Fool!
The creature’s voice echoed in his mind as the dark shapes behind him gave chase. Now he heard other voices shouting, weeping.
– You can change nothing. The curse will never be lifted!
– The girl is the cause of our misfortune.
– You cannot save us.
– You cannot defeat the queen.
Ico’s hair stood on end. His legs threatened to buckle under him. But he managed to make it to the doors and broke them open with his shoulder, then pulled Yorda along behind him.
Suddenly, all was dark and quiet. Ico couldn’t see a thing. His breath felt stifled. For a moment he feared he might pass out, until he realized that the darkness in which he swam was simply a matter of his eyes having yet to adjust to the gloom within this wing of the castle.
His breathing grew steadier. Soon the floor came into view, and Ico could even make out the mortar in the seams between stones.
They were in a vast, empty hall. High up along the wall, a small shelf ran down either side, with windows that let in a trickle of light above it. The doors had slammed shut behind them, and the creatures seemed to have given up for now.
Someone was crying. For a moment he thought it was the creatures again, but then he realized that it was Yorda. She was lying on the floor, hands over her face, weeping uncontrollably.
Ico sat down beside her, his own legs shaking, his elation at their narrow escape fading rapidly.
Why are you crying? Was it true what those creatures said? That you-what did you do?
Ico hadn’t intended to say anything out loud, but Yorda looked up at him as though she had heard. She put a hand on his arm and gently pushed.
“What?” Ico asked, his voice hoarse. “You want me to run away by myself too?”
Yorda nodded.
“Why? Why would you say that? I don’t understand.” Ico’s voice grew louder, his hands clenching into fists. Yorda simply shook her head, tears rolling down her face.
“Don’t tell me you want to stay here. That you want to crawl back into that big birdcage!”
Ico sat for a moment, catching his breath. He realized that he was close to crying too.
“They were talking to me,” he said to Yorda, more quietly now. “Those creatures out there were talking to me. They said that you were the cause of their misfortune.”
The girl’s shoulders tensed; she hung her head.
“They said I wouldn’t be able to defeat the queen.” Ico sat up on his knees beside her. “Okay, so what do I know: You and Ozuma escape here with the book, right, then Ozuma comes back with the book’s power in his sword to kill the queen-at least he tries. He fails, gets turned to stone, and I guess loses one of his horns along the way, and now the queen’s master of the castle again.” As he spoke, Ico could feel himself gradually calming. The shaking in his arms and legs had stopped. “The shadow-creatures, they used to be Sacrifices-the queen used her power to make them that way, so she could have them as guards for her castle.
“And the Sacrifices are the descendants of Ozuma-I’m guessing that happened at the queen’s request. Some deal she worked out with Zagrenda-Sol in exchange for not destroying them, right?”
Yorda blinked slowly, looking up at him.
“Because they failed to remove her from the castle, that’s all Zagrenda-Sol could do. They had to protect their people.”
Yorda said nothing.
“That’s what the custom of my village is all about,” Ico whispered, looking down at his own fists. He opened his hands to look at them. They were covered with scratches where he had scraped against the wall and the floor while swinging his stick around. There was dried blood on his skin.
Ozuma’s blood.
“It has to end,” he said. He wasn’t saying it for Yorda. He wasn’t saying it for himself. It was a declaration of war. “I have to end it. That’s what the elder wants me to do.” Ico’s voice grew louder, and his confidence grew with it.
“If we just sit around here and do nothing, then one day, the next eclipse is going to come and the Dark God will rise up and blow this entire continent away. There’s no stalling for time anymore, if there ever was. This castle has to be destroyed, along with the queen.”
Ico grabbed Yorda’s slender arm with more intensity than ever before. “That’s why I need you to tell me why Ozuma failed. I have to know why he couldn’t defeat the queen!” So I don’t make the same mistake, he added to himself.
Yorda took her free hand and placed it against her chest, directly above her heart.
“What?”
She was saying something, but Ico still couldn’t understand. He growled in frustration.
It’s my fault, she said. I let my mother escape. I took pity on her and so fell into her trap. At the last moment, our victory turned to defeat.
Yorda struck herself on the chest two, three times.
“You mean…you did it?”
Yorda nodded swiftly, without hesitation.
“You let the queen win? That’s why you want me to leave by myself? Is that what you’re saying?”
Yorda nodded, flooding with relief that he understood.
Ico was staring at her now. “The queen used you, didn’t she?”
Yorda lowered her eyes, and Ico knew he had hit the mark.
“I knew there was something more going on inside you when I found you in that cage-more than just sadness. It was regret.”
Ico noticed new tears welling in Yorda’s eyes and shook his head. “No, we can fix that. We can win this time. Then there’ll be nothing to regret. Think about it. The queen locked you up because she was afraid you’d run away and be out of her control. If you’re free of the castle, you’ll be free of her.”
Ico put his hands on Yorda’s shoulders. “We have to do this, one last time. Don’t let everything Ozuma fought for be in vain. You’re still alive. This isn’t over. Don’t give up!”
But Yorda merely shook her head, like a tiny blossom trembling in a strong wind. No, no, no.
She had already paid too great a price for her last mistake, and now she could see it happening all over. I cannot defeat my mother. I will never be able to defeat her. And we both know it now.
Please, she thought to Ico, let me go back to sleep. Put me back where you found me. Nothing good will come of this.
If her heart fell asleep once more, if she were locked inside the cage, Yorda would feel nothing. She would never see the Sacrifices sent to the castle, never see their faces or hear their voices. If she didn’t know their names, she could pretend they never existed.
As long as she could free this one, the boy looking into her eyes, the Sacrifice named Ico. That would be enough.
I have no right to want more than this. Ignorance is my penalty and my salvation. My final rest. This must be, because I…
Ico let go of Yorda’s shoulders. She looked up, thinking perhaps he had understood her again, but the boy’s face looked even more determined than before.
“Fine,” he said, standing. Though his legs and his arms were covered with scratches and bruises, he showed no signs of pain. “If you can’t fight-if you think you’re what brought Ozuma’s plan down the first time-then we can’t risk you being here. I’ll fight the queen alone.” The smile returned to Ico’s face. “I’ll be fine. See? I’m not scared a bit. After all, I’m fighting to free my family.”
Ico looked down the hall at a door that appeared to lead back into the castle. “We need to find some way to open the main gates or find a way down to the underground pier. Either works for me. Except, I’m going to need your help getting past any idols along the way.”
Ico offered his hand. Yorda stared at it for a moment and then stood on her own. Ico glanced at his hand, hanging lonely in the air, before letting it drop to his side. Either he had caught a whiff of the fear welling inside her, or he no longer cared.