Legend!

The Forgotten Hero and the Eternal Swordsman

By I.K.A. Valian


Chapter Nine: The Agreement


Debriefing

Yuan reached down to bottom most drawer on the right side of his desk and yanked it open. He didn't wait for the wooden drawer to slide all the way out before he shoved his hand in and snatched a yellow gel-blob from the assortment of other blobs inside. He quickly shoved the Lemon Gel into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. The cuts and scratches on his face and arms stung as the wounds closed up. He twisted his face and ran his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"I hate Lemon Gels." Yuan sat in his chair for several seconds, letting recent events wash over him. "What was that kid?"

His door slid open. Yuan looked up and found Botta standing before him. He straightened his back up and crossed his arms over his chest. His cape, torn from the fight in the school house, finally gave up the ghost and fell from around his shoulders to the floor.

"Sir, there's been a development in Palmacosta…"

***Several hours later…***

When Link awoke, it was to a buzzing sound ringing in his ears. Opening his eyes revealed a world totally foreign, composed of white curtains, clean sheets, and some kind of noise making device next to him that was beeping every few seconds. When he tried to move his arms around the machine let loose another loud buzzing sound.

Worried that he'd set off some kind of an alarm, Link froze. A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach grew worse when the curtains were yanked back and a man pointed a hand device at him. Link wasn't sure what the device was, but he was sure from the way that the guy was standing that he was being threatened with it. So he decided to not give the guy any excuse to hurt him and remained still.

A tall man with frizzled white hair in a stained lab coat suddenly appeared and maneuvered around the man holding the weapon. He came up next to Link and studied the beeping device for several seconds. Then he looked down at Link.

"You're name is Link, correct?" the man asked. Link nodded slowly.

"I'm Doctor Niskotvia, Hajifell Niskotvia," he said. Dr. Niskotvia snatched up Link's hand and shook it hard enough to make Link think it was going to rip off. "I've been asked by our illustrious leader, Lord Yuan, to assure your recovery and investigate the source of your entirely random and most shocking of transformations. Truly, you're a unique case, if I've ever seen one. And, I must say, I've seen quite a few mysteries in my time."

Link pulled his hand away from Dr. Niskotvia and immediately shoved it under his other arm, groaning lightly from the pain in his wrist. Dr. Niskotvia laughed jovially, rearing back as he let loose. Even the man with the weapon seemed to stand a little less rigidly.

"You must be fraught with wonder at what exactly I'm talking about," Dr. Niskotvia said as he crossed his arms. "I'll therefore tell you. You've got an enigma wrapped inside of a mystery embedded in your left hand. That little golden Triforce is quite like an Exsphere, from what my scans have shown me, except in reverse. In all my years I've never seen anything like it. Quite contrarily, that little thing doesn't draw on your life force to enhance your abilities but instead draws on your abilities to enhance your life force.

"It's quite a conundrum and I was betwixed by such a headache until I realized that it wasn't entirely like an Exsphere as I'd originally postulated to our dear leader." Link had never before been confronted with someone who spoke his language but didn't make any sense when he spoke. The dizzying slew of words rolled right over him and yet Dr. Niskotvia didn't seem to notice. "Yes, I was so gleeful about my stupendous discovery that I simply had to come straight down here and see for myself."

Dr. Niskotvia snatched Link's hand, this time his left one. "As you can see, the object has left a mark on your skin, quite like Exspheres do when first attached. However, this object is quite remarkable that its mark doesn't disfigure the flesh in anyway other than this mark. And the geometric shape of the mark reflects the object itself. Quite remarkable."

"Doctor," the man with the hand device said, "Are you sure it's safe to touch him? I mean, you heard what Lord Yuan said he could do."

"Nonsense," Dr. Niskotvia said. He turned his head as he spoke to the other man. "It's perfectly sa- Put that gun away this instant! He's not going to jump from this bed and strangle you to death. Why don't you go and tell Lord Botta that he's awakened?"

The guard's arms lowered in staggered steps until the gun was pointed at the floor. Then the guard turned and walked away. Link overheard the man mutter, "Don't know what he sees in him. Trust the Quack to feel safe around creepy little kids. This whole place has gone to hell ever since…"

"Don't mind him," Dr. Niskotvia said. "He's always been jumpy since the Pacman incident. Now, in order to get a more accurate reading, or more precisely, to figure out exactly what that object in your hand is capable of, I'm attaching this," Dr. Niskotvia snatched a bracelet from his pocket.

Without waiting for Link to see what it was, and with his hand still grasped, Dr. Niskotvia shoved Link's fingers through the large ring. The metal band immediately shrank to the size of Link's wrist. It was cool against his skin and slightly pinched when he moved his hand.

Link pulled his arm as hard as he could, but Dr. Niskotvia held on tightly until the device was done tightening. When the doctor let go Link immediately shoved his three fingers under the band and tried to pry it off. Dr. Niskotvia lightly smacked his hand away when he saw this.

"Tut, tut," Niskotvia said, "don't worry about that. It's merely a monitoring device. It won't harm you in anyway. When it's done measuring your potential it'll fall off on its own, so be patient."

"But…"

"Now, now," Dr. Niskotvia said, "do as the doctor orders."

"Link."

Link looked up from the wristband and saw Zelda. His eyes widened when he saw the man who'd kidnapped her standing just behind her left shoulder. He opened his mouth and tried to warn her, but the only thing that came out was a strained squeak.

"Doctor," Botta said, "is he alright?"

"I believe you frightened him," Zelda said. She walked forward. Once she was next to Link's bed, she said, "It's okay Link. He's not trying to kidnap me or kill me anymore. He's Yuan's friend and second in command around here. He was sent to bring you and I to a meeting with Yuan."

"Doctor Hajifell, you are needed in R&D," Botta said. "The Yggdrasil Project is falling behind schedule."

"Oh, quite right," Dr. Niskotvia said. He raised a finger into the air as he started walking, as if he were admonishing an invisible child. "I'm off to my laboratory to work on other great discoveries yet to be made." The three of them remained silent until Dr. Niskotvia gone.

"Lord Yuan asked that I escort you to him once you've gotten dressed," Botta said. "You're new clothes are over there." He pointed to a stool on the other side of Link's bed upon which a bundle of cloth lay.

Link looked at Zelda and she nodded. As she was leaving, he noticed that her hair wasn't as fancy looking as it was before. Instead it was now in a long ponytail held together with a string. Her clothes had changed as well. Her pink and white lacy dress from before, with all the holes, rips, and tears was replaced by a pale green dress, a brown belt, and a leather vest. She looked less a princess and more a member of the commoners. It was nice.

His attention was brought back to the present when Botta pulled the curtain closed. Link nodded to himself. He needed to get dressed. If the Princess wasn't alarmed by the person who had tried to have her killed, then maybe she had figured a way out of this already. After giving it some thought, Link figured that he trusted the Princess.

As he was hopping off of his bed, the full significance of that notion settled onto his shoulders. He trusted the Princess. He'd never felt this secure with anyone else before. It made him feel warm all over.

"Link?" Zelda called. "Are you nearly finished?"

"Um, yeah, just a minute," Link responded. He quickly shucked the white shirt he was wearing and started clothing. The shirt was green of a deeper hue than what the Princess had on and fit well enough. The pants were brown and were a bit too long, but he wasn't going to complain about fresh clothing. The only thing he had a hard time with was the three sets of belts that seemed to go with the pants.

"Link?"

"I'm done," Link said. He reached out and pulled the curtain back. He was pretty sure that he got the belts right. "I've never worn more than one belt before."

"It suits you," Botta said. "Please follow me." Botta turned and started walking. Link and Zelda followed. Botta signaled to two men who stood on either side of the door as they left the room. The two men fell into step behind Link.

"Why are they following us?" Link wondered aloud.

"It's because they don't trust us," Zelda said. Link glanced over his shoulder at the two men. They had bland expressions on their faces as they marched a constant two paces behind the two Hylians. "Or, more specifically, you."

"Me?" Link said. "But I didn't do anything to them. I wouldn't do anything. They remind me of the guards back in Castle Town, and they were terrifying on the best of days."

"Don't you remember what you did in the school?" Zelda asked. "You saved us all, but you went berserk to do it. Yuan asked me and Genis about it, but we couldn't really answer his questions because we don't really know what's causing it. But he didn't want to take any chances that you'd go crazy and kill everyone in the base so he put guards on you at all times."

'That explains the man with the gun,' Link thought.

"I vouched for you though…" Zelda trailed off as Botta walked up to a door and touched several buttons on a panel set to the side of it. The door slid open with a low whine and he walked in. "But that wasn't enough, apparently," she added as she followed Botta in.

Inside the new room was Lloyd, Genis, Raine, Kratos, Yuan, and two people Link had never seen before. Botta walked over to Yuan and said something quietly to him before he turned around and walked back the way he came. As he passed Link and Zelda, he motioned to the two guards and they followed him out. The door closed behind them.

"I see you've finally made it," Yuan said. "Good, now we can get started. I'm glad you're not going berserk again." Yuan looked pointedly at Link.

"I-I'm sorry," Link stammered out.

"Don't be," Yuan said. "You and your ability saved all of us. Now that you've had a chance to rest, I'd like to ask all of you about something." Yuan reached into his pocket and pulled something out. When he held it up, Link felt his blood freeze. Yuan was holding the black Triforce. He must have taken it from him when he was unconscious.

"Do any of you know what this is?" Yuan asked.

"Uh… a toy?" Lloyd asked.

"Isn't that-"

"Yes?" Yuan cut Genis off before he could finish his question. "Alright. I can tell from three of your expressions that you know exactly what this is. So tell me."

"It's a black Triforce like the one that we found in the Iselia Vortex," Zelda said. Her voice was strained as she watched Yuan grip the black Triforce tightly. "Where did you find it?"

"So that's what the black Triforce looks like," Raine said.

"I found it in his pocket," Yuan said, pointing at Link. "And that answers my question about where you found it. The Vortex, huh… I thought it was a myth."

"So did we," said Genis with a shrug, "until we fell into it and were nearly devoured by this giant spider."

"Okay, now why do you call it a Triforce?" Yuan asked. "Was that the name written near where you found it?"

"Actually…" Zelda trailed off and slowly turned to Link. Link looked down as attention was turned toward him. Gathering his courage up, meager as it was, Link lifted his left arm into the air to show everyone the tattoo on the back of his hand.

"That's one strange tattoo, man," said the man that Link didn't know. Link looked at him and found that he was rather odd looking. Pink overcoat and bright red hair. He looked like a clown that Link once saw.

"Is that supposed to signify something?" Kratos asked.

"It's the symbol of the Triforce. It only appears on those who hold a piece of the Triforce. Link has the Triforce of Courage," Zelda said. "It's a holy relic from the legends of Hyrule. Said to have been left with its two companion pieces upon the departure of the goddesses from the land. However, unlike the one you hold, the Triforce from Hyrule is made of gold."

"Gold, hmm…" Yuan frowned as he looked down at the black Triforce in his hand. "If there are three of those, there must be three of these. And I've already got one other. In fact, it is that one that currently powers this base."

"Not that this isn't fascinating," Raine said, "but discussing ancient relics can't be what you summoned us all here for."

"No, it's not," Yuan admitted. "I've got a proposition for Link and Zelda. Because they're from Hyrule, they've got as much stake in finding a way back home as we do finding a way there. According to what Kratos has told me, Yggdrasil took the Great Seed to Hyrule. The Great Seed alone can save this planet from exploding in a couple weeks."

"Exploding…" said Lloyd. "You can't mean-"

"I mean exactly what I said, Lloyd," Yuan said. "Both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla will be destroyed unless we retrieve the Great Seed from Hyrule and germinate it."

"And in order to even get to Hyrule or germinate the Great Seed, you'll need the Eternal Sword," Kratos said. He loosed a dry bark of laughter. "Impossible. Mithos took the sword with him when he left."

"Wait," Lloyd said. "Was this Eternal Sword thing that one sword that the angel in the Martel Temple stabbed you with? That would mean that was the Yggdrasil guy who did all of this. And he took Colette too. That means Colette is in Hyrule too."

"I've done some side research on Origin when Mithos wasn't looking. We can retrieve the Eternal Sword by forming a new pact with Origin," said Yuan. "The Chosen has been taken by Yggdrasil, that is clear, but for what, I'm not sure. However, if we don't save this planet first, we'll have no time to save anyone or anything Yggdrasill took with him. As it stands, we have very little time left. However, there's a machine my men and I can build that will channel the power of the Summon Spirits to hold the planet together until we've gathered all the materials. In order to get it built though, I need to stay here and can't escort these two around to each Seal to get the pacts." Yuan pointed at the man and woman.

"Then I'll help too," said Lloyd. "I'm going to rescue Colette. If it means I have to protect those two, then I'll do it."

"Absolutely not," Kratos said. "Under no circumstances will you leave this base."

"And why not?" asked Lloyd. "I'm strong enough to help. And someone's got to escort them."

"Yeah," said Genis. "I'm going too. If it means we can rescue Colette, I'll do anything."

"I agree with Kratos," Raine said. "However… I have a feeling that you'd both sneak out when we're not looking, so I'm going to allow this and go with you to keep you out of trouble."

"Aww man," the man in the pink coat groaned. "I am not babysitting."

"I'm going to have to agree with Zelos," the woman next to him said. "This is going to be hard enough without having to worry about little kids getting in the way."

"You don't look too much older than me," Lloyd said. "How come you can go and I can't?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you," the woman said.

'You're weak.' Link gasped and immediately clutched his head. 'You should be jumping at the chance to be stronger. Instead you're just standing here letting everything happen around you like it doesn't even affect you. C'mon boy. Get your act together. Or do you want to stand by and watch them all die when you could have done something to stop it.'

"I'll do it!" Link shouted. Lloyd and the woman both stopped arguing and looked at him. "I'll do it… I'll help."

Zelda nodded from where she stood. "I will go as well. If it means we can get home, I'll do anything I can to help."

"Great," Yuan said. He stood up and began walking around from behind his desk. "Then let's get-"

"Hold on, Yuan," Kratos said. "I don't believe this will work."

"Yeah," said Zelos. "What the old guy said."

Yuan let out an exasperated grunt. "Listen, both of you. I'm low on forces right now. Hell, I can barely keep the monsters at bay and I'm losing more men to injuries and death as the hours drag on. I am personally, desperately, needed in R&D because there are things that only I have the knowledge to build. I can't do this all on my own. I need help. And these two Hylians, even if Lloyd and his friends don't go, can help."

"So what do you propose?" Kratos asked.

"How about you test them." Kratos arched an eyebrow, prompting Yuan to continue. "There's a HATOD in the Training Room in the Basement. It's right next to the Teleport Room. Will that be acceptable?"

Kratos stared at Yuan. Yuan stared at Kratos. Then Kratos nodded. "That will be fine."

"So… what?" asked Lloyd. "Do we just need to take this test and if we pass, we can go? Oh man… I hate tests."

"If it's a test, then I'll need to brush up on my math," Genis said. "Sis, do you think you can help me review fractions?"

"It's not that kind of test," Kratos said. "It's a HATOD. It measures your fighting capacity by pitting you against virtual monsters."

"What's a virtual monster?" Lloyd asked. "Is it a tough monster?"

"No," Kratos said, "It's a computer generated monster that can be adjusted in difficulty."

"Okay, that's not so bad," Lloyd said. "Alright. You got yourself a deal. We'll go take this Hey Todd test and then we'll save the world and rescue Colette."

"Sheena, Zelos," Yuan said, calling out to the man and woman standing on the other side of the room. "You two should head down to the hanger. Williams should be preparing a vehicle for you to use. Kratos, the faster you're done the better."

"We'll only take an hour," Kratos said. Then he turned and started for the door. Everyone but Yuan filed out of the room. Yuan fell backwards into his chair and heaved a relieved sigh.

Out in the hallway, Zelos and Sheena turned left. Kratos led everyone else to the right. The two guards once more took up positions on either side and a couple paces behind Link.

"Well this turned out swell," Zelos said. "Now we got to babysit some country bumpkins."

"It is what it is, Zelos," Sheena said. "But if they actually turn out to be useful, it'll just mean we save Tethe'alla that much faster. And we both know that it's worse over there than it is over here."

"Yeah," Zelos said. He fell silent for a moment. Then a grin spread across his face. "I don't suppose you'd give me a good luck kiss, now would you?"

"Don't even think about it," Sheena snapped.

"Aww…" Zelos pouted. "And here we are about to head off into certain doom. I might just be the last man who's willing."

"Zelos, even if you were the last man alive, I'd still have nothing to do with you," Sheena said. "And besides we're going after the Fire Spirit Efreet first, it can't be that hard."

Growing serious, Zelos asked softly, "Do you think you'll be able to handle it?"

Sheena grew quiet and slowed her pace. "I have to believe that I will. But… what if I fail? What if Efreet goes crazy and kills everyone?"

"Don't worry Sheena," squeaked a voice from nowhere. "I'll protect you."

Sheena smiled. "Thank you Corrine."

"Hey, don't sweat it, babe," Zelos said. "I, the Great Zelos, shall save you if that Efreet tries anything funny."

"Oh great," Sheena said, rolling her eyes. "Now I feel a whole lot better."

Zelos grinned and chuckled as the two exited the confined space of the hallways and entered the expansive hanger cut out of the nearby mountain. Instead of vehicles of one variety or another that this hanger was supposed to be filled with, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Loud and noisy. Human and Half-elf. All refugees.

"I just thought of something," Zelos said.

"Oh?"

"What do you think HATOD stands for?"

Sheena shrugged. "I don't know."


And there's chapter 9. Thanks for reading.

~I.K.A. Valian


Posted10/6/09