Oh my God guys, this is it!

Chapter 29: Journey's End

Ciela created a Phantom Sphere and passed it to Link before flying around Bellumbeck to watch the phantom. The hero simply stood his ground and waited as the knight stomped angrily across the deck towards him. The monster roared again before suddenly charging at Link, whose eyes widened in mild surprise. Before he was hit though, he heard Ciela signal him and activated the Phantom Sword.

Bellumbeck was stuck in mid-run as Link darted around behind him. He glared at the evil eye that appeared to be staring back before laying into him as much as he could. The ten seconds again blinked by as Bellumbeck was again thrown backwards, struggling to keep his balance.

"Keep it up! He's almost done!" Ciela called. Bellum's eye quickly snapped open and looked up at the fairy hovering above him. With a quick whip of his tentacle, he grabbed Ciela and held her behind the giant helmet that encased Linebeck. The fairy struggled to release herself but found that she was stuck tight.

"Link, he's got me! I can't move!" she cried. Link exhaled, beyond frustrated. They were so close, and now this?

"Quick, this is your chance!" he heard her yell, and he blinked in confusion. "His focus is going to be split now! He has to keep a tight enough hold on me that I can't create a Phantom Sphere, but that means his concentration on Linebeck will be weakened! Attack him now!"

Link nodded and ran at the fused being. He raised his sword and began his assault on his foe, seeing immediate results. Ciela was right; with his attention split, Bellum could only do so much to assist Linebeck. The knight's movements weren't near as fast as they had been, which drastically evened the odds. Link smiled grimly and continued striking. The phantom was still blocking every strike; however, Link could now formulate a strategy to overwhelm him since he wasn't impossibly swift.

Bellumbeck suddenly jumped to the side and delivered a quick swing. Link raised his shield and blocked it before running in close and hitting the demon in the chest. To his shock, the hit actually stunned Bellumbeck as he took a step backwards. Link followed it up with another strike, which had the same result; Bellumbeck staggered away and tried to regain his balance. Seeing his chance, Link charged him and raised his sword over his head.

Bellumbeck saw the manoeuvre and angled his blade sideways to intercept it. Link came in fast and hammered his sword against his foe's; they clashed together loudly and the two of them were again locked in a stalemate.

The hero quickly felt that Bellumbeck's strength was fading as well as his speed. Struggling, he pushed as hard as he could and felt the phantom beginning to draw back. With a final shove, Link overpowered his opponent and watched as he almost fell onto his back. Seeing his chance, Link jumped into the air and delivered a powerful cut along the neck of the helmet. Bellumbeck roared as he fell to his knees. Link noticed a fluttering behind the helmet and heard Ciela shout, "Hey, his grip's loosening!"

"Can you make a Phantom Sphere?" Link called, to which the fairy replied, "Already on it!" Within moments, a ball of light erupted from behind the helmet and floated over to Link, who eagerly absorbed it. Bellumbeck struggled to get back on his feet, and Link retreated as the knight slashed wildly at him.

Link tightened his grip on the Phantom Sword and glanced at the glowing hourglass crystal. "Nothing to do now but wait," he muttered, and looked back at the phantom. Bellumbeck was back on his feet and roaring in frustration as Bellum screeched loudly. Link raised his sword to meet his opponent as he slowly walked forward. Bellumbeck saw this and raised his own weapon before charging at the hero.

The demon delivered a vicious swing at the boy's knees, but Link quickly jumped and swung at the armoured shoulder that was now exposed. Amazingly, Bellumbeck blocked it and batted Link's sword down to the deck. He then shoulder-checked the hero and attempted to cut him as he was stunned. Link took the hit but managed to fall backwards and avoid the blade as it sliced the air mere centimetres above his nose. Link rolled backwards onto his feet and attacked his foe head-on; their blades met again and again as they fought to push the other back.

Bellumbeck jumped back and threw forth a sickeningly strong stab; Link raised his shield and it crunched under the impact. Link quickly retreated and glanced down at his safeguard and gasped when he saw the small cracks that stemmed from the point of contact. Link bit his lip as he glanced at the knight that stood facing him; he wasn't sure if it would survive another hit that strong. Making his decision, he strapped his shield onto his back and advanced on the possessed captain with only a blade for protection; it was now or never.

Bellumbeck roared and stabbed at him again. This time though, Link sidestepped it and kept advancing. Bellum screeched in confusion as the sword again swung forward. However, Link simply hopped to the side and flinched slightly as the weapon struck the deck. Bellumbeck roared in anger before raising his mighty blade over his head, with Bellum yelling in rage. Link simply looked up at the sword and remained expressionless. If he waited a little longer, it would happen.

Bellum shrieked in victory as he mentally commanded the captain to bring the sword down through the boy's skull. Bellumbeck roared one final time before his arm began to move. Link glared at the carved eyes and held his breath. Almost…

"Link, now!" Ciela screamed, and Link's wrist flicked slightly. The Phantom Sword triggered the sphere and time halted as the world again flashed black and white. Link glanced up at the blade that was half a foot from his face and had a brief flashback to a similar scenario ten minutes prior. This time however, it wasn't him who was going to die.

Link walked around the figure stuck in mid-swing and took a look at the phantom, whose eye was wide open as he had looked around frantically. Link raised his sword to the pupil and glared as hard as he could, knowing that his foe would never see it. "Fuck with my friends, will you? Burn in hell, you bastard," he hissed before burying the Phantom Sword to the hilt into the eye.

At that moment, time unfroze and Bellum screamed in agony. A powerful force expelled the sword from the squid, and Link was thrown backwards. Bellumbeck struggled to move before simply falling face-first onto the deck. Ciela quickly escaped from the phantom's grip as the dark knight was engulfed in a flash of purple light.

When it cleared, Linebeck was face-down on the deck as Bellum rose into the air slowly, twitching and screaming. He let loose one final yell as he quickly hardened and his colour drained, before another violent explosion obscured him from view. When the smoke cleared, Bellum was gone; a mountain of sand hovered in his place.

Link slowly stood up and grabbed the Phantom Sword. As he approached the pile, he simply looked at it for a moment, watching the grains swirl around as they danced in the air. Hearing a faint moan, he turned to find the source as Ciela approached him. He saw Tetra holding her head before slowly standing up, glancing around. Upon seeing Link, she smiled before waving at him while Leaf bounced around happily.

Link then turned to find Jolene; the woman was also awake and appeared to be fine. She stood up and flashed a thumbs-up at the boy before diving into the water and heading over to the deck. Neri was flying around excitedly before heading over to Leaf. Link smiled, glad that his friends were alright. He raised the Phantom Sword to the sand a final time as the sand suddenly froze in place before being drawn into the hourglass crystal. As it did, the storm immediately cleared and the winds died down, displaying a bright sunny sky once more.

Tetra swam across the water as well before arriving at the deck. Dripping wet, she made her way over to Link as she shook water from her hair. Link smiled at her and sheathed his sword while Ciela flew over to join the other two spirits.

"Are we ever going to lead normal lives?" Tetra asked as she embraced the hero. Link grinned. "At this point, probably not."

Jolene ran over to help Linebeck, who was struggling to stand. As she draped his arm around her shoulders, he rubbed his face as he tried to wake up. "Ugh… What happened? Last I remember I-" His eyes suddenly shot open as he turned around to face Link.

"Oh, kid! I mean, Link! I'm sorry, I didn't want to attack you, I didn't have any control over by body!" he exclaimed with a worried look. Link simply smiled and waved his hand.

"It's cool, I know. Why're you calling me Link now though? What changed?"

Linebeck shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it slipped out in the heat of the moment. But it IS your name, I might as well use it at least once before our journey ends."

As Jolene slowly helped him over to the kids, he looked around and added, "Our journey is ending, right? I don't see Squiddy anywhere."

Link nodded happily. "Yeah, it's over. We finally got rid of him for good." The captain snorted.

"'We'? No kid, it was all you. You had to take on Bellum alone."

"No I didn't," the boy countered. "You helped out by steering us after the Ghost Ship, and Ciela helped by making Phantom Spheres. We all did it, I would've literally died if I had done it alone."

The captain shrugged as he leaned on Jolene. "Man, I feel tired. I tell ya though, that spiky thing of his really hurt," he added as he massaged his back. "Felt like a needle the size of cucco."

"Oh, you baby, I'm sure it's fine," Jolene replied, rolling her eyes. She leaned behind the captain and lifted his coat to examine him, only to pale at the sight of the giant hole in his back.

"What?" the captain inquired as she came back up, still white. "Nothing! Just a scratch, a bandage will heal that right up!" she replied quickly. Linebeck simply shrugged again.

"By the way, I guess I should thank you," Link said to the man. "If you hadn't stood up to Bellum, he probably would've killed us." Jolene quickly looked Linebeck.

"You did WHAT?" she asked incredulously. Linebeck scratched his head nervously. "I maybe took on Bellum alone while everyone else was down." Jolene stared at him in shock.

"What! I can't do a brave thing?" he asked, annoyed. Jolene shook her head in disbelief. "Sure you can, you just never have before," she replied with a snicker. Linebeck rolled his eyes. "So now what happens?"

Everyone shrugged as the spirits flew over to join them. "I would say we could get out of here, but my ship took a bit of… damage," Linebeck said, before quickly covering his mouth and glancing at Ciela. The fairy's wings drooped slightly as she began to shake. "Grandpa…"

Suddenly, a loud call rang across the sky. Everyone looked around, unsure of where it had come from, before it sounded again. All of them slowly huddled closer together as it continued to echo around them. Without warning, Link's back began to resonate and release a large amount of lightning, giving off a bright light.

"The Phantom Sword!" Link cried as it released a giant beam of light into the sky. It quickly expelled a flash of golden light, and grains of sparkling sand began to rain down into the sea.

Out of nowhere, the deck began to shake as everybody struggled to keep their balance. "Earthquake!" Link shouted, before Ciela slapped him. "We're in the middle of the ocean, idiot!"

Without warning, the water at the edge of the platform blasted apart, and a huge white whale launched into the air. It fell back into the water with a mighty splash that sent a giant wave across the deck. Link struggled to keep his balance as Linebeck went sliding past him, splashing around wildly. Despite their best efforts, everyone was quickly soaked. The whale suddenly resurfaced and swam over beside them. Link and Linebeck both screamed like girls while the two women glanced at each other.

"I'm so glad the fate of the Great Sea was entrusted to them," Jolene muttered, while Tetra nodded in agreement.

"SHUT UP!" the whale yelled in a booming voice, and the men immediately ceased their screaming. "Honestly… It's me, you morons!"

Link slowly approached the whale. "…Osh?" he said finally, before he was backhanded by the Ocean King's tail. "Yep," Link said faintly as Tetra helped him up.

"What the hell? Old man, is that you? THAT'S your true form?" Linebeck asked with a snicker as the spirits raced to greet their master. "You're a friggin' whale?"

"A white whale, thank you," the Ocean King replied. "Yes, I have finally returned to my true form. For that, Link, Linebeck, and Ciela… I thank you.

"If not for you, I would've remained trapped forever. This sea would've fallen into desolation and evil. You saved me and the Great Sea. Thank you."

Jolene smiled and pulled Linebeck into a side hug. Tetra gave Link a wink as he grinned, before asking, "What's up with the dialogue? It sounds really formal."

"Oh, I was reading from this storyline that Ciela just gave me," the Ocean King replied. "It's pretty good stuff." Link simply facepalmed as Linebeck laughed while crossing his arms.

The Ocean King dived back under the water before resurfacing. "Now then. Linebeck…" The captain looked around in confusion. "Wait, what? Me?"

The whale nodded. "I have to make good on a promise I made to you. I believe I owe you one wish?"

Linebeck slowly uncrossed his arms in mild surprise. "That's right, I have a wish…" he said softly. With a chuckle he added, "I'd actually forgotten that's why I was even here in the first place!"

"And that shows how much you have grown," the Ocean King told him with a smile. "Now then, what shall it be?"

"That's a tough one," Ciela answered with a smirk. "Would it happen to be treasure? That same treasure you've been talking about since we first started everything?"

"No! That's not it at all!" Linebeck said defensively, turning away. "After adventuring around with you guys, I've actually learned something…" He trailed off and glanced at the faces staring at him. Tetra, Link, Neri, Ciela, Leaf, the Ocean King. His eyes came to rest on Jolene and he smiled. "I learned that there are more important things than treasure," he said finally, gesturing to everyone. Jolene's eyes widened and she hugged the man again.

"I guess if I have to make a wish though… Well… Can you maybe bring back my ship? The one that sank?" he asked finally, looking at the whale. "I've been through a lot with her, I'm not ready to say goodbye yet."

The Ocean King smiled again and nodded. "Then you shall not. I will raise the S.S. Linebeck from the ocean floor and restore it perfectly."

Linebeck let a smile rise to his lips as he heard those words. How far he had come since he had met a young boy with a suicide mission for a goal. All he had cared about then was finding treasure and becoming rich. Here, now, weeks later, he just passed up the free chance to become richer than he could ever dream of. And, as he looked at Jolene again, he realized that, for the first time in his life, he was truly happy.

The Ocean King looked up at the sky. "The Sand of Hours is returned and peace reigns," he said, glancing at the storyline again. "The Ghost Ship will no longer haunt your world."

Everyone blinked in surprise at hearing this. They all glanced at each other in confusion before Tetra asked, "Wait, 'our' world?" She looked around at the sea surrounding them and added, "What is the world we're in now then? Where are we?"

The Ocean King chuckled as a thick white fog began settling in around them. Link looked around and realized that apart from his friends, he couldn't see anything; not the sky, not the ocean, not the wreckage of the Ghost Ship.

"The time for you all to return to your world is near," the Ocean King said softly. "You must return to where you belong."

"The door to your world is about to open, dudes," Leaf added. "Can't miss that."

"We're inhabitants of this world. We totally belong here, so this is where we part," Neri explained. Everyone looked at each other, thoroughly confused.

"Hey, I just thought of something," Jolene said, turning to Linebeck. "Remember that really thick fog that we sailed through months ago?"

Linebeck nodded slowly as the Ocean King replied, "That fog was a creation of the Ghost Ship to lure you to this world. Without knowing, you crossed dimensions to wind up here."

Jolene punched Linebeck's arm lightly. "Told you it was a weird fog," she said while Linebeck rolled his eyes. "Fine, you were right for once, shut up."

Tetra sighed. "That sucks, because this place is pretty populated. I thought it would make a pretty nice location for the new Hyrule. Whenever we found my crew, anyway."

"New Hyrule?" Linebeck asked, confused. Link nodded.

"Tetra's a descendant of royalty from an ancient kingdom," he explained. "We're looking for a new land to rebuild and create a new kingdom."

Linebeck and Jolene glanced at each other. "It just so happens that we might be able to help," the captain replied. Link and Tetra shared a look of confusion.

"Once, a very long time ago, Linebeck and I came across this huge continent while exploring the sea. It was unpopulated, but quite rich in nature. It sounds like it may be what you're looking for."

"Yes, it sounds perfect!" Tetra exclaimed. "Where was it?"

"North," Linebeck answered. "Just head north and you'll run into it. It's impossible to miss."

Tetra looked at Link excitedly. "That's it! I think we found our new land! As soon as we find my crew, we're heading north to check it out." Link nodded in agreement.

"I guess at some point we'll have to stop by and help out in the creation of this new kingdom," Jolene added to Linebeck. Glancing at Tetra, she grinned and added, "Besides, I wouldn't mind some girl time with another pirate chick."

"Oh hell yeah, I get a girl to talk to about boys and pillaging!" Tetra replied, eyes lighting up. Link and Linebeck simply looked at each other, shrugging.

The Ocean King cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt your planning, but you really must get a move on. The door to your world won't stay open forever, so hurry up with your goodbyes already."

Everyone looked around, suddenly gloomy. "I guess this is it then," Link said, glancing at the spirits and the Ocean King. "If this is your world, we probably won't see you ever again."

"Maybe it's for the best," Ciela replied. "That way I won't ever have to see Linebeck's ugly mug again."

Linebeck rolled his eyes. "Cute, Sparkles. At least my ears won't bleed anymore from your constant chatting," he retaliated before crossing his arms and turning away.

Ciela giggled a bit and began to float away. "Well, it's actually been sort of fun…" She moved further. "…Bye Linebeck."

The captain turned around and gave a small smile. "Later, Ciela." The fairy spun to face him and lit up at the sound of her name, before smiling and fluttering over to Link.

"Well, it's been real dudes," Leaf said to them. "Thanks for your help, Link and Linebeck. Oh, and dude?" he added, glancing at Link. "Please destroy that pocket."

"Yeah, yeah, it causes insanity like no other!" Neri added as she snuggled up to Leaf. "Although the time together was nice."

Everyone stared at them before Ciela piped up. "Oh, yeah, back when the three of us were talking, we decided that since we're the only fairies in this world, and since you guys all hooked up-" she gestured to Link, Tetra, Jolene and Linebeck, "-that we'd go into a three-way relationship!"

Link blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, a…?"

"Just trust us, it'll work!" Neri giggled. "Anyway, thanks for your help you two!" She and Leaf flew over to join the Ocean King.

"Okay, this is getting too weird," Linebeck muttered as he tried to understand the concept of a three-way relationship.

Ciela fluttered down to face Link. "I guess this is goodbye," she said, before hitting him on the head. When Link cried out and looked at her expectantly, she shrugged. "Guess I just wanted one more."

The fog began to thicken around them, and soon Link could see only the fairy fluttering in front of him. "To think that when we first met, I was throwing rocks at you. I hurt you even before I knew you were an idiot!" Ciela said with a laugh. "Even so, I wouldn't mind sticking around with you Link. This adventure's been the most fun, challenging, and enraging thing I've ever done."

Link chuckled and nodded. "It was fun while it lasted," he said, gazing sadly at the fairy. "I can't believe that I'm actually going to miss you!"

"I know, right?" the fairy answered. "But now it's time to say goodbye. And speaking of which, it's about time for us to leave…" The fog began to thicken even more as Link drew closer to Ciela. With a hand outstretched he reached to stroke the fairy one last time. Soon everything was so solid that he couldn't see a thing except white. His hand gently brushed against the fairy, and he heard her whisper, "Bye Link…"

And before he could say anything, the fog overtook him.