Thievery
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise from the Zelda games doesn't belong to me. Anything you don't recognise probably belongs to me. But I can't be sure – so I take no claim for stuff that isn't mine.
At last, I can hear you all (three of you) sigh, as you rove your eyes over this beginning chapter of this here tale. She's gotten off her arse and given us our sequel. Whee! Hooray!
Just for some background, I'm setting this fifty years (Hyrule time) from the end of Repaying a Debt. However, in Angel time, this has only been about twelve years. Don't ask, it's just the way the time difference works. And now, before you get bored with my rambling, I'll set the scene. (Third person as all my introductions are).
Oh yes, and :: :: = Ganondorf's thoughts, [] = Alexis' thoughts, and hopefully I don't need to have anyone else thinking.
Deep in the Sacred Realm, an exhausted creature allowed a smile to ghost across it's strangely contorted face. Sparks of magic cracked across every part of skin that lay exposed to the blue tinged air, and the creature scratched the back of it's left hand ponderously as it watched the sparks run up and down. The bolts of rainbow-like magic which were being fired towards it from far below did not seem to bother it – indeed, it seemed they did not even pierce it's hide, which enraged the attackers below to yell obscenities and curses at it.
This drew its attention, and one black-furred, lupine ear flicked backwards towards the sounds' origin. With a brightly glowing gaze, it looked down, and at last seemed to register that it was under attack. Lazily, it managed to lower itself to their level, somehow knowing how the intricate air currents worked with in the Realm. The attackers below flung their spells forth with a new fervour, backing away as the creature advanced slowly upon them.
"Why is he awake?" a tiny female child with forest green hair yelled above the cacophony of the spells as they bounced off of the creature's exoskeleton. "Rauru? C'mon, answer me!" Two fairies circled around the girl, one white, and the other a sunbeam yellow. The white one peeled off, and crossed over to a portly old gentleman with a bristled beard and who was as bald as a billiard ball.
"You Sageliness," the fairy called over the din, "what's going on? Why's he up?"
"I honestly don't know, oh wise Navi – back to Saria, she needs thee more than I." The fairy did as she was told, and flitted back to the green- haired child. Whilst the ball of light had flitted between the two, the creature had been studying its other enemies. There was a boulder-like creature, which hurled massive orbs of red, which the creature had once known the name of but had forgotten. And there, next to it, a scaled blue thing, which let out tendrils of the same blue.
"Of all days, he chooses today to get up early?" a red-haired female groaned, as she sent out amber light. "Why couldn't he just be lazy like he was in life?" Her long hair whipped out behind her in a tightly knotted braid as she turned around.
"There's no point blathering – just keep attacking." This last assailant was the most formidable to the creature's eyes. Her tone was deep, and her magic suited it – dark and shadowy purple, which unlike the others' magic, crept up and around the creature. ::So that is what has been making me itch so:: it thought with some annoyance.
The creature was slow in its interpretation of all these noises. It had been so long since it had last heard voices, so the translation took its feeble brain time. Finally, clarification dawned in it's head, and it once more took up scratching it's left hand, this time with a purpose other than an itch behind the action. ::I was something else once.....my name was Ganondorf!:: With this recollection, light began to radiate from the now raw skin on the back of it's left hand, and the attackers below covered their eyes against the brightness.
"Finally!" he straightened up, and the sunspots stopped dancing across the Sages' eyes. "Now – let me past," he demanded, glowering at the six of them.
"Cover the doors – we can still rein him!" the old man said.
::Rauru, wasn't it?:: "Don't talk nonsense – your powers are nothing to mine anymore.....all of you are weak from your years here, but I am only stronger." He reached out a black gauntleted hand, and caught the old man about the neck, easily lifting him from the floor. "Step back, old timer. I, Lord Ganondorf, am back. And, if my timekeeping is correct, the Hero is too wizened to fight me.....and the Princess of Destiny is long dead." He dropped the now wheezing Sage of Light, and strolled towards the door which was the way out of the Realm.
As he had assumed they would, the remaining five Sages barred his way; from the corner of his eye, he saw that pesky white fairy that had belonged to the Hero helping the old timer off of the floor. "Move," he commanded simply, raising his left fist which pulsated with the Tri-Force of Power's magic. "The power of the Goddesses is mine now."
"It's not yours – you just stole it," the green-haired kid returned simply, and he almost laughed at the petulant innocence in the girl's voice. He also had to restrain the want to bend down and look her in the eyes before he killed her. It was a tactic he had loved whilst he was still alive.
::I'll be alive again soon – just have to get past this useless lot.:: He barged his way through them, walking whilst the Forest Sage and Water Sage attached themselves to his leg and arm, respectively. With a great shrug, he loosed the Zora, but the kid was a different matter. ::Why is it only kids with this grip?:: He wondered briefly as he tried to shake her off, to no avail.
"Impa, over here!" he turned his head slightly, not letting the doorway out of his sight, and saw the traitor Nabooru standing there with the Sheikah woman.
::If things had been different, I would have had that Sheikah,:: he thought with a smirk, and lashed out again, managing to dislodge the kid fully.
"Shit! Darunia, block him!"
A large boulder seemed to block Ganondorf's way to the door, and he was unable to stop himself before he cannoned into it. ::Fucking thing's broken my nose!:: He cursed silently, and knew now it was time to release the full array of his arsenal of weaponry. With minimal effort, he managed to conjure up the strength to push the boulder thing off of him, and was at the door before any of them could catch up with his magically accelerated footsteps.
He turned around, and looked at the mayhem he had caused – the white fairy was quickly healing the old timer and the boulder thing, and the four women were rushing towards him. ::Much as I love having women rush at me.....:: He turned around once more, to look at the empty blackness of beyond Realm. A tiny hovering image of the world he wanted – no – needed to own, hung in the blackness. "Love to stay, but have to run I'm afraid," he called over his shoulder, before taking a leap over the edge.
"No!" Nabooru's voice wafted down, and a few bolts stabbed harmlessly into the darkness, none coming near to him.
::At last – I'm free.:: He smiled, and closed his eyes, waiting for the journey to be over. ::It's been far too long.:: Almost as an afterthought, he waved his glowing left hand, and mended his broken nose.
"ALEXIS!" the man's desperate voice thundered around the courtyard, startling a few angels who were sitting on the stone benches, admiring the sun as it rose over the clouds in all its rosy glory. "For demons sake, where is that child?"
"Calm down Loki, she's probably asleep like any sane person," the man who was having to jog to keep up with Loki's strides laughed softly.
"David, this is no laughing matter!" Loki scolded, bunching his shoulders and taking a deep breath ready to yell again. David caught up, with the aide of his majestic snowy wings, and put an arm around his lover's shoulders. Loki let the air whoosh out slowly, and looked up at him. "All right – maybe a more subtle approach....." With that, they headed to the stairs, an amused smile still lingering on David's face as he watched Loki's agitated movements. He just got so worked up about these things; it was adorable.
Contrary to David's prediction however, Alexis was very much awake, and arrived at the top of the stairs just as they finished their ascent. "What is it?" she asked sleepily, scraping the hair away from her eyes and blinking against the sunlight.
"Something's happening in Hyrule."
"Good something or bad something?" she yawned. Then, looking at his face, her own fell. "Bad something?" He nodded, and David finally managed to gauge exactly how important this land must have been to her. "Hang on – I'll just – I'll be right back!" She turned around, and stumbled off towards her chambers, no doubt to get dressed – and probably grab a weapon if Loki and David knew anything about her gung-ho attitude.
[Oh demons, what's going wrong there now?] She thought as she scrambled around getting dressed. [Let's see – mad raging wild beasts killing people?] She snorted slightly – no, that was far too conventional for Hyrule. It would have to be something really fucked up to get Loki like that. [Great.] She realised with a start that trying to put her legs into a shirt wasn't going to have much effect, and quickly changed her method so that all the clothes were placed on the correct body parts.
When she was all assembled in the clothes department, she looked up to her walls, which, instead of holding pictures and other such sentimental rubbish, were adorned with racks of various weapons that she had gathered in her travels. She studied them for a while, and then smiled. [An oldie but goodie.] She removed her Mithril sword from the rack, and slid it into a sheath at her waist. [Oh for the days when I could just clip this to my back.]
It was less then five minutes when David and Loki were again graced with her company, and she swiftly followed them to the training grounds, where all the records of the different worlds were kept. Including those of Hyrule, the world where Alexis had finally gained redemption. (See the old legends by the name of 'Repaying a Debt' for the full story). "So, what exactly's happening?" she asked as Loki and David walked briskly either side of her. "I mean, do we have monsters wreaking havoc, or evil overlords, a dragon, what?"
David let out a small laugh at her stabs at humour, but was quickly subdued by a look from Loki. "Sadly, no – in fact, I think we'd all love it to be a dragon....."
"What is it dammit?"
"Ganondorf," David said quietly, and she stopped dead in her tracks – the other two kept walking, and did not notice for a few paces.
"You – he – tell me this is a joke."
"It's no joke," Loki growled. "Now, come on, there's more you need to know."
"I think I know enough – summon a portal immediately, and I'll be on my way."
"Looking like that?" David asked, motioning towards her strange attire. She paused to check herself. Black shirt, black trousers, hair out of the way, and sword at her side. She looked up and cocked her head on one side.
"I think I'm ready.....I'm dressed and have what I need – oh, glasses!" she fished them out of her pocket and placed them daintily upon her nose, where the dark lenses obscured her strange violet eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for Loki?"
"Urm – well, that wasn't really what I meant....." David trailed off, and raised a hand to gesture to his wings. Her mouth fell open, and comprehension dawned on her face. "And – well, Loki really does need to explain things to you before you go back. It won't be anything like how it was the first time." She just nodded, and fell into step with them again.
"Ah, life is just one great joy after another," she quipped dryly as they walked into the dusty archives of the training grounds. One table at the centre of the room showed signs of obvious use, as it was the only one still free of dust and cobwebs – and upon this table lay the entire history of Hyrule, from it's making until the present day. Next to the twelve-book strong pile lay scrolls and parchment, and next to that, writing paper and ink.
"I take it you've been working on this for a while then?" she asked Loki, who nodded sombrely. "Well, I suppose at least one of us has been keeping track," she muttered, sliding into one of the two chairs at the table.
"Uh.....I suppose I'll just.....yeah," David stammered, before backing out of the archive rooms. He never was one to dwell on the dark things in the world, and Alexis and Loki smiled fondly after him, before turning to the serious matters at hand.
Perhaps not the longest of my works, and it sure doesn't make much sense if you haven't read (or at least know) the storyline of the first. Hence the fact it's a sequel I suppose.....[looks confused].
And, I'm just trying to reel you people in for now, so I've only let slip one part of the story. The rest is going to be interesting if it works out the way I want it to. However, lamentably, it's also going to be one of those projects that will take a ridiculously long time, just like the last novel thing I attempted, so you'll have to be patient with me. It's coming up to a year where I'll have a lot of exams, so I won't be around as much to write. I will, however, try to keep up as well as I can.
So, until next time, it's me, signing off – Soda
R/R, and give me some love – I'm gonna need it.....