Epilogue: And So….

When I first blinked back into reality, I thought it had all been a dream. I was back in the front seat of my brother's car, stuck in a ditch with the passenger side lifted up at a 45 degree angle. I looked around; my brothers were slowly blinking awake in their respective seats, probably wondering the same thing. We were back where this whole crazy adventure had started…but did it really happen?

I felt something in my hand. I looked down and saw the sleek black brush that had become my personal magic wand in the last few days. So it HAD happened? I had to be sure. Pulling out my phone from the backpack on my lap, I quickly turned it on and opened it up. The battery was a 80%, just as it had been when we were picking up Sammy. But there was now a new photo in my album: one featuring a certain dark-skinned, red-haired, golden-eyed man sitting cross-legged with a white sword laying across his lap.

I almost cried when I saw the picture I took before the fight. "Hey Dad."

My life didn't instantly get better. My real Dad didn't come back to see us after all these years, my grades didn't get higher, my Mom still worked those extra hours at the hospital, and I was still a black-sheep at school. Of course, it wasn't like nothing at all had changed, because it definitely did. First of all, I finally got over my daddy issues, so that's a plus. Then what happened was I tried encouraging Mom to take a break every once in a while. While she still works hard, Sammy does get to see her more often when it's time for his chocolate milk and Josh can look forward to having her see a basketball game or two. After that, I went ahead and tried to change my loner status at school; I joined the art club (shocker), took a mid-year new student under my wing, and worked in stage crew for the winter play. Hey, even Veronica Mars made a few friends along the way. As for that social studies project…well, I didn't have best overall strategy (Mr. Chalanick said a couple details were over the top and extremely unlikely), but I did get a pretty good grade.

Now enough about all that. I have a Halloween party to tell you about.

I knew the whole thing was some sort of trap from the moment Zoe gave me the invitation. That idea was only reinforced by the identities of my two enemies-turned-hosts. But of course I wasn't going to miss out on turning the tables and messing with them. So that's what found me for most of that Saturday working frantically on my 'costume'. Truth be told, with my new little gimmick, I could just draw what I wanted and bring it out for myself to wear. The trick was to actually figure out what I wanted. After a while, I finally decided on something I like. A white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black pants and boots, a dark grey tie and fedora with a white band (I also made Ghirahim's gem into a pin and tacked it on the band), a black glove to cover up my new scar, and a vest with my own special pattern on it (but more on that later). Simple, comfortable, but with just enough flare to be easily noticed.

And believe me, I wanted everyone to see what was going down.

I've personally never been to Zoe's house (which surprisingly was not a mansion, just a nice big house), but her bimbo friends have posted enough interior pictures on Instagram for me to get a pretty good idea of the layout. Social media was also how I new that Zoe's parents were out of town for the weekend. When Josh and I rolled up the driveway, I saw that some of the party extended outside the place and into the backyard. I stepped out of the car, brush in hand, and gave my irish twin a thumbs up. He returned the gesture and began backing out. Even though he'd be parked a little ways down the road, I was virtually on my own until I called him. I had no idea what to expect, no idea whether they would jump me straight away or have something subtle happen while the party was happening. The moment I stepped inside, I would have to start planning a counter attack. For the time being, I took a deep breath and went to knock on the door.

Like any good high school party, all was chaos. Music blasting from every corner of the room, strobe lights about to give somebody a seizure, red cups filled with soda (some with beer), and everything else you could think of. Of course, this being a Halloween party, there were appropriate decorations everywhere: paper bats hanging off streamers on the ceiling, plastic skeletons pinned on the wall, black cloth covering the windows for dramatic effect, and so on. Everyone, every Junior that I knew by name or by face, was in their own skimpy or half-assed costumes. One of them, a girl dressed up as a "sexy" mouse (I think her name was Angela), practically shoved a cup into my hand before stumbling away, saying "thanks for the beer". I was a bit confused at first, but after asking around, I found that someone had said that I had apparently provided the beer. And the strobe lights. And the inappropriate music. So once Mr. and Mrs. Nohansen returned home, Zoe would "tattle" about how "I" turned her "intimate get together" into a sleazy college party. That would eventually cause me to be expelled from school and be given a nasty stain on my criminal record.

Pfft. And this chick was supposedly the distant descendant of a reincarnated goddess? She'd already given me enough to play with and now she practically hands over an extra measure as well?

I stepped outside and found what I was looking for: Zoe and Lance, standing by the swimming pool while talking to another couple. Both of them looked like the spitting images of Link and Zelda, with a few differences here and there (no weapons and no pointy ears). Zoe spotted me and waved me over, acting as if we were best buddies. Playing the oblivious fool, I gave her my absolute best smile and walked towards my enemies, brush temporarily going into my pocket. "What's up?"

"Glad you could make it, Regina!" Zoe practically shouted.

"I'm sure. Good to see you too, Lance."

The wannabe hero stood awkwardly, obviously not as good at hiding his discomfort. "Yeah."

"Wait…." Zoe squinted at my vest before going wide-eyed.

"You like it? I made it myself." I gave them a little twirl so the both if them could see. Now, let me tell you exactly what they saw. The base color was about the same shape of purple as my glasses. Covering the purple was a pattern of peacock feathers, mainly the little eyes that you'd see on the tips; from outward to the insides, the colors were gold, white, black, then gold again. There's a little surprise though. You see, back during my trip in the past, I noticed a special symbol on Ganondorf's cape. The only accurate way I could describe it would be like the rough outline of a dragonfly's face. So, as a testimony to the big guy, the center circles for my peacock eyes were replaced with that symbol. And I guessed by the look on Zoe's face that she recognized it as well.

"But that's-!" She dropped her smile and all but glared at me. "How long have you known?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Since yesterday. Why, how long have you known?"

She squinted. "Sixth grade."

"Ah, so that explains it."

"Zoe, what's she talking about?" I glanced over and poor Lance was so confused.

I gasped in pretend shock. "How long have you two been dating now? Four years? And you haven't even told him, have you?"

"Told me what?" The poor guy was getting more upset by the second while his girlfriend just glanced to the side. Oh, this was too easy! I leaned in for barely a second and whispered:

"I look forward to working with you, Hero."

With that, I turned on my heal and made my way back to the rest of the party, leaving my two enemies in the dust. As I pushed through the crowd of wasted Juniors, I took one last look at the decorations and smirked. I now had one hand on the knob of the front door, the other reaching for my brush. A turn and a flick later, everyone was screaming at the sight of skeletons dancing and bats flying every which way. I had to keep myself from laughing as I jogged down the driveway and to the road. Now it was time for the extra measure. I pulled out my phone and dialed a certain three digit number.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"Y-yes, hello?" I answer in my best worried voice. "I was just driving down the road. I passed this house and I-I thought I heard screaming. There were all these flashing lights and-and I think there's kids there!"

"Okay, please calm down, ma'am. Can you give me the address?"

I gave her what I "believed" was Zoe's address and the nice operator said they'd send an ambulance and a couple of squad cars right away. I hung up and I finally let loose my laughter. It was a twenty minute drive to here from the closest police station and I'd set the decorations to dance and fly around for twenty two. By the time the bats and skeletons returned to their places on the walls and ceiling, the cops would be parking in the driveway. Zoe wouldn't have time to hide the evidence, let alone actually frame me for any of it. I texted Josh to pick me up quick as I stood at the end of the driveway, still in a giggle fit.

"Think I overdid it?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!

"Yeah, me neither."

Oh, that was well played. But I think you could've done more.

"This was just to shake them up. I'm saving the bigger stuff for later."

You know, I could get used to this "Demon Incarnate" thing.

"So, the Last has awakened?"

"That would appear to be the case, Master. However, something…strange happened."

"How so?"

"Someone interfered briefly. They took the Incarnate and her siblings away. Not a minute later, all three were returned by unknown means and she bore the Mark of Demise."

"I see…."

"M-Master?"

"We may have another player on the board. For now, send in Byrne."

"Byrne?!"

"Now that she's awoken, she will become a target. He will fit in beside her, protect her at all costs, and be our eyes and ears on the inside."

"But, Master, what shall we do in the meantime?"

"We watch and wait. That has been the purpose of the Eye for generations. We must do this, or the world will fall into ignorance and obscurity."

"V-very well. It shall be done."

"Heheh. Regina Adams, how you've grown. So young, yet already aware of the power inside of you. Fear not the world that has appeared before your eyes, for the Eye of the Yiga is always watching over you."

The First and Last will return….