Hey, readers! It's sslamajama97! First off, let me apologize again for not getting this chapter out when it was supposed to. School started the Monday after I published last chapter, so that was one problem. Another problem was that I still had marching band, and I still do. I've been tied up with that, so I haven't had much time to write. And, the third problem was that my beta reader got sick, and wasn't able to edit this for about a week or so. So, this chapter has gone through editing hell and back. But, it's a big one, so let's get started!
*Ahem* It's finally time for Chapter 39, in which the long-awaited smackdown between Samuel, Link, and Koloktos commences! Now, let's get ready to rumble! ;) But, before we do, I'd like to thank ToonLink, RandomButLoved, Zeladious, and TheSunsetWolf for reviewing last chapter! You guys rock!
Also, did I mention that this fic now has OVER 100 REVIEWS? :D I honestly didn't think that this fic would ever be this popular when I started. Yeah, it's not the most popular one out there, but for my first one, it's pretty damn good in my opinion. Although, I have noticed that it's a little long, and it could be better, but I'll save my quips for after this chapter.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I'd also like to thank my awesome beta reader, PhantasmicFire323, for helping me edit this chapter. So, thanks! ;) Okay, then! Here we go! Enjoy! :D
DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo does. I own all OC's I make up.
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Dos. Deux. Ni. Two.
(Samuel's POV)
As soon as Link and I entered the dark boss room, the door that we entered through slammed shut, and metal bars covered the exit. After a quick glance back at the door, we heard a soft chuckle, and looked ahead to see Ghirahim sitting on the head of the currently inactive Koloktos. I looked to the statue's right, and could see Evil Jack standing there with a wicked smile on his face.
"You two certainly are persistent…" Ghirahim said softly. "I'm terribly busy trying to find the clues that will help me revive the demon king, and your incessant buzzing around my head like some irksome gadflies when I'm this busy is…Well, it's making me very disagreeable," he said threateningly. Ghirahim turned to Evil Jack. "Now, Jack, why don't you stay behind and personally make sure that these two are exterminated?" he asked.
I was confused. "Wait a minute. Why in Din's name is Ghirahim making Jack stay behind? Aren't they smart enough to realize that I have everything I need to free him now?" I thought. Obviously, they couldn't have been this stupid; Jack must have been right whenever he said that Ghirahim had some tricks up his sleeve at the Temple of Time. "Great," I thought bitterly.
Jack nodded without looking at Ghirahim, keeping his gaze pointed at Link and I. "I will, Master," he replied smugly. Ghirahim smirked, and then he snapped his fingers, vanishing in a flurry of diamonds. Evil Jack turned back to Link and I, and smirked again. "Go ahead, Samuel. I dare you to play that stupid instrument in your pouch," he taunted.
Once Jack said that, I saw Koloktos's heart start to beat, and all of the metal fragments that were scattered around the room floated off of the ground. The room suddenly grew in brightness, and I could see Koloktos much more clearly now. Its six arms connected to its body, and it suddenly lit up with darkness, if that was even possible. Koloktos then crossed its arms, and pulled out two huge disk-like battle axes.
Jack snickered when he saw our shocked faces(well, more Link than me), and then he did a huge moon jump in the air. He flew over Koloktos's head, and hovered about a yard above it, kind of like Ganondorf did at the end of Ocarina of Time. Then, he summoned his black sword, and called to me again. "Go ahead, Samuel! Play your precious ocarina!" he shouted. "Link, get your whip out!" I said, not taking my eyes off of Jack or Koloktos.
After I said that, I reached into my pouch, and quickly found my ocarina. I saw one of Koloktos's arms suddenly come down, but I was too far away for it to get me. So, I took my ocarina, and raised it to my mouth. "Well, here goes nothing," I thought. I blew into my blue instrument, and quickly played the Song of Healing as best as I could.
My song reverberated throughout the entire room, and I silently knew that it was going to work. It just had to. There wasn't any other option. However, Evil Jack gave a huge laugh from above Koloktos, and I silently cursed. "Damn it!" I thought. "Surprised, Samuel? I'm not," he taunted.
I knew it was useless to keep trying to free Jack as it was, so I put my ocarina away and took my whip out. "Okay, Samuel, forget about him for now. Just concentrate on beating Koloktos," I thought, disappointed. I saw another two of Koloktos's arms come smashing down, and Link walked up beside me. "Hey, Samuel. Don't listen to him. We'll find a way to free Jack, I promise," he said as he latched onto one of Koloktos's arms and pulled it off.
I nodded, and swung my own whip at Koloktos's other arm. There was a wind-up key connecting the segments of the arm together, so I yanked at it with my whip, and it flew off of Koloktos. However, I suddenly saw Evil Jack point his black sword at me, and shoot a beam of dark energy out of it. I quickly stepped backward, and whipped out my sword.
Luckily, Jack's energy beam traveled slowly enough that I could just dodge it if I wanted. But, an idea suddenly clicked in my mind, and I raised my sword. Just as Jack's energy beam was about to hit me, I swung my sword at it, and it was deflected back at him. "So, Jack, you want to play a little Dead Man's Volley with me, do you? Well, then, bring it!" I thought challengingly.
Jack's energy beam was sent back at him, but he deflected it back at me with a swipe of his sword. He and I continued batting the energy beam back and forth, with it getting faster each time. I backed up, and called out to Link. "Hey, Link! Take care of—that thing while I—handle Jack! I'll help out—whenever I can!" I shouted in between slashes. I swung my sword, and deflected the energy back at Jack again. However, this time he was a tenth of a second too slow.
Jack's own energy beam hit him dead on, and he crackled with the dark energy from it. However, he quickly recovered, and snapped his fingers. His body vanished, and I gasped. "Crap! Where'd he go?!" I shouted. I glanced all around the room, searching for Jack, but I couldn't find him. Suddenly, I heard a voice come from directly behind me. "Hey, Samuel. What's up?" it asked.
I quickly spun around to see Evil Jack holding his sword at me. He attempted a quick slash at me, but I managed to block it with my Divine Shield just in time. After Jack's slash was blocked, I tried to go on the offensive, and slashed at him with my own sword. However, he parried it away, and attempted a counterattack. Jack stabbed at me, but I jumped backwards, avoiding him.
"Samuel, look out!" I heard Link suddenly shout. I turned back around to see one of Koloktos's huge arms coming down at me. I quickly rolled out of the way, and managed to escape unharmed. As I came out of my roll, I took my whip out again, and tore the last of its arms that wasn't holding a battle axe off. Once the arm was gone, Koloktos's heart was exposed to attack. I wanted to go and attack it, but I heard footsteps come from behind me.
I quickly swiveled around, and drew my sword just in time to block another strike from Jack. Our swords clashed, and we were locked together. I started pushing against Jack's blade with my own, trying to force it out of his hands. However, Jack pushed back just as hard as I was, if not even harder. As we forced ourselves against each other, he spoke up.
"Well, Samuel. It seems you're not totally worthless. But, do you honestly think you can beat me? I mean, I could have beaten you even before my master trained me, with one arm tied behind my back. Face it; you're nothing compared to me. You never were before this all started, and you never will be," he hissed.
I pushed back against Evil Jack with all of my might. "Shut up. You're not Jack. Don't feed me your lies. I'm better than you, and I'm going to free my friend no matter what it takes," I replied, gritting my teeth. Evil Jack smiled. "Are you sure about that, Samuel? Are you sure that I'm not Jack?" he asked, smirking.
Evil Jack pushed against my sword harder, and I felt it slip and fly out of my hands. "Shit," I thought. My sword went flying across the room, out of my reach. Evil Jack then slashed at me with all of the strength he had left, but he must have forgotten that I still had my shield, because I blocked him yet again. Then, I held out my hand towards my sword, not taking my eyes off of Evil Jack.
"Please let this work. Please," I prayed. I concentrated as hard as I could, and suddenly felt my sword hit my hand. I gripped my fingers around the hilt, and quickly did a spin attack. Evil Jack was caught off guard, and my blow landed. It didn't seem to do a lot of damage, but I knew it was better than nothing. After my attack, I heard a noise behind me, and turned to see Koloktos's limbs regenerating; Link must have damaged it.
After I saw Koloktos's arms fly back to it, I glanced back at Evil Jack. However, he apparently had enough for now. He snapped his fingers, teleported away from me, and reappeared above Koloktos again. I decided to try and see if the Song of Healing would work now that Jack was damaged, and took out my ocarina again. I blew into it, played the Song of Healing, and looked up at Evil Jack.
I saw Evil Jack give a small twitch of pain, but it obviously didn't work. He smirked down at me. "Sorry, Samuel. Looks like that wasn't enough," he said mockingly. He then charged up another beam of energy, but this one was much bigger than before. I thought back to Ocarina of Time again, and remembered what I would have to do to counter this attack. So, I held my sword sideways, and prepared another spin attack.
Evil Jack shot his huge energy ball at me, and I waited for it to come close. When it did, I spun myself around in a spin attack, and deflected the energy ball back at him. However, he deflected it back at me, and we engaged in another match of Dead Man's Volley. I batted the ball back at Evil Jack with another spin attack, but he returned it. I did a third spin attack, and sent the ball flying at him even faster. Evil Jack managed to return the ball again, and I had to back up a little because I noticed I was getting too close to Koloktos's arms. However, I had just enough time to return the ball again with another spin attack, which completely exhausted me.
Luckily, Evil Jack faltered this time, and was once again hit with his own energy ball. Again, he writhed in pain for a second, but quickly recovered from it. After that, he snapped his fingers, and vanished again. At the same time, Koloktos slammed two of its arms down near me, so I took care of them with my whip, leaving Link free to attack it again.
I heard a noise, and saw Evil Jack appear on my left. So, I quickly charged at him, and swung my sword. However, Jack held out his hand, and grabbed my sword in it. "Really? You're doing this bullcrap again?" I thought angrily. I tried to pry my sword out of Jack's grip, but he managed to jerk it away from me first. He held my sword and his own in his hands, and started walking towards me slowly. "Well, now what are you going to do, Samuel? Last I checked, you need a sword to hurt somebody," he snickered.
I held up my Divine Shield, and waited. However, I knew Jack wasn't going to attack me just yet. He walked closer to me, and I backed up at the same pace. Suddenly, I heard a noise, and turned to see Link hacking away at Koloktos's heart. He had apparently dealt enough damage, because Koloktos's limbs suddenly floated off the ground, and flew back to its body. However, I knew that this was only the beginning of the fight.
"Run, Link! It's going to get up in a second!" I shouted. Link heard me, and glanced over at Evil Jack and I. He saw the predicament I was in, and charged at Evil Jack to try to knock one of the swords he had out of his hands. However, Link never made it to Evil Jack, because he teleported away from us when Link was just about to pass me.
When Evil Jack was gone, Link turned to me. "Are you alright, Samuel?" he asked, out of breath. I nodded. "I'm fine, Link. I just don't have a sword now is all," I said sarcastically. Link scoffed. "Yeah, I think I noticed that. How are you going to fight now?" he asked. However, we heard a noise come from our right, and turned to see Koloktos spring out of the ground. A cage snapped shut around its core, and it pulled out six huge swords, one for each hand. Meanwhile, Evil Jack was absolutely nowhere to be seen.
I smirked, and turned to Link. "Here, Link. I know how I can get a weapon. Wait for it to slash at you, and then use your whip to pull one of its arms off, like before. It'll be a little harder, because now it can move around. And, now it'll swing three arms at you at once. But, all you have to do is whip one of its arms off, and we can start using its own swords against it to chop off the rest of its arms, its legs, and damage its weak spot. Also, now it can summon Cursed Bokoblins as well. Got it?" I asked quickly.
Link nodded. "Yeah, I got it. Let's show this thing what for. And, Samuel, like I said before, don't worry about Jack; I'm sure he'll show back up at some point. Once he does, we'll find a way to get him free, I promise," he added kindly. I smiled. "Thanks. Now, let's beat this thing," I said. Link nodded, and we faced Koloktos. I took out my whip, and Link retrieved his, too. We walked up to Koloktos, and waited for it to notice us.
Once it did, the huge automaton brought three of its arms crashing down at us. We dodged them with plenty of time to spare, and I swung my whip at one of the arms. Link did the same, and we pulled two of Koloktos's arms off, making it drop two of its huge curved swords. I stashed my whip away, bent over, and quickly picked up one of the swords.
The sword was heavy to carry, but I managed to hold it by placing it over my shoulder. Link picked up a sword as well, and carried it the same way. We paused, waiting for Koloktos to swing its arms at us again. When it did, I swung its own sword at it, and managed to chop off one of its arms. Link got two other arms, and Koloktos was left with one arm on its right side.
In that moment, I decided to go in straight for the kill, and ran up to Koloktos's legs. I swung the huge sword again, and its legs were cleanly sliced off, giving me access to its heart. I didn't waste any time, and slashed at the caged heart as many times as I could. Each blow I dealt left a huge dent in the cage, and it was eventually destroyed. I continued slashing at Koloktos, and it eventually floated off of the ground and hovered in front of me.
The huge sword I was holding was pulled out of my hands by an unseen force, and I was once again left defenseless. However, that was okay, because I didn't exactly need my sword right now. "You picked an awesome fight to steal my sword, Evil Jack. It was the one fight where I didn't need to use it!" I thought, smirking to myself.
I pulled out my whip again, along with Link. We waited for Koloktos to attack us again, but it summoned some Cursed Bokoblins instead. It pulled its arms towards the center of its body, and a dark burst of energy erupted from it. Instantaneously, three Cursed Bokoblins materialized in front of us. I couldn't attack them, so Link offered to get rid of them. "I've got them, Samuel!" he called. Link ran forward, and took care of all three of them individually.
When the Bokolbins were gone, I pulled out my whip, and started forward to help Link. However, I was blocked by a figure suddenly materializing in front of me; it was Evil Jack. He still had my sword in his hand, as well as his own. "Now, now, Samuel. Don't think that it'll be this easy," he mocked.
I stood back, and stared at Evil Jack and his two swords. I considered trying to summon my sword using magic, but I was pretty sure Evil Jack would be able to hold onto it, or stop the spell outright. I started forming a plan in my head, and thought back to a couple of minutes ago, whenever I had played my ocarina for the second time. "That's it! He gave a small twitch of pain when that happened, so maybe that'll be enough to make him drop my sword!" I thought.
I decided to try it out, and retrieved my ocarina for the third time. I clipped my whip to my belt, and raised my ocarina to my mouth. Evil Jack grinned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Samuel, but I do seem to recall that playing your little instrument won't do anything to me. But, go ahead; be my guest. I'll let you play your ocarina one more time before I kill you three times over," he taunted.
I smiled. "You think that me playing this won't do anything? Think again," I mentally retorted. I blew into my ocarina, and played the Song of Healing for a third time. As soon as I finished my song, I saw Evil Jack give a twinge of pain, just as he had before. Luckily, it was enough to make him drop my sword on the ground without him noticing. Evil Jack quickly shook the pain away, and laughed. "See? I told you it wouldn't do anyth-" he started.
However, by the time Evil Jack realized what I was doing, it was too late. I held out my hand, and my sword sped off the ground, landing in my palm. I stuffed my ocarina away, and before Jack could counter, I took my whip off of my belt and swung it at his black sword. My whip caught around the sword near the hilt, and I quickly jerked it away.
I caught Evil Jack's sword in my other hand, and now I was the one holding two swords. I started advancing forward. "Sorry? What did you say about my ocarina not being able to do anything? Because it seems like it did a whole lot from my perspective," I grinned. Evil Jack took a step back from me. He had a fearful look in his glazed eyes. "So? You think I care?" he retorted defensively.
I suddenly heard a loud crash, and looked over Jack's shoulder. Link was standing near an armless and legless Koloktos, holding one of its huge swords. Koloktos suddenly started spazzing out, and I heard a weird series of sounds come out of it. After a few seconds, Koloktos froze, and exploded into darkness. "Yes!" I thought, triumphant.
I glanced back to Evil Jack. "Actually, I think you do care, now that your master's little creation is gone. Such a shame that you didn't decide to power it up like in the Earth Temple. Were you scared that you might not have been able to retain control over the real Jack, or were you really that stupid?" I scoffed. Evil Jack only smiled at the insult. "Retain control over Jack? Didn't you hear what I said before, Samuel? I am Jack," he said.
I pointed Evil Jack's black sword at his chest. "Don't feed me any more of your bullcrap! I know that you didn't power up Koloktos because you feared of losing control! You were afraid that the real Jack might break free for good if you used all of your energy to do it! Weren't you?!" I demanded, brandishing his sword at him again.
Evil Jack smiled. "So what if I was or I wasn't? You still haven't dealt enough damage to me to do anything at all. You've played your ocarina – what is it, like four times now? If I were weak enough to "lose control" as you say, then don't you think it would have happened by now? You haven't changed anything!" he shouted back, almost hysterically.
"Oh, really? I haven't changed anything? I haven't damaged you enough?" I questioned. By this point, I was standing sword-length away from Evil Jack. So, I decided to stop this once and for all. I drew my sword back, and was going to take a slash at Evil Jack. He flinched a little in response, but then another idea suddenly formed in my mind. So, I did something he wasn't expecting: I threw both of our swords aside, out of reach.
As Evil Jack followed our swords with his eyes, confused, I curled up both of my hands into fists, making sure to keep my thumbs on the outside. Then, before he could look back to me or summon anything, I swung at his face with the hardest left hook that I could muster. I felt my hook connect, and I immediately followed up with an uppercut from my right fist. That connected too, and Evil Jack stumbled backwards, completely stunned. However, I wasn't done yet. I quickly ran up to him, grabbed his shoulders, and brought my left knee up as hard as I could between his legs.
I felt my knee hit Evil Jack in the place where you do not want to be kneed, and that seemed to be enough. He stood there for a second, staring at me with malice, confusion, and astonishment written all over his face. Then, he grabbed himself, and fell to the ground. "OW! Damn it! Goddess-freaking-damn it! You little bast-"
"Yeah! You like that? How's that for not dealing enough damage?!" I jeered. I started dancing around Evil Jack like I was a boxer who just won the championship belt. No, better yet, like I was Ghirahim trying to resurrect Demise. I felt on top of the world, like nothing could stop me. I saw Link walk over to us, and he grinned.
"Wow. I can't even believe what I just saw, Samuel. That was…I don't even know what to say! It was amazing, plain and simple. I actually got scared when you threw those swords away, but I guess you knew what you were doing. I didn't see it coming at all," he said. I smiled back. "Thanks, Link. Hey, are you okay?" I asked, my attention turned to him. Link nodded. "I'm fine, don't worry about me," he replied.
Link then pointed down at Jack, who was face down. He actually looked to be out cold. That's right, out cold. "Samuel, now's your chance! Play the Song of Healing again and set Jack free once and for all! I'm pretty sure what you just did counts as 'enough damage' to do it!" he said. I nodded, and pulled out my ocarina one last time. I raised it to my mouth, and I suddenly felt a sense of foreboding wash over me. But, I quickly shook it away.
"Okay, Samuel! This is it! This is where it all ends! It's time to get your friend back!" I told myself excitedly. "Goodbye, Evil Jack. You will be dearly missed. Not!" I said. I blew into my ocarina, and played the Song of Healing one last time. Its notes echoed throughout the quiet boss chamber, and quickly died away. A moment of silence followed, and then I suddenly heard a soft laugh come from below me. "Fool," a voice said.
I gasped, and Link and I looked downward. Jack's body stood up, and turned to us. Evil Jack faced us with a crooked smile, more wicked than anything I've ever seen in my entire life. "You're all fools!" he cackled. Evil Jack gripped his head, as if in terrible pain. However, that wide-eyed creepy smile stayed plastered across his face.
Evil Jack started laughing, and after a few seconds, he gave another horrifying twitch, and all traces of expression on his face died completely. His eyes shut closed, and he fell to the ground with a thump, still holding his head. He went still, and all was silent. Link and I stood there for a few seconds, waiting for something to happen. But, nothing did.
After a moment that felt like an eternity, I broke the silence. "What…happened? What if it didn't work? What if I accidentally killed-" I asked, starting to worry. However, I quickly stopped when a huge flash of light erupted from out of nowhere. Link and I were forced to look away so we didn't go blind. I screwed my eyes shut as tight as I could, but I could somehow still see the light through them. It was literally that bright.
After about fifteen seconds, the intense light suddenly started to fade, growing fainter and fainter every second. It eventually got to the point where I was able to open my eyes again, so I squinted them open to get a better look. However, I immediately regretted doing so once I saw what was lying on the ground in front of us. I felt my hands let go of my ocarina in shock, and it thudded to the ground. I don't think it broke, but it honestly didn't matter if it broke or not now. Nothing mattered.
"Oh, my Goddesses. There's no way this is real," I thought, my eyes wide. Link got a look as well, and gasped. "No…No way! This can't be right!" he said in clear disbelief. I continued staring at what was in front of me, refusing acceptance. "This…Just…I-I…No!" I stammered. I gulped, still completely transfixed on the sight in front of me. "Well, Sam, you can definitely say that Jack is free now," I thought sarcastically. Because the person, or people, rather, that were lying out cold in front of Link and I were—
Two Jacks. Two. Dos. Deux. Ni. Two.
Well, actually, both of them weren't exactly Jack. There was one small, yet major difference that I could see between the two figures. The figure on my left looked exactly like the Jack that I've known for years. He had blond hair. But, the figure on my right had jet-black hair. Other than that, they were identical in every way, at least from what I could currently see of them.
I stumbled back, and continued staring at the two Jacks in shock. I honestly didn't have a clue as of what to do next. I was speechless, stunned, and shocked. "I…I don't know, Samuel. What do you think we should do now?" I heard Link ask. I glanced back at him. "What kind of question is that, Link? How am I supposed to know what to do now?!" I responded.
However, before Link could answer me, the two figures at our feet stirred. They both turned over, stood up, stretched, and opened their eyes at exactly the same time. As they did so, I could instantly spot another two differences between them: the one with the jet-black hair (who for obvious reasons I assumed to be Evil Jack) had different ears and eyes than before. He now had pointed ears, although I honestly didn't understand or care as to why he had them. I was more transfixed on his eyes.
Before, whenever Evil Jack was in control of Jack's body, his eyes had a glazed look to them. Now, however, they had a blood-red color, which pretty much confirmed which Jack was which. "He's pretty much a dead ringer for Dark Link, except for the hairstyle, and the fact that he's not made out of pure darkness. Oh, and his eyes are normal, and not glowing red," I noted.
The Jack with the blond hair clutched his head like he was trying to get rid of a huge headache, and spoke, having somehow not noticed the doppelganger on his left. He noticed me and Link, however. "Ugh…Wow, my head hurts. Oh, hey, guys. What's up?" he asked nonchalantly, oblivious to what had happened; he must have assumed that he was just free now, but he was dead wrong. Neither of us replied, and Link and I simply pointed at Dark Jack, whom I had unconsciously decided to rename because of his likeness to Dark Link.
Jack looked to his left. "Yeah, what do you want me to look—OH, MY FREAKING GODDESS!" he shouted. Jack's eyes opened wide, and he instinctively took a few steps away from Dark Jack. Link and I did the same, and Dark Jack started looking himself over. As he did so, he smiled. "Huh. You did a nice job, Samuel," he teased, turning to stare at me. I managed to find my voice again. "H-How in H-Hylia's name are y-you alive?" I questioned.
Jack spoke up immediately after me. "Yeah, just what the fuck is going on? How are you still here? I saw him play his ocarina! Don't act like he didn't!" he shouted, pointing at me, and then his dark self. Dark Jack laughed. "I'm not acting at all. The song did exactly what you wanted it to; you wanted to be free from my hold on you, so why are you complaining?" he asked mockingly.
I was in shock. "No! This isn't right! The song was supposed to break your hold on Jack for good! Not split him into two!" I countered. Dark Jack grinned. "And, so it was. But, I guess you can thank my master for what's happened. It was his doing that caused what you all see right now," he said.
"But, Samuel, even if my master hadn't changed the effects of the Song of Healing, what makes you think that I would just disappear forever?" he inquired, almost playfully. I became confused. "What do you mean?" I asked back. Dark Jack smiled. "I don't think you understand, Samuel. I'm not just some creation of my master, although once again, you can certainly thank him for me still being here," he repeated.
He turned to Jack. "Don't you remember what my master told you after I had created the tornado, Jack? Because I do. You think I wasn't listening? You think I haven't spent my fair share of time behind the scenes, trapped in that dark corner, even before this entire thing started?" he asked. Jack had a confused look on his face. "What in Hylia's name are you talking about? You didn't even exist before any of this started!" he spat.
Dark Jack smirked. "Au contraire. I've been there since you were born; you just never realized it. I'm not a creation of my master, like you believe me to be. I'm not just some shadow of you, or some mere copy. I am you, Jack. At least, I'm half of you. 'The spell you are under makes your evil side a hundred times stronger than it normally is. It became so strong that it took ahold of you, and possessed your body, shoving the rest of you to the deepest, darkest part of your mind.' Remember those words, Jack? They basically sum up everything that's happening. They sum up life in general," he explained.
Jack glared at his darker half. "You're not making any sense!" he retorted. Dark Jack only smiled. "I'm making perfect sense. You're just too feeble-minded to wrap your head around it," he mocked. Dark Jack then turned to me. "Actually, I believe you've heard this before, Samuel, so let me say it this way, and you might understand: 'Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other.' And, not even your sacred Triforce can change that," he quoted.
My eyes widened at his words. "Wait a minute. How in Nayru's name does he know that quote? That's impossible! I've never even showed Jack a second of Twilight Princess, let alone the ending!" I thought, remembering that was something Zelda had said at the end of that game. "What the- How do you know that quote? Where'd you hear it?" I asked in shock.
Dark Jack grinned. "I don't need to know where it's from for it to make sense, Samuel. But, let me explain, just in case you somehow still don't get it. Everyone - whether it's me, you, Link," he started, looking to each of us in turn. Then, he started counting on his fingers. "Your parents, your siblings, your friends, your family, and anyone else in existence – has light and darkness inside of them. Everyone has a darker half, waiting to be brought out."
He looked to Jack. "You might not realize it, but don't think for a second that the first time I've ever taken control of you was after you tried to escape, Jack. It wasn't. I've taken control of you plenty of times before any of this started, and you didn't even notice it. Whenever you've thought or done anything bad in your entire life, no matter how big or small it was, I was always there, watching, waiting, maybe offering suggestions, maybe fueling your anger and hatred. And maybe, just maybe, I was able to take control and do as I pleased for a little while," he smirked.
"So, on the day that you tried to escape, my master simply made it a tiny bit easier for me to take control over you, so I did. Although sometimes, like the tornado and during the Scaldera fight – also known as, whenever you got mad at somebody, I didn't need my master to set me free. And now, because you couldn't control me, my master and I are going to resurrect the great Demise from his slumber!" he shouted.
Jack smiled at his darker self. "Yeah, good luck with that. Just go ahead and try to resurrect him. Even if you do, we'll stop him, and then we'll kill you and your stupid master," he retorted confidently. Dark Jack grinned back. "Oh, don't you worry; we'll do more than try. And, I'd honestly love to see you kill me now, Jack. It would only make things worse," he chuckled, like he knew something we didn't.
I spoke up. "What do you mean? How would it make things worse?" I asked. Dark Jack looked back to me, and smirked again. "Come on, Samuel. You're smarter than that. I literally just said how it would make it worse. It wasn't straight up, but you should be able to figure it out with a little thinking," he mocked.
I honestly had no clue of what he meant, because I didn't remember him mentioning anything about killing him before. I was going to try and pry the answer out of Dark Jack, but he spoke up before I could. "And, like I said before, this doesn't just apply to Jack, Samuel. It applies to everyone, including you," he said. Dark Jack stared directly into my eyes. "You know, I can see your own darker half right now. He's right behind your eyes, waiting to get a chance to come to the surface. Why don't you let him free for a little while? It might even be good for you," he grinned.
I looked upward, faking deep thought. "You know what? I'd like to, but I think I'll have to take a rain check on that," I replied sarcastically. Dark Jack shrugged. "Okay, then. It's your loss. But, don't think that this ends here. You may have won this battle against my master's creation, but it certainly isn't over," he said. He stepped back a few paces, and looked at all three of us. "Sooner or later, my master and I will get ahold of your little spirit maiden," he said, giving Link a pointed glance. "And when we do, it will spell the end for this world!" he laughed.
"Unfortunately, this is where I must say goodbye to you all. But, don't worry. We're all connected by fate, so we'll definitely be seeing each other again soon. Until then," he concluded. Dark Jack held out his hand, and his black sword sped right into it. Then, he waved it around in a circle, and vanished into darkness. Once he was gone, there was a moment of silence. I tried to go over everything that had happened in the last few minutes, but I didn't get very far by the time Jack spoke up.
"What…the…hell…just…happened?" he asked. I shook my head, stooped down, and picked my ocarina back up. I then held out my hand, and my own sword returned to me. Once I had it in my hand, I answered him. "I don't know, Jack. I just don't know. Something obviously happened that we weren't expecting, but I guess it could have been much worse. You're okay, right? What's happened from your perspective ever since last night?" I asked. Jack shrugged. "Not much. After our conversation, I just went to bed, and woke up. I did a little sword practice, and then I suddenly saw a screen appear, like a couple of times before," he started.
"I watched the fight between you guys, that huge robot, and me, and waited for you to damage my darker half enough to where I could escape. I actually laughed my butt off when I saw you lay him out like that. That was pretty awesome, although now I kinda hurt all over, but that's fine. Anyway, after that, I saw you play the Song of Healing, and then I just felt…weird. I don't exactly know how to describe it. It just felt like everything about me was being broken into two, which probably should have tipped me off that something was wrong, but whatever. I don't remember anything else after that. I just woke up, and here we are," he stated.
"But, now what? I mean, I'm pretty sure that about 95% of what he said was complete crap, but did you get anything out of what he said at all?" he inquired. I shrugged. "I think I got a couple of things out of it. What about you, Link? I know it was probably confusing, but maybe you caught something that we didn't?" I asked. Link shrugged, just as I had done. "Um…yeah, I think I understood what he was saying. But for now, let's just get that sacred flame, and get the heck out of here," he replied.
I nodded, and suddenly there was a bright flash of light. A Heart Container appeared in the middle of the room, and floated down to the ground. The three of us walked over to it, and stood around it as it slowly rotated on the ground. "Why, hello there, Mr. Heart Container. You're a little late to the party," I thought sarcastically.
Link, Jack, and I each held out a hand over the container, already knowing what to do. "One…Two…Three!" I heard Jack say. On three, we all touched the shiny red and gold heart at the same time, and I felt a surge of energy pump through me, as I had before with the other Heart Containers. After we all collected the container, we walked over to the only door that wasn't locked, which was glowing with a white light. I reached outward, pressed my hand to the door, and it vanished without a trace, leaving a dark hallway.
The three of us walked down the hallway, and came out in a small chamber with nothing but a crest in it. We walked over to the crest, and Link and I took out our swords. "I'll get it," Link said, stepping forward before I could. He held up his sword, charged a Skyward Strike, and fired it at the crest. As he did so, I heard Jack speak up. "Um, just what are you guys doing?" he asked.
I turned to him as the crest stopped rotating. "We're powering up our swords in Farore's Flame to make them stronger. We need to do this so we can activate a Gate of Time and go back to the past to see Zelda again," I replied, trying to keep it as simple as I possibly could. Jack's face lifted up. "Did you say power ups? Heck yeah! Count me in!" he shouted, ignoring everything else I had said.
Jack snapped his fingers, and a black sword appeared in his hand. As soon as that happened, Farore's Flame suddenly erupted from a small pedestal, and the heat from the green flame was so intense that all three of us had to back away from it. We held our hands up to shield ourselves from the heat, and after a few seconds, a small light came out of Link's sword, and Fi appeared.
Jack looked confused. "Who in Din's name is that? Please tell me that thing's friendly," he muttered. I nodded. "Yeah, she's fine, Jack. That's just Fi. She was made by Hylia, and helps Link and I out," I explained. Jack scoffed. "Well, maybe Z-I mean Hylia could do a better job of choosing skin color next time. She looks weird," he muttered back, quickly covering up his blunder.
I glanced to Link, but he was too transfixed on Fi and the flame to notice. "Phew. That was close," I thought. I turned back to Fi, and watched as she lifted her arm-things. Four huge green fireballs shot out of the flame, and completely obscured her from view. Link and Jack gasped, but I remained silent, already knowing what was going to happen. The huge fireball that contained Fi shot around the room, bouncing off of the ceiling, then the wall, and then landing directly in front of the three of us.
Fi appeared from within the flame, and she gave a quick glance at Jack. She stared at him through the flames for a second, and spoke up. "Recognition complete. Raise your swords, Masters," she said. I glanced over to Jack. "Well, Fi certainly didn't waste any time accepting Jack into the party," I thought, assuming that's what she meant by her statement. Link, Jack, and I all raised our swords up to Fi, and watched as green bursts of flame shout out towards them.
I felt the sacred flame hit my sword, and it started heating up, but not hot enough that I would be burned. I felt the flame bursts start to push against my sword, so I pushed back, keeping it in place. After about five seconds, the flame bursts ceased, and all of our swords glowed with the green light of the flame. I suddenly felt my sword give off a huge burst of heat and light, and I felt it completely change in my hands.
After the light died, I got a good look at my newly-improved Goddess Longsword. It looked longer(duh), sharper, stronger, and way more cooler than before. The hilt also looked slightly more accented, but I didn't really care for it as much as I did for the other things. I also knew that it would be more powerful as well, which was another big plus. "Oh, yeah. This is freaking awesome!" I grinned.
I suddenly heard a gasp to my left. "Whoa! No freaking way!" Jack said in surprise. I turned my head to the left, and got a good look at what had happened to Jack's sword. Now, instead of the slightly-curved scimitar-like shape that his sword had had before, it was exactly the same as mine and Link's, apart from a slightly darker color. It was sort of greyish-black, but it certainly wasn't the pure black it was before.
Link, Jack, and I continued staring at our improved swords in awe, and after a few seconds, Link gave his new sword a couple of slashes, and decided to put it away all fancily by doing a spinning sword maneuver. I copied him, and did the same thing, although it wasn't as good-looking as Link's was. Jack didn't have a sheath to put his sword in, so he just stood there and watched us. "I'd be able to do that, too, just in case you were wondering," he muttered defensively.
I snickered. "Sure, you would," I teased. Jack glared at me. "Um, yeah, I would, Samuel. I think that spending two months training would be enough to do a simple—ah! Oww!" he said, suddenly stopping. I wondered why Jack stopped, but then I found out why, because I suddenly felt an immense burning pain form on my left hand. I winced, looked down at it, and saw three golden triangles shine through the glove I was wearing. The Triforce. I gasped, partly in pain, and partly in amazement.
Two of the triangles of the Triforce were kind of dim, but the third one – the lower right triangle, the Triforce of Courage – shined with an intense light, and was the main source of the burning pain I felt. I glanced at Jack, and saw the exact same thing on his bare hand, except it was on his right one. I took a look at Link, and saw another Triforce on his gloved right hand.
After that, I turned back to my own left hand. I knew that this wasn't the real Triforce, which kind of sucked. I knew that what was on our hands was only a symbol representing the Triforce; we would have to actually get the real thing later on. Jack obviously didn't know this, and started freaking out. "Gah! Yes! Oh, my Goddess! It's the freaking Triforce, Samuel! We can go home now, can't we?" he asked excitedly.
I didn't want to, but I shook my head. "No, Jack, we can't. This isn't the real Triforce. Look at our hands; we all have Courage, which doesn't make any sense. Sorry..." I said with a small shrug. Jack looked completely let down as he stared at his, mine, and Link's hands, confirming that all three of us had the lower right-hand triangle filled in. "Crap," I heard him mumble sadly.
After another moment of silence, Fi came back out of Link's sword, and hovered in front of us. "The sacred flame has purified your swords, enhancing and evolving them," she said. She then turned to Jack. "I also calculate a 98% probability that the power of the sacred flame has imbued your blade with sacred power, which should make it identical to Master Link and Samuel's swords in terms of performance," she stated.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Um, English, please?" he asked. I turned my head to him. "What she's saying is that the sacred flame made your sword pretty much the same as ours, Jack. Here, try raising your sword up," I said. Jack nodded, and did so. He lifted his sword up as high as he could reach it, and I saw a look of surprise and amazement on his face as a white light shimmered down it.
When Jack's sword was fully charged, he turned away from us and swung it as hard as he could. A Skyward Strike propelled out of his sword, hit the wall, and dissipated. He then turned back to us. "That was awesome! I'm guessing that's the same thing that you did before, right?" he asked, gesturing to Link. Link turned away from Fi for a second, and nodded. "Yeah. That's called a Skyward Strike," he replied.
Jack looked at his sword again, and smiled. "Man, that's cool," he said quietly. In his moment of awe, Jack had actually forgotten that Fi was still there, waiting for all three of us to give her our attention. "Oh. Um…Sorry... Fi. Got distracted there for a second," he said. Fi's face remained expressionless, showing no sign of annoyance. "It is alright, Master," she simply stated.
Jack looked slightly confused at being addressed as "Master," but he stayed quiet. Instead, Fi addressed us all again. "Now, with all of your swords enhanced, you are ready to learn a new melody. We should return to the Isle of Songs," she said. Link and I nodded, and I noticed Jack join in about a second late, deciding to just go with the flow for now.
Once she fell silent, Fi returned to Link's sword, and then Jack spoke up. "So, could somebody please explain everything to me? I'm really confused," he said. Link turned to him. "Yeah, don't worry. We'll explain everything later, Jack," he said. He then looked to me. "Let's head back to Skyloft for now. I've had enough for one day. I think we all have," he said wearily. I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's get out of here," I agreed. Jack smiled, and snapped his fingers, making his new sword vanish. "Okay, then. Let's," he said.
Jack looked more relieved now than I had seen him in a long time. And, that was a pretty good feeling to me. Sure, we hadn't exactly accomplished what we wanted in the way we wanted it to happen, but at least now, I had my friend back. And, that was all that mattered to me. So Link, Jack, and I turned towards the door leading back to the boss room, and I walked towards it with my two friends at my side.
Well, what do you guys think? I honestly hope that this chapter was completely epic and awesome and amazing, because this was one of the big plot points in the story, in case you couldn't tell. I've had this idea for a while now, about Jack getting split into two. I originally was just going to have him be set free completely, but I think this is waaaay better. I hope this turned out awesome! Tell me what you guys thought of it in a review, even if it's criticism!
Anyway, now onto a couple of announcements. First off, I'd once again like to apologize for not keeping up with my once-a-week update schedule. I've honestly tried to make it work, but I need more time to write and do other things, now that school has started. So, I'm going to tell you guys right now that I might not be able to publish every single week on the same exact day, but I will NEVER cancel this fic. If I am physically able to get a chapter out, then I'll do it.
And now, onto announcement number two. Like I said before, this fic has come a long way from when I first published it in December last year, but it could still be better. At first, I had shorter chapters, because I didn't really know what to write, and I was inexperienced. Then, as I went along, I acquired the thought process that "longer chapters equal better ones." But, this obviously isn't true, because some of the best and most popular fics that I've read on this site haven't even broken 125k words. And, this fic is starting to near 200k words, and I'm only about halfway done, if you go by where Samuel is in the game.
So, I have a solution to this, which is to start publishing shorter chapters. Yeah, I know it seems like a stupid/lazy idea, but you know what they say: Quality beats quantity. And, I've come to see that. And, the other thing I want to start doing with this fic to make it even more awesome is to start rewriting my older chapters. Now, before you go off on a rampage, let me explain how I'm going to do this.
Instead of publishing one chapter once every week(or, at least, trying and failing to do so), I'm going to start publishing one chapter every two weeks. On the off weeks, instead of publishing a new chapter, I'm going to update 1-2 of my older chapters. Now, this won't go on forever, and maybe I might even find the time to do a weekly publishing schedule again, but for now that's what I'm going to do. #dealwithit.
This way, I'll still be able to stay involved with this fic, and I won't have to worry about school and other stuff getting in the way as much, because rewriting won't take up as much time as typing a whole new chapter. So, that's the game plan from now on.
Anyway, I guess that's it for now! I'll try and get Chapter 40 out on or before the 25th, and I'm also going to rewrite a chapter for next week! Until then, bye, and thanks for reading! :D
QUICK UPDATE: Chapters 1 and 2 were both rewritten on 9/18/2013.