The Legend of Zelda: Youths Chosen by the Goddesses
Part 3: Hope of Blood
Hyrule is clouded in darkness. The Imperial King Vaati was successful in taking two of the three pieces of the mythical Triforce. In doing so, two of the Resistance's strongest warriors fell: The Hero Link and the Gerudo Prince Ganondorf.
While the Resistance and their allies retreated to the south, Princess Zelda and four of the Sages have taken refuge in the city of Darunia until Link is in better condition to make the trip to New Kasuto.
Until then, the Sages keep guard, waiting for reinforcements from the delayed General Auru or an attack as Vaati comes for the Triforce of Wisdom.
Darunia Town, East Hyrule
The town of Darunia. Named after the legendary Sage of Fire and Chieftain of the extinct Hyrulean Gorons. It is a bustling city of commerce, being a port town and owned by the Hylian crown, not by another sentient race. The city itself was crowded, merchants calling out their best deals, customers rushing to catch them, suppliers rushing to keep supply meeting with demand, importers importing and exporters exporting. To a foreigner, the sight of a working economy would be pleasing.
But to King Raphael Ambi of Labrynna and Holodrum, member of the Resistance and the Sage of Fire, this façade was a necessity. The people of the world weren't ignorant of the war in Hyrule, and the Hylians themselves played the part. They knew that at any moment, King Vaati could come crashing at their doors with his monster army as he did just to execute the previous Sage of Fire. The reality of their situation, and the desire to create another reality, Ralph was impressed with the people of Darunia.
If only he could do the same.
The Resistance was scattered across North Hyrule, and the armies of the foreign kingdoms were just as confused. The retreat from Rauru Town went haywire once the beast fired upon the city. The alliance Ralph himself put together was in disarray. Throw in the most pressing details, and the reality of the situation is very dire.
In a cruel twist of fate, King Vaati killed Link of Calatia, the former Hero of Hyrule and Princess Zelda's father. He killed their friend Ganondorf, the young Prince of the Gerudo. He incapacitated Link Koroks, the new Hero. Worse of all, in the heroes' bid to claim the Triforce, the relic split into three, placing itself within the younger Link, Ganondorf, and Zelda. After taking care of the former two, Vaati claimed their Triforces, while Zelda managed to escape with hers as her father sacrificed himself.
Now, Ravio and his friends hid in Darunia while they wait for Link to wake up or Impa deems him fit to travel to New Kasuto. Zelda was able to mend his wounds but couldn't take him out his comatose state. Until Link awakens, Impa charged the four Sages to watch over the city of Darunia for two things: obviously, Vaati and his Imperials, and the Resistance forces led by General Auru.
Currently, Ralph sat on the edge of the western side of the roof, watching the skies between Darunia and North Castle. He fiddled with his fire powers in his hands, bore with the watch. Nearby, the Zora Princess and Sage of Water sat, keeping her eyes on her domain of power. She had her back to him, sitting quietly. Ralph, in his quest to not be bored, stood up and walked closer to the Zora, placing himself beside the beauty. "Your Highness."
"Your Majesty."
"How are you on this fine afternoon?"
"As fine as I've been the last week."
Ralph chuckled. "Yeah, that sucks."
Oren nodded. "Yeah. So… Heard back from Nayru?"
"No. Remember I told her not to communicate in any way with me. We don't know if the Imperials could be listening. I'll talk to her once we move…if we ever."
Oren sighed, then leaned over to rest her head on Ralph's shoulder. "I am so ready to go. I'm bored. I'm scared. I'm…angry." She sighed, then placed her hand on Ralph's, squeezing it gently. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know, but you got nothing to fear. King Ralph is here."
Oren turned to Ralph, trying to contain her laugh. "How the hell were you a womanizer?"
Ralph smiled, then cupped Oren's chin. "Well, with cheesy stuff like that, and a little bit of something else."
Oren smirked, then brought her hands around Ralph's neck. "You sure you want to do this…here…now?"
Ralph shrugged. "Like who'll hear us? Ravio and Hilda won't be up for another hour, Impa and Sheik are with Zelda, and the town itself is loud. We can do this."
"That's what I like to hear, hot stuff." Oren released Ralph, stepping a few feet away before turning back. She outstretched her hand, a swirl of water forming in it. "Heh heh, catch." She threw the ball at Ralph, who raised his fiery hand, dispersing the ball into a cloud of steam.
"You're going to have to try harder, Princess Zora." As he formed his own ball, Ralph felt a cold spray hit him from behind, causing him to collapse and shiver. "What the hell?"
Oren chuckled. "You shouldn't have flirted with me. You are engaged, you know."
Heating himself up, Ralph stood up. "Are you saying I cannot flirt anymore?"
"Yes." Oren formed a trident out of water, holding it behind her. "Would you like it if Nayru flirted with another man."
"Good point." Ralph drew the Noble Sword, setting it on fire. The blade was safe from damage from the flame since Ralph used the blade as the source of the flame, not just placing a fire on the sword. He lazily swung it, barely contacting Oren's weapon. "So, if I can't flirt with anyone, that means that you cannot do the same, Princess."
Scoffing, Oren pushed away Ralph's sword, thrusting her weapon forward. "I can if I want. It's the only thing fun in this town."
"Hey, if I can't do it with you, you can't do it with me. We must maintain the balance of water and fire."
"Balance? Right." Oren sidestepped quicker than Ralph anticipated, spinning her body, and holding her hand at the side of Ralph's face, powering it with water. "Check."
"…Checkmate, Your Highness." Oren felt a hand at her back enclosing her. It didn't take a moment longer before she realized those weren't Ralph's hands nor was it his voice, both holding his blade. Sighing, she dropped her hand, dismissing her trident. She faced the owner of the hand before it left her.
"You're early, Bunny Boy."
Said boy in the bunny cloak smiled as he placed his fire rod back in his pouch. "You two are quite the show. You do remember Impa said to not use our abilities, right?"
Ralph shrugged as he called away his flame. "You are a follower, aren't you? 'Hilda said, Impa said, Sheik said, Simon said, blah blah blah. We're barely using our powers, and it is the only thing we can do."
Ravio dropped his smile, exchanging it for a more serious expression. "You know that Imperial spies could be anywhere. Our magic creates a signature, one more potent than we have by not using it."
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Go away. Go tell Hilda you aren't getting your way. Maybe she'll bring some authority with her presence."
"Authority? You mean the one thing nobody ever takes you seriously on?"
"Hey!" Oren stepped between the tension of the boys, hoping to diffuse the situation. "We are all angry at our current situation but there is no need to take it out on each other. Face the facts, we are here until Link is in a better condition than he is."
Ralph sheathed his blade, turning away from Oren and Ravio, gazing to the western sky. It was clear as the afternoon would allow. Sighing, he tightened his fists. "No, we're stuck here because Zelda wouldn't woman up and get us out of here. It has been a week. Link is healed. Zelda just doesn't want to leave. She will rather risk hundreds of lives than head to a more fortified position. We're waiting for reinforcements… Sure, that's so smart. It has been a week. Where are the reinforcements?"
The clicking of heels brought everyone's attention to the black-haired Princess of Lorule, Hilda. She stopped by Ravio's side, glaring daggers at Ralph. "You, of all people recently, should understand what she's going through."
"I do. I lost my mother. I didn't even get to bury her, to get her a final goodbye. But I didn't sulk. I fought in Labrynna myself. I fought here in Hyrule. I am standing here, right now, ready to fight those bastards. You two lost your country, and you stand here! You lost your family Oren, and you stand here. Midna's family betrayed her, her lover is dead, and somewhere in this country, she stands up to fight. Ganondorf…he died fighting for his people. Link, that dumbass, continue to fight even when he was outmatched. The Hero is out, the Demon is gone, the Princess…is crying. Tell me, Hilda, where I am wrong?"
Hilda sighed. "Ralph, you are right. We all know this, you're just brave enough to voice it. But we got to make do in our current position."
"Ralph," Ravio stated, "I do agree with you, but there's nothing we can do. He will come for Zelda no matter where we go."
Ralph sat down, placing his chin in his palm. "That's a lie. We know what he wants. He wants the Triforce of Wisdom. Why not break it apart again?"
Oren shook her head. "That could work, but I think he prefers the Light Force within Zelda."
"Ok. I suggest we extract the power from her, bottle it up, and hide it for later."
Hilda sighed. 'That's not how magic works. Yes, you can extract it but is must be contained somewhere magical as well. For example, Ravio's fire, ice, and sand rods possess magic that he can tap into. That power had to come from somewhere. If we extract that magic, powerful as it is, we'll need a powerful container. Of course, the biggest con to that plan is that Zelda needs that power."
"But Vaati won't have it and wouldn't know where it is if we hid it."
"And thankfully Vaati will be unable to track us from afar just with basic magic. He can try to sense her, but that would require to be very experienced in the arts, which I doubt isn't a problem for him, but I also doubt he could do. I can't dowse halfway across a country, not even a signature like Ravio's is possible, and even if I could, it wouldn't be as precise as it could be if we were on opposite sides of town. Alternatively, he could use the precision of a locator spell, and nail us right here, in this very building."
Oren interjected. "He has two Triforces. He could use them. The three pieces resonate heavily with each other. They want to be rejoined. Whenever they're close, for example, like in Rauru, that's why you saw Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf's marks on their hands. You go to Zelda now and you'll see the mark is there, but it is not as noticeable."
"How do locator spells work?"
"More like a ping than a trace. You can get an exact location, but if the target is moving, you'll only get the location that the spell reads at that moment."
"So back to Plan A, break the Triforce. We have Zelda's power, and we don't need Vaati to hold Wisdom in case Zelda gets beat. We delay our doom, Link might come back, we get some fragments ourselves." Ralph confidently smiled as he stood up, eager to relay the plan to the Sheikahs. "What could possibly go wrong? It worked once, it can work again."
"Well," Hilda said, stepping in Ralph's path, "I think we should mold that plan a little more. Zelda's in training right now with the Sheikah. They're trying to get her to access her power without being pissed off. And while we're on the topic of moving across Hyrule, has anyone talked to Midna since we've been here?"
"Actually, no."
"No."
"I meant to, but no."
Hilda sighed. "I wonder how she's been holding up this past week."
Mido Town
For seven days straight, Midna Twilight had stared at the map of Hyrule north of Death Mountain. She was sure that she knew the land by heart now. In retrospect the map is dated; Nabooru, Ordon, and Rauru no longer existed (Rauru literally wiped off the face of the earth). Yet she continued to study it, for it was the only thing that kept her mind off the people of Mido Town.
Specifically, a person who was of the race of the inhabitants of Mido Town.
"Light and darkness. Mother, I don't understand. Where in Hyrule could those fragments be?" Midna sighed as she dug her head in her hands, frustrated with the vagueness of her mother's message and the many hours dedicated to solving it. If she had more time in her home, maybe she could have found more clues. If she had a home to go back to… It was no use dwelling on the past. The last month and a half had been a rollercoaster, from Zant being alive and an Imperial to the destruction of Rauru. What Midna truly needed at this moment was a break.
She looked outside the classroom she occupied, seeing no one in the adjacent training yard. It was mid-evening, and most of the Gerudo warriors would have either gone home or found themselves at some night activity. Stepping outside, Midna walked over to one of the dummies on the northwestern wall, picking up a spear in the process. She gave it a few test swings, adjusting to its weight before holding it horizontally and thrusting it towards the target hooked to the dummy in front of her. It implanted in the bullseye with a thunk, and she removed it for a second attack.
"Zant?"
"Hello sister."
"Hah!"
"How could you join them? They destroyed our home, killed our friends, killed Mother!"
"Oh no, they did not kill Mother dearest. I ended her myself."
"Hah!"
"Such conceit. But if you are one of the chosen, as you claim… Then I'll risk everything, even the life of my best friend, to deny you!"
"Shadow has been moved by light, it seems… How amusing."
"Hah!"
"Midna… I am sorry."
"Twilight Princess, I…love you…"
"HAH!" Midna thrusted the spear through the wooden target, impaling the dummy. She removed the weapon, watching as sand flowed from the 'wound' to the ground. Her knees gave out, Midna sorrowfully falling to the ground, tears wetting the sand bricks that formed the flooring of the training grounds. She didn't know whether she cried because of her anger towards Zant, her grief for Ganondorf, or for both men at once, but the feelings she had bottled up for two weeks (given she was unconscious for about a month after Death Mountain) had finally spilled.
She didn't know how long she wept, but it was long enough that someone had found her. She heard their footsteps click on the ground, raising her slightly dark blue face to the newcomer. It was Chief Mareeha Riju, the Queen of Thieves. Wiping her face to make her look somewhat presentable, Midna held her downed position as she greeted the chief. "Good night, Lady Riju."
Riju lowered herself to Midna's level, breathing softly as she moved the Twili's hair behind her head. "Sav'saaba. Midna, you are my guest, and as such, you can leave out the formalities. We're Sages, after all, and you are our leader as the Sage of Light. I should be calling you 'lady.' We're both royalty too." Riju smiled, which forced a faintly present one on Midna. "What has you in sorrow, Midna?"
"Everything. My brother, my mother, Ganondorf… It is finally taking its toll on me."
"Well, I wished you didn't take it out on the dummy. Teake is going to be pissed about replacing it." That got Midna to laugh, which made Riju feel good. Standing to her feet, the chief reached out to her friend, who took it and got up. Midna was, as it turned out, a little shorter than Riju, but not so noticeable unless they were close together. Gerudo genetics must give the people height. Ganondorf is taller than most of the Hylians in the Resistance, and the Gerudo people, in general, are taller than most Hylians she'd seen. Take in their natural aptitude for fighting, one can reckon the Gerudo people are a race to be feared. Midna can testify, just based on Ganondorf, Riju and the training that occurs in this yard.
Riju, as Midna learned the last few days, was Ganondorf's cousin through the marriage of his father, King Malladus Dragmire, and her auntie, Sage Mareeha Nabooru, the first union between the two groups of Gerudo ever since the Daemon and Sage clans were formed. It was a tough marriage to get through. As the Sage of Spirit, Nabooru had duties to her people, but she subsided them once the threat of Ganon was over to attend to her duties as Queen of the Daemon Gerudo. At first, the leader of the Sage Gerudo, Mareeha Urbosa, was offended by her sister's marriage and acceptance to the other sect, but after a few years and lots of lobbying from Ganondorf's father, the union was graced. However, King Malladus wanted more. His marriage to Nabooru was great and all, but his true goal was to unite both sects into one again.
Riju and Ganondorf, just young kids at the time, were the hope of Malladus' dream.
Ironically, it would be Nabooru who would be against it, saying that uniting the Gerudo could do more harm than good. As much as Malladus fought against his wife, her word on the Sage Gerudo, given her position, was just as law as her sister's, somewhat even more. Ganondorf was later betrothed to his best friend Aveil, but unknown to their parents' the heirs of Nabooru and Mido Towns had fallen for each other. The last time they saw each other was days before Nabooru Town fell to the Imperials, two years after the Sages and the Sheikah had made their gamble for the Triforce in Rauru. The entire city was razed, the royal line nearly severed, but a few survivors made it to Mido Town with the precious Medallion of Spirit. Unfortunately, they made it too late; the Imperials had killed Queen Urbosa but let the city and its inhabitants stand as a reminder.
Midna empathized with Riju and admired the young queen. There had to be something about the Gerudo that made them resilient to adversity. Both Ganondorf and Riju made themselves stronger despite their shortcomings, and in Riju's case, became a great leader of her people at such a young age. Though she only saw little combat from the queen, Riju was a fierce fighter, wielding her twin scimitar and summoning lightning like it was a dance.
No wonder Ganondorf liked her, but meeting her, Midna wondered why he never really spoke of her. She heard many tales of Aveil and him, but that was his betrothed, and despite the truth, Ganondorf did love her. Just…maybe he was a confused young boy. Leading a group of women and being one of two males in that society could bring trouble to a boy entering puberty.
"How goes the search for the fragments?"
"it hasn't gone anywhere. The riddle seems obvious, but then it becomes vague. What could be the darkest place and the lightest place in Hyrule. It is metaphorical, but also representational."
"How have you tried solving it?"
"Timing to when mother came to Hyrule. My mother would have arrived her around the time Vaati took over, either before or after. If before, the light of Hyrule is North Castle, without a doubt."
Riju folded her arms. "At the same time, it is the dark."
Midna nodded. "Exactly."
"So, if we go with after, the dark place could be the castle, but she wouldn't send it there. That's suicide."
"Exactly. That's why I'm stumped there. Meanwhile, for the 'light,' I thought of Rauru, but I found one there in my home. If she wanted to separate them, two of them wouldn't be so close to one another." Finding herself in Riju's bedroom, Midna sat on the sofa that greeted her a few feet from the opened entrance, Riju seating next to her. She picked up the yellow, spiky hearty durian, biting softly into it as she addressed the chief. "I don't know what to think."
"Well, I think you've been to the darkest hand of Hyrule." Riju picked up a durian herself, looking outside. "If I had to guess, Ganon's lair on Death Mountain would fulfill that, huh?"
Midna paled as she thought about that place. Of course, that would be it. The same place she fought her love would be the same place that Hyrule's greatest evil (though, in Midna's mind, Vaati is making a huge case to take the name) use to preside. "That makes sense…but where would the opposite be?"
"That is a very good question… If it isn't North Castle, and if it isn't Rauru Town… If Ganon is the darkness, the Hero and Princess is the light. Are there any places besides the two named that they'll be associated with?"
Midna wanted to vomit. She knew a place, for like Death Mountain, she had been there as well. It was special to the old Hero, for he set that place up, and it was special to the current Hero and Princess as it was formerly their hometown. "Ordon Village. But it is in ruins, and the two dungeons by it, the Eagle and the Moon, have already been searched by Link and Zelda. If it was there, wouldn't they have found it?"
"Then maybe it isn't in a dungeon, but within the city itself."
Midna settled her emotions, finishing the durian and throwing its core outside. "Then I have my mission. I'll leave for South Hyrule in the morning."
Riju raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Do you want someone to go with you? I could, but…circumstances with a damn robotic camel requires me here." Riju referred to the Imperial war machine that overlooked the town many miles away. It has been there since Midna came to the city and had peacefully stayed in place. Midna didn't know what the chief had in store for it but was sure Riju had a plan.
Besides, this was something Midna had to do herself. "I'll be fine. If it is okay with you, I'll check in regularly. It'll be a week before I get to Ordon, and another before I return. Hopefully, nothing happens."
Riju nodded, then stood up. "Well, if I do not see you tomorrow when you leave, I wish you well. Sav'orq, Princess Twilight, and may the Sand Goddess watch over you."
Midna smiled, hugging her friend. "Thank you, Riju. For everything."
"You are a sister in arms and Ganondorf's great friend. It would be wrong of me to dishonor him by mistreating you. Once, you saved his life, now I can pay you for such a deed. You have assisted my people. Now, I pray you find your people."
In the back of her mind, Midna hoped she could as well.
