A big thanks once again to KaijuKnight for reviewing; your review was both inspiring and funny all at once, so thank you very much! You made an excellent point, and made me laugh all at the same time! And goodness me no, I would never do some of those things you mentioned... I'm terribly scared of heights, so could never jump out of a plane. :-D

Chapter 20

An Unfortunate Outcome

In the Chamber of Sages, the little girl with the green hair and old eyes placed her hands on her hips, a sad expression on her face. "You could've tried harder to convince Link and Hadiya to stay here for a while."

Rauru gazed into the darkness around them. "It was not my place to sway that decision. Two possible realities were in form at that moment. Who am I to pick between the two? He had to choose." Rauru looked at the little girl. "I'm sorry, Saria. I know you and he were friends."

"We still are. We always will be. I just wish... he had picked the other possible reality."

"We all make our choices, Saria. And we all must live with them."

Saria joined him in gazing into the darkness. "Live... there's the hard part."

"He'll survive."

"I know."

"We've done everything we can. Now it's up to him."

"Again." Saria wiped a tear from her cheek. Rauru faded away from the Chamber, leaving Saria alone. Once more, the girl gazed into Link's future. "Oh, Link... I'm so sorry."

As soon as the light faded, Link found himself surrounded by several armed Gerudo, and Zelda being strangled to near unconsciousness by Ganondorf himself. Everything in the room froze when Link and Hadiya appeared. He noticed Ganondorf staring at his daughter with bulging eyes, and as Link glanced down at the hand that the girl still had placed over his own, he realized they looked like friends instead of the enemies they should be.

So Link punched Hadiya along the side of her jaw. It was a slow, sloppy move, and the girl could have easily dodged it if she wanted to, but she didn't. She had realized at the same time as Link that this was the only way to get Ganondorf's attention away from her.

The girl landed roughly, and then rolled away from the spot, towards the nearest guards. As Link turned his attention back to Ganondorf, the Master Sword raised in his hands, he heard a soft chink of something landing on the pile of coins. In the corner of his eyes he caught Hadiya desperately digging around; it would appear Rauru was correct and something really had fallen out of her pocket.

"You!" Ganondorf shouted, breaking the silence. "How dare you hit my daughter!?"

"Daughter?" Zelda choked out, her eyes flicking between Ganondorf and Hadiya.

Link took a brief moment to roll his eyes; leave it to Zelda to still find a way to talk, even when her adversary had a tight grip on her throat.

Ganondorf flung his free hand at Link. "Open fire!" he shouted at the guards.

Link was moving before the guards even pulled their triggers. He moved away from where Hadiya was digging and leaped behind a cabinet. The bullets dug into the wood, a few even making it through and sailing past him with sharp whistles. The moment there was a pause in the shooting, Link dived out of his cover and grinned at Ganondorf. He didn't want to get too close while he still had Zelda in his clutches, but he had a fairly good idea on how to get him away from her.

"Come on, Ganondorf, you haven't gotten out of shape since the last time we fought, have you? Quit hiding behind your guards and fight me yourself."

A snarl on his face, the Gerudo king threw Zelda away from him and drew his own sword. "No interruptions!" Ganondorf shouted to his guards. "I will kill him myself, and take the Triforce of Courage!"

Glad that he wouldn't have to worry about getting shot, Link quickly charged towards the Gerudo king.

Planting his feet on the shifting floor of coins, Ganondorf met Link's sword with his own, a heavy clang ringing out.

"You can't defeat me," Ganondorf hissed at Link, pushing against the Master Sword with his dark blade. "Try to seal me up in a prison if you want, but that sword won't work on me again, and you don't have Zelda here to help you!"

Link felt a surge of relief; somehow Zelda had still managed to hide her identity from Ganondorf. Now, as soon as she recovered, she would be able to help him with some of her magic and then they could finally end this. He pushed back against Ganondorf's sword, his arms straining against the constant force they had to hold. "I can kill you."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try. I'll just come back! Reborn, even stronger than before!"

Link finally found a solid, unmoving piece of floor and gave a hard shove. Ganondorf was flung back, and it took him a moment to catch his balance. Before Link charged forward again, he glanced over at Zelda. She was struggling to stand on shaking limbs, her hands at her throat and massaging it as she gasped in air.

The swords clashed together again. Sweat dripped into Link's eyes; his side was beginning to burn again, and he realized he must have torn his stitches.

"Forgot about those," he thought to himself dully before ducking and pulling his sword away, swinging it towards Ganondorf's legs. The man easily jumped over it. "He's way too fast!" Link was forced to roll to the side before Ganondorf could swing his own weapon down on top of him. Rolling into a pile of jewels, Link heard the loud clang of Ganondorf's sword hitting the floor. Had he been just a split second slower it wouldn't have missed him.

Link scrambled to his feet, placing a hand at his side as he did so. He winced when his hand came back covered in blood. A wave of dizziness passed over him, and he stumbled to the side, just barely avoiding another swing of Ganondorf's sword.

"I'm not going to win..."

The thought made a rush of anger flow through him. He remembered doing this before; he remembered striking several near fatal blows on this monster before Zelda and the other sages sealed him away. Tightening his grip on the Master Sword, he prepared himself for another one of Ganondorf's onslaughts. This time, Ganondorf took a few steps back before a crackle of electricity warned Link that he was using his magic. He remembered that, too. Instead of ducking out of the way, he waited for the sphere of dark magic to reach him before swinging with all his strength.

The sword vibrated in his hands as it connected with the dark magic, and for a moment the crackling ball of electricity and his sword remained perfectly still, fighting against one another. Finally his sword seemed to win the struggle, and the magic was sent flying back towards Ganondorf. Snarling, the man dodged it and charged forward again, trying to impale Link with his sword. Ducking under it, Link quickly swung up; he felt the sword glance against the man's armor, but Ganondorf didn't even grunt.

"How thick is that armor?" Link wondered as he leaped away from Ganondorf.

The Gerudo king was a bit unsteady from the blow all the same, and Link quickly decided to take advantage of this. He charged forward again, the Master Sword cutting through the air in front of him. Link was quickly upon Ganondorf, and he made sure to put all his strength into his blow. With a sickening sound of metal cutting through flesh and armor, Link felt his sword make contact. The blade slid straight Ganondorf's chest, completely disappearing into him and leaving just the hilt visible.

Everyone in the room froze. Link and Ganondorf were locked together, their eyes staring into one another's in shock. Even Hadiya had stopped her desperate search and was staring at her father with wide, disbelieving eyes. Zelda was the first to break the silence, as a slow breath escaped from her lips.

With the stillness of the room shattered by that quiet whisper, a slow grin began to form on Ganondorf's face. With a laugh, Ganondorf shoved Link away from him. Without even hesitating he gripped the Master Sword's hilt and yanked its blade out of his chest before discarding it almost casually. Almost everyone else in the room watched it fall to the ground in horror, but just before it collapsed against the ground Link was rolling towards it. He swiped it back into his grasp before swiftly dodging away, just barely avoiding another sweep of Ganondorf's sword.

"Enough of this!" Ganondorf shouted. Turning sharply, he practically flew across the room and grabbed Zelda once again. "Surrender! Or I will kill your general!"

Link froze, and so did Zelda, though that could just be because she couldn't breathe again.

"What do I do? Protect Zelda! ...Oh well that's really helpful, thanks. Got any other bright ideas, Link? Why the heck isn't she using any magic?"

No answers to any of his questions came to him. He couldn't move any closer to Ganondorf or Zelda without risking him snapping her neck; he still didn't know she was Zelda, and Link could use that to his advantage. If he did find out, he would kill her right away. For whatever reason Zelda couldn't use her powers at the moment, and he needed to make sure she stayed safe until she was able to. It was becoming increasingly clear to him that he couldn't win without her help, and if she died Hyrule was lost anyway. Hyrule needed its monarch.

"You do care about this pathetic commander of your rebellion, don't you?" Ganondorf asked mockingly, tightening his grip. Zelda responded with a choked, garbled word that sounded something like an insult. "Shut up," Ganondorf snapped at Zelda. "Surrender, Hero of Time!"

"What do I do!? What would Zelda do? No wait, don't ask that... she'd probably just try to shoot him and that would ruin everything. What would Arly do?"

Link lowered the Master Sword only slightly. "Give me your word you won't kill her."

Zelda tried to say something else, but when all she managed to get out was a strangled cry she resorted to glaring at Link.

Ganondorf tilted his head, considering it. "Deal."

"Promise me!" Link shouted, fighting back another wave of dizziness as more of his blood dripped onto the coins below.

Ganondorf chuckled and released Zelda. She fell to the floor again, breathing in ragged breaths. "I promise," he said with a grin. "It's a waste of my energy to kill a peasant anyway."

Link chewed at his lower lip, and then, ever so slowly, loosened his grip on the Master Sword. It fell to the floor, landing with a heavy clatter that tore at Link's heart.

Ganondorf swung his arm through the air, and suddenly Link found himself flying towards the nearest wall. He crashed into it heavily before sliding towards the floor. Ganondorf was there, waiting for him; he grabbed Link by the collar of his jacket and held him in place as he raised his sword in the air.

"No!" Zelda cried, her voice barely recognizable in its hoarseness.

Ganondorf paused, though it wasn't Zelda that had stopped him. At the same time that Zelda had cried out, so had Hadiya.

"Hadiya," Ganondorf said slowly, not taking his eyes off of Link. "Why do you protest? He is our enemy!"

"He'll just be reborn," Hadiya said slowly, carefully, as if weighing each word on her tongue before she spoke them. "Do you really want to have to start your search all over again after you kill him?"

Ganondorf's head tilted once again. Link stared up at him, not daring to speak as he waited for the large man to calculate his options. "A good point, Hadiya. But I think I want his Triforce. If I take it, I won't have to worry about his reincarnation anyway."

Hadiya closed her eyes as Ganondorf raised his sword once again. Link didn't. He kept his eyes open, staring into Ganondorf's dark red irises and not even blinking as the Gerudo king swung his sword downwards.

The blade stopped a hair's breadth away from his head. "Then again... I still don't know where Zelda is, and until I have all three pieces together there's really no point to taking Courage now..." With a shrug Ganondorf moved his sword away from Link. "Besides." A grin began to form on the man's face. "I think it would be fun to try and make you want to give me your piece of the Triforce. Don't you?"

Ganondorf didn't wait for Link to answer before releasing him and signaling at his guards. "Take him to a cell. One of the high security ones."

"Yes, sir!"

Link grunted as he was lifted back to his feet, the knife wound in his side throbbing steadily with sharp bursts of pain. His heart was beating heavily, and he mentally shouted at himself, and his past self, to come up with something to get him out of this mess. Nothing came. He saw Zelda and Hadiya standing together; though they were separated by several Gerudo guards, they were wearing matching expressions of concern. As he was half-dragged, half-marched past them, he grinned at them and winked. Hadiya rolled her eyes and the concern all but left her face, but Zelda nodded at him. "Stay strong, we'll get you out," she whispered hoarsely.

"Get him out?" Ganondorf repeated with amusement. "I don't think so. You're going back to your cell! Until after dinner that is! We have an appointment, don't forget! I still want to know where Zelda is, General Impa."

Link passed by several large cells, all filled with members of the rebellion. One, he noticed, held two very familiar faces. "Orca! Sera!" Link called out cheerfully, dragging his feet even more to slow the Gerudo that were escorting him.

"Eddo!?" both Orca and Sera exclaimed as they pushed through the rebels that were sharing their cell.

"How's it going?" Link asked.

"What happened to you, Ed?" Sera asked worriedly.

"Had a disagreement with a knife; the knife won."

"Ed," Orca began. "Why didn't you tell me you were the Hero of Time? That was rather thoughtless of you."

"Sorry about that!" Link called, having to twist his head almost a full one-eighty to see them now that he and his group had passed the cell. "Don't worry, though, I've got a plan!"

Sera threw her arms in the air. "Goddesses, he's got a plan now, does he? This ought to be good..."

"Oh it is! The best, actually! See you later! Oh and Beth is fine, by the way!"

Feeling a little better now that he had seen his friends, he didn't mind too much when he was taken from the room with all the cells and through another set of doors. These doors closed loudly behind him, leaving behind the bright lights that he had thought were in every room. Now their only source of light was a row of large torches lining the stone walls. Between each pair of torches were heavy looking wooden doors. It all looked rather old fashioned. They stopped at the very first of these doors, and one of the Gerudo pulled it open with some effort.

"I take it this is a high security cell?" Link asked as he was shoved inside. "It's a bit small..." He couldn't even stretch out his arms fully without his hands bumping into rough stone, and he soon discovered it was the same in every direction. There was no bed, and nothing to sit on but the cold stone underneath his feet. The door swung closed, leaving him in total darkness. "No lights in here. Did you realize that?" Link shouted through the door, but he received no response. All he heard was the footfalls of the Gerudo as they left.

Feeling suddenly claustrophobic, Link felt his way to the closest wall - which wasn't that hard to find - and then slid down it so he was sitting. He had to tuck his legs against his chest, as there was little room and no where else to put them. Leaning against the stone, he pressed a hand to his side. From what he could feel, it seemed that the bleeding had finally stopped at least.

Link sighed as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He knew there wasn't much to see, but it would make him feel better if he could at least notice his hand when he held it in front of his face. Then again, there were no windows, and as far as he could tell no cracks in any of the walls; so maybe there just wasn't any light at all. In which case, his eyes would never find anything to adjust to.

"Well... I'm getting bored already in here."

He supposed he now had plenty of time to start thinking up that plan he had mentioned to Sera. There was nothing else to do, after all. Briefly he wondered why Zelda had seemed so concerned; certainly the cell was a bit uncomfortable, but he wasn't planning on staying there that long anyway. As for what Ganondorf had said... he couldn't imagine ever wanting to give the man his piece of the Triforce, and he found himself rolling his eyes at the man's arrogance.

"Seriously, it's going to take more than a tiny room with no windows to make me give up," he thought with amusement.

Just another reminder that the updating schedule is going to be changed for next week and the week after. Next week is Monday and Tuesday, and the week after will be Wednesday and Friday. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Oh and also, one more thing: I recently put on my profile page the total number of chapters that this story is, but I thought I'd mention it here, too, so that nobody misses it (I don't know about you guys, but I always like to know how long something that I'm reading is); this here fic be a total of 45 chapters, including the prologue and epilogue, so... we're almost half way through! Yay!