Hello, people who actually read this story, it is I, the Soul of Heroes. No, this is not the chapter where Link and Siegfried fight Ganondorf. It's more a chapter of choices, pain, and anger; one in which even though one can be a hero, that doesn't mean you can't lose yourself to revenge. Also, you might hate me for what I'm going to do, just don't tell me about it, cause I had to do it. It starts about half an hour after the fight, Midna has been freed from the suspended animation, and it opens up like this...

Chapter VII

Choice!

XxXxX

Ganondorf stood in Hyrule field, Soul Edge firmly in his hand. The sword was quite happy with Ganondorf's power but for some reason, could not take him over. Ganondorf had already made himself known to the Princess Zelda and was expecting the army anytime now.

'Such a shame,' he thought smugly. 'She would have made an excellent queen by my side.' He had known she had yet to chose a suitor to be king. She had originally chosen Link for that position of honor, but he had chosen the Twilight Princess before she had even sprung the idea on him.

Zelda had spent the next week brooding in private over losing the bravest man in the land to Midna. But she lived up to the best in herself and gave Link and Midna a summer palace in a far plane of the light world. The palace was big enough for the two of them and any children they would make along the way, and if they should wish to have them, servants.

That was where they spent their honeymoon.

'Finally,' he thought with a smile as the first row of a thousand-man army came into view. 'Revenge is sweet! Thank you, Siegfried, Link. Now all shall either succumb to my will, or die!'

His eyes then took on a lifeless, black color; his power suddenly grew to such a level even he didn't know what had happened.

But he did know how to use it.

He raised his right fist, as Soul Edge was in his left, and shadow beings climbed out of puddles of darkness in the earth. He didn't know what these creatures were, but they bowed to his power.

"Leave none alive!" he said calmly, even his voice had gone deeper, and it wasn't only because of Soul Edge.

He laughed as the shadows began to move forward and the princess's army started to shake.

XxXxX

"LET ME BE WITH HER!"

"Your leg needs to be tended to!"

"I AM THE KING AND I WILL BE THERE WHEN MY WIFE DELIVERS!" Link yelled at the top of his lungs in anger as three Twili restrained him in the bed he was resting in.

Or... supposed to be resting in.

"As doctor, I am ordering you to rest," Motus said calmly, "If you wish to stop the Soul Edge, you need all the rest you can get and the longer that leg stays in one place the more effective the potion will work." Motus was standing at the end of the bed with his arms crossed. The death of his mentor and father figure was a hard blow to the young man, but he was doing his best in his new station in life.

"LET ME GO! Eeeerrrrrgggg!" Link struggled to free himself, but he was outnumbered and his leg was giving him trouble with most of the bone inside it gone. "Just do to me what you did to Shildow and let. me. go!"

Motus shoved another dose of the potion down Link's throat. "Shildow is a Twili, you are not. He can withstand the healing shadows. We don't know what will happen to you. Just relax. When you are fully healed, that is when I will let you move from where you should be at this moment, your majesty." Motus turned to leave, but when Link called out, he stopped.

"YOU'D DAMN SURE WANT TO BE THERE IF IT WAS YOUR family!"

That made the new head doctor think. What would he want if it were his family? Now that he had time to think of something other than the survival of patients from Nightmare's first and second attacks, he could understand Link's need, and this...

Link stopped struggling and let himself be laid down on the bed by the doctors, still looking at Motus's back. "Please, Motus. I made her a promise to always be there for her when we married. I made a vow and I'm going to keep it. As your King, I command you to let me be with her, and as her husband I will push myself to my own limits to do just that."

Motus turned, a smile on his face, something no one had had on theirs since Nightmare's massacre.

"You have three minutes to hold him or her," he said. He nodded to the three Twili and they released him. Link slowly got up from the bed, then he ran as fast as his one good leg would allow to the R.D.R. or Royal Delivery Room.

He stumbled after ten steps, though, and faltered, landing flat on the ground. Link tried to stand, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Her majesty wishes your presence in the R.D.R." Shildow said with a smile. "Sir Siegfried and Princess Hilde are waiting for you as well." He held out his hand and Link took it with great eagerness.

"Thank you," he said, smiling widely.

He smiled. "No problem." With that, Shildow walked next to Link as he helped him limp to the R.D.R.

XxXxX

"He'll be here!"

"But his leg is shattered!"

"He will be here!"

"What if he can't get here?"

"Hilde!" Siegfried said firmly, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me. He. Will. Be. Here. I know this man, and he has so much honor in his heart, he would stand next to her majesty even if he couldn't move!"

They stood inside the R.D.R. Midna was lying on a bed with a doctor standing beside her. Needless to say he was none too pleased having so many light dwellers in the Palace, but he was one who respected the young queen's decisions and this one to have more Light Dwellers here was no exception. However, that didn't stop him from shifting his weight every once in a while in discomfort.

The R.D.R. was neatly decorated. Black silk curtains hung across the windows, and black flowers sat along a side table next to a soft mattress. Tinted black-blue silk sheets hung over the mattress on which lay the queen. It was this fancy mainly because no one ever used it, so was never dirtied up.

Hilde raised her eyebrow and Siegfried cleared his throat. "Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way for me to put it?"

"I think you could have put that somewhat better too," Link jibed. He and Shildow entered the room, Link limping as best he could, large smiles on their faces.

"Link," Midna said, reaching out her hand to him. Link stepped away from Shildow's hold and embraced his wife, holding her hand in his own. Standing on his one good leg, he kissed her fiercely.

Siegfried's eyes went wide and he turned away. Hilde noticed this and giggled silently towards her new boyfriend. The doctor had seen many things. The King kissing his wife was one of them, but never had he seen a kiss this fierce. He averted his eyes from the passionate display.

Shildow, however, cleared his throat rather loudly. When Link stopped and glared at his friend, Shildow stuttered. "Um," he said.

"If you have nothing of importance to say, let me kiss the wife I nearly lost today." This was not one of his 'choice' orders. This was a solid one; Shildow could plainly see that from the fire in Link's eyes. He pressed on, though.

"I know you feel like you need to make up for the time you spent on this new 'mission' and the time you will be spending on it," he began. "But couldn't this wait until after the birth?"

Link let out a small growl, much like he did when he was the Sacred Beast, but the man took note of the guard's words and ceased his kisses, for now. He took a small step back, still holding her hand, and still slightly territorial.

Shildow sighed, but smiled. "Doctor Noxed, I believe we are ready when you are!"

"Yes, Sir," Doctor Noxed said as he bowed. "But standard procedure says immediate family and the godparent only. I'm afraid the two of you will have to leave until the baby is out." He addressed Siegfried and Hilde at his last words.

"This man saved my life," Siegfried argued.

"And I am sure you are very thankful of that fact, but still, I will need the two of you to wait until this is over. She is going into labor now, and I will have Shildow here escort you out."

Neither man was about to back down. In Siegfried's eyes, he needed to keep Link and his child safe until Ganondorf and Soul Edge was defeated. Standing by Link's side at all time was the best way he could think of to protect him, and he didn't really care if anyone said he should leave.

In the Doctor's eyes, though, Siegfried posed a threat. A small one, but a threat nonetheless. He trusted him. After all, he saved the King's life a few short minutes ago, but the armor he was wearing could pose a threat to a newborn Twili, and this baby was also half Hylain. Who knows what could happen if exposed to something one Tribe was vulnerable to and the other useful with?

"Um, Siegfried, maybe we should leave them be," Hilde said softly. She grabbed his right arm and pulled him out the door.

Siegfried walked out the door without much argument, but didn't like having to wait outside. It wasn't that he needed to stand guard whilst his wife gave birth, it was more of that even though Link said his debt was repaid, Soul Edge still existed, and that was bad enough. To make it worse, the man who held part of the strength of the god of power, Ganondorf, held it. In the knight's eyes, he was responsible for letting the sword go without even trying to destroy it. Ganondorf had never shown his face once since he stepped foot in the Realm of Twilight. He should've seen through his plan.

"I should have known!" he muttered in anger.

"Known what?" Hilde asked, still leading him away from the R.D.R.

"Ganndorf now has Soul Edge and it's all my fault!" Siegfried stopped walking. With his strength and size Hilde didn't have a prayer of moving him.

Hilde tried to move him farther away from the R.D.R. one last time, failed, and sighed. "You cannot blame yourself for knowing naught of our enemy's plan. From what you and his Majesty have said about him, he had at least three years to plan and re-plan this so we could not have seen its true intent." She stood in front of the knight, looking him straight in the face, her hazel eyes gazing into his green ones.

"And another thing," she continued, "What makes you think it was your fault?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I could have destroyed it after Nightmare's power to live left its body," he replied. "I could have stopped its bloodstained trail right then and there. Not blind myself to needless desires."

"What? You mean you regret kissing me?"

Siegfried instantly wished he hadn't used those words. "No, no, I did. I very much liked being kissed by your majesty. I didn't mean to say those words. I, um, that is. I..."

Much to his surprise, however, she smiled and giggled. "Midna was right, it IS fun to mess with you hero types!"

Siegfried raised his own eyebrows. Just how fast could the female gender change in a few minutes?

XxXxX

Siegfried waiting on a couch with Princess Hilde sitting on his lap. Hilde's armor had been removed and was now lying on a table near the back wall.

Many minutes past, and no word had come to the two about the child.

"How long does it take to give birth to one child?" Siegfried asked, growing anxious. Hilde moved her head so it was resting in the arc of Siegfried's neck and closed her eyes.

"Well, there might be more than one baby," the princess replied.

"You mean, twins?"

"Yeah."

Siegfried sighed. "I still think we should find Soul Edge as soon as possible. The longer it stays out there the more souls it will feast on. It will surely give Ganondorf the power of a god by the end of the week!"

Hilde opened her eyes slowly. She twisted in her body so she was straddling Siegfried and locked eyes with the knight. "You know very well you won't be able to stop him with Link in his condition. Both you and his majesty will have to wait until you have not a single flaw in your bodies." She put her hands on either sides of his face. "You won't make much of a boyfriend if you're dead."

Siegfried was about to reply, but when Shildow emerged from the R.D.R. he lightly pushed Hilde off of him and stood to face the Twili.

"Well?" he asked.

"It's a boy," Shildow said with a smile, "And a girl. You are free to see them when you are ready."

Siegfried wasted no time in stepping past the new godfather and entered the R.D.R. Both Hilde and Shildow followed.

When they entered the R.D.R. they saw Link holding his son, in a rich black silk, and Midna holding their daughter in dark blue silk.

Link was sitting on the chair next to the bed Midna was laying in and was smiling down at his child. He and Midna were holding each other's hands. He looked up as he heard them enter.

"Siegfried," he said. Siegfried bowed, "Your Majesty." Hilde curtsied in respect. "We'd like to introduce to you the new heirs to the Throne of Twilight. Somber." He held up his son for Hilde to hold. She held him like he was the cure for her father's madness. "And Crystalline." Midna opened up the silk to reveal their daughter. Siegfried walked over but the doctor stood in his path, he quickly explained what Siegfried's armor was made of and why he should not move closer than necessary.

Somber had Link's skin color. Like most of the Twili he had symbols, but very few of them. Most were on his right arm. Crystalline didn't have any symbols on her body, but she did have her mother's skin color and even at this age she seemed to have her father's sandy blond hair.

"They truly are beautiful children, Your Majesties," Siegfried said, bowing his head slightly.

"Thank you," Link said as Hilde gave Somber back to him. He too held him like he was the way of destroying Ganondorf forever. "They are beautiful." He looked at Midna and smiled, "Much like their mother!"

Midna smiled and squeezed his hand.

Siegfried and Hilde smiled too. They looked at each other for a second before Doctor Mutos came in holding a box of the potion he had used before. The potions themselves were blue and in clear bottles about half the size of the bottles from Link's own village. There were eight in the box, and Link shuddered at the thought of drinking more of the vile stuff.

Mutos noticed the shudder and rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't be such a crybaby," he said in annoyance. "It's not going to kill you!"

"No, but it tastes that way," Link shot back.

"Do you at least have the decency to do as you're told for one day?"

Link smiled. "Nope," he said with his usual crooked smile. Siegfried walked up to him and whispered something into his ear.

Link sighed and closed his eyes. "Fine," he said in defeat. "But as soon as I drink that stuff I am going to bed. I need my strength for what we must do!" He said the last few words mainly to Siegfried, who nodded.

"Wait just a second, buster!" Midna and Hilde spoke in unison. Both Link and Siegfried groaned.

Midna spoke to Link as Hilde spoke to Siegfried and both men cringed at the two women's words.

"We just had our children, Link!" Midna scolded.

"You and I have just started our relationship!" Hilde said with fire.

"And you plan on fighting a battle you very well might not come back from?"

"You actually intend on battling an enemy you might not be able to defeat?"

Shildow, Noxed, and Mutos looked at each other a moment, then slowly backed out of the R.D.R.

"Do you think they'll make it?" Mutos asked Shildow.

Shildow shrugged. "Honestly? I truly don't know."

XxXxX

Link lay in the bed with Midna, their babies lying between them. The beat down upon him and Siegfried earlier that day was enough to keep the young King awake with all the still-healing cuts and bruises, but it wasn't just that on his mind. Ganondorf was out there somewhere, and now he had Soul Edge. The only thing that could kill him was the Master Sword, and only thing that could destroy Soul Edge was Soul Calibur. They would have to kill Ganondorf and destroy Soul Edge at the same time to kill them at all!

Hilde was sleeping in the Royal Guest-room while Siegfried opted to stand guard outside the door to Link and Midna's room with Shildow.

'You will try to keep me here, won't you!' Link thought as his left hand reached over the babies and roamed up and down her body. Her skin was as smooth as the silk covering the four royals, if not smoother.

Link pondered his options. On the one hand, he could stay for the potion to fully heal his wounds, but by then Ganondorf would have eaten enough souls to be strong enough to kill all the Twilight. On the other hand he could leave tonight with Siegfried and attack Ganondorf at his weakest state, but his leg would hurt throughout the battle they would have, causing him to lose much of his mobility. Either way he would most likely die in the attempt to stop him.

"I'm sorry, Midna," he whispered. He kissed her on the check and got out of bed. He then bent down and gave their babies each a kiss on their cheeks. His leg in a splint, he moved over to the closet and took out his coat, all of his weapons, and his tunic.

He limped back to the bed and wrote a quick note to her.

Then left the room with the note in his hand.

When he exited through the door he stood with Siegfried and Shildow for a moment.

"She won't forgive you for a very long time, you know that don't you?" Shildow said.

"She should understand my choice," he replied.

Link looked at Shildow firmly. "You will keep her from entering the realm of light, I trust?"

"I shall try my best," he said.

"Do whatever you need to do to keep her here for as long as possible. Motus will be able to back you up."

"I've only been here a few days," Siegfried said, "but from what I have gathered in that time she doesn't seem like the type of woman to be fooled or controlled for long."

"She isn't," Link confirmed with a smile. "I estimate you'll be able to keep her in the dark no more then an hour and a half from when she wakes up. Maybe two if you're lucky."

Siegfried nodded but he didn't like it. He had lived a lie for many years, keeping himself from people for not only their sake but for his own.

But, he had just met his first love, and he wouldn't be too happy if she went into battle without him knowing it, even if she is the Princess of Wolfkrone.

"When she finds out, please give her this!" Link handed Shildow the folded note.

Shildow looked at the note in his hand then at Link. "Good luck," he said. Link nodded and hugged his friend, who was still a little awkward with the embraces, but returned it nonetheless.

"Take care of yourself, buddy," Link whispered. "Oh," he pulled away to look him firmly in the eye, "And find a nice woman for yourself, and that, my friend, is an order from the King." They both smiled at this.

"I'll do my best!" he promised.

"Give her love, attention, and a family fit for a king. Be her king, for she shall be your queen." Shildow smiled broadly at that.

"Link," Siegfried said urgently.

"Right."

Link and Siegfried walked down the dark hall leaving Shildow standing at the door to the royal bedroom. He looked down at the note in his hand. Behind it was another one addressed to him. He opened the note and read its contents.

'Shildow, my friend, you have been kind and helpful to me ever since I arrived here and became King. You never showed me any ill will, nor any resentment or anger. For that I am very grateful. You helped me through the shock of finding Midna to be pregnant, and I have never done anything to help you. So here are a list of available women I have spoken to in order to help you get a date. If you wish to find one on your own, go for it. And know I will always be in your debt for everything you have done for my wife and me. Take care of her and our children. Thank you.

Your friend...

Link

Under the letter was a small list of addresses and names Link had wrote down for him. On another part of the letter were the names of the women and their hobbies, their family, what their favorite foods were, and many other things to tell him what he needed to know about them. One name in particular caught his eyes though. It was the name of someone he had had a crush on ever since he was fifteen.

XxXxX

Link and Siegfried walked down the empty corridor and passed the room in which Hilde was sleeping. Siegfried stopped.

"What is it?" Link asked him. He stopped and turned to face Siegfried. He stood a few footsteps ahead of the knight. He looked and saw the door Siegfried was looking at. "Oh," He moved over and put a hand on his shoulder. "You two will see each other again, you'll see." He smiled at Siegfried and moved forward down the hall once more.

"I wish I could be so sure," Siegfried whispered before walking down the corridor behind Link.

XxXxX

"Before we continue, a warning," Link said over his shoulder to Siegfried. They were standing right outside the Mirror of Twilight. The presence of people wishing to enter the Realm of Light activated its portal. The activation of the depths of its power lit up the sky with a pale gold light. It would have brought alarm to the Twili people and brought Midna running to the Realm the two were about to enter had Link not placed the Mirror itself in another, more disserted part of the Twilight. So only if someone ran all the way past the Nulostion Kingdom, which was the farthest from the Twilight Palace, would anyone actually see the light. It had taken about two hours to reach this point, and their time was running thin.

"Ganondorf uses the power not only of darkness, but light as well. The golden power of the Triforce of Power gives him that right. And if he has killed her he should also have the Triforce of Wisdom too."

"And now he has Soul Edge," Siegfried finished. "We can take him together. We can't lose, Link. Not when we're fighting for something worth dying for!" He stepped foreword, looking deeply into the Mirror. "Where will this bring us to?" he asked.

"A desert once ruled by the Gerudo, a tribe of women. The exact location is at the top of a temple in the Mirror's chamber." Link stepped up to the Mirror and touched its smooth surface. "By the time we reach the castle," he said more to himself then to Siegfried, "he will have gained enough power to take on a god. I hope you're ready for this!"

"Tell that to Ganondorf," he replied.

Link smiled and half chuckled. "Alright then." He moved to stand directly in front of the Mirror and motioned for Siegfried to stand next to him. Siegfried stood beside the young King and waited. He felt his legs go limp and looked down. He would have screamed if he were someone else, because his body was dissolving in black square Twilight particles.

It started at his legs and went up to his head, all the while taking the parts of himself through the portal to the realm that he was born in.

XxXxX

When he opened his eyes, Siegfried had to shut them rather quickly to shield them from the sun's light. When his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, he looked over to Link, who was shielding his eyes and looking at the ground. Siegfried couldn't blame him really. After all, Link had been in a realm of shadows for nearly a year now, and the sudden exposure to the light would hurt anyone. In addition, they were in the desert, so the sun was much hotter and much brighter then it would be elsewhere.

'But I'd be willing to bet a part of him wishes he could do this all the time, being home,' he thought as he looked out to the horizon. The sun had recently come up and judging by its position it was around eight in the morning. Already the darkness seemed to be seeping away the world's beauty, caused by Soul Edge's taint.

"Nothing good can come out of that sword." Siegfried turned to face Link, who was blinking out the last bits of pain from the sun's rays and looking out over the desert. He almost seemed to know something was wrong with it.

"No," Siegfried looked back out to the darkened sky, even though it was early in the morning. "Nothing, only monsters and demons born for the sole purpose of eating up everything that is good and light in the world."

They stood in silence for a moment, before Link walked forward down the stone steps that led to the sea of sand.

They walked through the desert in silence, both too focused on the task at hand to speak.

When they reached the end of the plane both men gasped in horror.

Lake Hyla, or home of the Zoras, which had once shone brilliantly with the reflection of the sky, now seemed to burn with hundreds of dead bodies, each one spilling a horrifying amount of blood into its once clear waters. Seeing it, Link's eyes went wide and he seemed to be lost in his own mind.

"No!" he whispered. Link stepped forward in the sand and climbed down in rush, Siegfried hurried down after him. Link's nimble legs allowed him great ease in sliding and jumping down the slope, even with the splint. Siegfried, however, was not so graceful and ended up rolling down the hill.

When he finally stopped at the bottom of the hill and got up from the fall, he saw Link kneeling down on a ledge overlooking what looked like a dark red lake. Caused by blood, most likely.

"Rails," Link whispered.

"Who?" Siegfried asked gently.

"Prince Rails." Link was in despair. "Well, he's probably King Rails now, or was King. Midna and I saved him when I first became a 'hero'. He let me and Midna use his homeland for our first date." He pointed to a specific body floating in the water, what appeared to Siegfried as a fish-like humanoid. However, he knew it was the boy Link was talking about.

"I'm sorry," he said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I know what it's like to lose someone you care for."

"I can only imagine what else he's done to this place," Link continued.

"Don't try to," Siegfried said firmly, shaking Link's shoulder to snap him out of his trance. "The more time we spend here, the more he'll be able to do. Let's just get that sword you spoke of and stop him before he can do anything like this," he pointed out to the bloodstained lake, "ever again."

Link nodded slowly, understanding he could afford to linger at this moment. There would be time to grieve, but now was not that time.

"Now," Siegfried helped Link stand, "where is this sword of yours?" he asked. Something seemed to strike Link, for his face had gone from one of sadness, to one of absolute fear.

"My home!" he shouted before running as fast as he could down the path that was to the right of where they stood.

"Link?" Siegfried called out, running to catch up. He didn't respond; Link simply kept running past all the dead Zoras and onto a busted up bridge that led to the cannon that stood on a wooden raft floating near the center of the lake of blood.

Link ran over to the right of the cannon and found the controls. "Good, they still work," he said to himself. He fiddled with the controls for a few seconds. In that time Siegfried finally caught up to him. Link moved into the cannon's door, signaling Siegfried to enter as well.

Siegfried entered as fast as he could and the door rolled shut behind him. It was pitch black inside. Nothing could be heard except for the music, growing seemingly louder, that had started playing. Siegfried was about to ask why they were inside this cannon when all went haywire. The canon shot up a few feet before making a sudden stop, and then it seemed to turn a few degrees before stopping again.

"Hold on," Link said.

"To what?" was all Siegfried could get out before the two of them were shot out of the cannon at top speed. Siegfried could not tell where they were going because he was spinning so fast. When they met ground, he landed flat on his back while Link landed nimbly on his feet.

'I'm going to have to ask him how he does that,' Siegfried thought before getting up, his body aching all over.

"We don't have any time to lose," Link said as he helped Siegfried stand. "The Master Sword is in Faron Woods, and it's a long way from here." Link and Siegfried ran out of the building and stepped out into the fields of the Lanayru province. Siegfried ran in the direction Link led him. Remaining as silent as possible, the only sound that could be heard was that of his boots padding on the dirt ground.

Out of breath from what felt like a hundred mile run, Siegfried stood next to Link at the path to what Link called 'Faron woods'.

"How much... farther will... we have to... go?" Siegfried gasped out.

"Not much farther," Link answered, "But if I know Ganondorf like I think do, he'll have monsters or minions guarding the sword, so be prepared to fight at any given time." Siegfried nodded, but put a hand on Link's shoulder.

"Could we at least have something to eat or drink before we get moving again?" he asked. Link looked at him, a little confused, but understood nonetheless.

"We only have five minutes before we start up again," he said before sitting down on the ground alongside Siegfried, passing him an apple and a small leather container of water from his pouch.

Siegfried groaned as he sat down. Never before had he seen someone push himself so hard. Even though Link was trying to save the people he loved, it was outstanding how he could push himself to his limits to do it. It was no wonder why he had the Triforce of Courage.

Five minutes later, they set off again into the forest that was Link's home, and he would think of it as nothing else.

As the came to the point where they could either walk to the small village of Ordon or go to the Sacred Grove, Link stopped.

"What is it?" Siegfried asked. Needless to say, Siegfried didn't know where they needed to go in order to retrieve this magic sword.

"I don't really know," Link answered slowly. "It could be nothing, but I feel as if I should see something along this path." He pointed upward along a neatly groomed trail. To the right of that was probably where they needed to go in order to get the Master Sword. "Something seems, I don't know the words... too right here? I mean, why would he attack the Zoras, but not the people from my village?"

"Maybe we should check it out?"

"No, no," Link interrupted before Siegfried could finish. "No, we need the Master Sword before we try anything we could regret. It's probably a trap anyway."

"Agreed."

Still having an uneasy feeling about all this, Link lead the way to the Sacred Grove, and the Blade of Evil's Bane.

Not fifteen minutes after Link and Siegfried were gone, a seven-foot tall man wielding a large sword with an eye on the flat of the blade entered the forest with an evil smile.

'Try all you want, hero,' he thought, 'Because you will never be able to stop me now!'

With Soul Edge in his left hand, he raised his right and snapped his fingers. From puddles of darkness came the same creatures that seemed to be made of the shadows themselves and moved slowly to the peaceful, unsuspecting village of Ordon.

XxXxX

Twenty minutes had passed since Link had chosen to get the Master Sword first, and Link suddenly felt a great emptiness inside his heart. He stopped running and Siegfried ran past him.

Siegfried stopped his running and turned around to face his friend. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Link shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "It's as if all of a sudden something has been peeled from my soul."

Siegfried nodded slowly. "I don't know what exactly causes it," he began, "but there are some people in the west who believe that one can sense the distress of another close to him or her." These words seemed to ease Link's sudden urge to cry, for he smiled at them.

"Midna must be awake, then," he said. "We'd better hurry before she comes to find us." With the words even he wasn't so sure about believing, Link started running again in the direction of the ruins of the Temple of Time, the Sacred Grove, or the Master Sword's resting place.

XxXxX

"So that's it?" Siegfried asked. He pointed to the Master Sword, resting in its pedestal. The blade itself was fantastic. The handle was highly decorated but not just for being put up on a wall for show. All in all, it was a very impressive sword of light. He could only imagine what it could do to someone of darkness.

"That's it!" Link said, walking up to the sword as he spoke. "This is what it will take to bring him down." He grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled. The blade came out of the pedestal easily as if it was nothing but a hole in the earth.

"Now. We can stop him." Link held the Sword of Light high in the air with pride. The scabbard appeared in a flash of light on his back. With the other scabbard it formed an X on the young hero's back. Link sheathed the magic blade and turned to face Siegfried. "The power of light is on our side now." Link walked to stand beside him, Siegfried facing the pedestal and Link in the other direction. "It's time we ended this once and for all. There won't be more fighting after this. Ganondorf is the last man to wield Soul Edge."

Siegfried nodded and turned at the same time Link began walking out of the grove.

XxXxX

They half walked, half ran back to the main path, saving their strength for the battle at hand. They continued for roughly fifteen minutes, before they reached the point where they had the choice of moving into Hyrule field or taking a right to get to Link's village. When they arrived there, they noticed that the path was destroyed. Not literally of course, but the trees had lost much of their leaves, the birds had ceased their singing, and most important of all, the light didn't seem to touch the ground. Link and Siegfried walked up a few paces and stepped back quickly, as if the darkness had hurt them from the inside.

"What happened here?" Siegfried said out loud.

"I don't know," Link said, unsheathing his sword in one fluid movement. "But I'm going to find out." He waved his sword left to right against the path and the darkness slowly slipped away, seeming to flee the light from the blade.

Their progress was slow but sure. After a while they came to the Spring of Ordona. Link gasped at the sight. Where there was once fairies there was nothing, not even a light. The once clear waters were now black, like a mud black, only more dark. Darkness. They moved on from the sight and made it to the first house on the left of a small clearing. The house was Link's old house, but it seemed less cheerful than it used to be, much like Ordona's Spring. For a moment he thought it may have been because he had not lived there in some time, but he knew something was wrong the moment he didn't see any birds or wildlife of any kind near the small house.

No more darkness could be seen from this point on, a fact that surprised and worried both Link and Siegfried. They moved forward with caution. Siegfried's hand was on Soul Calibur and Link's on his two swords.

What they saw when they entered the village made Link drop to his knees in shock and pain. Not the kind that a simple potion could heal, but the kind of pain one had when losing someone from his family.

Where there was once green grass and full of life was now a field of blood. The villagers lay unmoving, dead on the ground. Siegfried stepped up to the nearest body and examined it. What he found was news he knew Link would not want to hear.

The body he had examined had only been dead a few short minutes.

Link stood and walked around the village slowly. He couldn't believe this was happening. He had known Ganondorf would attack his village, but it had never really struck him until now. He too, had checked a body. The woman was Uli, the wife of his father figure and mentor, Rusl, who lay beside her and he knew it was less then ten minutes ago when she died.

'I could have saved them...'

Those were the words that kept playing over and over again in his mind as he walked around the bloodied and destroyed village of Ordon.

Houses were nothing but splinters on the ground. A few planks even landed and floated in the blood red water. Scorch marks were easy to see on all of the houses.

Siegfried stood next to the body he had looked at. It was that of a woman about a year younger than Link. She looked as if she had been raped before she died too. It made Siegfried sick and sad for Link when he looked back to his young friend, knowing it was their fault for not checking on the village while they had the choice to do so.

Link stopped at the gate to the ranch where he used to work and help a kind man by the name of Fado. Now the man was dead too, and he could have saved him, the goats, all of the animals, his family. He could have saved them all, had he trusted himself.

He fell to his knees once more and began to cry. He didn't care about Ganondorf or Soul Edge right now. He had just lost his family, his friends, the people who believed in him since he was a boy growing up. They had given him strength, courage, wisdom.

Love.

They had taught him everything he knew. They taught him to be kind, they taught him how to defend the people that needed to be defended. Everything! Now they were gone, all gone, to be nothing but a sacrifice to the damned Sword!

He felt rage boil inside his heart. Why didn't he stay? Ganondorf couldn't kill something that isn't there. He could have evacuated the village and no one would have been hurt. But no, he had to retrieve the Master Sword first, and now everything he set out to protect was gone. It was almost too much for the young man.

"Ganondorf will pay for this!" he muttered through his anger. He stood and turned to walk to Rusl's house. When he came back out he held a shovel firmly in both hands. He walked past Siegfried and the now dead Ilia and all the way to the stone Rule and he used to practice next to. He started to dig.

'They deserve to lie in peace,' he thought as he dug deeper and deeper into the ground. He could tell Siegfried was walking towards him and he didn't care. His family was dead, his home had been destroyed. If he tried to stop him, he would fight to get this done.

Instead, Siegfried stepped beside him with his own shovel and began digging next to him.

It took a few hours to bury all the bodies and mark their graves. Neither of them cared, though, for the kind, loving people of Ordon deserved the 'Last rights of Hyrule'.

Rusl was laid to rest next to his wife and daughter Lily. Beth and her parents, Hanch and Sera, were to rest together as well. The same with Talo and Malo and their father. Jaggle and her mother Pergie. Mayor Bo with his daughter, Ilia. Fado was the only one without a family by blood and was buried with the garden - what was left of it. After all, he was the one who gave it the most work while Link was living here, and he thought it would be best if he were to sleep there.

The graves had been marked, and the bodies had been buried. Now all that was left was to kill the man who had done this.

Link knelt down next to his mentor's grave and prayed. He had never prayed before, but this was the man who was like a father to him, and he needed to say a few words.

Siegfried felt Link could use some privacy and walked to the entrance of the village. He climbed up the ladder that led to Link's old house and sat down at the top. What Link could be feeling right now was beyond Siegfried. Yes, he had killed his own father, but he had not known who he was, though that wasn't an excuse in his mind. They had had a choice in this one; they could have entered the village to evacuate it, but they didn't.

"I wonder how he's taking it," he thought out loud. As if on cue, Link came from the village looking fine. His body did, anyway. His eyes though... his eyes shined with new tears he tried to hide. Siegfried jumped down and walked over to him, but Link just put up a hand and looked angrily at the ground.

"Let's go!" he said. Siegfried only just caught his words when Link began running in the direction of Hyrule Field. Siegfried chased after him. They moved in such a hurry they didn't notice a small piece of wooden plank moving where one of the houses had fallen.

XxXxX

What they saw in Hyrule Field was not so much a shock as it would have been before. The Hylain army had been slaughtered and their dead bodies lied motionless on the blood stained grass.

"How powerful do you think he is now?" Siegfried asked, though he already knew the answer to his own question. The reason he asked it was to get Link's mind off of Ordon. But of course, it didn't work out so well.

"The people of my village had very strong souls," he said, a hint of pride in his voice. "They alone could give him much power, but an entire army? I'd say he's almost ready to destroy a god."

"Are we able to defeat a god?"

"No," Siegfried looked at Link, who continued to look towards the horizon, "But we can kill him!"

Link walked over the field of bodies towards where Siegfried could only guess was Hyrule Castle. While Link was enveloped in anger and didn't care where he stepped, Siegfried didn't feel right walking on dead people, and tried to step over them.

Link stopped over one particular body. It was the body of the King Boblus. They never went into first-name terms before he had left, but by the Hylain symbol on his armor, he could guess he had died fighting alongside the army. Yet another good soul: lost.

'What is going on in that head of his?' Siegfried thought as Link continued to walk, oblivious of everything except for Hyrule Castle.

XxXxX

Link and Siegfried stood outside the main entrance to Hyrule Castle. Castle Town was no different from that of Zora's Domain or that of Ordon or Hyrule field: covered in corpses and red from the blood of many lives. The castle was no different for that matter. Blood covered the walls, corpses of the innocent littered the ground, and most of the stone walls itself were ripped open by a giant sword: Soul Edge.

"Ganondorf," Link said to the unseen madman. "You will pay for what you have done."

What happened next, surprised them both.

"Seize them!" yelled a women's voice that Link knew well.

Link and Siegfried turned just in time to see Zelda shoot an arrow at them. The arrow missed Siegfried's armor by less than an inch. Siegfried, thinking she was the new servant of the evil blade, drew Soul Calibur, but Link stood in front of him.

"No," he said, "Zelda! What are you doing?" He took a step toward Zelda, only to be attacked by her sword. He jumped back and drew his two swords. When she came to attack him from above, he raised both swords to form an X above his head, catching her sword in the cross. "Stop it Zelda, don't you recognize me?"

Siegfried blocked attacks from what appeared to be mindless Hylain Solders as Link tried to get through to Zelda.

Zelda's cloths were different from when he had seen her before. The last time her had seen her she was wearing a pink and white dress. Now she was wearing a black one with red lining along the shoulders and the back and arms. She also wore a long black cape that reached the floor. Her hair had also turned black with red (most likely blood) streak stains, and her eyes were yellow.

"Yeah, I recognize you," she said, "I can see exactly what you are! A TRAITOR TO THE CROWN! DIE, BASTARD!" She tried to push him back, but he was much too strong for her, she gave a roar of frustration at his rock-like posture, unmoving. A tear fell down Link's cheek and he pushed her back. She stumbled and he pressed on, attacking with his two swords. Though he did not wish to kill her, he knew she would kill him without a second thought if he gave her that chance. He continued to push her back until she was forced onto a wall. With a flick of his left wrist she was disarmed and her sword went spinning away. The sword in his right hand's point was at her throat.

"Hey, Link!"

Link turned his head to see Siegfried fighting ten Hylain men. "I could use a hand over here."

Link then noticed something very interesting. All of the men had a black, red rimmed heart symbol on their chests with something like a red lightning bolt fashioned X through its center. He looked at Zelda and couldn't see such an emblem on her. Then he thought for a moment. He bashed her head in with the Master Sword. She crumpled to the ground, the back of her cape revealed. There, on the back of the cape was the same heart shape symbol he saw on the men's chests. The heart itself was black but the outline of it was red, and the same X out of a red lightning bolt was there just like the symbols on the other men's chests.

'What is this?' he thought. A knight came crashing down next to him, which of course snapped him out of it.

Link turned and ran to Siegfried's aid.

After the long fight with the seemingly endless amount of men, they ran up the castle at top speed, encountering more of the evil men, and fighting them off. Link killed all who got in his way while Siegfried simply knocked them out. What was wrong with Link? He had never shown any intent in killing anything before.

Each time Link killed a guard, they would disappear in a puff of darkness.

XxXxX

Ganondorf was sitting on his throne, Soul Edge rested over his lap; the two were, 'conversing', on whom they should kill first.

The mind that was truly Ganondorf, wanted to kill Link, but the part of his mind that now was Soul Edge wanted Siegfried to parish.

As they contemplated this, the large double doors burst open to reveal the two men in question. It was then Ganondorf decided he would kill them at the same time.

The first thing Link noticed was the same heart symbol where the hole in his chest once was.

The two men charged Ganondorf.

XxXxX

I hate myself for doing this to Link, but I had to do something to get him angry and sad at the same time, and I couldn't think of anything else I could do. If you didn't like what I did to the people, sorry for that, I'll update the battle scene as soon as I can.

This is Soul of Heroes, saying farewell, until chapter VIII that is ;)