Link/Dark Link: "mmph mmm!"
Ahh, peace and quiet.
Link: "Mmm mmph mmm!"
Dark Link: "Hmm hmm hmm!"
Thank you Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie, Canada Cowboy,frostneko, Zoray Zorial,TalesOfSymphonia-AndAnime-Fan,mandrakefunnyjuice, freakyanimegal456, and Rini Tsukino. Now, I do not own Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda, but I do own this particular Link and all plot changes. Wow… been a while since I said it.
Link: "Mmmph!"
Yeah, yeah, okay, on with the story.
- - - Hyrule - - -
"You… you're…"
"Greetings," said woman, "I am Princess Tetra, ruler of the Kingdom of Hyrule."
The soldiers and knights surrounding the kids all kneeled at once, bowing their heads. Colin and Rath both did the same, though grimaces flitted across their faces as their bruised bodies cried out in pain. Rutina crossed both arms over her chest, so that her arm fins pointed outward like flags, and bowed. She also winced slightly in pain. Ubella snorted and refused to recognize the princess in any way other than a curt nod.
"You have all been found guilty of committing treason against this state," continued Tetra.
A very round man in heavy plate armor and a look that would make infants cry three rooms away stood to the right of the Princess. He was chuckling loudly as he walked forward and started pacing in front of the kids. "I am Baron Barker." The man was clearly trying to intimidate them. "How pleased I am to make your acquaintance," the man said with sick sweetness. Colette knew instantly that he would have liked nothing more than to kill her right there and wouldn't have batted an eye either. "How do you plan to explain your guilt?" asked the portly man.
"I won't explain myself to a bunch of weak Hylian dogs!" shouted Ubella.
"Not that we'd expect anything less than a serpent's tongue on a Gerudo," the Baron laughed. Several of the soldiers joined him.
"Well," demanded the Baron, standing in front of Rutina, "what do you have to say for yourself?"
Rutina started shaking and stuttered, "I-I-I-I-I-I d-don't-"
"Leave her alone," demanded Colin.
"Quiet boy," the Baron ordered angrily, causing the boy to flinch. "You traitors apparently don't know the amount of trouble you are all in. Aiding and harboring a spy of the enemy. Attempting to infiltrate this stronghold and steal its secrets with said enemy. Attempting to assassinate royalty…" the Baron chuckled again. "The list goes on."
"That is enough, Barker," Tetra bit out. "I'll not have you making a circus out of my court!"
"As you wish, Princess," the Baron said, smiling back. He moved back to the right of the Princess and took the position he was in before. "What is your verdict, my Princess?"
"Since she is the enemy," Tetra said, motioning toward Colette, "she must be put to death for the good of the kingdom." A grin as wide as his face split open on the Baron. "However, her official sentencing will have to wait until the full Council of Lords has been assembled. Until that time, she and these kids will be held in the castle jail under heavy guard. Is that understood, Baron Barker?"
Barker was opening and clenching his fists while grinding his teeth and tensing his muscles. Colette felt a little thrill of elation at the spiting of that man's designs. Everything about the fat man made her inside bristle.
Finally, Baron Barker grinned and said in his sickly sweet voice, "Yes… My Princess."
- - - Sylvarant - - -
"Thanks for letting me out of my box, stupid," said his shadow, "now, die!"
"What in the world are you?" Link asked. But the shadow kept a tight lip and moved forward, unsheathing his ebony broadsword from behind his right shoulder. On his right arm appeared a large, wooden shield. Link didn't have to be told that this wouldn't end well if he didn't fight back.
He unsheathed both of his wooden swords and prepared to fight this shadow of himself. But the shadow slowed to a stop, chuckling to himself. The laughter shortly morphed into peals of laughter that caused the dark Link to fall to the ground. Link frowned as he wearily watched the shadow, wincing from his injuries across his torso and right arm.
"What's so funny?" asked Link.
"You… You're… You're…" gasped the shadow between bouts of laughter. Link's frown deepened as this went on. Deciding that he'd had enough, and because the laughing was really starting to irritate him, he charged forward as best he could. His wounds, though, burned like firecrackers. He stumbled as he charged and fell to the damp ground. This only caused the shadow to laugh even harder.
"It's too much!" squealed the shadow. "You're so bad at this that you're beating yourself!"
"Shut up!" shouted Link. He gasped as he tried to stand up, only to slip and fall backwards. "Ahh!" Link cried as his wounds opened afresh and bled freely. The blade in his right hand fell to the floor with a wooden clatter as the pain became too great to hold onto it.
"Ha ha ha ha!" laughed the shadow. "And here I thought I'd be facing some fearsome, hardened warrior. You're nothing but a weak little boy!" Link attempted to stand up, again slipping, but still managed to stand nonetheless.
"I am not weak," he rasped. "I am the hero that's going to save Hyrule!"
The shadow Link managed to stop his laughing and yet he continued to chuckle every now and again. "Right," he said. "Whatever, weakling. You'll never be able to beat me. You might as well give up now. I might even be moved enough to let you live if you beg for your life. Then again… maybe not."
"I'm never going to beg-"
"Oh," interrupted the shadow, "too bad then." The shadow rushed forward, his broadsword held high. Link raised the sword he still held to block, only to watch it get chopped in half quite easily, not even having enough density to slow the ebon blade down. The dark Link watched in satisfaction as his blade sliced deep into the boy's shoulder, blood spraying all over the place.
Before Link could hit the ground, the shadow reared back and kicked Link as hard as he could. Link could hear and feel several of his ribs snapping in several places.
When Link landed on the ground, his shadow jumped into the air and dropped down on top of him, his sword sliding neatly into Link's gut. Link's eyes flew open with a stark realization. He was going to die.
With a burst of strength that even he didn't know he had, Link pushed past the pain in his chest, gut, and arm and socked his dark clone in the face with his left hand. The blow sent the shadow reeling backwards.
That small burst of strength was all he had to offer, it turned out. Link quickly collapsed as the blood loss and shock from all his injuries set in. The shadow stood up, wiping the orange blood from his lip.
He walked up to Link's dying body with a sneer on his face. "In what fantastical world could a weakling like you beat me?" A kick to the head knocked Link out. His body, still in shock, shivered in the cold damp waters. The shadow twisted his head to the side, curiously. He reached down and pulled out the small black triangle Link kept in his pocket.
The bright foggy room disappeared, along with the Shadow Link, to be replaced by a dark, wet, and silent cave like room. Save for Link, who was bleeding to death internally and externally, the room was completely empty.
Inside of Link's mind, all the lights were going out. Things were becoming so sluggish. It was becoming… so very… hard to breath. He just wanted to… sleep…
...
...
...
"You have to be one of the luckiest boys I've ever seen. Hehe."
Link groaned and cracked his eye lids open a sliver. He could still feel his wounds but they no longer impeded his movement. All around him, a strange white glow filled the room and funny little multicolored sparkles flew this way and that through the air. Link immediately opened his eyes in shock. He wasn't dead! He felt for his wounds and found only torn clothing.
"Maybe next time he won't go getting himself killed."
"No, you can tell he's the type to go off and do something stupid."
"Yeah, he's that kind of kid."
"Hush, all of you," cooed a motherly voice over all of the other high pitched voices. Link was floating in mid air. All around him flew pixies of one variety or another. And directly in front of him floated a very thin, very naked woman with gossamer wings flitting about behind her back.
One of the pixies flitted up close to Link and slapped him on the nose, which to Link felt like being poked with a needle. "You're lucky that you nearly died in a Fairy Fountain."
"Ahhh!" shouted Link as the magic holding him up faded and he fell from the air onto the damp ground.
"Young hero, this fountain is somehow connected to Hyrule, the land from which you are lost," said the naked Great Fairy. "Though I know not the secrets of this land, I can offer you your health and one more thing." The Great Fairy waved her hand and all the small sparkles left in the wake of the smaller pixies started coalescing around Link.
He started walking backwards with a worried expression on his face. The swirling pixie dust turned into a mini vortex and lifted Link off the ground. After several seconds of blowing about his clothes and hair, the vortex vanished and Link floated back down to the ground.
"Your latent magic has been enhanced," explained the Great Fairy serenely. "Use it wisely." The Great Fairy walked up to Link. The boy stiffened as the imposing magical being, and very naked woman, placed a warm hand on his forehead and brushed the strands of hair out of his face. "Hurry home, young hero," the Great Fairy said, "the lands of your forefathers will not long stand the onslaught it is under."
The Great Fairy, the pixies, and the bright serene light disappeared as soon as Link blinked. He blinked a few more times, digesting what he'd just seen, and trying to remember where he was. He remembered walking into this room and finding a chest… The chest!
Link quickly spotted the chest and ran over to it. The box remained open from when Link released the shadow. My shadow, Link thought wryly. A small twinkle of light caught Link's eye from inside of the chest. With a grunt, he leaned down into the box and grabbed what felt like a metal doohickey. When he stood back up, he was holding another small key.
At least this room wasn't a complete waste of time. Link pocketed the small key, but as soon as his hand entered the small cloth enclosure, he froze. The piece of the Proto-Triforce was gone.
"No," Link cried. His throat was instantly dry as fear and desperation gripped his heart. "No! No, no, no, no, no! Where could it have gone?! Who could have taken it?!" Link looked this way and that, all over the small, dark room, but he wasn't able to find the mystical item. "Oh no… Now how are we going to get home?!"
"So the shadow warrior took something precious from you? He he he he he he!" Link spun around to face the shadow with the mono-eye. "I suppose it's to be expected, he he he he. Don't worry. You might just get it back, if you survive this dungeon that is." Link's eyes narrowed.
"You mean that… that Dark Link took it? Where is he?!"
"Oh, is that what form it took, eh? Your shadow, what a fitting challenge. Something to watch over a good drink of fine wine." Link watched the shadow seesaw across the room like a drunken ballet dancer, slowly disappearing. "You better hurry, little boy. You have less than an hour before your friends turn into diamonds forever."
"What do you mean?" shouted Link at the fading shadow. "I haven't even been in here for one hour yet!"
"You were dead for over an hour boy, don't be so stupid next time your friend's lives are on the line! That is if you even have any friends left after this… Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Link slapped a hand onto his face and groaned in frustration. How was he going to save his friends if he kept getting all these set backs?! Shaking his head, Link retrieved his last intact sword from the ground and sheathed it. He didn't have time for thinking about what could have happened.
Link rushed from the room, once again determined to save the Princess, Lloyd, and the others from certain doom. Upon his return to the lava path room, he discovered to his dismay that the thin strip of solid land sticking out from the tunnel that lead to the ice room had disappeared beneath the glowing magma.
Link sighed in relief though when the path hidden beneath the magma appeared after he slashed the crystal switch. And on the other side of that path was a door with a lock on it. It all seemed too easy for Link up until he rounded a corner in the cave he found behind the newly unlocked door.
"Not again," groaned Link. Indeed, it was another room of ice. "Please let this be the last one," the boy in green begged.
As last time, when Link entered the room, the door behind him slammed down. Link still jumped, not completely used to the effect that a closed off room had on him. From somewhere above, a Lizalfo dropped down. Link had to look twice to before he was sure. It was the same Lizalfo from before, except that its face was largely bashed up beyond recognition.
The monster stomped its feet several times, as if to say that things wouldn't go the same as last time. Link, though, did not understand monster and simply unsheathed his sword. He looked down at it uncertainly.
"And here I thought that thing was dead," said Link. The Lizalfo glared at him, waiting for Link to make the first move. "I don't think that the same strategy I used before will work. The only thing I have is my Boomerang and Lantern." Link looked up, racking his brain for something. The Lizalfo took this as its signal to attack.
It reared its head back, breathing in so deeply that it sounded like it was going to simply explode. But instead of exploding, the creature threw its head forward and loosed a stream of flame several times larger than the one it used the first time he and Link clashed. The stream of fire moved so fast that it singed Link's outfit as he dodged out of the way.
"I guess I'll try for the Great Spin," Link grunted to himself. The Lizalfo looked at him sideways, as if curiously studying him. Then it reared its head back again, preparing another blast of fire. Link again got singed as he jumped out of the way and slammed into a wall. Without waiting for Link to recover, the Lizalfo once again reared back. This time, Link's right arm was caught in the blast as he jumped out of the way.
"Ahh," Link cried out as he fell to the ice. The Lizalfo reared its head back, preparing to blast Link while he was down on the ice. But then something caught and the Lizalfo's eyes went wide. It began hopping around, flailing about with its tail and clawing at its throat. Link peeked up, half expecting to see the stream of fire heading straight for him.
But the sight that greeted Link was unlike anything that he'd ever seen before. The Lizalfo's head was glowing, smoke was coming out of the sides of the creatures scaly head (supposedly where its ears were), and its eyes were bulging out of its already bashed in face. Several seconds later, the Lizalfo's head exploded, expelled off of its body by a deafening blast of fire coming from the creature's torso.
Link was knocked off of his feet by the blast and landed in icy water that was melted by the inferno bellowing out of the Lizalfo's body. It took several second, but by the time the burned out husk of the Lizalfo fell over, all of the ice in the rather small room was a sloshing, icy mess on the floor.
"Wow…" Link got up, cradling his right arm carefully. "That was unexpected. It must have had heartburn."
Link rubbed his right arm, trying to get the feeling to come back into it. As he was walking toward the now opened door on the opposite side of the room, he noticed a wooden chest that had previously been hidden underneath the ice. Upon further inspection, Link found another small key inside.
"What's with all these small keys?" Link muttered to himself. Upon exiting the room, Link entered into a long hallway, at the end of which was another locked door that, conveniently, he had now had a key for. "Why lock a door if you're going to give me a key to unlock it almost ten seconds before?"
When Link opened the door and stepped inside, the floor opened up beneath him. "Ahhh!" Link's voice trailed off as he fell down an icy chute into darkness. Link slide down the chute faster and faster. The ice-slide emerged from the dark tunnel, Link sliding like a Keese out of hell, into a magma chamber. The slide twisted around and entered another wall, dropping Link back into darkness.
The chute twisted around and around as Link slid through the darkness. Eventually, the chute leveled out and Link began to slow down. That happed to be a good thing when the chute ended suddenly. Link shot out of another wall and fell all of four feet to the dusty ground. Soft light filtered down into the enormous room from high above.
"What a rush," Link said. He brushed his wind frozen spiked hair back down and straightened his tunic out. He was standing in a large open room that rivaled the Renegade hanger for open space.
"He he he..." Link spun around to face the person laughing, but no one was there. "He he he he…" Link spun around, again facing open air.
"What's going on?" Link wondered aloud. He unsheathed his sword and spun around in a circle, looking for something amiss and listening to the whooshing sound that the sword made as it cut through the air.
About three-fourths of the way through is second turn, Link saw something move in his out of the side of his eye. He stopped and quickly faced that way, hoping to catch the phantom off guard. That's when something tapped him on the shoulder from behind.
Link immediately dropped to the ground. He fought through the terror that gripped his heart with hardheaded courage and jumped up swinging his sword. But nothing was there for him to hit.
"What is going on," Link asked, completely bewildered.
"He he he," laughed the invisible voice. Its screechy and antagonistic echo reminded Link of one of his classmates. "You almost got me that time. I've been alone for so long. Let's play!"
All the lights suddenly went out, leaving Link in complete, pitch black darkness. Link quickly pulled out his lantern. With a small puff of magic, the wick came to life, creating a bubble of light within the veil of darkness.
With his sword in his left hand and his lantern in the other, Link started walking forward. Every now and again, he swore that he saw something run by him. But by the time he was ready to attack, there was nothing there.
"He he… You can't see me," sing-songed the voice. Link reacted before he knew what was happening. The voice had come from so close behind him that he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck move as the person spoke. He spun around with his sword extended, executing a small sword spin. This time his sword hit something solid, which it knocked to the ground.
"Oowww…" whined the voice. Link inspected where the evidence of his actions was supposed to be, but found nothing. "You're too good. Let's play catch instead."
The lights, as swiftly as they went out, came back to full strength. Link deactivated his Lantern, cautiously keeping an eye out as the put the device away.
"Catch!" Link spun around just in time to take a fireball to the face. He flew backwards into the air for a few feet and fell into a heap on the ground. "See, isn't this fun?"
Link cracked open his burning eyes and saw his adversary for the first time. It was another shadow creature, similar to the first one that encased Zelda and the others in diamond, except that this one was taller, leaner, and more jittery. It disappeared and reappeared standing over Link milliseconds.
"Come on, come on!" it sang out, "get up, let's play!" Link watched the shadow dancing about the room, flitting this way and that. It traveled from one spot to another using its instant teleportation that left a trail of shadow in the creatures wake.
"You want to play?" Link stood up with a grin on his face. "Okay, let's play. I'm the best seeker in Hyrule!"
Link picked up his sword and ran forward with a grin on his face. The shadow creature stopped and started generating a fire ball. Just before Link could catch up to the shadow, it launched the fire ball and teleported away. Link jumped to the side to avoid being hit by the fire ball, only to be tripped by the shadow's foot.
"Oops," it said innocently, then teleported away, cackling immaturely. Link grunted as he stood up and chased after the shadow again. The shadow teleported this way and that around the room, following a predictable pattern. Then it stopped and started generating another fire ball. Link was almost in reach of the shadow but decided to do something different.
He pulled out his boomerang and threw it at the shadow. The angled weapon whacked the shadow with a solid thump and dropped him to the ground. Link caught up to the shadow and put a foot on the creature's chest while he picked up his boomerang.
"No fair," the creature whined. Link grinned down at it.
"I told you, I'm the best seeker in Hyrule," Link said, particularly pleased with himself.
The shadow disappeared again in an explosion of shadow particles. The particles faded from view and left behind a rather large treasure chest. Link reached down and heaved, pushing open the heavy wooden lid.
Peering inside, Link saw a pair of shiny, silver gloves. He pulled them out and looked at them curiously. "Are these the sacred item that shadow was talking about?" The gloves were really thin and dainty looking. "These don't even look like they could be used for cooking…"
Shrugging, Link slipped the silver gloves on. He didn't feel any more powerful. Holding his hands up in front of him, he watched the light reflect off of the glove's surface like that of a shimmering lake at dusk. If anything, they did look good, but that appeared to be it.
"Now how do I get out of here?" Link wondered. He looked left and right, but the only things that he could see were a pile of boulders and another one of those huge diamonds. Weary from his battles and having no apparent way out, Link walked over to the huge diamond and leaned against it.
It took several seconds, but it wasn't long before Link lay on his back. The diamond, which weighed several hundred tons, had rolled away. The rolling gem smacked into and bounced off of the pile of boulders. The boulders weren't able to withstand the enormous force and crumpled completely.
Link sat in utter shock. How had he done that? He looked down at the path left by the very heavy diamond, as if to verify that it was indeed a very heavy diamond. The oversized gem left a deep gouge in the dirt as it rolled, leaving no doubt about its weight.
Link's eyes traveled to the gloves he now wore. They were glowing slightly. When Link got over his shock, and the glowing gloves, he noticed that the boulder had been hiding a pathway, another tunnel. Hoping that it would lead back to the others, Link took off into the newly revealed tunnel.
He was disappointed to find himself in another puzzle room when he emerged from the tunnel. There were boulders, twice as big as Kratos, rolling in circles inside of a pit. On the other side of the room was another tunnel, which no doubt was where Link had to get to. But the boulders rolling about in the pit stood in the way.
"It never ends," Link bemoaned. Then Link looked down at the gloves on his hands and laughed. "If these gloves make me strong enough to roll a huge diamond, these boulders should be nothing."
Link jumped confidently down into the pit. When a boulder headed his way, he reached back and then punched the rolling rock. The boulder flew through the air and slammed into the opposite wall, but did not break. It rolled down the wall and closed in on Link much faster than it had previously been moving.
"Oh crap," said Link. He turned and ran into the flowing boulders within the pit. Chaos consumed the room as the boulders all started smacking into each other and going in radical and unpredictable directions.
Link dodged and weaved, nearly having his head smashed and his legs squished several times. Somehow he made it to the other side of the room and pulled himself up onto the ledge. When he looked back into the pit, he watched the boulders continue their new chaotic dance, unable to fathom how exactly he navigated that mess.
Now even wearier than he had been before, and with his adrenalin level falling now that he was safe from the boulders, Link trudged into the next tunnel. He didn't know adventuring was so tiring.
In the next room was only one thing; another chest sat in the center of the room. The completely golden chest was encased in a diamond, just like the others. Link looked at his gloves, which were still glowing.
"I hope this works," he said. He moved up to the diamond and pushed on it. But nothing happened. The diamond was completely embedded in the floor, so nothing was going to move it. "Stupid diamond," Link grumbled wearily. He punched the crystalline structure.
The diamond cracked from the impact. Link turned and looked around the room for an exit while yawning. The crack on the diamond expanded until the entire gem was covered in the fractures.
Link turned just in time to watch the giant diamond shatter. But the diamond around the chest wasn't the only thing that shattered. The floor did as well. The entire room was a giant diamond! Link realized too late.
Link screamed as he fell through the floor with the golden treasure chest. They both fell through the vast chamber beneath. It wasn't long before they both landed in a pile of sand.
When Link forced his tired eyes open, he smiled. He was back in the room he started this crazy dungeon in. The others were sill frozen in the same positions they'd been in before.
Running over to Zelda, Link smashed the diamond she was in with a quick punch to the gem. Zelda fell to the ground, coughing and breathing deeply.
"Link… The others…" The boy nodded and shortly, everyone was free of their diamond imprisonment.
"Thank you, Link," said Raine. "If it weren't for you, all of us would have been trapped inside of those crystals forever."
"Yeah," said Lloyd, "thanks. I'll make it up to you somehow."
"You have my gratitude as well," said Zelda. Link waved them off.
"It wasn't… any…" Link swayed back and forth and then fell to the ground. The silver gloves on his hands stopped glowing.
"Link!" The others rushed over to him. Both Genis and Lloyd were pushed away by Raine. She bent over Link's body and listened. Then she reached out and measured his pulse with two fingers on the side of his neck.
"It's alright," she said finally. They gave a collective sigh of relief to know that he wasn't dead. "He's just sleeping. But his Mana level is dangerously low. Something seems to have sucked him dry."
"Hey," said Lloyd. He dropped to his knees and pulled the gloves off of Links' hands. "Where did he get these?"
"Oh, so I see that the little boy found the sacred items! How very good for you!" Lloyd jumped to his feet and unsheathed his swords, standing in front of the group defensively. Genis pulled out his kendama, glaring at the shadow hovering a few feet above their heads in front of them.
"Oh, ho ho," chortled the shadow. "Aren't you a brash one? Who might you be?"
"Give me your name and I'll give you mine," responded Lloyd.
"Oh my, very brash indeed," said the shadow.
"Lloyd," Genis said under his breath. "I don't think you should be purposely trying to annoy a floating shadow that can turn you into a diamond."
"He just caught me off guard last time," said Lloyd indignantly. "It won't happen again."
"Is that so," said the shadow. "Well you appear to have a high opinion of yourself."
"Grr…" A slender hand reached out and stopped the brown-haired youth.
"Lloyd, let me handle this," said Zelda. He walked forward several feet and fully faced the shadow. "I am the Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Who and what are you?"
"Oh my," said the shadow in surprise. It dropped to the ground and started groveling. "Oh my, oh my, oh my, royalty. Please forgive my insolence, Princess."
"You haven't answered my question," said Zelda forcefully. "Who are you? What are you?"
"What, no small talk? How sad." Zelda stared at the shadow, which seemed to wilt a little under her stern gaze. "I am the guardian of the power used to seal a great evil. He he, I can't remember who I am anymore."
"We read about the guardians," said Genis. "They were protecting the Proto-Triforce."
The shadow rushed up to Genis, placing a smoky-black, transparent hand over the boy's mouth. "Oh no, oh no, you musn't name the power. No, never name the power." Genis tried to push the shadow's hand away as it floated back into the air. "No, never name the power. He will use your voice as a way to escape. He can hear you if you speak of it. Always knows. Always knows."
"You speak of the evil Wizard correct?" asked Raine.
"Evil? Maybe… yes, the evil Wizard. He was evil, right? No, not evil. Maybe…" Lloyd looked at Genis and the Raine uncertainly.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Me? I'm not alright, I'm fine. Like bread and jam! Jam! I love jam! It goes good on bread! It's been so long since I've had bread and jam… Do you have any?"
"You've been guarding this power for so long that you've gone mad, haven't you?" the princess said sadly. It was a statement as much as a question.
"No, I'm not mad," said the shadow, flitting around the room like an insect. "A little happy, a little sad, a little angry… Yes, we are happy!" The shadow guardian started singing about being happy in very off key notes.
Zelda turned to the others and shook her head sadly. "It's just like on the tablet back at the Martel Temple. He went mad after being alone for so long."
The shadow suddenly stopped singing and dove down to the ground. It floated there for several seconds and then said in a deep and serious voice, "Traveler from afar, we the guardians have waited for your arrival and the destruction of the Evil kept imprisoned within a device named the Proto-Triforce."
"We know that," said Lloyd. "We read about it in the place that we got the last piece of the blasted thing."
The shadow froze. The air suddenly dropped several degrees at once as the shadow zoomed up to Lloyd and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You WHAT?!"
"We have already acquired a piece of the Proto-Triforce," said Zelda quietly. "It was in an underground maze north of here. And you should know that the-"
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," shouted the shadow. It dropped Lloyd and rose into the air, continuing to repeat its mantra. "He's free," the shadow moaned. "All of our work for the past eons lay in waste at the feet of some stupid children and their stupid Princess. Oh fools we were to assume him trapped. Oh no!"
"We need to find all the pieces so that we can trap him again," said Genis. But the shadow wasn't listening.
"Got to protect it. Got to protect it." He flew off into a pile of boulders muttering the same thing over and over again. "Got to protect it. Got to protect it."
Lloyd sheathed his swords and looked at the others. "I guess he had something to protect."
"Lloyd," shouted Genis. "He was going to protect the piece of the Proto-Triforce that's kept here."
"Oh," said Lloyd. "Oh! We should follow him."
"That would be impossible, Lloyd," said Raine. "He floated through a pile of rocks. Unless you've got some way of blasting through that pile of rocks, then there is no way we can follow him."
"Mmm…" The group looked down at Link as he stirred. When he opened his eyes, he smiled. "I guess it wasn't a dream," he said. He tried to sit up, but was still too exhausted to do so. "Wow… what happened."
"You've used up all your Mana," said Genis. "So it isn't surprising that you're completely exhausted. What were you doing that could use up so much Mana?"
"And what are these?" asked Lloyd, holding up the silver gloves.
"Those are the sacred item that the shadow told me about," said Link drowsily. "They let me break the diamonds that were holding you."
"What?!" Genis' question wasn't answered though. Link passed out once more.
"It's surprising he was awake at all," said Raine. "He's still suffering from extreme Mana exhaustion. But what he said about the gloves was interesting. For now, I'm going to call them the Diamond Gloves."
The healer reached out and took the gloves from Lloyd. "They appear to be silver in composition, but they're too light and thin to be made of metal. I've never seen material like this before."
Zelda looked over Raine's shoulder. "I have," said the princess, "though I didn't think I'd ever see any outside of Hyrule. That's a material called Mythril. Its magical properties are so great that it is coveted by any and all who find it. It's said that the Master Sword was crafted with Mythril as one of the ingredients, but no one knows for sure how that mighty blade was crafted."
"Princess, your breadth of knowledge is enormous," Raine commented.
"You don't live in a castle all day without picking one or two things up," Zelda said. "Anyway. What Link said now makes a bit more sense. If there's a spell cast upon these Diamond Gloves, then it wouldn't be beyond comprehension that they're capable of smashing diamonds with one blow."
"Diamonds are the hardest substance in existence," Genis recited. "It's not possible to smash them."
"Maybe not," said Raine as she tugged on the gloves. "But if magic is involved, then nothing is impossible." Raine walked up to a wall and punched it. But nothing happened. "Hmm, maybe Link was wrong." Several seconds later, the gloves started glowing softly.
"Uhh… Sis, the gloves… they're glowing."
Raine looked down at the gloves and arched an eyebrow. "Curious," she said. She punched the wall again. This time, her fist punched into and through the rock, creating a fist sized hole. "Fascinating!" she said, her eyes lit up. She pulled her hand out of the wall and looked at her glove. "Now I see. This is what drained Links' Mana. These gloves use Mana as a power source."
"That's great," said Lloyd. "Now we can follow that shadow guardian."
"Hmm…" Raine walked up to the pile of boulders. "I won't be able to knock these all down by myself. The power that I get from these gloves is concentrated around my fist. Perhaps…" The healer walked over to one of the boulders and punched it. Again, her fist went right through the side of the rock, making a hole. "No, that will definitely not work."
"Professor." Raine turned and looked at Lloyd. He was standing next to a giant diamond stuck in the ground. "Maybe you can use this to break all those rocks at once. It's definitely big enough."
"That… just might work…" Raine walked up to the enormous gem and grabbed the diamond. With little to no effort, Raine lifted the several ton heavy diamond above her head. Dirt and small rocks rained from the end of it that had previously been buried in the ground.
Lloyd watched in astonishment. "Whoa, Professor!"
"Stand back, Lloyd," grunted Raine. She turned the diamond around above her and faced the wall of boulders. She heaved slightly and sent the diamond sailing through the air. It smashed into the boulders with a loud crash that shook the whole room. Dust rained down from above. But the path was clear now. The diamond sat to the side of a newly opened pathway.
"Whew," Raine said, now exhausted from the Mana drain. She pulled the gloves off and sat down on a small boulder that had rolled to a stop near her. "That was a lot harder than I thought it would be."
"Sis, that was awesome," shouted Genis, jumping into the air excitedly.
"Yeah," said Lloyd. "Colette would have loved that…"
"Yes, I'm sure she would have," agreed Raine.
"There appears to be a large locked door at the end of the pathway," said Zelda. She was standing next to the rubble at the entrance to the newly opened tunnel. "The lock is enormous. What manner of key would open a door like that?"
Genis ran up to the Princess and peered into the darkness as well. "It looks like the same size lock as in the last place. The one door that guarded the room with that enormous spider in it."
Lloyd shivered as he remembered the monster. "I hope there isn't another one of those monsters here too. One giant spider is enough."
"Hey, look," shouted Genis. He'd been walking back toward Raine and Lloyd when his spotted the golden treasure chest on the ground near Link. "That chest wasn't there before."
"Let's look inside of it," said Lloyd. The two boys ran up to it and worked on opening it. It was a heavy lid, made of solid gold.
"Are you going to be alright?" Zelda asked Raine.
The healer nodded. "I just need to rest a little to recharge my Mana. It's amazing how much it took to use these gloves."
"It must have been hard on Link too," Zelda said, glancing at the sleeping Hylian. "I wonder how long he was wearing them."
"Far too long," surmised Raine.
Lloyd and Genis finally returned. Genis was carrying an enormous golden key and Lloyd was walking awkwardly. "Lloyd was a moron and kicked the solid gold box as hard as he could," Genis said flatly. "Instead of denting the box, the box dented him."
"Hey," Lloyd complained, "how was I supposed to know it was made of solid gold?"
Raine sighed. "Lloyd, you have to be more cautious in the future. For now, let us try and follow that shadow guardian."
Genis handed Zelda the giant gold key and went with Lloyd to get Link. Once they were all standing in front of the enormous door, the princess inserted the large key into the golden lock and turned it to the right.
The lock itself was a circular device in the center of the bottom portion of the door. Chains reached from all parts of the door across to the lock. When the key was turned, the chains all became slack. The mechanism that the lock was composed of spun around in a circle once clockwise. Then the chains and mechanism dropped to the ground, allowing the door to open outward.
Inside was a brightly lit, domed room at the center of which was a pool of bubbling magma. The group walked in cautiously and started making their way around the pool of magma to the door on the other side. When they were within feet of the other door, the one they'd entered through slammed shut.
Link was dropped to the ground as Lloyd and Genis spun around with the girls to see what happened. Standing in front of them was the burned out husk of a lizard like creature and in its burned claw was its bashed up head.
"What is that thing?" asked Lloyd, unsheathing his swords.
"More importantly," said Genis, "how is it standing?"
The lizard's broken jaw opened, as if to screech at the, but without any lungs, nothing came out. The zombie lizard then turned and jumped into the magma as if jumping into a pool of water. Lloyd and Genis looked at each other curiously while Zelda and Raine did the same.
Moments later, the ground began to shake. Dust fell from the ceiling. The magma started bubbling even more. It roiled around and began splashing up and down, like huge rocks were being tossed into it.
From that chaos rose a giant diamond. But it wasn't just one diamond. Several giant diamonds rose at the same time, held together by some unearthly force. The diamonds eventually took the form of a large diamond dinosaur.
The creature's head was made of red hot diamonds, the arms ended in huge claws that could reach across the entire room, and the diamonds that were the hottest went back down into the magma where it seemed to be mounted.
In the center of the skull diamond was the remains of that lizard. The diamond jaws opened up and let loose a roar so loud that more dust fell from the ceiling and the group fell over.
"Holy cow," shouted Lloyd when he could hear himself speaking again. "That thing is huge!"
"Lloyd," said Raine. He looked over to his teacher to see her pulling on the Diamond Gloves again. "I need you and Genis to work with me so that we can defeat this thing."
"Sis, are you insane?" shouted Genis. "We can't beat something that big!"
"Genis," admonished his sister, "don't forget your thermo-dynamics. What happens to hot things when they're exposed to extreme cold temperatures?"
"Oh… Raine you're a genius!" Raine smiled and nodded.
"What happens?" Lloyd asked.
"Later, Lloyd," said Raine. "I need you two to get that things head within striking distance so that I can smash that lizard out of there. Then maybe we can beat this thing. Princess, can you please move Link so that he isn't in danger." Zelda nodded. "Good. All of you, be careful, those diamonds are red hot from sitting in the magma."
"Got it," they all said.
"Zelos!" Sheena slapped the red-head chosen after his seventh attempt at groping her bum. "Keep your dirty hands to yourself!"
"Ow!" cried Zelos. "Sorry, Sheena."
"I highly doubt that," she said. "Keep away from me or I'll send Corrin after you!"
"Do you think I'm afraid of that little rat?"
"Hey," squeaked Corrin. He appeared on Sheena's shoulder, already glaring at Zelos. "I maybe small, but I can still take you on."
"Oh yeah?" asked Zelos.
"Yeah!" squeaked Corrin.
"Quiet!" Kratos whispered. It might as well have been a lion's roar. The quarrelling humans fell silent immediately. Corrin yipped and disappeared in a flash. "We're here."
Kratos walked up to a wall quiet as death and pressed his ear to it. For several second he simply stood there and listened with his eyes closed. Sheena and Zelos looked at each other uncertainly and then back at Kratos.
"There's at least twenty… no thirty in the next chamber," Kratos said, breaking the paper-thin silence. "They are doing something important enough for them to be reporting back to their leader every few minutes. Whoever that leader is no doubt is aware that his troops stationed on the other end of the warp pad are now dead. They'll be expecting us."
"Do you think they know about this path?" Sheena asked.
"Not yet," said Kratos. "Prepare for battle. I will engage the main force while you two will take out the stragglers."
"Hey," said Zelos indignantly, "we aren't pushovers you know."
"Do you want to take on thirty Desians at once?" Zelos and Sheena quickly shook their heads. "That's what I thought. Now, the path will curve around another bend, at the end of which the cavern will come into sight and we'll be able to see them, and them us. At that time, I need you to create some kind of distraction while I slip into their numbers. It should only take a few seconds, but for that time, you'll be vulnerable. Do you think you can accomplish this?"
"Of course," scoffed Zelos. "If there's anything I am good at, it's distracting people from their purposes."
"You can say that again," grumbled Sheena. "Don't worry Kratos, you'll have your distraction, I have a few Guardians that I can use to engage them with."
"Good," said the mercenary.
The three took off down the old tunnel, following the curve just as Kratos had said. When they reached the bend in the tunnel, by which time they could hear the voices of many, many people, Kratos stopped and signaled to the other two. Sheena nodded and Zelos saluted. Both ran into the next part of the tunnel at the same time, Sheena with her Mana-infused cards drawn and Zelos with his sword and shield at the ready.
The Desians didn't notice them immediately, and by time they did, Sheena had already summoned one of her Guardians. They stared for several seconds before they all charged forward, ready to take on these fools who would dare defy the Desians.
After taking out three of the enemy soldiers, Kratos suddenly appeared in the center of their throng and started casting a spell. White Mana bubbles floated all around him. The Desians stopped as a group and not one of them blinked before Kratos spoke.
"Sacred Powers, cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls. Rest in peace, Sinners! Judgement!" Out of no where in particular and everywhere at once, huge beams of white light filled Efreet's cavern. They carved huge swaths of space into the Desian ranks, burning away their bodies with the intensity of the light.
Sheena and Zelos had to shield their eyes. When the light faded, they lowered their hands to assess the situation. The only thing left standing was Efreet's summoning alter and Kratos.
Zelos had to pick his jaw up off of the ground. "I've got to say, Old Man, that was quite impressive."
"Heh." Kratos sheathed his sword. Then he turned and walked toward the summoning alter. Sheena and Zelos looked at each other, shocked and yet not quite surprised. They moved into the room to find Kratos stooped in front of a strange device hooked up to the alter.
"What kind of machine is that?" asked Sheena. Wires of all kinds were going this way and that. Instruments were beeping and blinking. "I've never seen one hooked up to a summoning alter."
"That's because research was suspended when the Mana-links were threatened by it several hundred years ago," explained Kratos.
"I'm not even going to ask," muttered Sheena.
-Ksshhhk- "Hello? Report! Dammit Lieutenant, report! Has the Mana extraction gone according to plan?"
Kratos walked over to the discarded communications device laying on the floor and picked it up. "The status of the machine is not good," he said.
"Why? What has happened? Has the Mana run dry already?" asked the person on the other side. Kratos turned around and launched a volley of fireballs at the machine. The flaming projectiles slammed into the computer causing it to explode in a shower of sparks.
"The machine is now broken. It did not comply with my fireball's demands," Kratos said seriously.
"… Who is this? What's your operation ID?" Kratos casually tossed the com-unit to the floor and stepped on it.
"Let me guess," said Zelos, "it was a boring conversation?"
"Quite," replied Kratos. "Let us summon Efreet."
"Hold on," Sheena said, holding her hand. "What is that thing?!"
Kratos sighed. "That is a Mana siphoning device. It was siphoning off the Mana under the control of the Summon Spirit Efreet. No doubt for one nefarious deed or another. Either way, it doesn't stop us from accomplishing our own goals."
"Alright…" Sheena said reluctantly. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then stepped up to the altar. Mana began gathering like an avalanche. Soon there was so much of the red energy floating around in the room that it looked like a mist. Then all of that mist sucked into one single point and from that point appeared the red demonic form of Efreet, Ruler of Hellfire.
"You who possess the right of the pact," Efreet rumbled, "I am one who is bound to Mithos."
"I am Sheena. I seek a pact with Efreet," Sheena said tentatively.
"I cannot."
"W-what?" she stammered. "But why?!"
"I am bound by a pact," said the red giant, "I can not form two pacts at the same time."
"Sheena, simply ask him to cancel the old pact," Kratos said. "I am quite sure that the previous pact maker has broken his vow."
"How can you be sure?" asked Sheena. Kratos stared at her, not bothering to answer her question. "Okay, I'll try…" Sheena faced Efreet once again. "Efreet, I am Sheena. I ask that thou annulst they pact with Mithos and establish a new pact… with me."
"In order to create a new pact," explained Efreet, "the pact maker must be tested. Are you ready?"
Sheena looked back at Kratos and Zelos, both of whom nodded. Sheena then turned back and said, "I am."
Efreet extended his arms outward, as if he were stretching in preparation for a good time. "Then let this test commence."
- - - Hyrule - - -
Lord Agahnim, formerly known at Lord Yggdrasill, stood at the top of his new throne platform built on Derris Kharlan. Soon, so very soon, he'd have all the pieces of the Triforce. And then he'd become ruler of all. He'd reshape the universe in his own image and never again would any stand against him.
Within the recesses of the demented Lord's mind, was the trapped essence of Mithos Yggdrasill. Long since given up trying to escape, Mithos was now contemplating what he was going to do if this wacko succeeded. At this rate, his age of lifeless beings was down the drain and his sister was as good as dead. He might as well have been bashing his head into a brick wall for the past four thousand years.
"I see you're having some fun without me…" drolled the wispy shadow. It appeared within the mindscape of the captured Mithos and confronted the image of the young boy. "Why so down? After all, you now have more power than you could have possibly imagined before."
"I didn't want power," spat the young Yggdrasill. "I just wanted my sister back."
"If that's what you want, then why didn't you ask? I've recently been monitoring my plan for removing your sister's soul from the Great Seed. It shouldn't be long now until her new body is complete. I believe it was the last one you had prepped on those forsaken worlds I left behind."
"You…" Mithos dared to hope. "You would give me my sister back?"
"Of course," said the shadow sweetly. "Why would I want to harm my greatest achievement?"
"Your… greatest achievement… What are you talking about?"
"Your sister, of course. She's the key to my plan. Once she's in physical form, I can finally enact my plan and take control of the greatest force this universe has ever seen."
"As long as I get my sister back," said Mithos, "I don't care what you do. But if you harm one holy molecule of her being, I will rip you to pieces so many ways that even your soul won't remember what happened."
"My dear, dear Mithos," Agahnim sighed. "What ever made you think you had any control over what I do?" Mithos just glared at the shadow spirit. "Regardless of what you may think yourself capable of, the corruption of the lands of this world of Hyrule is great enough to pull out the chosen one. This "hero" should show up sooner or later. When he does, I'll then have two pieces of the powerful Triforce. And it won't be long before I track down where the final and third piece is. Mwaaa hahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa!"
Wow, that was a freaking long chapter. Sixteen pages! Wow…
Link: "I can't believe I lost to that arrogant jerk…"
Dark Link: "Well of course you did, stupid. You're weak. And I'm strong. The outcome was very predictable."
Link: "Oh yeah, just you wait until the rematch!"
Dark Link: "Yeah, during which time, I get to become even stronger, and you even weaker. Ha!"
Link: "Grr…"
Okay you two, settle down. Now, I just wanted to say that this chapter could have easily fit into two pieces. But I didn't want to make this part so long. So here it is, the majority of the dungeon. So, please review and let me know what you think!
Link: "And thanks for reading!"