Chapter 21
Encroachment

"Take your pick," Zelda said, stepping out of the way and indicating a room stocked full with weapons of all types.

Link gave her a surprised look at this unexpected offer. Many of the armaments the armory contained were coated in gold or made up of some of the finest and strongest metal found in Hyrule, or so he assumed. It certainly was a noble gift having immense value, so he simply stood there dumbfounded as Fay and Kiani strolled around unabashed by the enormity of her offering.

Fay immediately went for a sword and attached the sheath around her hips with a leather strap. Kiani was clearly unused to any particular weapon so he took a bit more time before selecting a lance that was nearly as tall as he was and a strange glint sparked in his eyes as if he had more in mind for it than what your everyday lance could accomplish.

"I was talking to you too," she told Link. "I would think it imperative at this point to be well-armed."

Link replied with silence and a movement to grab a sword he had been eyeing. It was much nicer than what Zelda had bestowed upon him earlier, but that was certainly for the best since that one was no longer in his possession. The sword consisted of a black hilt that included an emerald pommel, and the silver sheen of the actual metal shimmered in the light. Following this, he picked up a bow and arrow set made from a smoothly carved reddish-hued wood with the arrow points tipped in metal and the ends feathered with pinions of gold and silver.

"A meal should be ready for us by now, so if you want to eat follow me," Zelda stated upon seeing that everyone had picked a weapon or two they were satisfied with.

"I'd prefer to get back to my room for a bit," Link said. "Would that be ok?"

"Of course, I'll arrange for a plate to be sent up to you," Zelda answered curtly.

Link nodded his thanks and staggered on out of the room with his weapons in tow. The aches of his body had quelled somewhat so the pain was not on an extreme measure, but he felt more time for relaxation and thinking was called for.

Fay and Kiani had wanted to go with Zelda, so Link was left to make it back to his quarters unaccompanied. As long as nothing went too far astray, the trip would be manageable enough.

Once there, Link placed the weapons next to the golden sword propped against the wall and slipped off the silver gauntlets, placing them there as well. He fell back into the bed's comforting embrace and allowed his muscles to relax into the folds of cloth as his mind wandered over recent events.

How could everything have become so chaotic? People had lost their lives and there wasn't a thing he could do about it except kill the cause of this atrocity.

Serapis had certainly been a frightening specimen to deal with in the beginning, but now Link had no reason to fear him. Sure he had some incredible strength to back that strange appearance, but Link had more confidence in himself seeing as how that oversized humanoid snake was currently lacking quite a bit in the brain-department. Now the problem was simply how to put him in his place once and for all so that Hyrule could live without fear of a doomsday in their near future.

So long as Serapis' adapting rate didn't make any sort of rapid increase, Link felt he could stay on top of things.

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Speaking of Serapis, he was currently taking on the task of breaking into the castle. It was here he was sure they would be and it was here he planned to end the lives of his enemies.

Cloaking himself with the invisibility magic he possessed, he discreetly took out several guards and disposed of their bodies without incident. Taking the initiative not to give his approach away just yet, he decided to take the easy way in and teleport.

When he reappeared however, the invisibility failed and a maid was there to see his arrival. Her life was immediately cut short when she breathed the first echoes of a scream.

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That first part of the scream however, had been picked up by the ears of Link due to Serapis having appeared in the hallway his room was located on and he leapt to his feet in a rush. His suspicions were aroused and it would take more than a bunch of aches and pains to keep him from finding out what was up.

He quickly slipped on the gauntlets back on and loaded the spare sword and bow and arrow set onto his back. Taking the sword that had once belonged to Fay, he crept towards the door and listened for anymore sounds that might give away the presence of someone who shouldn't be there. He jumped when there was a knock simultaneous with his grabbing the knob.

He jerked it open to see who was there with the sword ready…It was one of the castle maids, a young one at that.

"Can I help you?" he asked her, lowering his sword hand somewhat knowing full well that it wouldn't do much good to freak out the maid.

"I'm here to do some cleaning," she replied seriously and stepped right on past him.

He grabbed her arm in turn, "Wait, I need to answer one quick question. I heard a scream, what was that all about?"

"I saw a mouse and it startled me; that's all," she blatantly stated.

Link released her without thinking of the fact that his room was already clean and made to step out into the hall when he nearly collided with another maid; only this one came bearing a tray of food and was much older with outfit prepared to perfection.

"Oh, excuse me. Princess Zelda sent me to deliver this to you," she said with a slight dip in representation of a curtsey. She weaved around him and set the tray on the bed stand, and when noticing the other maid became angry. "What are you doing here, Marcy? I thought you were on your way to clean the princess' room."

"I'll get to that momentarily. I simply thought Sir Link here would like a clean room," she replied snidely.

"It looks clean enough now let's go," the woman said sharply. "And in case you've forgotten, you don't talk to me that way little missy. The last thing you need is to be caught gallivanting with some young boy…again," the woman berated Marcy and proceeded to grab the girl's wrist. However, she was stopped.

Taking her wrist, Marcy snapped it backwards and shoved the older woman backwards so hard that she crashed into Link, the two of them tumbled to the ground, rolled out into the hallway, and the golden blade slipped from Link's grasp in the process.

Link knew this had been intentionally done to slow his reaction time to the sudden display of violence and once he was able to untangle himself, he charged back into the room and snatched up his sword on the way in.

'Marcy' stood there with an unreadable expression adorning her face and Link was surprised Serapis wasn't standing there in his true form instead.

"What is it you want, Serapis?" Link snarled.

"Well, aren't you a clever boy?" he sneered in response. "What I want should have been made clear to you by now."

Link made to bring his sword up to neck level, but Serapis vanished before such an action could be executed and then reappeared behind Link having finally returned to his original form. Link's instincts were the only thing that saved him from being cleaved in two, but even so Serapis' claws left jagged tears across his back when he dove forward.

Link's body still suffered from soreness and with the addition of the wounds to his back, he had to fight for ignorance of the pain as he tucked into a roll and hopped onto the bed before doing a turn-about to face his opponent.

"Weren't you ever taught not to jump on the furniture?" Serapis replied crudely, lunging at him.

"My parents weren't alive to teach me," Link retorted, using the bed's springiness to add momentum to his dodge.

Serapis crashed into the headboard and there was a splintering crack as it snapped in half. Link couldn't help but laugh at his adversary, though this laugh was ultimately short-lived when Serapis grabbed the remnant of the wood and brought it down on his head.

Link went out instantly and his body crumbled limply to the floor.

"Funny how you can sustain so much damage yet not a pathetic blow such as that," Serapis stated icily, moving to retrieve his prey. "Foolish boy, you never should have defied me."

"Stop right there, Serapis," Kiani ordered from the doorway. He was backed by Fay and Impa, all of them ready for a fight.

Serapis disregarded his words though he was slightly peeved that his victory was being interrupted as it was.

Impa dashed in with amazing agility and reached Link before Serapis did. This was an action that could not be ignored however, and Serapis was not about to let her get away with her burden before he could kill the boy. He was certainly surprised by the next blow that hit him when he strove to attack Impa.

Emitting a jarring roar of pain, Serapis' eyes fell to the lance that had pierced straight through the arm he had been prepared to strike with just below the elbow; shadows laced up and down it.

"A channeling agent, how clever," he gritted out before shaking away the hands that held the handle.

Impa took the opportunity presented to her and nimbly hefted Link onto her shoulder and navigated her way back out of the room.

Serapis of course, tried to go after her despite the object protruding from his arm. Kiani was able to grab the handle as Serapis bounded on by and stopped him in his tracks through extra strength aided from the shadow energy that weaved around the lance and currently the whole arm it had transacted damage to.

"It would be wise not to get in my way," Serapis threatened, but Kiani did not budge.

"I'm not afraid of you nor have I ever been," Kiani replied and yanked his weapon free with the addition of a minor blood shower.

Serapis failed at nailing a direct stab so he roughly shoved him aside instead. He was too concerned with getting his hands on the unconscious Link and finishing the job he had almost completed so he didn't bother 'wasting' his time on Kiani since he was being too difficult.

Fay barred his way with her sword however. There was a feral look in her eyes as she faced Serapis. She reacted swiftly to his reaching her and stabbed the wound Kiani had inflicted with her blade, tearing it open all the more. Serapis hammered her with a quick series of stabs to cut down this obstacle and bypassed her fallen form to get to the hallway. The Sheikah he was after was nowhere in sight so he regained his invisibility and barreled down the hallway to the right and around the corner.

As soon as she sensed his presence no longer in the vicinity, Impa emerged from a hiding place just to the left of the doorway and stepped over Fay and placed Link on the bed, brushing aside wood chips before doing so.

Link came to when Impa fetched a basin of water from the adjoining bathroom and splashed it on his face. He immediately jolted upright, glancing about frantically. "Where's Serapis?" he sharply demanded.

"He's roaming around the castle looking for you," Kiani said. "We have to move."

Link stood and streaks of blood were left on the bed in his place but he paid it no attention and hurried forward, only to stop when he saw the blood soaked body of Fay lying across the floor. Large holes bedecked her body where Serapis' claws had left their mark.

"She's dead, there's no use checking for any vital signs," Kiani stated gruffly, pushing Link forward so that he stumbled over the body and into the hallway.

"Why are you being so…so cold?" Link asked, a chill creeping through his being at the thought of having lost another person to Serapis' wrath.

"She had to die; this was the easiest way and she knew that. Now if you don't want more to join her then we have to go," Kiani's eyes were watery and Link realized then how much it pained him to walk away from Fay like that. "If anything, we have to kill Serapis for her; Nodin and Kitty too of course."

"Right, but first I want an explanation. I don't see any reason you can't tell me what you know at this point. Why was she allowed to fight and why did she have to die?" Link growled. "I want answers and I want them now."

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I'm sorry this chapter got out late. School is consuming a huge portion of my life right now…And I'm sick so I am currently not a very happy person. It's just a cold, but still, that can mean ultimate misery when you go through a whole box of Kleenex in one day. :( Reviewer replies have been posted so check 'em out if ya want.
-blondie91

Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda. Serapis is mine though, as well as the Guardians and my other OCs and everything else I made up.