LunaOfTheAbyss: Hey guys! Sorry we took so long, but we've been getting distracted with..stuff..and school, so yeah.. But it's finally here.. Hehe.. Anyway, in case you guys might wonder, I don't use initials for my name, because then it would show you how lazy I am, but you guys can write out the letters on a sheet of paper and try to figure out what they make up. WHOEVER GETS THE ANSWER RIGHT GETS A COOKIE AND A CHAPTER IN THEIR DEDICATION!
MLS: Hi, its me, and My friend here isnt nice and wouldnt let me add ANYTHING to this chapter, so i have no idea what happened in it, but i think its the Zant fight... wait wait, i wrote something, but its was hardly anything because i got kicked off my computer... hmm. HER FAULT WE NEVER UPDATE!
Link's POV
I quickly froze and turned to Evienne, looking at her wide eyed as she only stared at the floor in confusion and shock. I remembered back to the day she arrived, when she fell from the sky form the odd portal. That was because of Zant?
"How did I..." she murmured, "How did I not know?"
I gently put a hand on her shoulder, "Evienne...?"
She looked at me with eyes as if she had just discovered the true meaning of life or something, "It was A Shadow Beast hand! Of course it was Zant!" she gasped, "How did I not notice this?"
I stood in front of her, "Evienne, it's not your fault, how could you have known?"
She shook her head and grit her teeth as she pushed past me, "Why Zant? Why did you bring me here!" echoed her words through the room.
I turned around, only met by the back of her head. Her words stung. Didn't she want to be here?
"For the sake of my Lord," Zant replied, still slumped in his chair and unmoving.
I thought back at the words of the Sages, "You mean Ganondorf?" I asked.
He chuckled at this, "You see, my Lord hasn't been himself lately. It may be for lack of power, which only you can supply," he explained, pointing an arm at Evienne.
I quickly stood in front of her and held up my sword in defense, "Don't even think about touching her! Neither you nor Ganondorf will get your filthy hands on her or her power!" I hissed, only gaining another chuckle form him.
"Don't expect us to ask for permission."
"Don't even try it, Zant!" growled a new voice, and I turned to find Midna floating beside us.
"Midna..." I trailed, and she smirked at me.
I could feel the sudden amusement coming form Zant.
"Ah, Midna... Pleasure it was of you to join us, what brings you back after you abandoned your people?"
She scoffed, "Abandoned wouldn't be accurate. I left for them, in order to save them from you! Don't forget we're also here because of the dark magic curse you set on Link!" she reminded him.
That rang true. If Zant had never put me through that, we might not be here right now.
"You speak of magic? Still your tongue for a moment, whelp, and I will tell you of both magic and the oppression of ages..." he trailed, slowly standing up.
"The people of our tribe…a tribe that mastered the arts of magic…were locked away in this world like insects in a cage." He said, slightly walking forward, while taking off his mask. "In the shadows we regressed, so much so that we soon knew neither anger nor hatred…nor even the faintest bloom of desire." He continued, raising his hands up.
"And all of it was the fault of a do nothing royal family that had resigned itself to this miserable half existence!" He yelled, twisting uncomfortably like a sponge, and backwards until his head was upside down as he continued to stare at us.
I flinched at the sight. That just looked gross...
He quickly untwisted himself and then started jumping up and down like he was having some sort of tantrum.
"I had serves and endured in that depraved household for far too long, my impudent princess," he said, after he quit jumping.
He sprang up close to me and I stepped back slightly in surprise. Then he floated around behind us and spun rapidly, all while yelling, " And why, you ask? Because I believed I would be the next to rule our people! THAT is why!" he stopped spinning,several feet away now, and held a pose, one arm pointed at us while he held the other behind him.
This guy was freaking me out. In the non-scary way.
"But…would they acknowledge me as their king? NO! And as such, I was denied the magic powers befitting our ruler."
"Because you don't deserve them," Evienne hissed.
"It was then, in the thrall of hatered and despair, that I turned my eyes to the heavens, and found a god." He said.
Evienne growled, "He isn't a god, Zant! Stop speaking bullshit! Why don't you ask him about how the Hero of Time kicked his ass? Or the Waker of the Winds? And pretty soon, the Hero of Twilight is going to be added to that list! Face it, he'll just lose all over again."
"Oh, I am well aware of them, but you see, my Queen, they could never actually stop him. He is still here today," he said, stepping closer to us, "And you, you pathetic excuse for a being, can do nothing about it. I could kill you now, should I desire it. Nothing, NOTHING, can stop my god. Now is the time. He will finally win!"
"What you hope for, is nothing but a dream, Zant. Don't you understand, your reign has come to an end, and so has Ganondorf's," Evienne said softly, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"You are the one who does not understand..."
Normal POV
Zant ran desperately forward, frustration his only emotion. He could not comprehend this, why couldn't things go his way?
He quickly stopped and fell to his knees, then slowly leaned over and rest his head on his arms as he lay them across the stone floor. He hit his head against them, then lifted them and hit at the floor in even higher frustration.
"Why, why, why, why?" he shouted.
Suddenly, he felt an eerie presence above him, and slowly looked up, only to become enchanted by the sight.
"What is..."
Above him was a large ball of flames, probably as big as the moon. It swayed within itself like an ocean, though it was very still.
It slowly moved in closer, and engulfed him completely, painlessly.
As Zant looked around, he found he was in complete darkness, though there was a small light, a yellow flame in front of him. Sure, at first glance that would be all you see, but Zant could see more than that. He saw the answer to his pleas. A face in the fires was a marvel, surely he must be a god.
"I shall house my power in you..." the flames whispered to him, "If there is anything you desire, then I will desire it, too."
just as it had come, it left, and Zant found himself standing alone once more in the Palace of Twilight. Complete silence surrounded him.
Link's POV
"Ganondorf, that coward!" growled Evienne, "He used Zant in order to conceal himself..."
I quickly looked up at Zant and watched him as he faced us back, his mask once again around him.
"My god had only one wish..." he said dryly, and disappeared, then appeared back on his throne.
"To merge shadow and light...and make darkness!" he shouted, and slowly lifted into the air.
I held up my sword in defense, and Evienne followed my action, "Get ready," I warned, and she nodded.
As Zant stared us down through the air, a red field appeared in front of him, and suddenly we were in the boss room of Diababa.
I was confused, why did he bring us here? Diababa was dead.
Then, he was firing some sort of potion shots at us. I knew this because as soon as they hit my shield, they melted away, leaving behind an awful gas I quickly blew away with the Gale Boomerang.
"Link, you're a genius!" called Evienne, and I turned to find her dodging her own share of poison.
"Use the boomerang to get that damn creep down here!"
I looked down at the boomerang, then kept my eyes on Zant, and let the boomerang go to him. The small weapon fluttered around him, and the winds at its back spun Zant out of balance, causing him to fall down, but as soon as he touched the poison lake he once hovered over, he jumped away, and onto the surface with us.
Just as I was about to jump at him, Evienne took action only seconds before. She crossed him in a Jump Attack, then turned her back to him and hit him in the stomach with the hilt of her sword, knocking him back a bit, followed by a quickly back flip, and a swift kick to the mask.
I smirked and followed this with a Shield Attack, and only one hit against him, to cause him to cry out, and flee into the air once again.
As the odd field appeared in front of him once more, I turned to Evienne, my smirk still put, "You have to teach me that later," I said, and she smiled back.
"Fools!" Zant shouted.
Evienne stepped forward a bit, "Shut up, Asshat!"
I stared at her in confusion, and she only shrugged.
Our next room was the mini boss room in the Goron Mines, only a large magnetic field hung loosely above an ocean of lava.
I quickly threw on my iron boots so I wouldn't fall, and Evienne jumped into the air. I placed the Gale Boomerang away, seeing as I won't have to use it here, but rather what I used on the enemy I fought here. That was my idea of Zant's game.
Zant landed across form us on the magnet platform, and jumped around a few times, shaking it and wobbling it side to side, then he disappeared. I quickly spun around in search for him, and eventually found him behind me, a trail of poison shots coming my way.
I quickly held my shield up against them, blocking them in time, then watched as he stopped, and started panting.
"He tired himself out..." I whispered, removing my boots.
"What a weenie," Evienne said.
I sprinted off towards him and sent off a barrage of attacks on him. Stab, slash, Spin Attack, then again in reverse order. This time, however, he retreated before Evienne had a chance to come in and strike.
The red field once again appeared, and this time, I found myself feeling weightless, and wet. We were underwater.
There was no way to surface for air, and my lungs would be aching soon if i didn't do something.
I pulled the Zora Armor Queen Rutela thankfully gave me, and tossed it on over my tunic. I could breathe once more.
Then my mind wandered back to my companion, and set on a frantic glance search for Evienne, though she thankfully swam up to me, and smiled.
"What are you doing? Hide or something! You can't stay here," I called underneath my mask.
She only sighed, further worrying me as I felt she had now released the only air she had to hold.
"I told you my tunic was specially made for this. It was given to me by King Zora," she explained, "And you wouldn't let me come to the temple with you."
She had no mask, she wore nothing besides that blue fabric. Water proof.
I suddenly glared at her, "It wouldn't have killed you to explain that then would it?" she glared back.
"I was too busy trying to avoid any connection between us!"
I gasped, "Speaking of which-!"
"You guys, this isn't the time for that!" Midna called from the shadows, and we turned forward to find a HUGE mask equal to Zants placed before us.
"What did you use for this boss?" Evienne asked, and I thought back.
"A clawshot!" I replied, pulling the specified item out.
The mouth of the mask suddenly opened, and Zant stood there for a minute, then fired more poison our way.
A black screen, however, came up in front of us, blocking the poison magic. I quickly looked back to find the new magic was Evienne's doing.
"Sorry, but if you keep that up, the poison will eventually burn through."
I looked down at my shield, then back at her, "Are you sure, it looks fine to me."
She nodded, "Trust me. Zant and I share the same magic..."
"Very true, Queen of Shadows! Embrace the fact that we both share the soul of my God within us!" cried Zant just before the mouth of the mask closed over him.
I could hear a low growl from Evienne as the shield came down, and decided it would be best not to see her right now. She sounded quite angry.
The huge mask slowly sank back into the grounds, only to rise again later as several little mask like statues.
"He's gotta be in one of these.."
Then after a few seconds, the masks in my range of vision blew bubbles from the mouth piece, but it did not rise. I quickly turned around to find shots of poison being blocked once more by Evienne.
"Go do..whatever it is you have planned!" she said, and I swam off towards Zant, and released the claw of the clawshot, which quickly grabbed onto Zant's clothing, and pulled him up close to me.
Oh yeah, I'm gonna enjoy this.
Without any real plan, I let out a full barrage of attacks on Zant, carefully counting each one for each scar now left on Evienne because of him.
"You shameless bastard," I hissed at him, and he only chuckled, and disappeared.
When he reappeared, he was over us in the center of the room, the strange field once again opening from him.
After fighting Zant in what was probably every room of boss or mini boss I came across in the past, we finally appeared outside Hyrule Castle Town, on the south. It was sundown already. But of course, I couldn't be sure. This area and all the others might have just been an illusion by Zant.
A thick barrier, that reminded me painfully of the one around Hyrule Castle, appeared around us, as we stood at the end of the steps leading up to town. I kicked a rock over to it, which only split in half once it touched it.
"Why not just take us back to the Palace? You're the next one to die anyway," Evienne growled.
Zant chuckled and snapped out two concealed blades from under his sleeves, holding them with his hidden hands, "Don't count on that, my ignorant Queen," he said, before jumping at her.
Evienne quickly dodged his attack with the quick rise of a shield, and took the time he was slightly stunned from the rebound, to break through her own defense, and hit Zant in the chest with the hilt of her sword, but did nothing more than push him back on his feet.
"Don't you see," Zant began, standing up straight, "the irony in this?" he quickly lifted his blades, and began to spin, faster and faster, as he moved in closer.
I noticed Evienne falter slightly, and jumped to her side as Zant got too close, and held her behind me.
"Link, what are you doing?" she questioned as I held my shield up at Zant, blocking him away, "I can handle him."
I shook my head, "I hate to say that Zant might be right."
She glared at me, "What are you trying to say?"
I groaned, and finally pushed Zant away, "You may have the same power, and source, but Zant is obviously higher skilled with using it."
She quickly looked at the masked Twili who attempted to catch his breath.
"Because I am better suited to use it," Zant laughed.
Evienne growled and pushed past me, "I don't use mine carelessly because I don't aim to hurt the people around me!" she called back before jumping towards him.
Maybe I was wrong...
They attacked each other in fury, aimless hits after hit, but always bounced each other back. They were like a perfect combat match, except for when Zant decided to play dirty.
He quickly pulled back his hand just as Evienne ran full speed at him, and quickly threw a black ball of energy towards her, which quickly caught her off guard, and hit her directly in the stomach.
I watched as she stopped in place, her eyes wide, as her feet dragged backwards, and eventually gave way, causing her to hurl backwards, and hit her back against the barrier, which only bounced her back slightly. She quickly fell limp with a groan.
"Evienne!" I called, but just as I was about to run towards her, one of Zant's blades came up in front of me. I stopped and turned to glare at him.
"This is why she will never get anywhere," he said coldly.
I growled at him, "Because she fights fair?"
"When you hold power like this, where is the fun in fighting fair?" he laughed, and cut down against my right forearm.
I winced and pulled away, only for him to sucker punch me backwards. I groaned as I fell back, but quickly jumped to my feet again. I noticed Midna checking on Evienne through the corner of my eye. She had flipped her on her back, and was checking for a pulse, while wiping off a spot of blood from her forehead.
"Yes, I'm glad you can see my masterpiece. I simply can't get enough of seeing her in pain!" He squealed.
"Why Zan't? I thought your main purpose was to rule with Ganondorf? Why are you so set on killing her?" I asked, trying my best to make her seem like she wasn't worth it, though of course I didn't think that way.
He laughed, "Don't make me laugh," though he already did, "My Lord has made a game for us. A two player game of Pray and Predator," he spoke. It all seemed foreign to me though.
"What are you talking about? What has Ganondorf done?" I persisted.
He laughed again, and slowly raised his blades as he spoke, "Then I will be granted the prize. If I kill her, her power will be mine, and I will be second in power, right beside my Lord.." he nearly whispered.
I bit my tongue slightly. So if Evienne dies Zant will gain her share of power, and vise-versa..?
"No way I'm going to let that happen!" I yelled, and dashed at him while he was distracted, praising Ganondorf probably.
Freak.
As soon as I got close enough, I hit him with my shield, throwing him back and causing him to falter slightly. I took this chance of confusion, and quickly spun my sword over, so the blade was towards me, and hit him in the stomach with the hilt of my sword, knocking him back a bit, followed by a back flip, and a swift kick to the mask as I passed over him, just as Evienne had done before. As I landed behind him, I turned my sword back around, and cut down against his mask.
He groaned, and jumped back, then looked as if he was about to change the field again, but only fell to the floor.
The arena slowly changed back to the throne room at the Palace of Twilight, and I noticed the Fused Shadows fly away form Zant, who slumped back in his throne, unmasked.
The Fused Shadows slowly revolved around Midna, then disappeared in a quick flash. Midna stared at her hands for a bit, then looked around at herself, confused to where they had gone, I suppose.
"Y-You... TRAITORS!"
Traitor, ha! You want to know why none would call you king? It was your eyes, Zant. All saw it, a lust for power burning in your pupils... Did you think we'd forget our ancestors lost their king to such greed?" Midna spoke coldly.
Zant seemed to be panting slowly, mostly to cool frustration than catch his breath.
"Midna... Foolish Twilight Princess... The curse on you cannot be broken.." Zant spoke, as if to kick her back down and remind her that she couldn't do anything about it, "It was placed on you by the magic of my god! The power you held as leader of the Twili will never return!"
I could hear the anger boil within Midna as her silent growl slowly grew louder. I could have sworn she would jump at him right then and there.
"Already has he descended and been reborn in this world..." Zan't continued, Midna's hair lifted and twitched, "As long as my master, Ganon, surbibes, he will resurrect me without cease!"
Zant slowly lifted his head, and let out a low, praising sort of moan.
I slowly turned to Midna, as I noticed her grunt, and backed away slightly, as her hair slit into spikes, and shot out at Zant, impaling him on his throne.
I gasped, and watched in slight terror at the act, as Zant shouted, and writhed in pain. The spikes slowly spread apart, more and more, until Zant finally exploded. Just...exploded.
The spikes quickly retreated back as Midna's hair, and she gasped, holding her hands against her cheeks as she stared at the now empty throne.
"I... I used just a fraction of the power that's in me now..." she gasped, "I did THAT using only a fraction of my ancestors' magic?"
I gently patted her shoulder and she turned to face me, "Now's the time, Link. We have to save Zelda! With this... I can restore the cherished power she left me..."
I smiled and nodded, then quickly turned and ran over to Evienne, who shook her head, as she slowly sat up.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, but she didn't face me.
She nodded and smiled slightly, "But.. Zant, he..." she began, her voice raspy.
I waited for her to speak, though she only remained silent for the next two seconds, staring at the floor aimlessly, until a scratchy gasp escaped her lips, and her head shot up, her eyes set forward.
As I turned around, I caught sight of a quick flash of black, and watched through the corner of my eye now, as Evienne was dragged backwards.
I quickly turned back around to find her stuck in mid-air, kicking furiously as the black shade wrapped itself around her, moving upwards slowly, slowly.
"Evienne, "I called, holding the Master Sword close, but she was too high for me too reach, and I couldn't risk the use of other items without hitting her.
Her hands slowly lifted to her throat, and she scratched angrily at it, as if to pull the shade away, as if it were choking her...
Then, in a flash, her mouth opened in a silent scream, as the shade rested at her chest, and slowly sank within her, growing brighter by the second.
Her eyes opened wide, and suddenly, she stopped moving. Her head, arms, and legs, dangled limply under her, as the shade completely disappeared within her.
I felt my lips quivering harshly, as I watched her slowly come down, and land on her feet. As soon as I stepped close to her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, she fell limp now against me.
"Midna, what happened?" I cried, confused of what else to say.
She quickly floated over and studied Evienne," I believe since Zant is dead, he lost the game, and Evienne has gained the prize." She rested her hand against her chest, and gasped.
"There's no beat," she rested her tiny hand against Evienne's neck now, "No pulse either.."
I shook my head in disbelief, and held Evienne close to me, to check for myself. My eyes quickly grew wide, "But she's breathing..." and she was, but it took me a long time to notice.
Midna slowly lowered her gaze, and turned away, "We can't leave her like this.. But we can't take her back to Kakariko either. I doubt they'll know what to do about this.."
I gently pulled her up in my arms, carrying her carefully, "Then I guess we'll just set up camp somewhere, and see what we can do..." I muttered, VERY unsure about the idea.
Midna reluctantly nodded, and opened up a portal on the floor.
I looked up sadly, to see the Heart Container that lay at the foot of the throne, slowly lift, and float towards me. I gently held the item in one hand, then put it away, unsure if I really wanted to keep it for myself.
I sighed, and slowly stepped into the portal, and held my gaze on Evienne, as I slowly disappeared in particles.
