Part IX

      The robed man stood there, and still Link, Zelda, and the hypnotized Adam did not know his name. Perhaps it was something that had been lost in time, after the countless eons in this world were time may have very well had a mind of its own. For some reason he was hestitating, for what reason they never would know, but they waited. Link, staring at the man who looked into his eyes; Zelda, standing at Link's side holding his arm, maybe in fear, maybe in comforting his, and maybe both. Adam, Adam had chosen to remain in his manour of acting as if he was in an all-knowing state of supreme knowlegde, standing on the edge of the same level as them, looking out to where the calm waters would meet the ever-blue skies of this world where all that mattered was the Uniforce and the man that kept it, who then began to speak.

"If I'm going to teach you about your force, then perhaps I should free your friend Adam of the imprisionment that the Triforce has placed him under," he said, oddly enough with a smile, as if he would always hold a smile, but while it was obscure the Uniforce made it a comforting one. With these words he pointed to Adam. From the Uniforce there came a blue streak of light, but the robed man had never touched the relic, and needless to say this stunned the two lovers that were still in there right minds. However they would never forget the effect it had on Adam. The moment it hit him, his entire body was enveloped in a blue light, much like that of the golden light Link and Zelda had acquired after Adam attacked them. But the difference (besides obviously being a different colour) was that from his hand flew the Triforce. Both the two had never dreamed something was possible, not even after the robed man's story of bringing the whole Triforce forth from the Golden Land when he had first put on the Robe. Now that they actually saw it happening before them, they were scared. Link himself, with the Triforce of Courage in his left hand, was scared out of his wits.

The Triforce did infact slip from the clutch Adam had on it as if his hand were that of a ghost's and begin to float on the far side of the island, somehow looking like a minion of the Uniforce. Adam himself was yanked out of his spell, but it didn't do him much good, for he was taken back to what he despised, all-knowing or not, and that was what he had always been in his eyes and his mothers eyes: stupid.

"Noooaaaawwwww!" he cried out, crouching down on his hunches and slapping his hand to the top of his head, disgraced at what it held within. "I don't wanta be dum again! Please, give it back, please, please!"

"Do not worry my son," the robed man said softly, never taking away that strangly comforting grin of his. "I have wisdom for you that is beyond what the Triforce can give you here." Again there came the untouched use of the Uniforce, and again the blue glow went about Adam's body. But this time it did not cause him visible pain, instead it seemed to give him life unlike any other. Then it occured to them: first he had used the Wisdom of the Triforce, now he used the Wisdom of the Uniforce.

* * *

Wisdom left, then it came. Adam couldn't think of any better way to phrase it.

This wisdom was so different from that of the Triforce. True, with the Triforce he did not wonder or hesitate his answers, but with this he had some emotion in his thoughts, no longer was he simply thinking the answer and saying it, now he figured out why his thought was the answer. Wait a moment, the Arc of the Covenent, the scientists were disigrated by it because they had no fear of it, which is why God made it. What was this? He had just figured out what the Triforce could not. How could this be? Yet, he knew the answer, and he knew why it was right. The Triforce was made by the Three Spirits, and therefore could not understand something related to the God of Earth. The Adam began to wonder if God had anything to do with the creation of Hyrule when his ever-correct thoughts were interrupted.

"Adam, how do you feel?" the robed man asked him with that grin of his.

"Completely different, the power of the Uniforce was a good switch for me, I give my thanks to you." Adam said completing with a short bow, but not taking his eyes off the man.

"Now my boy, for now I have given you absolute knowledge, you will both know everything of Link's world and the functioning of your own world. Do you wish to keep this knowledge when you go back with Link and Zelda?"

Adam knew that the man was fully aware that his answer was going to be no. The wisdom of the Unforce was different in several ways. Now he saw the importance of actually having to think about some things. If he didn't then he would be like a god around everyone else, people would constantly ask him for answers and he would never have a moment to himself. The reason that the robed man had just asked him that was so that he could see the effect of the Unforce's wisdom on Adam.

"You know my answer, and it is no," he replied with no expression, but giving the man a short bow of the head, yet he would not take his eyes off of the man.

"Yes, Link, Zelda, that is another difference of the Uniforce, its wisdom is far different and more useful than that of the Triforce. True, Wisdom did aid Zelda in the Dark World during Hyrule's war with Dragmire, but that was a type of power that would only serve you in the world of the Triforce. With the Uniforce, its power will serve you at all times, no matter where you may be."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure that's all good," an impatient Link said. "But could we please move on to controlling the binding force, or whatever you call it?"

"Yes, of course Link, but please, there's no need to be without patience, for you are still in a frozen realm of time.

"Now, to start off with, what do you think that your Binding Force is?"

"Well," Link began to think about the question. True, he realized that he did have some sort of strange force within himself, but he never took into consideration what it was. "I suppose it is a type of addiction that I have to contiuously fight in battles."

"Why do you think you have developed that desire?"

"Perhaps because as a child I was always winning in wrestling sports, or anything that involved physical activity. And then when I came to Hyrule and began to fight I found that I could always beat out the next man, no matter who they may be. Even the finest soldiers were no match for me."

"Yes, this is true. You see my boy, you may think that the Binding Force is something that has developed over the years, but it may shock you to realize that it has in fact been with you from the start."

"Wait a minute, how could that have possibly of happened?" Link asked bewildered.

"He was planted with it, by some outside force, wasn't he?" Adam said, knowing in fact that was how it happened.

"Correct Adam," the robed man said nodding to him. "Though it was not your parents that put it on you."

"Then who did?"

"To be honest with you Link, that is one of the few things I have been unable to discover in all my time in this world. Perhaps it was me, in a trance set that not even I could detect. It may have been an enemy of your mother and father. If it was, then they may have not of known of what potential it held for you. Normally when such a spell is cast it sends the host into peril. Yet with you the spell was to your advatage due to your rare inborn fighting skills, truely a deadly combination.

"Of course, it may of not even been someone from your world to plant the spell. Perhaps a being from this world did so to correctly place your git. For all I know, the One Himself may have done it."

"You mean God?" Adam asked with a mind of fear.

"Yes, it could have been him, I don't know for sure, but He may be the one who made the Uniforce. In all my years, I still have not been able to find out or not my boy."

"But you will once your job here is done, correct?" Zelda asked still holding gently on Link's arm. "If so, when will that happen?"

"Directly after our business here is finished."

"Wait a moment, who is this God that Adam is talking about?" Link said wrinkling his brow.

"You will find out in time Link of Hyrule. For now you must learn of your Binding Force."

"Well, now that I know how it came to me, what by definition is it?"

"You defined it quite well yourself. It is simply an addiction to fight, to never rest from it for more than a few days, and always seek another battle. Tell me, have you felt anxious on this quest?"

"Somewhat, yes." he answered calmly with a nod of the head. "If what you say is true, then it is because I have only had but one battle with the creature Adam called the elephant."

"Good Link. This is true. I tell you this, if you are truely to become the next king of Hyrule, then you must learn to control this Force.

"Can you teach me how to do this?" Link asked in a sarcastic tone which showed that he realized what the next lesson would be about, yet he did it all with a smile.

"Well then, you're quick to learn!" the robed man replied, mimicking Link's humor. "The first thing you must do is realize that the Uniforce is capable of defeating such inner forces."

"That was one of the few things Simidora told us that still remains true here." Zelda put in quickly.

"Ah, how I wish that the historian could have known the true story, he gave everyone such an under-estimation of this Relic's power. But yes, that is something the Uniforce can do. The effect is quite odd. Since your addiction was a type of spell, when the Uniforce removes it from you, the magical talismant will stay intact."

"Couldn't we destroy it if we wanted to?" Zelda asked.

"Oh, indeed you could, it would be effortless for the Uniforce to destroy a simple spell such as the Binding Force, but such a spell as that is not something you come across very often. I would suggest that you keep it, you may come across a time for the magic's use."

"The Uniforce is uncapable of creating such a spell? I thought that for all you knew the spell may have been created by the Uniforce!" Link said protesting for its destruction.

"We may not always have the Uniforce to make such spells Link," Adam said speaking up softly.

Normally Link would have been mad, but still the radiance of the Uniforce just seemed to calm him and take away his anger. Now he listened with care to Adam, and nodded in agreement with him, realizing that Adam's words were true and spoken with heart.

"He is right Link," Zelda said to him, seemingly taking on the same effect, but it was not much different from her regular attitude.

"Very well then, how do we take out the spell?" Link questioned.

"I know this may seem a bit too easy, but I only have to will for it too happen. The true lesson here is being able to control the spell." the robed man said, oddly enough never taking that smile off his face.

"Then please," Link said, a bit surprised at his lack of anger. Yet while he was confused, he chose to go on with the lesson. "Remove this spell from me, I'd like to get used to not having it within me."

"And so it shall be Hero of Time." The unnamed man closed his eyes to concentrate and raised his arms to point at Link. Suddenly Link seemed to go unconscious, he did not fall, but suddenly his head simply fell to have his chin touch his chest.

"What happened to him?" Zelda asked with more puzzlement than fear. Yet she did not get an answer from the robed man.

"I think you better just let him concentrate, he seems to be in deep thought," Adam said, to have Zelda nod in response.

No sooner had she done this, but from Link's body there came an apparation, or ghost, that took on Link's form. One could see straight through his body, as if his body was nothing more than a fog. Later Adam would have said it to be Link's spirit, or inner body. Whatever it was the face that appeared to be Link's began to open its eyes. Yes, Link was awake now, but in a way outside of his body. Perhaps the robed man had taken out Link's consciousness in this form.

Link himself was a bit shocked at first, he had suddenly been knocked out cold, then he felt the need to walk foward. When he did, his eyes were still closed, and he could hardly feel his legs moving. He didn't feel cold or hot, instead he had never felt so comfortable in his life, as if his body was at peace. Then he was able to open his eyes to see the robed man looking at him, smiling still. Then he noticed that Zelda was not next to him. Turning around, he was shocked to see that his body was behind him and Zelda still had her arm around his body's arm with her eyes wide open.

"Zelda?" he said hopefully. "Can you hear me?"

At first she didn't say anything, only to finally moan out a long "ugggghhhh....." No doubt he was confused, but then he realized what the problem was. The robed man had taken Link's spirit out of his body, but his spirit could wear clothing. First Link was a bit embarrassed about Adam and the robed man, but it it occured to him that Zelda had never seen him like this.

The last thing Link wanted was to get lost in those type of thoughts, so he immeadiatly turned back to the robed man.

"Can we please make this fast? I do realize that time is of no matter in this world, but there are certain things that I'd like to get throught with!"

"Yes, yes of course my boy," the robed man said, seeming to hold back laughing at Link's quite embarrassing situation. "You see the reason I had to remove your spirit is because the spell itself was designed to attached itself to your living spirit, not your body, so that it would be almost impossible to remove it if one did not have magic such as mine. Now then, hold still, you won't feel so self-conscious in a moment."

Link did stand perfectly still, so still infact it felt as if his body was forcebly being put that way. But just as the robed man had said, the feeling of being exposed like he was suddenly left, almost like it was perfectly normal for him to stay solitary in the presence of a total stranger while naked.

Zelda could note (aside from other things) a strange glow around Link's body, a glow that was not blue, gold, red, or any other colour she could name for that matter. It looked like the no-colour of clouds or dust particles in the sunlight. To see this glow around Link's body, to see it glow at all was a site that she would have trouble later describing. For you the reader, imagine the haze one sees around them when awakening. The world itself is a fuzz to your eyes. This was the glow that surrouned Link's body. To see it glow was one thing, but to witness it taking a form and moving away from Link was another.

"What is happening?" Link said scared as the Uniforce would allow him to be. For directly next to him was a perfect replica of him, only it had no colour other than the haze which represented himself.

"This is, in material, the Binding Force of Link." the robed man said. "You see, it would take on the same form as you throughout your life, and it has grown with you. While it is an un-living creature, it has had the drive that pushed you into all your battles. Yet while it may have helped you somewhat in your conquests, you would never want to take the chance of one of your enemies."

Link could understand the terror that would come from that. One could only shudder and imagine the chaos that would come forth if a moblin was to get this spell bound on to him.

"However, there is another danger you should be aware of. If you keep this spell out too long and allow it to stay in this type of state for several days, changes can take place."

"What sort of, uh, would you mind...?" Link asked quietly jerking his head back to his body.

"Oh, yes, sorry," and with the words, just words, not gestures or pointing, Link was back in control of his real phyical body. He felt quite relieved to have on clothes once more and Zelda arm around his.

"Now, you were saying?"

"What sort of changes will take place if we leave this thing to stay out for too long?"

"You see, having been in your spirit for so long, it has come to know you, it knows your loves, you desires, your passions, skills, what you are capable of, and everyone of your weaknesses. The main result of allowing it to be exposed so long is that it will become intelligent, and will start to take on a phyical form, and will be able to move about on its own, and have a body of its own, not just exist as an apparation as it is now. In short, your Binding Force will start to live on its own free will. If that were to ever happen it would be an enemy not to be reckoned with. Would you want such a thing to happen Hero of Time?"

"The Dark Link!" Adam said suddenly after listening attentively to the whole ordeal.

"I beg you, speak again?" Zelda said to him for the second time in the royal fashion.

"In my world, in one of the games that I have spoken to you of, there is a story in which Link enters a large palace to fight what appeared to be his shadow." Then looking directly at the shadowy figure, he said: "one friend of mine at a time called it the Dark Link..."

"What?" Link said confused. He quickly looked to the robed man for answers. "Is there any truth to this?"

Instead of answering, the robed man completely ignored the question and changed the subject. "Now, in order to contain this spell, you will need this." Holding up his hands, a large glass jar appeared in his hands. In Adam's world, it would have been closely compared to the size of a soda can, something which Adam would find himself missing in the days to come. "When ever you wish for it to come forth into the glass, simply think for it to happen, and it shall be so. Think for it to come out, and it shall happen as well. But one thing you must be careful of, never brake it, oh my no, you wouldn't want that!" he giggled.

Link took the glass vile from the man's smooth hand. It was a type of cylinder, and felt a bit warm in his palm. "What happens if it breaks?" he asked pearing into it.

"Then you'll have a problem that would have been better off within you." the robed man replied in his kind smile. "But when you wish to use it, just remember that as long as the glass is in your hand, then you will have complete control of the Binding Force. Perhaps one day you shall find out who made the spell to begin with. Don't worry about the lid, the top will close up once you've implamented the Binding Force."

Link looked up from the glass, realizing that he was free of a spell that had held him his whole life, and yet he felt no different than before. "I don't feel like my body or mind has changed much, why is this?"

"You see, right now you are in the presence of something that eased the Binding Force that was within you, so in a way you were cured of the spell even before I could remove it from you. Once more you see the might of the Uniforce."

Link nodded in agreement, and smiled himself. The robed man proved to right each time, and what he did not know, he admitted to not knowing. He looked at the Uniforce, then he noticed the single floating Triforce of Wisdom behind it. Thinking about it for a moment, he made a quick decision.

"Sir, could you remove the Triforces from my body? I think that they've been with me long enough." Link said, trying to smile like the robed man, something he wasn't used to, for this man held a solid grin.

"Though it is a hard idea to accept (I know from experience), such an act is almost nothing for the Uniforce." As he was saying all this, the two remaining Triforces simply appeared next to the Triforce of Wisdom, and the marks on Link's hands vanished. "So now you have the whole Triforce together again, you've ridden yourself of the Binding Force spell, and have gained a powerful weapon in that glass jar's presence. So tell me, is there anything I can do for you before our business is done?"

"Well, it seems that Link and I have everything that we will need, the only purpose for this journey was so that Link could free himself of his obsession for fighting," Zelda said after considering the question for a few seconds.

"Yes, it is quite ironic, isn't it?" the robed man said somewhat laughing. "You came only hoping to ensure that you would be able to rule with tranquility and a clear mind, and you went to finding what the Triforce was incapable of, meeting a boy in need of your help, discovering the world of Earth, destroying the Golden Land (a place with a history which will gladly forgotten), revealing to yourselves what evil the Triforce of Wisdom can produce, finally removing the spell that bound Link for so long in the most fortunate way imaginable, and most of all, learning of the fate that you will come to when one of you touches the Uniforce to bring upon the destiny of the Dozen.

"Yet once more I want to ask all of you, this includes you Adam," he added turning towards the boy who stood to his left, "Is there anything that you will need before this business is complete and I ascend to finally meet the One, for none of you shall ever see me again after that has happened."

Adam saw the look in the robed man's eyes when he turned at him. What he meant to imply was that Adam needed to ask for something, otherwise the future would be a bit hectic. Adam was a bit startled to see how much he was thinking about the future now. One thing he definetly wanted to take care of was to get the wisdom of the Uniforce out of his system and be without anymore magic in his body.

"Yes, I do have something to request, remove the Uniforce's power from my mind, and give me enough wisdom on my own so that I can take care of myself in the event of the three of us becoming seperated. I realize that in the days to come I will have to make some serious adjustments to my life stlye to live in Hyrule."

"Hehe, you are quite the smart one in the aid of the Uniforce, and yes, I shall remove its magic from you now." the robed man said, that smile almost filling his whole face.

Just as the Triforce had appeared in the blink of an eye, the switch from magical wisdom and natural wisdom was almost quicker for Adam. First his felt his head go light, as if something had been yanked from it suddenly, then he immediatly felt like nothing had happened, but then at the same time he felt like a completely new man, which he was.

Later on in his life, Adam would refer to the time before his transformation Before, and everything after that in his life After, for no event following that would change Adam as much as that sinle moment. He had never felt so great. His mind was keen, yet he was not all knowing, nor did he want to be. Adam could actually ask questions again, he could inquire and wouldn't know the answer before it was spoken. In a way he had aquired the same amount of knowlegde and skill in the blinking of one's eye that Zelda had obtained after 12 years from the royal schoolings.

"Now then, how do you feel?" the robed man asked putting his hands in that prayer-like pose again.

"Like, ... a new man." Adam said breathing in deeply from the shock of the quick change. He felt quite lucky to not have gone back to being the idiot that he was Before.

"Is there anything else that you would like for me to do?" Again, that look in the eyes: ask for something!

"Uh, why, hehe, yes." Adam still was a bit gitty from the change, so he was left laughing some at the idea of his request. "Since you gave Link and Zelda that glass jar to hold the Binding Force in, is there something you can give to me?"

"Why yes, how would you like a means of illusion to foil your enemies?" he said, showing only to the keen ear that he had planned out the statement. "Wouldn't that prove to be useful if you were to come across one who is of great skill in tracking? Illusion would be good to have when you wish to disguise yourself. Now that your reactions are quicker you will be able to handle it with good skill, wouldn't you say?" He wasn't trying to decieve them with that smile, only set their fate so that the Tides of the Uniforce would take full effect. But none of them really knew that, nor would they ever find out. But for that time being, Adam couldn't agree more.

"Well, yes, of course, but what will you make it from?" Adam said, still bewildered some.

"Do you have something from your world that I could grant the power to, so that it would extend to Hyrule and your world?"

"Why would it need to extend to my world?"

"Do you have anything from your world?" There was that ignorance again, as if the question was either somethig that he did not want to answer, or he did not know the answer to.

"Well, wait, yes!" Reaching into his shirt pocket, Adam found a piece of eight by eleven inch paper which was completely white without note book lines. Adam many have written something on it, but he was still dizzy and not in touch all the way yet, so he didn't even bother to look at it. "Here, this is from my world, what do you wish for me to do with it?"

"First unfold it, then roll it up as tight as you can." Under normal circumstances, one would not be able to roll up something that had just been unfolded from the creases, but the moment he unfolded the paper, all creases in it just vanished, making the sheet looking as if it had been freshly cut from the paper machines. Not taking the time to notice this, Adam did just as the robed man had instructed.

"Good, now hold it up away from your body." The moment Adam did so, the Uniforce itself shot a beam of blue light at it with pin-point accuracy. The roll of paper Adam held now looked more like a magic wand that glowed with that blue light that would never shine more than an inch from its surface.

"Amazing!" Adam said, peering into the light, with its glow flooding his eyes. "How do you use it?"

"Simply think for an illusion, and it shall come to you, but do not use it now, their is something else that I must tell all of you. The secret to opening the doorways to the Fate of the Dozen lies within that paper, but Link shall be the only one to have the ability to unroll it. For anyone else it shall be solid and will not show the slighest opening, no matter what they try.

"As sad as it may be for all of you, our business is now complete, and I must give you a few things." Walking over to the far side of the island, the robed man plucked the now-complete Triforce from floating, and then came over Zelda. "To you, Princess of Hyrule, take the Triforce, guard it with care, and avoid allowing people to know that it is within Hyrule Castle. Tell no one, save your father and mother, and those who see it now. To you Link, Hero of Time, I give you your destiny." With this he removed the Robe that earned him his name, revealing that he still wore the shephards clothing that he had possesed those hundreds of years ago. Taking the Robe, he went to the Uniforce and, in an act that came as a shock to the three of them, wrapped the Holy Relic that was the Uniforce up in it, keeping that he did not touch it and be the one to lead his own Dozen. "Allow none to see or touch this, if you do, then the Tides will more than likely be washed out from the land of Hyrule and Calatia for eons to come. Its power is unlimited, but do not use it as a god, use it as a king, nobly, and with judgement.

"Adam, you have what you will need, use it as I have told you, once you recover from the change of mind you have undergone, Illusion shall be like an extension of your body, so always practice to better yourself, until you become impossible to catch.

"Now my children, I shall go," the unrobed man said.

"Wait, you mean that that's it? We don't get to find out anything else?" Zelda pleaded before they were left alone. "There are so many questions, like what have you done all these years? Just stay here and wait around for us to come and take away your Uniforce?"

"It was never my Uniforce Princess, and I haven't been here the whole time, at one point I did meet Link, yet he did not realize it at the time."

"What?!" Link said startled. "When did we meet, what was your name then?"

A light began to shine down on the unrobed man, they all knew it to be his means of leaving them and joining the One. "My name on Koholihnt Island was the same as it was when I was a shephard in Calatia," these were his last words before ascending into the blue sky: "Kaepora Gaebora!!!" And with that he was gone, rising quicker than their keen eyes could see.

It wasn't a dream. Link thought.

* * *

At first all that they could do was just stand there, looking up into a blue sky that had lost the beam of light an instant after they lost sight of Kaepora Gaebora. None of them really knew how they were going to leave the island, or how to get back to Hyrule Castle. At first Link had a wild thought that they would have to go back through everything, the moutain, the bunker, the pyramid, the Golden Land, but then he realized that none of them were there any longer, they had all been either moved or destroyed in his, Zelda and Adam's quest. It wasn't really Adam's quest, he had just crossed their path of fate in a manner of speaking.

After about ten seconds, they all saw their way back. Around them, the water that strechted out forever and ever began to convulse and rock against the small island. Soon the waves went over the lower level and began to splash up against the top floor. When they hit the three of them, Link realized that they would not get wet, they wouldn't drown, and nothing else of the sort would happen to them. As they waters came up on all of them, he could not even feel the waves pushing on him. But they still grew in intensity. After a minute of starting out, they were now beggining to encirlce the short pillar that the Uniforce had rested on since it was known to exist.

The pillar began to glow, and with that glow, the water (which now covered them) was forming a whir-pool, with the centre of the island as its vortex. Then Link knew what it was: the way back to Hyrule. He could feel it tugging on him, none of them fought the current going into it, instead they walked into it, eager to go to the place that would be safe for a time.

As they entered that vortex, the arrangement was as follows: Adam held the wand that was called Illusion, Zelda held the complete Triforce, Link held the Uniforce in his left arm, and in his right arm he held what he then and always would know to be the true Binding Force of Link.

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