Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda… wouldn't hafta write fanfiction about it if I did.
Chapter 10: Complications
Nero paced forward until he stood only a few short feet in front of Noct. He absently fingered the hilt of his sword, a look of profound disappointment on his face.
"I certainly had not pegged you for a traitor, Noct. Think how our ancestors must weep for your treachery," he continued, a cruel and mocking smile twisting upon his lips.
Link, Zelda, and Ralon looked to Noct in confusion. At first they thought they'd walked into a trap of Noct's making, but that had been quickly dispelled by Nero's words. Now they were simply lost for not understanding who exactly Nero was—could he really be Noct's brother, was it possible for them to be so different? Nero's voice dripped with sarcasm while Noct had always been so sincere, Nero, it seemed, was willing to attack his brother while Noct had plotted their escape specifically to avoid as much bloodshed as possible—and how he had known where to find them.
"N-nero, brother, b-but how…?" Noct stammered, afraid. What was Nero doing? Why was he acting this way? It had been days since they'd last seen each other and it seemed to Noct that there was something fundamentally wrong about his brother, as it had with Midna. "Why…?"
Nero laughed derisively. "You honestly thought you could hide your plots? It didn't occur to you that our princess might place spies among your ranks? How sad. Truly, it shames me beyond words that we are brothers." He sighed. "And as we are brothers, it falls to me to rectify your misdeeds." He drew a dual-bladed sword—standard issue to Twilian captains—and pointed it at Noct's chest. "A pity, as I had such high hopes for you."
Link immediately stepped between the two, the Master Sword a familiar and welcome weight in his hand. Here was something he could handle. No more doubt, no more turmoil; only the harsh certainty of battle.
"Wait, both of you!" Noct cried, trying to get back between the Hero and his brother. Ralon held him back.
"Link…" Zelda said, quiet pleading in her voice. Surely he did not intend to fight, and quite possibly kill, this Twili here and now? Not with Noct, the Twili's little brother, watching. Link would never do that, regardless of the circumstances.
The Hero grunted in response, never taking his eyes off of Nero's sword. He waited a moment, then struck.
Noct surged forward, yelling for Link to stop, but Ralon's grip was unyielding.
Nero's blade met Link's in a swift block. Sparks flew as their swords connected to form a sharp 'X.' Link, leaning into it, managed to force Nero to move away from the entrance.
"Go!" he ordered his friends. "Get out of here. Now!" he barked.
Zelda hesitated, about to protest, but Link shouted, "Just go!"
Still reluctant, Zelda nevertheless obeyed the Hero's wishes. She took Noct by the arm and began ushering him out. She called over her shoulder to Ralon, "Stay here and help Link!" With that she took off down the hall, half-dragging Noct.
Ralon paused, no less unwilling than Zelda, and forced himself to turn back to Link and Nero. The sight did nothing to encourage him in his task: the two were engaged in a fierce battle, moving so fast they baffled the eye. Intense as their fight was, neither had seemed to notice that Ralon was still in the room. He thought to use this to his advantage, but he wasn't altogether sure how that would be possible.
They were moving far to fast for him to keep up, much less join in. As things were, he could swing his sword at Nero, his back to Link, and still hit the Hero. He wasn't entirely convinced that joining the fray at all wouldn't result in his being cut to ribbons.
But orders were orders and, whatever might happen, Zelda would always be his liege and he her faithful servant. So with a weary sigh, Ralon charged forward.
Noct lagged in Zelda's grip as they rushed through the Palace's underlevels. She tried to urge him to hurry—if Midna did know they were escaping, as Nero had said, then she could only guess what other traps lay in wait for them and the others—but he didn't seem to hear her.
Rounding a corner, Zelda lost her hold on the young Twili. He stumbled and fell to his knees. He made no move to rise.
Zelda turned to him, still going, saying, "Come, Noct! We need to warn the others."
Noct didn't move.
Forcing down her frustration, Zelda ran back to him. She knelt down in front of him and grasped both of his shoulders. "I understand that you are upset, Noct, but we cannot afford to delay."
He didn't react; first Midna, now Nero. Who else would betray him? Who was left?
Zelda knew they had no time to waste, but she couldn't just leave him here, so she quickly worked out a way to snap him out of it. With a single, decisive movement she slapped Noct. He started and looked Zelda in the eyes.
Her voice was gentle but firm as she said, "Noct, speed is key right now. If we do not hurry the Goddesses only know what danger we put the others in."
"But… my brother…" Noct started uncertainly.
"You need not worry for him. The Hero will take care of it. Trust me, he will not allow harm to come to him," Zelda assured the young Twili, though she herself wasn't sure it was true; she hadn't liked the look in Link's eyes.
Zelda stood. She held her hand out to Noct.
For a split second, she didn't think he would take it, but he did. She pulled him to his feet. Noct gave her a slight nod and they resumed running.
It occurred to Zelda that her Triforce was still glowing. She wondered now if it was simply a reaction to the Twilight Realm, to protect her from its effects; Link had told her about his transformations. As before, however, she brushed the matter off.
Nero met a blow from Ralon with a slash of his own, then maneuvered so as to lock the guards of their swords together. With an experienced flick of the wrist, Nero sent Ralon's sword flying. The Hylian followed its movement involuntarily, giving Nero a chance to strike.
Link shoved Ralon out of the way, easily parrying the Twili's slice and returning the favor with a Shield Attack. Nero retreated from this, farther into the armory—the battle had done a 180 in terms of footing, with Link and Ralon now free to flee from the chamber if they so chose, not that they were likely to do so voluntarily. Ralon had orders and Link had some problems to work out. In the Hero's eyes, there was little better way to do this at the moment than a swordfight. Link and Nero reengaged.
Link's Triforce glowed with muted light, unnoticed by both he and Ralon.
Ralon grabbed his sword and prepared to once again reenter the fight. It seemed that every time he did, he either got in Link's way or Nero disarmed him within seconds.
Casting a glance at the door, Ralon felt a pang of worry. Seconds felt like hours, minutes like days as he fought—or rather, attempted to fight—this fruitless battle. He wondered how the princess was doing, prayed to the Goddesses that she was alright, and all-around blamed himself for the whole situation, for not better protecting her. But he would not leave. Ralon's loyalty was absolute and it was owed to Zelda. No matter what, he would never betray her trust. That left him only one choice…
When Link and Nero leapt apart, Ralon grabbed the back of the Hero's tunic and threw Link behind him. Link just caught himself before he fell and rounded angrily on Ralon.
His sword aimed at Nero, Ralon was equally ready to attack or defend as need would be.
"Are you out of your goddess-damned mind?" Link demanded.
"Lad, allow me to deal with him. You go help the princess; she cannot be left unattended in so dangerous a place as this."
"She can take care of herself," Link answered, trying to push past Ralon. He didn't mean to sound harsh, but he knew he was right on this point; Zelda was a more than capable fighter.
Link didn't need to tell Ralon this, however; he knew it very well. But, like an overprotective father, Ralon would always worry. "Yes, but didn't you notice that this one here made no attempt to give Her Highness chase? Did you forget he said there were spies? Don't you get it, Link? There are others! And by this bastard's confidence, more than enough to take on our group," Ralon proclaimed, puzzle coming together fully for him even as he said those words. "Do you really think she can take on the entire Twilian army?"
Link saw the logic in his words, but still he wavered in indecision, caught between his desire to fight and his own worry and care for Zelda—not as his liege, though technically she was, but as his friend.
With an annoyed grunt, Link set off after Zelda and Noct.
Nero, Captain of the Palace Guard, and Ralon, Captain of the Phoenix Elite, prepared for their final, deciding battle.
Noct had taken the lead, knowing the path far better than Zelda. Utter chaos greeted them as they caught up with the others.
The Hylian soldiers and servants, led by the Twili, had run into a rather large contingent of guards. The ensuing battle had not been kind to the rebels, surprised and relatively inexperienced and unarmed as they were. The Twili among them had brought weapons—swiped from the newly stocked guards' room or from among miscellaneous household items scattered around the Palace—and had passed the out among the Hylians, though they hadn't brought nearly enough. Furthermore, the Twilian and Light Dweller servants were unaccustomed to using them, leaving only the soldiers, less than a third of their group, as adequately able to defend themselves.
As a result of this, many lay dead, both Hylian and Twilian, friend and foe, but primarily friend. The rebels were greatly outnumbered and, for the most part, outclassed. Those unarmed or disarmed raided those that had fallen, taking weapons and trying to fight. They, too, tended to be very quickly cut down.
Zelda cursed in a ripple of Old Hylian and reached to her waist, realizing belatedly that she hadn't thought to take, or indeed to look for, her rapier from the armory.
Grimacing, Zelda took the Light Bow from her back and fitted an arrow to the string. Ordinarily, she would have been able to draw and fire in under a second, but here she was forced to move much more slowly due to the pandemonium of the fighting and the slow process of picking a target—she not only needed to first ascertain that she was aiming at a Twili, she also had to make sure that the Twili was in a guardsman's uniform, lest she accidentally strike an ally.
Noct watched the fighting nervously at first, but seeing the princess steel herself for battle, he too made ready. He was not just any servant. He was the Captain of the Guard's brother; he had a trick or two up his sleeve where fights were concerned. Noct swooped down and grabbed a forgotten dagger in each hand, curved blades gleaming viciously in the eerie torchlight of the corridors. He took a fighting stance. Noct Kaeran would run no more.
Link ran, legs carrying him faster than ever before. Everything was falling apart for him, he couldn't protect anyone. The Hero's chest heaved and his legs burned, but he would not stop until he'd reached Zelda. He'd lost Midna; he would not lose her too. He would never lose anyone again, not while he was alive. What kind of Hero was he that he couldn't keep his friends safe? He dug in harder and pushed on faster.
Link's search for the Fused Shadows helped him a great deal now. All that dungeon-crawling had given him the ability to memorize his course in even the most complex of mazes. He planned to retrace the way back to the cells where they'd started—as he assumed Zelda and Noct would have—and look for any signs that indicated where they had gone and where he should go next.
There was a faint rustling throughout the halls. The Hero ignored it. It stopped briefly only to start again redoubled.
"Link…"
He ground to a halt looking around for the source of the sound. It was barely more than a whisper, and a faint one at that.
"Link…"
He spun around. It was coming from behind. The Hero was pained, looking back and forth between his intended path and the whisper's apparent origin. The voice continued to taunt him, his protective nature all was all that held him from charging off—Zelda might need help. However, eventually, he accepted that he would have to go; Zelda could, as he'd said, handle herself. The owner of the voice however…
"Link…"
He reversed his direction and ran toward the voice. He needed to see her, to find out what was going on.
"Midna…" he murmured.
Author's Note: I had a snowday so I used it to write this. Much quicker than the last one, right? :) Anywho, yay the plot thickens. Will Link and Midna meet? Will Nero beat Ralon? Will Noct and Zelda win? This kinda reminds me of the Trial chapters from WCHB, following three different groups. Next chapter may not be up as fast as this, but it shouldn't take months.
Actually, I finally decided what I wanna do with this, so I don't think there are too many chapters left in this; maybe 5 at the very most. I will be making a sequel, though it's possible it will be a bit shorter than this one and it'll follow directly after this.
Read and Review.
—TG
