Here's a new chapter, if only to get things moving. I'll probably post the next chapter on Monday. HANG IN THAR

Love,
CM


PART 3: FIGHTING GRAVITY

CHAPTER 17: THE FINAL SAGE


6th of Hexember, Year 3378, Third Age
Hyrule, Castleton
The Citadel, ground floor

Nabooru jumped off the moving vehicle without waiting to find out whether Saria would regain consciousness. She had not missed the massive flagship's entry into the Citadel airspace. The Courage, and its commander, Impa Shades, had broken the blockade from the west.

She wasn't going to let Impa leave the city without introducing herself.

Overhead, the Citadel rang the first quarter after midnight. She had been siding with the Hylian Alliance for less than two weeks, but it was time to act for its ultimate benefit. She hoped.

Zelda called out after her. Nabooru jumped into the elevators. Outside, the battle was raging, uncomfortably close to the Citadel and most of the civilian bunkers.

Celestia's arrival had been a lucky fluke. Zelda's jaw had gaped open at it as the massive hovercrafted city had covered the stars and taken out a Guardian battleship with the element of surprise alone. Its approach had been silent, its lights off, and by the time the Guardian troops had regrouped, Shad had already eliminated a decent number of enemy Flits and airships and even badly damaged a Guardian dreadnought.

He had vowed to protect the Citadel as long as possible, which was a sacrifice no one could believe Thaddeus Knowing would have willingly made.

It didn't matter. The elevator doors opened into the command centre. It was a flurry of activity, but Nabooru was heedless to it. She had to get to the balconies where the mortars had been set. Her lungs were on fire.

As she burst out into the night again, a few hundred feet over the city, her breath was stolen by the chill. Up here, there were no buildings to cut off the wind.

Impa Shades was warmly dressed in a military winter coat, doing the liaison between Auru Mages' commands and the mortar operators, pointing at targets on the ground. She was in her element, among the martial chaos. She was pale haired, sharp-featured, austere and almost masculine in appearance.

The memories, now painfully familiar to her, returned. Nabooru was familiar with the whole thing, the vow to serve, the lullabies, the oddly warm task of being both guardian and mother to the young princess of Hyrule. She remembered the heartache of seeing her charge suffer nightmares, the painful ears from Zelda's attempts at mastering the ocarina in her early years.

She remembered the sorrow, the urgency, of leaving Hyrule Castle in the hands of the usurper. And teaching Zelda how to fight, how to hide her identity, how to vanish, how to protect herself. It was all in case she herself could no longer do it. That much was essential. She remembered venturing into the Shadow Temple, and defeat at Bongo Bongo's massive, ghostly hands. She remembered resuming her duties, watching over the royal children, and the pride and concern and determination. She remembered growing old, growing weak, growing respected. She remembered passing into the Shadow, and feeling the peace of her ancestors there.

It was halting, now, to think she would effectively lose her last grip on that story. As the other memories had eventually faded away, and were replaced only with vague notions, this was her last anchor to the past.

The last seal on her own abilities, hopefully.

"Commander Impa Shades," Nabooru called out, ignoring the memory that she had, until recently, actively sought to eliminate her from Gerudo Canyon.

Impa turned, frowning. "Yes?"

"Nabooru Spirit," Nabooru said, outstretching a hand, her heart beating wildly.

The name didn't seem to ring a bell, and Impa Shades took her hand without hesitation, which was enough. Without buckling, without gasping, she simply froze, her hand tightening in hers.

Shadow engulfed them, making everything dimmer. Nabooru felt pride surge out of her, and thoughts deep and without echo, a cool whisper of doubts and fears, and all the motherly love that draped her heart. The shadow swallowed them whole, until there was nowhere to look, until everything felt like an abyss. Nabooru would have let the shadow take her, siphon everything she was.

But she wasn't the Sage of Shadow.

She was the Sage of Spirit. With every memory that slipped out of her, slithering, it felt like she was overturning stones in her own mind, revealing dry heat and grains of sand, feeling the coolness of her abode, the echo of her steps inside the Spirit Temple. She was a warrior, she was one of the strongest in her tribe.

It all came to her in a singular rush, the emotions heartrending, the despair, the pride, the anger, the determination, the cunning. She was greedy, too, and hungry for revenge, and the feeling of a blade in her hand was as familiar as one of her own limbs.

She remembered the torture of seven years, the mind twisting, the hate she felt for the witch sisters. She remembered her need to protect her people. She remembered the boy in green.

She remembered what it meant to be the incarnation of Spirit.

Impa released her hand. Nabooru inhaled sharply. As her eyes focused again on Impa, she was at a loss for words.

Something had changed inside her, like a stone shifting out of a pathway that had, until then, been completely obstructed.

"Entera," Impa said, at length. Nabooru would have cried.

"Sister," she echoed, smiling.

Impa Shades seemed to consider the new information, her face expressionless. She was looking at the mortar cannons, then, in the best understatement Nabooru had heard so far, said, "This changes things."

Nabooru laughed. It was so wrong, considering the war, considering everything, the deaths, the injuries, the sorrow. But her heart felt as warm as the Gerudo sun, as comforted as being held in a mother's arms.

"We should join the others."

"Yes―" Impa halted herself, blinking. She was beginning to glow. It was a deep colour, purple and rich, like an aura around her whole body. When Nabooru looked down at her own hands, she was glowing a warm orange. Soldiers all around them stopped to stare.

"I was the last Sage, I take it," Impa said, calmly.

"What's going on?"

"A binding," Impa replied. Her eyes sought the top of the Citadel, then dropped down to the tower's foot, where Zelda and the others probably still were. "It's starting."

Nabooru wasn't sure what that meant, but she didn't have time to ask. The world went bright around her, and she lost all awareness of reality.


THERE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE A LINE BREAK HERE. IF IT DOESN'T SHOW UP, I AM INNOCENT OF ANY WRONGDOING. I TRIED, BY JOVE, I TRIED.

I might as well take the occasion of this short chapter to talk about a couple of things. You can skip this entirely if you don't give a damn, and it won't change your enjoyment of the story. I promise.

First off, I think I should mention how much I truly appreciate people commenting on their thoughts regarding characterization. I do try to give the canon an authentic, likeable flavor, and your feedback on that front has told me I've made some good choices. I can tick that off my list! I also really, really, really hope people have become fans of Midnark (MidnaxDark) under my watch, or at least that I make a convincing case for them. I don't want to toot my own horn here, or anything, but come on. They're bloody brilliant if you stop to think on it. Seriously, guys. THEY'RE PERFECT.

Also, if anyone's looking for music to accompany their reading, I've got a short playlist in my profile of suggested songs. Most of those are just the music I listened to while writing, so you'll probably find that the pacing in my chapters matches a few of the songs I put there.

And okay. Final count breakdown. There are nine chapters to go, plus one epilogue. If anyone is wondering what's going on with Midna, Link or any of the others, I guess you'll have to hang in there! (Zelda is up next.)

Factoids!

- Not to make anyone nervous, but the next chapter is the last Zelda POV for the story. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

- The gender breakdown for upcoming POVs is 6 female POVs, and 4 male POVs, but with a total of 3 female characters and 2 male characters in all.

- More than half of the remaining chapters will basically be about tying up loose ends.

I think I'm done with the PSAs for today. If I forgot to cover anything, let me know in a review and I'll try to address that next chapter.

Love,
CM