Chapter 18: Soren's Revenge

Song in this Chapter: Non C'e Piu by Celtic Woman (I do not own)

POV: Talim

Lake Hylia/Jabu-Jabu's Belly

Nineteen Days Before Invasion

As a fifteen-year-old Flipino girl, the "Priestess of Winds" in my culture, I've already had a pretty…odd…life, even for someone in my position. I had been chasing down the "Evil Seed" in the last four or five months, which had led to me guiding the spirits of the ancient "Hero King" and his son on to the afterlife about three months ago. With the corrupting influences of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur gone, I returned to my village, hoping to return to my ordinary life as my village's priestess, guiding the next generation.

But…the wind would have other ideas for my life. One night, a few days after returning home, I was led by the wind to a forsaken cave on the edge of my village, a place once revered for containing an "oracle." It had been said that the oracle was an otherworldly goddess, one who once bestowed courage on ancient warriors that sought her out for council in battle. One day, the oracle simply disappeared…many of the elders said the goddess departed for the heavens.

However…what I saw that night…would prove the elders wrong. I entered the cave…to see a large gold triangle comprised of three smaller ones painted on the wall. Unsure of what it was I saw, I turned to try and walk away, fearful I would disturb and anger the spirits. However, just as I did, a green light filled the cave, and a voice echoed off the walls.

"Talim, do not turn away!" a woman's voice cried. Without thinking, I obeyed…to see a woman made of gold enswathed in the green light. "I am Fayore, one of the three Golden Goddesses of Hyrule…and you must come with me without delay!"

I stared for a minute, tempted to clutch the large medallion around my neck. My cropped green top and shorts flapped mercilessly in her winds. "Hy…rule? Is that the world of the warrior dressed in green, Link?"

"Yes. In truth, Link is a spirit…the immortal spirit I birthed to defeat evil spirits, the one to whom the Triforce of Courage is bestowed. However…Ganondorf…the reincarnation of the evil god, Demise…he has attained new evil. He has merged his soul with that of Demise's…with the intent of turning Hyrule into a chaotic wasteland…and giving new life to my fallen stepsister, his wicked queen…Jenova…who perished millennia ago. Already, he has poisoned Link, with an evil darkness…and he is preparing to attack Hyrule unopposed. There is none who can stop him now…none but you. Come with me to Hyrule…help me save the hero I have chosen. Save him…before the envoys of Jenova come."

My heart broke for Link. I knew that Hyrule's matter was not of my world…but I could feel Fayore's winds screaming in agony. I could not, as Priestess of Winds, stand silent as the winds of Hyrule screamed in this way. I reached out my hand…and went with Fayore to Hyrule.

Unfortunately…I landed in the Kokiri Forest, joining Kirby…and almost immediately, was attacked by Ganondorf as he cursed the Great Deku Tree. I remember his dark, leering face…those piercing, evil eyes…as I stood next to the pink ball I had once called Little Star.

"You are too late, Priestess…you shall never save that pathetic child now!" Ganondorf bellowed at me as he encased us in Dark Magic.

From then on…I was surrounded, trapped inside an evil cocoon of horror, despair and fear for three long weeks, desperately clinging to my connection with nature to save me from the darkness, and somehow escape my awful prison…until the solider known as Sephiroth and his shinobi compatriot Danika freed me with the Kokiri Emerald.

However, now that we were on the road to Lake Hylia, a deep sense of dread ate at my stomach. I had been warned of the "envoys of Jenova," a "woman" that, like it or not, was a long-lost cousin of mine. If Jenova and her envoys were supposed to be evil…then why were we somehow fighting on the same side?

I tried my best to ignore my deep misgivings about the pair…but as we made Lake Hylia before noon that day, I couldn't hold back my anxieties…and Sephiroth caught it. "What troubles you, Talim-chan?"

"Just call me Talim, please," I said. "I…I was told that you two may be envoys of Jenova."

"Well, in a sense, Danika and I are," Sephiroth replied. "Jenova is my adoptive mother via twisted science experiment, and Danika is Jenova's vessel…she is, in short, being possessed by her."

"I…when I accepted this mission from Fayore, I was told Jenova was supposed to be on the side of Ganondorf and Demise. Why…why are you two fighting against them?"

Danika, finally realizing a conversation was going on, turned back toward us, holding a sleeping Kirby. "Well, you heard Jenova…she no longer loves Demise. Demise abandoned her for superficial reasons for two millennia…that amount of time could make any heart turn cold. As for me…I see those two as nothing more than selfish pigs…people like Danzo, which is the reason why I am here."

"As I'm sure you know, Talim, people can change…even someone like Mother," Sephiroth said, a look of deep admiration in his eyes. "If Demise hurt Mother…that automatically makes Demise my enemy."

"That is an ugly, ugly place to be…trust me, forty seven and-a-half sessions in the Screaming Place getting my butt kicked fifty ways to Sunday is testimony enough," Danika admitted. "Luckiest I ever got was getting to use that Meteor materia…and the weasel still kicked my butt!"

"The Screaming Place?"

"It's what we call that training ground we showed you last night, Talim," she replied. "The alternate universe where time has no place. While I must say you have excellent skill with your tonfas…you'll have a lot of training to do if you want to last five minutes against Ganondorf."

"Ahem…Danika-sensei?"

"Yes, Sephiroth-sensei?"

"When are we going to begin training over those lovely Sacred Arts that saved the Great Deku Tree?"

She paused. "I was wondering when you-"

"Wait-," I said. "The Great Deku Tree…he survived Ganondorf's curse?"

"Yes, in a sense. He…he suffered extensive damage, but…"

"It makes sense…you may have helped me hold on through the darkness as well," I said. "I heard your Hidden Forest Lullaby…it was beautiful."

"Well…thank you," Danika replied. "The Sacred Arts…passed down through generations of my father's family…are essentially small amounts of chakra encased in the pure, undiluted emotions of the caster. They may be simple to the beginner's ear…but they require both a strong understanding of the user's feelings…and a willingness to accept those emotions as healthy. Simply desiring to use one's emotions is not enough…if that was the case, the shinobi would drop their foolish way of ignoring emotions and use them as weapons indiscriminately. No…one must accept those emotions within themselves, and have open hearts."

"So it doesn't require a super-powered connection to the natural or spiritual worlds?" Sephiroth wondered.

"No…typically, once a person is willing to open oneself up to their own emotions, a connection to the natural or spiritual worlds will typically follow – you, Talim, would be an excellent candidate to learn the Sacred Arts, once you get the chakra control part down. Even if such a connection doesn't begin, a person can still cast a Sacred Art."

"So…where would I stand as a candidate, Danika?" Sephiroth wondered.

"Well…I'm not sure, Sephiroth…how do I put this in the nicest way possible?" Danika said. "You…you've been emotionally stunted. Your past as SHINRA's lab rat…they muffled all your emotions. You...when you learned the truth about your origins…I saw the cracks that have been forming in your psyche…and when I say cracks, I mean more like gaping voids. That, in the nicest way possible, means you may very well be a few misplaced comments or one more trauma away from madness. What you need…is to first be healed yourself…and that's going to take more than one Sacred Art. It will take days…maybe weeks…and in the current emergency, that may not be time we currently have. I don't want to hurt you, Seph…but-"

"Danika …Demise will use that to his advantage," I said. "We have to make Sephiroth a priority. Demise…he tried to make me become his puppet, and he tried to do the same to Kirby…while he couldn't get us, he could easily conquer Sephiroth via his emotions."

Danika sighed in agony. "I guess we have no choice, then. We have to get the Emerald before this day is over…and tonight…you and I, Talim, will be working overtime."

"What about your own healing, Danika?"

She sighed. "You have more problems than I do – in times like these, triage is in order. Yes, I am a spiritual and emotional mess…but you're teetering on the edge of madness. I love your White Flames, don't misunderstand…but I'd rather save you now than be forced to fight a battle I can't win later."

Sephiroth gazed at Danika with sad eyes, like a puppy that got caught peeing on the carpet. "Danika…why do you love me more than you love yourself?"

"Because you are the one person I have left that I would rather die beside than live without."

"Why won't you common people listen to me!" Princess Ruto shrieked as we made our way out of Jabu-Jabu's belly, the boss being nothing more than a doormat for all four of us combined.

"Because we obviously have bigger problems than you, Ruto." Sephiroth said coolly, even though his face was cherry red. If anything had been a problem for us, it had been none other than the Princess of the Zora herself, who did not take kindly to being ordered around like a common soldier. Even Kirby, for all his kindness, had quickly turned sour on the point of Ruto.

"Seph…as much as the kid annoys me, we've got to get her back without hurting her and heal Jabu-Jabu…he's not in as bad of shape, but he's not got long." Danika said.

"Can I leave him to you and Talim, and I'll go calm down with Kirby?"

"Excellent plan, Commander. Do NOT leave without the Emerald…I feel another source of darkness nearby. It seems weaker than the others…but be careful regardless."

Sephiroth nodded, disappearing through the portal with Ruto and Kirby, leaving me and Talim alone.

"Wouldn't it be wiser to work in here?" I asked.

"My thoughts exactly," Danika replied. "All right, how's your chakra?"

"Okay, I believe…good enough for this."

"Good – take my hand. This isn't really something you learn through practice…it's more the experience, Talim."

I obliged…and a blue circle appeared around us as a star-shaped symbol emerged beneath our feet. Chakra flowed through me like a sea…more Danika's than mine…but I could join my small chakra reserves to hers, like a small stream to a mighty ocean.

"Hidden Art: Healing of the Seas," we said, joining our spirits in unison. I could feel a third spirit among us…was it Jenova, once again joining her power to ours?

Before I could think any further, words I knew not came to my lips…and I sang them, my spirit almost overcome with the power between us:

"Onda blu, dove vai

Non lo chiederò

Ciò che tu perderai

Non lo cercherò

Cerchi di sfociare

Corri sempre giù

Quando trov' il mare

Fiume non c'è più

Wave of blue, long ago

Nothing but a stream

Rushing through mountain dew

To the sea's cold gleam

Nothing but a stream

Towards the ocean dream

Nata dal cielo

Day by day, deeper now

Al di là per quel sogno sempre più

Al di là delle colline

Scorri oltre il confine

Fiume non c'è più

Rolling wave, calling now

Voices clear and pure

Find the way home somehow

Find the way for sure

Quando vuoi sboccare

Scorri sempre giù

Finché trov' il mare

Finché non sei più

Wave of green, wave of blue

Flowing home

Non sei più."

Finally, the music faded away…and we both crashed to the ground. "How…how did I do?" I asked.

"Couldn't…have asked for a better…first performance," Danika gasped, once again exhausted. "Next time…just relax a little more, and you'll be perfect. It was scary my first time…I was anticipating some nerves on your part, but don't worry."

"Uhhh…girls, we have trouble! Big trouble!" Navi, whom had been silent almost all day, protested.

"No worries, Navi!"

When we jumped through the portal back to the King of the Zoras Throne Room…an ugly sight met our eyes. "Danika, Talim!" Ruto yelled, she and her father standing between a man dressed in black, his eyes full of hate…and a trembling Sephiroth, clutching onto his blade for dear life. Kirby, meanwhile, was trembling beside Ruto, unsure of how to react.

"Why are you trying to save them, Sephiroth?" the man, a small fellow in black with a pale, sallow face, asked silkily. His eyes were deep, black pits…no doubt, full of Ganondorf and Demise's evil. "You and your friends…you can join me…all you have to do is hand Danika over to my master. I promise you she will be unharmed…and your mother won't be a monster anymore."

"Go to hell," Sephiroth growled, his confidence returning. Despite the fact I knew he was full of evil…I felt my breath leaving me faster than I could get it in. Why…did I feel so breathless? "Danika…belongs to me…and I won't let you…take her from me!" he growled, swinging his blade…which the man in black managed to catch, barely grazing one of his pale hands.

"Yes, Soren…you have him now," A deep, dark voice called out…a voice I knew to be Ganondorf's. "I can give you the power. Submit to me…and I will make you the king of your home nation. No more shall you be a mercenary vagabond…all you need to do…is serve at my feet."

Danika screamed in agony and rage, incapable of holding back…but then, the mage known as Soren did an amazing backflip, drawing dark energy into his hand. "As this mighty captain said…GO TO F-ING HELL!" Then, before anyone could move, he hurled the evil that had once been in his body straight at Ganondorf…nailing him in the face before falling back to earth.

"Guards, arrest him!" the Zora King roared…but, knowing he was cornered…Ganondorf vanished. Soren, meanwhile, turned to face me and Danika, his hand still bleeding…and as soon as he saw me, his words caught in his throat.

Sephiroth, meanwhile, was still infuriated. "Okay, you little pasty-faced rat," he said. "Would you like to explain yourself, or do I have to cut you in two? You just threatened me with my girlfriend."

"All part of my plan, Sephiroth," Soren replied. "I drew Ganondorf's darkness into my own body…let him possess me…so I could get a better insight into his agenda. He thought he could trust me…and I let him believe the lie. The only thing that I didn't plan on…was that tan-skinned, barely-clothed princess."