Index

Page

Chapter 1 The Mysterious Syn 1

Chapter 2 Syn's Home 5

Chapter 3 Old Friend Discovered 9

Chapter 4 Navi's Story 13

Chapter 5 Nova's Report 13

Chapter 6 The Betrayal 19

Chapter 7 Ultimate Challenge 23

Chapter 8 Navi's Intervention 25

Chapter 9 A Final Effort 29

Chapter 10 Battle of Darkness 33

Chapter 11 Fight for Control 35

Chapter 12 The Battle Ends

Chapter 1

The Mysterious Syn

It was a cool, foggy day, a few years after the crisis in Termina. Link had turned 14 a month before. He was riding through the forest on Epona looking for his old fairy companion. He had found a lone fairy a year before and had become good friends with it. It was a black fairy with wings colored gold. The fairy went by the name Nova. Though sometimes uncooperative, Nova was a very good friend and constant companion to Link. As Link rode through the forest, he began to get hungry, as all people should. He managed to find a few fruit trees. Since he couldn't quite reach them by jumping, the young hero tried shooting one down with his handy bow. After collecting an apple, a couple of oranges, and some berries, he started looking for some water to wash it down as he ate.

After a few minutes he found a water spring where he ate his meal. After chomping off the last few berries, he gulped down some water, fell back on his back and sighed. "That was great. Although fruit is starting to get a little old. Every day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Always fruit. Man, I'm actually starting to wish I could find some veg-" Link was cut off by something that sounded like a sword fight.

Link jumped to his feet and mounted his mighty steed. He was about to whip his horse when the sounds started approaching at an extremely high speed. He drew his sword and readied his shield to prepare to defend himself.

Just after Link had his shield ready, it was hit with tremendous force. It hit so hard that Link was thrown a couple of meters behind his horse. As Link stood up he saw about a dozen trees fall to the ground.

Once he was on his feet, he felt his gold shield, which he had made on his own about 3 months before, begin to split. The shield split in two perfectly equal halves. As the pieces hit the ground, Link began to grit his teeth as hard as he could. He then said angrily, " Who did this?! Show yourself!"

About a second or two after he said this, a small black cloud drifted in front of him. The cloud then slowly began to form itself into a person. Though still not solid, the cloud seemed to have a head, legs, and very long arms, which bent sharply about halfway down. Two red dots then appeared where his eyes would be. The red dots started out narrow, but immediately widened after just enough time for the figure to get a good look at Link. The figure then began to become solid.

Once the, well, shadow had taken shape, he appeared totally human. He appeared to look almost identical to Link, except that his suit was black with no hat and long pants. The suit was also without the tight under garments. The person seemed close to Link's age as well. He had two swords, which explained the long arms. Link began to loosen his teeth. Link was the first to speak. "Why'd you split my shield? I made that myself, you know. It took me three days."

"Sorry about that," the person replied. "I'll make you another one. It'll be even better than that one. OK?"

Link closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine," Link said sternly. He began to calm down. "So who are you anyway?"

The person smiled. "My name is Syn," he replied. "I never thought I'd get to meet the Hero of Time."

Link's eyes widened. "What?" he said surprised. "How did you know..." Link was holding his breath. He shook his head and let it out after a moment. "Oh well. The story would probably take till morning anyway." Link laughed briefly.

Syn laughed as well. "You're probably right. Follow me. I have lots of shields at my house. Maybe we can find you a replacement." Syn began to float above the ground. Link mounted Epona and said, "Lead the way!"

About a half hour later, Link and Syn arrived at a tree that was larger than the rest. It reminded Link of the Great Deku Tree, except it had no face. Syn came to a stop, as did Link. Syn put his hand on the tree and it opened in the front.

As Link dismounted his steed, Nova said to him, "I don't like this."

"Don't worry about it. He seems trustworthy, besides he's gonna make me a shield." Link replied.

Syn invited Link in and they both walked into the tree.

Chapter 2

Syn's Home

As Syn and Link walked down the twisting steps of Syn's home inside the huge tree, the doorway through which they had entered closed behind them. This startled both Link and Nova, and they turned to see what was happening. "Don't worry about it. It happens every time I come in here," Syn explained. "Man, I'd never get used to that," Link said as he sighed in relief.

Nova flew close to Link's ear and whispered, "I really don't like this, Link. I think we should get out of here while we still can."

Syn heard this but made no reply. However, Link did reply to the comment by saying, "Don't worry about it, Nova. Besides, how could we leave? You saw the tree close up."

Nova sighed and flew into Link's hat to take a nap. About a minute had passed when Link and Syn came to a fork in the stairwell. "Would you like some rest, or do you want to go ahead and find a shield?" Syn asked turning to Link.

Link thought for a moment, heard his stomach growl, and asked, "How about some food? But please, no fruit."

Syn chuckled and decided to make a joke. "OK. Would you like grapes, cherries, bananas, apples, oranges. Just name it!" Link started screaming. Syn busted out laughing for a couple of seconds. Still snickering, Syn said, "Don't worry. I was just kidding." He stopped laughing altogether. "So did you have anything in mind?"

"Well, not really. But if you can cook some meat and vegetables, then I'd be happy," Link replied.

"Meat and vegetables? No problem," Syn replied. "This way."

Syn led Link down the corridor to the left. Once they had come to a room, a small white ball flew into a hole in the wall. Link, very confused and puzzled, ran after it to see if he could figure out what it was. By the time he reached the hole, the ball of light had obviously either gone around a corner or just disappeared. Still puzzled, Link turned to face Syn and asked, "What was that thing?"

"Um," Syn began as he walked towards the hole, "I'm not really sure. But I'll be sure to tell you once I figure it out."

"You do that," Link said quietly still thinking about what he saw. He tapped the tip of his hat to get Nova's attention.

As he flew out, Nova said sleepily, "What is it?"

Link replied by saying, "Do you see the hole in the wall over there?"

Nova answered, "Yeah, what about it?"

"I want you to fly in there and tell me what you find, OK?" Link said.

"Sure thing," Nova answered. And with that he flew into the hole. Meanwhile, Syn decided he'd make Link a good old steak with a salad and a baked potato. He couldn't believe that such a legendary hero could be so down-to-earth.

Chapter 3

Old Friend Discovered

"Shoot! Another dead end!" Nova said as he flew through the tiny maze in a wall in Syn's home. "At this rate, I'll never find the end of this thing." Still confused, yet as persistent as ever, Nova went back to try another path.



Meanwhile, Link was sitting down to wait on his meal. "About how long should it take you to finish the food?" Link yelled impatiently to Syn.

"About a half hour, maybe a little more," Syn replied as he walked into the lantern-lit room. Link moaned his complaint, too hungry to remember his manners. Syn gave Link a look of contempt. Link propped his head onto his hand and put his elbow on the table. He started thinking about the ball of light.

"What could it have been?" he thought. "A fairy? If it was, could it have been...Navi? Impossible."



Nova continued through the maze. As he went down a tunnel, he saw an opening.

"It's about time," he said to himself as he exited the maze. He entered an area no larger than the inside of a drawer in a chest of drawers, but still large enough for a fairy like himself to move around freely.

As he looked around the tiny room, he saw a blue and white fairy shuddering in a corner. Attempting to start a conversation, Nova flew towards the obviously scared fairy and asked what was wrong.

"Get away from me!" the fairy shrieked in a frightened voice.

"OK. OK." Nova said as he backed away. "Just calm down. It's not like I'm gonna hurt you. If anything, I'll help you." As he looked closer, the white fairy appeared to be crying.

"What do you want from me?" the fairy asked as it calmed down.

"I suppose you could start by telling me your name," Nova replied.

"My name is Navi," said the fairy.

Nova was shocked.

Chapter 4

Navi's Story

"So how long have you been staying here?" Link asked as he sat at the table with Syn waiting on his meal.

"Nearly all my life, actually." Syn replied. "I don't remember ever having any family at all. From the moment I was able to walk, talk, and think for myself. I've stayed in here, going out only to get food to eat and fabric for when my clothes got too small."

"Wow," Link replied. "So you've been raising yourself, huh?" Syn nodded. "Sounds a lot like me, except that I'm practically always on the move."

"Really?" Syn sounded intrigued. His eyes widened for a split second. "Oh! I almost forgot about the food! Be back in a second!" Syn got up from the table and ran into the kitchen.

I wonder how Nova's doing." Link thought.



"Where have you been all this time?" Nova asked as he interrogated Navi. "Link's been searching for you for years!"

"Really?" Navi replied. "Wow. I had no idea. After I left him. I went to see if the Deku Tree had been revived since all the other damage Ganondorf had caused was repaired. I got to the Great Deku Tree and found him still dead. After that, I was too upset to go back to Link so I started wandering.

I was looking for something, but I never really knew what I was looking for. It might have been a friend, or maybe Link, or I might have simply been looking for a quiet place to think, but from what I could tell, I was just wandering. I found the tree.

The tree that we're inside right now, and it reminded me so much of the Great Deku Tree, that it made me cry. I flew up to the tree and barely brushed up against it. The tree started to open when I touched it. It startled me, and I flew behind another tree to hide.

A boy wearing black came to the opening in the tree. I came out from behind the tree. That's when I met Syn. I never went to look for Link because I thought he would be mad at me."

"Well now you know he won't be mad," Nova said in an attempt to help Link regain an old friend. "Why don't you go see him now?"

"If I go now, it will bring back too many memories," replied Navi. "I don't think I'm ready for that."

"If you don't go," Nova said, "Link will be upset when I tell him I found you but you wouldn't come out. He's expecting a report on what I find."

"Tell him I'll see him soon," Navi said. "Tell him to beware when he's around Syn. Syn has wanted to test his strength against the greatest of opponents for as long as I've known him."

Surprised, Nova left to give his report to Link. "I knew something was wrong about that guy," he thought as he flew through the tunnels.



Syn walked into the room with a wooden plate in his hands. He set it down in front of Link and said, "I'm gonna go get to work on the shield."

"Great," Link replied. "Good luck!"

Chapter 5

Nova's Report

"Oh, man!" Nova thought as he flew through the tunnels. "Link is gonna freak out when he hears this news!" As he neared the end, he heard some of the most frightening noises. It sounded like some kind of monster was ripping apart his lunch. He nervously came out of the tunnel and peeked around the corner. As he looked around the room he spotted Link madly tearing away at a steak. He started laughing as Link tore off a bite twice as big as his mouth and started chewing vigorously.

Link looked around and spotted Nova. Nova started laughing even harder when Link looked at him with a huge piece of steak hanging out of his mouth. With the steak still hanging from his mouth, he tried to say, "What's so funny?" but it came out more like, "Wha'sh so fuh ee?" This just made Nova laugh even harder. Finally, Link pulled the mangled chunk of steak out of his mouth and asked his question again.

Nova began to calm down a bit. "Nothing, nothing. Just don't worry about it," Nova replied. He was suddenly excited as he remembered his conversation with Navi." Guess who I found!" Nova didn't wait for an answer and said, "Navi!"

"No way!" Link was shocked. "You're kidding! What did she say?"

"She said to beware of Syn," Nova replied some what nervously." She said he wants to test his strength against you. Told ya so."

Link ignored Nova's closing comment as he was in deep thought. "No way," he thought. "But he seemed like such a nice guy. Could he possibly be my next opponent?"

"She also said she'd see you soon," Nova continued. "She had an interesting story, too." Nova told Link how Navi had gone to the Deku Tree and run away. Link had hoped that he would find Navi, but he never thought he'd find her in the home of an enemy.

Chapter 6

The Betrayal

As Link ate, he thought about what Nova had told him. "I still don't see how he could possibly be an enemy," he thought to himself.

After about a half hour, he swallowed the last bite of his steak. He stretched and sighed in satisfaction. "I wonder how the shield's coming," he said to himself, anxious to see what he would be adding to his inventory. He stood and exited the room. As he walked down the corridor, he saw Syn come around the corner holding an oddly shaped piece of metal. "Gotta be my shield," Link thought as he ran up to Syn with an excited look on his face.

"Oh, hey!" Syn said as he looked up from his work. "It's finished. How do you like it?"

As Syn turned his masterpiece for Link to see, light bounced from it as if it were a kaleidoscope. The shield had diamonds all around the edge and in a cross pattern on the front. The center portion of the surface was gold. To each side of the gold portion was a column of rubies and sapphires in an alternating pattern.

The remaining portion was made from a metal that Link had never seen before. The shield's shape reminded Link of the Mirror Shield he had found in the Spirit Temple so long ago.

"Wow," Link said with a touch of awe in his voice. "What kind of metal is that?" He pointed out the unfamiliar section of the shield.

"I think the guy called it titanium," Syn replied. "'Toughest stuff I carry. Light weight, too. Great choice for whatever you need it for.' That's what the guy said."

"This thing is awesome!" Link said, trying very hard not to snatch it out of Syn's hands.

"I'm glad you like it," Syn said as he moved it in Link's direction. Link grabbed it greedily as Syn asked if he would like to try it out with an evil smirk on his face.

"Huh?" Link said with a confused look on his face. He laughed nervously as he realized that Nova's report was coming to reality. "Yeah, sure. Why not? But let's do it outside."

As they exited the tree, Link and Syn took their places about 15 feet away from each other. Link took his stance with his brand new shield ready in front of him and his gilded sword behind. Syn took a sideways stance with the sword in his right hand pointed straight ahead and the sword in his left hand was held behind him and pointed to the sky.

"Ready?" Syn asked as he shifted his weight forward, preparing to lunge forward to attack.

"Are you?" Link taunted.

Syn laughed. "You can be the judge of that," he said just before he launched himself forward to attack.

Chapter 7

The Ultimate Challenge

Link raised his shield to block Syn's attack. Link stood his ground as the blow made contact. "You weren't lying when you said you'd make it better," Link said. "It even absorbed some of the force."

"Yeah, whatever," Syn replied. "I wasn't even trying."

"Oh great," Link said nervously. "And I thought I had a good estimate."

"Estimate?" Syn asked with a puzzled look on his face. "Of what?"

"You're strength," Link replied. "Sounds like I was dead wrong."

"Forget dead wrong," Syn said slyly. "You'll soon be flat out dead."

"We shall see."

"We shall indeed," Syn said, becoming more confident every second. With that Link spun out from under Syn's blade and attacked with his own. Syn easily dodged the attack and returned with a running right-handed stab, followed closely by a left-handed horizontal slash. Link easily avoided both attacks by jumping to the side of the stab and back flipping away from the slash. He continued back flipping until he was well out of Syn's range and drew his bow.

"Ever been burned?" Link yelled as he charged a fire arrow. When he released it he immediately drew another arrow and charged it with ice.

The fire arrow caught Syn off guard and it singed his shirt as he jumped out of the way. "That was clo-," Syn didn't finish because of the sudden pain in his arm. When he looked at his arm it had begun to freeze. "What have you done?" Syn screamed at Link.

"I hit you with an ice arrow," Link said with a proud smile. "You should be completely frozen in just a minute."

"Curse you, Link!" Syn yelled. The ice had now reached his shoulder and his right arm had become completely immobile. As he screamed in rage, the ice began to crack, and it soon exploded into about a hundred pieces. Now in a blind rage his arms, legs, and chest began to grow, and he was surrounded by a ball of black energy. "Enough of this warm-up." Syn said in a new, strange voice.

Link began to step away nervously. "Oh, no," he said. "I guess I was even further off than I thought."

Chapter 8

Navi's Intervention

As Link stood in fear of the force standing in front of him, Syn continued to increase his strength. "If I don't do something now," Link thought, "I won't stand a chance at all." And with that, Link sighed and charged at Syn who did nothing but laugh to himself. When Link was within a few feet of Syn, he raised his sword to attack, but he never got close enough to land a blow. As soon as his sword was pointed behind him, he ran into a wall of energy, which sent him flying backwards. "What the heck was that?"

Syn laughed, "What's the matter?" he asked with a smile, "Don't you like my little force field?" The ball of energy around him began to expand and then exploded. "Ah, finally. It is complete. Are you ready to begin again, Link? I know I am!"

Link signed. "I really need to use the mask but it might try to take over my body," Link said to himself.

"What's that?" Syn asked. "I didn't catch all that. Oh, I see. You're saying your prayers now are you? Wise decision. You'll save me some of my breath."

"No way," Link said calmly. "I'm a long way from praying. I still have a trump card."

"Huh?" Syn was confused. "Trump card? Let's see it!"

"Maybe later," Link said, "I still have an ace up my sleeve." Link sheathed his sword and shield and prepared to cast one of his spells.

"What's this?" Syn was more confused than ever.

Link spun his arms, took a step forward and slammed his left palm into the ground. As he did this, he was surrounded by a ball of flames, which began to grow rapidly. Syn laughed as he brought the ball of energy back around him, which cancelled out the spell.

"I can't believe I was worried," Syn said with not a word at all about the fight to come. As soon as he finished patting himself on the back, the tree opened once again as Navi flew out.

"What's going on?" Navi yelled. "Syn, what are you trying to prove now?"

"Simply that I am the supreme being of the universe," Syn replied.

"How is killing my friend going to do that?" Navi asked.

"If Link is truly a hero, then he should be ready to die at any time," Syn answered.

"Hey, now," Link cut in, "I'm willing to fight for my life but if it's all for pride, I don't want to do it."

"You fool!" Syn yelled at Link, "This isn't for pride! It's for -"

"It's for honor?" Link interrupted. "What is this going to do for your honor? Absolutely nothing! That's what! Am I wrong? Am I?!"

Syn gave Link a look that would have turned him to ashes if looks could kill.

"I'm right," Link said calmly, "and you know it."

"You realize that you just got me mad," Syn said stiffly. "Now I'm definitely gonna kill you."

"There's no way to talk him out of it , Navi," Link said. "Just stay back, okay?"

"Right," Navi replied as she went to hover beside Nova.

"Shall we begin again?" Syn asked.

"Yes," Link answered, taking a pause to prepare for battle, "Whenever you're ready."

Syn then launched toward Link to attack.

Chapter 9

A Final Effort

As Link faced his impossible opponent, he wondered what he should do next. "I can't use the Fierce Deity's Mask yet. It's still too much of a risk. If it took control, who knows what kind of damage a force like that could cause." He looked at Syn. "Wait a second. Unless I'm mistaken, he's pure darkness. It's time to light him up." Link smiled as he sheathed his sword and shield and drew his bow once again.

"Are you gonna try the fire and ice thing again?" Syn asked annoyed.

"Maybe," Link replied. "Wait and see." He drew an arrow and pulled it back on his bow. Once he was ready to fire, he charged the arrow with light. "I'll aim for the left," he thought. Aimed at Syn's right shoulder. Link launched the light arrow and drew another. When Syn swayed to his left, Link aimed the other arrow. Syn tried to stop it by summoning his energy shield again, but the arrow flew straight through it and hit him right in the chest. Syn yelled in agony as bursts of light exploded from his body.

"Hurts a lot more than the ice, doesn't it?" Link said as he charged at Syn. As he ran, he put his bow away and decided to use the Great Fairy's Sword rather than the usual gilded sword and a shield. When he had drawn the enormous blade, he pulled it back to prepare to attack.

But as he ran at Syn, Link stopped in his tracks as Syn absorbed the light flying from his body. "What the heck?" Link yelled as he stopped in wonder. "I thought you were totally evil! How did you do that?"

"Of course, I'm not all evil," Syn replied. "I'm mostly evil, but not all. It's that little bit of good that I have way down deep that absorbed it. Face it, Link. You've lost."

"Maybe," Link said knowing it was time to pull out all the stops. "But I never go down without a good fight!" Link pulled out the Fierce Deity's Mask and put it on. As the transformation began, the power overwhelmed him and he almost lost control right from the start. Once the transformation was complete and Link once again had control of his body, he thought to himself, "Maybe I should wear this thing more often, just to make sure I can keep my own conscience when I need it."

"This definitely wasn't in the legend," Syn said, astonished that Link could transform into such a being.

Link looked himself over. He noticed that his tunic was now a very pale blue and he wore a strange breastplate, black tights, and his red fingerless gauntlets now had bits of silver on them. "I had almost forgotten what it looked like," Link said as he noticed his white hair. "Hey, Syn! Is there anything different about my face?"

Syn hesitated as he continued to stare in awe of the transformation. "Oh! Sorry. Yeah, there is. You have white eyes for one. Then there's some blue paint on your forehead that looks like a couple of blue lightning bolts coming together, and there's a bunch of red paint around your eyes."

"Man, this is weird," Link said. "Oh well, forget it, I've got a fight to win." Link and Syn took their battle positions but Link realized his sword and shield were gone along with the rest of his weapons. "I don't remember much about this mask, but I do remember it had a sword," Link said. He then saw bits of energy begin to gather before him in a tall, skinny shape. "Here we go,"Link said as he reached toward the gathering energy to grab it by the handle, supposing it was his sword. When it became solid, Link immediately grabbed it with both hands and instantly noticed that it had two blades that crossed halfway up and came to a point about five feet from its golden base. After closer examination, Link noticed that one blade was a light teal green and the other was gold. He then noticed that the handle was the same teal green as the blade.

Once Link had finished examining his blade, he looked at Syn and said, "OK." He took his fighting stance. "Now, I'm ready to go." Link and Syn both smiled.

Chapter 10

Battle of Darkness

As Link and Syn squared off in their foggy battleground, Link flipped his twisted blade to point toward the ground, and as he did, he thrust it straight into the ground. His arms began to glow with a pale blue light as did his sword. The ground began to vibrate, letting off a flow of dark energy. Link's entire body now glowed with the same blue light as his arms and sword. His face showed that he was calm but determined. His face changed to show sheer determination as he focused all the energy onto his blade.

"What's he up to?" Syn wondered. As he pondered on this, Link yanked his sword from the dirt on which he stood sending a huge wave of energy toward Syn that became more concentrated as it went. Syn deflected the blast with his sword, but Link began to control the blast psycho-kinetically and brought it back towards Syn. Syn felt the energy approaching and went to his gaseous state just before it hit.

Link smiled when Syn did this simply because he loved a challenge. Link closed his eyes, flipped his sword upright, and focused on his blade, Syn solidified and landed with a smile.

"Hmm." Syn was very interested now. "This should be good."

Link's sword once again glowed with a blue light but much brighter this time and with balls of green energy swirling around it. Syn could see Link's face through the energy as he opened his eyes and started to smirk. Link pulled his sword slowly to the left, swung to the right swinging it harder than he had ever swung a sword in his life. This sent the energy flying at Syn, spiraling in several different ways as it flew. Syn raised his energy field to block the attack. The storm of energy connected with Syn's energy field, which held it back for about two seconds then faded away. Syn held back the energy, with his swords and tried to blast it back with his own surge of energy, which exploded in his face. Syn screamed, as he flew back and bounced off his head onto his chest.

Moaning, Syn said to himself, "What is this? Where is he getting all of his power? This is ludicrous!" As he pushed himself up he yelled to Link, "What are you, Link?!" Tell me now!"

"I am no longer Link," he replied calmly. Syn was confused. "I am darkness in its purest form. I am the embodiment of evil. I am the Fierce Deity. I am Oni-Link."

"But how did it happen?" Syn wondered. The he realized it. "The mask! It's taken over his body!"

Chapter 11

Fight for Control

Oni-Link stood calmly before the petrified swordsman shuddering on the ground. "That weakling, Link," he began, "couldn't possibly comprehend the powers of my mask prison, but, thanks to him and all his weakness, I am free at last."

Syn lay on the ground, too frightened of the immense force before him to move even an inch. Staring into Oni-Link's solid white eyes, he noticed a bit of blue appeared in his eyes. This blue spun in a quick circle then vanished. A moment later, Oni-Link's eyes turned completely blue and Oni- Link immediately covered his eyes and dropped to his knees screaming. After a moment, he stopped screaming and slammed his hands on the ground and he froze in his position staring at the ground wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open. He had stopped breathing but remained stable and motionless on his hands and knees.

As Syn rose to his feet, he held a confused look on his face. "What in this freaky world is going on?" he wondered.

Meanwhile, in Link's very conscience, Link and Oni-Link prepared to battle for control of the body. Oni-Link stared into the endless orange cyclone world of Lin's conscience. There was no gravity, yet he could still move freely. "Why?" he wondered. "Why have I returned to this accursed prison?" Oni-Link grimaced. "Whoever caused it shall die!"

"Then try and kill me!" Link yelled as he approached Oni-Link from behind at an insane rate of speed. Once he was within a decent range of the dark warrior, he raised his shield and readied his sword. "I'm sure that after spending centuries in this prison, "Link continued," you've mastered the possibilities of this torture chamber. Am I right?"

Of course, "Oni-Link replied. "Now shut up and die!" As Oni-Link said this, a strange, new weapon appeared on his arm. It was a golden bar bent to the shape of a shield's edge. Green energy filled the inside of this unusual item. Then on his left arm, another strange weapon took shape. This time a blade. A golden, shining blade, loaded with a spring. Oni- Link clinched his fist and his blade extended from his forearm, taking a length slightly longer than the gilded sword.

"I could tell that you were not using your weapon when you fought Syn. Now you'll fight my true potential with yours," Link said, not at all intimidated. Link drew the tiny Kokiri sword along with the Hero's shield. Oni-Link laughed. Link only smiled as his transformation began. He hid his sword behind his shield and a burst of white energy flew from the shield and it's upper half too the form of a blade and the entire mass of metal split into two perfect halves. As link slid his arms into place behind the shield to grip the weapons, he spoke to Oni-Link. "Bring...it...on," he said as two huge golden wings burst from his back and his body was covered in three layers of titanium. "My pinnacle has been reached," Link continued. "You should have attacked sooner. Now you will die, you dark abomination."

Link then spread his wings and prepared to attack. After staring Oni-Link down for a few seconds, he flapped his wings once and flew at Oni-Link, leaving only a shockwave where he had begun his rush. A second later, he reappeared behind Oni-Link the exact distance as when he had begun his attack on him.

Oni-Link could barely breathe as he watched his sword and shield split into a total of four perfect halves and the energy from his shield dissipate. "You won," Oni-Link said with a cough. "But how? And how did you do it so quickly? Even if I knew, it doesn't matter now. Goodbye, Link. You are a true warrior. Never make my mistake. Always fight for good. Now escape, before you go down with me. Whatever peace is left in my soul will be with you always." With that, light began to fly from his mid-section, and that light then poured from his mouth and eyes as he screamed in agony.

Link's mouth hung open as he watched the dark warrior's demise. Link shook the feeling when Oni-Link shouted at him to leave. He turned around and flapped his wings again and flew back into the red world at the speed of light.

When Link re-emerged into an actual environment, he immediately ripped the mask off and tossed it away from himself. Before the mask could hit the ground it exploded, leaving only a ball of light behind which soon flew into Link's chest.

A voice began to speak to Link. "Finish him now," it said. "He's nearly as dark as I was. Don't let him destroy this world."

"Oni-Link?" Link was shocked. "How did you make it?

"As I promised, "he replied, "the peace in my soul will be with you forever. Now grant my request and destroy this evil force."

Link smiled. "Very well. Consider it done. But grant me this if you can. Give me enough energy to achieve my full potential."

"It is granted." As he spoke, he gave Link all the energy he could. Link's body burst into flames of light, and when it cleared, he had his wins but he had no armor or weapons.

"Thank you," Link said. "You have given me more than enough energy. "Link turned his gaze to Syn who stood thoroughly awestruck. "Tell me Syn," he began, "Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?"

Syn shook the trance he was in and said, "Sorry. Did I disappoint you? I just prefer to have a good fight before anyone dies. That's why I helped you before. I wanted you at your best before I fought you."

"Now I understand," Link said to him. "Then I will return the favor. I will make this quick. I'm sorry I can't give you anything more, but I made a promise to my dark self. And I always keep my promises."

Chapter 12

The Battle Ends

Link and Syn stood staring into each other's eyes, each waiting for the other to attack. Until finally, Link cast a lightning fast spell that created a magical blade that measured 6 feet in length, but no more than an inch in width. He then gripped the blade in the canter with his left hand as Syn transformed into his gaseous state once again and charged at Link. Once he closed the gap between them to a few feet, he split into five smaller forms of himself and attacked Link from all sides.

Link was able to hold off the miniature forms of Syn for a while without much trouble, but the tiny warriors worked their way in closer, and Link couldn't hold them off any longer, and he was forced to flap his wings again. As Link hovered, he caught his breath and watched below as Syn pulled himself together and once again became solid.

Syn watched Link in the corner of his eye as he stood in the ring of smoke. "It's good to see you've at least gotten faster. Maybe this will be a challenge after all," he said.

"Ignorance is bliss," was Link's reply. With that, he leaned forward and flapped his wings and gripped his sword at the base with his right hand as well as about halfway up with his left. Syn turned with barely enough time to block the attack, but when he did, his swords began to melt with the heat of Link's magical weapon.

"Where'd you learn that?" Syn said through gritted teeth.

"I didn't," Link replied, "I invented it myself. I call it the Vale Blade. Do you like it?"

Syn gritted his teeth as his darkened blades neared their end of usefulness. Syn thought for a moment as he stared into Link's eyes. In seconds, Syn had devised a plan. Just before his swords broke Syn went into his gaseous state again and flew behind Link and returned to his solid state again. As Link stumbled about and tried to regain balance, Syn turned and attempted to stab Link from behind with his left sword, but Link sidestepped to the left, causing Syn's blade to bounce off his wing. His first retaliation deflected, Syn turned to face Link again and threw his other sword at Link. Link was caught off guard and couldn't dodge in time. The sword went through Link smoothly and pinned him against the tree behind him. Wide-eyed and breathless, Link stared at the sword rested in his gut. Syn walked toward him and gripped the handle of his sword. Link picked this moment to cough up a bit of blood onto Syn's hand. Syn grimaced at this and said, "Thanks," as he pulled his sword from Link's belly. Link closed his eyes and fell on his face as Syn walked away.

Link had been killed, but he wasn't about to give up. Link had been carrying a fairy in a bottle with him the whole time, and its time had come to do what it was caught to do. It rammed at the cork on its battle until it popped off, and then the fairy flew into Link's wound and restored all the severed veins, arteries, bones and organs inside. It then flew out of the hole in Link's gut and sealed the skin and, finally, restored Link's energy. As he stood up, Link said to Syn, "Where do you think you're going? This isn't over."

Syn's eyes immediately widened as he turned to see what he had missed. When he saw Link and the pink fairy beside him, Syn could do nothing but gawk as the fairy vanished into thin air. "But....," Syn began, stuttering. "But how? The sword went clean through. I don't understand."

"You saw the fairy, right?" Link replied. Syn nodded slowly. "It revived me. Now I'm going to finish this." With that, Link raised his hands into the air and began to gather energy for a finishing attack. "I kind of stole this one from Ganondorf, but its energy is completely the opposite of what his was." Link began to rise off the ground, and as he did, swarms of red, green, and blue energy gathered above his head, forming into a huge white and yellow ball of energy. Link grinned looking at the ball of energy. "It's fully charged," he said. He then pointed each of his palms away from himself with his arms stretched out to his left and right. As he did this, the huge ball of magic split into two sets of three; one set moved to his left, the other to the right, each shaped as the points of a triangle. Each ball was around two feet away from the others. Though the attack was fully charged, the balls still gathered light and continued to intensify. While this went on the sky darkened with the loss of light into the environment, instantly brightening it.

With his wings still outstretched, Link launched his attack at Syn, who sheathed his swords and crossed his arms in front of his face in an attempt to block it. But Syn's attempt wasn't necessary, as the attack did nothing but stop three feet above the ground, surrounding Syn. The blast began revolving around him as Link watched with interest as he had never used this attack. The attack was only a theory that was completely untested. "Looks like this'll do it," he said. As he said that, the energy blasts stopped and slammed into Syn, filling him with light and draining his power. When the light dimmed and the smoke cleared, Syn was shaking from the impact of the attack. He then dropped to his knees, then onto his face. "'And the light shall fill him up and overwhelm him with its purity.' That is how it is written in the Walls of the Chamber of Secrets in the City of Valedin," Link said. "And it has been proven to be true on this day, and it will be proven again and again as time goes on." Link began to turn to walk away from the dark warrior on the ground, but continued to look over shoulder. "Goodbye, Syn. If we should meet again, I hope you will have changed for the better." When Link looked ahead of him he saw a lock of shining purple hair disappear behind a tree. Curiously, he flapped his wings to investigate the area. When he looked around behind the tree, he saw a young girl wearing a tattered white tunic with beat-up boots. "Why are you afraid?" Link asked.

"Please," she began slowly, "Please don't hurt me."

"Why would I hurt you? You have done nothing to me or anyone I know, have you?"

The girl looked up at him with a curious look on her face. "Who are you? What are you?"

"My name is Link," he replied as he gazed into her green eyes, "and I am but a messenger."

"A messenger? I don't believe that. I've never seen a messenger with that kind of strength. Where are you from?"

"Hyrule," he replied turning to leave. "Now I must return home. After searching for Navi for four years, I have gotten very tired and homesick. Do whatever you want with him but don't tell him where I went." He looked to the two fairies by the tree where Syn lived, "Navi, we're goin' home! And, Nova, you are free to join us if you like."

"No," Nova replied as Navi celebrated. "I think I'll stay with Syn and be his guiding light."

"Alright," Link replied. "May destiny bring us back together." With that, Link folded his wings over his shoulders and drew out his ocarina and called Epona. When she came to Link's side, he mounted her, took out his compass, and angled Epona to face north northwest, then pointed straight ahead, looked to Navi, and said, "Let's go home!" as he gripped Epona's saddle and whipped her.

The journey home has begun.....