Howdy! Hurrah, I actually managed to update relatively quickly for me! I don't want to ramble too much in the foreword, just as always I want to express my appreciation to my lovely reviewers who keep me so entertained and focussed on this silly story! thank you: Fallen Dragonfly, QuinKilo1055, la generala, Booklover13, Mr Choco and Link's Ocarina BabeI really do appreciate you taking the time to give me feedback
:D
given his apparent popularity I might have to bring back Sir Kwaksalot (....just had a great idea for next chapter...) and Quin, you may notice a little one of your ideas / thoughts coming through in this chapter....mwhahahaha. Sorry, couldn't resist the urge! Oh, and sorry for the bad language later in this chapter, hope it doesn't offend anyone :/
anyways, please enjoy!
Chapter Thirty Five – To love and to lose
He wasn't expecting the room behind that huge doorway to be quite so empty and silent. Link double checked the perimeter and sighed. Saeru certainly liked to make life hard for him. At least that dreadful organ music had faded now, along with the ghostly wailings and Zelda's sobs; in fact, the only thing now audible was his own breathing, which was slightly quickened after his mad dash up the invisible stairway, and the steady beat of his heart. The room was very large, wide and spacious and surprisingly well lit. Towards the back of the room in the middle was a throne, upholstered in expensive-looking black silk. The back of the throne rose to the ceiling where more swathes of silk hung. These cascaded down from an ornate ceiling rose, spilling over the seat of the throne and on to the floor. The throne arms were made of gold and were intricately worked; hanging from each was an ornate crystal lantern, cunningly designed so that prisms trembled in the air and on the silk all around them as the flames danced.
Link took a step closer and glanced around cautiously. Although the room was clearly empty, he could sense Saeru's presence and knew she was close – but where? The room offered no clues and when he held his signet ring aloft the beam that had guided his steps so determinedly faltered and faded.
"Well that's no good." He exclaimed, shaking his hand in a vain attempt at encouraging the ring to work again. This time the soft sparkle that had lit the diamond signet disappeared altogether. "Really helpful, Xeial!" He said, and chuckled despite himself. He looked around again, hoping to see something he had missed and then he saw it: resting between the soft folds of satin on the seat of the black throne, there was a note. It read:
"Hah! I knew you would come here eventually! If you want to find me, why not use your senses, as to be fair – your brain is pretty much useless! And I do hope, for the sake of your precious Zelda, you have brought that which belongs to me otherwise things might get a little…unpleasant. See you, little hero, or maybe not. Saeru X"
Link ignored much of the note and concentrated on the part that mattered, "Use my senses?" He wondered aloud. He read the note again and shook his head. "I wonder if Lefestra knew that his goddess-lover was a sandwich short of a picnic!" After deciding that Saeru's note was really very stupid, he decided to take her instructions literally. To use his senses would require some planning, he decided. He had already used sight and that had been all but useless – the room was all but empty. Hearing was a no-no too: all he could hear was himself making alive noises. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He could smell the faintly musky scent of the silk throne and the bitter woodiness of fire from the lanterns but other than that nothing struck him as unusual.
Next he ran his hands all over the silk throne, the fabric was cool and smooth to the touch – nothing odd there. So that left taste. As much as Link imagined that Saeru would enjoy watching him lick the walls in an attempt to find her, he decided that for now he would forego that particular sense. Apart from that, he realised, he'd tried all five senses. He opened his eyes hopefully but nothing had changed.
He was confused. It was hard not to lose hope, he realised as he stood peering into the room, searching for clues. No amount of training could have prepared him for such a day as he had had. First torture, then escape, then a fight and then a terrible loss – he knew Saeru was getting the upper hand in this battle of wits, he was vulnerable and she wanted to keep him weak. It would make it impossible for him to triumph over her. He took another deep breath and shook himself mentally. Zelda needed him and Xeial had believed in him, he couldn't give up just yet. "Rely on my senses?" He said, "But how?" He was going to ignore the inner voice that was telling him it was impossible when he realised that he had been ignoring the sense that he relied on so often without thinking.
He stood perfectly still, allowing his body to relax and began to meditate. His eyes fluttered closed and he focussed on his breathing. Finally the sense that hid behind all others could get to work. His sixth sense – some called it intuition, he referred to it as his voice of reason – set to work and to his surprise he began to daydream.
Visions and images darted through his mind in a surreal manner. He was vaguely aware of the gentle contortion on his finger as Xeial's ring channelled power into his mind and reacted to what his mind's eye was seeing. The visions were sometimes blurred and sometimes alarmingly vivid but somehow Link could follow them and understood.
Though his eyes were closed, he could see the throne room, Saeru's throne room, as it was before him. He felt himself stepping forward towards the same black throne; his body seemed to be on full alert. A soft voice from an unknown source tickled his ears, welcoming him in a foreign tongue. His hands touched the twin lanterns that hung from the arms of the chair, they were ice cold and as his fingers touched the glass the room was filled with a gentle tinkling noise. He felt alarmed by this but he did not react with surprise. Rather he felt his eyes close and his fingers slid up the chains of the lanterns and followed the line of the arms to the hem of the trailing black silk. Suddenly he felt himself freeze. His fingers were resting on the silk but it was warm to the touch. He pulled back and his eyes shot open. He found himself gazing into a pair of large golden eyes. He took a step back and felt himself bowing. His eyes were drawn back to the creature. He had never dreamed anything so wonderful in his life. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever beheld. A gentle smile played on her full lips and she turned her head away, a blush painting her cheeks.
"Who…are you?" She whispered, gazing at her feet, embarrassed. "Nobody has e-ever found me before…" He stood and softly, tenderly reached forward – somehow unable to control his compulsion. His fingers reached her face and he tilted her head to face him, he wanted to drink in those eyes again. Her skin was so smooth and lovely, her eyes so lustrous. His hand slid into her long black hair - it was as soft and cool as the silk that covered her throne.
"I am Lefestra." He replied in a whisper and he smiled. Link's eyes shot open and he gasped, his heart was pounding in his chest and his whole body felt heavy and drugged, as if he had not yet awoken from deep slumber. Automatically, he looked towards the throne.
"I'd never imagined he'd seal his memories within you." Said Saeru, almost gently as Link dragged his gaze to her. Her gold eyes flashed and glimmered in the glow of the crystal lanterns and if he didn't know better, he would have thought she was close to tears. But that would require her having a heart, and he knew that the Goddess didn't have one. "Well done, you have found me." She leaned her chin on her hand and grinned at him, "So, did you bring that which belongs to me?"
Link glanced involuntarily at the signet ring and returned his glare to Saeru.
Her smile went a little awry and she looked away. "I know you hate me," She stated, "and I do not ask for, nor indeed deserve anything less from you, but I want you to understand why, Link."
"You know I don't want to hear you." He snapped.
She met his angry gaze and smiled again, "You do." She corrected him, calmly. "To lose something, someone you loved dearly is never easy. Grief in its very nature defies comprehension yet demands an explanation. Why? Why her? Why now? What if…? You would be less than human if you did not ask such things, if you did not seek those impossible answers. You do not want to hear my justification because you believe there is nothing I could do or say that can excuse what I have done to you, yet your heart demands to know why. And for my debt to Lefestra, so help me I am going to make you listen, Link."
"I don't want to know." He repeated, his voice lacked conviction and he could only meet her eyes briefly.
"That vision you had – you saw me in Lefestra's eyes. You witness the moment of our first meeting – the very instant our fates became entangled. You are like your ancestor, Link, and yet you are different. From the moment I laid my eyes on him – the very moment he approached my throne in so bold a manner – he had my heart. I loved him, Link. Do you know what that means for a goddess?" She closed her eyes and a soft smiled played at the corners of her mouth, "Once a goddess gives her heart, she cannot take it back. Lefestra had my heart from the moment we met, but he did not understand, nobody did, that when a goddess gives her heart she loses the part of her that makes her…well in your terms, I suppose you would say: good. When he was mine, when he loved me, I was filled with such joy, such happiness and peace that I did not need a heart to function – he was everything I needed, but then…"
"Then Xeial happened." Link finished her sentence, his attention fixed on the signet ring.
"Yes. The heart that I had so freely given to Lefestra was discarded, it was nothing to him." She gazed at Link, solemnly, "once a goddess has given her heart, she cannot take it back. He took all the best parts of me and filled the void with nothing but pain and jealousy."
"It does not justify what you did to Amber." Sighed Link.
"Stop thinking of Xeial as being your stupid little dog - she was not Amber!" Snorted Saeru, for the first time exhibiting her anger, "Was what Xeial did to me any better to what I did to her? Lefestra took my heart and with her help crushed it into nothing but a stone, all the while playing happy families with her and when I tried to take my power back, he banished me into this hateful darkness and sealed my only exit. And the worst of it was she didn't even love him, she only pretended to so she could take my power for her people."
"That's not true. Nobody would do what Xeial did if their heart was not involved." Retorted Link, "You just couldn't handle the fact that this idiot you were in love with didn't love you back. You are a petty minded, jealous, two-faced, demonic slut!"
Saeru's eyes flashed dangerously and her fingers curled tightly against the arms of her chair. "And Xeial was nothing but a dream snatching dog."
"Maybe literally she was that, but she still had Lefestra's blessing and she had enough power to seal you away! You were scared of her!" Retorted Link, furiously, "And knowing what Xeial would do to you, you used Zelda to blackmail me into doing your will!"
"So what?" Sneered the goddess, her golden eyes glimmered oddly again and she leaned on her hand again. "I had to do something to make you comply."
"You made a foolish gamble! You banked on me deciding to save Zelda!"
"True, but I was gambling on a certainty." She replied, serenely. "I do know what it feels like to be in love, and I know what being in love makes even the most sensible person do and let's be fair, one: you are not a sensible person, and two: you're not exactly subtle about expressing your devotion to your petty 'Princess'. Do you really expect me to believe you'd think twice about rushing to her rescue? Would you really condemn the love of your life to an eternal nightmare for the sake of some mangy bitch?"
"HOW DARE YOU!"
"Haha, settle down, young hothead. I'm only telling you the truth, dear!"
"Amber was not a mangy bitch. She was my friend and you forced her into sacrificing herself and I cannot forgive that, ever!"
"Oh, so that's what happened!" Laughed Saeru, enlightened "I knew I could depend on the ever-wonderful Xeial to do something dramatic. Did you ask it of her?"
"No."
"Oh, so you didn't want to save Zelda? I cannot wait to tell our little princess that!" Smirked the goddess, she put on a foolish voice and added, "He actually wanted to save the life of his little doggie more than you, princess! Hah! That'll make her feel so much better!"
"That's not true…I…"
Saeru giggled, "Couldn't make up your mind which one to save, could you?"
"Oh go to hell, Saeru!" Yelled Link. He drew his sword and glared at her, "I've come to you whether I wanted to or not, and I am here to save Zelda. I've brought you Xeial's signet ring now give me Zelda back!"
Saeru chuckled again and the room darkened. The ground began to tremble and the goddess's eyes began to glow. Link took a firmer grip on his sword and kept his eyes fixed on her.
"As you wish, Linkipoo." She whispered, wickedly. Suddenly her eyes flashed suddenly and Link felt as though he was falling through the floor. The world seemed to be rushing past him at an alarming rate, yet he knew he was safe. He landed on his knees and quickly jumped to his feet. He was surrounded by absolute darkness and as his vision adjusted to the gloom, the black air around him seemed to split into definable shapes. Twisted, deformed creatures pushed in on him, snarling and moaning. Link's method of dealing with them was a little more effective than Zelda's. But then again he was armed with a well-sharpened sword and he was a talented, and furious, soldier.
At the head of the room, he could see Saeru, presiding over all, her gold eyes providing the only lighting for the entire chamber. He kept his eyes on her and in turn, she watched him like a hawk as he mowed down swarms of her servants one after the other. To add to his fury, the horrible organ music was throbbing around his head again.
"Gah! Stop that BLOODY racket!" He yelled, as he hacked another one of Saeru's monsters down.
"Link?" He heard Zelda's surprised cry before he saw her. She was standing in a corner near Saeru's throne and was desperately scanning the darkness before her eyes, seeking him out.
"OVER HERE!" He called back, waving his free hand briefly. As he raised his hand, the final signet ring trembled and then burst into life. A flash of light from it all but blinded him as it shot from the ring. It spiralled up to the ceiling and exploded into a riot of colour. The dark creatures surrounding him cringed and cowered in fear, shielding their eyes.
As this happened, he heard Saeru yelp in surprise and a third voice pipe up, "What racket?" but this remark was ignored. Link was sprinting towards Zelda, who seemed to have become rooted to the spot.
"Y-You came for m-me?" She cried. "Oh Link, you f-fool, y-you…" She was rudely interrupted as he reached her and effectively silenced her by pulling her into an extremely tight embrace, and just when she figured she couldn't breath she realised he had buried his head against her neck and was apologising so profusely because he was weeping.
She smiled as he finally let her go and hastily wiped his eyes, "Foolish, Link." She whispered and gently wiped away his tears. "You shouldn't have come."
"He wouldn't have come if Xeial hadn't forced his hand!" Remarked Saeru, acidly.
"She did WHAT?!" Gasped Zelda, she turned to the goddess and frowned. Saeru answered the unasked question in a typically heartless manner and explained what had apparently happened to Xeial.
"I would have come to save you…" Said Link, turning away from her, "I w-would…"
"I know." Replied Zelda, gently. She nuzzled her check against his and rested her hands on his shoulders, "I am so sorry, Link." She turned his head so that he faced her and added, "Truly I am. Xeial should never have done that! I was not worth her life." And for the first time in her life, Zelda stood on her tiptoes, reached up and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
"Bah! If you two are done canoodling, shall we get down to business, eh?" Interrupted Saeru, angrily. "Much as I enjoyed your fond reunion, which incidentally has made me bilious, you have not yet fulfilled your side of the bargain and until you do, you shall never escape from here."
Link, stunned at Zelda's unprecedented display of affection, completely ignored the goddess and leaned forward and whispered something in his companion's ear. What he was saying seemed both pleasant and shocking to her, for she blushed and then shook her head. Link pulled back and grinned at her, whilst holding her hands and then kissed her forehead. Saeru watched them through narrowed eyes for a moment and then she snapped her fingers. At her side, Ganondorf appeared and he nodded. He moved over to the organ and cracked his fingers once before wiggling them over the keys. He closed his eyes and took a breath before recommencing his massacre of the poor organ. The first chord he played sounded as though somebody had accidentally sat on all the wrong notes of an out-of-tune piano and it instantly grabbed Link's attention (or his annoyance) and he glared at the Gerudo King. With a happy smile, the oblivious Ganondorf continued playing (badly).
"I call this one the 'ode to evil'" He explained, lovingly as his fingers continued to slam down on the keys. "It makes me feel all…I dunno…remarkably wicked and powerful."
"Surprisingly, it makes me feel remarkably pissed off!" Snapped Link, as he continued to glare at the Gerudo. Ganondorf remained oblivious. The hideous "tune" reached a crescendo and it was at this point that Link finally lost his patience.
With an enraged scream, the warrior charged forward, shoving and destroying any shadow beast foolish enough to block his path. He reached his destination in record time and with yet more infuriated shouts, he drew his sword and slammed it into the keyboard and screamed: "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!!!!!!!"
"M-my organ…?" Ganondorf gazed in dumbfounded confusion at the sword sticking up through the keyboard and turned his incredulous gaze to Link. Link was panting softly and his eyes were positively glowing with fury, one hand still rested lightly on the hilt of his sword. He met Ganondorf's gaze squarely.
"Oh you did NOT just do that!" Growled the Gerudo, imitating one of the characters he remembered seeing on his seeing stone (if he remembered correctly, the show was called 'Don't even go there, girlfriend'. He had liked it.)
"What? How could I have not done that?" Retorted Link, furiously, "There's a bloody big sword sticking out of the frigging keyboard. Of course I've just done that and let me tell you, touch one more note on this baby and the sword is finding its way through your gut! Got it, G*Dork?"
"G*Dork? Is that the best you can do? You know what I say to your insult, huh? Whatever!" Retorted Ganondorf, snapping his fingers in Link's face. "Sticks and stone, bro. Sticks and stones!"
"If that's supposed to mean you don't care what I call you because names don't hurt, perhaps you won't mind if I call you a pathetic, friendless loser, will you? 'Cause that's what you are, Gingerlocks."
"W-what did you…?"
"Carrot top."
"How dare you!!"
"I thought names don't hurt you? Do they just get you all riled up instead, G*Dork? Tell me, what is it like being an asshole?"
"Well, you know once you're used to it…SHUT UP you green clothed, tight-wearing Mincer."
"Hey these clothes are new! And they're pantaloons, not tights."
"Yeah and that's not a dress, right?" Snorted Ganondorf, pointing at Link's tunic.
"Yes, it is a dress. Big deal!" Replied Link, in his sunniest manner. "What's wrong with a guy dressing in girl's clothes? Some women find it rather attractive, actually and it beats wearing stinky old armour that smells like a dog's just peed on it."
"Gentlemen, please," Interrupted Saeru, with deceptive gentility, "You are becoming more and more annoying. We are not here to trade insults, rather we are going to revive my power, are we not? She smiled sweetly at the pair and added, "And one more stupid word from either of you will result in castration. Got it?"
The two enemies glanced at each other, sharing a moment of manly horror at the prospect of Saeru's wrath and nodded at her. Ganondorf just couldn't help adding, "he started it."
"Me?" Exclaimed Link, for the moment forgetting Saeru's dire warning, "Who was it murdering that poor keyboard. If you had even played one note in a tuneful manner I wouldn't have minded but for the Goddesses sake, it sounding like you was stomping on a barrel of tone-deaf mutant kittens."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. Really!"
"IF I HAVE TO TELL YOU AGAIN…!" Shouted Saeru, jumping up from her throne, she glared at the pair of them and audibly ground her teeth. They fell silent again and she rubbed her temples with a pained look on her face. "Suddenly I feel ancient." She remarked. "Now then Zelda must…" She glanced around the room and frowned. "Zelda?" Suddenly a terrible frown appeared on her face as she realised an awful truth and she swung around to face Link. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ZELDA?"
"Me? Why would I have done anything to her?" countered Link, with his most innocent look.
Saeru did not buy into his cute, ingenious appeal and the sight of those big blue eyes staring up at her with almost angelic appeal filled her only with deep suspicion. She was after all a heartless goddess. She glared at him, "I am warning you, tell me now…"
"Why? What will you do if I don't?" He snorted, "For a goddess you sure are dumb! Think about it, what can you threaten me with? The organ's broken so you can't torment me with that. For reasons that'll become clear soon, I'll probably never have need of my...uh...vital organ again and you can't do anything about my only fear because I've..." he stopped and closed his mouth and smiled.
"You've already spirited her away."
"I'd say more like I've done what I came to do."
"And trapped yourself in the process. Smart move, you jackass!" Sneered Saeru.
"Well it is kinda clever, you've got to give me credit for that! You see – I gave Zelda Xeial's ring and used its power to warp her back into the real world, thus rescuing her and leaving you, G*dork and I trapped down here forever and whilst it's not exactly a great prospect for me, at least this way she can seal you and the stupid dork king in here forever, whilst hiding the Lizard Pebble in a place where it'll never be found again and I'll be remembered for eternity as a wonderful, selfless hero."
"What a wonderful plan. You know it just reeks of world-class moron" Said Saeru, her voice positively dripping with sarcasm, "You really expect me to buy it? You – the most selfish oaf ever to grace the known world - are willing giving up the freedom you so loved just for the sake of a pitiful brat who'll never know her own heart? Please! You really think I'm stupid enough to believe that you'd give up absolutely everything and condemn yourself just to spite me?"
"You know it's the truth." Replied Link, almost gently, "You said it yourself – you know what love does to a person. The decision to save Zelda might have been taken out of my hands by Xeial but in my heart of hearts, I always knew what I had to do and sooner or later, I would have done it. You may think sacrificing myself to rescue her is an elaborate gesture but believe me, if it were required, I'd go to far greater lengths to keep her safe."
"Bah! It's pathetic - all this devotion for someone who doesn't love you back? You truly are a fool, Link."
"Well I have my own theory on that but you know, I really don't care if she loves me or not. I love her and that is reason enough for what I'm doing."
"What a complete retard." Muttered Saeru, darkly.
"As the lovely G*dork reminded me, sticks and stones, Saeru, sticks and stones! And since we're all going to be trapped down here for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long time to come, we might as well all try to be friends, whaddya say?"
"I'd rather eat my own vomit." Replied Ganondorf, looking up from his mournful contemplation of his now-broken evil-inspiring-pipe-organ. Link grinned inanely at him, making the Gerudo king groan and turn away in disgust. "Saeru, please…is there nothing you can do?" He begged.
For a long time, Saeru stared at Link, putting all her loathing into a look that even Impa would have been pleased with before curling her lips and snorting, "Of course there's something I can do. The retard hasn't thought of everything, you know!" From the folds of her scarlet gown she drew forth an object that shone like a grey star and held it forward reverently. Like Ganondorf, Link's eyes were drawn immediately to it. It was a strange object, cut into the shape of a rudimentary heart, made completely of diamond yet it did not shine brilliantly like a diamond, rather it seemed to be cloudy and tired. A pair of dull gold hands with long fingers gripped the stone in an eternally soft clasp, and on each long finger there was a circular grove with a shape cut out of the centre. Saeru gazed lovingly down at the object and then looked at Link.
"Recognise this?" She whispered, wickedly.
Link could only stare back at the object, his face a picture of surprise and alarm. He hadn't seen the object for a long time but he could never forget it in all its lacklustre glory.
After all, he had been the one charged with protecting the Chameleon Stone from Saeru.
"Oh crap." He said.
As mentioned in the foreward, many apologies for the swears in this chapter, its not normally my style but I thought the occasion kinda demanded more 'adult' language. Er, anyways, hope you enjoyed the less-angsty and dark chapter. There's only 3 more to go (ish...)
Go on...hit the review button, you know you wanna..... :P