Minutes ago, Zelda
The large doors close behind Zelda and Midna, sealing their access to the outside world. Zelda, amazed by the dim-lit chamber, steps further into the light. This is her home, where she was born and where she should've been raised. Her past, stolen from her by the man who sits on the throne now. Every hanging painting, every candle, every tile on the floor, every component of this decorated hall, it belongs to Zelda.
"Fi, where is Vaati?"
The sword spirit appears out of the Master Sword, gazing up towards the ceiling. "He's two floors before us, Your Grace. Two more are in his vicinity, but none of them are Imperial."
Zelda sighs. "My mother and this Ezlo." She turns around to Midna, who continues to stare back at the doors they entered through. Ganondorf, on the other side, battles his sister to the death, so her concern for him is understood. "Midna…"
"I'm not scared of him and his life. I think, after seeing Link fall, that if Ganondorf does actually die this time, I can still move on. It is his soul I am worried about. Koume is not anything like Zant, yet to some degree, I had moments in which it was hard to fight him. I didn't even land the final blow, he sacrificed himself for me. I feel no remorse for my brother, though. Ganondorf, however…this is going to hurt him." Midna sighs, turning to Zelda and Fi. She smiles, though it is obviously forced.
"But no matter the result, we must press on."
"Right." After Midna catches up, the pair walks into the center of the grand hall, following the sword spirit to one of the two large staircases. Uneasy, Zelda keeps her hand on the hilt of the Master Sword. No one voices the obvious lack of defense within the castle compared to the outside. It makes no sense to Midna or Zelda, yet underneath their skin, the pair has a feeling danger is going to approach at any moment.
That's when Fi stops immediately at the foot of the staircase. Midna and Zelda draw their weapons, but unlike Fi, they cannot dictate the cause of her pause. The miasma within the castle is thicker than it is outside; only Vaati's presence is detectable. No problem apparently for Fi as she faces the opposite set of stairs, but even if she couldn't, the sound of humming and clicking metal reverberates in the quiet, dark room. If Zelda could make out an expression on Fi's face, it would be akin to anger and familiarity. "Demon Lord."
"Welcome to Hyrule Castle, Your Majesties!" The slim figure of Ghirahim steps into the light, disfigured beyond immediate recognition. His body, naked and black with white outlines, his pupils gone, leaving just the whites of his eyes, his hair the shape of cream topping on desserts, Ghirahim has gone through quite the transformation. He mockingly bows to the two princesses. "I shall congratulate you on such a timely arrival, but you are indeed too late. The power of the gods now belongs to Lord Vaati!"
"You're bluffing," Midna retorts. "If he did, he wouldn't wait for us...would he?"
"Ghirahim speaks the truth," Fi counters.
That makes the Demon Lord laugh. "Yes, yes. Now nothing shall stand in the way of my master's way. Ganon and the boy's fall is an omen that none are greater than the Wind Mage! Hylia's child, your end is nigh, ha ha ha-" A blast of magic pops in fronts of Ghirahim, knocking him on his back. Midna steps forward, her body glowing with light.
"Zelda, Fi, keep going." Zelda, without argument, steps back. Midna held her own against her powerful family, Ghirahim should be manageable. As Ghirahim rises, he spots Zelda's retreat up the stairs and angrily throws knives at her, only for them to be grabbed by Midna's hair. Gaining his attention, Midna crushes and drops the fine dust remnants on the floor between them. "Ghirahim, I believe we have a long-overdue confrontation. This began with us, it shall end with us." Snapping her fingers, a barrier forms around them, cutting them off from all outside interference. Ghirahim cannot escape and impede Zelda and Fi; likewise, she is alone with him.
Sneering, Ghirahim snaps his fingers and summons a large, two-handed sword. "You are correct, we do have a score to settle. You and your lapdog have ever been a thorn in my side, so now I shall snip this thread of fate between us. In case he doesn't die out there, he will die seeing me bathe in your blood!" Ghirahim flicks his tongue along the sides of his mouth and chuckles. "Yes, the war that began with us shall end with us."
Present, North Castle Courtyard
Veran chuckles from the bridge between the towers as the Labrynnians' allies head for the royal residence at the other end of the courtyard. Ghirahim can deal with them on the inside. She has waited during this entire war to wipe the Ambi lineage and the accursed Oracles from the earth once and for all. "Nayru and Ralph, you must feel confident in facing me alone. You barely got me in Saria, what makes you think you have a chance now?"
Ralph ignites the Noble Sword with fire, pointing it towards the Sorceress of Shadows. "Come down and we'll show you!"
"Is that so? Outside these walls, you pitiful resistance crumbles." Veran waves a hand, forming an image of the battle outside North Castle. True to Veran's words, the battle going outside is not in the rebels' favor, not that it was supposed to be, but the Imperials are endless in numbers and the combative advantage with powerful beasts such as King Dodongo, Manhandla, Gohma, and a giant bird that Sheik fights with the Bulblins. Some rebels run for their lives, only to be struck down by the monster force. If Ralph could estimate the remaining rebels, it is probably more than three-quarters gone, and that's not including the Zoras. The amphibious people, along with Oren, Hilda, and Ganondorf, fight at the castle's front gate as they were unable to enter from the courtyard. Within the castle, Midna is alone fighting against the Demon Lord. She's not winning.
"No," Nayru says softly. She also knows what it is like to fight a battle with disastrous losses. Labrynna (before Ralph arrived) and Darunia ought to prepare her for such an outcome, but then again, could she ever? There's only been one way to end the slaughter and that's to slaughter the enemy. That enemy...includes Veran. Anger overcoming her grief, Nayru hikes her lance up to throw at Veran. "Tunc subsisto!" Around her, time freezes, immobilizing the world around her. Even Veran, who had begun to fall off the walkway, is locked in place. Nayru, however, is free to move; with force, she throws the lance at the queen. It comes within dangerous vicinity before time resumes, but Nayru's aim is slightly off. The edge of the steel tip scraps against Veran's face before it flies back towards its owner.
Veran yelps and drops to the courtyard. She lands on her feet, though with little grace. Shaken, she touches the cut, feeling the wet heat of blood drip out of it. "You… You damned Oracle!" Veran's aura swiftly changes from evil to downright sinister. It takes a corporeal form of thick, dark air surrounding the Imperial Queen as wings sprout out of her back. Ralph and Nayru step back as Veran's power overwhelms the courtyard space. She rises in the air as the air begins to calm.
"Finally, I'll have my revenge on the line of Ambi." Veran swings her arms out, throwing out fireballs in an erratic but methodical manner. Ralph pushes Nayru behind him and absorbs the magic as it is the same type as his. As he continues to defend, the king hears his companion play a song on her harp. At first, he's confused, then once he sees that Veran's attack has slowed down (not time itself), he switches from absorbing to deflecting.
This time, Veran gets ahead of Nayru's manipulation. With her wings she flies down with incredible speed to the Oracle, punching her in the gut. Faster than Ralph's response, Veran takes Nayru to the skies with her and throws the Lanrynnian towards one of the buildings bordering the courtyard. "Nayru!"
"Ha ha ha!"Veran bares her teeth to the young king, watching his anger rise with the flame of his power. "One annoying rat out the way, another to deal with." Holding an arm out, she summons the Rod of Seasons and points it at Ralph. "You, alone, have no chance of winning, my king."
Ralph internally knows his chances are slimmer now that they were when he had Nayru with him. He decides to forsake those odds and stand up to Veran. "My ancestor was useless in the fight against you, but I will not be! On my namesake's honor and all of Labrynna,"
"Then your winter has come!" Veran and Ralph attack each other with beams of ice and fire. Veran quickly switches ice to water, extinguishing Ralph's attack and washing him. The temperature then begins to drop around them, forcing Ralph to use more energy to utilize his power. Rising to his feet, the prince rolls out the way of an icicle thrown at him. He raises his sword and swings a blast, incinerating the incoming projectiles. It continues towards Veran, who further demonstrates her speed by moving at the last second.
He has to keep moving. It is a basic survival idea to keep moving when under harsh cold conditions to generate heat. With the temperature slowly dropping, it will be a matter of time before it'll be too cold for him to generate a flame at all. And without Nayru to slow her down, attacking Veran is futile with her speed. The cold doesn't seem to be affecting her, but why would it, she's casting the spells from the Rod of Seasons. If it was, she's moving to keep warm…
She's moving.
Ralph suddenly pauses, keeping his sword pointing at Veran as she taunts him from above. "Your power is nothing. Without a way to slow me down, how do you think you can win?" She swings the Rod of Seasons, attacking Ralph with several cutting gales that breaks through his clothing and skin. Despite the pain of the angry winds and the piercing cold, Ralph keeps his eyes and sword trained on Veran. She chuckles at the boy's resilence. "Pointing your sword at me does nothing but allows me to hurt you. Make this fun for me. Run."
"No."
"No?"
"No. You should be the one afraid right now, Veran." Ralph swings his sword up, and the air around Veran's wings combust. As flames incinerate her wings and body, Veran hollers in pain and tries to endure the flames by flying around until they're extinguished, but Ralph continues to build up heat. Eventually, Veran's wings are damaged to the point they're useless. Dropping from the air, Veran is caught by Ralph and the Noble Blade. Blood from her torso drips on the warming ground as the Rod of Seasons' casting wears off. Ralph leans into Veran's ear, whispering. "That is for my mother, for Din, for Moosh, for all of Labrynna and the world. But this, this is from me." Flames burst forth from Ralph's blade, roasting the Imperial queen outside and within.
"Nayru!"
Ralph drops down into the rubble, seeing his companion sitting against broken wood and stone. She's conscious at the moment and healing her wounds until she hears Ralph call for her. Waving, she watches as he comes and takes a seat beside her. Exhausted, he rests his head on the rubble. "She's gone. I don't know how I did it, but she's gone."
Nayru smiles and leans on Ralph's shoulder, using her magic to heal him. "That's good to know... We should catch up to the others soon."
Ralph nods as he takes Nayru underneath his arm. "Yeah."
Front Gate
With the front gate open, Queen Mipha and the Zoras prepare to take the capital and cut the enemy forces from the castle. However, the rebels are well-aware of the dire situation on the battlefield; the rebels forces led by Sheik, Kafei, and Daruk have been severely reduced, including the Bulblins and the Twili. With Zelda and Midna inside the castle, a retreat is not an option.
As they convene on their next move, Ganondorf, Oren, and Hilda decide they cannot leave the remaining fighters to their deaths either. Yet leaving Zelda, Midna, Ralph, and Nayru behind is equally wrong. Torn between those sides, Ganondorf makes the executive call. "Oren, you should fight alongside your people."
"That is true," she says with a sigh. "Very well. Hilda, I could use your assistance then. Ganondorf...bring the girls back safe." Ganondorf nods and turns his back to Hilda and Oren. The three walk in opposite directions, Hilda and Oren following the Zoras to Castle Town, Ganondorf to the residence. He pauses just a few steps away from the door and turns around. "Hilda."
"Yes?"
"If Ravio and my cousin return, tell them they're late."
"Ravio!" Riju comes to a halt on her horse on the road between Rauru Town and North Castle. She waves to the purple-cloaked boy and looks behind him. She smiles and turns to the west. "Well, we're late."
Ravio nods. "Better late than never."
"And we're going to be later if you two keep talking," says an aged man in knight's armor. He nods to the two men riding beside him and the sages and takes point in leading the enlarged group. "With the Gerudo and the world behind us, we march forth to the capital!"
"Yes, General Auru!"
