Picture from Wikimedia Commons

"Think about Lake Mulder."

Trevor and The Shadow shared a small island. It was a mound of sand just large enough to hold them both. Deep black waters surrounded them, spreading out to all sides with no end in sight. An overcast sky hung over the scene, quiet and eerie as The Shadow loomed over Trevor. The only colors in this realm were that of white, grey and the hostile crimson that bled in the Shadow's eyes.

"Come on..." The Shadow formed a wicked grin on its face. Trevor couldn't believe that his own face could show so much evil and malice. "It shouldn't be hard to remember that day. I remember it. You made a mistake and decided to swallow up everything you were. Everything you are. I want to see it again. Show me."

Trevor spent the past two years trying to forget. His foe was right when it spoke. He did make a mistake, a big problem his mind couldn't run away from.

Though no one knew the truth, Trevor understood everything that happened on that day. He knew the cause of it–felt it, actually, while making it happen.

On that day, Trevor found out how gifts could be dangerous and cause the worst moments to come up out of nowhere. He decided to run away. He chose to forget.

Before now, Trevor started making peace with the possibility of never showing his true self to anyone. When Hyrule came about, he had a feeling that the powers had to emerge...but this was more than what he expected.

The Shadow jutted his lower lip out, pretending to pout. "What's wrong?" The Shadow asked. "Did your mind get messed up when you beat yourself down at Lake Hylia? Too bad. I'll jog your memory a little, buddy. That should help, right?"

Trevor tried to crawl away. He knew there wasn't much space on the island before he hit the dark waters, but tried anyway.

As he moved, the ground beneath him seemed to flatten. The island's sand became less damp and swirled about like something picked up by the wind.

He felt warmth from up above and saw the sun shining down without any clouds around it. Voices rose out of nowhere; they were calm conversations, or playful shouts brimming with uncontained glee.

When Trevor looked around, he saw many people. They laid themselves down on blankets, seeking either sunlight or shade beneath umbrellas.

Everyone wore swimsuits of some kind. The water stayed on one side now, sitting beside the shore while remaining as black as ever.

It took a while for Trevor to notice. He darted his sights back and forth between the grinning Shadow and the scene that sprung up from nothing.

Trevor's vision panned throughout the beach until he saw his parents sitting next to one another. They held hands while sitting on lawn chairs. Trevor's mom laughed while his father kept chatting at her, sharing in some of the joy.

Trevor didn't know what they spoke of on that day. He just knew about what happened afterward at Lake Mulder, about the problem that seemed moments away from coming up again like it often did in his nightmares.

"I'm in your head, Trevor."

A frigid grip grabbed Trevor by the back of his neck. It dragged him across the beach without effort. Trevor thrashed against The Shadow's hold but no beating of his fists could make his enemy let go.

"Quit fighting. You didn't win at the lake. You're not winning now. Or ever. Just watch..."

The Shadow's other hand clutched Trevor's chin. It roughly tilted Trevor's head back so he could see straight ahead.

A boy knelt beside a sandcastle not too far from shore. He was skinny and quiet. His hands delicately patted different parts of the structure he made, treating it as if it were a child in slumber.

The boy had blonde hair. It was shaggy with bangs hanging just above his eyes. He was overdue for a haircut.

The boy wore circle-framed glasses with lenses soiled by small brown specks from the beach. He was in his own world, ignoring the people around him, including his two other selves who watched from a short distance.

"Don't we look good?" The Shadow gave a snarky chuckle.

Trevor gritted his teeth. He wanted to warn his younger self about what would happen. Trevor knew why he was here without The Shadow saying so.

This was the past. This was the day. It was the mistake he made, the one that haunted him in his nightmares. He didn't want it to happen...he wanted everything to stop right now.

Go, Trevor thought. Run. Dammit, RUN!

"Not so fast." Trevor's eyes widened as The Shadow seemed to interfere with his quiet pleas. "Again...I'm in your brain. I'm pulling everything out at will...although I haven't seen everything yet. I'm curious about one thing."

"Let me go," Trevor grunted.

"Not until we see her."

"You know what happened to her."

"Not everything...I want to see ALL of your secrets. I've been doing it since you landed in Hyrule. I won't stop until I see why you're so weak. Then, I'll kill you. So...let's see what your mind and heart are made of...cue the tomboy."

Trevor couldn't look away. He knew what was up next and could've easily closed his eyes without The Shadow stopping him.

Instead, a tall lanky girl with fiery red hair came into view. She towered over the boy at the sand castle and snatched a seashell out of his hands.

Her act was accompanied by a giggle. The boy at the sand castle snarled and gritted his teeth.

"Rebecca," said Trevor's younger self. "Give it back."

Rebecca Santos waved the seashell in the air like a fan, swaying it back and forth while smirking. Though her back was turned to Trevor and The Shadow as they watched on, Trevor remembered the amused look on her face all too well.

"You're gonna have to catch me first," Rebecca said. She even brought the seashell closer to Younger Trevor's face. When he tried to save it from her grasp, Rebecca pulled the seashell back at a pace that was faster than lightning. "Nice try!"

"Stop it."

"No."

"I mean it."

"Ven a buscarme, nino. Come and get me, boy!"

She ran along the shoreline. Younger Trevor jumped to his feet and gave chase. T

hey dashed for a time, forgetting about all the people around them. At first, the gap between them was great.

Trevor remembered the air that left his lungs as he ran after Rebecca. He recalled the rage that swelled up in his chest as he grew all the more tired.

When he gained on her and closed the gap between them, Trevor remembered how well Rebecca noticed this. He knew she'd eventually turn to Lake Mulder and go into the water, dipping herself into the water.

He didn't remember the lake being so dark. It was still a deep black pool reminiscent of the darkest night.

In truth, the lake reflected the sky at its most restful state. Clouds didn't appear on that day. Only the sun sailed across, bringing its warmth onto the world.

Rebecca waded in for a time before turning around to land. She raised the seashell like a trophy, swaying it back and forth while singing a teasing melody with no words to get on Trevor's nerves.

Her grin was bigger than ever. Trevor remembered how well the tricks worked.

He didn't remember what she said after that. That was probably why the words were garbled. Or maybe it was the foam that suddenly formed around Rebecca.

Trevor saw his younger self slouching on shore. He shook with both hands balled into fists, which also trembled and quaked so visibly.

His younger self stomped the sand while yelling at Rebecca. Suddenly, Trevor couldn't recall his own words on that day.

He just remembered the foam. He remembered how the water strangely rose into a tide.

It was a vast, tall wave that reached for the atmosphere. It lifted Rebecca with it. Rebecca stopped smiling.

Rebecca started out being waist deep in Lake Mulder's water. That was about as far out as kids from Oak Shire were allowed to go, even if they were as tall as she was.

Her entire body went under when the wave surged up. Trevor watched it all fall apart piece by piece. His younger self stepped back...he felt guilty now. He thought he killed one of his own friends.

People screamed. They ran to the edge of the lake, though they came up short and even covered their heads upon seeing the wave.

Everyone noticed how abnormal this was. Nothing about this was natural.

Parents rushed to drag their terrified children away from the water before the wave plucked them away as well. Soon, Rebecca was the only child in danger, the only one knocking on death's door.

Trevor's parents pulled his younger self away. He fought back against them, reaching out to the water with a hand.

The words–the words–Trevor forgot what he said, or wanted to say, or even what he was thinking. All he recalled was every feeling that whirled through him, along with every trace of sickness he carried in his heart out of guilt.

"How brutal." The Shadow tutted and smacked Trevor on the nape in false consolation. "You were such a little killer. You get mad for ONE minute and the next thing you know your girlfriend is drowning to death. By the way, don't think I know...you have the hots for her. I've seen those memories too. I don't blame you...she is pretty."

Trevor felt The Shadow's hands jerking his head until the two of them saw each other eye to eye. The Shadow's crimson eyes looked even more like pools of blood than ever before.

"I want to go a little deeper now," said The Shadow. "Even the things our minds don't see can pull out the truth. Want to know why your lady's still breathing to this day? That's going to be a nice story. Bet she curses you out before getting rescued."

Trevor's eyes stung from the tears that poured out from them. "...Stop it."

"Like she said–No. Never."

The beach disintegrated. Every grain of sand turned wet, then collapsed.

The people faded out like vapor. Trevor started falling but soon found himself immersed in ice cold water.

His body cringed from the tepid rush of it all as he flailed about. The Shadow took hold of him again, pulling him through the dark depths until they came upon a still silhouette.

Trevor's eyes adjusted quickly; the silhouette was Rebecca. Her body was like stone, slowly sinking to the bottom of the lake.

People talked about a miracle happening on that day; about Rebecca being lucky to have resurfaced so quickly, let alone being alive. Still, people said she was in the water for far too long to not be...gone. Somehow, she wasn't gone.

Even so, Trevor treated this moment like something The Shadow could change. If he could reach into his mind and see the truths he didn't witness himself, could he also reshape the past so it could affect the present and future? The possibility of that terrified Trevor to his very core.

Trevor thrashed about again. He did it until he grew tired, then just closed his eyes.

He didn't care if concerned arms were about to reach down and pull Rebecca out. Trevor didn't want to see it.

"Look at her, loser."

The Shadow's fingers dug into Trevor's skin. They went deep enough to make him scream and snap his eyes open.

"No more running away," said The Shadow. "Just pain and suffering until I end it myself. But first...let's see what happened next. The nightmare continues..."

Rebecca looked like she was deep into both death and the black waters of the lake. She was a human anchor that lost her color.

Her hair waved about in the water like fire, but even the curls lost their vibrance, and so they darkened. Trevor started to think that this was the final cruel trick of The Shadow, its ability to change the past after all.

He wanted to try to close his eyes again so he didn't have to watch. Trevor even begged for his captor to finish him off so no more pain could happen.

The glow forced both of them to look away.

Bright emerald light surged from Rebecca's body. It spread out from her body like wings, making its essence wide before it proceeded to cocoon the unconscious child.

Suddenly, Trevor saw Rebecca sealed into a strange shell. She seemed to cough within the prism. Water spurted from her mouth and Trevor watched as she breathed in.

Her eyes remained shut but her body sunk into a sort of relief, as if she were sleeping. Peace defined the moment now and Trevor felt it from where he was at...he'd nearly forgotten that he was still in The Shadow's captivity.

"What the hell...?"

The Shadow showed something Trevor had never seen before–its red stare widened and its jaw dropped. It had no words for what just happened.

The nightmare continued but now Trevor realized that it wasn't his own nightmare...it was The Shadow's turn to be afraid.

"Who the hell are you?" The Shadow looked at Trevor. "WHAT the hell are you? You, this girl, the other kids. Who are ANY of you? Just...just DIE!"

The Shadow raised a hand to strike Trevor. Out of instinct, Trevor raised his own hand. The waters whisked The Shadow away.

When his foe tried to retaliate, it swam fast in Trevor's direction and tried to cause harm, but the emerald light struck The Shadow, making it tumble.

Trevor looked in Rebecca's direction. Her eyes were open and also glowed within the prism that protected her.

She reached out to Trevor with a hand, pressing her hand against the pane of her protective seal. Trevor lost awareness of his surroundings. He only saw Rebecca before him and he slowly floated to the prism, feeling safe.

He pressed his own palm against Rebecca's. Their hands were around the same size, fitting each other perfectly.

Trevor smiled. Rebecca smiled back...then it went away. Her glowing eyes–emerald and gentle–looked down at the other hand. In the center of that palm was the seashell Rebecca stole.

Trevor remembered Rebecca waking up after CPR on the beach. In that moment, she sat up and looked around.

She said 'sorry' over and over again while trying to find someone. The medics made her lay back down so she could be looked at more.

Later on, Rebecca the seashell back to Trevor. He never let go of it but he did let go of his powers...he didn't want to hurt anyone ever again.

It was Trevor's turn now. He tapped on the prism and Rebecca looked up at Trevor. They stared into each other's eyes.

"I...I..." Trevor could breathe again. Moments before, he choked and sputtered. His lungs shriveled up in his chest and he waited for darkness to settle itself in.

Now, he was sure it wouldn't happen, at least for now. This wasn't impossible for him.

It was who he was the whole time–someone with gifts, someone who could do anything if he put his mind to it...right? Was this finally the time to realize that maybe...

Before he could think any longer, Trevor felt light surging from the prism again. The emerald light turned orange like fire and the prism shattered.

Rebecca reached out and grabbed Trevor by the wrists. He held her as well, not wanting to let go. What happened from here, he didn't know. All Trevor knew was that in Rebecca's arms, he was alright.

Everything was alright and at some point all would be well for good...if only he could keep holding on...

And then he woke up.

Trevor fell and hit a hard surface. His entire body hurt all over. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sprawled on a golden brick floor. Dust covered the stone and seemed to soil his clothes. When Trevor looked up, he saw Rebecca knelt beside him. The look on her face was full of worry.

"Rebecca...?"

Rebecca put a hand over her mouth. "Are you OK?" She yanked him to his feet. Trevor groaned as pain shot through his body and his head became light.

"I need to lie down," he said, looking toward the bed he realized he fell from.

"I thought you were gonna die."

Rebecca put him back on. A brown blanket fell to the floor with Trevor but Rebecca was quick to pick it up once she helped him to the mattress. She flapped it in the air to shake off the extra dust and layered it over her friend, letting him rest once more.

"You stopped breathing," Rebecca said. "I called for help and just kept holding your hand. You were so cold...then you got a little warmer. I kept saying your name and talking to you and...then you breathed. I'm...I'm glad you're OK."

"Where am I...?" Trevor felt an unfamiliar heat all around him.

"You're in Gerudo."

"What's that?"

"The best place you could ever be in Hyrule." Rebecca squeezed Trevor's hand. He felt a new hope in his heart when he realized the bad dream was over and that he was safe once again. His body grew warm when Rebecca patted his forehead with her other hand.

"Bienvenido a Gerudo," she whispered. "Welcome to Gerudo–home of the desert Amazons. You're safe with us now..."