Chapter 9

Another quest

~Link~

Link opened his eyes, not remembering when he closing them. He looked around. He felt his heart ache. It was where the Mirror of Twilight was, where Midna said goodbye. He had no time to feel sad, he had to get out before- there was a bright flash and a puffs of smoke above his head. Koume and Kotake were flying above his head. Link looked at the exit and looked at them. He started to run to the exit. Something wrapped around his waist and he was pulled back sharply and tossed on the ground.

"You're going to make it hard on yourself if you don't cooperate with us, child." The blue one named Kotake said. Link got up.

"What do you want with me?" Link asked.

"You're the bait." The red one, Koume, said.

"Soon the fish will take it. The Hero of Time will fall for sealing up Ganon." Kotake said.

"That's better than actually killing him, right? I'm the Hero of Light and I killed Ganon. Leave Raven alone." Link said, trying to protect Raven.

"Oh, we know you killed Ganon." Koume said.

"Part of the reason we got you is you're a sacrifice."

"A sacrifice?" Link asked. He didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes. The blood of the murderer on the ashes of Lord Ganon will bring him back to life. And to his full glory."

"We'll let the Hero of Time watch as his bloodline comes to an end." Kotake said.

"Then Ganon will celebrate his rebirth with the brat's death." Koume said. Kotake made an ice rope and it wrapped around Link's waist. He was slammed against the ground right next to where the mirror used to be. The wind was knocked out of him. Ice roped wrapped around his wrists and pulled him up, then pulled him back against the mirror holder. The ropes tied around the sides of the mirror holder tightly so he couldn't move.

"Koume, I'll go get the remains."

"Ok, Kotake. I'll deal with the brats." Kotake disappeared. Koume looked over to Link. He didn't like where this was going.


~Raven~

Raven got out of the forest. Colin came up to him.

"Hi Raven!" Colin called out.

"Hey Colin." Raven said. Colin looked behind Raven, but didn't see Link.

"Where's Link?" Raven sighed.

"He's been taken again. It's because I'm an idiot. Listen, you can't tell anyone. I'm going to get Link back. Don't you worry."

"Why can't I tell?" Colin asked.

"I don't want anyone to freak out. Can you promise me not to tell anyone?" Raven explained.

"I promise."

"Good. Take care of yourself." Colin walked away. Raven called for Epona using the necklace. He forgot to give it back to Link. He had no idea where to go. He couldn't use his wolf senses to follow his scent because he'd have been teleported away. He got out of the Forest. There was a weird sound about his head. He looked up.

"There you are." Kotake said.

"Kotake…" Raven said, hearing the hatred in his own voice.

"Why sound so bitter? I was going to tell you where your Hero of Light is." Raven had a feeling it was a trap. He said nothing. "He's at the Arbiter's Grounds. Better get to him soon." She disappeared.

"It's obviously a trap. What do they have planned once I get there? Link may be there, but I don't know. Navi." She flew out in front of him. "Can you do something for me?"

"What?" She asked.

"Fly to the Arbiter's grounds. Do you know where that is?"

"Yea."

"Good. Can you go there and see if Link is really there?"

"Of course."

"Thank you. And be careful."

"I will." She flew away. Raven sighed and kept going on horseback. Navi was the fastest flyer he knew.

"Please be alright, Link." Raven thought to himself.


~Navi~

Navi flew as fast as she could. The flight was far, but at least she could cut over large rock formations that'd make it further. A bird spotted her and started to chase her. She dodged it and flew faster.

"I gotta get out of the open." Navi flew down lower, trying to hide in trees. She flew up and over to the next tree. As she was jumping, a hawk caught her in his talons. "Ah! Let me go!" It kept flying. It was flying to Gerudo Desert. She couldn't break out of the talons. It took her to Arbiter's grounds for her and hovered around. She spotted Link, tied up to the mirror holder, Koume was standing by him. She held a thin iron bar and one end was red hot. She pressed it against Link's neck. He was in so much pain. She took it of his skin. There were several on his neck and legs. They looked to at least be second degree burns.

"Seems you'll take more force to control. If you just fall under my spell like a good little boy, you could be avoiding this."

"This is horrible…" The hawk started to fly away and flew back to where it caught her. She flew as fast as she could to find Raven. She found him nearly at Lake Hylia. "Raven, it's terrible."

"Navi, what happened?" Raven feared the worst.

"Koume is torturing Link. I think she's trying to get him under her control like they did to Nabooru." Raven's eyes widened. "She's pressing hot metal against his skin."

"We've got to get to him, fast." He found the flight by fowl game and went up to the person. "I need to get to Lake Hylia, please let me through so I can get there."

"Sorry, fella, you gotta pay." The guys said in an overly happy tone.

"How much?" He was starting to get impatient.

"20 rupees."

"Fine." He pulled out his wallet and handed him a red rupee.

"Great, now, just grab a cuckoo of any color and glide down to the isle of riches." The guy moved from the door. Raven stepped back a few feet. He started running toward the exit without a cuckoo. He jumped off the platform and down to the water below with a splash. The clown looked at him strangely from the top. Raven swam back up to the surface and came up with a deep breath. Navi flew by him. He swam over to the edge and walked up to the Cannon guy.

"I need the oasis flight."

"That'll be thirty rupees." Raven rolled his eyes and went for his wallet. He got out a red rupee and a yellow rupee and handed it to him. "Go ahead and get on." Raven walked up to the cannon. It closed behind him. Navi grabbed tightly onto Raven's hair as the cannon prepared itself and the music faintly played. He was fired up into the air and landed in the sand of Gerudo Desert, kind of roughly. He brushed the sand off and looked around. He saw Arbiter's grounds in the distance. He turned into a wolf and started running. It was faster on four legs than two.

"His mentality is already weak from all the beatings he got with those bandits. If I don't hurry, there will be nothing left of him." He kept running and running until he reached the Arbiter's Grounds. He looked up at the top where all the pillars were. "Hang on, my child, I'm coming." He ran into the Arbiter's grounds, still as a wolf.


~Link~

He was breathing heavily. His throat hurt, inside and out, from screaming and the hot iron. He could barely move his legs. If you looked into his eyes, you'd see most of the light in his deep blue eyes was gone.

"Still not broken huh?" Koume said.

"P-please… no more…" Link said, barely a whisper.

"I got to break you. We need a distraction while we set up the spell." Fire magic came out of her finger and heated the iron rod. Once it was heated enough, she lifted his shirt and place the heated metal on his stomach. He clenched his fists and yelled out in pain. He had clenched his hands so much that his nails made his hands start to bleed. He finally passed out from all the pain. That's when Kotake appeared with the remains of Ganon which was in a jar. "Right on time, Kotake, he'd had just fallen unconscious."

"Good. I had told the brat where we were. Hopefully he'll be here any minute." Kotake said.

"The spell will take some time, hopefully our little puppet can keep him occupied long enough." She did some kind of incantation and a red glow appeared on one of her hands. She placed her hand on Link's forehead. There was a faint glow forming on Link's forehead and started traveling down, enveloping him in the red glowing power. Then it reached his hands, it disappeared and sent Koume flying against the wall.

"What?!" Kotake yelled in surprise.

"That child…" Koume growled. "The triforce."

"Ah, the triforce. I bet that'd be a nice present for the Demon King." Kotake set the jar down and flew over to where Link's left hand was tied. She used some kind of magic to try and extract it from his hand. It failed. Koume came over. "I can't extract it, it's bonded too close to his spirit. When he dies, then it'll be extractable."

"But we can't wait that long. The Hero of Time will be here soon and we can't finish the spell without a distraction."

"Let's make a distraction for now to stall him while we try to overcome the triforce's power."

"Alright." They joined hands and they started to glow. A figure started to materialize, taking the image of Saria.

"Perfect. Go distract the Hero of Time."

"Yes Mistress Kotake." 'Saria' left the Mirror hall. Kotake laughed. They turned to Link who was still asleep. They placed their hands on his forehead. A mixture of blue and red spiraled down and spread out through his body.


~Raven~

Raven reached the final room before going to the Mirror Hall. A figure walked through the darkness to meet him. He stopped and turned back to human. It was Saria, or, what looked like Saria.

"Y-You…" Raven trailed off.

"Link, why do you look so scared? It's just me." She said, in the voice he remembers Saria having. "Don't you recognize me, my baby boy?" He felt the heartache in his chest.

"You're not the real Saria. You're just an image of her." Raven said.

"Link, what are you saying? I'm no fake. I'm the real friend you used to know. I missed you." Raven pulled out his sword.

"You're not her. They're just trying to trick me again. It won't work. You're not her."

"I'm so hurt… why would you say that?" She covered her face with her hands and started to sob. Raven tried to fight it.

"It's not her, you gotta remember that. It's not really her. She's not here. She's not real." Raven told himself. He started running toward her. She looked up with a surprised face.

"Link, please!" He was so close to stabbing her right in the chest. He was so close, just a little more forward and she's gone… he just couldn't do it… "Please Link, listen to me. I'm Saria. This is no trick. It's me." He felt like crying. "Please, my baby boy. Don't hurt me." His sword was shaking in his hand and a tear fell down his face. "Don't you remember? You remember your old friend." Raven lowered his sword. "It's been many years. I know. I'm sorry. If I had come back sooner…"

"N-No, it's not your fault." Raven said.

"I'm so glad you think so. Let's go, ok? Let's go back home to the forest." Saria said, grabbing a hold of his right hand.

"I can't. There's someone I need to find. He's through that door. I've got to save him." Raven said.

"No you don't. He'll be ok. Forget about him. It's just you and me now." Saria said.

"Saria, I can't. He's very important to me. I made a promise to protect him and I intend to keep it." Raven told her. He knew the real Saria wouldn't have said that.

"Is he more important than me? The one who raised you? The one who protected you from Mido? The one who encouraged you?" Raven thought for a second, only a second.

"Yes." He gripped his sword in hand and stabbed it through Saria's chest. "You're not Saria… Saria would understand. She'd help me get to him. I knew you were a fake." Raven pulled the sword out. It had no blood, showing more that she was a fake. "I can't believe I was close to falling for it… I've got to keep myself together, for Link." 'Saria' fell to the ground. She looked lifeless. A lump formed in Raven's throat as he fought the tears. "Damn those witches. I'm sick of their mind games." 'Saria' disappeared in purple light. He walked forward and entered the Mirror Hall. Ready to get Link back.


Oh, the mind games aren't over yet, Raven. There's still some that the Witches have yet to dish out. I hope you liked it. Leave a review if you wish.

See ya

Hero of Twili :D