A/N: Whoo! Finally on chapter 20!

Saying that to say, I think that this story will be going on for another three to four more chapters. I have to admit, I was on a writer's block for a while, and I sadly was not able to keep up with my 'updating a chapter every two days' promise I made to myself, but all that besides, this is it. The final stretch until the end of the story. I hope all of you guys have enjoyed the story so far, because I know I have.

Now, I'm going to stop rambling and let you continue with the story.

XXX

She couldn't find Ike.

All throughout the Mansion Samus looked, sought after him, but he still was no where to be found. Even Toonie had tagged along, joining her to free himself from post-breakfast boredom even with his help, they had no luck.

They turned at the corner of one of the hallways of the third floor. Double checking all of the rooms that Ike might be at, they came one of the weapons rooms. Peach was there, standing in the middle of the room, her arms wrapped around her midsection tightly. This struck Samus as odd. Peach never went to the weapons rooms, since she fought with ordinary objects such as frying pans and tennis rackets. She stepped in.

"Hey, Peach." The princess turned to her, surprised, and Samus suddenly felt awkward. She never talked to this girl. "Um, have you seen Ike lately?"

Peach cocked her head to the side. "Hmm . . . no, not lately."

"Oh." Well, it was worth trying.

Toonie piped up below her. "Have you seen Dark Link lately?"

Samus didn't think she would know, but surprisingly, she did. Peach replied, "Oh, yes, I do. He just left a few minutes ago, from this room."

"Where to?" Samus asked warily. How would she know where he went? And what was she doing there, anyway?

Peach thought for a second. "Not sure."

"You're not sure?"

"He said he couldn't stay here," Peach said thoughtfully. "And he also said that he couldn't go back there . . . so I'm assuming he's not anywhere."

"Not anywhere?" Samus was incredulous. "How the hell is he not at the Mansion?!"

"He said he needed to escape from Hades," Peach said, startled by her sudden anger, "and that he couldn't go back to him. That he was going to die if Ike didn't succeed, then he'll—Hades—would kill him."

Samus blinked. Sure, she knew now that Ike had definitely taken Dark Link's offer, and knew why Dark Link made him take it, but still didn't know where he was. She narrowed her eyes at her, barely keeping a lid on her anger. "And, even after all this, you still didn't find out where he went?"

"No," Peach replied. "I just saw that he was in really bad shape—I told him that he needed some rest, and maybe a shower—"

"You idiot!" Samus yelled, advancing towards her. "Dark Link was working for Hades! And you let him go!"

"It wasn't his fault!" Peach said defensively. "He said that Hades made him do that—"

"It doesn't matter!" Samus had to keep herself from strangling her right then and there. "He's made Ike take that deal to save his own hide! And now Ike's going to kill Link and Pit!"

"I didn't know," Peach said, her bottom lip trembling. "He just seemed so helpless and insecure . . . and then he kissed me –"

Samus made an exasperated noise, stalking out the room with Toonie at her heels. Peach still stood in the middle of the weapons room, looking very, very confused.

XXX

Dark Pit stopped walking. "Alright, it is way too quiet in here."

The others ahead of him, looked at him sharply but lowered their weapons. Link nodded. "You're right. This has been way too easy for us so far."

"The door was open, and nothing has attacked us for the past thirty minutes, at least," Pit put in. "It wouldn't be like Hades to not show up during the big battle."

Link turned to him. "You think he just—left?"

"I don't know," Pit said uncertainly. The girls looked at him in worry.

He looked around at the space that they occupied, They were inside the castle, at the top of some stairs. Looking down, you could see what could've been the entry hall or sitting room, the first room that you would walk in once you go through the great double doors. There was little furniture around, and what was left of it or the curtains looked ripped up or torn apart. The whole castle was very dark, painted with red and purple paint with similar finishes.

Upstairs, it had seemed, was where the sleeping quarters were, though there was no one sleeping there now. There was only one room with one bed that looked like it was occupied; the covers and sheets on them had been torn from their mattress and ripped to pieces; spots of blood dotted the floor and coated the sheets.

Dark Pit looked around at the room in mild surprise. The girls looked slightly sick. "This is where Dark Zelda and Hades had slept," Dark Pit informed them.

Pit looked at the room, getting a little pale. "I think we can safely say that things didn't end well between them."

The five checked in the other rooms; they were all empty, and most of them looked like they had tornadoes whip through them.

"We still haven't checked outside," Link mentioned. "It looked like this castle was a part of a big arena, or something."

"That's true," Pit agreed, nodding. The group started to go down the stairs of the completely forsaken castle. Pit hoped that the castle wasn't completely empty. Just about to open his mouth to add something to the investigation, Zelda suddenly said, "I've got to go pee."

Link sort of turned to turn her. "We were just at the hot springs."

She crossed her arms. "So!?"

"Why didn't you go then?"

"Because I didn't have to go then!"

"Guys," Pit exclaimed. "There's no room in this situation for fighting!"

Link sighed. "Fine. We'll head outside. You can go then."

Zelda looked around at the boys awkwardly. "I don't want to go with all of you guys around . . ."

Link looked at her in exasperation. "How else will we know if you get kidnapped again?!"

Before she could retort, though, Daisy piped in at the best moment imaginable. "I'll come with her," she offered. "If we're kidnapped, then I'll scream for you."

Pit shrugged, seemingly okay with it, while Link still stood there, looking disgruntled. "Fine."

The party went outside.

XXX

Dark Zelda, from the shadows of the castle, looked down at the group from her perch. She saw the two angels talking with each other, then Link saying goodbye one last time as the girls split off and went in the opposite direction.

"Well, that was convenient," she said tonelessly, climbing down some stairs. It was the same place her brother had dueled with the dark angel; the same arena with its toppled, aged pillars and the same dusty and untended ground. Now, though, the arena was empty, along with the castle.

"Was it, now?" a voice inquired, coming up from behind her. Immediately afterwards, she felt strong hands gripping her shoulders tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Ike?" Dark Zelda said, inclining her head so that she could get a partial look at him. "I should be asking you the same thing."

"I'm here to take care of Link and Pit," Ike told her. "I was just waiting for the right moment."

"Oh, that's right," Dark Zelda said blandly, trying to twist out of his strong grip. It didn't work, especially when he shifted his arms to go around her waist and loosely around her neck. She made a frustrated noise. "You're here to complete the work that my brother wasn't able to finish."

"That's right," Ike said in her ear. "And now you're going to help me finish my job."

"And how do you expect me to comply to that?" Dark Zelda questioned, her eyes narrowing. Ike's arm became tighter around her neck, just inches short of a chokehold. "Oh."

"First, a few questions," Ike began with a nasty tone in his voice that she had not heard from him before. "Where's your boyfriend, anyway? And why are you after Zelda and Daisy in the first place? You never struck me as being the violent type."

"That's debatable," Dark Zelda said with an edge. "Especially with the way you're holding me right now, I'm having many violent thoughts towards you right now." She gave a dry chuckle. "And to think, there was a time back at the Mansion I had imagined your arms around me. I never imagined it quite like this."

Ike's arm went tighter. "Talk."

Dark Zelda relented. "I'm going after Zelda because I don't have anything else to do. After Hades told me what he was going to my brother, he—"

"What was he going to do with your brother?"

"If you didn't kill Pit and Link," Dark Zelda continued, "Hades said he was going to kill him. But I think he was planning on killing him either way. I couldn't let him do that," Dark Zelda said, "He's my brother, and was there for me even before Hades ever was, and I told him just as much. Hades was furious—and then, right before he left, he killed me."

Ike was startled. "He killed you? But how—?"

Dark Zelda shook her head, unsure about it herself. "I don't know," she admitted. "He brought me back to life for some reason, after he did it. And I turned, looking around at the room and all of my blood on the floor and the sheets . . . and I felt like I had never died at all. I wondered why he had even done it all, but he was just gone. Left, just like that. I've been stuck at this castle ever since, and it doesn't look like there's a way out."

"And Dark Link isn't here?"

"No," Dark Zelda said.

Ike made a frustrated noise between his teeth. "No matter," Ike said, tightening his hold on her neck. She gasped. "I never thought that you and Hades would work out. Though your precious little backstory helped, it did nothing to win any sympathy from me. But since I found you," Ike breathed, leaning in closer, "it's become suddenly convenient to me that you're here."

Dark Zelda's hands went to break free from the grip around her, but Ike's grip remained as strong as iron. Finally, she spat, "What the hell do you want then?"

Ike looked down at the place of entry below through the arena's window-like opening. Zelda and Daisy had not come back yet; Link and the two angels stood obliviously. He looked back to Dark Zelda. "Scream," he muttered in her ear. "Scream like you've never screamed before, and then I'll think about letting you go and you can take care of Daisy and Zelda yourself. I don't care what you do afterwards. I just want the hero and the angel." When Dark Zelda hesitated, Ike jerked her up a couple of steps, bringing her a frontal view of the ground from about three stories high. "Do you want to drop?" Ike threatened. Dark Zelda had nothing to say, frozen in her fear. "I didn't think you did. Scream, or else I'll drop you, and you'll go falling down, with nothing to break you're fall but the ground. And it looks pretty damn hard from up here."

Dark Zelda, his arms still wrapped around her body in a close embrace, looked down at the ground, retaliation being suppressed by her primal instinct to obey in order to live.

So she did.

Dark Zelda screamed.

XXX

Zelda looked to Daisy on her right. "Thanks for coming with me. I don't know why Link was freaking out so much."

Daisy shrugged. "He just wanted to make sure that you were safe. He was worried about you."

"I know." She ducked her head, smiling. "And I'm grateful for him. No one else would have been able to do what he did, on that castletop."

"Except for Pit."

"Maybe." Zelda smirked at her. Daisy laughed a little, then became silent all of a sudden, looking to Zelda in concern. "Your scar . . .does it hurt?"

Zelda's hand went to her face instinctively, paused, then went to brush back her hair instead. "Yes," Zelda replied. "The hot spring didn't do much for it. It's still infected, I believe. Back at the Mansion, I'll need to put some solvent on it."

Daisy nodded, still looking concerned. "I'm sorry for asking, but—"

"Then don't ask," Zelda said bluntly. When Daisy went on looking down looking guilty, Zelda sighed. "It's alright. No need to feel sorry for yourself."

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I'm feeling sorry for you!" Daisy shouted. Zelda blinked at her, surprised. "I can't believe Dark Link would do all those things to you! When I saw you at the base of that castle, you were so hurt—you were breathing all weird, holding your ribcage, and you eye was black and you nose swollen and sore. Dark Link did terrible thing to you—things I can only imagine. I just want to help."

Zelda sighed, looking down. The pain itself wasn't bad," she told her. Daisy looked at her in disbelief. "Really, it wasn't. The worst part about it the thought that I would have to face another day of torture, alone, with Dark Link, in that dark tower. That was the most unbearable thing about it, I think. But I knew that Link would be around to save me in the end. I knew that he would come and kill Dark Link for all of the things he did to me." During her last statement, Zelda's tone went sort of dark, and Zelda paused before she continued. "I also saw Hades." Daisy's eyes widened. "But I don't want to talk about it," she said, like an afterthought.

"Are . . . are you okay?"

"No," Zelda said candidly. "I'm not. But I don't want you to worry about me, okay? I'm as fine as I'm going to be, and no amount of 'counseling' from you is going to cure that."

"I'm sorry," Daisy blurted, looking down. "I didn't mean to pry. I just feel like, well, once we get back, nothing'll be the same. Being here, in the Underworld, I feel so stretched out. I haven't gotten sleep for days. Don't you feel the same? And the pressure on all of us is taking its toll, and I'm afraid that in the end we'll be too tired to fight back for whatever Hades has in store for us next; It's like we're all slowly breaking down. Can we last much longer, after everything that's happened?"

Zelda gave no answer, because she knew that answering would have to confirm that there would be able to find a Portal to get them back to the Mansion. But she didn't feel like lying to her. "Come on," she said instead. "The boys are still waiting for us, and Link's no doubt freaking out by now."

Daisy nodded, and the two kept on walking.

"Link!" Came a shrill, feminine voice from above them. The girls looked up. "Link, help! Help! Help me, please! Someone, help!"

Daisy turned to Zelda, confused. "That sounded a lot like you."

Zelda continued to look upwards. "It did." She thought for a moment. "Come with me. I think I have an idea of who it might be."

XXX

A/N: Eh, that took me way too long to post, I know. I was running into plotholes and such . . . but there's me, making excuses again. It was a fill-in chapter, but I hoped you guys liked it.

Since I'm the most inconsistent person in the world, I can't really tell you when the next update will be. I'm hoping for some time this week. But I am still sticking to my original goal of completing this story by the end of summer.

I changed the cover image. It is now a picture of our lovely main villain Hades and all of his green and red haired glory, who also hails from the amazing Kid Icarus Uprising game for 3DS. He smirks and waves at you in greeting, waiting to devour your souls.