((A/N: Sorry that it took waaaay too long to get this chapter up. It was a hard one to write. Very hard. Drove me insane. *falls asleep on her desk after writing so long* I think this has to be the worst one I wrote though… Fail fight scene [or at least me describing it], fail chapter title… It's just really "bleh" for me and I'm sorry for it. I guess there's a reason it took so long to get this one off, cuz it was so hard to stinkin' write. X-x
Owe my pal Anthony BIG time for RPing out this entire fight scene. I didn't use everything from our little RP, but I did use a good bit of it. So much so that my original chapter was pretty much scrapped, I think… but yeah, just glad to be done with it. And yes, I've been listening to too much Skillet.
Ten: You may not like me for not detailing the first two fights against Ganondorf, but I felt that if someone has already beaten Twilight Princess, then they know how those go. The only thing I missed out on doing would be when Link and Midna first entered. Sorry. X-x
Jenn: I feel I let you down for how long it took to get this new chapter up though :( And he does? Props goes to my friend Anthony for making him seem that evil then. XD And thanks for the compliment ^^))
Chapter 28: Hero
The crackling of flame filled the throne room as golden fire engulfed the boarish monstrosity that Ganondorf had become, Link standing before it in his human form once more, Master Sword in hand. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the body slowly burn away, a yelp of pain from behind him drawing his attention now. Glancing back, he saw Danielle collapse to the ground from where she had been pinned against the statue, grimacing and holding her left shoulder, which seemed to be injured, possibly dislocated. Of course, he couldn't tell too well from where he stood.
Danielle stumbled to her feet a bit ungracefully, coming out from behind the throne with a pained look as she hissed through her clenched teeth. As her blue eyes fell upon the unmoving princess, concern filled her face. "Uh, why won't she wake up…?"
Link couldn't give her an answer, the same question crossing his mind. He turned his attention now to Midna, who watched with a narrowed eye as the last of Ganon's remains burned away in the golden fire. There seemed to be a hint of satisfaction on her face, but it was hard to tell. But something strange was happening, an aura of golden light surrounding her body as sparkles began to drift backwards. The Twili looked at her hands in shock, uncertain of what was going on before looking backwards to the unconscious Princess Zelda. Light was flowing from Midna and into Hyrule's ruler, and when the last note of light entered her body, the princess's chest slowly began to rise and fall as her clear blue eyes came open. Princess Zelda was finally awake.
Of all of them, it was Midna who seemed to be most in shock by this turn of events, a hint of sorrow in her voice as she stared at the princess. "Pr-Princess… I… I…"
"Say nothing, Midna," Zelda interjected softly. "Your heart and mine were as one, however briefly… Such suffering you have endured…"
The Twili's lip seemed to quiver slightly, but she didn't cry, Link now watching as Zelda rose up from the throne and turned to the stunned young Hylian at her side. Danielle looked like she was barely able to stand right now, one hand gripping the back of the throne tightly to support herself. When Zelda's gaze fell upon Danielle, a smile spread across her face that told of immense relief and yet a deep sorrow as she suddenly reached out, wrapping her arms about Danielle while taking care to not hurt her dislocated left shoulder any further. "Thank the goddesses you are safe," she murmured, just barely audible.
Danielle managed to raise her right arm in a somewhat awkward return of the embrace, her head resting briefly on Zelda's shoulder. "I… I'm so glad you're okay, Princess…"
Link gazed curiously upon this reunion, wondering just what was going on. It wasn't quite natural of rulers to embrace others even if they were acquainted… right? Perhaps there was something going on that he just wasn't aware of, something between the two. Zelda slowly pulled away, smiling gently down at Danielle before turning to face Link and Midna, taking a step forward to join them.
"Well, I think it's time we get going," Link spoke up now, not liking having to be the one to interrupt the reunion. This wasn't really the safest place to be having it, even if Ganondorf had just been defeated. Zelda nodded in agreement, while Danielle took up the longsword Durandal to use as a makeshift crutch in walking. He was eager to be out of this castle that was still somewhat overrun with monsters…
"…Wait." Midna lifted a hand now, stopping Link as her eye narrowed slightly. Much to his confusion, the imp was staring down Danielle, who seemed somewhat dazed and surprised upon seeing Midna's icy stare.
"Huh…? What's the hold-up, Midna? Let's get out of here already…"
The Twili's frown only deepened as she stared at Danielle for a few more seconds, Link exchanging a confused glance with Zelda before Midna finally spoke up once again. "Nothing. Never mind. Let's go." Turning, she began to hover off towards the entryway of the throne room, Link and Zelda following close behind. What was with Midna's unusual behavior? He thought that she had actually taken a liking to Danielle, so what was with the sudden change in attitude? It made no sense whatsoever.
As they were walking towards the exit, Midna curled her hand slightly into a fist, her hair now taking the form of a large crimson hand before shooting backwards, just barely missing Link's head. A stunned expression on his face, he was about to ask just what was going on with Midna when he noticed her glaring past the hero. Turning abruptly, he was surprised to see Danielle there, her blade mere inches from striking Link, held back only by Midna's powers.
What… is going on here!?
Princess Zelda was the one to voice the question on Link's mind, her own eyes wide in shock. "Danielle? What in the world are you doing?!"
Danielle's face betrayed nothing, showing no remorse as she stepped back and lowered the cursed blade to her side. Not responding to the princess's query, she raised Durandal horizontally to her side with one arm, a feat that should have been impossible for the young girl who could barely even hold a smaller sword with one hand. The gem on the hilt of the blade burned with an inner red fire, a malicious presence radiating from the weapon. She lunged forward towards them, trying to not give them much of a chance to react as she swiped with her blade.
Zelda managed to step back in the nick of time, Link not so fortunate as he received a slight cut on his sword-arm that seared with pain. The blade of Durandal was heating up, glowing red hot and searing the blood that stained it. Resisting the urge to gag at the sickening odor that rose into the air, Link took up his shield just in time to block another strike from Danielle's blade, but the flames that leapt from the steel singed his clothes slightly and caused him to wince. With her sword still pressed against his shield, he shoved forward hard to knock her backwards, succeeding in causing her to stumble slightly.
Before he had a chance to rush in and try to disarm her, Danielle smirked, flames leaping from Durandal and surrounding her before taking the shape of draconic, fiery wings behind her. She rose high into the air, out of range of his blade while glaring down at them, those wings spread out behind her. The temperature in the room jumped even higher, sweat rolling down Link's face. At this rate, they would probably die from the heat instead of strike from the actual weapon if they didn't do anything!
"…Heh." Danielle raised Durandal towards the ceiling, fire leaping from the blade once more. The flames filled the air, but their source never diminished. As she pointed at them with her sword, the flames gathered into fiery spheres, now shooting down at them. Midna created a barrier of Twili magic to protect herself and Zelda, but Link was left to dodge the barrage of fireballs. He didn't want to hurt her, but right now there was no other choice. Drawing his bow, he swiftly notched an arrow and took aim, letting it fly at her injured left shoulder before she had a chance to react.
Not a sound escaped her lips, but her eyes widened sharply as the arrow pierced into her flesh, halting her attack on the trio. She landed on the ground, switching Durandal to her left hand and trying to pull the arrow from her shoulder, but this distraction was all Midna needed. Her hair quickly took the form of a hand once more, shooting forward and slamming so hard into Danielle that Durandal was sent flying from her grip, the aggressive youth pinned now against the wall. "Gotcha," Midna growled with satisfaction, keeping Danielle pinned there even as she began to squirm to get free.
"Danielle… what's gotten in to you?" Zelda questioned now, a frown on her face.
"Isn't it obvious? It's not over yet. Something's inside her head," Midna replied, never once taking her eyes off of Danielle.
Link couldn't help but frown deeply. This wasn't good news at all. Was this some trick of Ganondorf's, or was it something else? "What are we supposed to do? If we keep fighting, she's going to end up getting hurt even worse than she is now."
Midna turned her head to glance back at him, then shifted her gaze to something on the floor. At first, it took Link a second to realize what she was looking at until he noticed Durandal there, the crystal still emanating a strange, dark energy. "That's the key. Those weapons contain a powerful dark force in them… and I think that may be what's controlling her. We need to destroy the crystals on those weapons!"
"Right!" Link took his holy blade, the Master Sword, in hand as he rushed at the fallen sword, feeling the heat the blade generated increasing as if it was trying to protect itself. Not one to be deterred by a little heat, especially considering he had made his way through the Goron mines, he stabbed the tip of his blade into the crystal as hard as he could. Flames shot from the shattered crystal, a draconic roar seeming to come from the blade as the fire on Durandal burned out, the same happening for Danielle's fiery wings as the temperature returned to normal.
Midna was right! But that means we have to shatter the crystals on all of the weapons… and this was only one of six.
Midna let out a grunt of surprise, Link looking quickly to the side as Danielle squirmed free of the pain, holding on her right hand. Animus shot past Link, very nearly striking him in the face, as did the bow Mugre. Her new weapon's crystal glowed with pale green light, summoning fierce winds into the throne room that threatened to blow the three away.
"You don't have to do this!" Zelda shouted, one arm covering her eyes as she squinted up at Danielle. "Let us help you! Fight the darkness!"
There was no response, just a blank and uncaring expression as the winds swirled about her and lifted her into the air. Already Link could tell that his arrows wouldn't be able to reach with how fierce a gale surrounded her. Now protected from both long-ranged and close-ranged attacks, Danielle leveled her bow horizontally, air gathering at its tip before shooting forward like a deadly bolt of wind straight at Link. He dove to the side quickly, the wind slamming into the stone floor instead and hitting hard enough to actually chip away somewhat at the stone. There was definitely no way he could withstand getting hit by one of those.
It's impossible for us to get close to her or hit her with any long-ranged attacks, which means…
Getting an idea, Link quickly donned his iron boots so that the howling winds couldn't blow him about, turning his gaze towards the two princesses. "Midna, help me get in close! Princess, do your best to cover us!" Without missing a beat, Midna once more formed her hair into a hand and grasped Link with it. Zelda darted to the side, barely avoiding a long blade of wind that tore through the air behind her. Growling, Danielle leveled her bow once more at Link, apparently thinking he would be an easy target now that he was wearing the iron boots.
Smirking, Link readied his sword in shield, knowing that he was about to give the possessed Hylian the surprise of her life. "Midna! Now!"
"Mm!! Hah!" Using her great power, Midna flung Link straight towards Danielle as a Hylian projectile. The combination of the force of the throw and the weight of his boots made it impossible for the winds to bar his path, and he had time to see Danielle's smirk fall away and be replaced by shock before he lashed out swiftly with his sword. He didn't see the crystal he struck shatter, but he felt a jolt run along his weapon and heard a high-pitched screech pierce the air, the winds dying away. Tucking his shoulder in, Link rolled along the ground and came up in a crouch, quickly removing the hefty boots and spinning on his heel.
Danielle had landed on the ground in a crouch herself, the axe Armads now in the hand clad by Animus. Midna was hovering there, panting from the exertion of throwing Link, which also left her open. "No!" Link shouted, Danielle crashing Armads into the ground, cracking the stone and sending electricity shooting out towards them. Link was able to jump aside to avoid it, but he could only watch as Princess Zelda rushed in towards the cursed Twili, taking the brunt of the blow to her back. Her scream rent the air, Zelda collapsing to the ground.
"Ah…!" Link bore his teeth in anger, now charging straight for Danielle. She barely had time to turn her head, a savage grin on her face, before Link slammed into her back with his shield and threw her to the floor. He had no time to see how Princess Zelda was doing, focused only on disarming Danielle before she could strike again. Electricity crackled along the gold-plated axe head, but before she had a chance to retaliate he plunged the Master Sword's tip into the crystal, shattering it as a howl filled the air. The lightning that surged forth from the crystal ran along his blade, causing him to cry out before being blown backwards.
Ah… shoot, that hit me hard, he thought, grunting in pain as he rolled over and scrambled to his feet. Suddenly, something shot past his side, barely nicking his skin before shattering against the stone floor. At first it took him a second to realize it had been a spear of ice that had nearly impaled before he got moving, just barely avoiding another icy spear. Turning his gaze towards his opponent, he saw Danielle approaching with Malte in hand. A thick armor of ice covered her entire body, and each step she took forward caused frost to spread from her foot along the stone floor.
Link took a step back, frowning as she approached and ready to block or dodge her next strike. He was unprepared as she stomped her foot on the ground, ice suddenly shooting along the floor and quickly encasing both of his legs. Caught off guard by the sudden move, he tried to break free, but to no avail as the ice slowly spread up his body, encasing him in a cold prison. As Danielle raised her lance to finish off the trapped hero, a massive golden hand suddenly snatched her up without warning, a cry of surprise escaping her lips.
"Midna!" Link shouted, seeing the imp in her most powerful form, that of a six-armed beast. A spear was in two of its free hands, another ripping Animus from Danielle's hand. It paid no attention to her cry of pain, piercing the two massive spears of golden twilight into the crystals on them. With the two weapons Danielle held rendered useless, it flung her away and reverted to the form of Midna. Exhausted from using such a powerful form yet again and needing to regain her energy, Midna collapsed into a sitting position next to the fallen Princess Zelda, giving Link a slight nod.
Only one weapon remained, and then this whole ordeal would be over.
Seeing Danielle pick up Exaccus, blood flowing from her injured shoulder down her left arm, Link quickly rushed over to the two princesses. He would make his stand between Danielle and the two. "Hmph." Readying the Master Sword, he stared his opponent down coolly.
"If you… are the only one standing… then this shall be easy," Danielle growled, grinning as she raised the greatsword. Suddenly, darkness filled the entire room, the darkness so thick that Link couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. This was bad. Very bad. Standing there in a defensive stance, he could hear Danielle's uncharacteristic cruel laugh from all around him, but he couldn't pinpoint her location. A sharp, searing pain lanced through his back, causing him to stagger forward as he was struck from behind by the powerful greatsword. He retaliated quickly with a strike of his own, hoping to catch his attacker, but his blade was met with nothing but air. Before he could turn, another strike tore into his right side, driving him to his knees as he felt hot blood flow from the wound.
Once more, Danielle's voice rang out in the darkness, filled with malice and a twisted joy. "Pathetic. Nothing you can do will pierce the darkness. You and the two princesses… will die here at my hands!"
His mind raced to think of what to do, but only one idea entered his mind. Remembering his training, he sheathed his blade and focused, closing his eyes. He would have only one chance at this, and if he messed up… then his life and the lives of everyone in Hyrule were forfeit.
Listening intently, he heard a slight rush of wind, his long ears twitching as he turned in a sidestep, feeling Exaccus graze his flesh. Using the angle of the wound to judge Danielle's position in the darkness, he grasped his blade with both hands and swiftly drew the weapon, swinging the flat of his blade as hard as he could manage in a blow at her head. He was rewarded with a grunt of pain and a heavy clatter, Link stumbling towards the cursed greatsword. He couldn't see the weapon in the darkness, but the waves of malice that radiated from its crystal told him exactly where it was.
This ends here!
"Hah!" He brought down the Master Sword's tip, an otherworldly roar escaping from the weapon's crystal as the darkness in the throne room was dispersed as quickly as it came. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the light once more, but as he looked around, he was shocked to see Danielle on her knees with her back to the two fallen princesses, the now-powerless Durandal in her hand. Despite the fact that all of the weapons had been rendered useless, hatred still filled Danielle's face.
"Hah… hah… you think… you have won?" she growled, gasping heavily for air.
Link grunted, favoring the wound to his side as he glared right back at her. "Give up, already. You're beaten."
"Perhaps… but you will… never release her!" Danielle turned the blade now, pressing the tip to her chin as she prepared to drive the sword through herself.
Link knew he wouldn't be able to reach her to stop her in time, his eyes growing wide as whatever force that possessed Danielle was about to end her live. "No!!" But before the deed was carried out, a giant red hand slammed hard into Danielle's side, throwing her aside and causing Durandal to clatter once more to the ground. The Hylian herself went skidding along the floor, a red smear left on the stone as her injured shoulder brushed against it. "Ah?" Link saw Midna there, sitting next to the seemingly-unconscious Princess Zelda and grasping her hand. The crest of the Triforce was glowing brightly on it.
"In case you didn't hear, he said 'you're beaten'," Midna spoke, her eye narrowed.
Danielle let out a growl, stumbling to her feet and favoring her shoulder. "Hmph… you think… you can stop me from ending her life?"
"Maybe not me," Midna replied, smirking now, "but she can."
With these words, Zelda slowly pushed herself to her feet, now recovered from the blow she had taken as she focused a silent glare towards Danielle. The younger Hylian actually flinched, backing away as Zelda approached, her back soon hitting the wall. As the princess approached, the golden crest on her hand seemed to glow even brighter, Danielle now raising a hand to strike the princess in defense. But Zelda was prepared for this, moving much quicker than Danielle as she lunged forward. She reached out, digging her fingers into Danielle's temples. "You will use her for evil no longer!!" A powerful light erupted from the Triforce crest, filling the princess before pouring into Danielle.
"Aaagh! Aaahh!!" A deep cry that didn't belong to Danielle filled the air, darkness being driven from the young Hylian. Danielle's eyes glazed over now, her body going limp as the dark force was finally driven from her body. Princess Zelda caught her, gently laying her down on the stone floor.
The battle was finally over, but it seemed that it hadn't been without a cost. Link sheathed the Master Sword, slowly walking forward with Midna now hovering over his shoulder. Danielle wasn't moving at all, her skin pale, the blood barely even oozing from her shoulder now. "Princess, is she…?"
"Not yet, but close." Zelda closed her eyes briefly, sighing softly. "The light of life has been ripped from her body completely, leaving but a lifeless shell that is slowly dying. The weapons held her spirit within them, feeding off her life to fuel their evil magics." Opening her eyes once more, she reached out with one gloved hand to brush away wisps of hair from Danielle's face. "With the crystal prisons shattered, her light was freed. Can you feel her?"
Link hesitated, slowly looking about him. Indeed, he felt a strange presence around them. Was that what Zelda meant? Was that the spirit of the young girl who he had aided in freeing her family? As he watched, Zelda closed her eyes, placing her hands over Danielle's heart, left beneath right, the Triforce crest shining brightly. Light gathered about her, flowing through the princess and into the younger Hylian. After a scant few seconds, she inhaled sharply, Danielle's eyes coming open with a jolt. "A-Ah…?" Surprise and pain filled her gaze, her right hand reaching up and feeling the arrow that was still stuck in her shoulder.
Princess Zelda narrowed her eyes slightly, pulling her hand away gently. "Here…" Flinching slightly, she pulled the arrow from Danielle's flesh even as she let out a cry of pain, Zelda's hand now hovering over the injury. Light flowed from it and into the wound, the princess using her powerful magic to mend it.
Danielle blinked slowly, exhaling heavily. It was apparent she no longer felt the pain of the injury due to Zelda's healing magic, but the dislocated shoulder was probably a different story. "Uh…" She managed to sit up without much difficulty, an apologetic look on her face before she suddenly wrapped her arm around the princess. "I'm sorry. I… I saw everything… but I couldn't do anything to stop it…"
Zelda smiled gently, holding Danielle close now. "Do not fret, Danielle. All that matters is that you are safe. The evil that controlled you has been banished."
Link couldn't help but smile a bit himself. It was good to know that she would be okay and was finally back to her normal self. He couldn't help but wonder though… just what had been driving Danielle in that battle? Had it really been just the six weapons, or was it something else?
The crackling sound of fire reached his ears, Link frowned as he shot a glance over his shoulder. A mass of golden fire with Ganondorf's face had appeared there, leering at them. It seemed their joyful moment had been cut short yet again.
