Title: Moment of Steel
Author: Dodongo Dislike
Summary: A lesson in love.
Based on: OOT, mostly. Pieces from other games were used as needed.
Authorial Complaint: Dodongo Dislikes plot heavy chapters. I was tempted to post a three sentence summary and just truck on to the character interaction, but that would be cheating.
Chapter Three
Zelda was puzzled.
So far, the wizard's attempts to elicit information about the Triforce had been uninventive and downright unimpressive. Oh, the exact nature of the torments were slightly different, but summary effect was no greater than any she had experienced before. If anything, Ganondorf and Agahnim had each been far more shocking and creative.
Or perhaps, she mused, she was growing harder to shock. Or possibly, she was just growing harder.
Zelda didn't know whether to be gladdened or saddened by latter.
Again, Impa's words from her childhood reached across time. "You mustn't rely on steel. You must be steel."
Regardless, it had been almost easy to respond to this wizard in the manner required. When he'd broken her arm, she'd smirked. When he'd sliced her face open, she'd laughed directly into his. When he'd dropped the matches on her stomach, she'd asked if this was the limit of his imagination.
Afterwards, she'd kept herself conscious by trying to sift through what she had observed and apply what logic she could to understand him and the entire situation. The wizard very scrupulously kept to physical torture, not magical, as if he knew she'd use any acts of magic on his part to gauge his ability. But did that mean he didn't want her to know the limits of his power, or that he felt so sure of it that he didn't feel the need to demonstrate it. His demands for information, too, were less than inspired. So, then. He was either a lesser evil than she had experienced before or he was simply passing time.
Passing time for what, though? Waiting for the other Triforce bearer to arrive? If so, he was terribly informed. Singly, Wisdom and Courage might be vulnerable. Together, there had been no force in the universe that had been able to stop them. Yet.
"First time for everything, Princess." One of these days, Link was bound to be right about that. Zelda doubted that that day had come. She sensed evil power in this wizard, but not of the same level as Ganondorf's. And if Ganondorf had been unable to take them…well. It's only a matter of time before we send you back to whatever Goddess-forsaken place you came from. Enjoy it while you have it.
As for herself, Zelda had decided that her own time had come. She was no fool—while the torture was nothing new, passively enduring it was neither enjoyable nor a path to survival. For all that she knew, the wizard would grow careless and accidentally kill her, and Zelda was long past any foolish notions of needlessly sacrificing her life. If nothing else, she couldn't leave her son to grow up the way she had—parentless and alone. She also had to be honest with herself; there was a limit to the amount of pain a body could tolerate. Despite her words to the wizard, despite her determination never to bend, she could not be certain what her limits were. Zelda intended never to find out.
She had the beginnings of plan, first inspired by the discovery that the iron spike through her hands was secured on both ends by a length of rope that also wound around her wrists. It had been excruciatingly painful, but she had been able to call the tiniest whisper of Din's fire for seconds at a time whenever she was alone, just enough to begin to fray the rope. When the time came, she would need her hands and magic free.
Noise in the hall again alerted her to visitors. New ones, or more of the same? she wondered.
More of the same, it turned out, the same two guards that had taken her to her previous meeting with the wizard. Aeron's men, in Holodrum's colors, a large one and a slighter, younger one. She didn't remember them from Aeron's arrival, but at the time, she had been busy with plans other than how to escape from her own dungeon.
They said nothing to her, and she said nothing to them. Why bother, when were they nothing more than walking dead men?
The bigger one will have to die first, she reminder herself as they took up position by the door. The smaller one won't require as much strength.
Each took hold of one of her arms, but made no move further.
It seemed she would be hosting the wizard today, she reflected as a larger shadow crept out of the darkness.
"Good afternoon, Your Grace."
"And to you, wizard." As if she was receiving him in the throne room. "To what favor do I owe your presence?"
"I have...an experiment, if you will. I understand Your Grace is fond of such things."
"You understand correctly. Bringing a culture of scientific inquiry to this kingdom has been one of my foremost goals." Though she doubted what he had in mind had any resemble with what was taught in the schools she had established. Then again, she reflect as he withdrew a jewel-hilted knife from his robes, what he had in mind might actually bear a little resemblance to the physician's school. "Is this experiment to be physical or magical in nature?"
"Magical, Your Grace." He held the knife closer for her inspection. "Originally, it was an ordinary Subrosian blade. I since re-forged it with some carefully chosen of spells. Think of it as a lancet to draw magical power out of the body of the one it touches and into the one who wields it."
"And that is your hypothesis?"
He regarded the black blade almost fondly. "My hypothesis is that it will work."
At last, she would have the opportunity to assess his ability. Arching a skeptical brow, she said mildly, "I think you underestimate the nature of my power."
Shadows shifted as he shrugged. "Perhaps," he said, and thrust the knife into her side.
Zelda had readied herself for the pain, but the blackness that crawled from the blade took her by surprise. It was as if the blade bled darkness into her, seeping through her skin and invading her blood, reaching out with black tendrils for her insides. Unwillingly, she cried out.
Instinctively, she reached for the power of the Triforce—all of the Triforce, not simply her piece. Before she could stop it, the power flooded into her, the corners of her soul filling with the brilliant light of Link's courage and also…
Ganondorf.
If she and Link were inextricably bound by Wisdom and Courage, so too was Ganondorf bound to them by Power, and not even the separation of the Realms could silence the resonance.
Power raced up through her with the force of an inferno, shoving the blackness backwards, and she felt her lips part and a deeply evil, and intimately familiar voice snarled, "SHE'S MINE."
With a gasp, the wizard pulled the knife out of her, and through the golden haze of the dissipating power, Zelda could see his eyes go wide with shock as its blade turned to dust on contact with the air. You got more than you bargained for, wizard.
Zelda seized the moment, the afterglow of the Triforce giving her voice strength. "Even if you succeed with me and the Hero of Time, there is a third you must best. If you kill me and take my Triforce, I swear with my dying breath, I will break the seal and set him free." A complete and utter lie, of course, but he wouldn't know that.
The wizard, quick to recover his composure, flung the useless hilt of the blade away from himself and said, simply, "I will return." As he swept out of the cell, he indicated for the larger guard to accompany him.
Left alone, the remaining guard and Zelda regarded each other a moment, she with calculation and he with no little fear. Abruptly, he released her. At the loss of his support, Zelda staggered back a couple of steps before collapsing to her knees. Vomiting was not part of the act, but as soon as the nausea welled up within her, she decided to succumb to it. It had the dual benefits of making her feel better and startling the guard into coming towards her.
As she heard him approach, Zelda tensed her muscles, shifting into a crouch, ready for him. She would have to be fast. She would have to be accurate.
"Are you all right?"
What a ridiculous thing to ask, she thought as she ripped her hands apart, left hand folding around the metal spike connecting them and lunged upward. The rope snapped cleanly, and the spike came free with a minimal resistance. Her momentum spun her around in an arc that ended with it embedded dead center in the guard's throat.
Time had become her enemy the instant she broke her bonds, and she could feel its sands sliding away as he took what seemed an impossibly long time to fall to the floor. He was still alive when she bent over him to see what useful items he possessed, but Zelda couldn't be bothered to care. There were scant minutes left in his life, anyway. She disregarded his sword as useless—in her condition, it would just weigh her down—in favor of the two knives on his belt. It took longer than she wanted to unbuckle his pouch of Deku Nuts, for her fingers would barely work. No time to dwell on that, though. There would be time enough to worry about regaining full use of her hands once she was free.
As Zelda gingerly exited the cell, she could hear him thrashing in what she assumed were death throes. There would be no cry for help, though, not with the spike embedded in his vocal chords. Her aim had been true.
There was a torch in the hall, but she did not bother trying to lower it from its sconce. Its light would attract unwanted eyes. Besides, she knew all too well where she was heading, and despite the urgency driving her heart beat, despite the pain that shortened her every step, she couldn't help a sigh of exasperation. Again, the sewers. Farore give me strength.
Down the hall, up the half-flight of stairs, slip through the empty storage room, press the third rock on the right of the creche at the back. In the height of summer over ten years ago, she and Link had spent a gleeful week escaping from the oppressive heat in the dank darkness of the lower levels of the castle, searching for hidden entrances and exits. This exit had been among the ones they'd uncovered, though at the time, she had been unwilling to jump down into the noxious gunk a story below.
"But how are we going to figure out where it goes?"
"If you want to go wading through the sewage, feel free to do so, Link."
"All alone in the dark?"
"You'll live. Just promise me one thing."
"Your Highness's wish is my command."
"When you get back, burn your clothes."
He'd scoffed at that, but by the time he had returned from exploring, even he had been so disgusted with the stink that he couldn't disrobe fast enough. Watching him try to tear off his clothes and simultaneously set them on fire had been the highlight of Zelda's summer, though of course she had never admitted it.
So it was that she was smiling now as she jumped. She hit the floor at an awkward angle, unable to recover as the wound in her side throbbed with pain on impact, and dropped to her hands and knees in sewage. After a few steadying breaths, she pushed herself to her feet. She took a quick glance over her shoulder at the light drifting through the entry before turning to regard the darkness ahead of her. The entryway would remain open for anyone to notice, but she couldn't worry about it. Besides, anyone looking for her would almost certainly be able to follow the trail of blood she'd undoubtedly left.
Well, let them come for her down here. The sewers were a maze, familiar to her, but a puzzle to any pursuit. Even if they brought sufficient lantern light to see, the steady flow of water would carry away any traces of her route. With luck, they wouldn't hit upon her route until after she'd gotten out.
And once she'd gotten out?
Deal with it then. If the Hero of Time could defeat evil tyrants and demon lords with improvisation, then surely the Princess of Destiny ought to at least be able to drag herself somewhere reasonably safe in the same manner.
Slowly, determinedly, she started to walk.
What felt like hours later, she had barely made it only half the distance to the eventual exit into Hyrule Field. Though she had tried to steel herself against the pain, each step was becoming more difficult and the temptation to sit and rest even greater. Zelda willed herself to continue placing one foot in front of the other. Time was still her enemy. There was a wizard loose in her kingdom, her people had been enchanted, and she may very well have re-awakened Ganondorf. She could not afford to be re-taken.
Bracing herself against the damp walls, she continued until she reached the branch that would eventually lead towards the outer walls of the castle proper. She rounded the corner, then froze at a flicker of light in the distance. Darting back around the corner, she pressed against the wall and listened. Sure enough, there were quiet footsteps splashing lightly through the muck towards her. And then, silence. It seemed her luck had run out.
They know I'm here.
Her hand clenched around the hilt of the knife, the grip almost literally glued to her palm with dried blood. She was too tired to defeat an opponent of any real strength with either physical or magical force. The best she could hope would be to force him to kill her.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and summoned her resolve.
Be steel.
If she died here, so be it. She wouldn't be pleased about it, but it would be no great disaster. Hyrule's future and her irrelevance had begun the moment she'd given birth. The future was secure, regardless of whether or not she was in it. If she died, Hyrule would endure. Her only hope was that Noha would one day forgive her for it. Link almost certainly would not.
She stilled her breath and crouched as best she could, ready. Around the corner, she could sense the other do the same.
They must have jumped at the same time, for the next thing Zelda knew, she was ricocheting off of him and would have fallen back into the muck had he not grabbed her arm, spun her around, and trapped her against him. He disarmed her quickly, but it didn't matter, because the moment he grabbed her, she knew. She knew from the strong but gentle hand on her shoulder, from the shine of his smile in the lantern light, so radiant it burned her eyes to behold it.
"You're a mess, Princess."
Trade places and we'll see how good you look, she thought, and then all the light went out.