A/N: *sing-song voice* I'm baaaaaack! *dodges rotten fruit and small appliances*
Okay, I'm really, really sorry. My only excuse is work. I have severely underestimated how little free time that I have with my summer job. But in return, take this lovely, beautiful thing: the longest chapter that I have written to date. Over 7,000 words! How's that for a comeback?
Very soon, I'm going to be gone for two weeks, and I wanted to post this before I disappeared again. However, while I've decided to give up on giving you exact dates on my updates, my next chapter should be out early August at the latest. If it hits, like, August 10th and I haven't updated, you have all rights to throw fruit at me. I won't even dodge it this time.
On other notes, I love this chapter! I love all of the recent chapters actually. But this one especially.
Warnings: Mass amounts of dialogue. And constant ridiculous amounts of Ocarina of Time for a Twilight Princess fic. But I'm breaking the mold!
Disclaimer: Um . . . yeah, you know the drill.
Read, Review and Enjoy!
~Shard of Freedom
Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign
Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Six Sages
Link walked through the Tunnels carefully. Shade's warning had made him even more cautious than before—he remembered that ambush for him after he left the Spell-Woven Pit.
There were voices ahead.
Link stilled and silently shifted so that his back was along the edge of the round tunnel, one hand on the Master Sword. They could be normal Sheikah, or they could not. Considering everything that had been going on for the past few days, anything was possible.
The presences suddenly stilled. The voices stopped. Had they sensed him? Two remained where they were while a third ventured forward. Link slowly slid the Master Sword out of its sheath.
When he sensed the figure close to him, Link suddenly lashed out, only to have the Master Sword be caught on another blade in a gridlock. For a moment, he was shocked, then he pushed forward against his newly found opponent.
Both of them jumped back, scratching the dirt of the tunnel with their boots, readying their guards once more.
Another figure suddenly darted around the corner, holding up a glowing lantern. Link flinched at the sudden darkness, his eyes unaccustomed to the brightness.
"Link?" a female voice asked softly.
Link blinked furiously. When his eyesight returned, he saw Nephenee holding up a lantern, sending ghostly shadows over her face. Behind her, Colin stood holding another lantern and an already drawn sword, his stance prepared despite having the weight of the lantern on his arm. Link gave a small smile at the sight of his apprentice once more.
As he glanced at his momentary opponent, he realized that it was actually that Sheikah that he had met in Castle Town . . . Ren, maybe? Link had never been good with names, but he supposed that he should remember the one who had tried to kill him more than once.
"Nephenee, Colin, why are you here?"
Nephenee shook her head, causing the slumbering fairy in her hair to be shaken awake and flutter incessantly, adding its own soft light. "You said before you left that you wanted us to go after you after two days. Ren gave us unexpected help, but we were following your orders."
" . . . How long has it been since I left you?"
"Nearly a week and a half," Ren supplied automatically, the dagger that he had once held disappearing. In the new light, Link saw that Ren was now without his head mask, baring his sharp features to the world. As the two examined each other in the new light, Ren added on "sir" to his previous statement.
Link brought his hand up to the new tattoo that he knew was there.
Ren watched him with cold and grudgingly respectful eyes. "It seems that we have much to share, sir. We were not idle either."
Colin looked between the two of them carefully. "Ren? Why do you keep calling Link sir?"
"Link?" a soft melodious voice echoed through the caves. The trio paused and Link's eyes widened, recognizing the high-pitched voice that was always prone to laughter when they were together.
Link stepped forward.
Spiraling out of Colin's shadow, the small imp materialized in all of her green-and-black Twili majesty. She retained her small form and the Fused Shadow across one of her orange eyes. She looked so much like she had before they had partnered, the same small figure that would rise on her back in wolf form. For a moment, Link's voice betrayed him and he couldn't force out a sound.
Midna floated towards him and placed a hand on his cheek, the same way that she did in Gerudo Desert, after she had revealed the history of her people to Link, leaving her soul bared. Her eyes were soft and sharp, brushing her short fingers against his new Tear.
"You've changed," she said calmly.
"You haven't," Link responded softly.
Midna gave a cracked smile, the one that she always used when they were losing a battle and she was about to give him advice. "I missed you, Link. I fear that we have a lot of catching up to do."
Link glanced behind her to his three companions, who were watching the scene with a measure of distance, not wanting to intrude.
"Yes, we certainly do."
When Midna finished her tale, Link's eyes were wide and he had a hand on his chin.
"Dark Link must have crossed the worlds directly after he came in contact with me if he took over your kingdom. Which means that he can switch between worlds at will. I only wonder . . . can he bring people with him?"
Midna was sitting in midair, right over Link's right shoulder. "If he can, we're in loads of trouble. Because the Relic will take the transformed Twili citizens and bring them over here to attack Hyrule. I've got no doubts in my mind that Ganondorf will use them to wage war on Hyrule."
"But the Gerudo are already fighting for the king," Nephenee chimed in, causing both the Twilight imp and the legendary Hero to look at her. She did not waver under her gaze. "He does not have the need for any other army."
The imp looked at Nephenee curiously and Nephenee flinched back from her gaze, crossing her fingers in an odd expression that Link had never seen before. "When you spoke to me last, girl, you mentioned that there was a rebellion among your people."
"My name is Nephenee, imp—"
"So Ganondorf may have a need for a new army," Midna continued, as if Nephenee had never spoken which infuriated her. "An army that does not disobey him the way that the Gerudo have. So he'll want my Twili army, which is obedient and can be easily controlled with the Fused Shadows, which he now possesses."
Nephenee seemed to burn with the interruption of her words, but Colin placed a hand on Nephenee's bare arm and she forcibly calmed herself. Link watched the way that the Gerudo girl acted around her young apprentice. Their intimacy would be good for her fiery temper.
Ren cleared his throat. "Sir, you mentioned that you were on your way to see the Sages, correct?"
Link glanced over at Ren. "You don't have to address me by any formal titles. I'm not even recognized by the clan as a Shadow."
He paused, a look of serene contemplation on his face. "I'll drop the titles," Ren said sharply, "but it doesn't matter to me. You're recognized by the princess and I'm loyal to her. Besides, between you and Daime, I'll take you."
Link wasn't so foolish not to recognize that Ren was giving the olive branch, even if it was only because of his new rank as a Shadow. Link nodded softly, accepting Ren's attempts at peace. Something equivalent to a smile crossed Ren's face.
"I can lead you to the Sages," Ren said. "After all, I'm the one who hid them."
Link only nodded, tucking that bit of information away for later.
Colin and Nephenee watched and stood behind them. As soon as it seemed that they were going to move, Midna giggled and dropped into Link's shadow.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" The words carried the same sort of hollowed resonance that Link knew as telepathic communication.
"Yes. Yes it has."
Link had never been overly sensitive to other people's feelings. In fact, on more than one occasion, Link had been called extremely dense, usually by Ilia and Uli. That didn't really bother him.
But even he could tell the strangled and forced silence of the tunnel was because of words that were choked before spoken.
Between the five of them, there were connections too tangled to ever be separated.
Link was the mentor to Colin, the guardian of Nephenee, partner of Midna and uncalculated risk of Ren. Most of his relationships were founded on strong bonds, but he couldn't help but glance over at the other Sheikah every once and a while, watching him as he lead the four through the tunnels.
Ren was a strong warrior and the most loyal of the princess's watchdogs. He also seemed willing to fight on the side of Link, but the Hero couldn't shake the feeling that Ren was always watching, always collecting information, waiting until he could come to a suitable conclusion about him.
Link just assumed that, since he was doing the same thing.
Despite his inability with human emotions—sometimes, even his own were a mystery to him—Link had always made friends or enemies quickly, usually on the edge of his blade or the point of his bow. People naturally came to him because of his strength, because he was the legendary Hero. That was how he had met Ralis, Renaldo, Telma, all of the Resistance save Rusl . . . hell, that was how he had met Midna. More recently, it was how he had come into contact with Nephenee, becoming her protector in a foreign land that would be all too happy to kill her.
On the other hand, there were people he met on the edge of sword. His enemies, that always seemed to stay with him longer than his friends . . . The Darknuts, the Stallords, the Bulbin army, Zant, even Ganondorf.
So, this long, dragged-out acquaintance-enemy-friendship that he had with Ren was unusual and awkward to Link. The Hylians tended to flock towards him because of his strength and trust him explicitly because of it. It wasn't bragging or arrogance; it was simply the way that things were. Most of them had ulterior motives and quests that they wanted him to embark on or duels that they wanted him to win.
Link didn't know which lines he could cross, how much of Ren's loyalty was forced by his morals and how much was actual acceptance of Link as a leader. He didn't know how to react to Ren's actions. But he did know that he needed Ren as an ally. With his new place in the Sheikah clan he needed someone else—a right hand who could watch his back.
He had no options other than Ren.
Unfortunately, that would have to wait.
This idea of allies . . . it struck him the wrong way. In all of his adventures through the Twilight War, it had been simply himself and Midna, his guide. But now, he had unwillingly walked into the world of politics and placed himself in the middle of it. He had an Ordon soldier to keep his Hylian roots, a Gerudo warrior to converse with the enemy, his old ally of the Twilight to watch his back . . .
And now he needed a Sheikah clan member to be his right hand man.
Ren paused, coming across a solid wall, the dead end of a tunnel.
"What's this? Did we make a wrong turn?"
"No," Link responded softly to Colin's question. The feeling in his gut pulled him towards the blank wall—the shadows were leading him in the right direction.
"Link's right," Ren said. "There's no such thing as a dead end in the Sheikah Tunnels. They all interconnect indefinitely—or the lead to the surface. But only members of the clan can open the pathways in and out of the earth. Otherwise, you're trapped here forever—or the Sheikah find you."
"It would be better to just stay trapped," Link added.
Ren nodded with an odd expression on his face, as if he wasn't accustomed to Link's brand of friendliness. Link couldn't blame him. Not many people knew how to act around him, especially not since he returned from the Sacred Grove.
Then Ren's lips parted in the first smile that Link had seen from him. Link responded tentatively.
But then Ren turned away and he touched his hand to the earth. The Sheikah symbol glowed red for a moment and suddenly the earth faded, wasting away to reveal a stone staircase, leading up into the faded light.
It must be night outside, Link realized.
Link, never one to back down from a challenge, led the way as the five of them ascended towards the surface. They entered into a small clearing—enclosed on all side by high walls, but open to the night sky, where the stars and the moon twinkled down at them softly, obscured by clouds. It was as if they were in the middle of a dormant volcano.
Once Nephenee had been helped out of the Tunnel by Colin—Link ignored the way that she was holding her side after all of the stairs; he had thought that the injury would have been cured by now—the wide circular opening faded into a large stone door, much like the one that led into the Chambers of Judgment. The Sheikah symbol had faded from the glowing blood-red to a nearly unnoticeable faded purple.
Link glanced toward the top of the volcano. The skies were oddly colored. Black, like always, and to the corner of his vision he could see one of Midna's portals—probably the one over Zora's Domain—but there was an odd light to the south. A casual flickering that gave Link a sense of unease.
The clearing was nearly completely empty. A tree grew on the western side, and there was a small pool next to it. A couple of birds fluttered, only to leave out of the top of the cylindrical rock structure. The ground was littered with tall grass and flowers.
It reminded Link of a dig cavern, the ones that gave him nothing but rusty pots that he would sell in the marketplace for a few rupees.
As Link crossed the clearing, Midna suddenly joined his side from the shadows. She was in her half-shadow state, the only clear part of her being her uncovered eye.
Nephenee murmured and did an odd gesture with her hands.
Midna ignored her. "The Sages are coming. But . . . I don't think that they're the ones we know."
Suddenly, Ren pushed Colin and Nephenee close to Link and shoved a black shield over the five of them. Even through the shield, Link could still see and feel the intense light that was on the outside of them. Ren's forehead was dripping with sweat, and between clenched teeth, he forced out, "Help me."
Link responded immediately, placing his hands on the shield. Midna, who also had experience with all types of magic apart from Light, touched the side of his arm as the power flowed through Link, nearly out of his control.
"For a Shadow, you're rather poor at this," Midna said, giggling.
"I'm a bit new at this," Link responded tartly as he tried to control the numbness that was spreading throughout his arms. Sadly, he failed, and it reinforced his hatred of all things magic.
As suddenly as it came, the light died. Ren feel down on one knee and the black cocoon that had surrounded them shattered into jagged blade of shadow that dissipated in the air. Ren steadied his breathing for a few moments, then pushed himself back up. Link rubbed his arms fiercely, trying to rid himself of the horrible feeling of numbness.
Ren glanced over at Link. "Not bad for a first timer."
"I don't think I'm going to have feeling in my arms for a long time."
"No, you probably won't."
"While I hate to destroy developing friendship," Nephenee cut into their conversation, "am I the only one who is wondering where we are?"
Link glanced around them. "It's . . . It's the Temple of Time."
"You're both wrong and right," a voice cut in.
All of them spiraled around to see a green-haired girl dressed in bright green clothes leaning against of the pillars, except for Midna, who was chuckling above them with an entertained expression on her face.
The girl continued in her sweet voice. "We have not physically moved from where you were. However, as we cannot manifest in the corporal plane, consider yourselves in limbo. A sort of magical layer that is over your world."
"It's the same layer that I use to slip in and out of the portals," Midna chimed in helpfully.
Link was silent, watching the girl with a pensive expression. "I've seen you before."
"I doubt that, Hero of Twilight. You haven't been around nearly long enough to know me. After all, it's been centuries since I've walked the world as a mortal."
Link still recognized her. From the floating, faded images that Shade had shown him, in the white mist that had spread across the mindscape.
"But I do know you," Link insisted softly. "You're Saria, the Sage of Forest."
The girl was shocked, but she hid it well. Just the slight widening of her green eyes gave her away. "Well then. Perhaps this won't be so hard after all."
"You underestimate him, Saria," another voice entered, one that Link recognized with a slight hint of fear. Descending from the staircase that led to the Temple dungeon was Impa. She looked exactly as she had when they had fought in the Spell-Woven Pit, but without the giant sword. "I tested him mere hours ago, and he has passed. Quite determined too, seeing as it took less than a day from him to reach us."
"That is hardly a matter of consequence, Impa," added a Goron who moved into the Temple from the left, despite the fact that there is no place for him to have come from. "This is no time to dawdle. We have brought the Hero and his friends here for a reason, I hope that you recall."
"Darunia," Link murmured the rest of his companions, who had mixed expressions of confusion on their faces. Well, Colin and Nephenee did. Midna was laughing to herself and Ren looked emotionless like normal. "The Sage of Fire."
"Now, now. There's no need for us to fight," a Zora woman said as she walked up to Darunia's side, placing a hand on his back. "We did enough of that when we are still alive and kicking."
"Ruto, the Sage of Water," Link introduced, feeling the need to acknowledge their presence to the others.
"Yes, besides, there are dire times ahead of us," an old man said as he took his place next to Impa. "As always, there is a reason that we have brought the Hero before us once more."
"Rauru, the Sage of Light."
"Exactly what I was saying!" the Goron agreed heartily.
"Lighten up, Daru. It won't kill you to relax you know," said a Gerudo woman from behind a pillar. Red hair, more fiery than Nephenee's pooled around her shoulders, held up by a tight ponytail. She wore the traditional Gerudo bells that Link had seen in his flashbacks, probably a memory of how she was in life, an enemy who didn't want to be one.
Nephenee's eyes widened and she reached out a hand to the Gerudo woman, hope a shining beacon in her eyes. Then, her arms shaking, she pulled it back with a choked sob, falling to her knees, her face in her hands.
"Nabooru," Link added softly, "The Sage of Spirit."
Soft bells jingled as Nabooru reached down to help Nephenee to her feet. Her eyes were dry, but broken into shattered pieces of glass as Nephenee removed her tanned hands from her face.
Nephenee raised her eyes slowly to Nabooru's and spoke a soft line in Gerudo to the Sage.
Nabooru crouched down, her baggy purple pants nearly touching the floor, her feet bare. Her long red ponytail dragged on the ground. "I have heard of your loss, my young sister. I also lost my Oath-Sister in the war that spread across the nations in my time. However, I can speak honestly when I say that your sister will persevere until you meet her again."
The shattered glass of Nephenee's eyes sparked once more. "You have heard of my Nabooru? Is she alright?" Nephenee crawled forward slightly eyes wide with suppressed hope. "Please, you must tell me about my sister. Is she well?"
"My reincarnation is struggling to overcome demons, but she is as well as she can be, with the king holding such sway over my people," the Sage Nabooru said quietly. "You will meet her again soon."
Nephenee was silent and solemn, softly pulling herself to her feet and trying to regain what dignity she had as she brushed off her clothes. Colin touched her shoulder, and she leaned against his chest. Not for the first time, Link wondered what was going on between the two of them, but there were far more pressing concerns than a budding romance.
Nabooru smiled when she followed Link's eyes. "It's good to see one of the Gerudo walking beside the Hero. Even in my time, we never had that honor. Always on different sides, always fighting against. I guess that that was the price we had to pay. We're erased from the history books. It was the last gift that the Zelda in my time could give to us. We weren't remembered, but at least we weren't hated. For the centuries after we disappeared from Hyrule, we had peace."
"And now that peace has shattered," Rauru broke in as he descended down the staircase. As he spoke, Nabooru pulled back from Nephenee and took her place in the semi-circle of Sages that had formed in front of Link. "Which is why we are here."
"But I don't understand," Link said. "How are you here? I remember you from Sha—from the Hero of Time's memories. How can you be here, in my timeline?"
"Unfortunately, it's no longer just your timeline," Darunia said. "Didn't you wonder how the Hero of Time came back in such a corporal form? How Dark Link had returned? Why the Ganondorf that you had fought didn't recognize you and taunted you about your lack of strength?"
"You disappoint me. I once thought Heroes to be powerful."
"HERO OF TIME!"
"To the denizens of your time, I'm simply known as the Old Hero, or the Hero of Legend. However, personally, I share your name. The name of the Hero: Link."
"An old enemy. An eternal rival. A demon thief, according to this timeline."
"It's an unfortunate consequence of actions that could not be prevented," Ruto mused as she shook her head. "But our two timelines have converged. They're overlapping. That's why so many of the ghosts of the past have come back."
"But we are considerably weaker than our opponents," Rauru said. "Unlike Ganondorf and Dark Link, we have incarnations in this timeline. It's the reason why the Hero of Time cannot help you in this fight. If we have already been reborn, we cannot intrude on where our souls already are."
"All of you?" Colin spoke up for the first time. "All of you have been reborn in this timeline?"
"Actually, no," Nabooru responded. "I have, obviously, and so were Ruto and Darunia. Ruto was Queen Rutela. Darunia is currently Darbus."
"I was up for reincarnation because when I left this world, my clan was in shambles and we were losing the war. Although I would have none of my memories or my powers, I felt like I could at least attempt to lead the Zora on the right path."
"I was reincarnated for nearly the same reason," Darunia added. "Since Nabooru, Ruto and I were leaders of our clans during a time of warfare—which neither Ruto nor I survived—it was practically our obligation to come back to it."
"Impa, Rauru and Saria can't reincarnate at all, so their hold on this world is weak, since they should have passed on a long time ago," Nabooru continued. "Saria's people no longer exist, and her soul can't enter into another race since the Koriko were eternally children. Impa's spirit must remain within the Spell-Woven Pit. Rauru is an Ancient Sage and was never one of us mortals, so I'm not even sure if he can."
"I dislike your tone, Nabooru—"
"Anyway," Nabooru cut over Rauru's words smoothly, "the fact we have been reincarnated has little to do with the actual reason that we're here at all. Right now we're using the bodies of the current six Sages in order to speak with you, but I'm not sure how long they will last."
"Bodies?" Ren spoke up curiously. "Is there something wrong with the Sages?"
Saria sighed. "Like us, they have faded. The Sages are magical beings, although not nearly as powerful as they once were. Because there are two generations cohabiting this timeline, it will not be long until the Sages disappear from this world."
"They have already been weakened by the actions of Zant and Ganondorf during the Twilight War," Rauru added. "They will simply not survive this meeting. Their last actions were to allow them to explain what they could not. We will honor their sacrifice."
There was a silence. Saria placed her hands over her heart and took a deep breath. Nabooru placed a hand on her green-clad shoulders.
"I've told you that the timelines are converging, but I haven't told you why," Saria raised a hand. Above her, on the high ceiling of the Temple of Time, a dark cloud grew, which shifted shapes into a lifeless form, covered by shadows and chained with thick black manacles.
"It is the king," Nephenee murmured.
"Yep. Ganondorf, our Ganondorf"—Nabooru gestured towards the other Sages—"was locked away after the whole time paradox fiasco. Since, well, his body was immortal, the other Sages and I basically shoved his soul out of his body, placing the physical shell inside the Twilight Realm, far from the civilization of the Interlopers."
"I've never heard of this," Midna said, her brow scrunched. "The Relic is a common folk tale told to children in order to scare them. But the fact that Ganondorf's body was imprisoned in the Twilight Realm—that legend has never reached my ears."
"It's because, technically, in the Twilight, it never happened," Darunia said sharply. "After Zelda placed the immortal body of Ganondorf in the Twilight Realm, too far out for any brave soul to find it alive, Link played the Ocarina of Time, returning Hyrule to the way that it had been before Ganondorf had invaded. Because of this, time shifted between the Twilight and the Light. Your realm is connected to ours, so naturally, your world skipped back seven years as well. But Ganondorf, because he was not a natural part of the Twilight, did not move."
"This created a small pocket in the Twilight," Saria took her place in the story. "A pocket that was untouched by time. No one could find it. Because to them, this pocket did not exist. Only the people who had created that space in the first place—us—would ever be able to find it again."
"What does this have to do with Ganondorf?" Ren asked sharply.
"Well, that's where things get complicated," Ruto said with a sad smile. "You see, when your Link, the Hero of Twilight, I mean, defeated the current Ganondorf, that was the first time that the Triforce of Power had been released in over a thousand years."
"Since we had killed the original Ganondorf's soul, he had the ability to reincarnate along with the Hero and the Princess of Destiny," Rauru explained. "Now, the Triforce of Power is a dangerous thing in the hands of someone who can't handle it. Like the other two pieces, it is not evil or good by itself, merely by the person who wields it. When you defeated Ganondorf with the veil between Twilight and Light so thin—after all, the Mirror had been reformed and the complete form of the Fused Shadows had just been invoked—the Triforce of Power left Ganondorf's body and headed towards the familiar presence of his host."
"Wait, the Triforce can sense Ganondorf?" Link asked.
"Not quite. The Triforce goes with whoever claims it. Like I have said, on its own the Triforce is neither good nor evil, simply a tool that is used by both the Goddesses and man. When Demon Thief Ganondorf's soul and body were killed, the Triforce detached itself, ready to attempt the reincarnation cycle again. However, with the border between the two worlds so thin, the Triforce found a much quicker host."
"My Ganondorf," another voice added into the conversation. Link turned slowly. He knew that voice well, a mirror image to his own.
"I'm seeing double," Colin murmured as Shade moved off of the pillar that he was leaning against.
Link glanced at the green clad hero. "Are you following me?"
Shade gave a small half-smile. "Not really. I felt that a reunion was going on and felt like it would be rude of me not to show up. Even if I didn't merit an invitation."
Rauru bowed deeply to Shade as the green-clad hero made his way over to the Sages. "Hero of Time. You have been well?"
"I've been dead, if that's what you're asking."
"Good, then," Rauru said without missing a beat.
Shade only gave a small smile. He was much more lax that the rest of the Sages. He stood next to Saria, who Link supposed was neutral ground. After all, Link wasn't sure how often the seven of them had been in contact as they floated in and out of the afterlife. Concerning Link's knowledge, the last time that Shade had seen any of them, had been when he watched Ruto and Darunia die and banished Nabooru.
Link, who was still shrouded in the Sheikah bodysuit and cape that he had stolen from the assassins, felt more like he was looking at an alternate reality than a mirror image. After all, Link thought, he no longer had the unblemished face that Shade boasted. He had pledged allegiance elsewhere.
"Are you the Hero that we speak of to the young ones?" Nephenee asked as she looked at Shade with her head tilted. Her voice was still a little shaky, but it was strong.
Shade looked her up and down. "You are one of the sisters, aren't you? I wasn't aware that my tales had been told to the Gerudo." Shade glanced over at Nabooru.
The Sage of Spirit rubbed the back of her neck. "Guilty."
"Anyway," Shade added, "that's not the reason that I'm here, and more importantly, it's not the reason that you're here. I've heard enough of the conversation to understand what's going on. The Ganondorf you're facing isn't the Ganondorf from your timeline. It's the Ganondorf from mine."
"The original King of the Gerudo?" Nephenee asked. "The one whom we speak of in fear?"
"Yes. When the Triforce was returned to him," Rauru cut in, "it seems that his memories, and more importantly, his power, was returned to him as well. He broke the chains that had once held him and made his way through the cracks between the worlds so that he could travel back to Hyrule."
"We don't know where he ended up," Saria said, "but he landed outside of Hyrule. Our own presences were awoken once more—but we were much weaker and it took years for us to gather our power. We know that he landed close to where the Gerudo were stationed. In that time, he came to understand the new modern way of life and the legends of a Hero of Twilight who had just recently saved Hyrule. From there, he planned power and control once more."
"As we grow weaker, he grows stronger," Darunia said. "It won't be long—less than an hour—before we fade away entirely. Ganondorf wants Hyrule and the two pieces of the Triforce that have eluded him for centuries. But things are different this time. Ganondorf has the Fused Shadows now. I'm not sure what powers and abilities they grant him. This will be a much larger fight than you ever could have imagined."
Link took a deep breath. "I will face this head on as a Hero." He looked directly at Impa as he said it.
The Sage of Shadow gave a small smile and a determined nod of her head. "Be prepared. Like the Gerudo, the Hero's blood is not as strong as it was in the old days. Link, you are weaker than the Hero of Time. And now Ganondorf is far stronger than the Hero of Time ever was. You will need all your strength—and you will need allies." Impa glanced towards Ren. "You are not a Blooded member of the Sheikah."
Ren knelt as soon as Impa addressed him. "No, sir, I am not. The clan has deemed me too young to join the ranks of the Blooded."
Impa hummed pensively. "That seems wrong. You are far stronger than some of the others who have been granted that blessing. But that doesn't matter. I am trusting you to do what I cannot. Guard your Shadow as he should be guarded. All Shadows need an advisor. For Link, it will be you."
" . . . Me?" There was no inflection to Ren's tone.
Impa gave a sly smile and nodded, a triumphant look in her eyes.
Midna curled a small hand on Link's black-clad shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Be grateful. That Sage just won you an ally."
Link didn't respond, but he knew that Midna could sense his agreement as she leaned away from him.
Ren nodded. "I will do as you ask, sir."
Ruto suddenly fell to her knees, clutching her heart. In an instant, Shade was at her side, wrapping his hands around her small body. Link knelt forward as well.
Ruto steadied her breathing as she glanced at her webbed, blue hands, which were slowly disappearing. She immediately glanced at Nabooru. "Hurry! We don't have much time. The Sages' bodies are disappearing in the corporeal world. Soon we won't have an anchor to keep us here!"
"Why Ruto?" Colin asked softly as he approached, crouching down next to his mentor.
Nabooru approached. "Because Ruto was the first of the mortal Sages to die. Her hold on the world is the weakest. Now forgive me if I go fast, but none of us have time anymore.
"Link, here's the gist: This Ganondorf ain't your Ganondorf, but you're going to have to defeat him like he was and soon. We're fading and he's growing stronger. Soon he will have no need for my people anymore and will find a new army."
"My army," Midna said sadly.
"Exactly. A little reminder of the Twilight War won't be good for Hyrule's moral and they'll go down faster than a hunted Pehat in the desert. This war will essentially go down the drain and that can't happen. Seven years that only I remember was enough time under Ganondorf's rule. So, short version: You need to unite the fragmented units of Hyrule under one banner to fight off this otherworldly army that's coming and soon."
Link clenched his jaw but nodded.
"Got it? Good. We're counting on you."
"We're always counting on him," Impa said, cutting in. She looked over at Ren. "I've always protected my clan, and that means that I have message for you. I've always been connected closer to Hyrule than the other Sages because of my constant vigil over the Spell-Woven Pit. You'll understand what I mean: The most protected has been attacked. The object of your thought has drifted into the Tunnels and is being followed. That's all I can give you."
Ren looked like he had been hit in the face with a sledge hammer.
Ruto looked up at Shade for a moment and smiled sadly—her entire body was transparent now. All of the Sages were silent as they watched her, barely recognizing their own faded forms. "Link . . ." Ruto said, and the Hero of Twilight knew that it wasn't addressed to him. " . . . Did you blame yourself after my death?"
"A little," Shade admitted, watching the Sage of Water carefully.
Nabooru moved to kneel next to Ruto carefully. Her eyes closed. "Ruto . . . as Sages, we were never close. But . . . I have to ask. Did . . . did you hate me when you died?"
Ruto smiled softly. "No more than I did when we were arguing in the Temple of Light."
The silence that spread throughout the Temple of Time was deafening. No one of Link's party spoke as they watched the old Sages fade away, witnessing the last moments that the old friends had together.
It was Nabooru who broke the silence.
It was barely a whisper, a strangled cry that was nearly inaudible.
"When we had crossed blades . . . I wish that it could have ended differently."
Ruto closed her eyes and bit down on her transparent lip, tears welling down the side of her face. "Me too." She placed a hand across her eyes as she faded away, wishing that her last memory wasn't one blurred with tears.
One by one, the Sages faded. Ruto was the first, Rauru was the last. Shade stayed until the end and watched as the Temple of Time crumbled and faded into light, slowly revealing the hollowed cavern that they had once been in. But when the Temple of Time disappeared, Shade faded along with it.
Before he went, he looked back at Link.
"I'll be watching. You know to call me."
Link nodded once.
The five of them were all still standing, watching as the background faded away into the trees and grass of the clearing, the small pool sparkling, the stars pinpricks of light in the distance. That haunted light still came from the south, but Link paid it little mind as whirls of information made its way through his mind.
Ren was the first one of them to move. "I have to go."
"What is wrong?" Nephenee said with a slight air of detachment.
"Impa gave me a warning. The first strike has already been made. Castle Town has fallen."
Colin's eyes widened and Nephenee looked shocked. Link merely closed his eyes and shook his head, remembering the message from Impa.
"Then I assume that the 'object of your thoughts' would be the princess," Link mused. "She fled into the Tunnels when her castle was attacked."
Ren nodded. "It's the general safety procedure for things like this. We can't allow the princess to be stolen. But that's another problem in and of itself. The princess cannot find her way through the Tunnels. If she went without an escort—which she probably did, otherwise she'd be found by now—she is probably horribly lost."
"The princess is a Sheikah," Link refuted. "Shade told me that. I've only had my shadow magic for hours and I can already find my way through the Tunnels. The princess is adept at magic. She should have no problem."
Midna floated between the two of them. "I understand the problem. It's fundamental. Remember, Link, how I couldn't be around whenever the Light Spirits were conjured? That's the way that it is between the two magic. Zelda is a practitioner of Light. If she has any powers of shadow from her Sheikah moonlighting, they must come to her with a price, which is most likely physical harm."
Colin glanced over at Ren. "What kind of physical harm?"
Ren sighed. "The last time that Zelda tried using shadow magic she was fifteen, and she nearly lost her left arm at the shoulder."
There was a moment of pause. Ren then turned on his heel and prepared to descend down into the Tunnels once more. Link caught his arm.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I have to find the princess. If she's alone, that means that Kukiel is most likely dead or captured. Someone has to guide her through the Tunnels." Ren's voice held a hint of a snarl, the first inflection that Link had heard from the man apart from indifference since they had come together. "Please, I have to leave."
Link released his arm. "Bring the princess to the Cavern. I'll lead Nephenee, Colin and Midna back there. That'll be our meeting point. If you're not there by nightfall tomorrow, I'll head out after you."
Ren's brow furrowed. "Why would you do that?"
"You're my advisor, right? Can't have you dying the second day on the job."
Ren hid a smile. "Of course."
"I would never leave a comrade to die."
The Sheikah glanced up at the odd light—Link now knew that it was probably the fire-charred remains of Castle Town. "The princess liked to say that when she was young. She learned quickly that not everyone can be saved, even if they deserved to be."
"Causalities are the way of war," Nephenee said. "If no one had died, it would have never been recorded."
Ren glanced back at the symbol-covered door, placing at hand on the seal. The rock parted, leading down into the depths that they had just left.
"I'll go ahead." Ren paused. "I'll see you soon."
Link gave a sharp nod. "Right."
Ren sprinted ahead into the Tunnels, and soon he was gone down the stairs, the shadows welcoming him back as if he was a conquering hero.
Link glanced back at his three other companions. Midna, understanding his look, slipped back into his shadow, giggling as she did so. "Let's get back to the Cavern. I have a feeling that Daime won't wait for me. We don't have much time."
"Never do," Colin commented.
The two of them followed Link diligently as they disappeared down the marbled stairs into the Tunnels once more.
"Din-forsaken Tunnels," Nephenee murmured as they began to descend into the darkness once more. "Can someone explain to me what is so wrong with roads?"
