Xinnamin
Mrs. Austin
So I've been feeling in a writing mood after going through OoT's Shadow Temple. As I went through the Temple though, I couldn't help but wonder the purpose of that death-filled building. Then I started going back and pondering on some old Sheikah theories that have occasionally brewed in my mind. After a bit more contemplation and a lot of mental ranting and organizing, this story came to be. Well, I suppose it's less of a story than it is a novelized theory, but still.
Rated K+ I suppose. There's nothing particularly gorey or anything, but it's not really the kind of thing you want to read to children.
---
As yet another temple was rid of its curse and another Wise One awakened, the Hero of Time once again descended upon the Chamber of Sages to greet, face to face, his newest ally and accept his newest blessing.
From the dark purple pedestal that belongs to the Sage of Shadow rose a powerful looking woman, one who commanded the greatest air of respect, yet still showed the greatest respect to others. She was a hardened woman, clearly having gone through many harrowing ordeals in her lifetime, and certainly feeling that her Awakening another trial in her life, but a truly noble one.
The woman’s eyes burned fire red, as if ready to fight the greatest evils in Hyrule to the death, like all of her proud race would have, and did. She looked now, with admiration rather than belligerence, at the young man before her, and spoke.
“The boy with the noble Zelda's Ocarina... As I suspected, you have come. I am Impa, one of the Sheikah. I am Princess Zelda's caretaker and I am also the Sage who guards the Shadow Temple. We Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule from generation to generation as attendants. However...
“On that day seven years ago, Ganondorf suddenly attacked... and Hyrule Castle surrendered after a short time. Ganondorf's target was one of the keys to the Sacred Realm... the hidden treasure of the Royal Family... The Ocarina of Time! My duty bound me to take Zelda out of Ganondorf's reach.
“When last I saw you, as we made our escape from the castle, you were just a lad... Now I see you have become a fine hero... There's nothing to worry about... The Princess is safe now. Soon, you'll meet Princess Zelda face-to-face and she will explain everything... That is when we, the six Wise Ones, will seal up the Evil King and return to peace in Hyrule. I have to stay here... You go to Princess Zelda's side and protect her on my behalf.
“Now I put my power, which should be helpful to you, into the Medallion!”
The Hero accepted her Medallion, a token of not only her power and alliance, but also her thanks for all the man has done. The Chamber filled with light as the Sage prepared to return the Hero to the physical realm, as all the other Sages have done, but this time, the Hero would not have it, and he interrupted.
“Impa, before I go, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask, about the Shadow Temple.”
The Sage looked rather surprised, she had every reason to be. It was supposed to be that the Hero awakened a Sage, the Sage gave his or her blessing and alliance, and the Hero went on his way to the next. It was a tacit agreement made between the Hero and the Sages, to keep all focused, to avoid distractions and further personal complications. The Hero was a man of few words, and though the Sages have often given explanatory or farewell statements, the Hero has never said a word to any of them. But the Sage of Shadow obliged to this request, deciding it was fair enough to reward the Hero by satisfying his curiosity, and allowed him to continue.
“What is it that you want to know?”
“The Shadow Temple, what is it?”
The question struck the Sage as odd; it seemed fairly obvious what the answer was, or should have been, and she couldn’t comprehend why the Hero would pose such a question. But the Hero looked serious and obviously wanted some acceptable answer, so the Sage gave him one.
“The Shadow Temple is a place of worship, built by my ancestors and my people, the Sheikah, to honor the Goddesses and protect their sacred powers.”
The Hero did not look satisfied by this answer. “I don’t think that’s true.”
At this, the Sage was truly at a loss for words. It seemed absurd that anyone would question the purpose of a sacred Temple, let alone the Hero of Time himself, but the Hero continued, serious as before and without hesitation.
“I mean no disrespect, Impa, but a place like the Shadow Temple doesn’t feel anything like a place of dedication to the Goddesses. The Temple is unlike any other I’ve been to.
“For one thing, the Temple seemed to speak to me at times, and not with the divine voices I’ve come to associate with the Goddesses. They were voices of sadness and gloom, and they sounded…evil almost.”
The Sage visibly flinched at the implication of that statement and was quite upset. “The Temple was tainted upon Ganondorf’s rise to power. That is the reason for those voices you heard, nothing more.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think those voices were Ganondorf’s doings.”
The Sage recoiled at being talked back to like this, being rebuked about her own Temple, her people’s great central house of worship, but the Hero continued anyways.
“They spoke not of malice towards me or the Sages like Ganondorf’s other fiends, but rather of the Temple itself. Many voices gave me hints regarding the Lens of Truth, but it was the other voices I was concerned about.
“In one set of corridors, there were voices that said ‘Here is gathered Hyrule’s bloody history of greed and hatred.’ And the Temple itself feels less a Temple than a prison. There were guillotines, bloody cages and cells, statues of death personified swinging giant scythes, a bloody ‘X’ like another I’ve seen beneath the well, and that stench of death!”
The Hero began getting visibly angry, the Sage seemed stunned speechless.
“How can a Temple dedicated to the Goddesses be filled with so many instruments of death and torture? A building of secrets that aims not to protect the inner chamber, but to kill intruders. Another voice said to me ‘What is hidden in the darkness: Tricks full of ill will, you can’t see the way forward.’ The Temple itself was trying to kill me, it was as malicious as the corpses that roamed it. How could such a place have been a place of worship, and if it was, a place of worship for anything less than a demon!”
“ENOUGH!”
The Hero stopped, flushed, from agitation about the Temple or embarrassment at his behavior, it is hard to tell. The Sage stood there, visibly trying to calm herself, her red eyes showing, in full flame, the type of fury they were capable of.
“Do not speak about my people’s Temple in such a manner young man. You know nothing of my people. No Hylian ever did. Do not speak ill of what you don’t understand.”
The Hero looked quite ashamed, and by the look on his face, it couldn’t be more apparent that he wished he could remove himself from the Chamber. But alas only a Sage can bring people in and out of that room, and the angry Sage of Shadow did not seem to be in any state to focus.
It may have been but a few minutes, or it may have been an eternity that the two stood there, avoiding each others’ gaze and thinking to themselves. At long last though, the Sage was the first to break the stony silence.
“I apologize for that outburst, Hero, the Princess would have been ashamed to see me speak in such a manner to a Hylian of your stature.”
“Don’t be sorry, I was the one who brought it up. It was rude of me to ask like that. I’ll leave whenever you want me to.”
“Not yet. After all, I’ve yet to satisfactorily answer your question.”
The Hero looked rather surprised at this, but the Sage continued, a sad smile pulling at her lips.
“It seems clear to me that there are a number of misconceptions surrounding the history of my people. It is rather unfortunate that you were exposed to them via the vengeance of enemies of the past. I will admit, the Temple has not had the most glorious of histories, and perhaps it is time to stop hiding our actions in the shadows and bring the truth to the light.
“The Sheikah have always been protectors of the Royal Family of Hyrule. My people have served them since the dawn of time, and have pledged our allegiance to them for all eternity.
“However, like all rulers, the Royal Family did not always have the most noble agenda, for before the Unification War, sedition and insurrection were not uncommon among the both the Hylian’s enemies as well as within the Hylian population itself.
“The Temple was originally constructed as a place of worship, as it was a custom for all the races to build temples of worship to show eternal respect to the Goddesses. The Sheikah culture placed great emphasis on respect for the departed, so we built our cemetery around our Temple to help the spirits of our deceased reach the Goddesses.
“Over time however, the concentration of death around our Temple began to draw in evil energies, and the Temple could no longer served as a proper place of worship. When we appealed to the Royal Family regarding this problem, they decided that the Temple would serve Hyrule better as it was at that time - a magnet for evil to draw evil away from others - than it would a worship site. We could do nothing but obey. To this day, I still believe that my people’s loss of a worship site may have been a factor in our decline.
“A great war started not long after, this was still a long time past mind you, and the Royal Family became paranoid about enemies from within. They ordered us, the Sheikah, to use our abilities of stealth and magic to capture, interrogate, and dispose of their enemies. Originally, we were ordered to conduct such affairs underground for secrecy, and thus the prisons beneath the well came to be.
“It was not a duty my people were proud of. We hoped it would pass with the end of the war, but it did not. The Royal Family seemed delighted in their new ability to dispose of political or potential enemies. When there was no longer enough room beneath the well for all the prisoners we were ordered to retrieve, the Royal Family ordered us to turn the Temple into a prison. That was too much for my people, we had some rebellions, it turned into a terrible war, and most of my people were banished into a Twilight Realm for insurrection. That incident broke our spirit, those that remained of my people no longer fought against our dark fate.”
The Sage stopped for a moment, sighing. There were no tears though, she would not let any out, it was a show of both her toughness and her respect of her ancestors’ endurance.
“I suppose the destruction of my people in the last war was the Goddesses’ punishment for those crimes committed in the past. Perhaps the only reason I was spared was to take up the required mantle of a Sheikah Sage.”
“Impa,” the Hero spoke up, “I’m…I’m really sorry I brought this up. That must have been hard to talk about.”
To the Hero’s great surprise, the Sage chuckled.
“No, Hero, oddly it was not. It feels as if a great burden has been lifted from my chest. My people have hidden their actions in shame for too long. I feel glad that I told you our tale. I wouldn’t want my people to be falsely remembered only for our darker deeds.”
The Hero nodded in understanding. The Sage smiled, and prepared to teleport the Hero out. As the light engulfed the Hero, he heard the Sage’s voice echo once more in his head.
“You’re a good man, Link. Thank you. Please look out for the Princess.”
The Hero smiled. “Don’t worry Impa, I will.”
Rated K+ I suppose. There's nothing particularly gorey or anything, but it's not really the kind of thing you want to read to children.
---
As yet another temple was rid of its curse and another Wise One awakened, the Hero of Time once again descended upon the Chamber of Sages to greet, face to face, his newest ally and accept his newest blessing.
From the dark purple pedestal that belongs to the Sage of Shadow rose a powerful looking woman, one who commanded the greatest air of respect, yet still showed the greatest respect to others. She was a hardened woman, clearly having gone through many harrowing ordeals in her lifetime, and certainly feeling that her Awakening another trial in her life, but a truly noble one.
The woman’s eyes burned fire red, as if ready to fight the greatest evils in Hyrule to the death, like all of her proud race would have, and did. She looked now, with admiration rather than belligerence, at the young man before her, and spoke.
“The boy with the noble Zelda's Ocarina... As I suspected, you have come. I am Impa, one of the Sheikah. I am Princess Zelda's caretaker and I am also the Sage who guards the Shadow Temple. We Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule from generation to generation as attendants. However...
“On that day seven years ago, Ganondorf suddenly attacked... and Hyrule Castle surrendered after a short time. Ganondorf's target was one of the keys to the Sacred Realm... the hidden treasure of the Royal Family... The Ocarina of Time! My duty bound me to take Zelda out of Ganondorf's reach.
“When last I saw you, as we made our escape from the castle, you were just a lad... Now I see you have become a fine hero... There's nothing to worry about... The Princess is safe now. Soon, you'll meet Princess Zelda face-to-face and she will explain everything... That is when we, the six Wise Ones, will seal up the Evil King and return to peace in Hyrule. I have to stay here... You go to Princess Zelda's side and protect her on my behalf.
“Now I put my power, which should be helpful to you, into the Medallion!”
The Hero accepted her Medallion, a token of not only her power and alliance, but also her thanks for all the man has done. The Chamber filled with light as the Sage prepared to return the Hero to the physical realm, as all the other Sages have done, but this time, the Hero would not have it, and he interrupted.
“Impa, before I go, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask, about the Shadow Temple.”
The Sage looked rather surprised, she had every reason to be. It was supposed to be that the Hero awakened a Sage, the Sage gave his or her blessing and alliance, and the Hero went on his way to the next. It was a tacit agreement made between the Hero and the Sages, to keep all focused, to avoid distractions and further personal complications. The Hero was a man of few words, and though the Sages have often given explanatory or farewell statements, the Hero has never said a word to any of them. But the Sage of Shadow obliged to this request, deciding it was fair enough to reward the Hero by satisfying his curiosity, and allowed him to continue.
“What is it that you want to know?”
“The Shadow Temple, what is it?”
The question struck the Sage as odd; it seemed fairly obvious what the answer was, or should have been, and she couldn’t comprehend why the Hero would pose such a question. But the Hero looked serious and obviously wanted some acceptable answer, so the Sage gave him one.
“The Shadow Temple is a place of worship, built by my ancestors and my people, the Sheikah, to honor the Goddesses and protect their sacred powers.”
The Hero did not look satisfied by this answer. “I don’t think that’s true.”
At this, the Sage was truly at a loss for words. It seemed absurd that anyone would question the purpose of a sacred Temple, let alone the Hero of Time himself, but the Hero continued, serious as before and without hesitation.
“I mean no disrespect, Impa, but a place like the Shadow Temple doesn’t feel anything like a place of dedication to the Goddesses. The Temple is unlike any other I’ve been to.
“For one thing, the Temple seemed to speak to me at times, and not with the divine voices I’ve come to associate with the Goddesses. They were voices of sadness and gloom, and they sounded…evil almost.”
The Sage visibly flinched at the implication of that statement and was quite upset. “The Temple was tainted upon Ganondorf’s rise to power. That is the reason for those voices you heard, nothing more.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think those voices were Ganondorf’s doings.”
The Sage recoiled at being talked back to like this, being rebuked about her own Temple, her people’s great central house of worship, but the Hero continued anyways.
“They spoke not of malice towards me or the Sages like Ganondorf’s other fiends, but rather of the Temple itself. Many voices gave me hints regarding the Lens of Truth, but it was the other voices I was concerned about.
“In one set of corridors, there were voices that said ‘Here is gathered Hyrule’s bloody history of greed and hatred.’ And the Temple itself feels less a Temple than a prison. There were guillotines, bloody cages and cells, statues of death personified swinging giant scythes, a bloody ‘X’ like another I’ve seen beneath the well, and that stench of death!”
The Hero began getting visibly angry, the Sage seemed stunned speechless.
“How can a Temple dedicated to the Goddesses be filled with so many instruments of death and torture? A building of secrets that aims not to protect the inner chamber, but to kill intruders. Another voice said to me ‘What is hidden in the darkness: Tricks full of ill will, you can’t see the way forward.’ The Temple itself was trying to kill me, it was as malicious as the corpses that roamed it. How could such a place have been a place of worship, and if it was, a place of worship for anything less than a demon!”
“ENOUGH!”
The Hero stopped, flushed, from agitation about the Temple or embarrassment at his behavior, it is hard to tell. The Sage stood there, visibly trying to calm herself, her red eyes showing, in full flame, the type of fury they were capable of.
“Do not speak about my people’s Temple in such a manner young man. You know nothing of my people. No Hylian ever did. Do not speak ill of what you don’t understand.”
The Hero looked quite ashamed, and by the look on his face, it couldn’t be more apparent that he wished he could remove himself from the Chamber. But alas only a Sage can bring people in and out of that room, and the angry Sage of Shadow did not seem to be in any state to focus.
It may have been but a few minutes, or it may have been an eternity that the two stood there, avoiding each others’ gaze and thinking to themselves. At long last though, the Sage was the first to break the stony silence.
“I apologize for that outburst, Hero, the Princess would have been ashamed to see me speak in such a manner to a Hylian of your stature.”
“Don’t be sorry, I was the one who brought it up. It was rude of me to ask like that. I’ll leave whenever you want me to.”
“Not yet. After all, I’ve yet to satisfactorily answer your question.”
The Hero looked rather surprised at this, but the Sage continued, a sad smile pulling at her lips.
“It seems clear to me that there are a number of misconceptions surrounding the history of my people. It is rather unfortunate that you were exposed to them via the vengeance of enemies of the past. I will admit, the Temple has not had the most glorious of histories, and perhaps it is time to stop hiding our actions in the shadows and bring the truth to the light.
“The Sheikah have always been protectors of the Royal Family of Hyrule. My people have served them since the dawn of time, and have pledged our allegiance to them for all eternity.
“However, like all rulers, the Royal Family did not always have the most noble agenda, for before the Unification War, sedition and insurrection were not uncommon among the both the Hylian’s enemies as well as within the Hylian population itself.
“The Temple was originally constructed as a place of worship, as it was a custom for all the races to build temples of worship to show eternal respect to the Goddesses. The Sheikah culture placed great emphasis on respect for the departed, so we built our cemetery around our Temple to help the spirits of our deceased reach the Goddesses.
“Over time however, the concentration of death around our Temple began to draw in evil energies, and the Temple could no longer served as a proper place of worship. When we appealed to the Royal Family regarding this problem, they decided that the Temple would serve Hyrule better as it was at that time - a magnet for evil to draw evil away from others - than it would a worship site. We could do nothing but obey. To this day, I still believe that my people’s loss of a worship site may have been a factor in our decline.
“A great war started not long after, this was still a long time past mind you, and the Royal Family became paranoid about enemies from within. They ordered us, the Sheikah, to use our abilities of stealth and magic to capture, interrogate, and dispose of their enemies. Originally, we were ordered to conduct such affairs underground for secrecy, and thus the prisons beneath the well came to be.
“It was not a duty my people were proud of. We hoped it would pass with the end of the war, but it did not. The Royal Family seemed delighted in their new ability to dispose of political or potential enemies. When there was no longer enough room beneath the well for all the prisoners we were ordered to retrieve, the Royal Family ordered us to turn the Temple into a prison. That was too much for my people, we had some rebellions, it turned into a terrible war, and most of my people were banished into a Twilight Realm for insurrection. That incident broke our spirit, those that remained of my people no longer fought against our dark fate.”
The Sage stopped for a moment, sighing. There were no tears though, she would not let any out, it was a show of both her toughness and her respect of her ancestors’ endurance.
“I suppose the destruction of my people in the last war was the Goddesses’ punishment for those crimes committed in the past. Perhaps the only reason I was spared was to take up the required mantle of a Sheikah Sage.”
“Impa,” the Hero spoke up, “I’m…I’m really sorry I brought this up. That must have been hard to talk about.”
To the Hero’s great surprise, the Sage chuckled.
“No, Hero, oddly it was not. It feels as if a great burden has been lifted from my chest. My people have hidden their actions in shame for too long. I feel glad that I told you our tale. I wouldn’t want my people to be falsely remembered only for our darker deeds.”
The Hero nodded in understanding. The Sage smiled, and prepared to teleport the Hero out. As the light engulfed the Hero, he heard the Sage’s voice echo once more in his head.
“You’re a good man, Link. Thank you. Please look out for the Princess.”
The Hero smiled. “Don’t worry Impa, I will.”
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