Hey everyone, Llwyong coming to you live from his hideaway. Before this goes any further, I want to clarify some things. One, this is set in the Twilight Princess world setting, and when I refer to directions, I refer to the Gamecube version. Also, I know I had originally said that the twins were meant to be versions of myself. This is no longer the case. Those two have developed in such a way that very little of my personality remains in them the way I had intended. Alright, so now that that's out of the way, I'm pleased to present ch. 21. R&R plz.

The Legend of Midna: Clockwork Darkness

Chapter Twenty-One

"Did you fetch the boy as I had commanded?" demanded Zagros once Igos returned.

"Yes, master," Igos replied in his metallic monotone. "The one with the silver hair, just as you asked."

"Excellent," Zagros murmured with a sick grin. He nonchalantly strode over to where Igos stood with the boy in his metal arms and magically suspended him in the air. The boy's head lolled around sickeningly and Zagros carried him along.

"Pity," Zagros mused. "He hasn't yet awakened. This is rather quite unacceptable, really. I need answers from him. Well, I suppose I can wait until he's awake. Everything else has been set in order. I'd wager there's time to spare at this point."

"What shall you have me do, master?" Igos asked, bowing as best he could.

"Hmm…" Zagros intoned thoughtfully. "You know, I'm not really sure. Everything is in order except for the boy still being unconscious. The only left to do now is wait until he's awake, get the information I need from him, and then set the legions out onto Hyrule and the Twilight Realm so I can let the monarchs watch their kingdoms fall to my rule, and then I'll kill them, naturally. Tell you what, take the bat with you and patrol the lower levels. I highly doubt that those three interlopers survived their trials, but then again I highly doubted that the original model for the fabricants could be overcome and they were, so it probably would not be a bad idea for you to patrol just to be on the safe side. Arm yourself and then go on."

"Yes, master," Igos said obediently. "As you command." Igos removed a two-headed polearm from a weapons rack nearby and proceeded towards the door. The mechanical bat that Zagros had made first zoomed past, its flying skill greatly improved from the first time it had flown, and together the two mechanical minions exited the room.

Zagros then turned to face the boy. "Now all I need is for you to wake up," he said disapprovingly. "Well, there's no reason I can't have you in place while I wait."

A loud thud and several shouts later, the twins and the wind mage found themselves piled on top of each other. Eoghan was the first to stand; he groggily got to his feet and then proceeded to help the others up.

"Damn, Cal," he said upon seeing her headband. "Looks like you got some new bling."

"Bling?" she said incredulously.

"Yeah," he said. "It's a new word I made up. It's like, jewelry and that kind of stuff, because it blings in the light. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, I guess," she conceded.

"It'll never catch on," Siobhán chided, successfully taking the wind out of her brother's sails.

"You never give me a break," he complained. "So I'm guessing the two of you had to go through some kind of trial? I had to fight a bunch of dudes and then some kind of…it's hard to explain. It was like a man, only he was made out of metal."

"Looks like you made it out alright," Cailin observed. "What about you, Siobhán? What'd you have to do?"

"He stuck me in some kind of dungeon or something," she recalled. "I'm not really sure what it was supposed to be, but I had to balance on these beams, and jump around all over, and shoot things, and then I had to solve a puzzle involving a path, otherwise I would've gotten impaled."

"Well, you made it," Eoghan said in his usual upbeat way.

"Yeah, Zagros said he thought that I would," she said.

"Well, that's a good sign…I guess," Eoghan hesitated. "So what about you, Cal. Obviously you got something for your trouble."

"Yes, but it wasn't from Zagros," she said. "I heard some man's voice, I don't know whose, but anyhow he said that I could 'redeem my ancestor' and that 'they would unlock my potential'. I don't know who they are, I'm guessing 'they' are the sages, but either way, each time a crystal got added to my headband I've been able to do some pretty amazing stuff with my magic."

"That's awesome!" he exclaimed. "Well, now that we've proven what we're made of, let's go show Zagros who's boss!"

"Let's not get carried away," Siobhán reminded. "We have to consider the fact that since he was able to anticipate our arriving and getting all this equipment and have a trial designed to test each of us individually according to our own aptitudes, we need to be cautious. He's probably already got some heinous scheme in mind in case we actually succeeded."

"Your analysis gets on my nerves," Eoghan said, "but sometimes I'm glad you act that way. I hadn't considered all that."

"Well," Cailin said, "we should continue on. Like Siobhán said, he's probably got some other plan already made up, and he's probably already putting it into action. We need to get to him and stop him before he does too much damage."

"You're right," Eoghan nodded. "Let's go." Together, the three of them continued on the path upward through the fortress.

"Nnngg…where am I…" the boy murmured. He was just regaining consciousness and was not fully coherent.

"Ah, excellent," said Zagros. "You're awake. Now, boy, I want answers from you."

"What…" Finally the boy realized what was happening. "Hey, what is all this?" He found himself clamped into a machine of some kind, his wrist, ankles, and neck all bound by steel restraints.

"All in due time, boy," Zagros assured. "Just tell me what I want to know and I'll make this as painless as possible."

"What do you want to know?" the boy steeled himself.

"First of all," Zagros pressed, "what is your name?"

"Will," the boy answered.

"Will? Is that it?" Zagros demanded. "Nothing to follow?"

"No, just Will," he answered.

"Alright, Will," Zagros continued, "from where do you hail?"

"Hyrule," Will answered.

"Don't lie to me, boy!" Zagros cried, and delivered a hard backhand to Will's jaw. "You aren't Hylian, that's as obvious as those pointed ears of yours. Just one look at your eyes will give that away. Now, tell me the truth, from where do you hail?"

"I told you," Will insisted. "I am from Hyrule. You never asked if I was Hylian, you just asked where I was from."

"Boy," Zagros said, "you are in no position to argue technicalities. However, I shall be more specific this time. "What is your lineage? You are clearly not Hylian, so to whose line to you belong?"

"You know the answer to that as well as I do," Will said ambiguously.

"I suspected as much," Zagros said, evidently satisfied with this answer. "Those eyes give it away. Now, to your memory, have you ever inhabited your ancestor's home?"

"I believe so," said Will, "although I can't be certain anymore. I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Was this home in Hyrule?"

"No," he answered.

"Where was it in relation to Hyrule?"

"West," Will said.

"So you would cross the mountains beyond the desert…" Zagros mused to himself. "Very well, do you have any other family?"

"No," Will hesitated.

"What did I say about lying to me, boy?" Zagros demanded. "Don't pretend like that wind mage isn't related to you somehow." Zagros drew a small knife from his belt and pressed the cold steel against Will's throat. "I'll ask you again, do you have any other family?"

"Cailin, the wind mage," Will answered.

"What relation is she to you?"

"Sister," Will said, focusing everything on not letting the blade pierce his throat.

"As I suspected," Zagros said. "Now tell me, does the name Gufuu mean anything to you?"

"I don't speak that name," Will said.

"So it does mean something to you," Zagros smirked, realizing he had struck a nerve. "Tell me, Will, who is Gufuu?"

"I don't speak that name," Will insisted, "and I don't speak of the person."

"Answer me, boy!" Zagros cried. "Who is Gufuu?"

"I will die before I speak of that man," Will said defiantly.

Zagros lowered the blade. "You know, Will," he said coolly. "I would work on choosing my words better if I were you. You say you'd rather die than tell me who Gufuu is? Well…" Zagros turned his face away for a moment before turning back to face Will. "You may get what you ask for sooner than later."

As Cailin and the twins rounded the corner, they finally reached the top of the staircase. Before them was a long, wide corridor filled with ornately carved columns supporting the ceiling. Their classical beauty stuck out strangely against the industrial nature of the rest of the fortress. Through the center of the corridor ran a long red carpet. As the three of them entered the corridor, a set of wide doors opened on the other end. They could see two figures in the doorway; one of a tall man, and the other something very small hovering above his right shoulder. The man appeared to be carrying some kind of weapon.

"Get ready," Eoghan said as he drew the Gilded Sword. "I have a feeling it's about to go down."