Ten

Princess Zelda shifted slightly in her seat, waiting for the wizard Majacen to begin his explanation. She had been waiting for this ever since the battle at the jungle camp, when Val had first mentioned the Dark God.

Majacen stood from his seat at the table and paced for a moment before looking over at the others. As he began, his deep, melodious voice took on a dramatic, storytelling air, one well suited for the subject.

"The Golden Goddesses I serve had many children, other gods they created before they made the world, to serve as helpers to them. The foremost among these was Din's eldest son, the Firstborn of the Children of the Goddesses. I cannot tell you his name, for I do not know it, but I will later explain why."

Looking around to make sure everyone was following, Majacen continued. "Over the eons, he helped his mother and aunts craft the mortal realms, worked with pride as they made the living creatures and finally mortals, the many intelligent races with which we share our world.

"When their Creation was finished, the Three withdrew into the heavens, leaving behind the Triforce as an artifact of their power. The guidance of the mortal realm they left to their children then, content with observing mortals' progress under their children's guidance.

"All was well for millennia as the Firstborn and the other Children of the Goddesses guided the mortals. His heart was pure then, and he delighted in doing his mother and aunts' will. The gods were more active in the affairs of mortals in those days, appearing directly to them as teachers and leaders, guiding mortal-kind on the path to prosperity, so that they might share in the gods' joy.

"However, the Firstborn observed his sisters and his cousins as they guided the mortals, and he gradually began to see what they were doing as interfering, disrupting the mortals' lives according to their whims instead of showing them the way of peace. The gods were very doting on their mortal children, often doing many things for them instead of showing them how to do it for themselves, and Din's son saw this as wrong, but kept his views to himself for many years. He said nothing to them, but for several centuries he quietly grew more and more irritated at his fellow immortals' actions.

"He began to reason to himself that the other Children of the Goddesses were unfit to rule the mortals; he thought that, as the Firstborn, eldest of all gods but the Three, he was better suited to the task. The Firstborn thought that if he alone ruled over the mortal realms, what he saw as detrimental interference would cease."

Majacen paused, looking around at the group. "At least, this is what he claimed," he said, a dark tinge entering his voice. "It is more likely he actually wanted mortals to worship him alone, and merely made excuses to justify his actions to the other gods."

Zelda saw most of the gathered people listening nod or otherwise indicate agreement; what little they already knew of the Dark God fit with this.

The wizard continued. "Finally, one day, he saw one of Farore's daughters steer a mortal man away from a woman he had been showing interest in, and point him to another woman whom the goddess liked better. This was the figurative last straw, and the Firstborn grew full of rage at this. Angrily, he confronted his cousin, telling her it was wrong to deny mortals their free will, to control them in this way, but she replied that she saw no harm in it; they were gods, after all, and could do as they pleased, for they knew much more than mortals did.

"The Firstborn was so filled with wrath at her answer that he actually struck the goddess, the very first act of violence by one god against another. Farore's daughter fled in tears to the Firstborn's mother Din, who, shocked, demanded that her son apologize.

"He refused, angrily replying that he had been justified in what he had done; he said that his cousin was arrogantly controlling the lives of mortals instead of letting them think for themselves, and he vehemently insisted that this was wrong, condemning the actions of the other deities, who had been doing much the same thing with all mortals. Though the other gods did not learn this until much later, many of the Firstborn's arguments were specifically constructed to convert them to his own cause; he was plotting rebellion even then, preparing to try and seize rulership of the mortal realms for himself.

"Din and her son argued fiercely in the heavenly court, and the other gods gathered to listen, some taking the side of the Firstborn, and others taking the side of his mother, who maintained that there was nothing wrong with their present treatment of mortals; the mortals were still young and inexperienced, she argued, and to let them out into the world on their own would result in disaster."

Zelda listened with rapt attention, thinking all this over as Majacen paused for a moment. She had never heard this part of her world's history before, but she knew it was true; somehow, it seemed as if she subconsciously knew the story and was slowly remembering it as the tale continued, though she did not know what happened next.

Majacen resumed his story, his tone growing bolder and more dramatic now. "Finally, Din's son, his heart full of anger, grew frustrated with his mother and aunts, whom he declared to the other immortals were dismissing his concerns without considering them. Resentment joined the anger in his heart and gradually turned to hate. His idle thoughts of rebellion became firm in his mind, no longer a whim but now an intention.

"Din's son descended to the mortal realms and began controlling mortals himself, claiming that he was trying to show by example what was wrong with his sisters' and cousins' practices." Majacen shook his head, pausing for a moment to gesture in a puzzled manner. "I do not know what he thought during this time, for that has not been revealed to me, but it seems that something within him snapped, and a kind of madness took hold of the Firstborn, driving any trace of peace or gentleness from his heart. He nearly became a completely different person than he had been since his creation, becoming cold and brutal.

"He commanded mortals to disregard anything any of the other gods told them, or to do the opposite. Under his influence, the mortals behaved more and more irrationally, and eventually had a terrible war, despite the other gods' attempts to stop them. Some of the younger gods, seeing their cousin as the source of the trouble, attacked him, trying to make him stop. They reasoned that if Din's son and his followers were removed, peace would return."

Majacen shook his head sadly. "Instead, it only made things worse; the Firstborn returned their violence without hesitation, retaliating brutally. He gathered his followers among the immortals and commanded them to make war upon the Goddesses and anyone who still followed them. Din's son, being one of the most powerful gods, searched for ways to destroy his immortal cousins, inventing dark and unnatural powers in an attempt to find what he sought. His new powers further twisted the heart of the Firstborn, so that he was filled with wickedness and evil, and took pleasure in causing chaos and destruction among his enemies and their followers.

"Finally, the Three themselves tried to intervene, to stop the war between the gods. They commanded Din's son and his followers to surrender and allow their powers to be stripped away as punishment for what they had done. The rebellious deities refused, of course, and the war grew even worse.

"Enraged at the Goddesses' command, Din's son swore himself the eternal enemy of his mother and aunts and anyone who followed them, declaring himself the God of Darkness in opposition to the Goddesses' Light. He declared himself no longer the Firstborn, that all ties between him and the Creators were now severed forever. So angry was Din with her son at this final betrayal that she disowned him and eradicated his original name from the minds of all but herself and her sisters, for the Creators can forget nothing.

"The Dark God gave himself a new name to reflect his change of status, but I do not know it, nor would I speak it even if I did." Majacen's face shifted into a disgusted expression, as close to open hatred as Zelda had ever seen him, and this surprised her. Normally, the wizard was a very kind and gentle man.

Majacen continued. "The Dark God's immortal followers took the same oath of eternal enmity, and eagerly accepted dark powers from their leader as reward. These rebellious Children of the Goddesses now became demons, horrible perversions of their original forms twisted by the Enemy's vile powers.

"They spread their evil taint to the mortals, forever making evil and wickedness a part of the hearts of men. The Dark God and his demons renewed their war upon the Golden Goddesses and those who had remained loyal, even going so far as inciting the mortals to even more terrible wars against one another. All of creation was embroiled in the conflict, and the mortal world was nearly destroyed. All mortal civilization was eradicated; so great was the destruction that once it was over, nearly all beings had been reduced to primitives, mere shadows of their former glory."

Zelda was struck by the abject sadness on the old wizard's face as he paused, leaning on the table as he took a deep breath. "I have been allowed to see, in visions, what the world was like before the War Between the Gods. If any mortal can be said to achieve perfection, our forebears in this world had certainly come close; they had glorious cities that shone like platinum in the sunlight, wondrous devices the likes of which we may never see again. It is even said that they had learned to travel between the worlds, to journey to the other realms of creation to see the other myriad forms of life the Goddesses had wrought."

Majacen looked around the table at the silent, attentive group. "All that was destroyed. Almost no trace remains of the Golden Age, save worn ruins that are but the bones of the old, glorious cultures. Horrible weapons, both mechanical and magical, were fashioned by both god and man. Millions perished all at once, if you can even imagine such a thing, ripped from existence by fire and light like those of stars. Such was the power that entire cities were erased in an instant, burned away as if they had never been.

"The fighting went on, and the war had reached the point where nothing was left of mortal-kind but a few ragged bands of survivors, still fighting on even though they had long since forgotten the original reasons for the conflict. Finally, the Three Goddesses challenged the Dark God himself to a final battle to decide the issue, so that the complete destruction of their creation might be prevented. He and his most powerful followers went to the field of battle to accept the challenge, and so began a duel between titans the likes of which had not been seen before and has not been seen since.

"Their battle was a terrible one, raging all through the mortal realms as each of them summoned their most powerful abilities in an effort to destroy the opposing side. For an entire week they fought, trading blows with force enough to shatter mountains and level forests. Oceans boiled, the wind howled in powerful gales like never before, and the ground shook, a titanic upheaval of a kind not seen since the Creation as the gods battled.

"The Dark God and his demons had grown so powerful that even the Three together could not destroy them, but neither could the rebels destroy any of the Three, and so the battle reached an impasse. Finally, at a pause in the combat, wise Nayru proposed a truce to stop the destruction before their battle ruined the world beyond repair; she, her sisters, and all of their loyal children would swear an oath to never again directly interfere in mortal affairs if her nephew and his followers would swear the same oath.

"This suited the Dark God, and so he agreed, but he added that if any immortal ever violated their oath, he would renew his war upon them and would not stop until the mortal realms had been completely destroyed.

"All of the gods gathered in the heavenly court for the last time to swear the oath, but before they began, the Dark God again declared that he was better suited to ruling the mortals, that they would not willingly obey the Goddesses unless forced, and so he said that with this oath, mortals would have to decide for themselves who they wanted to follow; neither side could force servitude now.

"The oath was sworn, and all deities withdrew their influence from the mortal realm. As they watched, the surviving mortals made more and more mistakes, making war upon each other without end. The younger gods pleaded with their mothers to let them go down and stop the fighting, but no matter how much it pained the Three to see their creation disrupted and twisted, they could not allow it, for they knew the consequences. At least this way, there was still a chance for the mortals."

Majacen's face was serious for a moment, before he offered a small smile as he continued. "But Nayru, in her wisdom, found a way around the restriction; if she and her sisters used mortal agents to proclaim their will, the element of free choice would always be present; the agent could choose whether or not to deliver the message, and the people could choose whether or not to listen to it."

The wizard gestured to himself. "I am one of these agents," he said, "as is Val, though we attempt to be mostly unobtrusive. There are very few we tell of our true purpose, as the Goddesses still want to let mortals learn from their own mistakes. We are mostly guides, advisors for the Triforce Bearers more than anything else."

Viserys tapped the fingers of his left hand against the surface of the table for a moment before he finally spoke. "These sorcerers who lead this Divine Host are your counterparts among the enemy, then?"

From her seat between Erike and Daskin on Lynaka's side of the table, Val nodded. "Yes," she said. "There are far more of them than there are of us, unfortunately. The Golden Goddesses have always taken their oath more seriously than their Enemy, for he knows that they cannot destroy him if they were to attack, and that the Three are reluctant to damage any more of their creation in any possible battle."

Aeron frowned thoughtfully. "A war between the gods," he said slowly. "I would think something like this would endure in the various legends."

Val nodded, glancing over at Majacen, who gestured slightly for her to continue. "As we said, both sides of the war have kept it mostly secret, each for their own purposes. Not even the Royal Family of Hyrule knows this. All records before the war were destroyed, and it was a long time before civilization recovered enough to begin recording history again; anything circulating now would be only folklore."

Zelda nodded. "I have encountered a few references in the histories to some sort of tremendous war at the beginning of history, but none of them were very specific as to who or what the Goddesses were fighting. What few mentions of this ancient war I have found have been in explanation for a weapon or other powerful item found by one of the Heroes."

"Like the Staff of Lightning," said Daskin. "My grandfather did some research that my grandmother gave to my father not long after he found the staff, but that was pretty much all there was to it; the Zelda who wrote the Hero of Lightning's entry in the Chronicles of the Heroes just wrote that Link Fenris I told her the staff had been forged for some kind of war thousands of years ago."

"Queen Zelda II of my family's dynasty," the princess said almost automatically. She offered a small, wry smile. "Since my family has the tradition of giving every royal daughter the same name, I've found I have to keep their other titles and accomplishments in mind to keep them all straight."

Daskin sighed exaggeratedly. "Royalty," he said in amused mock-disapproval. "We're so weird."

Zelda smiled amusedly at her fellow heir's statement.

"Something about this still doesn't make sense to me," said Erike, looking over at Majacen. "You are sure what you told us is the whole story?"

"As much of it as I know," the wizard replied. "I know there are some things the Goddesses are keeping to themselves; they would not answer some of my questions during my training. They may yet reveal previously hidden things to us, when the time is right."

Lynaka nodded, glancing at her sister. "I agree with you, Erike," she said. "I am not sure what, but something about this doesn't seem right to me."

Zelda frowned at the Hero's words; something had been nagging at her in the later parts of the wizard's tale, as well, but it was frustratingly just out of reach. She knew there was a connection to be made, but she could not find it. Perhaps, she thought, when she had had time to process all this new information more fully, it would come to her.

"So," said Viserys, not quite impatiently, "now that we know what sort of threat we are facing, we must plan our next move." He looked over at Lynaka. "I believe you and your companions are headed for a vault meant to store various magical weapons?"

Lynaka nodded. "That would be the best idea, I think."

"It is," said Majacen, resting his hand on the table. "If the Bearer of Power is pursuing his own agenda, the items residing in the Heavenly Vault cannot be left for him to find." The wizard's expression darkened. "Since he has not seen fit to reveal himself to us, we must treat the Bearer of Power as a possible foe despite his rescue of me and willing surrender of the Ocarina of Time. Until we know for certain who he is and what his motives are, he cannot be trusted."

Viserys stood, looking around the table at those gathered. "I will need to consult with Queen Zelda and Lord Fenris," he said. "We must devise some way of defending against the Divine Host's magic." He looked at Majacen gravely. "What you have told me of their forces is troubling. If they are able to transport their army from place to place without marching, that makes all of our cities vulnerable to sudden attack."

Majacen nodded. "We have much to do and little time in which to do it. It would be best if we left immediately."

As the group got up, Viserys came over to his youngest son. "Go with them, Horys," he said. "You can keep our forces apprised of the Hero's activities." Zelda caught the small, nearly unnoticeable smile he gave his son then. "As well as your other reasons for wanting to stay with them."

Zelda smiled at her future father-in-law as she took Horys' hand, but her smile faded as Viserys looked over at her, his expression becoming serious again.

"Once your group leaves the Heavenly Vault," he said to her, "I would advise that you take the Phoenix to Calatia. Your uncle is behaving in a way that… greatly concerns me."

"What is the Emperor doing?" Zelda asked, knowing her aggressive uncle had been stirring his forces in preparation to conquer another neighboring kingdom.

"Sources inside the palace indicate that the Emperor or one of this advisors may be dabbling in some form of sorcery," Viserys said gravely. "The agent who reported to me said that she sensed something very, very troubling going on deep beneath the central keep of the Emperor's palace. She described it as powerful magic, like nothing she'd ever felt before, and she found just being in the vicinity of the palace uncomfortable because of whatever was being done."

Zelda's eyes widened in realization. "You don't think my uncle could be in contact with a sorcerer from the Divine Host, do you?"

"That is unfortunately what I suspect," Viserys replied. "If he is, the situation must be dealt with."

The meaning behind Viserys' words was quite clear to Zelda; if her uncle was indeed in contact with the enemy, he would have to be removed. Depending on how much of the Emperor's court was involved, Zelda thought grimly, it was a distinct possibility that Hyrule and Calatia would shortly be at war despite their treaty of alliance. She knew her uncle; he was envious of her mother, and it was entirely possible the Emperor would kill her family and place one of Zelda's cousins on the throne to rule the Golden Kingdom as his puppet. It would not surprise her at all to learn he was plotting just such an action.

How was it possible that the Emperor of Calatia and her father Renjamin were brothers? They were nothing alike, Zelda thought, not for the first time.

"I will speak to my mother about this," Zelda told Viserys. "I agree that we need to find out what is going on inside the Emperor's court, at least."

"Good," Viserys replied. "Safe journey."

---

---

The Heavenly Vault was several hours' flight from Nimbus City, so Lynaka spent most of that time in the main compartment of the Phoenix with Majacen and Val, trying to decipher Ganondorf's manuscript. Both Emissaries knew Old Hylian well, so all that remained was figuring out the phonetics of Ganondorf's code.

Along with them were the others who had been traveling with her from the start, plus Horys, who, it turned out, had helped build the Phoenix and so knew Princess Zelda's airship better than any of the rest of them. He and Impa were in the cockpit with Zelda and Erike, who was interested in learning how to fly the small vessel.

Lynaka, Majacen, and Val sat around the small fold-down table in the main compartment, the manuscript and the notes spread out over the table's surface. Daskin lounged in one of the other seats, picking his fingernails with the tip of one of his knives and occasionally asking questions.

"Who do you think the Bearer of Power meant by 'the Great King of the past'?" Lynaka asked Majacen.

The wizard looked down at the manuscript, finishing the note he had been making as he translated another section. He tapped a sentence with the end of his pencil, turning it so that Lynaka could see.

"If he was going by this manuscript, he undoubtedly meant Raneses the Great," Majacen said. "Ganondorf consistently calls him 'the Great King' almost every time he mentions him. The Dark Lord obviously had a great deal of respect for his ancestor, even as he puzzled at the details of his life. In his research on the Blood Curse, Ganondorf repeatedly states in his notes that he cannot understand why Raneses the Great did not simply invade Hyrule at their moment of weakness when the sorcerer had killed the Royal Family. By the Hyrulian accounts of the incident, he states here, Raneses the Great refused to aid the sorcerer's invasion, and so the evil mage cursed him and his people in return."

Majacen looked back up at her. "Understandably, Ganondorf was puzzled as to why a king of the Gerudo would refuse to attack their historical enemies, but as you must remember, and indeed the Dark Lord himself admits, Raneses the Great had just finished unifying the Gerudo people, and they had had no real contact with Hyrule at this time. This was near the beginning of recorded history, so it is entirely possible the two peoples had seldom met before this."

"So what solution does Raneses the Great hold?" Lynaka asked, still puzzled.

"What kind of sorcerer was he?" Daskin asked from the other side of the compartment.

"Was who?" Lynaka said, turning to look at him.

"The guy who put the Blood Curse on your people in the first place," Daskin said, looking back at her. "What kind of sorcerer was he?"

Lynaka frowned in puzzlement at this, but she saw Majacen's eyes widen in realization. "What is it?" she asked him.

"It is entirely possible the sorcerer who invaded Hyrule eighteen-hundred years ago was an agent of the Dark One," Majacen said with a look at Val. "It would certainly serve his purposes."

Val nodded, tapping the book on the table with her finger. "And cursing an entire people out of petulance at a refusal of alliance is a bit suspect, even for a dark mage," she said. "If the Dark God directed him to do it, instead, that makes more sense to me."

Majacen gestured at Daskin. "I aided the boy's ancestor in foiling another attempt to assassinate the entire Royal Family three hundred years ago," he said. "I know for certain that assassin was a servant of the Dark One. More of the aggressors in Hyrule's history may have been agents of the Dark God than we know or even suspect."

Lynaka could only stare at the Emissaries for a moment as she thought about this. While listening to Majacen's story, some part of her had considered it just that; a story. But now, as she thought about what the two agents of the Goddesses had told her, the Dark God was made conclusively real. He was now just as much her enemy as anyone else's, for now she knew the malevolent deity was responsible for centuries of her people's struggle. How many times had the Gerudo nearly died out in the almost two millennia they had been under the Blood Curse?

The young warrior felt her hands clenching into fists. What sort of person, divine or mortal, could inflict something this complicated and sadistic upon an entire people for no more reason than they had refused to aid his purposes? It did not matter to her if there was more reason than that for what the Dark God's thrall had done; for this, she would throw her entire being into foiling him in any way she could.

Apparently unnoticing of her change in countenance, Daskin sat up, dropping his boots to the deck. "How well can you control the Ocarina of Time?" he asked Majacen. "Have you ever used it?"

"What do you mean?" Majacen asked curiously, looking over at the young man.

"Well, couldn't we use it to go back in time and stop the Blood Curse from ever happening?" Daskin asked. Lynaka's brows raised at this; she hadn't considered such a possibility before.

"Absolutely not!" Majacen said firmly. "That is an event which has had so much effect on history that it is impossible to predict all the changes that would occur if we were to do such a thing." He gestured at Lynaka. "It is quite possible that she would cease to exist! Remember, her father and almost all of her male ancestors were not Gerudo.

"If we were to remove the reason Gerudo must take mates outside their culture, countless women over the centuries would be erased from existence. They would never have existed in the first place, which means that by the time history moved to our present era, there would be no reason to go back in time and interfere, therefore we would not, and the timeline would revert to its original form anyway. The time loop would not be able to sustain itself, and we might end up causing more harm than good through unexpected changes."

Daskin held up a hand, his expression plainly revealing his somewhat overwhelmed confusion. "Whoa, that is way too complicated to hear all at once." He shifted to a more comfortable position. "So, basically what you're saying is, time travel's out?"

"Not entirely," Val said thoughtfully. "If we merely went back to observe, and were careful not to change anything, we might be able to discern how the Blood Curse was originally cast. If we knew exactly what the sorcerer did, we might then be able to reverse it in the modern era."

Majacen's brow furrowed as he pondered this, flipping through the pages of Ganondorf's manuscript. Suddenly he stopped, laid the page he was on down flat, and his features tightened in suspicion and realization.

"You are not the first to have that idea, Valakyriena," the wizard said quietly. "Look."

Val looked at the paragraph he was pointing to, and her own eyes widened in amazement. She quickly seized a pencil and a piece of paper, and rapidly wrote down the translation with almost superhuman speed and precision in orderly, even handwriting. In only a minute or two, she had filled almost half the page.

"What?" Lynaka asked, leaning closer.

"A moment," Val said, still looking at what she had written. "Let me make sure I have this right."

Lynaka waited impatiently until the Emissary finally spoke again.

" 'I believe I have finally found the solution,' " Val quoted, reading from her notes. " 'It angers me somewhat, since I have found no other possible way of breaking this damnable curse. In a further cruel twist, I have learned by examining myself and others through my powers that one condition of the Blood Curse is apparently that the only way it can be broken is for children to be sired by a Gerudo male sired himself by a Gerudo male.

" 'This is the reason for the century between our births, so that there is no chance of this ever happening. Even if one of us somehow managed to live the full century to the next male's birth, no mortal man, no matter how robust, will be able to sire a child at one hundred years old. Even I could not, even if I tried to sustain myself with my present powers.

" 'From studying the currents of magic within the bodies of my people and the changes the curse inflicts upon us, it is my belief that it might be possible for me to dissolve the curse with the Golden Power of the Hylians. Failing that, they hold an object known as the Ocarina of Time, which, if I were able to take possession of it, would allow me to go back to the point where my people were cursed and stop it from ever happening in the first place. If only I could get my hands on the man that did this to my people, I would make him scream his life away for making his curse so complicated. What could the Great King have possibly done to provoke such a vicious retribution?' "

Majacen's expression was pensively thoughtful for a long moment. "I never knew this," he said finally. "Many of Ganondorf's actions make more sense to me now."

"How?" Lynaka asked, already forming her own guesses as to what he meant.

"I had long thought the Dark Lord invaded Hyrule merely to possess the Golden Power for its own sake," Majacen said. "It had been my opinion until now that Ganondorf was merely taken with his lust for power, and all his plans and actions stemmed from this. Now that I read this, I am unsure that was his entire motivation."

He gestured down at the page. "He sought the Ocarina of Time more than a century ago, and at the time I thought he wanted it for its powers, to use it to wreak havoc with the timeline to assert his own superiority or something of the kind, but now I see why he really wanted it."

"Despite his motivations," Val said, an odd expression on her face, "it's still a good thing he never managed to get his hands on it. He had good intentions, but if he'd done what he says here, he would have wreaked unimaginable damage."

Lynaka leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed, drumming her fingers on her bicep as she thought about this. For nearly her entire life, she and everyone she knew had cursed Ganondorf, he whom her people called the Accursed One, for the consequences his conquests had wrought upon her people. She had long thought his selfish lust for power surpassed only by his successor Raneses the Nameless One, but this new information forced her to look at the first Dark Lord in a different light.

Despite his reprehensible methods, it appeared Ganondorf genuinely had intended to make a better life for his people with all his scheming, at least at first. Lynaka wondered at what point he had gone wrong, where along the line Ganondorf had strayed from his original purpose to serve others and began serving only himself. Had he even truly done such a thing? From what her father had told her of his duel with the Dark Lord at the end of the Oocca War, Ganondorf had apparently still intended to use the Golden Power to benefit his native people even then.

Lynaka looked up as Daskin got up and walked over to the table, leaning against the wall next to Lynaka's seat. "So, what do we do?" he said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "We have a lot of other things that need to be done, but I still say the Blood Curse is one of the most important matters right now."

He glanced down at Lynaka, and she nodded slightly, moving over on the bench behind the table to let him in. He sat down next to her, fingers tapping out an intricate rhythm on the table's surface.

"If the sorcerer who first cursed your people was ordered to do it by the Dark God," Daskin said to her, "then it's almost certain that no one but him would know how to undo it." He looked over at the Emissaries. "You probably already know about this, but according to my mother, the most powerful and complicated magic is almost like an extension of the mage who cast it, like they put a part of their mind into sustaining it, sort of."

Daskin looked back at Lynaka. "I'm going to skip the whole technical explanation and get right to the point." He gestured to her hand, whose marking was currently hidden by her gauntlet. "Obviously, the Triforce can't remove the Blood Curse, or at least Power can't by itself, or Ganondorf would have done it while he had it. He had Power for a long time, so I think if he could have broken the Blood Curse by force, he would have done it. So, if we're going to break your curse, we only have one other alternative."

His voice still more serious than Lynaka was used to, Daskin continued. "The Blood Curse is some incredibly complicated magic. Insanely complicated would be more appropriate, really. So, the mage who cast it would have had to be extraordinarily powerful, probably getting a great deal of power and instruction from his god. The only way I can see to have any chance of breaking the Blood Curse magically is to go back in time to when it was actually cast and watch him do it." He paused for a moment. "And that," he continued, "would give us here in the present a very valuable insight into dark magic. If we're going to fight the Dark God's followers, we had better understand how they do what they do."

Majacen nodded resignedly. "You are right," he said wearily. "I can see no other viable alternative myself. The followers of the Dark God keep their ways secret and hidden, and while I do understand a great deal of their techniques already, I do not know them as well as I should, if I am to work to find a way to counter them."

Lynaka thought for a while about this. Going back in time was hardly believable, but it looked like it had to be done. There were unfortunately also a great number of other concerns pressing on them at the moment. The news about the Emperor of Calatia was disturbing, and Lynaka agreed that it had to be investigated as soon as possible. But, there was also the defense of Hyrule to see to, and she thought she would probably be needed there, as well, as the Hero.

"We're going to have to split up," Daskin said, almost as if he had sensed her thoughts. "There's too much our group needs to do, and we don't have enough time to get it all done before the Divine Host makes their next move. If this Warlock is as powerful as you say," he said to Majacen, "we're going to need every mage we can get to counter him and his sorcerers. This means me, my mother, and you at the very least. Now, granted, you and my mother working together are probably well more than a match for just about any other magic-user in the world, but we also have a Bearer of Power running around out there who hasn't seen fit to tell us what he's up to, also."

"So," said Lynaka, seeing where he was going with this, "we send Zelda, Horys, and Impa to Calatia to investigate her uncle while the rest of us split up to take care of everything else."

Majacen nodded. "I will be going with the group who goes back in time," he said. His expression became stern. "The timeline must not suffer any major changes from our visit, so I will be making sure of that. You should come with me, as well, for I know you wish to," he said to Lynaka. He turned to Val. "You must help Lord Viserys and Queen Zelda prepare a defense of their lands against the Host. You know as much about them as I do, now, and you will be able to help them counter the sorcerers' trickery."

Val nodded solemnly. "I will do my best," she said. Then she offered a small smile. "With Grand Marshal Ashei, Lord Viserys, and Lord Fenris as well as the Queen all working on strategy, they may not even need my help," she joked.

Majacen nodded amusedly, his mouth quirked in a slight smile. "Perhaps," he said lightly. His smile faded. "These people are dangerous," he said gravely. "Despite our numerous assets, this will be a very hard fight. We may have great numbers of troops and the minds to plot their movements, but the Divine Host's mages have dreadful powers of sorcery, and that might be enough to give them the advantage." Lynaka was surprised to see a bit of a haunted look enter Majacen's eyes as he continued. "They have powers no mortal should be allowed to harness, and they will use them against us." He turned a penetrating look on Lynaka. "Have you ever seen a person turned literally inside out?"

Revolted, Lynaka gasped. "They can do that?"

Majacen nodded gravely. "As well as other things. Your job will be to help lead our armies, and keep their morale high. When a man witnesses something like that happen to someone he knows, he will either flee in horror or become so angry he will recklessly hurl himself at those who committed the atrocity. Your job will be to harness that anger and keep our troops willing to keep up the fight. We cannot give an inch of ground in this war, for if we do, we will never get it back."

Zelda walked into the rear compartment just then, interrupting Lynaka's thoughts. "We have arrived at the volcano," she said to Majacen. "If you would please direct us to the Vault's entrance?"

"Certainly," the wizard said, getting up from behind the table to head for the cockpit.

Zelda must have seen Lynaka's troubled expression, because she took the wizard's place behind the table, looking over at her fellow Triforce Bearer concernedly. "What is it?" she asked.

Lynaka and Daskin quickly explained to the princess what they'd learned and the conclusions they'd come to afterwards, aided by Val.

When they were finished, Zelda nodded determinedly. "I agree," she said. "My uncle deserves my full attention right now. Hyrule cannot afford to fight three wars at once. We need Calatia's armies to help us, not invade us." Lynaka saw a steely determination in her friend's eyes, and a powerful sense of purpose. "I will not allow my uncle to make this situation even worse," she said gravely. "If that means removing him, I will do it."

Lynaka knew she would. Princess Zelda gave an impression of being friendly and gentle, but hidden beneath this exterior was an iron will, just like her mother. Underestimating her would be very foolish.

"We're landing," Impa called back from the cockpit.

As they prepared for landing, Zelda met Lynaka's eyes. "When we are finished here," she said, "I will be sure to tell everything we have learned to our parents; they will be doing most of the fighting in this first stage, and they will need all the information they can."

Lynaka nodded in agreement. "They have more experience in all these areas," she said. "They will be able to come up with solutions we might not see."

"Well, that's a given," Daskin said wryly. "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't know everything." He put a hand on Lynaka's shoulder in mock-comfort. "Yes, you're shocked, I know."

Lynaka laughed despite herself. How did he know just how to break the tension when they needed it most?

"You know," Daskin said, one corner of his mouth quirking in yet another irreverent smirk, "my life was a lot less complicated before I took up with you girls. If you'd told me three weeks ago this was where I'd be today, I probably would have laughed at you."

"I don't think any of us knew what awaited us," said Zelda. "It still seems strange to me that not yet a month has passed since we met."

"It hasn't even been that long?" Lynaka said in surprise.

Again, Daskin grinned. "It's gonna feel a lot longer, ladies; we're going to be busier than we ever wanted to be for longer than we'd all like."

---

---

Erike looked up at the towering volcano as they emerged from the Phoenix, looking up at its smoldering cone what seemed like miles above them. The southern Mountain of Fire, as described by Link Fenris I in the message he'd left for them in the temple, stood by itself in the middle of the jungle like a tremendous tower of stone, smoke occasionally seeping from its summit. Unlike Death Mountain to the north, this volcano was not part of a larger range, though it did look almost identical to the Gorons' mountain in other ways.

Majacen led the way over to a portion of the rocky eastern slope that looked identical to the rest of the mountain, pocked and pitted, with long-cooled rivulets of rock flowing down like a frozen river. The ground was hard and black beneath their feet, and nothing grew for dozens of yards all around.

The wizard frowned. "An eruption must have buried the entrance," he said, a mild tinge of annoyance in his voice. "It's to be expected, I suppose. I chose this place for a number of reasons, and that was one of them." He turned back to the others. "Please give me a few moments to locate the entrance."

Erike's sister and Daskin made full use of the delay to bring the rest of the group up on what they had decided as quickly as they could. Once they were finished, Erike looked over at her sister. "I want to go with you," she said, "but it might be best if I didn't."

Lynaka looked over at her curiously. "Why?"

"It would be best for as few people as possible to go back in time," Erike said, having thought about this through most of the explanation. "The fewer of us there are intruding upon the past, the lower the chances that we might accidentally change something important."

Val nodded. "That makes sense to me. So, what do you want to do instead?"

"I will go with you," Erike replied, pushing her long brown braid back over her shoulder. "I can work with my mother and father and the rest of the Gerudo to help prepare Hyrule's defenses."

Erike then turned to Daskin, having considered another possibility during the explanation. "I also think you and your mother should go with Lynaka and Majacen."

"Oh?" he said, his brows rising in interest. "Why's that?"

"We have very few magic-users," Erike explained. "Your mother and Majacen are the two most powerful. If they both observe how the Blood Curse is structured as it is cast, they may be able to work together to undo it." She gestured to Daskin. "If you are there, as well, that only increases our chances."

Daskin smiled appreciatively. "I hadn't thought of that."

Lynaka also nodded approvingly. "That's quick thinking," she said.

Erike inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Thank you," she replied.

"So," said Horys, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword, "we go immediately after we finish here?"

"Right," Zelda replied, looking over at her fiancé. "You and I, along with Impa, will take the Phoenix to Calatia to investigate my uncle. Daskin or his mother can send Erike and Val to Hyrule once she arrives, and he and Midna will accompany Lynaka and Majacen first back through time to observe the Blood Curse, then to rejoin the rest of us with their findings."

"Hmm, I'd better let my mother know she's coming along, eh?" Daskin said with a grin. "She's not terribly fond of surprises." He gestured with one hand back at where Majacen was frowning at a section of the slope. "I'll make a portal so she can get here. We might also need to come back here in a hurry later." With that, he left.

To her chagrin, Erike jumped slightly at a commanding shout from Majacen and a loud cracking of rock as he found the entrance to the Heavenly Vault. She turned to see the wizard with a smile on his face beneath his beard, pieces of rock still falling down around him from where he had blasted them with his powers.

"I hadn't been down this way in two hundred years," he said as he walked over to them, the smoke from the detonation slowly clearing behind him. "It took me a bit to remember the exact location."

"Why did you need the exact location?" Horys asked curiously. "Couldn't you just…" he waved his hand in a vague gesture.

"Might I remind you that this mountain is filled with molten rock?" Majacen said, a bit of a twinkle in his eyes. "It would be rather careless of me to just go blasting holes wherever I thought the tunnel inside would be, now wouldn't it?"

Horys' eyes widened. "I see," he said, glancing over at the mountain.

Majacen looked around at the group. "There are a number of highly potent items inside this vault," he said warningly. "Many of them were forged by gods for use by gods in the war against the Dark One, so do not just pick something up because it looks interesting." He said the last part with a pointed look at Daskin, who had just walked up to rejoin them.

Daskin adopted an exaggeratedly wounded look. "Me, irresponsible? I'm insulted you would insinuate something so…" he paused, quirking his lips in a smirk, "accurate." He gave the wizard a puzzled look. "You say that like you know from personal experience, but I don't remember seeing you since I was little."

"We met a few times in our respective wanderings over the last few years," Majacen replied, his voice tinged with amusement. "I am not surprised you do not remember our encounters, as you spent the majority of them rather severely inebriated."

Daskin shrugged acceptingly. "Sounds about right." He winked at Lynaka, and she rolled her eyes.

Majacen turned and led the way inside. Erike, walking behind her sister and Daskin, caught Lynaka's teasing comment.

"Severely inebriated, was it?"

Daskin shrugged. "One tends to frequent taverns when your chosen profession is 'wandering rogue'," he said with a grin. "I became famous in Athaca for out-drinking five sailors in one night. The locals were so astonished that I had to do it three more times to convince them the stories were true."

"How'd you do that?" Horys asked curiously, as they entered a long stone hall, devoid of decoration.

"Twili have an extremely high tolerance for alcohol," Daskin replied. "The amount it takes to get me 'severely inebriated' would permanently pickle your brain." He smiled mischievously. "But don't take my word for it. I'd be happy to prove it to you sometime."

Horys started to say something, but was silenced by a warning look from Zelda. "Er, perhaps not," he said with a glance at his fiancée, who was clearly not amused by the challenge.

Erike smirked. She traded an amused glance with her sister, who was thinking the same thing, as evidenced by what she said next.

"You might want to challenge my father and his friend Raskys sometime," Lynaka said, smiling. "They'd be happy to have someone to compete with besides each other."

Majacen was waiting by the immense stone door at the end of the hall. The stone around bore tool marks, Erike saw, which meant that it had been carved and not formed magically by the wizard as she had assumed. If she remembered the stories correctly, it was very likely the same Goron who had forged her father's greatsword had also built this vault.

"I have altered the seal temporarily to allow you all through," he said. "Please, ask me before touching anything. There are several items within this vault that must never be handled carelessly."

Lynaka gave Daskin a teasing look, and he adopted an exaggeratedly innocent expression, feigning puzzlement.

Inside, the Heavenly Vault was a massive hollow chamber, converted from a long-cooled magma tube. Majacen lit a torch mounted in a wall bracket by the entrance, and in response, dozens of other torches around the chamber flared to life in synchronization, as if he had lit them all at once.

In the flickering orange light, Erike saw places where the walls had been fortified and other places where additional passages had been carved. In a number of niches along the hall rested a wide variety of weapons, ranging from knives and swords to axes, spears, and other, more exotic armaments. Other objects, their functions much less obvious, rested on more of the stone shelves, each bearing a small metal plaque.

"I have a few thoughts about which of these items may prove most useful," Majacen said as he walked along the chamber, looking into the niches. "Link, Dar, and I found quite a few things you may need, especially…" He trailed off, frowning at the shelves as he thought. "Ah!" he exclaimed finally, reaching for a pair of intricately engraved silver bracelets.

The wizard walked over to Zelda and held the bracelets out. "These," he said, handing them to her, "are amplifiers. They magnify the magic powers of the wearer, based on how hard you are concentrating." He chuckled shortly. "Link once discharged the Staff of Lightning wearing these and blew a hole all the way through a mountain. Dar and I spent nearly three hours trying to find where he landed."

Zelda turned the bracelets over in her hands, looking at the looping, angled glyphs engraved into the brightly polished silver. "Thank you," she said, looking up at Majacen. "Do you know where they came from?"

The wizard drew his fingers through his beard. "We took them from a sorcerer who tried to kill us. Where he got them, I don't know. I have never seen glyphs like that anywhere else in my journeys."

Impa picked up a bluish-colored armband from a nearby shelf and turned it over. "This has magic within it," she said. "But it's very strange."

"We found that in a temple about a hundred miles from here," Majacen said. "It lets you teleport within visible distance." He laughed again, looking down at the armband. "We had quite a time trying to get this away from the temple's guardian. Link finally started randomly firing out lightning bolts after a while, trying to hit the monster by being as unpredictable as it was."

Impa turned the armband over in her hands, an appreciative smile quirking the corners of her mouth as she concentrated on it. "I'm keeping this one," she said. Promptly, she vanished and reappeared standing on the other end of the chamber. Then she vanished again.

Daskin jumped and let out a startled shout when she reappeared only inches in front of him. From the Sheikah warrior's smirk, it was quite obvious that this had been her intention.

"Great," Daskin growled. "Give the sneaky one something she can be even worse with."

Nearby, Horys was examining a pair of boots, though, Erike noted, he was not touching them. As she drew closer and read the label, she understood why. What could 'Blast Boots' mean?

Majacen muttered to himself as he surveyed the surrounding shelves. "Let's see, invisibility cloak, magnetic shoes, power bracelets, revealer glasses…"

"What sort of glasses?" Daskin asked, turning his head at the last item.

Majacen held up a pair of thick-framed glasses, the lenses a light gray color. "Revealer glasses," he repeated. "They let you see through things."

"What sort of things?" Daskin asked, taking a step closer. He was grinning, and Erike didn't like the way he was looking around at the group as he did so.

Erike smirked to herself as Majacen raised an eyebrow and pulled the glasses back out of reach before Daskin could grab them. "I don't think I ought to let you have these," he said, eyes narrowing slightly in disapproval. He slipped the glasses into a pocket of his robe.

Daskin grinned obnoxiously.

"Be careful with those," Majacen said to Horys, who was leaning closer to inspect the boots he had been examining. "Those make things explode when you kick them."

"Whoa, exploding shoes?" Daskin said eagerly, turning to look. "You've gotta let me have them!"

"What is it with men and explosions?" Lynaka asked Zelda. The princess shrugged silently in reply, a slight smile quirking her lips.

---

Author's Note: Once again, apologies for the long delay. There were a number of factors, including a necessary revising of my outline to remove a potential plot-hole. Acknowledgments for this chapter go to my beta readers Desteni and Seldavia for each pointing out things that needed fixing; both saved me some potential embarrassment down the line. Thanks goes also to Silverwolf05, who suggested several of the items in the Heavenly Vault, more of which will be seen in the next chapter. She has also posted cover art for 'The Fourth Piece', which you can find in the 'Story-Related' folder of my Favorites on DeviantArt. Till next time, thanks for reading!