Jareth and Dark rode through the night and made it to the cave Agatha had mentioned by dusk of the next day. They set up camp outside the cave, preparing themselves for the trials they would undoubtedly face. They sat down on two logs, watching the sun set, making the sky cascade with oranges and reds and yellows.

"I lived in the other world for almost 18 years, and I don't think I ever realized how much I missed seeing that." Dark said.

"This world is so beautiful. So bright and warm. Last night, while we were riding, I nearly fell out of the saddle several times because I couldn't stop staring at the stars. I heard Link talk about them, but I never imagined they would actually be so gorgeous." Jareth replied.

The two talked about the contrasting worlds until the sun wholly set, turning the night sky into a chandelier of twinkling diamonds.

"Jareth..." Dark began. "About Link. What do I do about him?"

"Um, What do you mean?" Jareth said, looking away.

"I can't get close with him. He keeps pushing me away. Every time I come close, he boards up, and I don't see who he truly is. How do I get to know my son?"

The last line was so emotionally strained Jareth cringed.

"Listen, Dark. Link is a great kid. But you were his prime enemy for a long time. I think, at a point, you were even bigger than Ganondorf. You killed his friend. And now 'BOOM' you're trying to be a father. It won't work like that. You have to take time." He said.

Dark's mouth twitched, and he erupted into fierce coughs. He fell from the log to his hands and knees.

"Dark, what's wrong!" Jareth shouted, leaping up and running to the coughing warrior.

Dark's body began to quake fiercely, and his muscles clenched to maximum tension. He uttered a low moan and his eyes opened wide, sending red light shooting out. His moan rose to a scream, as he was pulled into the air by his chest, like a corpse rising to the top of a river.

Jareth was only able to watch as the warriors body spread out like a star and shadows burst from his mouth like evil vomit. The shadows swirled around Dark's limbs, darkening the night. Jareth uttered a string of curses, watching his fellow traveler bellow through the shadows. His eyes widened in disbelief as the shadows began to slowly retreat, creeping up his legs and waist, reentering his mouth. He fell to the ground and curled up into a ball, small shudders still running through his body. Jareth placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" He asked with worry in his voice.

"I'll be fine." Dark groaned, forcing himself to stretch out. "But I think it's time for bed."

"I agree. I don't think we can top that for a climax." Jareth joked as he walked over to his bedroll. He laid down on it, feeling his rapid heart beat. The two men fell into sleep.

)))))))))))))((((((((((((

"Well, let's get to it." Jareth said.

They were standing at the mouth of the cave, and staring into it's abyssal depths. It was carved into a firm brown mountain of Earth. Jareth and Dark walked into the shadows, and gave their eyes a few minutes to adjust. When they could see, they set off deeper into the cave. They walked in silence for a time that stretched on for such a terrible length. It felt as though time was bending around them, making no sense. minutes passed as years, seconds passed as decades.

"Dark, do you get what's going on?" Jareth asked, turning to the pale warrior.

He wasn't there. Jareth looked around for a while, but the other man was gone. With a sigh, he accepted that this was probably just a part of the trial. He walked on in solitude, and felt a sort of mental cloud haze his thoughts. He couldn't remember where he was, or why he was there. The only thing he knew was that he needed to keep moving forward.

At the edge of his vision, he saw a tiny pinprick of light, so small he couldn't be sure it was there. He rushed towards the pinprick which grew and grew as he came closer, and soon enough he found himself in a brightly lit room. It was a plain room with cobbled panel walls, floor, and ceiling.

The only piece of furnishing was an empty chair to Jareth's right. He stopped and examined the room, finding it had no door.

"Dead end?" he said, half turning back to where he'd wandered in. His mouth voiced a question as he saw the entrance had disappeared.

"Greetings." A voice said, causing the ranger to start. Jareth turned around quickly, and saw the owner of the voice.

)))))))(((((((

Dark was walking through the darkened halls of the cave of trials when he came across his own room. It was dimly lit, with grungy stone walls. Iron links were set into the walls connected to chains which were, in turn, connected to wrist cuffs. A rack stood off to the left with whips, cats-of-nine-tails, brands, and other means of torture. Despite a flame going in the corner, a damp chill settled around the room, sinking into Dark's bones.

He shuddered as he looked at a particularly cruel piece of machinery, then jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Dark turned about, and saw a shade standing there. It was a being that didn't have a true physical form, only a vaguely humanoid body composed of deep shadows. Cheerful red eyes stared at him over an insanely large grin. It opened it's mouth to speak, revealing it's lack of a tongue. It's voice resonated out from the being's mouth, raspy and shallow.

"Hello, my slave. How good of you to have returned yourself to me." It rasped.

"Who are you?" Dark asked.

"Me?" The shade said, as if Dark had asked him a question that was beyond obvious. "I'm you. The true you. You crave the darkness, the power of it. Your soul is infested with maggots of shadow. Succumb to the dark's seductive pull. Be true to who you are."

"I'd sooner die." Dark said solemnly.

The shade's grin became so wide that Dark thought that it's head must split in half. "We shall see."

Without warning, the world faded and became distant to Dark, he swooned, falling to his knees. Then, everything became black.

))))))((((((

"No!" Link said crossly. "Move your arm like this!"

He rose his arm over his head in an upward crescent, as if blocking an imaginary sword. Then his arm fell to his side, before lashing out, slamming the blade's tip into the what would have been the enemy's chest.

The young soldier standing next to him nodded eagerly, and repeated the movement, though much slower.

"Good enough." Link groaned, moving onto the next soldier.

It was the first day of training, and Link realized that either the average man had become much less impressive, or his abilities had risen to a billion times that of the typical fighter. The motions of nearly all the soldiers were slow and clunky to Link, who had become used to the razor sharp speed and skill of the denizens of Dark world. Of the many soldiers he had looked at, only a few showed any promise.

A large man who seemed familiar in an odd way that Link couldn't place his finger on. He had said his name was Kaden. Then there was another larger man named Marc. Neither of those two had shown much in the way of speed, but their raw strength was impressive. Then there had been Derrick, who had demonstrated his notable skill with the bow and the sword. He was nothing compared to Jareth, but for one from light world, he was damn good. The one with the most ability though, had been a short man named Abel. With his hair hanging in his eyes, and his thin frame, he didn't seem like much, but he had shown a combat ability that none of the others had. There was a sharp look in his eyes that Link liked.

As he carried on with instructing the soldiers, his thoughts turned to Jareth and Dark. He sighed, sending a prayer out that they were all right.

A blade came soaring at Link's face, and he arched himself backward, catching the sword in midstab. He glared at the portly soldier who hadn't realized his commander had been standing right in front of him, reared his fist back, and slammed it into his dumb looking face. The fat man tumbled to the ground, and looked up at Link in terror.

"Soldier, I certainly hope you pay more attention in combat than you do in practice, or you are apt to find yourself roasting over a fire. Everyone! Five minute break!" He said, walking away from the man. He sighed and armed sweat from his forehead. Yards away he saw Orion standing with a crudely wrapped object in his long hands.

"What is that?" Link said, approaching the doctor.

"Well, I know it's a couple days late, but I figured I ought to give you at least something for your birthday." Orion said happily, handing the gift to Link.

"My...birthday?" Link said, as if the whole concept was foreign to him.

"Um, yes. You know, the anniversary of your birth?" Orion joked.

"Yes, of course. Thank you very much." Link said, unwrapping the gift. He saw it was a tome on the art of spellcrafting.

"I got that book almost ten years ago. I don't know why or how, but when I packed to join this army, I felt it would come in handy. When I heard you had learned how to use magic, I thought it was meant for you." Orion noted.

"Well, I appreciate it. It'll be very valuable, I'm sure." Link said with a smile.

"I hope so." The medic said, strolling off.

"Birthday?" Link asked himself. "eighteen years now."

He uttered a small laugh, and returned to training.

))))))((((((

Link sat in a chair, looking Jareth over critically. He stood up from the chair, and moved so he was close to Jareth.

"Link? What are you doing here?" Jareth asked.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Link muttered angrily. His hand fell to the pommel of his sword and he smirked. "I'm ridding our group of it's only useless member!"

The blade was out in a flash of silver that Jareth barely evaded by throwing himself backward. Link followed, swinging his sword maniacally, trying to cut down the ranger. Jareth rolled and leaped around the barren room out of the sword.

"Link! What are you doing! We are friends!" He cried. Link looked at him, murder in his eyes. An ugly prideful sneer stole across his face like a fog on an early morning.

"A chain is broken and made useless by it's weakest link, Jareth. You are the weakest link! Do you honestly think we could defeat Ganondorf with a weakling like you amongst us? No! I am doing what's necessary to save us. To save everyone!"

The attack resumed, Link's blade slicing through the air with a manic eccentricity.

"What is going on!" Jareth thought in a furious panic as he dove around the room. "Link would never do this! We are friends! This cannot be real...An illusion. I must have come under some wizard's spell. Nem? No...he's long dead. Damn! Either way, I must fight back!"

Jareth drew his own sword, and met Link full on. They glared at each other, pushing their steel into their foe's. A grimace passed over Jareth's face and he felt Link's sword coming closer. With a grunt, he shoved the whole of his weight into his sword, succeeding in making Link stumble back a few steps. He dove in like a hawk, slashing furiously, trying to break through the seemingly impenetratable guard. Each strike was dodged with freakish ease by the green garbed swordsman.

"Damn you!" Jareth said, sending another slash, which was blocked. However, he carried his weight through, making his hips shift to the right. As he came across, he brought his leg up and smashed it into Link's temple with a bone cracking "SNAP!". His foot slid across, knocking into Link's nose, mashing it.

Link fell, looking as though he'd been knocked cold out. He hit the ground, his head knocking limply to the cobbled flooring. Jareth sighed relief, and turned away.

A little chuckle began to sound behind him. He spun around quickly, and saw Link spin himself around on the ground, swinging his legs into Jareth's. Jareth toppled over, and Link was on him instantly, batting at him with rapid hands. Blood streamed from his nose like an angry geyser, dripping onto Jareth's face, merging with the blood that soon rushed from his own nose.

Jareth snaked his arm quickly, grabbing Link's arm by the wrist. He placed his other arm on Link's shoulder, then shoved. The result was the foe flipping off of the ranger, slamming into the ground, flat on his back. Jareth curled back, bringing his legs into his chest, and then snapped himself back to his feet.

Weary of being thrown to the ground again, he moved outside of Link's range.

"What is going on?" He asked the motionless young man. "what wizard's magic is this?"

That chuckle came again and Link stood up shakily.

"This is no trick, ranger. This is true. Look at yourself. You're pathetic compared to the rest of us. Look at Alnahim. Master wizard with more power than you've even imagined. Dark? A swordsmaster with magical capabilities. Me? Another swordmaster with all three pieces of the triforce. And then there is you. What do you bring to us? Some petty archery? Subpar swordplay? A pretty singing voice? You are worthless! Do you think Ganondorf will be slain by one of your simple arrowheads? Or by your sword? Maybe you'll sing him to death? No. He will be defeated by me. Destroyed by the people with true strength, while you rot in a grave, like your beloved Karina."

Jareth snapped on the final line, and drew his bow and fired four arrows off faster than he could have thought possible. Link's eyes widened with surprise, and his mouth formed a shocked "O" as the arrows struck him, sending him sailing backwards, and pinning him to the wall. The arrows had pierced both hands and his calves.

"You're right." Jareth said, looking down at the floor, his dark hair covering his face. "I'm not an expert swordsman, let alone a master. My knowledge of magic is so bare I never felt the need to tell you about it. The only thing I'm fantastic at is archery and music, though I'm not quite sure how you knew about the music. But there's something else I have. Aside from my fantastic looks and great sense of humor, I have some knowledge in just about everything!" Jareth's head rose, displaying the fierce fire in his eyes.

"Archery is my main skill!" he shouted, shooting another arrow into the stomach of the being he was now sure was only an illusion.

"But I know a little about magic!" He roared, throwing his bow to the side. He stuck his palm out and three shards of rocky earth rammed through the air, slamming into the figure's chest. Black blood began to seep from the puncture wounds. Jareth drew his sword and walked towards the illusion.

"And I was the one who taught Link so much about the blade!" He cried, impaling the sword through the being's left side. He took several steps back, breathing heavily. The thing which had taken Link's form was pinned to the wall with sickly black blood leaking from it's body, yet it's massive grin never faltered.

"Come now, Ranger. Is this truly the best you can manage? You really are weak!" It said.

"Oh, not yet. I'll show you my greatest weapon right now." Jareth said with a cold grin.

))))))))))((((((((((

Dark awoke in a cold sweat, his eyes wide.

"Only a dream..." He muttered shakily, and attempted to bring an arm to his forehead to clear it of sweat. His arm stopped, with a jangle of metal, after only moving an inch. Dark's breath caught in his throat, and he realized his wrists were both bound with iron cuffs, above his head. He looked down and saw the same was true of his ankles. He was chained, facing a wall.

He was trapped.

He pulled with all his strength, but it was in vain.

"Enchanted chains." A distorted raspy voice said behind him. "I knew with your strength those chains wouldn't offer much to bind you."

Dark turned as much as he could, and saw the shadow in man's form. It's giant grin still in place. It was standing over the table of torture devices he had seen earlier. It was looking at a bullwhip a bit too affectionately for Dark's taste. It reached down towards the whip.

"Are you sure you don't want to submit just yet?" The shade asked.

"I'll never submit to you. Not again." Dark growled.

"mmm, good. Let me have a little fun." the shade purred, it's grip tightening on the whip. It brought the whip back and snapped it down with a grunt.

The whip was like a line of fire being set across Dark's back. Through will alone he kept his mouth shut, only letting out a grunt of pain through gritted teeth. A second later the whip cracked again, forcing Dark's mouth open.

"I think we'll go with ten." The shadow said happily. "And don't worry. I won't damage my body to much."

"To hell with you! This body is mine alone!" Dark spat.

"On the contrary," The shade began with another whipcrack. "The body is naught but a tool of the mind and soul. I already have a handhold in those possessions."

"Handhold or no hand-AHH!" Dark said, cut off by the shade's whip. "Handhold...or no handhold, You'll not advance!"

))))))))((((((((

"No. You mentioned something about me singing Ganondorf to death? Perhaps you were not so off. Words have more power than the likes of you could fathom." Jareth said, reaching into his pack and unveiling a beautiful wooden harp.

"Ha...haha...hahaHAHAHA!" The figure laughed. "You truly think to kill me with a harp? You're a fool, as well as weak!"

Without a word, Jareth began to strum the harps strings in a beautiful melody. The being in Link's form dropped it's grin, replacing it with a look of rapt attention. It stared at Jareth's fingers dancing over the strings, creating the beautiful sound.

Then Jareth began to sing. His voice was like a night sky in winter. Clear and pristine. Even and unbroken. Unshatterable. All other sounds ceased as his music coursed through the halls, a deep and ancient power lying just beneath the surface.

The illusion's eyes began to pool with it's black blood, and they spilled over, leaving four thick black lines running down it's face. The magic song swelled, picking up it's tempo, and the blood began to gush faster. It raced from the being's ears and mouth. Withing two minutes,the being was dead, it's look of purest attention still on it's face.

With a smile on his face, Jareth finished the song, and put the harp away. He looked at the body, which had lost it's form of Link. Now it was only a humanoid shaped glob of blackness.

"Words have power." Jareth told the dripping blob. "That song was crafted by my family long ago. It purifies the area around me, removing anything possessing ill will towards one from my family line."

He turned away and saw a new hole had formed in the wall. With the smallest sigh, he walked it's dark path, towards his next trial.


A/N
Sorry about this chapter taking a little while to get on here, but as you can see, it was kind of a longer one. I hope you enjoy it. :)