Children of Illusion
Chapter Three
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue. Psalms (ch. V, v. 9)
One thing that was most disastrous about the Children of Illusion was their ability to shape shift. Keep in mind that they had to be within a five-meter range of the person or creature who's form they were shifting in to; and it was therefore easy be to caught or pointed out. Unless, of course, that person happened to have an identical twin who happened to be away on vacation at the time. But that scenario seems a little bit too convenient, and was most unlikely, so it was very difficult for these children to escape, and if captured, death was a sure thing. That's why, in order to get Link, Zelda was a necessity. There would be no impersonating the princess in order to lure the hero into their trap.
A storm raged through Hyrule. Shivering, Zelda clung to Shayla's arm; not only for warmth, but for protection from Madeline. Zelda had been stripped over her jewelry and over-coat; left in a white under dress with a purple shirt over it. She shivered. Chained to Shayla's ankle, she awkwardly wobbled forward. Link had been living quite close to the castle in order to spring to Zelda's aid if need be. As the three approached the small house, Zelda began to cry. Madeline frowned a bit, and patted Zelda's bare shoulder, and muttered a quiet threat to her, which wasn't in the least bit comforting.
Outside of Link's house they stood; as still as a picture; none of them daring move a single inch. After a moment of complete silence, Madeline drew a dagger from her dress, grabbing Zelda's hair tightly, and hacking it off. Zelda screamed in terror, expecting to be beheaded. At the world shattering screech, Link burst from his house, and Madeline clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Zelda stood dumb founded, watching as the strands of golden hair wisped carelessly away in the wind; some of them staying against the stone surface of the road. Her hair was no longer then her ears. Shakily, she looked up at Link. Their eyes were locked for a moment, and Zelda cried out Link's name, attempting to run to him. Shayla tugged her ankle back, and Zelda fell to the ground. Madeline quickly stomped on the chain binding the two, breaking it, and tossing Zelda over her shoulder. "Come get her!" Madeline said with a wink grabbing Shayla's wrist, and cackling, the two dashed off.
Link, dumb founded, found him self defenselessly running after the two children of illusion, Zelda crying at Link to go back and not to follow. But Link ignored her. Madeline, hacking off parts of her dress that were getting in her way, ultimately allowed herself more speed. Shayla had smartly dressed herself in pants, and therefore didn't have this issue.
Once they were panting heaps of uselessness, Shayla and Madeline ducked into a large shrine. The second Link set foot inside, he knew exactly where he was. Thick vines crept up the green tainted stone bricks of the shrine; a large demon with an eye painted upon the eye where a sword rested beneath. Why bring him to the Four Sword Shrine? Vaati lurked within the depths of the Minish Village, and was no longer a threat. With a smirk, knowing nothing was between him and princess Zelda, he ran to the shrine and withdrew the sword, lunging towards Madeline who shoved Shayla and Zelda aside. They looked rather annoyed, but at the sight of a rather deep gash on Madeline's arm, felt an odd pang of sympathy.
"Madeline! She's not coming!" Shayla cried, scrambling to her feet to regain balance. "She's not coming, retreat!" She had repeated herself for emphasis, but Madeline ignored her. The brunette simply threw a punch in Link's direction, only to loose her left wrist. She cried out, pressing her hands between her legs to try to stop the bleeding. The lack of fabric made it difficult. "You're not the vessel!" Shayla reminded her. "Zelda is!"
"No!" Madeline screamed, causing Shayla to be a bit taken back. "The Sage of Light is no proper vessel for the Sage of Shadows!" As she spoke, Link quivered, his body dividing. He was used to the sensation, seeing as how it was the second time the feeling of power behind divided into four ran through him. Link, who was now referred to as Green, smiled at his companions that stood before. They hadn't changed; Red had instantaneously grabbed and hugged Blue, who began to yell. Vio was silent.
An eerie silence swept through the shrine. Everyone stood still; Madeline, Shayla, Zelda, and all Four Links. A soft mist rose from the shrine, and in a matter of seconds, darkness began to spew up high in the sky. Demons screeched as they rose into the black sky; any and all walls in the shrine being carelessly broken as monsters danced through the broken pathways. Red let out a fearful cry and clung to Vio's arm. Green and Blue, clutching their swords tightly, began to let their guard down as the tidal wave of monsters slowly began to come to a halt.
"…that was stupid." Blue grumbled, whipping around and frowning at Madeline, who was wincing and hugging her handless wrist to her arm pit for safety. He smirked at her, and began to walk towards her. As soon as he took a step; it echoed through the shrine. Blue stopped abruptly; almost as if he were about to step into a bear trap.
High heels clinked against the stone tiles. Everyone shakily turned to the shrine. Someone was there; their skin bubbling with darkness as it began to take shape. It was not Vaati. It was not Ganondorf. It was someone much stronger.
Veran…
The Sorceress of Shadows.
"She came," Madeline breathed. The girl crumpled into an awkward bow, and began to sob. Veran began to walk towards her, her cape swaying behind her. "Master… I've waited for you!" She sobbed. Her body quivered.
Shock overwhelmed the whole group as Veran stepped on Madeline's neck. She gagged loudly, and tried to sit up from her bow. Veran snarled, and kicked her onto her back so she could glare down at her face. "You..?" She smirked a bit. "You DARE interrupt my final resting place?" She laughed, removing her foot from Madeline's neck. She coughed loudly and turned to her side. Veran glanced at Link. "Why Link! You haven't aged at all in the time I was gone! Oh my, I was certainly expecting to be resurrected, but not so quickly!"
Green growled and quickly charged Veran, clutching his sword tightly in his hand. It came intact with Veran's stomach, but didn't scar, or even pierce her pale blue-green skin. She grinned a bit, before poking Green's forehead. He stumbled backwards, and fell. "How could you do that?" Green barked, scrambling to his feet, only to be pushed over again. "Not that I'm on her side, or anything, but she brought you back to life, and you tried to kill her?"
Veran clicked her tongue against the roof of my mouth. "Gracious, how impolite I've been!" She sighed deeply, raising one hand. At this action, Madeline was forced to her feet with a sob. Another swift movement of her hand, and Shayla was before her as well; and Zelda buried in her arms. "You two… I'll leave you to rid of them. You fail, and consider yourselves supper." With a grin, her frame was devoured by a cloud of gray smoke, and she was gone.
"Master, don't leave me!" Madeline sobbed, flinging herself at the smoke. Nothing happened; but Madeline was no longer visible. Shayla grunted, and drew a sword from her belt. It was much smaller then the Links', but just as good. Blue grinned. Only one girl for them to fight: this would be a piece of cake!
He charged at Shayla, who quickly held the flat edge of her sword and blocked the hit. It was flung towards her head in a vertical slice, which was rather easy to block at first. But Blue was far stronger, and Shayla was over powered. "There's three more, Madeline!" She cried. "We should go!" She squeaked as she felt Madeline fling her arms around her torso in order to block the collision with an arrow. "Stop taking the hit for me!" Shayla barked, shoving Madeline side. She stumbled to the ground and cried hard. "I can stand up for myself! If you would stop stalking me and pay attention to my personality, maybe you would've noticed that already!"
Madeline was silent. Emotional pain mixed with the pain of a missing hand, a gash in her arm, and an arrow in her rib cage was overwhelming. Shayla stared at Madeline blankly before activating her camouflage and running out of the shrine. Vio approached Madeline and frowned down at her. She looked pathetic; like a fish out of water. Trying too hard to stand up; sobbing with grief and pain. "Can you give me one good reason not to kill you?" He questioned in a deadpan tone.
She was silent for a long time, before looking up at Vio; her eyes pink with tears. "…It's all so hard." Blood leaked from the plush lips which began to quiver. "The unrequited love pulses through my veins. If only I had mattered…" Rolling on to her stomach, she curled up in order to try and stop the swelling in her handless arm. "…What have you done, Madeline?" She asked herself. After a moment of staring questioningly staring at Madeline, Vio turned away and began to walk towards the other Links, who all seemed unable to care less if Madeline lived or died at this point. Their foot steps echoed, and as they began to walk off, Madeline spoke. "…I know you miss him… I do too. But we are creatures of darkness, him and me."
Vio's face scrunched up a bit and he growled, drawing his bow and quickly holding an arrow to it; drawing back the thick string and plunging the arrow deep in Madeline's chest. She cried out, and curled up, beginning to cry. "That's so cruel," Red said quietly, fiddling with the edge of his belt.
"He is no longer like the others. We can not regret." With great effort, Madeline rolled to her side to face Vio. "We are creatures of the shadows; creatures of darkness and evil that bathe in the pain and woe of others! But he has changed. He feels for you; and he lives within you!"
"Why don't you just fucking die?!" Vio barked, charging at Madeline once more. As he drove the blade through her chest, Madeline clutched it, staring blankly up at him.
"Don't you see, Violet? I suffer from the curse of immortality! But I can feel pain! I can feel it!" She stared up at him blankly. She grinned a bit, and tightened her grasp on the sword that was driven in her stomach. "I would not be you for the entire world. You have let your doom in by the front door, but it will not depart that way!" Shakily she rose to her feet; her shoes torn and in ruin. Limping, she made her way over to the four sword shrine. As she set foot on the pedestal, a bright light enveloped her body, and she screamed; a piercing cry that echoed throughout the shrine, until the limp body of a shadow remained.
Flinging to its feet, the being of darkness, with glowing red eyes, clung itself to Vio's body. He cried out; attempting to pry the creature off. The other Links quickly ran to his aid; tugging and trying to rip off the dark blob. But they were soon swallowed as well, and just as soon as they were, they were spat back out. Bubbles rose from the puddle of black water. As if being sucked up by a vacuum, the Links' shadows were swallowed by the blob, and soon enough, it had taken shape. Their shape.
"Shadow?" Vio blinked for a moment; dumb founded. "Madeline, you jerk! You were Shadow?!" Shadow shook his head, and Vio frowned.
"Pfsh, hell no, I'm not Madeline!" Shadow swatted his hand playfully as if to brush away the thought. "She was just a silly sacrifice, I guess! I wonder if that's the only reason she came? Anyways, who cares? I'm with you, my friends!" Shadow slung his arm over one of Vio's shoulders, and one of Red's. Red smiled and hugged Shadow tightly, where as Vio stood completely still. "…I'll just assume that you missed me, eh, Vio?" Shadow grinned a bit, and yet, the blond said nothing.
I would not be you for the entire world. You have let your doom in by the front door, but it will not depart that way!
Vio cursed Madeline's last words under his breath.
That bitch.