Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword



 I've been a Zelda fan my entire life. I've loved and played nearly every game, from Ocarina of Time to Twilight Princess. Link and Zelda had practically raised me. So, naturally, when I found out that Nintendo was releasing Skyward Sword, I wanted to play it. On release day, I was one of the first people at the store. I had brought every dollar I had with me; I had even borrowed from friends and family. Surely that would have been enough for the game, which I wanted and needed so dearly. However, my everything was not enough. What I had in my pocket was not enough for my beloved game.

         Disheartened, I began to walk slowly home. Standing right outside the shop was an old man, smiling brightly like it was the best day in the world. Of course it was for him, he had a copy of Skyward Sword in his hand. He was a normal looking guy, a person you could see in the street passing by and never really notice. But there was something off about him that I couldn't put my finger on. As I stared at him, he looked right at me and his smile got even brighter. I showed him a finger that told him exactly what I thought of his happiness. I depressingly made my way home, thinking maybe I could borrow a copy from one of my friends. But then I remembered hardly any of my friends were gamers, and none of them played Zelda; they were too busy playing stupid games like Halo and Call of Duty. As I moped some more, I noticed an old man, the SAME OLD MAN AS BEFORE. Just standing there. Staring at me. Still holding the copy of Skyward Sword. Still smiling. But this time he was holding the game out slightly towards me. This guy was starting to really creep me out, so I looked down and walked faster. I glanced up after a few steps and he was right in front of me, practically shoving the game up my nose. I stopped, startled by his sudden appearance.



         "What do you want?" I yelled. "Why do you keep following me?" In response he smiled even wider and tapped me on the chest with the game box. "Do you want me to have this?" I asked. No response. Tentatively, I took the game box from him. As soon as I grabbed it, the old man's smile disappeared. Thinking it was a trick, I quickly opened the box. The plastic was off, but I didn't take any notice of it. I just really wanted the game. Inside was the game, and nothing seemed wrong with it. I turned it over to look at the reflective side, looking for any blemishes or scratches. Again there were none, except for the back of it was darker than it should have been. I took no notice of this however. In the place where there should have been game pamphlets, like there usually are, there was a singular piece of folded up, college ruled notebook paper. On it were only two words. These two words have haunted me ever since. It seemed like nothing at the time, but it severely frightens me now. The two words on it read "GOOD LUCK". I looked up to thank the old man, but he had disappeared.



         I practically ran home, bursting with excitement. Through some miracle of fate, I had still managed to acquire a copy of Skyward Sword. I burst inside my house, heading straight for the TV. Neither of my parents were home, but that was alright with me. I turned on the Wii, and inserted the game into it. My hands were shaking with excitement, but I froze in awe when the title screen popped up. I could instinctively tell that this game was going to exceed my expectations. I had no idea how right I was. Maybe if I had ignored the man at the shop, or hadn't taken the game from him, none of this would have happened, and I would have been alright. Too late now. 

         I opened the game, seeing nothing wrong with it. It played fine as far as I could tell. I started a new game file under my name, and began to play. I noticed nothing wrong. No glitches, nothing. Except for one thing. I was talking to Gaepora near the beginning of the game, after Zelda had been kidnapped. He told me "Good luck," and when he did, his eyes looked straight at me for a split second. Not at my character, Link, but directly at me. It was only briefly, but I was sure it was right at me. Thinking, hoping, that it was just a glitch, I continued to play. I played for hours without any problems. I got all the way through Skyview Temple, where you first fight Lord Ghirahim. During the cut scene before I actually began to fight him, the game froze, and my TV emitted a long, loud, high pitched beep. Fearing the worst, I shut off the Wii console. I waited about five minutes to let the Wii cool down, and hopefully fix whatever caused it to freeze. I turned it back on, and returned to the title screen, only to see that my game file had been completely deleted. Disgusted, I shut down the Wii for the night, and went to bed, planning on playing the entire next day, as it was Saturday. 

         I did not sleep very well that night, though I could not put my finger on whatever was keeping me from relaxing. Perhaps it was mewanting to play the game, or disappointment at having to restart at the very beginning. 

<p style="margin:0in0in0.0001pt;line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0in;font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">         It was around 10 o'clock when I finally woke up in the morning, and my parents still weren't home. I still wasn't very worried by this, because all that I could think about was playing Skyward Sword. I turned it on, ready to start this game anew. However, when I reached the title screen, instead of the bright and happy sky, with white fluffy clouds, there were dark, ominous clouds. Thinking it was just a texture glitch, I kept playing. I started a new game, again with my own name. But as soon as I started, I noticed things were horribly wrong.

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<p style="margin:0in0in0.0001pt;line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">         First of all, all the clouds in the sky were dark and stormy, instead of the white fluffy clouds, just like the title screen. And all the music was Lord Ghirahim's theme music. I hoped it was just flitching out, but I knew it wasn't. My entire body was cold, and my hands were shaking. I wanted to stop playing, but I couldn't. I was transfixed, unable to move from where I sat. I knew I had to play this until game let me go. Everything played pretty normally, until I reached the part where you need to rescue your bird, where it's in a cage in the side of a cliff. I reached the cage but instead of my bird sitting there, squawking, it was silent. As I approached, I saw it lying on the ground. I got closer. I saw that it had its neck snapped, and it was lying in a pool of it's own blood. I realized I was trapped on the island. As I turned around to leave, I saw Lord Ghirahim standing there. I couldn't move, I could only stand there. Then Ghirahim chuckled, and a text box appeared. It read "What do you want to do?" There were two options: "Leave" and "Fight". I of course selected Leave. I did not want to fight him. Two words appeared, and Ghirahim looked straight at me, just like Gaepora did. They read "GOOD LUCK".

<p style="margin:0in0in0.0001pt;line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">         Suddenly I could move again, but as I did, I froze again. I heard a familiar giggling, and it chilled my blood. I started to sweat. Rising up from the clouds behind Ghirahim was Skull Kid, complete with Majora's Mask. What was he doing here. He couldn't be. It wasn't possible. But then again, nothing so far was. Skull Kid looked at Ghirahim, and then burst into flames. I screamed at this point, I couldn’t help it. It was just some primitive fear that took hold of me. Skull Kids burning corpse fell down back below the clouds still laughing. The Mask floated towards Ghirahim, and settled on his face. And then IT spoke, not through text boxes, but actually spoke. It's voice was deep, and it echoed around the room. I tried to mute the TV, but nothing happened. I even unplugged it, but still the game played on.

<p style="margin:0in0in0.0001pt;line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">        "Let's Play A Game" IT said. "Good Luck". Then Ghirahim/Majora rushed forwards and grabbed Link by the head and legs. It pulled with ease and ripped him apart, all the time "Good Luck" echoed in the background. Link emitted such a scream of pain, as his entrails spilled out that I ran out of the house, leaving the demonic game behind.

<p style="margin:0in0in0.0001pt;line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">         They found me two hours later, huddled up in an alley, muttering incoherent things. My parents had been gone on a business trip, and apparently they had bought me a copy of Skyward Sword, hoping to surprise me with it. They discovered me missing, with our front door open, and called the police. When they took me back home, I freaked out when I saw the game, and started crying and pointing at the Wii. They checked, but it was empty. I've been to countless therapy sessions, but none of them have helped. The entire Zelda series has been ruined now. And those words. Those two words. I'm telling this to warn you. Do not take any games from strange men.

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<p style="margin:0in0in0.0001pt;line-height:14.25pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">GOOD LUCK.

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