Link
"Mogera!" Link and Linkle rush into the interior of the arena, pointing armed bow and crossbows at the Wind Dragon Knight. She kneels in place in front of a statue, holding her hand above it. The pair of green-clothed heroes approach their enemy when she suddenly rises and points her one of the two blades at the warriors, casting a funnel of wind in their direction. That forces Linkle to fire back, sending wind-powered arrows through the funnel (somehow dispelling it) and penetrates Mogera's armor at her right elbow and forearm, forcing her to drop her weapon.
"Didn't see that coming, did you?" Linkle says with a wink and a smile. Link's happy-go-lucky companion keeps her bows aimed at Mogera while he walks towards her trading his bow for the Master Sword. He points the blade at her neck and kicks her doubled-bladed sword behind him. Upon closer examination of Mogera, it seems Joshua did manage to inflict some damage on her, especially a heavy one on her side that only Josh's ax could apply. Mogera currently holds her good hand on it.
"Told you you insulted the wrong person. Now-"
"You're too late."
Link frowns, pressing the tip of the Master Sword against Mogera's neck. "What do you mean?" As he says that, the Arbiter Grounds suddenly is cascaded in darkness, then suddenly returned to the light. Link gasps as the light returns, the Dragon Knight of Wind missing. "What the hell?"
"Link!" Linkle's startled voice gains his attention. She points up, leading his eyes to the air above them to the Wind Knight and her new dark-scaled companion. Mogera had freed Arguro, the seventh knight. Stepping back, Link places himself between the knights and Linkle. He can't sense magic at all, but something about the gaze of indifference the red-eyed woman is giving them is frightening.
They need to get out of here. "Linkle."
"Yeah." Linkle clicks her heels, magically switching her leather boots for the Pegasus Boots. The winged footwear lets Linkle hover above the ground. Link quickly grabs her waist and the pair zips towards the southern exit from the arena. The sky flashes again, accompanied by the sound of rubble falling on the ground. Luckily, Link and Linkle were just a slight moment faster, thanks to Linkle's Focus Spirit.
However, they both knew they weren't safe yet. "Link, where can we go?"
"Take the northern path, we need to lead them away from the Gerudo!" Coming out of the tunnel that leads to the arena, Linkle makes a sharp right and heads in the direction of the Rockface Keep. Another flash of darkness and a nearby blast of sand nearly unbalances her, in which Link looks up to see Arguro. She wields a thin sword, one he frequently sees the Sheikah Clan possesses. Wrapping his right arm around Linkle tightly, Link fires back with beams from the Master Sword. Arguro dodges them swiftly, unfazed by Link's offensive, and slashes the air with her sword. A slicing beam impacts to the heroes' left forces Linkle to swing to the right, diverting from the nearby keep to the northern path.
"Link, shoot her!"
"I'm trying, dammit! Just get to the North Oasis! Or even better!" Link flips them over, exposing Linkle to their pursuer. Linkle scoffs and fires at Arguro while Link controls their direction. Being the better shooter, Linkle manages to disrupt Arguro's pursuit as they turn back to the west, heading for the northern desert.
Avoiding the knight's bombardment, Link weaves them through the small canyon out to the Northern Oasis. Now in the open desert, Link reaches into his pouch to initiate a crazy idea only the legendary heroes (the real ones) could come up with. "Linkle, keep going."
"Are you letting go?"
"Yes."
"Finally. You've gained weight." Link scoffs and releases Linkle, dropping on the grainy ground. Linkle continues to press Arguro, who decides to ignore Link for the fleeing female warrior. He holds up his hookshot and shoots the magic weapon. The pointed end wraps around Arguro's ankle, preventing her from further chasing Linkle. With a tough yank, Link slams Arguro to the desert ground.
Linkle circles back to Link, her jaw dropped at the result of Link's idea. "You...used the hookshot… Oh, I see."
Link frowns as he steps towards the downed woman. "See what?"
"Arguro. Argorok. We fought Argorok using the hookshot, so… Wait, you did not make that connection at all?" Link smiles and shrugs, causing his friend to pout and fold her arms. Now at Arguro's side, Link quickly cuffs the dazed woman's wrists and forces her on her back.
"Lana, this is Link. We have the Shadow Knight in our possession-"
"Link! It is gone! The Lightning Dragon's scale is gone!"
"How? How is that possible?"
"Link, look out!" Linkle suddenly tackles Link, the pair rolling the sands as a light from the sky bombards the ground around Arguro. Link manages to settle on his knees and glares at their attacker, an enormous green dragon with three heads. All three stare at the Hero Across the Ages and charge up a blast that fuses into a singular beam of light. Reinforcing his strength with the Triforce, Link holds up the Hylian Shield to protect him and the unmoving Linkle from the blast, but it serves to be a distraction rather than a true attack. From behind the beast, Link sees Arguro freed from her cuffs by Mogera and the Wind Knight flashing the true Lightning Dragon Scale towards him. Without a word, the three-headed draconic form of Glero takes off and soars towards the western plateau.
In the direction of the lands of Hylia, more specifically, Hyrule Castle.
Dropping helplessly to his knees, Link calls upon the Triforce that marks his left hand. "Lana... Get me to Hyrule Castle..."
Lana, minutes later
Letting the dragons go was tough, but at the same time, she couldn't risk the lives of the Gerudo people and their wounded king. Not again. They hate and mistrust her enough as is. Every woman here is well aware of the young woman who shattered Joshua's heart, and though she isn't truly the one who did, Lanacia is just as responsible for Lana's mishaps as she is Cia's.
For now, she stays out of the desert dwellers' way, using her magic to heal the king of thieves within the keep. The capital of the Gerudo civilization apparently expanded in the last eight years, no part in doubt to Joshua's divine power between Ganondorf's fall and the presence of the alternative timeline. Rebuilding must've been the one thing keeping him sane all those years of isolation and self-hatred.
As the wound on his chest closes and the heat of magic dies on her hand, Lana takes a moment to gaze upon her light half's former lover. Both Cia, Lana, and Lanacia have loved, yet nothing came when she saw Volga again. Only traces of a heartstring moving happened when seeing Link. Yet Joshua…of course those feelings would bubble up and keep themselves present. Lana and Cia renounced their claims on Link, Volga was an old flame from centuries past and a tool of Cia, but Lana...she was deeply and regretfully in love. Even now, the king bare-chested, the faintest markings of scars from battle and muscularity on his abdomen and pectorals, Lana feels both sides of her drink in the sight. Cia, out of pure, unadulterated lust; Lana, out of true, pure love. Lanacia, on her own, is still confused but admits to herself that she cannot deny her true heart, especially when for the second time in her life they agree on a man.
"You gonna keep staring at my chest?" Joshua's sudden words arouse her attention, in which she looks up to her amber eyes. She cannot tell if he was saying it in humor or in command. She cannot read him anymore, this man who was either a laid-back boy or a reflection of Gerudo pride. She's only met one other Gerudo King, and his eyes were not devoid of any passion.
"I'm sorry," she says with a glance of annoyance, beginning to rise off her knees and call for his Second.
"Where are you going?"
"If you're going to be an angry ass, I will give you what you want. Me out of your sight."
"Fine," he says before she fully rises. He looks away with a sigh as Lana sits back down. He pulls himself up to his knees on the mat and scoots back against the stone wall. "Thank you."
"I'm just doing what you did for me. By the way, we failed."
"I know. Of course we were going to lose. But my plan worked." Joshua scoffs humorously. "Before you ask, yes, I knew what I was doing. I switched the scales, letting me possess the real one, but I made a bet with myself. If the knights could detect scale, they would all come here. If they couldn't unless they were in proximity, they would head to Hylia. Something tells me Aquamenta led the others to the capital because he saw or was told the last scale was there, but they figured out the Shadow Dragon's location was here. Was Arguro here?"
Lana nods. "Yes. How did you figure that out?"
"Mogera didn't know I had the real scale yet she still didn't believe me. I knew then that it must have been a secondary reason for their arrival." Joshua grunts as he holds a hand to his abdomen.
"Are you okay?" Lana immediately throws herself towards Josh, touching his area of pain.
"It still hurts."
"Here." Her hand glows, delivering more healing power to the afflicted muscles. Once she's down, her hand lingers over his barely visible abs. Memories of the first time she seen him unclothed play in her head. Back at the palace, years ago, the two of them spent the time after the invasion planning their next move in the hot spring within the royal residence. She was in the nude until he forced her to clothe her feminine areas, which lead to him talking about his stubborn resistance of female charm.
But is he resisting right now? Lana realizes the position she unknowingly put herself in, straddling the king's waist and her upper body hovering over his. It wasn't until Lana looked up that she noticed their proximity.
If he was in the same state she was, he did nothing in it. It was her who broke the tension by backing away and standing up. "I...will go get Riju. She told me to tell her when you wake. I'll go check on Linkle, she's hurt too…"
Joshua clears his throat. "Link and Zelda?"
"I just sent Link back. Somehow, after the dragons left the desert, the interference with magic did too. As for Zelda, I don't know. She has been gone for quite some time."
"Hmm. She's going to hate me. I probably had a lot of her people killed because of my idea. Yet I don't feel bad, not one bit… At this rate," he looks down to her right hand, the faint outline of the Triforce present, "I am no better than Ganondorf."
Zelda
Volga leaps back and slides on his knees as he tends to a puncture wound on his left shoulder. He growls at the serious-faced queen, her battle-dress decorated with the blood of her own and of Volga's. She points her rapier at Bolga with perfect steadiness, her body glowing with holy yellow light. She is not the young, naive princess she was eight years ago. She's the battle-hardened Queen of Hyrule and she's making Volga remember that.
"You'll be wise to give up, Volga," she says sternly. "Today is not the day I plan on being merciful by my choice."
Volga snarls. "You worthless vermin."
"Hmmph." While half her mind focuses on the battle, the other half sweeps to her guardian and king. Just a minute before, Impa gave her the news that Aquamenta had escaped his prison. Last she spoke to Alduin, he changed course for the throne room. Zelda has to finish this battle before joining her husband, but Volga, despite his handicap and heavily sustained wounds, is still a force to be reckoned with.
She switches to the Now of Light and prepared to shoot arrows, but a boom from above catches her attention. Looking up, she sees smoke billowing from the approximate location of the throne room. Fear for her husband clouding her mind, it is Proxi's warning shout that returns her attention to the battle. Volga charges up and fires a blast from his mouth. Wait, that shouldn't happen! How did he… Zelda, in her surprise, lingers on the thought too long and barely calls upon Nayru's Love. The flames surrounded both her and her fairy companion, yet she soon realizes the barrier around them is untouched. Then...what saved them?
"Zelda, he's here!" Zelda lowers her arm from her face to see the familiar green garb. Sighing in relief, she casts away the barrier and recomposes herself while Proxi takes flight in her reunification with Link. "Link, where the hell have you been?"
"Proxi, not now." Hylian Shield between him and a fuming Volga, Link eyes the woman beside her. "They got the scale."
"Aquamenta is free, Morpheus got to him. Alduin and Impa are in the castle, the city was directly attacked by Volga...today is a shit show."
For the first time in years she hears Link chuckle. "I don't think we ever had an easygoing crisis. Hey, Volga!" Cascading his aura with the same light as Zelda, Link charges the Fire Dragon Knight. He drops to the ground as a stream of flames flies over him, then jumps back to his feet and throws his boomerang at Volga. It smacks Volga on the head and dazes him, giving Link ample time to close the distance. In preparation, Zelda lifts her bow again and draws the string back. Link, empowered by the Triforce of Courage, blocks Volga's spear and cleaves it in two with the Master Sword. With his skills amplified and the enemy weakened, Zelda knows they have won the battle against Volga. Sprinting, she watches as Link breaks Volga's guard and turns to her. She steps up on her shield and jumps over Link, aiming three arrows for Volga's head, neck, and heart.
Next thing she heard was her name and the flash of light...
Linkle
"You're awake." Linkle holds her pounding head as Ralph enters the spacious, dim tent. She groans as she sits up, much to the entertainment of the newcomer in the blue robes. "Here. This was for you anyway." He hands her a bowl of...something, but not wanting to be ungrateful, she takes the food.
"Thanks, Ralph." She places the bowl in her lap and looks at Ralph. His features are heavy and look burdened. "Hey, what's wrong… What happened?"
"We lost. The dragons attacked the capital, and… I heard what happened in the desert. Still, we lost. Alduin… King Alduin is dead."
Linkle drops the spoon in her hand, not caring about the wasted gloop. "Zelda? What about Zelda and Impa?"
"Impa is okay. She hurt, but she'll be fine. As for Her Majesty…" Ralph bites his lip and drops his gaze to his lap. "She disappeared again. So has Link. Proxi says they disappeared in a flash of light. Not soon after were we told to retreat. Now we're back here at the border to the desert, two days later. Lana and Joshua are missing as well."
Two days? Four of her friends missing? Tears well up in Linkle's eyes and Ralph reaches over, allowing her to cry on his shoulder. "We got to find them! Ralph, we got to find them!"
"That's the thing...we can't. They're not in Hyrule at all."
"Then where are they?"
"I do not know…"
"Lady Impa." Pipit walks up a hill to the silently standing Sheikah leader. She doesn't react to the presence of the captain, but he knows her well enough to know she acknowledges him. Taking a sigh, he glances in the same direction as her, to the southwest in the direction of Hyrule Castle, now in possession of the seven Dragon Knights. Two days it has been since the fall, and just as it angers Impa that for the third time in Her Majesty's reign Hyrule has fallen, so does it annoy Pipit that the gods has turned their back on the world they created and let evil take over.
Maybe King Alduin was right, maybe the gods are against them after all.
"Any news to report, Captain Pipit?"
"I spoke with General Auru. Linkle and King Joshua are missing as well."
Impa drops her head. "Then that confirms my suspicions. The knights removed the strongest of us. The Triforce and all her users. Saying it out loud, it doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't," Pipit concurs. "Seems the knights don't know the importance of having the Triforce in possession, or they would've killed Lana earlier when they could've. That is what I think, anyway."
"You aren't far from the truth. There's no indication they have knowledge of the Triforce as we do except that it exists. They acknowledge its power separately but not as a whole… Or maybe they believe themselves truly above the gods. After all, they've done what Cia and Ganondorf failed to do."
"Without the power of the gods." Pipit chuckles at the irony of their failure then recomposes himself as he faces Impa. "What are we going to do?"
"We will continue our fight while we wait on Zelda and the others to return, wherever they are. Until then...we fight."
"Very well." Pipit turns and walks away, but a few steps later he pauses and turns back to Impa. "Impa, may I ask you a question three years too late?"
"Yes."
"When you cast the vote in Alduin's favor, did you do it for Her Majesty or for the kingdom?"
Impa shakes her head. "Neither. I did it for the sake of the nobility. For the sake of the future of Zelda's lineage. If they knew what I knew at the time, Alduin would've won uncontested and Link would have suffered a fate unbefitting the Hero Across the Ages. If there was any other way… The prince wouldn't be safe in Labrynna right now. This situation might be different. But most of all, Link would know his son."