mysteriousguy898: CD-I and cartoon jokes are stale now, but I think the gag is more 'would Ceiya REALLY be that obsessed?' (Actually there is a HW comic that pokes fun at this idea that you might have seen.) Shadow is NOT having a good day in this chapter, but- well, you'll see what happens. I think that Link's flaws are that he can be reckless and a tad arrogant and of course those amplify in Shadow to the point that he gives a rude gesture to the sun and goes off to save the girl.

There is NOTHING in Shadow's mirror at the moment, except for his original body. Midna gave it to him to be a jerk and offer two options that would not work in his favor either way. Unless he can get into the Spirit Temple/Arbiter's Grounds before his body burns away, then he is still pretty much screwed with the better of the two options.

Ugh... damn those would have been horrible if Ceyia unleashed all that you suggested. That would make a good fan-fic for someone to do.

Hero Alexa249: I'm really glad that I gave Volga a bigger role in that chapter. I'll probably be crying too, but I think it would be a mix of happiness, sadness, and relief over the fact that I got it done. Ganondorf still messed up in this story and of course this might be addressed. YES! They are making a live action version! Have you seen the new poster yet! I WANT TO SEE THE CHARACTERS! (Thankfully there is going to be a sneak peak when they re-release the blu-ray for the animated version in September, which I predict will get on the internet.)

Random Swap Fan: *pops up in water alongside you* You must organize an army of cleaning sea creatures to help you out next time. And go on a quest to find the ultimate bottle of stain-and-dirt-removal. :D

Originally he and Zelda would communicate through the gossip stone and when he tried (and failed) to get out of the cave, they would be all 'Sorry Princess, but I guess you had me this whole time' and THEN cue the 'OH CRAP! (for them)/HALLELUJAH! (me and the others)' moment.

We'll see what Aryll is up to when we get a chance. Shadow doesn't need to have a heart attack to go with the hell he's going through right now. (I know that the song will be included and there is a clip of Luke Evans singing it with Hugh Jackman, though he's not as much of a baritone as Richard White. Oh God, I can't believe I actually made that joke. Josh Gad sings it in a certain clip you can find on the internet when he was still on set, but... uh, hopefully he'll do it differently. I can't believe how many Gaston ytp's use that song :D) Also, Vaati will make an appearance in the next chapter, if all goes according to plan.

Let me get those goods to Shadow. *Get's Shadow to come in.*

Shadow: Oh thanks. *Happily accepts the some of the sun protection goodies. Midna's cannon shots a lazer and causes the goods to explode.* DAMNIT! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!

Me: He really does appreciate it. Fate's just being a jerk to him right now.

This was kind of an important chapter so I tried to give it my all. There was a lot that I wanted to do, but some it will have to be saved for later because the events here didn't seem to have a logical place to fit them in.

Funny story about this chapter in real life:

*FLASHBACK TO A FEW WEEKS AGO*

Me: Alright, lets play this level to refresh my memory and come up with ideas. *sees that game is downloading or updating something* Uh, ok then.

Game: YOU GOT MEDLI!

Me: What the-? But I don't own Hyrule Warriors Legends! How did this happen?! This is like when that space with Fi and the Imprisoned's was magically cleared after several failures!

Medli: *poofs into existence* Hello!

Me: *freaks out* AGH! I don't know how to put you in my fanfic! What do I do with you?!

Chapter 21: A Link to the future

By the time Fi and Midna had their fill of punishing Zelda and left her to attend other matters, she could barely register what was around her anymore, besides the damage that had been inflicted or that the world seemed to swim in her good eye due to how much blood she had lost. There was more blood on her clothes and her skin was a pale white from the lack of that precious red life force that should have flowed inside her. Her face bore tear streaks from her torture and one eye was swollen to the point that she couldn't see anything out of it and when she tried to take a breath, she ended up spitting blood out of her mouth in the process; She wasn't aware where that mix of saliva and blood landed and she didn't care.

She wanted so badly to just fall asleep and succumb to the darkness. She couldn't feel much in her arms anymore and everything stung or throbbed while the sun was slowly giving the air an unbearable high temperature. Sleep would have preferable to this wretched state she was in.

Why did it have to be her? What did she do to deserve this? Did she do something terrible in another life? Was this her punishment? Why would Hylia select her soul to be the one to go through all this torture? Was this because she had a moment of fear before facing Ganondorf? Was this because she had been granted too many favors in this life? Why did she feel as if she couldn't let herself die when she also wanted to just escape the torment that she had to go through?

"You have a lot of guts to be able to talk back to them. I would have done the same if it had been me."

She moved her head up to see someone standing in front of her and though the world was spinning in a haze he remained clear and defined. For one moment she thought it was Liam due to his blue hair, but then she saw that the eyes were not the same color–that and there was something vaguely familiar about him even though she never saw him before. The overwhelming concern in his eyes felt familiar, and his voice felt as if she knew it by heart, but why?

He sighed and moved a little closer to Zelda. "You're still the same girl I helped out all those centuries ago, no matter which form or personality you take. You keep suffering and yet you still seem to want to hang on and keep going."

A name came to Zelda as something buzzed in the back of her head, like a memory that had been locked away. "I-" she struggled to speak. "I...Iv...va..n?"

The man broke into a small smile and seemed pleased at her guess. "I look different without the glowing light or the wings, but yeah its the very same; I guess my Zelda was still hoping I'd show up, otherwise you wouldn't have known who I was. Or maybe its just an instinct or good guesswork."

"H-" She struggled to speak. "H...how c- can- I-?"

"Speak to me if I've been dead for a few centuries?" Ivan laughed. "Yeah, I would have struggled to deal with something that when I was alive- I would have asked so many questions until just thinking about it would hurt my brain."

"The truth is that you're pretty close to death's door and- well, there's three ladies up there who owe me a favor. I really wanted to have a chance to speak with you, but I wish it didn't have to be like this- not at one of the lowest points of your life. You still have a chance to avoid dying from blood loss, but the clock is still ticking."

Zelda didn't know how to respond; especially if it took whatever strength she had to just be able to speak.

"I can't predict the future, so I don't know what happens next." Ivan confessed. "If you want, you can go up now and join the others. However," He gently cupped Zelda's chin with his hand and looked her in the eye. "I have a strong feeling that you are destined to surpass your previous incarnations-including the Zelda that I knew. You are going to be the one to show Ganondorf that having the Triforce does not make one invincible."

"I... I'm n-not li-like them." Zelda tried to protest. "N-never...no t-trials or d-dung-geons. No big m-monsters. U- used Trif-force... re-relied on a-allies-"

"Going through dungeons and defeating monsters toughens you up and makes you smarter, but that doesn't mean that they give you what you already possess." Ivan replied. "There is far more to you than what you believe and no matter what they think of you, you are not just some beautiful face that can cause a war, nor are you a tool to the Gods. Ganondorf learned from his past experiences, but you also have a knowledge of the past from your studies too. You don't need the Triforce to win against Ganondorf- your first incarnation didn't need it to defeat Demise. Try to recall something that may come in handy and trust your instincts, Zelda."

He placed his forehead against hers. "You can prove them all just how strong you are on the inside. You have several reasons to continue on and some of them need you more than you could possibly realize. Please fight to live to become the person you want to be-I know you can do it Zelda."

"I... can't." Zelda felt like crying. "L- look a-at me. I-I'm br-bro-broke-ke-ken."

"Is that what you really believe, Zelda?" Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Think again."

"Y..you're j-just a dr-dre-eam."

Zelda locked eyes with the spirit of the fairy companion for one moment before she felt her drowsiness get the best of her and she blacked out.

-?-

Shadow screamed as he ran into the shadows of a rocky wall and clawed at his face as his body gave off smoke. It felt as if his skin was twisting and hardening on him, he didn't even bother to suppress his crying tears of agony, and he wanted so badly to end his suffering.

Except he could not afford to turn back- not if his real body was still too damaged to be of any use. Not if so many were depending on him and not if Zelda was still in deep trouble.

"Oh damn!" He cried as his nails dug deeper into the flesh of his artificial face, which had some dark marks here and there. "Damnit, damnit, damnit to Farore!"

He peered through the gaps of his fingers to see a familiar sight looming in the distance and that was none other than the old Spirit Temple. It gave him some hope that just maybe he would find what he was looking for, but it would mean a long run from where he was now to there.

He took another deep breath as his hands grabbed at his arms and his sharp nails hug into them. "I can do this, I can do this!" He hissed to himself. After a few seconds, he pushed himself back out into the sunlight and ran as fast as his body could allow him to while shielding his face with one arm so that he wouldn't risk losing his eyesight. He felt every part of him that was in direct sunlight increase the burning sensations and the exposed parts slowly began to blacken until they hardened, became something like charcoal, and slowly turned into something like flakes of ash that flew off into the air.

He was literally burning away until there would be nothing left of him.

-Elsewhere-

"You all know what to do!" Liam's voice rose loud enough for all the knights and Gorons to hear as they waited in the empty Gerudo village. "Find Fi and Midna and bring them back alive so I can send them back!"

"And find Link and Zelda if they're here!" Proxy also added as loudly as possible. "And if we do, then we know what must be done!"

One small group that composed of Kay, Jayce, and Bethany, nodded in understanding.

"Remember to be careful and conserve your energy if possible!" Liam yelled as he turned around to face the other side of the bridge, where the monsters could be seen in the hazy distance. "NOW GO!" He lead the charge and ran as fast as possible. The others were encouraged to show their determination to yell and charge forth as they raced beyond the bridge and began to split up and begin the search.

The monsters were numerous, but they were ready to take them all out. Every victory meant an easier chance of winning the battle and they were ready to thin the numbers out. These monsters showed no mercy and to most it was fitting to give them the same in due.

"ARGH!" Ashei yelled as her ball and chain slammed into all that got in her way while the Gorons charged forward to attack the others.

"FOR HYRULE!" Bethany screamed as she sent arrow after arrow at the oncoming monsters.

"TELL GANONDORF WE'LL SEE HM IN HELL!" Sir Winslow stabbed a large moblin in its stomach with his blade.

Of course, this all did not escape the notice of Ganondorf's best commanders. One of them was waiting inside a keep that was smack dab in the middle of a huge area of land and she stared at a familiar trio with little concern.

"You think that you can defeat me when I know how you perform in battle?" Fi asked. "Your chances of success against me are much lower than the last time."

"That freak you follow hurt our friends!" Groose pointed his sword at Fi as he took a bomb out of his bag while both Karane and Pipit also had their swords out.

"Were getting Hyrule back!" Karane snarled as she drew a mace out to wield with her sword.

"And you're first on the agenda!" Pipit growled. "Bring it on!"

Fi wordlessly ran ahead, but Groose quickly tossed the bomb at her. Though she dodged, he darted around the resulting explosion and gave her a swipe to the sword and would have cut into her, but no blood was drawn and only a dark cut appeared upon her body. When Fi was distracted, Karane rushed in and also tried to attack, but Fi blocked her sword. This only made Karane knock Fi's sword away with her mace and reach out to slash at Fi.

"TAKE THIS!" Groose performed an upper cut with his blade into Fi, while Pipit hurried around Fi and when the servant of Demise was knocked back by the attack, he unleashed a down cut upon her.

Something isn't right. Karane took a moment to observe Fi as she struggled with the two knights. I know she is supposed to be a sword spirit like Ghirahim, but why is her coloring different? The spirit did in fact had a dull tone in her body and clothes in comparison to when Karane last fought with her.

The sword spirit then knocked the two young men away and then took to the air by a few feet before flying off to the north.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Groose yelled as he lead the charge. "GET BACK HERE, YOU FAIRY WANNABE!"

Elsewhere, Midna encountered a very angry young Goron who still recalled what she had done the last time he saw her.

"YOU!" Geode's grip on the fire rod tightened as he stared the princess down. "IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT MY BROTHER AND KOJI ARE DEAD!"

"As are so many other Gorons." Midna sighed in boredom as she twirled her spear around her. "Honestly they were just another casualty of war like you'll soon be."

"What the heck is your problem?!" Geode demanded. "Why re-join Ganondorf after what he did to you?! You're not worthy of the title of Twilight Princess if you act the opposite of a noble ruler!"

Midna's smirk changed into a scowl. "Oh no- don't you dare think you can preach to me like Zant or Zelda! You know what?!" She pointed her spear at the Goron and sent a wave of artificial Twili wolves at him. "I'll personally send you to your companions with full regards!"

Geode screamed and sent a wave of flames at the wolves before they could attack him and he charged forward. The Twili merely laughed and sent a stone hand out from her mirror, but the Goron curled into a ball and rolled away from it, before he sped up and crashed right into her stomach and knocked her down. As she struggled to get up, Geode uncurled and grabbed the Mirror of Twilight before punching it as hard as he could with a fist that still held onto the fire rod. If he could destroy her greatest source of power then they would have a chance.

But to his confusion, the mirror only vanished into black smoke when his fist hit the surface.

"You idiot!" Midna let out a laugh. "Do you honestly think it'll be that easy?!"

Geode yelled in frustration as he began to see red and sent his free fist right into Midna's stomach.

"GET BACK HERE!" Groose yelled as he tried to swing his sword at Fi, but she kept flying away. It took an arrow from a nearby archer to finally put a stop to her and give the trio enough time to catch up and finish the job.

"Thanks!" Pipit waved to the archer before joining in to attack Fi. Within mere moments they all took her down and she collapsed but then she vanished into black smoke before they could celebrate in their victory.

"What the-?!" Groose was flabbergasted. "How did-?"

"Did it seem weird to you that she looked different and wasn't putting in as much effort?" Karane asked.

"Now that you mention it, it was almost too easy." Pipit realized.

Elsewhere, Geode was still blindly punching Midna without realizing that her coloring was not the same as he would have remembered it- she was paler than she should have been. Even when her body vanished into smoke, he continued to punch through to the sand until he was able to slowly realize what just happened. The angry haze began to clear up as he stared at the ground before looking at his hand in horror at what he allowed himself to do.

"This... this isn't right." He gulped. "None of this is right."

He looked up to see that more monsters were coming towards him and the others. The only way to snap out of his shame and confusion was to keep fighting, so he took the staff and head towards the monsters.

Meanwhile, Liam and his group tried their hardest to fight the monsters, but for some reason it seemed that wave after wave kept coming.

"We can't keep this up!" Sir Winslow yelled. "We must go to a different area!"

"We can't!" A female knight yelled. "The gates closed us in! We're trapped in this area with the monsters!"

Liam cursed as he looked into the sky. The heat was getting worse with each moment and it would take long for heat stroke to be a severe threat for all of them.

"Liam!" Proxy yelled as he flew to the sorcerer. "Both Midna and Fi vanished into smoke!"

"What?!" Liam demanded.

"What's more is that they apparently didn't put up much of a fight!" Proxy added in concern. "Something's wrong and what's worse is that more monsters are appearing in the area!"

"Any sign of Zelda and Link?!" Liam asked before quickly sending a spell at an oncoming monster.

"No!"

"Then keep looking!" Liam yelled and the fairy took to the skies.

-Arbiter's Grounds/Spirit Temple-

Inside what was once both a mighty temple and a house of the condemned was a familiar figure who was barely alive but still filled with reckless determination to keep going. A long trial of ashes and charcoal like dust had either fell to the floor or had been smeared upon the walls until they lead right to the young man, who struggled to support himself against a wall in a hall lined with torches alit with flames.

Shadow cursed as his body still continued to shake from the pain and shock of the overexposure to the sunlight. Parts of his form had blackened and then turned ash white to the point that he had lost chunks of flesh, hair, most of his right ear, and parts of clothing, including his scarf which now looked like it was made of mere threads instead of just cloth. Even his hat was not moving like it normally did and it- like the other parts of him- had lost chunks that had been turned to dust and fell into the air. Though he did not know it, his own face was half dark to the point that the red in one his eyes bleed out into the whiteness while the rest of his skin had dark burn like patches, and were still smoking from exposure.

Even his boots left behind dust, as did his hand which left a smear of blackness against the wall when he tried to support himself and press against it as he struggled to walk.

He could barely move his hands and it hurt to move his mouth- the flesh and muscles hardened too much and forcing them to move and bend created more dust and caused a sharp stinging sensation in his face.

He grunted as he tried to move forward, but his already fragile wrist snapped from the pressure against the wall. He let out a startled yell as he slammed onto the ground and felt more of himself deteriorate. He slowly looked at his hand, only to see that it had snapped off and was disintegrating into dust while the remaining stump looked like the black and brittle end of fire wood.

"Oh Nayru," A now trembling Shadow felt like he needed to vomit at the sight of how he lost his hand. He knew that this body was just a mass of darkness that contained his mental conscious (while the real one was safe within the mirror) but this was just another sign of how far he had fallen in both body and in fate. "Oh Nayru- Oh-!" He clutched his remaining hand over his mouth and kneeled over on his side.

To burn and slowly disintegrate into powder like a log in a fireplace while being aware of it was, in his opinion, a terrible way to go out from this life. It was to the point that he would have to get back into his real body, unless he wanted to risk a far worser fate upon himself.

"Look at him! He's all crawling on the ground like a worm!"

"Fitting for a fallen prince I say!"

Shadow slowly looked up to see some stalfoes and a bunch of other monsters laughing and pointed at him from the other end of the hall. "Hey, you think they'll torture him like they did to the pretty girl?"

"Or maybe we'll just take him and force him to watch as we have a go at her!" A poe wheezed out in laughter. "Who says that they get to have all the fun?! We could stab and burn the hero too!"

"Yeah, maybe we'll get to chop off her hair or something, so long as she stays alive!" A bokoblin shrieked in delight. "She won't look as pretty when we're through with her!"

Whatever was left of Shadow's delicate psyche was shattered. It took everything to stay focused through the agony while he was in the sunlight. Thoughts of his kingdom, his friends, his precious sister, and that beautiful, wonderful girl who liked him even as this crude, destructive incarnation, kept him going when the world around him spun and the orb in the sky ate at him until he left behind dust. All that mattered now- the only sole reason to keep living at this point- was reaching Zelda alive and getting her out of this rat infested hole.

And these spawns of Demise dared to think of touching her?

Shadow let out a low laugh and slowly he began to rise back up on his feet as he forced the mirror to give him strength and rejuvenate his damaged shell. He didn't care if he would lose what little goodness remained of him; he was too angry to care anymore.

"Y'all shouldn't have done that." He chuckled as he felt his body course with something like fluid or blood and the chunks of himself that were missing were beginning to reform.

"What'd you say?!" The stalfoes demanded.

"I said-" Shadow repeated as his head rose up and tendrils of darkness suddenly shot out of his body- one of which bursted through the remains of the damaged side of his face and out of the stump where his hand had been- "-Y'ALL SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT!" He yelled in a tone that would have been considered hammy and over-the-top, yet it was the grin on his face that was wider than that of the Happy Mask Salesman and fiercer than that belonging to the false moon that once plagued the land of Termina, that caused bone chilling dread in the monsters.

With a burst of speed, the dark version of Link practically flew out at the group and the tendrils of darkness impaled anyone unlucky enough to be in the way or had not been fast enough to run away.

"THAT'S IT!" Shadow yelled in sick delight. "YOU WANT STABBING?! I'VE GIVE YOU STABBING! I'LL GIVE IT ALL!"

Shadow continued to laugh and tear apart the monsters in the most violent of ways imaginable and didn't stop when they were gone. He continued to run-almost glide his way through Arbiter's Grounds and tore through anything unlucky enough to cross his path. The only warning they had was the dying screams of the fallen or his eyes which were both fully red and glowing in the darkness.

He was immune to the protests in his damaged body and all he knew was to kill as many as possible and get to his Princess. He was too overcome with anger to realize that he was truly turning into his worst self as the person he used to be was slowly fading away. The delights of violence and his own laughter drowned out all reason and the screams that ensued from the unlucky.

-Outside-

Despite Shadow's unintentional aid, there was still a number of monsters that appeared in place of those who were slain. On and on it continued, and it seemed that the once possible victory was escaping the warriors of Hyrule with each passing second.

"Ugh..." Proxy glanced around in alarm. "Where is Link and Zelda?!" He then noticed something in the distance- a strange circular architecture in the distance that he had never checked out yet. "Maybe-!" A hopeful Proxy flew towards the structure as fast as he could and paid little mind to the monsters that kept escaping from the building or the surrounding area.

"ZELDA?!" Proxy flew down into the former mirror chamber where Zelda was chained up. "Oh thank the Goddesses!" He laughed but then hesitated when he saw how bad of a state Zelda was in and that she didn't seem awake. "Zelda?" He asked as he flew into her face and waved back and forth. "Zelda wake up! We came to save you! ZELDA! HEY! HEY LISTEN!" He screamed as loudly as he could.

No response.

"No," Proxy shook his body as he realized that perhaps the worst had passed upon his friend. "No. No, no, no NO!" He cried. "No you can't do this again Zelda! You have to still be alive! We're trying so hard to save you again!" He slammed himself repeatedly against her cheek, but she still wouldn't budge.

He let out a frustrated cry. "Fine! Don't wake up! I'll just go and let Bethany and the others know where you are!" He flew off to try to find Bethany or Liam to inform them where Zelda was.

"We cant help if this keeps up!" Bethany complained to the others from inside a keep as she shot an arrow with a bomb attached to it at a large group of monsters. "Do you guys have any ideas?"

Jayce's hold on her sword tightened up. "If we had more powerful allies on our side, than this would have been much easier. Where are people like Vaati or Saria when we need them?!"

"GUYS!" Proxy yelled as he came to the trio. "I found Zelda! She's on top of Arbiter's Grounds in the mirror chamber!"

"Oh thank Din!" Bethany laughed as Kay quickly asked. "How bad is she?"

"She wouldn't wake up when I tried talking to her!" Proxy frantically replied. "You have to cure her and fast!"

"Got it!" Bethany saluted to the fairy. "Tell Liam and we'll go ahead!" She ran towards the former temple, with the others in close pursuit.

"But we don't know what its like in there!" Jayce pointed out. "There could be more monsters in there or even traps!"

"Well we can't call ourselves protectors of Hyrule if we can't handle a beastie or a puzzle!" Bethany laughed. "Now lets show a rude gesture to fate and show that the hero doesn't have to be the only one to go through a dungeon!"

Had Bethany known what kind of help they were getting in the temple, she would have been even more confident in their victory, but perhaps she would have been more afraid if she understood the circumstances or knew what the real source of danger was within those haunted walls.

"TELL GANONDORF THAT I'M COMING FOR HIM!" Shadow shrieked inside the temple as he tore a monster in half with his bare hands. "HE'S GOING TO REGRET MAKING ME HURT ZELDA! GO AHEAD! TELL YOUR HORROR STORIES ABOUT ME BECAUSE NOW YOU GOT A REAL MONSTER TO WORRY ABOUT!" He laughed as he hurried off to find Zelda with nothing but pure adrenaline to suppress the protests of his still damaged body.

Outside, a good distance away from Arbiter's Grounds, Liam was getting worse; the heat, the monsters and Fi and Midna were getting to be too much for him and he felt as if he were about to collapse as he struggled to clear out a keep, only for more monsters to appear and come for them.

"This can't be how it ends," Liam panted as he sent another spell at a group of monsters. "Not like this... not like this." He could only watch in helpless horror as a fellow knight was slain by the large axe of a bulbin before he could make a move to save him.

"Give it up blue boy!" A monster snarled at Liam. "You'll never save the hero's corpse, let alone Hyrule itself!"

"NO!" Liam yelled as he sent another spell.

Where did it all go wrong? What choice was made to set the course to this point?

What would he have done if he were still whole? What would Ceyia have done? He never had his darker part's smarts and it wasn't like he could summon help from the past or-

Help from the past... he had an idea that gave him hope but then it vanished like the monster he just disintegrated. Why would anyone from the past help if they saw what would happen to Hyrule's future? He could already picture their anger and their distrust towards them. They would chose to protect Hyrule and aid its champion, but not the weaker half of the one who almost destroyed the timeline.

And what would happen if they remembered? Would they have another burden to carry for the rest of their lives? Would they die or fall into a coma?

Gods, he was so confused! Why did the rules of time in this world have to be so frustrating! All he knew was that he desired help more than anything in the world- he wanted his friends back together again.

"Goddesses of Hyrule," He prayed as he struggled with another spell and had to kick a monster away. "Please lend me your blessing. Let me open a pathway across time so I can fix my mistakes. Let me-" He felt himself perform some sort of spell but he had no idea what it was- it was just like clockwork without thought- but it had to be the spell he wanted to cast. It had to be for all their sakes.

"Please," He panted as he collapsed to his knees. "Please,"

There was nothing he could do. The monsters were beginning to close in on him and he could feel the flame of despair growing inside him.

-Era of the Twilight-

"Little lady-bug, little lady bug," Agitha sang to herself as she searched through the flowerbed near the southern Hyrule Castle entrance. "La de dah, dah dah!"

The sound of laughter reached her ears and she glanced up to see the Hero of Twilight's younger brother playing with his sister while a certain horse stayed by their side. "That's it Faith!" He cheered to the young infant as he held her up so that she could stand upon the ground. The little girl squealed in delight, which made the boy's smile brighten.

"The little caterpillar is doing splendid!" Agitha happily complimented.

"Thanks!" The boy–Colin—replied back. "I've been helping her!"

Agitha chuckled and was about to reply when she heard a strange sound and turned around to see a strange portal of yellow and white.

-Era of Time-

"Do you think she's still depressed over what happened?" Ruto asked during a visit to Darunia, where she and a few members of her tribe met for fun and to discuss events and concerns. The two were at a spot where they could see Kakariko Village and the sky was a perfect blue color to reflect the peace of that day.

"I know she went back to her old self after that trip in the woods, but I still worry about her." Ruto continued. "Sometimes I get this feeling that there's something we aren't aware of and-"

"I get that feeling too." Darunia admitted. "But if she ever felt that depressed again, then she has us to talk to."

"I suppose." Ruto was still unsure. "I'm surprised she still wanted to be friends with me after the way I treated her when we were kids. And of course you somehow manage to name your son after her–"

Darunia suddenly let out a laugh and slapped his stomach. "Ah, you push yourself too hard! You're not the same kid from seven years ago, just as I haven't been the same since." He grew serious. "We both had to wise up a little. I just wish that it didn't have to take a war to do that."

Ruto reflected on the past for a moment, but then she was interrupted by a strange sound and turned around to face a strange portal of magic that–for some reason–looked familiar to her, like a lost memory. "Haven't I–?"

"Seen that before?" Daruina also wondered.

-Era of the Sky-

Hylia's reincarnation stared at the spirit of the Master Sword with a stunned, yet concerned look in his eyes. He crossed his arms and began to think over what Ghirahim told him as well as what had to be sacrificed in order to prevent a possible future.

"If you do this, you'll be locked in the sword forever and you'll never wake up." He finally spoke as he looked Ghirahim in the eye. "I can't even guarantee that my power will be enough to ensure what you're asking for, or if Demise was being honest about this curse of his."

"First off, you are underestimating just how much power you had as Hylia." Ghirahim's eyes narrowed. "Second off, I know Demise better than you think. Both your descendants and incarnations are damned into a cycle that will never cease unless some miracle were to happen in your favor or if Demise's incarnation ceases that hatred."

"There's also the fact that if Zelda is reborn then she will not be the same person." Link countered. "She might not even know you or that the sword is alive. I know she means a lot to you now, but is giving up your freedom worth that possibility?"

Ghirahim turned his head to see Zelda resting near the seedling that would one day become a great tree. The girl had fallen in a deep sleep and was recovering from her difficult battle with Demise but one would not know that was what she had gone through until they saw the grime and blood that had dried up on her hands or was still soaked into her dress around a hole where she had been stabbed. If this had just happened close to an hour ago, then it would happen again in the future.

It made him sick to his stomach in a way that would have normally considered to be a weakness.

So why was he so sure that he was making the right decision?

"What the heck?!" The two turned to see that Groose and jumped away from a portal that appeared in front of the gate of time. "Ok, now what?!" The red head (with horrid sense in hairstyle, Ghirahim thought) demanded. "Is there going to be some sort of giant worm with crazy dimension powers that'll pop out and try to eat us all?!"

Ghirahim stared at the portal and realized he had seen it before. Then all of the sudden a series of what he thought had been dreams came rushing back into his head as if a log had rammed into his stomach.

More importantly, a familiar blonde haired girl from those dreams suddenly became as equally important to the girl sleeping in the temple.

"The blonde commander who was able to pull out the sword," He whispered to Zelda "despite that only one other could be able to pull it out...It was you all along." His eyes widened in realization.

Knowing that the portal had to be there for a reason, Ghirahim rushed towards the Master Sword that lay near Zelda. He was going to need to take his true body with him if he needed to answer the call.

-Era of the Twilight-

Zant took a moment to stop looking at the documents at his desk and held his face in his hands. "These stupid people and their accusations and demands. Soon they'll want me to banish the others from the kingdom and then we'll have a war on our hands."

"You should take a break." Beliah suggested after she looked at a paper from one of the documents and set it back down with the others. "I'll see if your cousins would like to have some input on this and prepare a survey for the kingdom to take."

Zant gave Beliah a smile of appreciation. "I would like that."

Zant got up as Beliah re-organized the documents for him and he headed towards the balcony that overlooked a wide area of land in the distance. Once he got there he hung his arms over the wall and stared at the colorful sky in thought.

Sometimes he missed those days when the earth was varying shades of green and the sky was blue, but when he missed them he found himself missing a certain someone.

A familiar howl could be heard and for one second he thought that his favorite Lady Wolf had somehow found a way back into the Twilight realm. He then realized that there were wolves out on the land and one of them let out a haunting tune into the sky.

Maybe he'd commission a statue of a wolf, just for the heck of it.

Another sound met his ears and he practically whipped around in time to see a strange portal. A portal that–

The return back to Hyrule, two boys similar in face, a war that spanned ages, and a girl who had the appearance of Lady Wolf but was lighter in heart.

"If that's here then–" Zant realized that something had to be wrong on the other side. He rushed towards the portal and was about to enter it, when he felt someone grab his sleeve. He looked to see that it was Beliah, who apparently also recovered her memories and was concerned for him.

"Zant—" She began, but then shook her head and smiled. "Make it back alive, alright? We don't want to lose a good king."

Zant smiled at the woman and grabbed her hand. "I shall do my best." He promised as he kissed the back of her hand before dashing into the portal.

As Beliah smiled and watched the portal disappear, both Ariadne and Daphne recalled their own experiences in the past as they played with their creature companions.

"You just felt that, didn't you?!" Ariadne gasped as she turned to Daphne who was rendered speechless. "You recall those battles and those friends we made."

"I... I did." Daphne touched her cheek as she remembered a private moment between her and a Sheikah from the future. A twinge of sadness ate at her, but all she could do was smile at her sister. "I did." She repeated.

Inside the portal, Zant hurried as fast as he could towards the other end. He became aware that someone was in there beside him and it wasn't until he heard her voice that he felt his excitement grow.

"Sir Knight!" Agitha greeted as she hurried alongside Zant with her parasol hanging out and open over her shoulder. "You remembered too?"

"I do, Your Highness." He laughed. "It looks like they still have need for us after all!"

-Present Day-

Three portals appeared around Liam and each one threw the monsters back away from the sorcerer. He glanced up and felt his heart stop as four familiar faces hurried out of the portal.

"Hey, I thought you fixed the timeline for good!" Darunia laughed as he held his hammer over his shoulder while Ruto gave Liam a radiant smile.

"It appears that you gave us another battle to fight in your era." Ghirahim nonchalantly noted as he looked at the monsters with an excited gleam in his eye.

"So who are we fighting this time?" Zant asked as Agitha waved at Liam.

Liam slowly smiled and let out a breathless gasp of happiness and relief while the other knights were almost rendered speechless before they felt a surge of hope grow within them; despite Liam's interference, the warriors of the past were still willing to lend him a hand in their time of need and they didn't seem to be angry at him. "Everyone... thank you."

"Yeah, who is it this time?" Ruto asked, repeating Zant's question. This made Liam snap out of his moment of joy and prepared himself for the worst as he made his answer to the point:

"Ganondorf has the complete Triforce, thanks to the aid of Fi and Midna, who we are trying to capture. We are also trying to find Link and Zelda, who might be trapped in this desert."

As expected, all of the excitement or patience vanished in an instant to be replaced with horror. Ruto and Darunia looked as if they were reliving a nightmare, Agitha only looked a little nervous (since she had no prior experience with Ganondorf), Zant was surprisingly calm, despite having flinched at the mention of Midna, but Ghirahim looked like he was about to go off into a bloody rampage for reasons Liam could not comprehend at that moment.

"Where are they?" Zant demanded.

"Don't know yet." Liam turned around to face the monsters. "Right now let's get rid of these guys!"

"Gladly!" Darunia swung his hammer back as he ran towards the monsters and took a mighty swing into them.

All throughout the desert, the knights and Gorons received the much welcomed aid.

Geode and a few others were stunned when a large burst of water- like a tidal wave out of the sea- bursted against their enemies and swept them away.

"Hi guys!" Ruto happily cheered as she swam in the water.

"M-my Lady!" Geode's eyes widened as he felt a blush creep into his face.

"Come on, we can do this all day!" Karane panted as she held her sword out, along with Groose and Pipt as they became cornered in a keep by a large swarm. "Give us all you got!"

The monsters accepted the taunt and made to pounce, while their pray tensed and prepared to fight there way out, when dark spikes rose out of the ground and impaled the first row, while the others were stabbed by sharp projectiles. It was only when they all collapsed that the trio saw their very familiar savior.

"Well what do you know," Ghirahim smirked at all three. "I guess you all were thrown into the wheel of incarnation as well."

"Ghirahim?!" Pipit gapped. "But-how-how did-?!"

Elsewhere, Ashei watched in stunned silence as a familiar Twili King grew in size and proceeded to stomp on the monsters like they were bugs and let out high pitched grunts at each step.

"Huh," She smiled. "I guess I got to see him do it after all."

"Hooligans!" Agitha cried out as she smacked a bulbin in the face. "How dare you hurt our friends!"

"GAH!" Darunia threw a large boulder on fire at a larger bulbin.

"Take this!" Ruto sent two water cyclones to crash into some unsuspecting monsters as well as into each other.

"Is that all you have?!" Ghirahim laughed as he trapped some monsters in a diamond dome and sent daggers into them while the very large Zant continued to stomp the ground behind him. "This is barely a warm up!"

"Don't just stand there and gawk!" Liam yelled as he dashed through the battlefield. "Everyone fight! Fight with all you got and we'll win!"

The support provided a much need boost of moral for all the fighters. It gave them the strength to continue on and try to take out as many as they could or else go out in glory.

"Headshot!" Bethany cheered as her arrow hit the head of a monster.

"Rugh!" Sir Winslow grunted as he smacked a monster in the face with his shield before quickly stabbing him.

"YAH!" Ashei yelled as she swung the ball and chain around her.

The numbers were beginning to diminish significantly and it was at this point that Ivan found Liam.

"I found Zelda!" He told him. "She's at the top of Arbiter's Grounds."

Liam momentarily stopped when he heard this. "Arbit- oh!" He realized. "I guess that would have made sense! Go tell- no wait! As soon as we get enough monsters, get as many people as you can to come to me and tell them what is going on!"

In time the warriors finally had a chance to clear out the majority of the monsters, but they were aware that more would be sent out in order to stop them, unless they found the commanders. They only had enough time to group up together for Liam to tell them what was going on.

"The thing is that Ganondorf seriously injured Link and Zelda and separated her from the Master Sword." He quickly explained. "And I don't know exactly where Fi and Midna are, but Proxy has found Zelda on top of the Spirit Temple, which some of you might know as Arbiter's grounds."

"Arbiter's-?" Zant came to a quick understanding as memories of times both good and bad came back to him.

"So we all must go up there!" Ruto jumped in. "We can find her and then find Link and-"

"No you will not."

All eyes turned in confusion to Ghirahim, who stared at a particular part of the desert.

"The rival commanders would already know that we are here. If you all tried to get to this Temple, than it might be too late."

"For Din's sake, none of us are magical like most of you are!" A knight threw his hands up. "It's not like any of us can teleport to the top!" A smile rose on the sword spirit's mouth as he replied. "Are you sure about that?"

Liam then understood what needed to be done and a plan slowly began to form in his mind. "Then I have a plan that might go in our favor."

-Spirit Temple/Arbiter's Grounds-

Shadow panted as he struggled up the steps; that burst of energy had drained him and not only did he feel as weak as when he first entered Arbiter's Grounds, he also felt like he was about to vomit again.

"Heh, heh," Shadow half chuckled and half panted as he began to reach the top and collapsed against the wall. "I'm not going to do that again!" He let out a wheezy laugh. A few more steps and he would find himself back outside in the sunlight and he wasn't prepared for what would come next. He was ready to give himself a quick break.

At least until he looked out and saw, beyond the rubble, chains, and what-not, chained to a large stone, was Zelda herself.

The insanity that clouded Shadow's mind vanished as, for one moment, his full persona as Link broke through to fully remerge with the damaged persona. Everything that had made Link pure in heart was Shadow's in that moment and the only objective in his mind was reinforced by anger and something much more intense than the need for violence.

With a scream that was not even Hylian or monster, Shadow forced himself to run into the sunlight and forced the tendrils of darkness out of his body. Even as his body began to turn to smoke and burn up, he raced across the grounds and didn't stop until he reached Zelda. Even as his body felt like it was hardening from the sun's touch, he forced the tendrils to cut through the chains with the wave of his hand, before Zelda fell right into his waiting arms. Even as his body was beginning to turn into dust again, he raced around the colossal stone and entered the safety of the large shadow it casted before he collapsed against it.

His panting was heavy as the tendrils broke off his body and broke into pieces as he held Zelda in his lap; even though the burst of power gave him a bit of rejuvenation, it did not fully heal him and his body was smoking from the burns it suffered from. In fact the darkness covering his body vanished away and left behind the damaged shell that had been struggling in the grounds just mere moments ago. Once again he was missing chunks of his body, half his face was retained the burn marks, and he retained a completely red eye while the other side retained a few dark marks and a normal red eye that still had whiteness around the pupil.

For one moment he couldn't move his twitching body and he needed to just compose himself as a wave of relief slowly washed away what was left of his insanity.

Shadow finally looked down and observed the damage that had been done to Zelda; what gave him another burst of anger was seeing the injury that he had been forced to inflict and yet the sight of Zelda herself was enough to bring him back to reality and hope again.

Shadow panted as he gently pressed his remaining hand against her face. (How strange- a hand that had just been used to kill monsters was now being used for such a gentle gesture) Even in her injured and broken state she was still beautiful to him, but he was more concerned about if she was still alive.

He slowly dragged his hand towards her mouth- leaving behind a faint, dark smear upon her cheek and jaw- and he could feel a faint puff of air coming from her nose. Pressing his fingers to her neck to find a pulse further confirmed that she was alive, and that was enough for him to have a genuine smile for the first time since... well, for a really long time.

"Hey Princess." Shadow gently spoke to her. "Sorry I took too long. I promise that I'll get you out of here as soon as I have a chance."

There was no response from her and Shadow felt a strong twinge of fear inside him.

"Please wake up." He pleaded. "I know you must be in a lot of pain but I want you to wake up and try to live. I know you deserve some peace after all that we put you through and all that Ganondorf has done, but there are people still fighting for you and Hyrule in your name. They need you- I need you." He confessed as he caressed her face. "Can't you see what you're capable of inspiring?! You can make one person into a noble warrior and help make the worst of another into something better than what they are!"

Without warning, her good eye slowly opened and Shadow felt his heart stop as it struggled to regain focus and the owner's breathing became more audible.

Moments passed as he patiently waited for Zelda to wake up and see him. Her voice- the most glorious sound of the otherwise awful day- came out in a pained stammer that contained a bit of bewilderment and a little bit of hope. "I... it's you!"

Shadow let out a gasp that he held in for who knew how long and he gave Zelda the warmest smile ever imaginable. Despite the damaged form of his dark counterpart, she could still see Link in his smile and in his eyes. It did not matter what form he took- he would always be the same to her. This version of Link might have had similarities to Liam's own dark counterpart, but there was enough good left inside him to provide a great contrast between the dark creature and the dark sorcerer.

She then saw how severe his burns were and that parts of his body were producing smoke. "Y- you're burning!" She gasped as she struggled to reach her good hand towards him but it was hard to do so as it felt heavy.

"My real body's too damaged to use." Shadow admitted with a smirk.

"Wh-why?" Zelda stammered. Why would he risk so much pain, just to take the chance to find her?

There was no other way he could have answered her question better- Shadow gently lifted her closer towards him as he lowered himself towards her until he could place a soft, yet deep kiss upon her lips.

Zelda's eye widened in shock, but it did not last as an overwhelming feeling emerged from inside her and she closed her eyes. Her good hand reached back up and this time her fingers ran through his now brittle hair- some of which turned to dust in between her fingers- and she grabbed onto it in a moment of passion as she tried to pull herself closer to Shadow. It was an invitation for him to press her closer to him with one arm, while minding her injured side as he too also ran his hand through her hair and passionately clung to it when he reached the back of her head. In that moment they both felt strong enough to bestow their true feelings upon one another. In that moment, time had frozen for them.

Neither realized that- once upon a time, in another life and timeline when she was the Hero of Time- a similar kiss happened while they were both in a similar state as rain and fire surrounded them. That kiss had not developed to its true potential as- in that life- she had been asleep and had the mentality of a child while he was not sure if what he was doing was right. Now that kiss was given a second chance and it was beautiful as it was glorious. Even his worst self could he still feel strong affection for her and even at her weakest she could still feel the joy in his comfort.

Finally Shadow drew away to allow her to take a breath of air as she opened her eyes and stared at him in a new light and understanding. It was as if the experience had gave her back some awareness to the world around her and it stopped spinning in her vision.

"It is you that I also fight for, no matter the face or era." Shadow smiled again.

And that was when the moment had to be rudely interrupted by slow, sarcastic clapping. The dark being and the hero glanced up to see that it was Midna who was clapping, while Fi just stared on at the sight.

"You know I was tempted to suggest that Fi impale the both of you while you were showing your affections to each other and present you to Ganondorf like that, but I can't risk killing either of you." Midna stopped her clapping. In a moment of panic, Shadow tightened his hold on Zelda and tried to stand up, but the pressure was too much for the fragility in his legs and he felt them give way and he landed on his knees which made him cry through clenched teeth.

"I got to admit smoky, you went through a lot to get to this point." Midna added as Shadow snarled at her through his clenched teeth and his eyes narrowed in anger. "From what I hear, you slaughtered a lot of monsters and had a lot of fun with that. I bet a lot of them soiled themselves at the sight of you."

"Shadow?" Zelda let out a concerned whisper as the smoke on Shadow's body grew and slowly became solid tendrils of darkness as his hold on her tightened.

"You have so much power-so much anger- and it all just vanishes the moment you set your eyes on her?" Midna asked. "She really is your weakness boy."

"It is only logical." Fi added. "You are the reincarnation of Hylia- you treasure your champion above all other mortals. Those hinderances you call your feelings halt your true powers-"

Shadow let out a laugh. "You two idiots don't get me, do you?" He sneered. "I have every reason to be angry at y'all! I'd say 'screw it' to the timelines and kill you both if it meant sparing us from the cycle of hatred! But if going beyond the point of no return- if letting that anger fully consume me would turn me into someone like Ganondorf, then there's no point!" He spat. "And yeah, I just killed a bunch of monsters and damn did it feel good! But that's not how I want to live my life! My reasons to stop it while I still have a part of my old self left is fighting out there in the desert, scattered across the world, and right here with me!" His held Zelda closer to him as he said this. "So don't you hypocrites try to lecture or prod me, because I could set off at any minute on you and by the Goddesses you'll wish that you never set foot on Hyrule or harmed its people at any point in its timeline- especially their champion!"

Midna blinked before letting out a laugh. "That's a big speech, coming from a man whose close to being on his deathbed. Maybe I should give you a posthumous award for it."

"Do you think you can reclaim Hyrule in the state that you both are in?" Fi asked. "Do you believe that you can defeat the both of us together?"

Shadow and Zelda stared at them for one moment before the former then let out a weak laugh. "No," He croaked as he pointed a finger at something between them. "That honor goes to them."

Confused, both females turned around to see that last thing they ever expected and yet not quite. Neither of the two that they were facing were happy with what they were seeing before their eyes and the anger within them was similar to the one within Shadow.

It was Ghirahim and Zant.

"It's been awhile," Zant's helmet came off as he stared his former friend down.

"And in some ways much longer than you would have thought." Ghirahim added as he glared at Fi.

Shadow and Zelda waited in anticipation to see what would happen between the two sets of rivals. Shadow was ready to try to use the mirror once more and force his way out with the girl in his grasp if he had to.

"So its come to this now." Midna realized with a shake of her head and a smirk as she took her mirror out. "But this time there's no hero good enough to be of any aid to you."

"What makes you convinced that you have a higher chance of victory when I easily bested you last time?" Fi asked Ghirahim. "You are inferior to me in every possible way Ghirahim. I was created to surpass you and do more than what you expect."

Ghirahim only smirked but his eyes told a different story of a knowledge of what Fi was hinting at and the past he just escaped from. "You would be very surprised if you knew what I just went through, my girl."

"What reason do you have to help them out when they aren't the same people you knew?" Midna demanded.

"Because they are my friends legacy." Zant took both scimitars out. "And I've run out of patience since its time to bring you back Midna- we have to end this feud between us."

"And I have one last thing to do before my fate is sealed." Ghirahim added as he summoned out his own sword. "And if it requires securing the inevitable future of my Mistress to be a good one, than so be it."

Midna's grin widened, "Well if that's how we are going to do this, then fine." She snapped her fingers. "But Smoky and Wolfy Jr. are out."

Two stone hands appeared and reached out to grab Shadow and Zelda while pulling them away from each other. Zelda could do nothing but helplessly watch on as Shadow yelled out in frustration before the stone hand dangled him to a point where half his body was safe in the shadow of the rock, while the rest was exposed to the sunlight. What followed was a blood curdling scream from Shadow who tried to squirm out of the hand as his already ruined half of his body slowly darkened and began to produce more smoke.

That was when Zant rushed in to attack Midna and the two vanished into dark particles. Ghirahim also moved in to reach Zelda, but Fi glided in front of his and held her sword out.

"Out of the way!" He growled as he tried to knock her weapon aside, but she quickly blocked his sword and spun around to try to cut him in the back. He quickly turned and blocked the attack- his cape almost flying around him in the process- before sending out daggers at Fi, which she blocked with her 'wings.'

While this was occurring, Shadow screamed all sorts of imaginable profanity as his exposed half slowly turned grayish white or became brittle and dissolved into dust that fell down below him while Zelda cursed herself for being too injured to do anything.

"Your wolf girl's descendant is now burning away like you did when I exposed you to the light!" Midna laughed as she swung a spear in each hand out in front of her, while Zant took a flying leap up in the air as they fought on top of the ledge of the walls around the chamber. Rather than try to swing his blades down, Zant summoned up reddish purple energy and shot it out in small projectiles at Midna, who quickly ran away from them. He chased her around the wall until he finally shot her in the leg and she let out a cry before vanishing into darkness.

Zant glanced around to try to find her.

"AND I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU SUFFER FOR ALL YOU DID TO ME!" Midna screamed as she came flying down from the sky with spear in hand. Zant dodged right before he could be skewered and leapt up to do a spinning leap towards Midna.

"This girl holds the Master Sword, which means that you will suffer a fate worse then death, Ghirahim." Fi said as she sent three different colored fireballs at Ghirahim, who swung his sword out to knock them away. He sent daggers back at her, but she also knocked them aside before taking to the air. He quickly created a diamond flooring under him and made it elevate to her level while Zant and Midna had their own fight upon the top of the walls.

"You understand that your servitude is permanent now, do you?" Fi asked as she traded blows with Ghirahim when they were at the same height. "That is the cruelty behind the divine face of Hylia." She flew backwards before she charged at Ghirahim with her swords out. She made to swing, but Ghirahim held his sword out and blocked her attack by holding the blade out horizontally, with one free hand pressed against the flat of the blade. The force pushed him across the floor, but he kept still as he replied:

"If it means I can fight and be of use to someone worthy of my aid, then I don't give a damn!" Ghirahim snarled as he used his strength to push back. "Especially if its against Demise!" He was able to finally take a swing and regain his footing, just inches away from falling off the floor.

Down below, the worst of the agony for Shadow had vanished, but in its place was the lingering burning sensation that had been left in its place. Now the sunlight had eaten away one side of his head to the point that he was missing a quarter of it, along with part of his neck, part of his forehead, part of his cheek, cheek bone, jaw, and half of his eye socket was missing while the angry red eye was almost jutting out. Because of how far the hand had held him out, he lost both his entire right arm and most of his leg.

It made Zelda worry that the extent of the damage would easily have a consequence on his real body. She had no idea just how the mirror worked, and she hoped that there wasn't some sort of side effect as a result of this.

"Oh sweet Nayru- Zelda!"

Zelda looked down to see three of the knights of Hyrule coming into her hazy view. She thought she could recognize which ones but it was hard to tell from where she was trapped. Shadow still retained enough awareness to see who it was and forced his body to turn into complete darkness and slip out of the grasp of the stone hand before reforming again. (The whole thing hurt, if truth be told.)

"Your Majesty?!" Bethany gapped as Kay and Jayce stared in surprise.

Grunting with determined concentration, Shadow looked up at the stone hand where Zelda was and prepared to force the mirror to increase his body's strength to both destroy the hand and get Zelda out of it without hurting her. He felt the darkness pulse from his hip, where the mirror was close by, and up into his arm and hand as the darkness surged through and began to build up.

"I am never going back!" Midna yelled as she made a stone hand ram towards Zant and caught him between the index and middle finger before trapping him against a rock wall. She summoned another hand that made to pinch his head between its thumb and index finger, but Zant quickly turned into shadow particles and remerged in front of Midna, who swung a spear out to stop his scimitars. In turn, Zant summoned up two of his own stone hands and used his magic to force Midna between them before tossing and slamming her repeatedly against both of them.

A third hand of his own slammed into Midna and pinned her against the ground, but before he could move, in she also turned into particles and before Zant knew it, he was slammed right off the ground by a large wooden bridge and he began to fall down towards the ground. Midna was waiting below and quickly sent a second bridge right up into Zant and knocked him back up before raising herself up into the air with another hand holding her for support. As soon as she reached Zant, she slammed a spear horizontally into him and sent him plummeting back downward.

When Zant fell to the ground, he felt as if he had too much discomfort in both back and stomach to the point that he wondered which position he would need to be in to fight it off.

"The mirror!"

He glanced over to see Geode yell at him. "Destroy the mirror!" The Goron then looked up in alarm and quickly sent a jet of flames out with his staff at Midna, who made to attack him and she was forced to back away.

The Mirror of Twilight- the blessing and curse upon his generation. Of course it had to be the key to victory in this battle.

"I wouldn't do it if I were you!" Midna warned as she pointed a spear at Zant. "Destroy it and you'll lose your only chance to see your wolf girl again!"

With a snarl, Zant finally forced himself back up. He was tired of Midna trying to emotionally manipulate him anymore and he was tired of having her be a source of misery even when she had been put in a deep sleep.

He could not afford to lose himself to another fit- he had to stay focused.

He charged ahead, with weapons out and ready, and when she charged forward, he leapt into the air and began to spin.

Up above in the air, Fi could sense that Ghirahim had changed. There was something about him that was similar to when she first saw him, and yet there was something much more akin to Hylia's power radiating off him. Whatever it was, she knew that she could not last much longer in her current form.

In fact, it was when Ghirahim successfully broke through a gap between her swords and sliced her in the stomach- and damaging the false skin and the real metallic form underneath- that she knew she had to change.

"You brought this upon yourself." She told him as her magic engulfed her and she regained her true form as a sword spirit- a blue metallic- almost marble like- coating covered her face, hair, and glossed over her eyes. "My power has now reached its maximum."

Ghirahim continued to hold his swords- a small one and a large one- out, but he didn't make a move to attack. In fact, he flinched and became stiff at the sight of Fi as his eyes reflected an unusual sort of stress that one would not normally associate with him.

"Are you questioning your abilities?" She inquired as her voice took on a melodic echo. "You know what will happen if you try to do the same as I have done. You won't be able to ignore the constant pain."

Ghirahim's grip on the swords tightened as the memories flashed back.

One moment his Mistress was laughing and her happiness became his happiness... a flash of a sword and then he realized too late exactly who had escaped from his perfect detection abilities... the sight of her being forced to the floor by blades forced into her body... the screams of her pain ringing in his ears... the overwhelming fear for another that he never experienced in all of his existence and being unable to do anything unless she would receive much worse... the anger consuming him.

It was all thanks to this spirit before him. He could not stop her from that awful moment in her future due to the laws of time and it was as if he was going to burst into a million fragments from the building frustration.

Fi looked down and saw three knights tending to the fallen hero while their prince could only watch from where he sat.

Even without looking, Ghirahim knew what was about to happen- the past was already repeating.

"Come on, come on!" Bethany forced Zelda to drink a blue potion in a bottle like an infant in order to restore her energy. "Get it ready!" She told Kay, who took the imitation Great Fairy tears out.

"Please work, please work!" He pleaded to the bottle as he made to open it up, while unaware of the fact that the blue sword spirit was descending right down towards Zelda with one sword aimed right at her heart while the other was ready to cut through Bethany to reach Zelda. Shadow could see it, but his throat had been burned to the point that his voice box was still trying to recover and he couldn't move due to the exhaustion that settled in after freeing Zelda. He could only try to croak out a futile warning as Fi rapidly drew closer towards Zelda, who just finished drinking the blue potion.

A flash of black appeared right between Fi and Zelda and Bethany.

Before she knew it, Fi saw a dark figure grab her sword with his bare hands and pulled it out of her grasp. The Hylians turned in shock to see that a large muscular figure covered in a diamond pattern appeared before them, but it was Fi who felt a surge in Ghirahim's power when she saw him glaring at her with solid white eyes. He grabbed her neck and vanished them away from the chamber while the others realized that they had to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Bottom's up!" Kay quickly resumed his task and poured the contents of the vial into Zelda's waiting mouth while Bethany moved away to help Jayce get Shadow up and support him against her (with his remaining arm around her neck and shoulders) so that they could get him out with them.

Ghirahim was too angry for words when he transported Fi right outside the front entrance to Arbiter's Grounds. He flung her right into an ancient stone wall as hard as he could and she smashed right through it (sending bricks flying everywhere) and landed right into a rock wall where she was impaled a few inches within the earth.

Understanding just how much the circumstances had changed, she kicked herself away from the wall and flew right towards Ghirahim, while charging up yellow energy below her feet. Ghirahim was quick to dodge- more like twirl around her- before sending a blow to her backside with a large sword.

Elsewhere, Midna laughed as she summoned out a beam of energy from her mirror and Zant was forced to run away until he was able to vanish and reappear on top of a totem behind Midna, which he sent crashing down towards her, though the former princess sensed him in the nick of time and dodged. She summoned up a great wolf with her magic and rode atop it, like a rider on his horse. Zant summoned up a large version of his helmet and locked himself inside when the wolf tried to attack and batted the contraption with its paws before bitting into it with its massive teeth. The helmet vanished and Zant quickly spun in a cyclone style towards Midna with his scimitars and this time Midna was unable to turn around in time as he was able to slice through a part of her back. She let out a scream, but quickly vanished off the wolf and reappeared with a large canon and shot out energy right at Zant and the wolf. Though the wolf got the full blast and exploded into dark particles, Zant vanished leapt up off it and shot his own blast of magic into Midna.

"They're all going to kill each other at this rate!" Ruto worriedly turned to Liam, who was trying to keep an eye on everything and was readying spells that would send the unwanted past dwellers back to where they were supposed to go to. Already he knew exactly where to send them and at what point in time.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Agitha asked Liam, but Sir Winslow held a hand up in protest.

"It is their rightful duty to face their true opponents without our aid. Let fate play out its course for all of them." He glanced towards Ghirahim and Fi, who were steadily approaching them. The two were exchanging blows with their swords so furiously and so rapidly that it was as if watching a storm at work instead of two swordsmen. Every blow seemed to be blocked and each time it seemed one was trying to outdo the other by an increase of size in swords or in sped. The moment daggers would start flying, one would send more daggers to block the other off or try to pierce through the opposite end.

Both Fi and Ghirahim were slowly losing their stamina and concentration. It was inevitable for one to suffer a serious injury if they could not keep up with the other.

In a sudden burst of magic, Fi summoned up a flower patterned energy ring under her and sent them bursting outward- one of them successfully cutting through Ghirahim's shoulder. He merely grunted and swung his blade out right towards her and she was forced to go flying away.

The moment she saw a small group making to exit from the entrance to the temple- the very group that she intended to attack- she decided to take a chance to distract Ghirahim. She saw that one of the knights was trying to help guide Shadow out and was able to find a large dirty cloth to hide him in- it was the very knight who carried the Master Sword with her. Behind them by about a few feet were the other two knights and the male was carrying the injured hero in a bridal style while the other had her bow ready.

It did not matter to Fi anymore as to how Ganondorf would react to the death of Zelda. As long as Hylia's precious mortal died prematurely, then it would ensure a complete victory.

This time Fi flung her daggers right at Zelda and the knight who carried her before Ghirahim could reach her in time, or make the move to stop the attack.

One person saw what was about to happen at the moment Fi made a move- she knew what had to be done.

Jayce let go of Shadow and dashed in front of Zelda and Kay with her arms spread wide out. The very instant Shadow had collapsed to the ground was the moment Jayce had managed to completely shield Zelda with her body before she felt each dagger pierce into various parts of her body- including a vital spot near where her heart was. Even when she let out a cry, she stood her ground.

The moment the others realized what had happened was when Ghirahim was able to stab a sword right through Fi's back and did not stop running with her stuck on it until he was close to the small group and right near the entrance to the temple where he proceeded to quickly pull the sword out and then grabbed her shoulder to spin her around before repeatedly slashing at the diamond that she had hidden on her chest without stopping at least three times before she finally began to move back and blocked the diamond with her wings before she made to charge up one final attack as three fires began to burn around her.

Something latched onto Fi's neck, torso, and legs, and she quickly turned her head to see Shadow was laying on the ground, half covered with the tattered cloth and missing half of his body. Still, he was able to raise his arm out and forced the darkness that made up his body to extend out and turn into tendrils that were now wrapped around her and were giving off smoke and turning to dust. Even so, the dark version of Hylia's current reincarnation- of the very first Link- continued to hold on and gave Fi a determined glare as he gritted his teeth and narrowed his brow at her.

This gave Ghirahim enough time to finally take his sword and ram it right through Fi's crystal as hard as he could- not enough to kill her, but enough to significantly weaken her to the point that he knew she would need years to recover from the injury.

Seeing that Ghirahim had won, Shadow let go off Fi while Bethany knelt beside Jayce, who had fallen to the ground and was now bleeding from her injuries.

Fi turned her head back to Ghirahim- no emotion or reaction to her injury was seen in her eyes, other than fatigue- and it did little to add to his satisfaction in his victory.

"When I see you again in eighteen years time," Ghirahim panted with a metallic echo in his voice "you will not be this fortunate enough to escape from death again."

"In eighteen years time, I will complete what I set out to do." Fi panted as she slowly began to become enveloped in a soft light. "And I will make your Mistress know true suffering." Her voice became more of an echo before she turned white, changed shape, fell to the ground and turned back into her true form before his very eyes.

Ghirahim silently picked up the fallen sword and glanced at the cracked gem on it's guard before turning around and teleporting himself to Liam.

Wait for it, wait for it. Zant told himself as he began to keep a careful eye on Midna and when she would take out the mirror. He just avoided a barrage of wolves that she sent out and now he waited to see what she would do next. She was getting close to her limit so she had to be-

Then she did it- she took the mirror out again and summoned out several spears, along with a bridge that was on each side of him. He readied a powerful orb of magic in each hand and thankfully his long sleeves hid what he was doing. He allowed the magic to grow and build up as he hurried towards her and began to dodge each spear and vanish and reappear to avoid each bridge. It was when she raised the mirror up that he took his chance.

A powerful blast of magic escaped from the mirror and she made to move it from one side to another. With all the quick thinking of a good tactician who had the luck of knowing his opponent, Zant vanished but instead of reappearing in the spot that was initially in the blast's path, he appeared right at the very end of the magical beam and shot one round of a orb of magic at Midna before following it up with another at the mirror.

"SON OF A-!" Midna screamed but she had no time to react as one blast of magic hit her square in the chest while the other slammed right into the mirror. Zant didn't bother to watch when it shattered into pieces and instead he teleported right in front of Midna and slammed his whole body into her- knocking her off her canon- and right onto the ground several feet below.

Midna growled and struggled to get Zant off of her, but he held his grip on her arms as he slowly moved away and picked her up off the ground.

"Let go of me!" Midna yelled and tried to do a spell against him, but Zant quickly sent out his own burst of magic into her and she could feel the circulation of her power grow numb to the point that all she could send out was a few sparks.

"Its the end of the line Midna." Zant's voice came out in an unnaturally calm tone. "The mirror is destroyed for good and there's no where you can run."

Midna gritted her teeth in rage before letting out a furious cry into the heavens. It did not faze Zant, even as she tried to claw at his helmet and kick at him, but he held still.

"WHY?!" Midna yelled. "Why can't you let me be?! I have no place in our world anymore!"

"And neither in this one." Zant replied. "You will not be able survive in the light without the protection of time or Ganondorf's magic."

"You know what they'll do!" Midna cried out. "They'll lock me up in the darkness and rip my magic out of me! You can't put me to sleep this time, Zant!"

"Then maybe you should have listened to your better conscience." Zant allowed his helmet to come off so he could see her face to face. "What happened to my best friend, Midna? Why did you allow Ganondorf to send you onto this path?"

"IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT!" Midna screamed and there was no denying the trace of sorrow hiding underneath the anger. "WHY DO YOU KEEP CARING ABOUT WHAT I DO WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR SINS TO CARRY?!"

"Because maybe I realized what was wrong with me just in the nick of time." Zant bowed his head. "I had to learn in order to allow myself to become a better person."

Midna panted before she bowed her head in defeat.

"You will have to answer to our people now- I can no longer deny the truth anymore." Zant sighed in regret as he teleported them to Liam. Why did it have to happen to them? Why did fate make them all fools to the gods themselves? What was Midna really hoping to accomplish in staying in this era?

-Later-

In another part of the desert, Liam finally had both portals set up and he watched as Ghirahim flung a familiar sword as hard as he could through the one that lead back to the era of the Sky. The sorcerer knew better than to ask what had happened or why Ghirahim appeared the way he did, and he knew that the portal would aid in erasing Fi's memories of this time period.

Instead he turned his attention towards Zant, who just then reappeared, along with Midna, who he held onto as tight as possible as he approached the portal that lead back to their era. "I swear to Din that there better not be any other escapees from the past that I'm not aware of." Liam growled as he ran a hand through his hair.

As Zant slowly drew closer to the portal, Midna raised her lead up and let out a short, breathless laugh that was devoid of humor and contained a mental and emotional fatigue.

"That's how it is then- in the end I got screwed over by all sides." She began. "So you really are going to let them decide my fate?" She turned around and noticed that there were a few knights nearby, including Ashei and Geode. Both of them stared with grea bitterness at Midna, but especially the Goron who apparently was related to the one she killed off along with the white haired boy.

Her mind began to wander back to Link and Zelda- in them, she saw both herself and Zant. The Zelda who was beaten to near death by her hand was no different than her old friend and she was as passionate about her homeland as she used to be, but the prince had given into his own darkness like she did. And much like Zant, he too had been able to keep it in check with his conscience.

Maybe that's why deep down she hated the both of them and not because of who they were in their past lives. Maybe that was why she hated Zant, since he was able to find the middle ground between both sides of the coin, while she failed to keep the balance inside her.

She then realized that there was one very crucial part of the magic inside her that Zant forgot to stop.

"Zant," She began right as she found herself at mere inches from the portal and decided to make the only good decision for the first time in what felt like forever. She turned her head to the point that she could be able to see the blue sky which represented all that they once had hoped and hated. "Don't try to glorify me for the future generations, ok? Let them know who I really was as the Twilight Princess."

She willed her hair to turn into a hand and it grabbed her head and Zant had no time to act as the hand twisted Midna's head to the point that a horrible cracking sound erupted from her neck.

Zant froze as Midna's body became limp in his grasp and the magical hand dropped and turned back into hair while her head fell down against her collar bone.

Time stopped for Zant as he realized what Midna had done- she had freed herself from him as well as the world in order to escape a fate worse than death. He didn't realize until it was too late that he let go of Midna and watched at the portal pulled the now deceased Twilight Princess back to her own time. Back to her home, where she belonged.

-Arbiter's Grounds/Spirit Temple-

Inside the temple, Zelda was kneeling beside Jayce, who was resting in Bethany's lap, while Kay had taken up the role to help support Shadow. When Ghirahim appeared beside them, he silently observed the reversal of appearances between Zelda and Jayce- though the former had already regained much of her coloring, there was sorrow in her eyes as she stared at the latter, who was already pale from blood loss and trying her hardest to hold on as she slowly took the Master Sword out and tried to hold it towards Zelda.

"It's been an honor to fight alongside you." The knight gave the hero a smile. "You'll bring back the light to our kingdom- I believe you can do it. Please accept the sword once more and show them that you're spirit hasn't been broken yet."

Zelda slowly reached out and placed her hands on the sword- both in good condition, as if one had never been broken to begin with. She then hung her head in the realization of what Jayce had sacrificed to save her life. "What do I tell your daughter?" she asked.

"Tell her the truth." Jayce told her. "I fought to give her a future and," She closed her eyes for one moment and when they opened a second later, they were filled with tears as her smile widened a little more "Tell her that her mother loves her, no matter what path she chooses in life. I will always watch over her when she needs me the most."

"Jayce," Zelda smiled back as she felt the tears come out of her eyes. "I'll tell Isobel that you were a hero."

Jayce's hands dropped away from the Master Sword as her eyes began to drift towards the entrance to the temple. "I would love that," Her voice slowed down as her tear filled eyes drifted to the blue sky outside of the temple- the very sky that Isobel was hopefully looking at at that very moment. "Tell her... tell her what I did... for her... for my Isobel... for my... dearest."

Her eyes slowly closed as she drifted away and she eventually ceased moving in Bethany's hold.

-Later-

Though the reunion of past and future was much welcomed, it came with a mournful silence as the gaps were slowly filled. Too many had died since the past visitors left and they watched as those who had fallen in this battle were gathered to be laid in a place where their bodies could rest before they could be taken back to their families. One of the knights found the mangled body of Nabooru and it was agreed that she too would join the others until they could give her body back to the Gerudo tribe, where they could perform the proper rites.

"We can't let this happen." Darunia tightened his fists as Ruto quietly stood beside him while they observed the last corpse (which was Nabooru's) be taken to a special area that would be sealed away. "If we once made mistakes that allowed Ganondorf to take over Hyrule, then I'll be damned if we let it happen again."

"Especially if this is the fate of Hyrule in this era." Ruto agreed. "I'll be a plate of someone's meal before I let Ganondorf win again."

"Zant?" Liam slowly approached Zant; the king was staring at Arbiter's Grounds and it was hard to read what was going through his mind. "I-" Liam sighed regretfully "I shouldn't have allowed any of this to happen. Midna wouldn't have-"

"She was going to either be executed or lose her power and be imprisoned until her dying breath." Zant cut him off. "She chose her own fate for herself and I have to respect that choice. If there is a time to mourn for her, then it will have to wait. The Midna that I once knew would have wanted that."

"Also," He turned to Liam. "I hope that everyone hasn't been saying 'oh its all my fault' or 'no its my fault' because the way I see it, you all have to get your act together and focus on other matters." He turned his gaze and saw a small group approach. "Especially if you can still try to make a difference."

Bethany helped walk Zelda back towards the knights, as did Kay, who helped carry a figure covered in a cloth that was long enough to drag across the sand behind him. Ghirahim also followed and in his arms was the fallen form of Jayce.

"Zelda!" Proxy yelled as he swiftly flew right into Zelda's collarbone and clung onto her. The girl looked down in surprise, but then she smiled and cupped a hand under the fairy. She glanced up to see the others and looked around to see who still wanted to try to protect Hyrule and who had also risked their lives to try to find her and Link.

"We tried to come as soon as possible." Liam began. "As you can see, we aren't ready to give up just yet. We still want to fight for Hyrule alongside you."

Zelda was unsure what to say as she glanced back to Jayce and tried to think. People risked their lives to save her- they risked never seeing their family again. What could she do without the Triforce of Courage if-

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Jayce in Ghirahim's arms. Something about the fallen knight was causing something to come to her- a memory of something that she either saw or heard before.

"Only someone who is strong in mind and heart, and can find a way to awaken the power inside them and their sword can unleash something as powerful as the great spin... And because of the power you have inside, you have a way to control it through that sacred conduct of sword and wielder... I did this, so that you could not only be prepared, but so that you could be independent even from that power itself."

In the Hero of Twilight's tales, she recounted the one about her father when he held on to what life he had so that he could pass as much as he could to his daughter; the steps and risks he took in order for her to have the future he wanted to give her. Her heart was telling her that this was what he had planned for his daughter- and in turn, herself.

Zelda slowly let go of Bethany and moved away as she took out the Master Sword and held it up. "I remember now," She whispered "you don't need the Triforce to have true power."

"Ganondorf might have the Triforce, but we have something he doesn't." Zelda's voice rose. "He made the mistake of underestimating us. His pride is about to get the best of him because there is nothing we can't do together if we set our mind to it."

"I don't need to go through several dungeons to get stronger." Zelda looked at the knights. "The trials I went through with you all were not the same, but you were the ones who helped give me the strength to press on. I'm not any of the past heroes, but I know what has to be done in order to turn the battle around in our favor. Ganondorf thinks he has won, but its not until one of us dies that the outcome of this war will be decided. I want to prove him wrong about me- about us all."

"Let's kick his butt all the way back to creation!" Proxy cheered.

"Yeah!" Geode pumped a fist in the air. "One last battle!"

"FOR HYRULE!" Groose also pumped a fist in the air.

"FOR ALL OUR FALLEN COMERADES!" Another knight stood up and joined in.

"For both the past and future!" Ruto stood up alongside Darunia.

Gardually each knight and member of the last hope for Hyrule stood up and swore their assistance and rally each other. Zelda glanced to Shadow and he was able to give her a half smile as he still held onto Kay as if to say 'See? I told you so'. A knight guided Epona by the reigns to Zelda. "I don't know how long you would like to recover, but I think you might want to ride her for awhile." He offered.

Zelda stared in awe at Epona, then she glanced once again to Shadow, who gave a nod to show his blessing for her to ride his horse. She slowly approached the mare, who gently butted her nose into the girl and Zelda responded with an affectionate pat on the space between the horse's nose and, after putting the Master Sword away, she got onto Epona with some help from the knight. In doing so, she felt a sense of completeness, as if she was truly a hero of legend after all. Even as she glanced at everyone's faces, she could see that all of them wanted to give her their full support and it helped build back her confidence.

"Ready to fulfill your destiny?" Proxy asked as Zelda paused on top of the mare.

I have a strong feeling that you are destined to surpass your previous incarnations-including the Zelda that I knew. Ivan's voice rang in her head as she stared at the fairy. You are going to be the one to show Ganondorf that having the Triforce does not make one invincible.

Zelda broke into a grin as she declared. "This time I'm not going to back down and let the bad guy win. I owe it to everyone here to give it one last shot at victory."

...I realized that I was making an unintentional connection to Pokemon's Giratina in the Era of the Sky, so I kept that line in. :D

And before you ask, no I haven't played Pokemon GO yet.

I have to confess that I did consider killing off a character, but that particular character survived this time. It made sense for Jayce to be the one to die, but Midna's death was a last minute decision. I never intended to kill her off when I planned this fic, but it made sense that she deserved a better send off and for her to take her own fate in her hands.

There was supposed to be a scene at the beginning that involved Zelda having a dream of performing an operatic version of Link's Awakening with her in the role of Marin, but I opted not to since it would have disturbed the flow of the story.

I was waiting a really long time to write out that kiss between Shadow and Zelda and it made me happy to finally do so. I have to admit that one of the two almost did get injured right after the kiss, though this was partly because the timing of the kiss was influenced by part of a certain musical score from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. (For those who are curious, its 'Battle on the Tower' and its the part that goes from 4:41 to 5:07 and then the actual kiss is the bit at 4:56. You'll know which part I'm talking about. )

I tried to give it my all for the duels of Ghirahim vs Fi and Zant vs Midna. Anything I originally intended might have to be moved to the final battle.

Its getting to the point that it might take longer than a month to release new chapters and we might have three chapters to go instead of two since I predict the final battle will need to be split into two chapters. Until then, see you next time.