The Legend of Zelda: Children of the Gods

Chapter Nineteen

"Oi, wake up, dumbass!"

Kage was rudely awakened by a hard kick to his side, which forced a grunt to escape him. He could feel the ground beneath him, the mud clinging to his stomach and chest, to his kimono, to his face and hair. He could feel a slight stinging sensation in his right cheek, likely from getting mud and grime in the large scrape he had received some time ago. He slowly sat up, wiping the mud from the wound, lifting his head slightly to see who had spoken. Much to his surprise, and dismay, he found a Shadow standing over him. It was not that hard to see that the Shadow was young, for a Shadow anyway. It hardly looked any older than him. However the big shock was that, despite the look of defiance in the Shadow's eyes, he did not seem to have any intention of harming Kage.

"…What do you want?" Kage asked weakly, still fatigued from having not eaten in several days.

"What kind of question is that?" the Shadow sneered, "We saved your sorry ass, and all you can say is that?"

"As if any of you would have anything to do with me," Kage growled, "You despise me for something I had no control over. You hate me for being a demon. Why the hell would you show me any compassion?"

"Hey, watch it you--!"

"After the incident in Kakariko five hundred years ago, I hold nothing but contempt for the lot of you. You have done nothing to prove that I should trust any of you," Kage snarled, rising to his feet, brushing the dirt and mud off his clothes.

"Hey, you were the one that killed them!" the Shadow snapped. Kage grabbed him by the throat, easily towering over him, those silver eyes of his flashing coldly.

"I have no control over my demon blood. If I am pushed too far, I snap, and anyone and everyone in my way joins the dead." He tightened his grip. "The only people to ever show me kindness were my creations, the Sheikah. But because, yet again, some idiot had to play 'hero' and attempt to kill the bastard son of Shingami, I was pushed too far. So many of the Sheikah died that day… and I do blame myself. But I also hold the lot of you at fault because you are just like the rest of those bigoted idiots in the divine realm. Until you prove to me that there is reason to trust you, I will not hesitate to kill any one of you on sight should you cross me. Am I understood!"

He had lost the woman he loved, he had starved for a week, and in his one attempt to just vanish out of existence, he ended up failing and was now being looked down upon by a Shadow. Add that all up and what do you get? One pissed-off God. And it was apparent by the tone of his voice and the death-glare he was giving the young Shadow that he would act upon his threat if he was annoyed any further. If the Shadow were an actual living organism with the need to eat, drink and breathe, the youth probably would have soiled himself.

"Y-yes… sir…" That last bit was added grudgingly, and Kage's grip immediately loosened. The Shadow rubbed his neck, glaring at Kage for a moment before gesturing for him to follow, leading him further into the darkness. Luckily Kage's eyes were beginning to adjust, so he was able to see where he was going. "Anyway, we did save your life. At least be thankful for that. And most likely yes, we would have let you die, but your brother came looking for you, and he refused to accept the face that you wanted to just die. He threatened to kill everyone and everything in the temple if you didn't show up soon."

'Sounds like Volvagia,' Kage thought to himself, sighing inwardly as he fought the urge to roll his eyes, 'Why would he care, anyway? He never did before.'

"He's been waiting for you," the Shadow continued, "It took a while to wake you, so he might not be too happy about the wait." Kage was able to see much more clearly now. He could see the light of the torches reflecting off the walls. Obviously they were nearing the chamber with the bird statue.

The Shadow stopped to look at Kage, keeping his head low. Obviously he feared the Shadow God's ire, despite his earlier defiance. "He should be waiting just outside. I will go no further." Without another word, the Shadow headed back the way they'd come, vanishing into the darkness of the temple. Kage stared after him blankly before continuing onward, entering the chamber of the bird-statue. He stared up at the torches, watching the flames dance for a moment before he continued towards the door.

'…Why would Volvagia be so determined to see me? Why would any of them want to see me to the point that they would threaten to kill the Shadows within the temple…?' He frowned slightly, lightly biting his tongue. 'Whatever it is, I believe I am in trouble for it.'

He moved slowly towards the entrance to the temple, slowing his pace as he neared the light. Having been in the temple for at least a few days, the light of day was almost blinding to him. He had to hold a hand up to shield his eyes as he continued forward. From the hue of the light that filtered into the entrance of the temple, it was nearing sundown. He could see the silhouette of his brother--though which brother it was, he couldn't tell--sitting hunched over on the pedestal in the center of the cavernous entryway. Kage hesitated before taking a few steps forward, feeling more and more uneasy with each passing moment. His sibling stood, and from the height, he could tell it was Koboku. That came as a shock to him as, out of all of his siblings, Koboku was the last one he could imagine threatening the lives of any person or thing. And as he'd guessed, from the look in Koboku's eyes, his older sibling was furious about something.

"You're coming with me," Koboku said in a low voice, grabbing for Kage's arm. Kage just pulled his arm back and stepped away from Koboku.

"It's good to see you too, Koboku," Kage muttered. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring coolly at his older brother. "Now, what did I do that has you so pissed off?"

"If you don't already know, you'll find out soon enough," Koboku said darkly, "You're coming with me."

"You could have asked nicely," Kage mumbled, "It's not like I have anything better to do." He faltered slightly before adding, "If I really wanted to piss you off, I could've just worn my father's haori…"

"Dammit, Seiryu, I've told you before not to mention him around me," Koboku growled lowly, grabbing Kage by his kimono, "After what he did, we've tried to forget him and to steer you away from becoming like him, yet you still follow his footsteps. If you keep this up, you will find yourself executed just like he was!"

"SHUT UP!" Kage snarled, "You know nothing about him, or me!"

"I know more than you'd think," Koboku hissed, releasing him, "We're going up Death Mountain to meet with the others in the Fire Temple. We will figure out what to do with you then."

"Whatever, Koboku," Kage muttered, pulling away from him, "I guess it doesn't matter to you that I'm stuck as a mortal for another century or so, and I've starved myself for at least a week."

"Those are results of your poor judgment, Seiryu, now deal with it," Koboku snapped, "Cut the drama and just shut up."

Kage made a rude gesture in response. Fortunately, Koboku had his back turned, and thus didn't see it. The two just stood at opposite ends of the cavern and waited until the sun had finally set. Then, Koboku grabbed Kage by his arm and started to lead him from the cave. Kage just sneered at him and pulled his arm away, but followed him calmly as he was led through the village towards the mountain path.

The trek up the mountain was a long one, so Kage took the time to think over what he could possibly have done that had him in trouble with not only Koboku, but the rest of his siblings as well. The last time he had seen Koboku, Jabun and Volvagia was the time in the forest, and that had been on relatively good terms. The last time he'd seen Din, Farore, and Nayru had been in the past week, when he had fallen into a depression over losing Selphie. As for Suna… well… she hated him. Plain and simple. She probably wouldn't even be with the others. She never was. Somehow, in the past week, since he'd thrown himself into that pit, he'd somehow pissed them off. What could he have done? Were they mad at him for trying to kill himself? Was it a misunderstanding?

He couldn't think of anything.

Kage staggered a few times as they made their way through the crater towards the Fire Temple. The heat was overwhelming, and it getting to be too much for him to bear. Luckily, despite being mad at his younger sibling, Koboku was still kind enough to help support him some of the way as they drew nearer to the temple. Luckily, the temple was considerably cooler, and Koboku was willing to rest a minute while Kage took a few moments to sit and catch his breath. Koboku watched Kage carefully for a moment. Because he was mortal, the heat of the volcano was affecting Kage considerably. His current state didn't help much either. They would definitely have to be careful towards him. Because he lacked the protection most gods had, they could accidentally kill him, and very easily at that.

"Hey, Koboku! Did you find him?"

Koboku turned his head slightly to see Volvagia standing at the top of the stairs, his arms crossed over his chest. He turned his gaze from Koboku to Kage and he scowled, glaring at his younger brother. Kage kept his head bowed, his hand pressed to his brow as he remained seated, gasping for breath. It was maybe at that point that Koboku realized the state their younger brother was in. Even though he'd been with him for over an hour, it was like he just noticed the blood, the dirt, and the sweat that stained that white kimono.

He grimaced slightly. What if they were jumping to conclusions again? The last time they had, Kage had been left to defend himself against the whole divine realm. He was a child at the time, but they still nearly executed him before Kage was proven innocent. Kage wouldn't even look at the rest of them for several long months after that. All because they had failed to trust him when he was innocent, just because they assumed he was following in his father's footsteps.

…Perhaps they should actually start trusting him…

Kage lifted his head slightly, looking tiredly up at Volvagia. Volvagia had a dangerous look in his eyes as he descended the stairs. At the same time, he could sense the arrivals of his other siblings—sans Suna, as he'd thought, but Nayru was missing as well—as they appeared in the room, and from the intense silence and the power he could sense radiating from them, they were just as angry as Volvagia. Kage grimaced. Geez, when the hell would they just stop with the distrust? They hated him for who his father was. For centuries, they'd insisted that wasn't what it was, but it was painfully obvious in their actions. Suna didn't bother to hide it. Why should they? It hurt more that they bothered to insult his intelligence by pretending they didn't hate him than just saying it outright.

"You have some explaining to do, Seiryu." The tone in Jabun's voice caused something to flare up inside Kage, especially with the way his given name had been spoken. He clenched his fists, but managed to keep himself under control.

"I don't have to explain anything to the lot of you. You could care less what goes on in my life," Kage said with a sneer, "So why don't you just leave me the hell alone?"

Jabun growled and grabbed Kage by his kimono, glaring dangerously at him. Kage roughly shoved him away, his silver eyes narrowing darkly. "Just stop with the damned games already and tell me what the hell I've done this time," Kage snarled, "Staying in the Shadow Temple is a hell of a lot better than being around the rest of you sometimes."

That certainly sparked a reaction. Din, Farore and Jabun all spoke up to protest, but Volvagia, always quick to act, leapt in and punched Kage as hard as he could right across the face. The force of the blow was enough to send him flying into the wall, which shattered upon impact, showering Kage with debris. A moment's silence reigned, and Kage managed to get to his feet, brushing off the dirt and rocks, wiping the blood away from his chin.

"Too bad, Volvagia, you didn't hit me hard enough. You could have killed me then."

"That's enough, Seiryu," Koboku said, appearing at Kage's side, one hand resting gently on his younger sibling's shoulder. Kage just glanced at his older brother's hand, but said nothing. What was the point? There was nothing more to say to them for the moment. Koboku, however, looked up at the others, taking control of the situation. "Jabun, go get Nayru, bring them in here."

"Koboku--"

"Do as I said!" Koboku snapped. Jabun swallowed hard and immediately complied, darting up the stairs and going into the next room.

Din, meanwhile, looked over at Koboku, one eyebrow raised. "So, Koboku, why the sudden change in attitude?"

"Yeah, as I recall, you were more pissed than the rest of us," Volvagia said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'll explain it later," Koboku replied, "But I'll say this: we should stop jumping to conclusions whenever something happens with Seiryu. After all, it almost cost him his life last time."

Everyone was dead silent, even Kage, who had his gaze fixed firmly on the floor. The sound of the door opening seemed to echo loudly throughout the chamber, as did the sound of footsteps. Kage slowly lifted his gaze, watching as Jabun and Nayru descended the stairs. With them was another, a young boy no older than maybe five years. His complexion was fairly pale, and his style of dress was unlike something Kage had seen before, as the boy was dressed in strange, dark blue robes. However, what caught Kage's interest was the boy's thick, shoulder-length silver hair, and his bright silver eyes.

A chill ran down Kage's spine as he watched the boy as the three drew nearer to him. Kage paled slightly, watching as the boy's eyes seemed to light up and he grinned when he saw Kage. Then came the biggest shock of all. The boy held his hand out to Kage, still grinning, and said one word in clear, perfect Draconic:

"Daddy!"

Author's Notes: Oh, the suspense! Will it ever end! ... Eventually.

I like this chapter. n.n Yay for Aki! And for those that don't know, Draconic is the language of Dragons, so... yeah.

The next chapter's almost done! O-O Shouldn't be long! n.n