HeroAlexa249: I don't think that the reference was intentional. And yeah, the interactions, the issues the Zeldas had, and DF Zelda made that beast of a chapter worth all the effort it took to make it. It was a lot of fun, and I really wanted to do it.
BBR: I think she would make a fortune off the photos she would take. :D It might be awhile before Link and Zelda get some romance, but maybe they might get something for the breather chapter.
mysteriousguy898: I have some ideas for the RPG, and there will be nods to other RPGs when it comes.
The whole 'power of friendship' thing was... odd for the game, considering that it wasn't in the series canon. Usually, getting the Master Sword involves strengthening one's self, and the trials beforehand help prove this.
Actually, I wish they used what I did in Hyrule Warriors, because it makes more sense if Link had built up resentment over those years and incarnations, not to mention a good thing to bring up... but I don't think the creators were interested in making their story more interesting, despite the large opportunities they had.
The two halves are pretty separate- if Ceiya still had a bit of Liam, he wouldn't have done the things he's done already.
PsycoFangirl: Crossover with canon would be funny. It was amusing when it happened in Skyward Swaps (chapter 13, I believe.) and that would cause so much chaos.
Thanks for being patient, and accepting Zelda going Fierce Deity all of the sudden. I really appreciate how the chapter was well received and I don't know if this chapter will be as successful.
Sorry for the delay. I've been busy (SCHOOL WORK WHY MUST YOU KEEP PILING UP?!) and distracted (Sonic Colors and the other fan fics) and I needed inspiration, but it took awhile to play this level again, in order to get it. I tried to do what I could with it, but I'm not super fond of this level, so hopefully it turned out ok.
Chapter 14: Liam and Ceiya
-some time ago-
Within the temple, the Guardian of Time was momentarily foregoing his duties to watch a moment from the past.
From the crystal of his scepter, an image was projected outward, showing the Hero of Time at the Lake Hylia fishing hole, with her fairy companion at her side.
"Are you really sure we have time to do this?" Ivan asked Zelda as she carefully reeled in her lure. "Shouldn't we be heading back to Kakariko Village?"
"A little rest wouldn't hurt." Zelda confessed, just as her line tightened up. She turned to the water, and quickly tried to pull in her fish. "This one's got to be a big one! I can feel it!" Her eye brows narrowed in determination, and worked as hard as should to get the fish out, until she finally got it out of the water and held it up.
"Ten inches." Ivan estimated. "That would get us a meal, if the fisherman didn't have a catch and release policy."
"You know, I'm almost tempted to see if I can get his hat with the fishing pole." Zelda turned to Ivan with a childish smirk. "Should I tempt it?"
The white garbed guardian let out an amused snort. "Now I want to go fishing." He turned to the window and gazed longingly at the outside. "The weather is nice for it."
If only he hadn't been tasked with this duty. If only he could be like everyone else, and just abandon this temple whenever he pleased, but fate was not in his favor. It never had been.
"It's thanks to you three I can't go fishing." He scolded at a painting on the wall that showed a a scholar, a musician, and a dancer. "I hope you're satisfied in making my life more miserable than it already is."
Ceiya let out a sigh and made the image go away, before he turned to his books- there were some lightning based spells that he was curious to try out, and they would make a good alternate to using the magic he specialized in.
-present day-
Ceiya let out a string of curses in the temple within the Valley of Seers, while his two best warriors watched on with mixed reactions. Volga was unimpressed, but Wizzro found the childish outburst to be hilarious and pathetic at the same time.
"Where did I go wrong?!" Ceiya hissed as he tightened his grip on his scepter. "If it wasn't for Ganondorf, I would have had them! I WOULD OF HAD HER!" He waved the scepter out and sent out a burst of dark magic that slammed against the wall and almost destroyed it.
Ceiya heard a crackling laugh from Wizzro, and he turned around to see him giving the sorcerer a nasty grin. "So this is the best you can do?! You can't even kill any of them- if you really wanted power, you should have killed the girl while you had the chance!"
"Watch your mouth!" Ceiya snapped. "I rescued you from confinement in the mines, and I can take back my kindness if you dare insult me!"
"You had a chance to take the Triforce of Courage, but you didn't!" Wizzro shrieked. "You could have just made me take the prince while I was at it, and you could of had the whole Triforce, but no- you were blind to your other options! You just had to make things difficult for yourself!"
"As loathe as I am to agree with him, the wizard is correct." Volga finally chimed in. "You are going to have a losing battle on your hands. I don't see a point in fighting for you anymore, if you aren't taking the advantages you need to win."
"Yeah!" Wizzro laughed. "Maybe I should join Ganondorf- at least he only needs power!"
Ceiya's eyes darkened at the wizard. "You wouldn't dare." His hands tightly gripped the handle of the scepter until it almost hurt to do so.
"I did my part, and look where you ended up! I don't want to keep fighting for some lovesick fool! You haven't given me anything for all I've done for you, except a handful of angry people who would kill me if they had the chance!"
"You had your fun with them! If anything, you brought their wrath upon yourself!"
"And yet, they are going to come after you, just because you were corrupting their precious hero! Oh I harmed the princess, I almost tarnished the prince's good name, and I kidnapped the hero, but what makes me worse than you, boy?! You act like you are a god, when you are as full of fault as they are!"
"IF THAT'S HOW YOU WANT IT, THEN FINE!" Ceiya held his hand out and engulfed Wizzro in purple-black flames. As soon as he was engulfed by them, the wizard let out a horrendous and unpleasant shriek that almost deafened Ceiya's eardrums, and yet he had no remorse for what he was doing.
"If you're going to abandon me, then I'll return you back into your ring!" Ceiya snarled as his fingers slowly curled and the flames intensity increased, as did the shrieking. "I refuse to be betrayed by a piece of jewelry! In the end, you are just one setback, and if I deny them the chance to get their revenge on you, then it will be all the more sweeter for me!"
His hand then formed a fist and the shrieking finally died as the flames disappeared and all that remained of the vile creature known as Wizzro was a single ring with a red stone.
It was very unfortunate that Ceiya had to lose Wizzro, who had been very useful, but he could not afford a traitor. There was no sorrow when it came to the loss of an otherwise greedy little monster.
"As for you!" Ceiya turned to Volga. "Don't deny that you want to fight them! Take the glory and the claim that you bested Hyrule's greatest warriors! Kill the prince and sever your family's ties to the Royal Family for good!"
He swung his staff out and casted an aura on Volga. Like Wizzro before him, Volga let out a sound of great pain as he bowled over and fought to stay standing, but instead of a shriek, his was that of a roar that sounded more like that of a dragon.
"YES!" Ceiya joyously laughed out. "Don't fight it! Let it all out! Kill as much as you want to your heart's content!" He threw his hands out into the air. "Finish them off for good!"
Had Ceiya been more aware of his surroundings, he would have sensed that there was another who was watching from behind the temple walls. He would have seen Liam looking at him in sorrow as well as horror, but Ceiya was too caught up in his own madness to know any better.
Liam slowly walked away and began his careful journey back to the others. He had surveyed the lands to see what Ceiya would do in preparation for the battle and he had seen more than enough to know that they might have a chance, if only because Ceiya was too blind to see his flaws in his plans.
As he journeyed back, he remembered when he was torn apart and lost his identity as Ceiya, the Guardian of Time.
He remembered trying to suppress his restraints, for the sake of gain, and then he was horrified as to what he had done, as if he had a sudden moment of regret that he was absolutely sure he didn't have beforehand.
One moment he was facing a mere shade of Hyrule's greatest villain and the next he found himself laying on the ground somewhere out on the expansive fields.
He stumbled in a daze across the fields and wondered what happened to him, until he found himself at Lon Lon Ranch. Normally his mind would go on overdrive and recount the significance of the ranch and it's inhabitants, who treated him with compassion after seeing to dirty and lost he looked, but he was still in a daze and would not speak.
He found himself in the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror- hair that was once an almost girly periwinkle shade was now a sky blue, and his robes as the guardian of time were altered to the point of looking more athletic and had blue tones instead of red. What in Din's name did Ganondorf do to him? This wasn't the state of one who accepted the darkness and forced the light out. Did he have a moment of strength and was able to resist the temptation?
He then realized that what when the light suppressed from his heart, he had given into the darkness because he- the one at the ranch with blue hair- was the light. This familiar and yet not quite familiar face was the physical embodiment of his better half, and yet he knew that he was not who he was supposed to be. Even the way he perceived things - the world and the people in it- had changed in an instant and he didn't like it.
"Who... am I?" He asked as he touched his face to make sure that he was still real. Was he still Ceiya? Heck, when Malon asked for his name, he had no idea how to respond.
What was his purpose, now that he was no longer whole?
As time passed and he watched what was happening to Hyrule, he knew that he had to atone for his- for Ceiya's- actions. The part of him who still felt like Ceiya- who had all the memories- knew what was happening, and yet the part that was now him was horrified at what his counterpart was doing to Hyrule and he knew that he had to take action.
And so, he gave himself a new name, in order to hide the truth from those he knew he needed to assist. 'Liam' was derived from a language of another country and supposedly meant either 'helmet of will' or 'guardian' which felt fitting for the time being.
Then, Liam made his way to the forest to fix the error of Ceiya's ways.
-later-
When Liam returned to the camp, he found Zelda resting against a few blankets, with Proxy, and Link by her side. The girl had already awakened from a very badly needed rest, after having her soul torn to pieces and was reminded as multiple beings in one form, but she was sill recovering.
Liam's heart clenched- Zelda was almost destroyed because of how far his darker side wanted to keep her to himself. Everything that happened was also his fault, in a twisted way, and he knew that there was no way he could make up for what happened to her.
"Oh... hey." Zelda weakly waved at Liam. "I'm almost ready to fight-"
"Hang on sweetie." A medic took out a blue potion and helped the warrior drink it down. "Give yourself a little more time, and then you can go."
Zelda made a grimace and stuck her tongue out after drinking the blue potion, but she looked a little better as her normal coloring began to return to her skin.
"So..." Zelda glanced to Link. "I think I know what you meant by Shadow being like a different person, but... well... being you at the same time."
"That part of me still wants to be dominant from time to time." Link shrugged. "Kind of like an urging to do things a certain way, but then I need to remind myself that we're one and the same, and that it's me whose talking."
And what will happen to me after this battle? Liam wondered. As much as he hated how far his counterpart had fallen, he knew that eventually they would have to merge back together again, just as Zelda's past selves had to merge into one being once more.
But what would happen to Liam? Which side was the most dominant? Would there memories become as one? Would Ceiya's insanity corrupt whatever resulted from being merged back into one? Would the light of Liam balance out Ceiya as a whole being?
Honestly, it scared him.
"One more battle." Liam forced himself to speak as he walked over and knelt beside Zelda. "One more and then time can be fixed again. I swear that I will not let Ceiya get anywhere near you ever again."
"I have to admit, I'll miss everyone when this is all over." Zelda frowned. "We all worked together as one, and we made so many new friends along the way."
Instead of responding, Liam held his hands out and quietly focused on what he had in mind, before the object appeared in a flash of light. In his hands, was a very familiar blue Hylian shield.
"I know I did you a great injustice, but this is the least I can do to make up for it." Liam held the shield out to Zelda. "I saw that you were missing a shield and any hero of Hyrule isn't complete without it." He made to set it down by Zelda's feet, but Link took it for her and held onto it for safe keeping. Had he been whole, he would have scowled in annoyance at Link, but as Liam, he let it slide.
Liam almost wanted to laugh- Ganondorf, Link, and now Zelda had been torn apart, but they had all been reconstructed back together again and he himself became tied to the cursed trinity in a similar manner.
Liam went to check on the others and he paid attention to their interactions.
Nabrooru and Saria had been called in and after they were dropped off by the Helmaroc King, the Gerudo had given everyone an earful about being left out on all the fun. Now she was happily chatting away with Saria, Darunia, Ruto and Impa: five of six sages from another era together once more, Liam realized with a smirk.
The small band of Twili and the young Sheikah warrior had also returned, but their search for the Twilight Princess had been in vain. Try as they might, she was nowhere to be found, and the only one who didn't seem too upset was Ariadne, who went back to happily conversing with Agitha about bugs. The other twin- Daphne- seemed to be getting along more with Koji, but it was clear that something had happened between them. Liam could see that they were sharing a shy glance and seemed to be blushing over something, and he felt a sickening dread that whatever they developed would have a very bittersweet ending.
"Is she almost ready to fight?" Liam glanced around to see Zant giving him a curious look.
"Almost." Liam informed him. "And then we can fight Ceiya and you all can go back where you came."
"But there's a price, isn't there?"
"What do you mean?"
"There's always a price. It's something I've wondered about, ever since you told us that time was frozen for those who came from this country's past."
Liam turned back to continue observing the others. The knights and the Gorons were readying their weapons for battle or sharing discussions over who knew what- Geode kept giving Ruto a glance now and then, and it was clear that he still harbored a crush on the Zora.
There was a burst of laughter and Liam glanced over to see Bethany showing Ghirahim her collection of pictures. The sword spirit only seemed to get along with a few of the others, and it seemed that he was beginning to favor Bethany, along with Zelda and (to an extent) Ruto.
Camaraderie did wonders for whose who never knew they needed it.
"For now, let's just fight together as if there's no tomorrow." Liam could only answer. "There's no telling when you'll see any of us ever again."
When Liam was still whole, he hated the loneliness that came with his duty. He hated that he couldn't be like everyone else. The one source of happiness that came from his duty were the stories that he could pull from time and watch. It wasn't the same as reality, but the stories were entertaining, and he could lose himself in them and forget everything that he hated about his life.
In the end, his passion turned into an obsession that had disastrous consequences, but that passion also bore a knowledge that came in handy for those who needed it. He was able to make friends through what made him happy, and he felt like he had a purpose in reality because of it.
But he would have to burn many bridges, in order to ensure that the world and the timeline would be safe. It pained him to know that that he had to do it, but Liam knew that it had to be done.
He turned back to the prince, the general, and the commanders to share what he knew, and what they should do, in order to win.
Almost two hours later, it came to those final moments when everyone was together, under the red and black sky in the valley. They could see the monsters were waiting and ready to strike, but they were also ready. They knew these lands now, and they knew how their enemy might strike, because they were wiser now.
All eyes turned ahead to the one who tied them together- the one they fought to save, and who was now ready to lead them to battle.
Zelda glanced at the army one last time and they glanced back at her.
"Ready Zelda?" Proxy asked as he flew by her side.
She slowly took her shield in hand, and pulled the glorious Master Sword out of it's sheath. She glanced at the blade and reassured herself that she could do this- she had come very far to get to this point, and she was part of a noble line of saviors who gave her their blessings.
She was not going to let Ceiya win this war- not if she had a say.
She took a deep breath and held her sword out as she let out a battle cry from deep within and charged ahead.
In return, everyone let out their own cries, before they divided into three- they went to the east, the west, and straight ahead. They were ready to protect Hyrule and they were ready to fight in what was sure to be a great battle.
-stage 13-
Ceiya grinned when he saw them coming- they might think that they have a chance with the hero on their side, but he was tapping into darkness, and he could feel it coursing through him. It was sweeter and more exhilarating than anything he could ever imagine, and he detested that he was sharing it with each of his minions, but he had to make a sacrifice, if he wanted to gain back what was taken from him.
Curse Liam, curse Link, curse this army, curse Ganondorf, curse the hated Goddesses, and curse the naive hero for thinking that he didn't know any better.
He earned his rights and he'd be damned if he lost any of them.
"KILL THEM!" He roared. "KILL THEM ALL!"
The army fought to reach the sanctums and cut back his power. At first, Ceiya was stunned at how fast they figured out where the sanctums were, but then he remembered that Liam knew, or at least had to have figured it out since they were one and the same.
He couldn't wait to kill the blue haired school boy.
Liam lead Daphne, Koji, and a handful of knights as they charged into the southern sanctum. The Twili spun her whip around her body and stuck as many monsters as she could, along with Koji who skillfully twirled his naginata and sent out waves of flame that scorched his opponents.
"You guys take this one, I'll go on!" Liam told the two as he held his book under his arm and ran ahead to join the others.
Both the long range warriors and the heavy hitting warriors had gone ahead of the others to help make things easier for the others and the Gorons were charging their way in the eastern side of the valley.
"WOO!" Darunia hollered as he and a group of Gorons ran ahead and smashed their opponents as they crossed their path. "Get em!"
"FIRE!" Geode enthusiastically cheered as he let the fire rod spew out several jets of flame and roasted a handful of monsters.
In the eastern sanctum, the monsters were given a nasty shock when a group of opponents appeared. Link, Impa, and Zelda sliced and hacked their way, long before the others could arrive, and it was an impressive sight to behold for them.
A flying lizafos let out a shriek and took to the sky, but just before it let out a jet of flames, an arrow struck it in the chest and knocked it back to the ground, but it became impaled by one of many dagger projectiles that shot out into the monsters, before another wave was sent out.
"And that's why projectiles are awesome!" Bethany cheered to Ghirahim as she sent out another arrow. "Just shoot the buggers out of the sky!"
"I certainly agree with your enthusiasm." Ghirahim laughed as he too had the time of his life.
"I'll go on and clear that area!" Ruto ran out when she noticed a monster infested keep and readied her magic.
"Let me help you!" Saria joined the Zora as she used her staff to send out deku sprouts to clear a path for herself.
"This is amazing!" Ariadne cheered as she and Agitha rode a great stag beetle that charged through their own wave of monsters, while Zant, Beliah, and Ashei hurried ahead, followed by Nabooru.
"There's a wide area in between the temple and a great fairy's fountain!" Ashei told Zant. "That should give us enough space to fight!"
"Excellent." Zant grinned under his helmet. "Perhaps that will give us just as good of an excuse to use our full potential."
"What does that mean?" Nabrooru demanded.
"It means we can have as much fun as we can without worrying about hurting the others!" Ashei smirked as she took out her ball and chain.
Nabrooru felt a chill down her spine as she saw how large Ashei's spiked ball was, in addition to the length of the chain. I have a feeling I'll need to watch out for them, instead.
"Got it!" Link cheered in the eastern sanctum as he and his own band of men filled the sanctum up and were able to fend off additional monsters from coming in. As they had found out, Ceiya had set up an image of the Triforce to power the sanctums and connect them together, but with all the monsters gone, there was no one to defend it, and the image lost it's glow.
"How are the others?!" Zelda demanded to Proxy, who flew up into the sky to go check, while Sunny flew in.
"Koji and the others have control of the southern sanctum!" She told her.
"Then I'll go on ahead to the fairy fountain." Zelda told the others as she hurried out and briefly rejoined Liam as he made his way to the west to give his assistance to the others.
"Do not be surprised if Ceiya tries to use a trick up his sleeve!" He told her as he sent a wall of magic out. "We still have the temple to worry about, and who knows what is waiting in there!"
"KEYAH!" Nabrooru stared in shock at Zant as he twirled in a seemingly endless spin with his scimitars out and sliced at his opponents, while Ashei struggled to try to knock her opponents over, and Beliah used her hair to spear through two dinofos.
"I can do that too!" Nabrooru yelled at Zant and proceeded to race towards a few monsters that were trying to escape. She readied herself, leapt into the air, and spun around with her scimitars out and made her way through the monsters.
"We got it!" Bethany cheered as the monsters were cleared out of the sanctum and Proxy flew in to check on her and the others.
"East and south all clear!"
"So is west!" She yelled up at him. Proxy nodded and made his way to the south to make a similar report, while Sunny- who noticed the exchange, quickly flew back to Link and Impa.
"Alright, we got the sanctums!" Liam cheered. "Now Ceiya can't power his army throughout the valley!"
Ceiya was not amused as one by one his monsters lost their power and the numbers dwindled faster than usual.
He watched everything from the crystal ball, and his magic channeled through the orb and powered it. Yet, the fury that was building up inside him was affecting his magic and the darkness that he was giving away was once more coursing though him as it did before, though it was slowly deleting his life force once again.
Before he knew it, Ceiya's crystal ball shattered from the build up of magic and he was almost knocked back by the explosion, but he stood his guard.
"Alright then," The pupils of his eyes were now an unnatural shade of red as he readied a strong spell and disk like runes began to circle him, as did a ring of magical orbs. "You to make things difficult for yourselves?!" He sneered as he raised his hands up, crossed them as they went down, and then slowly pushed them out. "Then go on and be my guest!"
He threw his hands out and an explosion of dark magic erupted from him, and trails of dark magic escaped out onto the battle field.
Liam watched in horror as the trails of dark magic went out into the valley to form colossal gates of time, from which even more monsters began to emerge. He turned back in time to see a dome of dark magic formed by Ceiya at the temple, which then began to shrink back down in size.
"Ceiya," Liam could almost feel his other half be drained by the use of that amount of dark magic- if this kept up, he would surely die. "You can't take much more of this!" He pleaded, but it was hopeless, as the two halves were too far away to have one be heard by the other.
The rest of the army was caught off guard by the change in tide. Having been granted only a moment's rest in their victory, they were forced to continue the fight, with double the opposition, and while their opponents were not as strong, there were now too many of them.
A lot of swearing was thrown across the battlefield in that instant.
"Sweet Hylia, why?!" Karane demanded as she and the others tried to fight the monsters off.
"Well our opponent has control of time!" Pipit pointed out.
"Ten seconds!"
By now, those two words had become a warning to run for it, and when the two knights saw a huge bomb soaring overhead towards their enemies, they turned to run the other way, only to see Groose lowering his arms down.
"Oh come on, you know that was funny!" He laughed.
Karane and Pipit could only glare in anger at their red-headed companion.
Link cursed as the monsters began to swarm his army. "What do we do now?"
"Oh prince!" A voice sang out. "You do recall the fountain where you can pray for my aid, correct?"
Link let out an embarrassed smile, but he was greatly relieved to hear the Great Fairy coming to their aid. "Of course." He quickly turned to Impa. "We need to get to the fairy fountain, immediately!"
"Then let me join you!" Impa finished off a monster, before the two could hurry to the fountain.
"Hah, you guys aren't going to hog all the fun without me!" Darunia laughed and also headed to the area around fountain, while the other Gorons stayed in the north eastern section of the battlefield, and they gained the badly needed aid of Saria, who summoned up a Deku Tree spirit to swallow up some of the excess lower leveled monsters for them.
"SOMEONE HELP US!" Koji yelled as the southern end was getting swamped. Despite his small sections efforts, they could barely manage on their own.
"WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU GUYS?!" Daphne shouted as she counterattacked a monster that to hit her.
Without warning, loud singing erupted a slight distance away from them, and it increased as the singer approached.
"Bash all the baddies in the head, in the head!" Ariadne sang to a melody that Agitha taught her in delight as she smashed a liazfos repeatedly in the face with her shield, while Agitha herself giggled as she smacked around her own opponents with her parasol. "Bash until your cares go away and they are all good and dead- YES INDEEDY!"
"I did mention that we're Zant's cousins, right?" Daphne cringed as she tried to avoid Koji's questioning gaze.
LInk finally reached the fountain, where Zelda was beginning to pray for the Great Fairy. "Tell everyone to get as many monsters near here as possible!" He commanded to his men and Sunny, who happened to find him. "Were going to flush them all out!"
"Yes sir!" Sir Winslow saluted the commander and the general, before he and the others hurried off.
"I can draw enemies over from the east!" Darunia promised before hurrying back to smite as many as he could with his hammer.
Sunny flew over as fast as she could to Zant and the others, and when she relayed Link's message, the Twili let out a delighted, yet creepy sound. "Give me a moment." He promised her, before she flew off to seek out who else needed her message.
Exactly one moment later, the battlefield was treated to a colossal sized Zant, who proceeded to stomp the ground and sent many monsters and Hylians running for their lives. All the while, he was laughing as if he was having the time of his life.
Ashei stoically watched Zant from a safe distance, then turned to Beliah- who was chocking the life out of many opponents with her six hair spears wrapped around their necks- and asked "How is he your king again?"
Beliah's hair tossed her opponents into the sky and looked at Ashei. "Long story." She reminded her as her opponents finally hit the ground.
"I-" Nabrooru began as she glanced up at the rampaging Zant, but gave up. "Ok, I can't do that. You win this round, mister."
Ceiya scowled at the scene before him, but then he had an idea and turned to Volga. "Volga, would you like a taste of my power? I'm sure you would like to finish off a member of the Royal Family while you are here."
Volga- overcome with an overwhelming bloodlust- let out a roar and hushed out of the temple. He changed into a dragon, flew over the temple and dived into the battle grounds.
The most powerful warriors were unable to focus on Volga, as they tried to gather up the monsters into one spot. The dragon allowed himself to go on a rampage and attack as many as he could, even if they were on his side.
"Get up!" Beliah yelled at her king, who had reverted back to normal size, but collapsed onto the ground in a heap.
"Need... a moment." He panted. "I haven't... done that in a long time."
"Get back!" Ruto yelled at a handful of knights as she tried to get closer to Volga, while sending a title wave over a bunch of monsters. In her mind, she believed that she could have a chance against the dragon, but Geode saw what she was doing and hurried towards her.
"Princess wait!" Geode cried out. "You can't fight that thing on your own!"
Ruto sent a wave of water at Volga, but it only angered him and once he shook it off, he turned towards her direction and began to prepare to let out a breath of fire.
Without even thinking twice, the young Goron grabbed Ruto up in his arms and raced away from the jet of flames that almost came seconds too soon- he felt the heat against his legs, but by the sharp intake of air from the Zora, he could tell that it was painful to her.
"If he got you, you'd be dead!" Geode yelled. "Zoras can't survive fire, right?!"
Elsewhere, the others were trying to keep away from the dragon, who was steadily approaching the fairy fountain.
"Dude, what's with that knight?!" Bethany demanded from her spot, though no one could answer as they had their own opponents to deal with.
Link began to think over his options carefully as he listened to what was happening outside- Zelda already had enough protection in the fountain, and he needed to help out in any way he could.
"Zelda, as much as I hate to say this, take Liam with you to Ceiya and finish him off for us." He finally told her.
"I understand." Zelda nodded without a second thought and watched as Link headed out, with sword in hand.
"Wait!" Impa protested. "You can't face him on your own."
"Except I need him to face me one on one." Link told her. "If he tries anything, then I'll appreciate what help I can get- I've learned my lesson."
Link approached the battle and continued to walk through the fighting and towards Volga, who was still attacking whatever he could see. He took a deep breath before he belted out as loudly as he could "VOLGA!"
The dragon halted in his path and turned to face the prince. He gave Link an impressive glare and reverted into his more human like form in a flash of fire.
"You." Volga growled as he readied his spear.
"You are better than this." Link calmly, yet firmly began. "To use dark magic instead of your own strength is a disgrace to yourself and to your lineage. What happened to the warrior I knew?"
"I am not a servant to your family!" Volga raged as he charged at Link.
"A descendant of the Great and Powerful Volvagia should not have to fight with a descendant of King Link Chronos Hyrule!" Link dodged the attack, before charging in with his own attack. "I once respected you and your lineage- you all are mighty and proud beings!"
"And yet, you foolishly wasted away your own honor!" Volga snarled as he blocked the attack. "Your whole family can't even finish what they started and end their enemies for good!"
"Well you are doing the exact same thing!" Link yelled back, but then Volga turned his arm into that of a dragon and smacked him to the side."DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE YOURSELF TO ME, YOU LITTLE WORM!" Volga then readied himself and sent out a jet of flame from his mouth and right at Link, but the green warrior quickly scrambled away before he could get burnt.
However, Volga charged right at Link, who didn't notice in time, and was slashed across the chest by the spear. The chain mail prevented serious damage, but Link was briefly stunned, and Volga had enough time to strike a blow or two against him. He then took to the sky with an attack that allowed his wings to briefly appear, before falling back down, and try to impale Link with the spear, but Link managed to get out of the way, and just when Volga was trying to pull the spear out, he was able to land a hit.
"Our families once respected each other! It's thanks to your lineage that Hyrule could live in harmony with the dragons! That can't end like this!"
"YOU DISREGARDED US AND TRIED TO MAKE US FIGHT YOUR OWN BATTLES! YOU STOPPED CONSIDERING WHAT WE WANTED FOR OUR KIND AND WE ALMOST DIED OUT THANKS TO YOU!"
It seemed that the fight between the two could go on and on. Those who were given a moment of peace nervously glanced to what was apparently going to be a fight to the death- neither warrior was giving the other a chance to rest, and all the while, more monsters were flooding into that one area thanks to the efforts of Hyrule's finest and it's assistants from the past. Link, however, did not have the advantages Volga did when it came to protection, and Impa watched with growing anxiety as Volga seemed to almost kill Link more than once.
"Please hurry." She glanced to the fairy fountain, where Zelda was. "I already lost him once. I can't lose him again."
The two messengers surveyed as much as they cold and entered the fountain, where Zelda was waiting.
"We got a lot of them gathered up!" Proxy eagerly told his companion.
"Pray for her now!" Sunny excitedly pipped up. Zelda nodded and turned to the pool of water, and she held her hand up into the air.
"Oh Great Fairy!" Zelda prayed in the fountain. "The time is now! Send us your blessings and aide our cause."
As before, the Great Fairy showed herself, but she knew that they were pressed for time, so she hastily commanded her fairies to appear.
"Give them all some divine light to shed on the battlefield, my dears!" She cried out.
Outside a horde of fairies merged together in a burst of light, and in the sky was a perfect replica of the Triforce. The loftwing crest appeared under it, and the ground began to shake, just before the mark of Hyrule exploded into golden rainfall that went hurling downward. Many monsters tried to escape but almost all of them were caught in the full blast, until finally the upper half of the battlefield was almost completely devoid of monsters.
"And that takes care of that!" The Great Fairy giggled, before she vanished.
"Oh thank Nayru." Bethany sighed in relief after fortune fell in her army's favor. "That helps us out quite a lot!" She turned to Ghirahim. "So, you want to see if there are any monsters at the temple to finish off while were at it? I bet you fifty rupees I can get three or more with one arrow!"
"I can get twenty or more with one attack." Ghirahim smugly responded.
The victory to Hyrule made Ceiya angry. "You've got to be kidding me! The Great Fairy helped them again?!" He glared at the fountain. "Fine- I'll fight you, as long as my opponent is your precious hero!"
"And now for Ceiya," Zelda grimaced as she began the last part of the battle that she was not looking forward to. She raced out of the fountain and ran towards the temple, and was quickly joined by Liam.
"Let me speak to him first!" He pleaded. "Maybe I can still save him!"
"I can't promise that I can hold back from what must be done!" Zelda responded. "If he refuses, I have to do get back the Triforce of Power in order to restore the timeline."
"I know that! I also know that you can give me at least one chance- that's all I ask!"
As they hurried on their way, they passed another duo- Link cautiously held his sword out in front of Volga, who had been struck by the blast, and he was kneeling at the ground, with weapon still in hand.
"Don't do this." Link told him. "The dark power isn't your own."
Volga heavily panted as he glanced up to his opponent. "Why... would you bother caring about your opponent?"
"Because you've lost your honor as a warrior, and you don't deserve to be used by another like this! Fight it! Fight the darkness inside you!"
Finally, the words were able to reach into the dragon's mind, and he was able to see through the haze and find the clarity he was seeking.
"You are a dragon, so be a dragon!"
Volga snarled and he clawed his hand into the dirt. "No..." He trembled. "No... I REFUSE TO SUCCUMB TO THE DARKNESS!" He roared and for one moment a burst of flame came out of his mouth as fire burned out the dark magic until nothing remained.
"If you want to fight me, fight as yourself!" Link yelled. "Now let's finish this fight as equals!"
Volga slowly got up and readied his spear. "Fine," He panted. "Then let me show you how a true warrior ends a fight.
Link also readied his sword and charged at Volga, who followed suit.
Elsewhere, the white sorcerer and the hero finally reached Ceiya.
"Ceiya!" Liam cried out.
The sorcerer glanced out to see the duo- Liam looked worried, but Zelda gave Ceiya a cold glare as she held her sword out.
"Well, isn't this nice." Ceiya grinned as he began to ready a spell. "I should have expected you to be by her side. It's a shame you had to turn into a deity and then revert back to normal." He glanced at Zelda. "I was really close to having you, my dear."
"Ceiya please stop this!" Liam desperately pleaded. "If you keep this up, you'll kill yourself. Fuse back with me!" He slammed a hand to his chest. "You can still save yourself before it's too late! Please- let us be whole again!"
"No!" Ceiya gritted his teeth. "I refuse to let you be a part of me again! Do you have any idea how wonderful it was to not have you holding me back?! Without you, I feel more powerful and more sure than ever before!" Yes, he was feeling drained- giving Volga a bit of dark magic was a dumb move, but he refused to give up now.
"Look at what it's done to Hyrule!" Zelda protested. "Did you really want to destroy everything, for my sake?!"
"This isn't what we wanted when we were the same!" Liam added. "We knew we shouldn't do this, and now our name and our memory is tarnished because we gave into the darkness!"
"Shut up, you stupid speck of light!" Cieya snapped. "This ends right now!"
He then rapidly waved his scepter out and created dark duplicates of Zelda. Though they charged at Liam and Zelda with swords out and ready, both dodged their attacks and reached Ceiya. Liam, sent a wave of magic out, but Ceiya dodged it quickly. Zelda then made to strike, but Ceiya quickly turned around and swung the spiked end of the scepter out, which stayed connected by a thread of magic. Zelda was forced to dodge each swipe and swing of the scepter, and Ceiya let out a laugh, just as Liam quickly kicked him in the rib cage and slammed a burst of magic into his face.
Ceiya grunted, and made to attack, but this time Zelda struck him in the arm and gave him a gash that made him yell in anger and try to strike her with the scepter, but Zelda quickly blocked the attack. The two engaged in trying to strike each other and blocking their attacks, until Liam readied a cube that he jumped on, and Zelda got out of the way as he walked it into Ceiya.
"You!" He snarled and sent waves of magic out at his double like a madman, but Liam blocked all the attacks with walls of magic, which he sent hurling right back at Ceiya, who ran away from them as fast as he could.
He spun around, to face Zelda, who exchanged more blows with him, but he finally had the upper hand when he smacked her across the face and knocked her back. He made to do a finishing move on her, but Liam quickly rushed in and readied another spell that he sent at Ceiya, who quickly blocked it.
"THAT'S IT!" Ceiya yelled as the darkness flared around his body. "You pushed me too far! You will die!"
He held his staff out and without warning, three additional clones came out. "I will win, no matter what!" He yelled, but then cringed and clutched his chest as the world began to spin around him.
Elsewhere, Volga and Link were at a draw. Both of them had pushed themselves too far, and neither one seemed willing to give up.
"Enough!" Impa stepped in front of them and held her sword at Volga. "We have more important things to worry about! If you want to end this feud, do it on another day!"
"She's right." Link panted as he glanced to Impa. "Ceiya is still fighting. You have to let us win just this once. I promise I'll finish this later!"
Volga glanced from Impa to Link. "You would die for your kingdom?" He demanded.
"I tempted it way too many times to say no and turn my back on everyone." Link replied. "Trust me."
Volga drew his spear back. "Then I won't stop you. I'll spare a life, but just this once."
"Thank you!" Link breathed and smiled. "I promise I'll make it up to you one day." He waved as if the dragon didn't try to kill him mere moments ago and raced to the temple as fast as his exhausted body could allow him. He did not want Ceiya to try to harm Zelda ever again, and if he had to resort to being Shadow again, then so be it.
Zelda gritted her teeth in determination as she and Liam tried to do their best to make quick work of the duplicates. Each one put up their own fight, and all the while, the original was using up his own life to power the duplicates.
"More of me and less of you!" Ceiya taunted.
Zelda finally made quick work of one clone, who then vanished, and Liam was able to do the same. Unfortunately, Ceiya then raised a few feet into the air and dark magic formed on the ground.
"Run!" Liam grabbed Zelda by the arm and pulled her to the side, just as beams of magic shot out. All the while, Ceiya was laughing maniacally.
"SEE LIAM?! IT FEELS BETTER THAN ANYTHING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE!"
The last clone was about to jump in and get Liam, but Zelda quickly caught him in time and engaged in a brief fight. As she did, Ceiya struggled to stay standing after using so much magic, but then he noticed Liam, and a dark thought crossed his mind- if he was to die, then only Liam would remain. But if Liam died, then he would finally triumph over his weak and pathetic half.
Ceiya quickly teleported himself behind his other half, and before Liam knew it, Ceiya smacked him in the head, quickly circled around him, and grabbed his neck as tightly as he could.
For Liam, it felt like Ceiya's fingers would puncture his throat at any moment- it was not possible for a normal person, but with a burst of dark magic, anything was possible.
"With your death, I will be able to finally purge myself of all restraint!" Ceiya grinned at Liam as his grip on his neck tightened and lifted his other half a foot up into the air.
"N-no." Liam struggled to breath. "Ceiya... you... can't... I can't let you-"
"We wanted this!" Ceiya's eyes nearly bulged out and his teeth were bared at Liam as he roared at him. "We wanted her! We deserved her, for all we've done for this land and their thankless deities! Why do you insist on fighting me?!"
Zelda finally finished off the last clone and turned to Ceiya. She knew what she had to do, and rushed to the sorcerer while he was still distracted- without thinking, she ran and sent the Master Sword right into Ceiya's back as hard as she could.
The sorcerer screamed as he let go of Liam and seconds later Zelda pulled the Master Sword out of him. Ceiya turned to face Zelda with every intent to lash out at her, but Liam quickly made his move and engulfed his counterpart in a square of light walls that formed a cube.
Ceiya cursed and swung his scepter at the walls, but they bore no effect. Zelda was safe from his wrath, and that was important for Liam, but there was something else he needed to do. When Ceiya gave up and clutched his wound to glare in fury at his double, Liam finally said what needed to be said, after all this time.
"All I really wanted-" Liam wheezed as he held a hand out, with the other gently caressing his bruised neck "-all that we wanted when we were whole was just someone to talk to and be our friend. I hated being alone and I thought that no one could ever understand me, so that was partly why we desired Zelda. I thought that I deserved the best for all I did for Hyrule, but I realized that what I did to gain them had too high a cost. I wanted to make amends, but I wasn't honest and I made things worse. I would do anything to help these people, because I care about them- I will sacrifice the individuality I have gained as Liam, if it means saving them all."
Liam glanced up to Zelda, who nodded as she readied her sword. "And even if they all don't share the same feelings I have... at least I'm happy to finally call all these amazing people my friends."
His hand clenched into a fist and the walls of the cube smashed into Ceiya.
The dark sorcerer let out a scream as the magic electrocuted every part of his being and could barely muster the courage to stay upright as he bent over in pain. At the same time, Zelda felt herself become connected to the Master Sword, and she could feel an energy surge into the blade.
Right before Ceiya could collapse, Zelda felt the magic raise her into the air, the mark of the Triforce formed under her and Ceiya, and a burst of light erupted out and consumed the three of them.
Link heard a blood curdling scream that was worse than the last one, and he forced himself to keep running, and he didn't stop until he reached the top of the temple, only to behold a horrible sight when the golden light faded and Zelda returned back to the ground.
Zelda averted her eyes and kept them from gazing upon the blood stained Master Sword, while Liam could only watch as Ceiya struggled to keep standing upright. He dropped his scepter to the ground and stumbled as the world around him began to spin once again. "No..." He panted. "I can still-!" He glanced up to Liam in despair. "Is... is this what you wanted... Liam?" He lost all focus and collapsed to the ground.
"Ceiya!" Liam ran to his counterpart's side and knelt beside him. Carefully, he placed a hand on Ceiya's shoulder and helped lift the upper half of his body over his knees, though the headdress that Ceiya wore fell off his head and remained on the ground.
Without the accessory it was more apparent just how much the two resembled one another- if one didn't know any better, they just looked like two brothers.
Liam struggled to keep himself together, but he knew, without a doubt, that his other half had gone too far. "You could have joined back with me... we could have been whole and yet you still insisted on throwing your life away over something we knew could never happen. Why?" His grip tightened on his dark half. "Why would you do that?!"
"Tell me," Ceiya stared into the sky as he remained still and chose not to fight away from Liam- there was just no point in fighting anymore. "What does it feel like... to have a new personality? For everything to be erased and rewritten until you don't feel like the person you used to be?"
"It wasn't pleasant." Liam confessed as he recalled that time. "I felt incomplete."
"But then you feel as if you've been reborn- reborn and freed from your past life to do what you wished to do."
"I feel free, but I want to be whole again." Liam confessed.
"And yet, we would have been trapped once more." Ceiya pointed out. "I know deep down you are afraid of what will happen to you."
He let out a sigh. "So this is how it ends... the only person to comfort me in my last moments is myself. This isn't what I wanted... it's not fair." His face was filled with regret.
"If you found the strength to see that what you were doing was cruel then this couldn't have happened." Liam was upset at this as much as Ceiya was. "You can't just take it out on everyone because nothing goes the way you want it to. You have to find it in yourself to have the power to move on ahead and change things for yourself- sometimes you just need to look within and see what you need to do about yourself to make that work, without changing the best of who you are."
Ceiya listened closely to his counterparts words, before glancing down to see the hero, with the prince at her side. Zelda silently watched the two, with her hand resting over her chest, as if the act was a prayer. In her eyes was a sorrow, but who was it really for- Liam, Ceiya, or both?
Zelda... the beautiful Zelda who was forever unobtainable. The Zelda who could outshine the goddesses themselves, and carried a strong soul that could face the darkness and sorrow, despite all that had to be sacrificed. The one Ceiya thought he could relate to, and who could love him.
"We've seen how this ends..." Ceiya almost whispered. "We both know she doesn't choose you." He glanced to Liam, with pleading eyes. "How do you do it... knowing you get left behind?"
Liam glanced to Zelda. Like Ceiya, he also shared a love of the girl who was eternally reincarnated throughout time, but he could see that if he were to try to make her his, when she was so far out of reach... and destined to be bound to the young man who stared at the two halves in understanding and in compassion... it would not be fair to either of them.
Liam turned to Ceiya with a sad smile. "You don't always get the person you think you deserve... and I can live with that." He moved his free hand to Ceiya's, and carefully held it over the latter's chest.
Ceiya thought over his counterpart's words as his world slowly began to fade. He was dying... or was he going to return to where he was supposed to be?
He didn't care any more. Whatever happened to him now was now in the hands of fate.
"You always were..." Ceiya slowly smiled to Liam- a real, true smile "... my better half."
His body started to faintly glow, and Liam began to panic. "Wait- Ceiya!"
Ceiya closed his eyes as eternal peace fell over him at last. His body wavered, like water ripples, until he faded from existence and left only empty air in Liam's hands.
There was nothing left of the dark half of Ceiya anymore.
Liam could only stare in silence in his moment of loss, until he noticed a small glowing light. He held his hand out to it in confusion, but as the light glowed and took on a rectangular shape, he realized what it was, stood up and took it with him.
"The Triforce of Power." he murmured. "Din inspires and favors those who desire and show true power in their goals... in their resolve and in their hearts."
Gods, it had to be fitting that all that was left behind was something that Ceiya had sought to make his dream a reality, as well as proof of which part of the three virtues his spirit had the most of. It really wasn't fair.
He closed his hand over the fraction of the Triforce and felt it disappear in his hand. Seconds later a mark bearing the Triforce, with the top triangle glowing in brilliant yellow appeared on his hand- signifying his right as the new owner of the relic and the title of Forger of Strength.
"Ceiya..." He murmured as the light faded. "I promise... I'll do what I can to make Hyrule remember you for the good that you had done, and not what you had become. I'll start by fixing the timeline, and then everything will be right once more- just like we were meant to do as the Guardian of Time."
Bye-bye Ceiya. You were one heck of a deranged fanboy and managed to give female Cia a run for her money because of that.
Oh, and Wizzro too- I didn't want to cover that one level, but I knew he had to disappear like he did in the game, and he had done enough despicable acts at this point. It made sense that Ceiya would deny a handful of people the chance to kill him, which was probably unsatisfactory for some of you. I'm not convinced that Volga was killed off in the game since it was hard to tell, so he lives in this AU.
Oh thank the high heavens I've finished this chapter!