Hi guys! Sorry I didn't published earlier this week, I had to prepare myself for an eloquence contest which was yesterday, so it took me quite some time. I lost, by the way, but I don't mind. I still won two tickets to go to the cinema, so yeah, there's that :)

I will also take the time to re-write the chapters which followed the one you are about to read, so don't expect two chapters next week. But hey, it was good while it lasted!


Chapter 7

Dawn was breaking, and its dimmed orange light pierced through the broken roof of the church, turning the pillars from gray to bright red. Big birds flew into the building, and started to look around the large room for food.

The side door burst open with a bang, as Zelda pushed it. The rusted particles fell off of it, and the door swayed. Impa, her valid arm across Steven's shoulders, helped him limp to a large chunk of stone. Blood had stopped floating from the cut, but his pants and shoe were now red. He wondered how the hell he hadn't passed out yet from blood loss. Impa's robotic arm was also dry of oil, and it laid busted on her side, its fingers twisted in a strange and broken fashion.

Once seated, Steven stretched his leg. Impa let herself fall next to him, her back against the stone. Zelda closed the door, and joined them. They were tired and sweaty, as they had to run from the park to their hideout. They breathed heavily, and Zelda was the only one still in shape to mend the other two. She lowered her scarf and crouched near Impa.

"Let's take off your arm..."

The woman nodded, and let Zelda push the plastic straps, before she could turn the heavy arm to disengage it. She looked at her protector's face, as she slowly took it of the metal socket that covered a part of her shoulder. Impa clenched her teeth, holding in a yell of pain. As Zelda finally took it off, and put it on the ground, Steven looked at the motionless limb, and the hole on her side. Her shirt slightly fell over it, and hid the separation between her flesh and the mechanical socket. Once that was dealt with, both girls focused on Steven's leg. His sword had cut the front of his leg in an almost vertical strike. It was deep enough that it needed stitches, but not too deep to see the bone. Zelda barely dared to touch it, and Impa, with only one hand, could not do a thing.

"Maybe we should call him." said Zelda.

Impas looked at the limb by her side, and nodded.

"Yes, call him. Tell him we need some fixing."

Zelda got up and walked toward the stone table. She used her holographic ring to phone someone, but Steven had no idea who it was. With her valid hand, Impa took out a dagger and looked at the young man.

"Do you allow me to cut your pants? It would be easier to take care of your injury that way."

He nodded.

"It's ruined anyway."

She slid the blade under the the torn fabric, and with a swift and steady move of the wrist she cut the material until it looked like a short. She then cut it vertically, until the fabric slid off his limb. The dark cut was even strikingly worst in contrast to his lightly tan skin. Impa put away her dagger, then rested back against the stone. Silence seemed strangely more painful then his leg. He cleared his throat, then bit his lower lip, wondering what to say.

"Impa?"

The silver-haired girl turned to better look at him. His forehead was sticky with sweat. His eyes looked tired, dead almost, and the shadow of a beard appeared on his chin and above his lips. She could see the line of his jaw that he clenched as tightly as he could. The pain must be even worst than she thought.

"May I ask you... How did you lost your arm?"

He knew he shouldn't have asked but he wanted to think about something else, other than his own stupidity. She kept on starring a little longer, before she looked right in front of her, at the huge barricaded doors.

"I... I mean if you don't mind!" he quickly added.

She sighed.

"No, I don't mind."

She gathered the courage she needed before she started.

"It was during the fight between Zelda and Demise. I tried to protect her but... I guess I failed."

She brushed the metal of her shoulder with her fingers. He looked at her, worried that she would start to cry. But her face was just as calm and emotionless as before, and so was her voice.

"I'm sorry." he couldn't help but say.

"You shouldn't be. If it weren't for that arm, you would probably be dead by now."

He chuckled.

"Yes, because I obviously need others to injure myself!"

He tried to stretch demonstratively his naked leg, to show off the cut, but it hurt too much to be moved.

Zelda came back toward them, and hid her ring in her arm.

"Alright, he's on his way. He's bringing his daughter with him, to take care of Steven."


They waited for less than an hour. Zelda had strapped an elastic belt around his tight, to make sure the bleeding wouldn't start again. Steven felt worst and worst as time flew, feeling colder and weaker. He thought he started to hallucinate, as he heard a distant and annoying beeping sound.

The metal door finally pushed opened, and a man walked toward them, a tool box in his hand. He had a round beer-belly that he hid under dark overalls. His grayish mustache looked like an untamed animal. Behind him was a young woman about Steven's age, with flashy red hair and beautiful blueish eyes. She wore a white jacket with an orange scarf and yellow pants. Zelda walked toward them, and shook the man's hand.

"Thank you for coming this quickly."

He nodded.

"No problem."

He walked toward the two injured, but mostly focused on the mechanical arm.

"What happened?"

"Robotic spider. It bit my arm."

He instantly opened his toolbox and took out a strange pair of glasses, with which he scanned the limb.

In the meantime, the girl had knelled in front of Steven. Zelda introduced them.

"Steven, this is Mister Talon, he's Impa's mechanic. And this is his daughter, Malon."

Malon looked closely at his wound, and quickly took off her jacket. Underneath, she wore a checkered shirt. She also took off her scarf, and got hold of a small box from her pocket. Inside she had a strange machine Steven had never seen and a few bottles filled with a red liquid.

"How did you get a cut like that?" she asked.

He blushed, and Zelda filled the silence.

"He cut himself with his neon sword."

If she had said it with desperation, he would have blushed even more. But he could feel how caring, and even a bit worried she felt.

"I don't think you touched anything too serious."

Malon was tilting her head all around his cut, to see as deep into the flesh as the dark blood allowed her to. She took out the strange machine and pressed a few buttons, which turned to the machine.

"Zelda, I might need some water."

She nodded.

"I'll see what I can do."

Malon set the small machine at the top of the wound. She tightly held the grip of the machine, and she warned him:

"It's gonna hurt pretty bad."

"Can't be worst."

It was. The machine first sprayed something inside his wound, something that burned deep in his flesh, or so he thought. The, it pushed his flesh closer, to close the cut. That probably was the less painful. Then, it burned the flesh to melt it back together. Finally, it sprayed the liquid again. And that was only for a few inches. Then Malon rolled it down the wound, repeating the process step by step. Steven couldn't feel his leg anymore, or he could only feel it, he wasn't sure. His head was spinning, and he couldn't hold his tears.

When the pain finally diminished, he was breathless, and even more sweatier than before. Malon put her machine back in its box. She then took one of the bottle out and opened it. She handed it to Steven, who grabbed it with a shaky hand.

"Drink. It will make you feel better."

He obliged. The liquid was cold on his lips, and had a strange semi-jelly texture. It had a sugary taste, but also had an acid taste, like sugar on which you would have poured lemon juice. As he drank it, he instantly felt better, his strength was coming back to him. Malon got back up to her feet, and helped Steven up. At first he felt a bit of pain. He took a few steps, and he limped around for a while. He saw Talon working with great ease on the arm. He had taken out every broken pieces and was now frowning behind his glasses as he focused on his work.

Zelda was starring at them, and Impa was still looking at the heavy wooden doors, as if not wanting to look at the inside of her arm.

After what seemed to be hours, Talon put his tools down and looked at the group.

"I did what I could, but without more materials I cannot fix it."

Impa got back up, and looked at both Zelda and Steven.

"Than in that case, we have to keep going. I'll fight with only one arm if that's what it takes, but we need to next key card."