Chapter 3: A New World to Conquer
-Gotham City-
Lanim felt like he was spinning. Spinning, twisting and turning out of control; to the point he felt he could take it no more. Suddenly, the spinning stopped and he hit the ground with a thud, and slowly got to his feet.
He looked down at the ground and saw a strange path made of stone stretching straight ahead in front of him as far as the eye could see. He looked around and saw huge structures that seemed to go on forever into the sky.
He looked to his left and saw strange carriages, moving on their own, with nothing at all pulling or pushing them. And everywhere he looked, he saw people. There were thousands of them walking the streets, and a few were running around.
He suddenly saw several of the self-propelled carriages come speeding toward his location. They each had flashing lights of red and blue at the top. There were strange markings on the side and front, and each one of them seemed to be making a high-pitched, squealing sound as they approached.
Several men dressed in odd clothing stepped out of the carriages. They pulled funny shaped sticks from their sides and pointed them forward. Lanim guessed that these men were the equivalent of knights from his dimension. He suddenly heard a loud voice as one of the men put a strange, cone-shaped device with a handle to his mouth.
"Drop your weapons. Come out with your hands up. We have the building surrounded. If you do not desist, we will fire on you."
Lanim wondered who this man was talking to. He soon got his answer as a large explosion rocked the building and sent him sprawling. Several of the men were knocked over as well.
He looked toward where the explosion had occurred and saw a very strange sight. Several men and a giant lizard-like man came running out of the broken down wall. They were all holding strange looking black objects, and aimed them at the knight men.
The sounds these objects were making was incredibly odd. It was a strange series of loud rattling. The lizard-man ran over to a large metallic box and ducked behind it.
It was right near where Lanim was standing. Lanim stared at the odd lizard-man. He guessed that this lizard-man was the leader of the others and, by the looks of him, was quite evil.
Lanim smiled as he relished at his first opportunity to make an alliance. He ran forward and stopped when he reached the man.
"Hello" said Lanim. The lizard-man looked at him and laughed out loud.
"What are you supposed to be?" he asked.
"I am a Twili. I come from another dimension and seek alliances with the forces of evil. I am going to revive Ganondorf and rule the land of Hyrule at his side. You have proven worthy of joining me in my task. Will you join me?"
The man smiled an evil smile. He looked toward Lanim and said.
"You'd better leave, crazy man. Or would you provide me with a feast?"
He then thought for a moment. This thing, whatever it was, would be perfect to work for him. Quite a threatening ally a ghost, or whatever this man was, would make. He decided to buy into this strange thing's proposal.
"On second thought, I will join you."
Lanim smiled. He finally had his first ally. Hyrule would belong to Ganondorf in no time.
"What do you call yourself, ghost?"
"I am Lanim. Ally to Zant, the true Twili king. Worshiper of the Dark Lord Ganondorf. Who are you?"
"They call me Killer Croc. Let's get ourselves outta this crap!"
"That would seem logical, Killer Croc."
With that, Killer Croc and Lanim got up and fled with the group of men following close behind.
Killer Croc led Lanim to one of the carriages, and they climbed in. He heard a rumbling sound, and then the carriage suddenly lurched forward. The vehicle then drove off to an as yet undetermined location. Gotham and Hyrule were now in serious trouble.
-Hyrule-
"Here it is your majesty" Link said, kneeling and holding the sword out for the Princess. "This is from the people of Ordon. We give this to you in appreciation for all that you do for us, Princess Zelda."
She stood up from her throne and accepted the sword. She grasped it with both hands and then unsheathed it. She was surprised at how light and balanced it was for a sword of its size.
"Stand up, Link" she said. Link did as he was told. "Tell the people of your village that you have my thanks for this lovely sword. Also, I'd like to invite you to my quarters for a private discussion."
Some of the guards in the room looked to Link with a jealousy in their eyes. He felt their poisonous glares and felt a little nervous. He looked around the beautiful new throne room and eyed one of the guards, carefully.
His eyes were darkened in pure hatred. Ever since Link had saved them all, the guards had been held in a very low esteem. They had a reputation as cowards and layabouts. Link had made them look bad, and they resented him for it. Plus, they all would have died to be in the private company of the princess, so to see him get invited for a private discussion only fuelled their hatred even more.
Zelda beckoned for Link to follow, and he walked off after her, not taking his eyes off that one guard. If that guard's eyes had been arrows, they would have carried death with them, as well as a poisoned tip for extra pain.
He followed Zelda a short distance down the beautiful new halls. He had marvelled at the old halls of the old castle. But these new halls were a sight to behold. Rich, flowing tapestries of every imaginable colour adorned the walls, depicting scenes of the days of old.
Golden chandeliers hung atop the ceiling with glistening crystals of red, blue, and green.
There were stained glass windows that had scenes on them as well. As he looked closer at them, he realized that he was in those scenes!
Link saw his own portrait in a nearby window. He stood in a fighting pose, the Master Sword in his hand, as he awaited an oncoming charge from an enemy. It was quite an honor to see himself depicted in such a way in the great castle of Hyrule.
They reached Zelda's chamber, and she opened the door to let him in. He stepped into her room and saw something quite odd. The bedroom itself was rather ordinary.
White sheets, stone floor, stone walls. Crossed swords hanging on the wall. A dresser with a vanity in the corner. But, other than that, nothing else. Not at all what he expected a princess's room to be like.
It showed him that Zelda was just a regular person, only appearing dignified and sophisticated for show to give her subjects what they expect. In private, she was very different.
"I'm glad you're here, Link. I've been having strange dreams lately, and they concern me."
"What about, princess?"
"Please, Link, call me Zelda."
"All... right. What about... Zelda?"
"Well, in them a strange apparition appears in this city of the future. It is a dark place, a city of evil. It seems familiar, this apparition. And, that's all there is. I also hear this voice speaking to me, one of the light spirits. They say 'find the hero and send him to me'.
Link, seek out the light spirits. Find out which one has summoned you, and listen to what they say. I believe a great threat is coming to Hyrule once again. Not only is our world in danger, but another as well.
That is why I've brought you here today. To pass on the message of the light spirit. Go now, Link. Start with the spirit nearest your home in Ordon. Go to the spring and see if it was indeed Ordona who summoned you. If not, search the other springs until you find which has summoned you. Goodbye, Link. And good luck."
"Goodbye, Zelda. I will do as you say. I trust your judgement, my princess."
With that, Link left Zelda's chamber, shutting the door behind him. He then started off in the direction of the castle gates. The beginnings of a new quest were now born.
