definitely a loss. Trying to get Zelda to speak to him was damn near impossible sometimes, which was a trait she shared with her brother. "At least tell me what you're writing?"

"Just something I needed to remember. Please don't worry about it."

Link frowned. That was... odd. "Zel, you have a really good memory."

"I don't want to forget this. It's extra important."

He didn't say anything in response. The possible implications of what she was saying were... troubling, to say the least. What could she possibly need to write down so she didn't forget? He wasn't lying when he said she had an impeccable memory. She had literally never forgotten anything, as far as he knew.