A thousand screams rang in my mind as my body lunged forward of its own will. Meg shrieked with surprise, loosening her grip just enough for my hands to wrench the instrument free of her grasp as I passed her. Spinning on the ball of my foot, I turned to face them. I felt a smirk spread across my face. My grip on the neck tightened for a moment before my other hand reached out and gently plucked a single open string. A note so pure that it made my throat clench filled the room. To my surprise, the clenching of my throat didn't cease, the pain intensified as the very flesh knitted itself together again. A small amount of blood dripped down my throat onto my shirt, but whoever was controlling my body didn't seem to care.
With a wave of my hand, she dismissed the instrument and in its place held only the bow. "You dare to tell a sage what to do? You dare to presume that you had any right?" My voice spat the words as though they were tainted with poison. She tightened my grip on the frog of the bow and heat radiated from my hand, enveloping the bow. "As the eldest of the sages, it is both my honor and delight to educate you." The weight of the bow shifted, but couldn't catch even a glimpse of what had been done. I could only watch the Poes in an attempt to understand what was happening.
Without taking her eyes off my hand, Beth drifted in front of Meg and Amy, swinging her lantern protectively. Joelle was nowhere to be seen. "Now, now dear sage. No need to be violent." Meg's voice sounded worried now. "Ellen, your name is Ellen right? Come now, put the weapon down."
I barked out a laugh, "Ellen? Such a name, I have never been known by in all of my lifetimes." Raising her weapon, that I could now see was a curved sword, she continued. "If it will ease your passing however, then I will grace you with one of my names." In the blink of an eye, I found myself face to face with Beth. "I am Asima."
With a flick of the wrist, she thrust the blade into Beth's lantern.
The blade slid through the opening of the lantern and past it, into the blue cowl that covered her. Meg shrieked. The violet flame atop the lamp beside me blazed ferociously; matching the intensity of Meg's rage. An eerie glow writhed across the walls as she swung her lantern in a fury. "Don't you touch her!" her panicked voice rose to such a pitch that could shatter glass. I swiftly withdrew my blade to cover my ears as I danced away from her assault. "I won't let you hurt them! I won't let you!" Her screams punctuated each hysterical swipe of her scorching lantern. "I will not lose them again!"
I leaned back again as her lantern swept past my face harmlessly, my skin only feeling a warm gust as it rushed by. My heart skipped a beat however, when the flame of her lantern flickered in a familiar gold as it swept past me. I moved back from her, a wave of confusion washing over me. Wasn't that…?
My thoughts were cut off as something heavy and blunt struck me from behind. I dropped to the floor, my head throbbing. Instead of striking again, Joelle drifted past me to join her sisters. I cursed. How careless of me to forget about her. Meg swept over to Beth, who lay unmoving on the stone floor. Reaching into her lantern, she pulled a handful of the now blazing gold flame and gently placed it inside Beth's lantern. To my surprise, the gapping hole on Beth's shroud slowly wove together; a spark of blue spreading through the flames in her lantern overcame the gold as she lifted herself back up from the floor.
My eyes widened. It was undeniable now that Meg held one of the Triforce shards. As this realization dawned on me, a part of me recoiled in shock. Frantic; my head shot down to look at my right hand. I didn't know what it was that I was looking for, but whatever it was that I saw chilled me to my core. The arrogance that I had shown was stripped away; leaving only a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was certain that my skin was now a lovely shade of white.
Beth, seemingly fully healed, rose up off the ground and bobbed happily. "Thank you, sister dear!" She chirped, bobbing up and down happily. Meg looked at her for a while before nodding slowly. Turning on me again, her whole body shook. "You! You would to take them from me? For all your power, you would not help?" The golden glow of her lantern intensified, even as a darker taint twisted around it, encompassing it. "I don't need your power! What good is your power to me if you will not help?"
My grip on the blade tightened as she approached me, her head low. "If you will not help me willingly, then I will take what I need!" Spinning in a wide circle around me, she split into four identical ghosts. "Your life should suffice to return theirs, don't you agree?" her taunting voice surrounded me as she continued to circle, gradually drawing closer.
I watched the four copies in confusion at first, half-heartedly swiping at those that got closest. I swung at the second to last one, the image dissipating into dust like the previous two. All that I got for my effort was a good sneeze that had me duck in time to evade Meg's attack…mostly. Her lantern grazed the back of my head, singeing a few hairs. I turned around, ready to retaliate, but she had vanished.
Her giggles echoed off the walls as I desperately tried to find her. Again, the four spirits appeared, but there was something different this time. Perhaps it had been there before as well, and I had simply not noticed. I warily watched the other three, worried that whoever was possessing me had not seen it. To my immense relief, once they were only a few feet away, my body turned sharply; the blade slicing a wide arc in the air. 'This one' a voice whispered in my mind as my blade bit deeply into both her and her lantern. I had felt drawn to her, or rather, felt drawn to what was hidden inside her lantern.
Her cries of agony pierced my ears as her soul departed. A cry that was not alone; echoed not only by the three remaining copies, but also her sisters. As the sound faded, so too did the remaining Poes. The blade in my hand cooled, reverting to its former shape, before vanishing entirely. My footsteps were soft, almost tentative as I approached the crushed remains of the lantern. Dust swirled around my feet as I reached down and picked up the sliver of gold from where it had fallen.
As my fingers closed around its cold form, I stumbled forward.
Racking sobs filled my ears as Meg slumped against an unlit lamp. She clutched the broken lanterns of her sisters. She wailed again, her loneliness hung in the air like a thick fog. The more she lamented, the more her lantern glowed. To my surprise, I reached out to her, placing my hand on her hooded head. As my skin touched the fabric, a cold clammy feel brushed across my skin and down my spine. Her desperation was palpable now, but there was more to it. I could almost feel her thoughts, disjointed as they were.
The thoughts were incoherent at best, but what they meant was simple enough. Her sisters had left, choosing to pass on into the afterlife. She had meant to follow, but was somehow unable to. I looked to the lantern cradled in her skeletal arms, knowing that it was what anchored her to this world. Her loneliness was suffocating her. Even I could tell that she had long since reached the point where a true death would be a comfort. In desperation, she called on the power that kept her and her sisters separate. Twining it with her own magic; she created copies of her sisters to sate her need for companions. Every action, every word, it was all orchestrated from her memory.
As she looked at the images of her sisters, I felt a madness begin to grow in her mind. She began to forget that they were copies at all. All that she knew was that something was wrong. Her sisters acted perfectly, sounded and spoke just like they always had, but they were broken somehow. The thoughts and feelings I was absorbing began to take a dark turn; one that became more warped with each passing second. The taint of madness was so strong that it made me feel ill.
The fear and loneliness hit me full force and I was shocked out of the visions. I looked down at the golden sliver in my hand in horror. "Oh god…" I had known that Ganondorf was cursed to be forgotten, but I hadn't realized just how painful it was to be left behind. It was amazing that he hadn't broken like Meg. To be left behind, abandoned and forgotten…it was too much.
All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry, but instead, my body stood up, hands clenched in fists and shaking. After experiencing Meg's nightmare, I had forgotten all about whomever it was that was controlling me. "What has happened?" My voice whispered.
A flash of pain and blood caused me to crumple, gasping in pain. The ghost of splintering wood rang in my ears, more painful than the gash that robbed me of my life. Soft footsteps approached, but I could not hear them past the grief that wrapped around my throat, strangling me. Heartache that threatened to break me; agony and blood. I coughed in pain, fully expecting to see my blood fleck the floor.
A hand grabbed my shoulder, "Are you alright?" Ganondorf asked. I looked up at him, and the vision's grip released me. For a moment I saw the god rather than the featureless form he had been cursed with. It was odd how familiar he looked; familiar, but different. The presence that had been controlling me faded, leaving me alone again in my body. "Yes, I think I'm alright." I whispered. I looked down at the golden piece in my hand. As I held it, it seemed to glow just a little.
(Ganondorf pov)
I ran like a man possessed. Those wretched cackles haunting me long after the ghosts had departed. They were nothing more than worthless sub-creatures, a kind that I had held sway over in my younger years. I growled in anger as I raced towards the temple. It was all thanks to this curse…thanks to her. I wouldn't be fooled like that again, but if I didn't find the sage, none of it would matter.
I climbed the tree at the entrance of the temple, swinging myself up onto the ledge with ease. When first met with the decay of the forest temple, I was surprised. I had imagined that her song would have revived it to its splendor like the rest of the forest, yet the only thing impressive about it was the sheer amount of plants eating away at the walls and ceiling. Perhaps her song reset it to a certain time? I only had a few moments to muse over these things before I crept into the main room, fully expecting a battle.
The center of the room was lit in patches by the sunlight streaming down through cracks in the ceiling. It was there that I found my charge, of the Poes, there was no sign. I should have expected this. Here I am, late to the rescue, and her holding the prize. Her fingers were clenched, but I could still see the gleam of the golden shard. She was sitting still on the floor and breathing heavily. I approached cautiously, something was wrong.
When I was a few feet away, her body shook and she leaned forward with a cry of anguish and pain. I remembered that sound well; it was the same one my sisters made when a newborn did not survive. What could this girl have experienced that could possibly compare? I reached for her shoulder, just as she lurched forward and coughed violently. I grabbed her shoulder and squeezed slightly, "Are you alright?" I asked. Worry that she had been possessed by the Poes crept around the edges of my mind. Tainted by ghosts, she would be almost useless to me as a sage. If my plan was to work then that would be very, very bad.
She turned to look at me; her face was so pale as to be almost white. "Yes, I think I'm alright." She managed to whisper after a moment, but her eyes were unfocused. She turned her gaze back to the gold shard in her hand and my eyes followed.
"Wisdom." I murmured. She didn't seem to hear me. I reached down and plucked the piece from her hand. A trace of foreign magic permeated it like the scent of smoke. I casually brushed it off and placed it into my bag with the others. Only three shards, yet with this addition, Wisdom and Power were almost complete. It was a good start, but I wasn't about to become cocky. That had only served to ruin me in the past. This time, when power called, I would be the one in control.
I was brought back to the present by a small sound. She whispered so quietly, that I barely made out what she said. "Asima."
At that, my ears perked up. "You know of Asima?" I asked, very curious. She looked at me again, some color had returned to her face and her eyes were more focused. "I…I know the name." She mumbled, obviously hiding something. There was more to this girl than she was willing to let on, it was trying my patience. I was not a patient man.
Taking a deep breath to quell my frustration, I began. "Asima is from before my time. She was a great warrior among my people." I sat down on a relatively clean spot on the carpet. "She was a guardian of sorts, wise and powerful." "The stories say that she died in a brave sacrifice for the safety of her people. What that sacrifice was, isn't fully explained, but it apparently involved the first Princess of Hyrule."
I shifted a little, letting my neck pop before continuing. "The better known stories claim that she and her sister Ma'isah where bearers of 'gifts of the goddess'." "In my land, we worship the goddess of the sand." I clarified. "There are few tales of their exploits, but with good reason. It has been well over a thousand years since they lived."
I chose not to tell her that the only reason we knew as much as we did was out of my own youthful curiosity. "Now then, how do you know that name?"
If I didn't know better, I'd say she fainted on purpose.
Arabic names:
Asima means 'protector'
Ma'isah means 'to walk with a proud swinging gait'
Just wanted to clarify for everyone, I picked these names for a reason. ^_^
Apparently, I didn't upload this chapter three weeks ago, like I thought I had...gotta love , am I right?
Well, on a good not, I have the next chapter already finished and am fleshing out the follow-up now. The next one is a touch short, but is packed with info. ^_^ If anyone is still reading this, I hope you enjoy~!
