A/N:: Well, it has been sometime....only a month, though. hehe. Let me first say that this month was sorely needed for me, and not just because it was a great break, but it let me reappreciate my work that I have here. I also like to think that my writing style has improved as well; flowing a bit more easier and not as abrupt. The conversations I think are better at conveying what words alone sometimes can't. Unfortunately I think my word choices are a little....off in some areas. I'll need to work on that. So, for those still interested please take a gander and read and enjoy.
--byl, out.
The Eternal Legend
Chapter Fifty: Finding Solace
A humming voice filled the atrium to the Temple of Time, a sweet melody of longing for things they knew they could never have. It was a sad tune, with a melancholy that could sap the strength from the strongest man's knees; and the woman singing it was smiling. She was not very tall and had hair of spun gold, with shockingly intelligent light blue eyes. High cheekbones gave her an elfin appearance, and she walked calmly and sedately in garments of tight weave and decoration.
They were not the styled and regal gowns she was more comfortable with, the ones comprised of silk and spun silver, but they were manageable none the less. She had made and fitted them herself. She tread softly along the rich red carpet that was laid on the white marble floors, her blue leather boots stopping just short of the Pedestal of Time.
Her head quirked to the side and her humming ceased. She walked forward and placed her hands on the cold black marble, tracing the ancient Hylian script carved into it. She spoke to the air. "Time time time. Time for my people to be a little bit more imaginative in choosing names." She lifted her head and looked to the right where nothing occupied the air. "Don't you agree?" She smiled.
The light in the room dimmed slightly as a figure appeared where Zelda had spoken. A female of thin beauty stood clad in a simple gown of violet and white. Gloves covered her hands, her golden tresses were braided. Cool azure eyes of ages past looked downward on the smaller figure. Zelda spoke again at the appearance of the other woman. "I'll call you Sage, if you call me Queen, and I think we can avoid any confusion from here on out." The Queen laughed, a tinkling sound that echoed to the high ceiling.
The Sage did not look amused. "Why have you tread onto my grounds? What purpose do you hope to serve in coming here?"
Queen Zelda brought her hands away from the black marble alter and placed them on her hips. "I've come here because soon Link will fell Bjorn, and Ganon will try and break free. I thought my help would be needed."
The Sage of Time only stared blankly, a small smile curving her thin lips. "Do not attempt to play games with me, you will not succeed." She had easily read the misleading intent behind the Queen's harrowing words, seeing the manipulative undertones implying the Sage desperately needed the Queen's help.
Queen Zelda smiled benignly, trying another route. "Isn't this where you tell me that you once stood in my place and were faced with the same questions and doubts affecting me? That on my shoulders rests my mistakes and how they will affect future generations? Is this not where I, lost and confused, come to you seeking a guiding hand?" Her tone was playful and jesting, but there was a hint of loss with them.
The Sage of Time's eyes crinkled as she sought knowledge and purpose from the young being before her. A moment of silence passed until she spoke, satisfied with what she had gleaned from the young woman. "You have an odd way of being direct, but you realize this of course. You know that you are confused by the events that have happened and that the decisions you have made have hurt many. And you worry if this final choice is the right one, not to yourself, but for your people.'
"If counsel is what you seek, and we are both aware that is one reason you are here, then I have but one request of you. Shed both your arrogance and pride in my company and I will help you, overcome those two things that have shaped you thus far. Those two things that you cling to; to keep yourself strong. Put them aside and I will listen and advise." A cold air seemed to unfurl around the ancient Sage as she finished speaking.
Queen Zelda's chin rose at the implications thrown at her by this woman. At the woman's sheer audacity to imply her strength alone came from her pride. Her eyes sparked with anger. "I will have you know that my strength comes not from my pride, but from my thoughts and from me! From who I am!" She made a sudden fist in resentment.
The sage only waited, a calm assurance about her. Her azure eyes drifted away from the incensed Queen, her mind going to memories from a time and age long ago. She wondered at the similarities from that time and this one. From that queen and this one.
Queen Zelda's anger became greater as she noticed her fellow ignoring her, ignoring her wisdom. Her strength came from within, came from the heart that beat in her chest. "I not only came here to warn you about Ganon, but to help maintain the seal." Regardless of how this old cow reacted, she still had a duty to perform. Ganon must not be freed until Agahnim had been defeated. "Your powers along with my own and the other Sages we could hold him until Link arrives. Do you even care!?" She yelled, unable to comprehend the woman's blank expression.
Then the air warmed around the Sage and the Queen gave a start as it reached out and caressed her, enfolding her in its warmth. For an instant it reminded her of how Veran had held her after their encounter. It was similar, but not the same. This feeling almost frightened her on some level.
The Sage of Time smiled sadly at the young woman before her. A young woman forced to mature too soon, forced to face the evils unaware. A woman who had fallen from so high and was desperately trying to fight her way back, even when the world hung in the balance. There was strength in her heart, but it had been long forgotten since she had come back to her senses. In its place was pride. And pride would lead her once more down that dark path she had walked.
The Sage stepped forward, her eyes shimmering with warmth and unshed tears. Tears for remembering her own trials; she herself had had someone to rely on, to cry on, to hold her when things turned bleak. Impa had been a mother to her, a friend, a fellow freedom fighter, and much more. The Queen standing before her had no one and had foolishly convinced herself that she needed no one.
The Queen took a step back, a subconscious wariness of the Sage's intentions enveloping her; an irrational fear filling her.
"It'll be okay little one." Zelda said soothingly, her arms now outstretched as a mother would to a hurting daughter. "Everything will be alright." She took two quick steps and closed the space between them.
The Queen again felt the rising fear, a fear of what this woman was offering. Yet, an ache grew alongside the fear, driving her to embrace this strange and wonderful being. The confusion froze her feet and the Sage closed the gap between them and tenderly wrapped her arms around her.
When contact was made, warm flesh against cold flesh, Queen Zelda began to shake, a quivering action that wound its way through her body; loosening the muscles which had held her upright. In an awkward motion she fell against the other, her hands trying desperately to respond in some way but unable to decide on an action. They lay feebly at her sides as her knees weakened and she sagged. Together they sat down, the elder Zelda holding tightly the younger to her breast, making soothing sounds as a sadness took hold of the Queen.
Crystal tears leaked out of the monarch's eyes, pursuing the curve of her cheeks to fall to the cold marble floor. She shook and shuddered within the Sage's care, words of both sense and nonsense tumbling from her trembling lips…
"I want…I don't know…"
"…everything to be perfect…everyone to be happy…"
"I'm going to die…why shouldn't I bed a man…"
"My father…he never…"
"…the Goddesses said they forgave me…"
The elder of two patted her shoulder as the lass, only eighteen, sobbed. "They may have forgiven you," she said," but you never forgave yourself, dear." She smiled as fresh tears fell down from the streaked face.
Then the Sage began to sing, a song of simple words and simple meanings.
"Hush little baby don't you cry, mama's gonna be here by your side…"
The song went on for many verses, but it was the emotion behind the simple tune that finally comforted the sobbing Queen.
As time passed and the Sage continued to hum Zelda kept slipping further and further into a content and warm place within her mind, where a thousand doubts did not assail her, where her every thought was not questioned and where she did not endlessly worry about how this would all end. She looked up at the woman cradling her with puffy eyes and glistening cheeks. "Is…" She swallowed and tried to work moisture into her dry mouth. "Is this love?" She asked.
Zelda only smiled and held her tighter. "Love can't be analyzed. It just is. You can't say that this might be love. It either is, or it isn't. If you think it is….then it is not love, you must accept it first."
The short monarch nodded, marveling at the peace and quiet within her, the warm feeling emanating from her chest and the calming way she was being held. She wanted this moment to never end.
"Do you finally see how you are strong?"
Zelda nodded. "Yes, I do." She had to accept her flaws. Accept that she was prideful and arrogant, no matter how much it hurt to admit it. She had to accept that what she truly wanted was someone to hold her and love her. And in turn do the same not only for them, but for all her people. Show them that someone cared for them and was cradling them as they struggled to find happiness and provide for their families. With a final sigh, she accepted who she was and what that finally meant.
"You see child that is strength. Knowing how flawed and imperfect you are and always seeing yourself as such. And in that realization finding a foundation in which to hold yourself up."
The Queen nodded, wishing to add her own thoughts to that statement. "In knowing my flaws I know who I am. Not just what I can do, but what I can't. I can know myself and rely on that knowledge, because it is not just a flawed view of how I want myself to be."
The Sage nodded with a warm smile and went to break away, but Zelda held onto her. "I-I don't want you to let go yet."
"Why?" The Sage asked.
"Because I'm still scared and not ready…" She took a humbling breath. "because I want you to hold me for just a while longer."
The Sage returned to her position and again cradled the child. "You see, you do not always need fancy words. In fact they tend to get in the way sometimes. It is much easier to just say what you wish."
A wry chuckle. "I got caught up in the act of making words and my own cleverness." A chilling reminder came to her mind. The prime reason why she had come here. "Ganon…" She breathed. Her entire body stiffened.
Zelda held her even tighter. "You doubt the strength of the Seal. It will hold him as I had made it to."
"You—you knew he would awaken last this cycle?"
A distant look came over the Sage as memories gone by returned. "In the moment of his defeat he cursed us all, swearing to avenge himself on our descendants. In that moment the Wisdom I held spoke to me of how he would be the last to awaken, so I designed the Seal in a way to keep him from this world until his other brethren had fallen."
Zelda relaxed and once more eased herself into her counterpart's embrace. "I'm still going to die, but I now know why I'm going to do it."
"Be sure your reason is not some misguided attempt to alleviate the guilt you feel from your fall into darkness. Be sure you are not really seeking redemption."
Zelda shook her head and adjusted her position to a more comfortable one. "I'm not doing it for redemption. I can live with what I did; not easily, but well enough." A long pause followed and the Sage made soothing motions with Zelda's hair. "I'm doing it because Link can give my kingdom a better future than I."
"A noble reason indeed, though still misguided."
The young queen glanced up confused. "How is it misguided?"
A small shrug and the Sage spoke. "You are still weighing everything you do against a future you think will occur. A future you have so desperately wanted to shape and form. A future you are still struggling to control."
Realization and shame dawned on Zelda. Not but a few moments ago she had learned to cast aside her pride an embrace her flaws, and in that moment she thought she had known them all. Was that not the culmination of realizing who you were?
A wry chuckle greeted her confused thoughts. "My dear, you know who you are and have embraced your faults, that does not mean you know them all. The path to discovering yourself never ends, because you will always learn something new." She chuckled again. "And are you going to tell me what lesson you have finally learned?"
Zelda was quiet, her thoughts returning to the circular reasoning that had plagued her that night before she bedded Veran. How she had tried to reason her control over her people. "I have to let go…I have to let things happen, for good or ill…" The thought of hundreds of people guiding themselves without wisdom behind their actions frightened her. How could they know better? She sighed seeing her pride again rear its ugly head. Who was she to decide what was best for them? Regardless of the wisdom and power she held, everyone had a right to their own choices.
The Sage spoke. "It is…difficult to let go, to allow them to find their own paths." She spoke with painful experience.
The young queen nodded in agreement, an unspoken truth revealed to her. The woman cradling her had as well been forced to cast aside her pride and learn that people had to make their own ways, regardless if she could have made their lives better. And it was in that moment she felt a kinship to the old woman who had once been queen, who had once shouldered her burden. It let her feel like maybe she was not so alone after all.
Time passed as the two sat in peace and quiet, listening to the rhythmic chanting echoing around them; caused by the magic imbued into the stones. Both knew this would be the only peace the young queen would have before the final days of this conflict were upon them all.
If the tales told generations from now were to be believed, then marching southward was an army of darkness and evil, bred in the dank corners of the Realm and sent out to eliminate all that is good in the world; starting with a small golden kingdom called Hyrule. Their march south would be marked by innocents slain and crops burned while they reveled and feasted on Hylian bones.
The truth was not near as dramatic. Heralding from all corners of the massive Arcadian Empire was an amalgamation of peoples and cultures. Strict discipline kept them in line, but their accents varied and their views belied their commander's orders.
Most were young and experienced, choosing to enter into the Emperor's service rather than be a farmer's hand or drifter. Numerous rebellions, where they had been forced to fight both family and friends, had kept their abilities honed. It was also in those fights that they were turned away from their original nations and thus disconnected from where they were raised. They turned inward to each other for familial support and strength. Those ties kept them together, even during such confusing days as these.
A month ago an order had come for them to step forward and leave their garrisons behind, marching immediately. Many of the intelligent already knew that uprisings were sweeping across their empire, and now knew the reason why so many bodies were required to crush such a small speck of a kingdom; news had come to them of their vanguard. Of how it had been obliterated besieging the capital city.
Then the night attacks had occurred. Exotic woman leaping over flames with massive swords swirling about their bodies, slicing and severing dozens of youths. They fought them with their usual organization and tactics, but the fervor of the dark ladies drove wedges into their discipline. Many of the young men found it difficult to kill them. Those that had hesitated had died swiftly. Many had by now grown used to the women's erratic and dancing fighting style, but at first it had been confusing.
The effect of the night raids had become increasingly obvious as the march continued. For every party of a dozen women screaming and killing amidst them, a captain or lieutenant's head would inevitably roll. These fanatic women were on a crazed mission to eliminate their command structure and had been very successful. When finally the long march had come to an end, and that small walled city was within sight in the valley below, did the weary troops sigh finally in relief. Little did they know the battle that lay ahead, or the cost they would pay for following a demon.
Days of panic had rippled through the city's populace as the evacuation orders had gone out. The authorities within Hyrule Castle Town were of two bodies, those that dwelt in the Mage's Guild, once the Royal Palace, and those that slept amongst the populace; given hearth and home wherever they sought it. The Mage's Guild, lead by Sable, were trying to restore peace and bring order and food to the starved residents. The Knights of Hyrule were trying to get those same people to leave.
Chaos had reigned as the two sides fought to have the populace follow them. Sable waved around the seal of the Queen. Geralt, the massive goron leader to the Knights, ate her missive. He had his orders and would be damned if a stubborn Sheikah would stop him. He tried explaining to her the situation and what was coming, but she refused to budge knowing that her Queen had other plans.
It was only when Zelda's presence visited Sable's mind did the struggle cease and the evacuation truly get underway. Heavy valuables such as chairs or desks were left behind, despite protests from wealthy merchants and gentry. Blacksmiths pleaded for them to bring their heavy anvils and strong hammers. Geralt settled them all easily when he threw an anvil over the wall and threatened to do the same to anyone else who objected.
Slowly and eventually the once thriving market and city, the very heart where all trade commenced, became a ghost city. Belongings littered the once bustling alleyways and cobbled streets. Clothes could be seen tossed aside and items, some rare and valuable, were strewn about without regard. The only souls currently walking these streets were the volunteers; the Knights, Mages, and citizens who remained behind to bait the large army into besieging them. It had been thoroughly explained to them that surviving the coming battle was not very likely.
His name was Darious III. There was no surname attached, nor was one needed. He was the Emperor to the Sunlit Empire of Arcadia, a mere title it seemed; but to him it was the epitome of his power. To him those words represented what he was, what he had become, and what the world should tremble at.
It was his voice that millions of people heard and followed. It was by his decrees that hundreds could die or hundreds could be spared. He controlled the largest organized empire in the Realm, none could match its lengths or amount of land, and still he believed it not large enough. Not grand enough for the vision that dominated his psyche.
He had once been an accomplished person, with a mind like a snake's. His teachers in his youth all marveled at his brilliance, at how fast he had acquired knowledge. At his burning need to rise to some invisible loft, trying to conquer not only himself but also out do his past accomplishments. He was once able to recite every Emperor's name from the first to his father. Not satisfied with himself he sought to learn when they were born and died, who their children had been and when they had died. He had succeeded and moved onto the next challenge.
At sixteen his ambitions and restless nature brought him directly against his father. For months they verbally sparred and intrigues sprung from both in an attempt to keep the other in place. The father had drastically underestimated his son's genius and had been overthrown and placed in cell far from Arcade. It had been done with no bloodshed and little disruption to the rest of the Empire, a telling example of what the youth had been capable of.
The old emperor though was now just a rotting corpse, executed not by Darious III's will, but by order of his now absent advisor. Agahnim.
In a hall so tall shadows shrouded the unknown ceiling, sat a man upon a golden throne. Bars of gold, imitating like rays of light, were built outward from that central dais, stretching for a thousand meters to the left and right of it. To bring to proportions this long and large room, the entire palace in Hyrule Castle Town could fit, with room for the battlements. It mirrored the nature and mindset that had once dominated the Emperors of Arcadia.
But, the grandness was subdued and dulled. The gold had not been polished in weeks and dust was collecting on the richly embroidered carpets that lead to where a man sat. Candle holders were tossed aside and discarded, while others had burned out. The only light filtered in from long and cathedral like windows interspersing the long walk.
A lone figure crept along the sides of the wall, a staff of wood gripped in his hands, a yellow gem crowned it. His hair was a silver and his eyes matched the color of the sparking gem. Purple mail and hard leather protected his body while a black cloak trailed behind him. He took quicker steps now seeing the figure in the distance.
The desolation apparent around him had been mirrored through the sprawling palace and once grand city that now burned in effigy. The riots had made his entrance unnoticed, but by now he knew none of the surviving guards cared. His original orders had been to go north and free the old emperor, instead he had found a corpse and deserted tower. While traveling to the city Her Majesty Queen Zelda had given him new orders. Kill Darious III.
He recalled moving along the well paved roads towards this enormous city, remembering the hundreds of small duchies and kingdoms springing up about the place. Most were charging travelers fares for passing through their lands. He had avoided all those with ease; believing that the old Emperor had already been killed.
Upon arriving into the city-like palace he searched high and low for signs of life or blood or a body. He would think Darious III's body would be up for display somewhere. He had been wrong. Finally, on a morbid thought he decided to check the throne room. He was not disappointed as he approached the dais that rose above him on stairs. He saw a broken man sitting upon his throne.
His once onyx hair was dulled and frayed. His slick cheeks and painted lips were now cracked and hairy. His robust body now a pale comparison, as muscles had atrophied and reflexes went to dust. His vivid black eyes were now absence of both light and intelligence. Cory climbed the steps and stood before the wasted Hylian and frowned.
This was the man that started all this mess? He's the one that sent Muion? Cory let his shoulders sag and he sighed. This was not what he had expected; he had thought he would have to fight his way through dozens of guards and then finally give his own life to end this man's.
It appeared what Zelda meant to accomplish by killing him had already been done by Agahnim. The demon had used the once mighty Emperor until nothing useful remained. Only a gutted husk, not even a shadow of its former glory, mirroring the Empire his ancestors had forged together through the centuries.
"You know I have to kill you, right?" He said sadly.
The figure blinked and slowly nodded in response, a quiet acceptance emanating from him. "Pl—please…" There was not an ache or need nor yearning in his tone, only a blankness that spoke of man devoid of emotion.
Cory righted his shoulders and took a few steps back. He raised his staff and grimly looked on at the man that had once thought the world had revolved around his wishes.
A peel of thunder rolled throughout the hollowed expanse of the massive room, it followed the blast of light that had lit the golden throne and rays behind it like a setting sun; a final sign and salute to the last Emperor of Arcadia.
