Chusai stared out at the moon, unable to sleep after such a horrific nightmare. Not normally one to dwell on bad dreams, she felt a strange sense of foreboding, some hidden instinct begging her to stay awake.
She watched the guards make their rounds over the battlements. The stars shone in a clear sky, not even a slight breeze in the air. But quiet did not guarantee lack of conflict. The pleasant weather during the near-riot in the town had taught her that. She could feel invisible undercurrents then and now, growing stronger in spite of the force standing against them.
Impatiently she awaited the sunrise. "Even a spotted pig looks black at night," a friend in her home village was fond of saying, meaning things look different – and usually better – in the morning. However, as the rising sun cast its blood-red light over the field and farmlands, the feeling of unease remained. Chusai turned around and walked back to her nightstand, where the obsidian necklace lay. She did not want to touch the thing, but she knew he would notice if she showed up without it. Reluctantly she put it on.
Not needed in the throne room for another few minutes, Chusai left her chamber and walked down the wing of the castle that had housed the Hall of Records. The scorched walls had been scrubbed and whitewashed, the ash and rubble cleared out. The room was bare, but gave no hint of the chaos that had taken place.
Chusai had never examined the body of her friend. She knew that he had been killed before the fire, but there was nothing she could do about it. The murderer had admitted to his crime, but she could not bring him to justice. He was the law. Chusai sent her friend's remains back to his family, with the same story that everyone else in the castle believed; that he knocked over a lantern by accident and died in the fire. She wondered if his family believed this, or if they knew the truth and kept silent for the same reason she did.
Walking toward the throne room, she paused briefly to look out the window at Zelda's tower. A wave of apathy washed over her, and she briefly wondered if she should even bother visiting the tower tonight. The sleeping Princess would not hear her, but would lie there like some fool in a fairy tale, waiting for her hero while Chusai and everyone else were left with the demon.
She shook herself slightly. All terrible things eventually have an end, she thought to herself, and stepped away from the window. You just have to wait long enough. And yet something seemed off, something missing, something waiting to break. She could not figure out what it was.
All heads bowed as the usurper king entered the throne room. Chusai settled into the now-familiar routine of watching everyone in the room but him, though still haunted by her nightmare, and caught a couple of questioning glances from him as if he could sense her disquiet.
Her body relaxed but her mind alert, Chusai picked up the sound of stumbling footsteps making their way toward the throne room. Suddenly the doors burst open and a Gerudo guard stumbled inside, a long gash down the side of her face, her left hand clutching her side where blood flowed freely. "My King! The Hylians-"
All heads turned, and the usurper king leaped to his feet. "What?" he demanded. "Speak!"
The injured woman fell to her knees, her words stumbling over themselves as she struggled to both breathe and warn her ruler. "The castle servants were in it from the beginning…the rebellion has breached the outer walls…the Gorons have supplied them with explosives…"
As if to confirm the guard's story, the entire castle shook as a massive detonation erupted from somewhere on the northeastern side. Chusai leaped down from the dais and ran to the window. Smoke and debris hampered her vision, but as it began to clear she could see a gaping hole in one of the inner castle walls, through which a horde of people streamed like mice in a granary.
As she turned round to report what she saw, yet another explosion rocked the ground beneath her feet, and she could see a cloud of debris rising up from a spot directly below her. The Hylians had laid siege to their own castle, in an attempt to reclaim it.
The usurper king barked out directions. "I want the fourth squad out on the northeast courtyard! Third squad gets the first level of the main building! Alert the others and tell them to fire on anything that moves! Get this woman medical attention!"
"Lieutenant!" he shouted at Chusai, stepping quickly toward her. He bent down and spoke in a low voice. "Do you understand what they're doing?"
Chusai thought for a moment. "You'd think they would have attacked the southwest corner, the few servants left would have told them that's where Zelda is…My Lord, do you think it's a ploy?"
"I do. Listen carefully. I want you to go to her tower and pick just a few able soldiers to go with you. Likely the Hylians have saved their best fighters for a rescue mission. They might not realize who you are from a distance, so I want you to lead." He grabbed her shoulder and stared her in the eye. "I know they will tell you to stand aside. But remember…only she and I know how the Triforce works. They may think she is dead, or cursed, and she may get hurt in the commotion." Releasing her, he ordered, "Go now!"
After running silently down a few corridors, Chusai stopped and turned around, an insane grin slowly unfolding over her face. Suddenly she leaped forward and flew through the halls with her sword drawn, laughing maniacally as she went, here and there striking down a dark knight or other magic creature that stood in her way. Is he really so stupid as to think I'd fall for that? Maybe the Hero really has come! If he has, then her mission is over and she is awake!
"Die, foul demon!" she roared in delight as she sliced the head off a sword-wielding lizard. The creatures had no minds of their own, no orders but to obey the Lieutenant and usurper king, and therefore no defenses against her. Chusai swung her sword at will, reveling in the destruction, finally free to unleash her rage against her tormentors.
"Lieutenant?" Chusai froze, hearing a female voice float up the stairway. She paused in her assault on a walking skeleton and listened. The skeleton just stood there stupidly, not understanding why an ally had attacked it.
"Lieutenant? It's me, Namu." Chusai scowled and lowered her sword as the Gerudo guard rounded the corner to meet her, her own sword drawn. Namu's face lit up upon seeing Chusai. "What's going on? I heard someone say we were being attacked!"
"Siege," Chusai said thickly, struggling against dark voices chattering in her mind. She tightened her grip on her sword, but took a step back.
"By whom?" Namu demanded, and strode to the window to take a look. Chusai hesitated for a moment, then sneaked up behind her and swung her sword. At the last moment she flicked the blade to the side and struck Namu across the back of the head with the flat of her sword. As Namu crumpled to the ground unconscious, Chusai fled down the stairs. Sorry, Namu. I'll put in a good word for you once our Princess has regained the throne…
Her mood dampened just slightly, Chusai swung her sword again at the magic creatures and dark knights, but steered clear of the Gerudo. She could not bring herself to kill misguided fools, not unless they threatened her life, at least.
Finally Chusai arrived at a three-way corridor, with the passage on her left leading to Zelda's tower and the shouts of the invading army on her right. As the first few Hylians rounded the corner and ran toward her, bearing weapons ranging from army-issued swords to fighting staffs, Chusai flung open the door to the left-hand passage and invited them in with a sweep of her hand. "Welcome, comrades! Follow me to Her Highness' chambers and freedom!"
Dead silence. The mob stood perfectly still, their brows furrowed with the very intensity of staring, and Chusai's smile faded. A disturbing thought tickled the back of her mind as she slowly registered the hostility in their eyes. "What are you waiting for?" she asked, her voice faltering.
Scattered, grim chuckles punctuated the air. "Do you really think we'd fall for that?" someone in the middle of the crowd demanded.
"Fall for what?" Chusai asked, fearing the answer. She scanned the group for the Promised One. "Which one of you is the Hero?"
The leader of the group stepped forward, and Chusai recognized him as Malika, her old sword training master. "You fool. When our spies informed us that the Princess lay dead in her chamber, we knew that we could not wait for a Hero to save us."
"Dead?" Chusai shook her head vigorously. "No, no, she's just sleeping…"
Raucous laughter nearly knocked her off her feet, several of the group mocking her words in a childlike voice. Malika scowled like a thundercloud and pointed the tip of his sword at her. "We knew you were a traitor, but we didn't know you were an idiot as well."
"I don't serve the usurper king!" Chusai's face burned with rage. "I am following Her Highness' orders! She told me to protect as much as I could without outright challenging him! She's just upstairs, you can ask her yourself!"
"Sure she is!" a sardonic voice yelled from the back of the crowd. "Having tea with the Hero, I'm sure!"
More derisive laughter. Chusai felt the crowd zero in on her like a pack of wolves sighting a deer. Could it actually be true, what the usurper king said? Would they really hurt her? Bury her alive, thinking she's dead? Interrupt her spell? She began edging back the way she had come.
Malika's eyes met her own and she felt his gaze pierce her soul. "Five hundred rupees to the man that brings me her head!"
In one swift movement Chusai leaped through the door and slammed it shut, shoving the iron lock into place. A split second before she stepped back, the door reverberated with the pounding of a dozen hands; with a shower of splinters, several swords pierced through the doors. Chusai turned on her heel and fled.
She had only gone a short distance up the passage when she heard the sturdy oak door shatter behind her, the walls ringing with the yells of maddened Hylians. She doubled her speed but could hear their shouts all too clearly, crying out for her blood.
More shouts echoed through further hallways, and Chusai realized that more Hylians had breached the castle's defenses and now streamed through several of its main arteries. Several times she had to double back as she heard a new onslaught in front of her, barely missing the original group as she darted down yet another passage. Her heart racing, barely on the edge of panic, she forced herself to focus and find a safe haven in the place she had called home for most of her life. With each passage more people joined the main group and added to its furor.
Chusai made a sharp turn down a narrow hallway, leaped through a small window to the battlements just below, sprinted across the short span, and turned sharply once more toward a set of rickety iron stairs in a small tower that led to the back of the courtyard.
The stairs, and indeed the half the tower, were gone. The shattered, twisted remains could be seen at the bottom of a thirty-foot drop, just inches from where Chusai skidded to a halt, in the middle of a large but unsteady half-moon of brick. She stood stupidly for a moment, unable to comprehend what lay before her, then turned slowly around as the flow of pursuers eddied around the edges of the half-moon ruins. Chusai drew her sword and steadied her shield as she made a final, desperate last stand.
The mob slowly moved forward with the cackling laughter of hyenas. Planting her feet squarely on the ground, Chusai raised her shield against her first attacker, pushing him backward. She raised her sword but could not bring herself to strike her fellow countrymen, hearing the foul words they threw at her and sincerely believing she was about to pay the traitor's price.
Several pairs of hands grabbed her, absorbing her into the mob and throwing her to her knees. Someone pulled her hands behind her back, and she heard Malika's voice as he gripped her hair in his fingers and pulled her head back. "Now, Chusai Ordana, beg the Goddesses for forgiveness for standing by during the desecration of our country."
Chusai shut her eyes as she felt sharp, cold steel against her neck. Please let it end quickly…
Several things happened at once. A yell of terror reverberated through the crowd. Chusai felt something hit Malika hard and heard his cry of pain as he hit the ground several feet away. Chusai herself fell flat on the ground as those pinning her down scattered. She opened her eyes to see a black cape sweep the ground before her, and looked up to see the usurper king standing between her and the crowd, wielding a pair of double swords.
"All right, Chusai?" he asked calmly, his eyes on the mob.
"So, the false king comes to the aid of his bodyguard?" Malika shouted, wiping blood from his nose. "Such dedication! I had no idea you were so close. What have you and the false king been doing, Chusai?" A wave of nervous laughter swept through the group. Several people threw crude remarks, emboldened by her weakened position and choosing to target her instead of the impossible.
"Get up, Chusai," Ganondorf ordered. "I can't fight them and hold them off you at the same time."
As if they had been waiting for confirmation, three people leaped at Chusai, only to be thrown back by a sweep of the double swords. Chusai staggered to her feet, sword in hand, her eyes fixed on the back of Ganondorf's unprotected neck. Traitor indeed. She gripped her weapon hard. We'll hear no more talk of traitors when they see my sword emerge from his throat!
Out of the corner of her eye she saw two men rush her from behind. She raised her shield and felt a double strike as they both hit at once. "Get back!" she yelled at them, just as Ganondorf stepped in front of her and forced them back, glancing at her just for a moment.
"I said fight, Chusai!" He flinched as one of the rebels tried his luck on the usurper king's right arm, drawing blood.
"I can't fight my own people!" she cried, raising her shield against another assault.
"They aren't your people anymore!" he yelled back, mowing down another knot of rebels even as waves of several more pressed forward. "They're going to kill you. If you wish to live, fight!"
It's your fault they're fighting me! Chusai swung her arm back in anguish, trying again for his neck, but a young rebel stepped in between them and thrust his sword toward her. She parried the thrust and knocked him back with her shield, but three more appeared in his place. All three leaped forward at once, and as she threw up her arms to protect herself, the usurper king placed himself between Chusai and their weapons. "Chusai! Fight them, NOW!"
She hesitated, her eyes darting wildly around the room. Malika seized upon her panic and darted forward, blood flowing from his nose, ducking under Ganondorf's swing.
"CHUSAI!"
Chusai thrust forward and felt her sword connect, pierce, slide through. Her eyes moved from the bloodied hilt to Malika's astounded face, staring at the weapon buried in his chest, then directly into Chusai's terrified face. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground, dead.
Something shattered in Chusai's mind and a red mist fell over her eyes. Barely registering what was going on around her, she dimly heard herself utter an inhuman scream and plunged into the fray, unleashing the frustration and rage that had only scratched the surface when she had let loose her frenzied assault on the dark creatures in the hallways. Finally given an outlet, the bile that had flowed through her veins since the arrival of the usurper king and devastation of her world burned like acid, chewing hungrily at those who had laughed at her pitiful situation.
When she came to, she stood in the middle of the ruined tower, her sword stained crimson, her arms and tunic covered in the blood of her countrymen. Every member of the mob lay dead around her. She stared at the ground, breathing hard, teetering on the edge of madness, desperately trying to pull herself back from the brink.
She heard the usurper king walk slowly up to her and gently place his hand on her shoulder. "Are you hurt, Chusai?"
Her mind finally snapped. She fell to her knees, dropping her sword and shield and gripping the sides of her head with her hands, staring unseeing at the ceiling, shrieking like a banshee. Even as her screams filled her ears she could hear Ganondorf yelling, "Steady, Chusai, steady!" and felt some bitter liquid being poured down her throat. Forced to swallow, she drew in a ragged breath to scream once more, but the fiery liquid lanced through her veins and she blacked out.
Chusai's eyes slowly opened, and she found herself staring up at the stone ceiling. She turned her head, the room around her staggering into focus, and she realized she was back in her own chambers.
She sat up in bed slowly, first catching sight of her boots on the floor, her sheathed sword and shield lying on a table, her bloodied outer tunic lying across a chair. In puzzlement she glanced down at herself and saw she was still wearing a light shirt and pants. She lifted her hands to her face as if blind, staring at the dark brown stains that reached almost to her elbows. The earlier carnage flooded back into her mind, yet strangely stopped as if held back by a dam before it reached her heart, giving her the ability to remember but keeping the madness at bay. Briefly she remembered the taste of the bitter liquid before she had blacked out.
She crawled out of bed, trying to remember how she wound up downstairs. Stumbling toward the washbasin, she filled it with water and scrubbed the soap over her hands so hard they reddened and swelled. Out, damned spot…
Abruptly she heard a knock at the door and leaped a foot in the air, splashing half the water onto the floor. "Who's there?" she snapped.
"It's Namu. May I come in?" a voice on the other side of the door asked.
"Yes, fine."
The door opened and Namu entered, beaming, a bandage wrapped around her head. She ran excitedly to Chusai. "Oh, Lieutenant! Everyone is saying that you fought the rebels by the great Ganondorf's side. Is it true?"
Chusai increased the scrubbing tenfold. "I suppose so. A lot of things happened at once. I don't remember much."
Grinning sheepishly, Namu gave her a short bow. "I'm so sorry I couldn't contribute more to the cause. I must have been wounded early on, because I don't remember much of the battle at all. But I am filled with pride for you!"
Turning round to stare at her, Chusai demanded, "Why is that? He had to rescue his bodyguard." Now I owe that man, she thought to herself, gritting her teeth in anger and shame.
Namu's beaming face collapsed in confusion. "Why would he not? The great Ganondorf is not one to stand idly by while his valued vassal fights for him!"
"Enough with the 'great Ganondorf' already," Chusai growled. "You sound like a fool."
Shocked, Namu could only say, "I don't understand."
"Please leave, Namu," Chusai ordered, not in the mood for explanations. Namu bowed and raced for the door, looking back with a concerned expression before she shut it behind her.
Chusai drained the washbasin and dried her hands on a towel. She stalked to the window, placing her elbows on the windowsill and burying her head in her hands. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't Zelda be the one to help me? I was loyal. I did as she asked. And yet it all came to nothing…
Chusai wiped the tears from her eyes and stared out over the landscape. Do I even have the right to ask for help? It is not the place of a bodyguard to look to her Princess for protection. Why, why did the usurper king have to come to my aid? Now not only am I a useless bodyguard, but I owe that man my life!
She walked over to the bed and sat down, sensing that the drug had begun to wear off and the screaming terrors of the battle before were attempting to break through her defenses. Her stomach churned from the huge weight pressed upon her shoulders, the disgrace and dishonor that now tainted her. She struggled internally, trying to find a way to lessen the pain.
I have to thank him, at least. I don't want to, I don't want to even go near him, but I have to at least acknowledge the gift he gave me, even if I didn't want it. I can't just go on living with this failure as if nothing has happened.
She drew a bath and scrubbed at her skin and hair, trying to wash away the sticky sick feeling that clung to her. Drying off, she selected new clothes and tidied her hair, then stepped outside.
She acknowledged Namu's bow with a nod, not looking at her. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I am going to go speak with him now. Please wait for me."
"Of course, Lieutenant."
Chusai walked through the halls as if sleepwalking, trying not to think about what she was doing. The strengthening shadows in her mind cried for blood.
She knocked at his door, hoping he was still asleep. Her heart leaped into her throat as she heard Ganondorf's voice. "Who is it?"
"It's Chusai, My Lord. May I come in?"
"Of course."
She opened the door and kneeled just inside of it, hoping to get this over with quickly. "My Lord, forgive me for my weakness. I could not fulfill my duty. I came to thank you for my life, which I do not deserve, as I should have been protecting yours. I am not strong enough to be your bodyguard."
"Chusai." The voice was benign, welcoming. "You needn't say such things. After all, if you were stronger than me, I would have to kill you."
Her head jerked up. "My Lord?"
He laughed. "Chusai, I am not the type of person would allow someone stronger than myself anywhere near me! I do not trust in people enough to do so." Sitting at a small table, Ganondorf gestured to a chair on the opposite side. "Come, Chusai, sit. The rebellion has been eradicated. There is no need to wallow in despair."
Chusai stood, and as she looked up she noticed he wore robes of red and black, richly embroidered. She had never seen him in anything but his armor before and averted her eyes, but did as he asked. On the table stood an iron pitcher and two glasses, from which a sharp, clean, tantalizing smell drifted.
He followed her look. "That is a drink made from red desert sage. In its concentrated form, it can be used to invoke temporary amnesia and cut off the emotional receptors in the mind." Lifting his gaze to her eyes, he said, "Civil war is a terrible thing, pitting brother against brother. I know you are not used to it, so I gave it to you."
She held his gaze for a brief moment, then looked away. "I must admit the memories are trying to creep back into my mind…"
He poured a bit of the liquid into a brown glass and offered it to her, lifting his own. "The Gerudo use it frequently in diluted form as a relaxant. We have for centuries. It is much better than liquor…doesn't make you drunk, doesn't give you a hangover."
Chusai grasped the glass hesitantly, then lifted it to her lips. It had the same bitter taste, but several other flavors had been mixed in to make it drinkable. The liquid dulled emotions and softened thought, so that nothing seemed to matter so much. "Better?" he asked after a few swallows, and she nodded.
They sat in silence for several minutes, Ganondorf completely relaxed and unhurried, but Chusai in turmoil in spite of the drug. She could feel something creeping around her, threatening to completely absorb her, something nameless and formless she could not escape. Abruptly she stood and walked over to a window, staring out over the starry night.
She felt a strange thrill of foreboding as she heard him rise and walk over to her side. "Something wrong, Chusai?" he asked genially.
Struggling to express herself, Chusai said slowly, "My Lord, I fear the darkness."
He waited for a moment, then asked, "Why?"
"It…I cannot see in the darkness. Cannot see, cannot feel, cannot hear." Chusai doubted this made much sense, but continued anyway, on the edge of revelation. "It threatens to wrap itself around me. I will fall into the void, unable to stagger back to the surface."
"Oh? I have always found the darkness comforting." He nodded out the window. "After all, how can one sleep in the harsh light of day? Darkness has its purpose. It encircles without suffocating. It holds one in stasis, like a child in the womb. It erases from the mind's eye all the fearsome images that trouble you. It brings sleep, rest, and calm. You should embrace the darkness." He paused, then loosely enfolded his arms around her. "Embrace the darkness, and let it embrace you."
Startled for a moment, she jerked back but went nowhere. She stood, tensed, then slowly relaxed. Closing her eyes, she surrendered her mind to the void.
