Chapter 6
It was so quiet in the war room that one could have heard a pin drop as all eyes were on the monitors which had been tied into the closed circuit cameras in the Old Castle Town square. Daniel and Bill had been woken up to join Shepherd in the military command center. The Hylian officers in the room stared with awe and wonder at the live video feed, a few had gotten down on their knees in prayer and devotion.
"My god," Daniel said stunned at what he was witnessing, "she's broken the rules."
"What do you mean broken the rules?" Bill asked.
"It's part of the conditions for their rebirth. They can't, uh, they can't use any of their powers they had as ascended beings to intervene in mortal affairs." Daniel told him. "They can't do anything a normal Hylian can't do."
"Wow. I didn't even think she could if she wanted to. So, you mean to tell me both she and Link could have done this the entire time if they had wanted to?" Bill asked.
"I didn't think so either, but I guess we were both wrong." Daniel said slowly, thinking it through.
Shepherd stared at the monitor until he saw the goddess and the mouse disappear. "Well, it's out of our hands now. We've got our own part of the fight to worry about." He said, his eyes on the radar screens. He looked at the clock on the wall. "It's almost six. The sun is rising. Dammit McKay, where are you?"
On the screens in front of him the blips which represented the enemy gyrocopters were already well past the coastal mountains and were now over the Field. Friendly Royal Guard aircraft had already been launched and were now engaged with them but too many were breaking through, they would be overhead within minutes.
"Hyrule Field to Supreme Command!" Came a call over the radio. Shepherd answered it, "General Shepherd of Supreme Command, go ahead Hyrule Field." He knew what the report would be, he thought. There would be enemy soldiers landing and engaging their troops.
"General sir, half of the gyrocopters have broken off, and are heading south. Half are heading north towards Castleton. There has been no landing in the Field. I repeat, there has been no landing in the Field." The soldier said.
Shepherd looked towards the radar map. Sure enough, the hostiles had broken into two groups, but nothing had dropped in Hyrule Field. Where were the southern group heading? He checked the maps and mentally plotted out a map. They were heading to Faron Province. Why would they be heading the Faron Province? There's nothing there but a few small towns and the Great Forests. And what's in the Great Forests? He asked himself. "The Sacred Grove. They're headed for the Sacred Grove." Why hadn't he figured on that? He cursed himself.
"Copy that, Hyrule Field. Pack up everything you can and get down to the Faron Woods immediately. The coordinates are..." he checked his numbers, "Latitude one niner point four two three, Longitude minus niner niner point one two three. Relocate immediately."
"Confirm those coordinates, command? Those are in the middle of Faron Woods." The officer asked in confusion.
"Coordinates confirmed. There's a command post there. It's the only target that makes sense. Relocate immediately." Shepherd told him.
"Understood, command. Orders confirmed." The soldier said, then clicked off.
Shepherd then turned his attention back to the blips on the screen that were heading straight for them. "Come on, Rodney. Any time now would be good." He told the screen.
Rodney was up on a ladder trying to connect his last crystal. After confirming with the other two men, it was almost complete. The sun had emerged from behind the eastern mountains. "Okay, this is the last one," He said into the two way radio. He then connected the power and the blue crystal glowed. He was exhausted, but the system was in place. He could hear the loud hum of rotor winged aircraft approaching the city. "Okay, Phil, Afredo, it's time for you to do your stuff!" He said. The radio went dead, as he waited, hoping that their idea worked as the gyrocopters came within sight. They were huge. "Oh crap." Rodney exclaimed as he saw the enemy bombers.
From that distance they looked like flying triangles with spinning circles where the three angles formed corners. There were still at least a dozen of them even after meeting up with their own air forces and the anti-aircraft artillery on the coast.
They came closer and closer, and grew larger and larger in the sky. Rodney hurried down the ladder and moved across the street from the street lamp he had just modified. He waved to his vehicle driver to get over and join him. He yelled into the radio again. "Any time now!"
Overhead, he could see underneath the bombers doors opening. Then objects started to fall from the aircraft. "It's not going to work!" Rodney cried out covering his head, waiting for the explosions to start.
"Sir, look!" The driver said, pointing up in amazement. All around them the streetlamps glowed brightly with a blue energy and it grew bigger and bigger until they all connected, and the energy field kept expanding downwards towards the street and quickly skywards higher and higher until from all around the city the energy met at a point over it as a huge blue dome of protective energy.
The objects which fell from the aircraft exploded harmlessly against the blue shield in a brilliant display one right after the other. It was spectacular as the bombers continuously released their payloads in frustration trying to break through the impermeable shield energy.
"What magic is that?" The driver asked. "I've never seen anything so brilliant and beautiful."
"That my friend, is a whole lot of Nayru's love." Rodney said, a big smile on his face.
"It certainly is," The driver said, kneeling down, his head bowed, he traced three triangles around his head and shoulders.
Rodney looked at him and then looked down at him, "What are you doing?"
"Giving thanks to my goddess for her protection over our city." The driver said.
"Oh for goodness sakes..." Rodney began to protest, and then was going to start in about how they weren't gods but ascended beings, and worshiping them was stupid, and... "Oh forget it." he gave up. "It worked flawlessly when it really shouldn't have. Maybe we did have a little bit of help." He then looked to the sky and whispered so the driver couldn't hear him, "Thank you."
"Get out of my way little cripple." The injured old man told Talon. "You're standing in the way of the inevitable. All things come from darkness and to darkness all things return." To Talon's horror, the old man wielded the Master Sword in his left hand, and a wicked looking key weapon in his right. Somehow he had activated the gateway and strode right through it much to Talon's surprise.
He had been trying to keep in contact with the palace over the events of the last day and hadn't slept for twenty four hours when he felt the man's evil enter his home and prison. He grabbed the sword Lady Malona had brought him. He had used it to retrain himself to fight with his right hand, though he never truly expected to need it. He strapped a shield to the stump of his left forearm and went to the entry hall.
"You are not welcome here. Leave now and no harm will come to you." Talon boomed the challenge at him, his voice echoing off the halls of the chamber.
"Yes, that seems to be the general theme today, doesn't it?" The old man said as he moved forward.
Talon took in the whole appearance of his opponent. He could see blood dribbling from the man's side from what looked like a sword wound, and every movement seemed to cause him pain. Someone had already wounded him, Talon observed. Even then, he could tell the man would be a dangerous opponent, maybe even more so because of it. Talon raised his sword and shield into a fighting stance.
"Oh look, the little cripple is going to play the hero, how nice." The old man said evilly.
"I'm not the hero," Talon replied, "My father is the Hero. I'm just my father's son." And he launched himself into an attack. The old man brought up his own blades to block it as Talon's steel blade came down hard at his head. Talon's leap carried him in a somersault over the man's head, and it forced him to spin around to face his opponent again. When he did he caught Talon's shield in his face, dazing him as he cried out, his nose bleeding profusely.
The old man lashed out in a rage, swinging his two swords with a practiced skill, beating Talon back towards the gateway. Talon spun and rolled around the old man slashing at his back where the old man caught it with his wicked black key weapon. "Oh, you don't like that direction, do you?" The old man taunted as he turned to face the Hylian Sage again.
"On the contrary, it has a lovely view. Allow me to show you!" He said as he started in again, trying to drive the old man back the way he came across the marble floor. The old man was breathing hard, Talon could tell. The combat was wearing him down. "Leave this Temple!" He ordered him.
"No, I think it is you who will leave!" The old man shouted in replied, and he gestured with one of his swords towards Talon, swinging it towards the gateway. Talon's body was flung towards the door that he knew would be lethal to him if he crossed the threshold. He cried out to his Lady in fear and desperation, "Hylia, save me!"
The old man turned his back to the doomed man and, in pain and becoming exhausted from the tremendous exertion his challengers were placing on him, moved slowly toward the pedestal, the final keyhole which would unlock the realm he had been searching for all of his life, "The true Kingdom Hearts awaits me."
Talon flew threw the air towards the door, and then was stopped in mid-air just inches from the doorway. An enraged young woman's voice cried out, "NO MORE OF MY FAMILY WILL YOU HARM!"
Thunder boomed and echoed in the great chamber, and the old man was forced to turn and look to see what was happening. What he saw filled his heart with terror once again.
"What?" Talon asked in confusion as he hung suspended in the air. "Who?"
He was set gently on his feet, and his eyes gazed on a shining, radiant female form as they were raised from the floor to look into her beautiful, light filled face. "My Lady!" He exclaimed, dropping to one knee. She shone like the sun, glorious with light radiating from ever part of her form.
She raised him to his feet again, saying, "Rise and take this, my champion." The beautiful, musical voice of the princess he had watched grow up resonated with power like the thunder of a raging storm. She placed in his right hand a sharpened sword with a red jewel embedded in the cross piece of the hilt. "Touch the jewel." She instructed, he did so with his thumb, and it began to glow red. She gestured with her hands and a golden bow appeared from nowhere resting in them. A quiver of arrows shining brilliantly with light adorned her back. "Now, my champions," she addressed Talon and the companion she traveled with, a four foot black and tan mouse wielding a sword fashioned in the shape of a key, "Let us finish this."
The command post at the entry gate of the Sacred Grove in Faron Woods had been on alert for the past twenty four hours, and had doubled their patrols. The nervous, gray uniformed men kept their assault weapons at the ready, and all the gun emplacements along the fence were constantly manned. As well trained as the men were, few if any of them had ever seen true combat in their lifetimes. All eyes were on the clearing on the other side of the fence.
Soon they heard the hum of the rotor winged aircraft, but couldn't see them. They scanned the skies with their binoculars trying to see which direction the enemy would be coming from. Captain Jovani was at the front gate with his men after receiving the heads up from General Shepherd.
"Any contacts sighted yet?" He called out to his spotters.
"No contacts yet, sir!" Came the calls back.
Then, on the other end of the clearing, he saw movement in the trees and foliage. "Contacts sighted!" He called out.
Out of the brush came dozens of wild blue trolls, males, females, and females clutching little ones running as if for their lives. The lanky humanoid creatures were normally just curious nuisances which had to be driven off. Then he began to observe them, and realized that their intelligence was only a little higher than that of a dog's. Not really wanting to slaughter them for just existing, over time, Jovani began to order his men to just scare them off with warning shots, and it usually worked pretty well.
This time though Jovani could see the panic in their eyes. They were terrified. Behind the trolls came wild octoroks also trying to get away from something. "Hold your fire!" He called out. It wasn't right to shoot them for trying to run for their lives. The trolls and octoroks ran towards the fence and hit it, the trolls pounding on it with their fists screaming at them with unintelligible sounds. The octoroks veered to the sides of the fence and ran for the nearest underbrush they could find. The guardsmen looked from screaming troll to screaming troll unsure of what to do, their fingers on the triggers of their weapons. "Let them go!" Jovani called out again. The trolls finally understood they weren't getting behind the fence, and ran in the direction the octoroks took, looking in terror back towards the woods they had just come out of as they ran. "Let them go!" He called out again, "All eyes on the clearing, weapons hot!" Around him he could hear the sounds of weapons being cocked and safeties being taken off.
On the other side of the clearing, shots began to ring out and strike the sides of the fence and the gun towers. "Take cover!" Jovani shouted. "Don't fire until you can see them!"
More gunfire came from the woods on the other side of the clearing, and then helmeted, blue uniformed men began to appear crawling across the ground, their own weapons in front of them. They set themselves up and began to spray the fence line with machine gun fire.
"Open fire!" Jovani called out, and the fence line was ablaze with machine guns as the royal guardsmen returned fire.
More enemy soldiers began to pour out of the woods as they established larger machine gun emplacements of their own, and Jovani began to see that they were going to be quickly outnumbered. Around him, his own men were getting caught by enemy fire as he continued to shoot. Great goddesses we're going to be overrun! He thought to himself.
Enemy mortars launched their explosive shells at the gun towers. One emplacement exploded as the guardsman station there was blown from his seat. The gray guardsmen continued to fight on but Jovani could see they were losing men. "Goddesses help us!" He prayed.
He then heard thunder coming from the woods to the south. "Now what?" He feared.
And then the magnificent forms of a dozen horses broke through the foliage and began trampling over the enemy soldiers on the ground with their hooves, their riders in gray firing their own weapons from horseback at whichever blue soldier they could target. The enemy soldiers were thrown into confusion, unable to react fast enough to the new, unexpected threat. The horsemen were so far behind the enemy's own emplacements that the blue uniformed men couldn't turn their own large guns fast enough before they were cut down.
"It's cavalry." Jovani said in disbelief.
A cheer rose up from the men behind the fence and they regrouped themselves, taking careful aim so as not to hit their saviors on horseback. "Help them out!" Jovani called out.
More enemy soldiers continued to come from the woods and replace their fallen comrades. The horsemen continued to shoot until they began to run out of ammunition. And then, to Jovani's amazement, they drew their swords and shields and began hacking at the men on the ground they could reach, using their shields to deflect the enemy fire. "Protect the horses!" Jovani called out, and the men at the fence took careful aim at anyone who pointed their weapons at the horses, and that was just about everyone.
But the men on horseback were only a dozen, and the enemy soldiers recovered from their initial confusion, and they turned their weapons towards them. And they just kept coming out of the woods.
Xehanort turned to face his new attackers. The crippled Sage and the mouse moved to flank him on either side, assuming a fighting stance. The light filled woman drew her bow and aimed it, he knew, at his heart. Both blades in his hand, he knew he was in no shape to fight all three of them. He also knew his own forces would be engaged at the top of the canyon and should be down in the Grove to secure it for him shortly. He still had the chi-blade. He could afford to be patient a little while longer.
"We will finish this later," he said, and then, crossing his blades he moved to relocate himself outside of the temple and behind the lines of his own forces at the top of the canyon.
Except he didn't go anywhere. He tried it again, but he remained in the same entry hall of the Temple. "What is happening?"
"This is the Temple of Time." The cripple told him, seeing his confusion. "Time doesn't flow in here. It is always the same moment within the Temple, neither past nor future, but the ever present now. The only way back to normal time is through the gateway."
I'm trapped! The realization broke over his conscious mind. And then pain struck him in the chest as another one of the blasted light arrows hit him. Then the mouse attacked him, and Xehanort caught his keyblade with his own as the cripple attempted to skewer him and was deflected by the chi-blade.
"Fools!" He shouted at them, "Even if you were to kill this body, I cannot be destroyed so easily! My possession of your so-called Sages, and your Hero will become complete! I will be more powerful than ever!"
He spun and attacked the cripple, who caught his blows on his shield. The mouse took advantage of this to strike him in the back with his own keyblade, and he howled in rage, sending a wave of darkness against the mouse throwing him against the wall. Another arrow hit him, and he fell to one knee.
I have to dispose of the light witch, Xehanort realized, and he moved to strike the girl, throwing a forceful wave of darkness at her. It hit her, but broke around her, and he threw another one. The cripple ran at him to block his way, shouting, "No!"
This cripple has annoyed me long enough. Xehanort thought to himself. He motioned with his right hand and his own keyblade disappeared, as he used the darkness to draw the cripple to him through the air and onto the waiting tip of the chi-blade. The cripple slid onto the blade easily as the sword passed through his right lung. He would take a long time to die from that wound. It would be painful and bloody, Xehanort was satisfied. And then pain took his own body into its grasp.
Xehanort looked down to find the cripple's own sword embedded in his chest. The red jewel in the cross piece shining brightly. "Go to oblivion, monster." The cripple spat blood at him with his dying breath, flecks of crimson coming to his lips.
Xehanort began to laugh, expecting the release of his soul to fly to his chosen hosts, but then something went wrong. He felt himself being... erased. "What... is... this...!" He said, his voice dying. And then he just ceased to be.
Then what light there had been left Xehanort's eyes, and the lifeless corpse dropped to the ground, releasing Talon from his dark grip, his body still impaled by the Master Sword. The Sage hit the marble floor with a painful thud, blood flowing from his wound. He could feel himself dying as he lay there. "And now, I finally pay my debt in full, as is only just." He said with pain.
And then the shining form of his goddess was by his side, smiling down at him, "No, my nephew," she said gently, "finally, you have fully redeemed yourself." She passed her radiant hand over his wound and, gripping the blue hilt, withdrew the sword from his body slowly and with care.
"My Lady," he said, gasping, drowning in his own blood.
"My dear Sage," she replied as she passed her other hand over his wound. The flesh and skin repaired itself, and his breathing became easy and natural. The pain ceased completely. "For what you have done here, for myself, and for all of Hyrule, I free you from your imprisonment."
She then went over to the mouse who had been thrown against the wall. He lay unconscious on the floor, his head resting at an angle against the wall he had hit. The goddess knelt down and touched him on the head gently, and his eyes opened. "Zelda?" He asked. "What happened?"
"Xehanort has finally received the justice he deserved." Zelda responded. "He will trouble no realm ever again."
"Really?" Mickey asked. "It's over?"
"It's over." She repeated softly, thinking about all that implied. "But now there are others that need my help. Stay here with Talon until my return."
"Yes, ma'am." The mouse replied.
Russel continued to hack and slash as hard and as fast as he could, but their were just too many of them. His horse, Xavier had been shot out from under him, and he had been forced to fight the enemy soldiers on foot with just his sword and shield. He let the anger and pain of the loss of his old friend to fuel his muscles as he cut through the enemy troops. Several of his other men had been forced on foot as well, and they fought back to back, shield each other from the hail of gunfire aimed at them, while the guardsmen from behind the fence across the clearing continued to support them with cover fire. But there were just too many, and Russel knew it.
So be it, he thought. I'll take as many of the eastern bastards with me as I can. And he continued to fight, exhausted though he was. The other men fought on, equally determined as well.
Then an explosion of light appeared over the battlefield of the clearing, forcing everyone, friend and foe alike to look upwards. It was as if the bright sun had come down from the sky and taken the form of a young woman, in her left hand was held a long bright sword with a shining sapphire hilt, hovering in the air above the battlefield. Lightning struck the ground around and underneath her, and the air was charged with unmistakable power.
"Soldiers of Hyrule, listen to me!" She cried out, and everyone stopped fighting in that instant as the murmur of her name passed along the lips of everyone who gazed on the sight. "Hylia!" The name was passed around reverently.
One enemy gunner though, looking upon the sight instead trained his weapon on her. He never got the chance to shoot however as a bolt of lightening flew from the sky and struck him. The blackened, burnt husk of his corpse dropped to the ground. Upon this sight, everyone, gray and blue alike dropped their weapons to the ground.
"You will cease this conflict immediately!" She cried out. "Eastern Hyrule, your leader is dead and destroyed. You have no reason left to fight. Return home." She ordered, pointing east with the tip of the sword, indicating the direction she wanted them to go.
A confusion and a panic arose among the soldiers as they didn't know what to do. She pointed at the ground with the sword and more lightning exploded around the blue uniformed men. They backed up, and then began to run back into the woods, leaving their weapons behind.
The cavalrymen, to a man, all dropped to one knee in reverence, their swords driven into the ground in front of them before their goddess. Russel knelt his head in humility over the hilt of his sword.
The goddess then descended to the ground and went to the men who lay injured and bleeding, blue and gray uniforms alike, unable to rise, or retreat. As she passed between them, she placed her hands on each one and their wounds and injuries sealed themselves, and they were able to recover. The enemy soldiers, grateful to the goddess, got up and left after their comrades.
She then moved over the clearing towards the gate of the fence and passed through it. Seeing the injured and dying men on the ground, she passed among them as well, healing their wounds. The guard captain dropped to his knees before her in reverence.
The goddess said nothing more to anyone, but just looked sadly at the men who had died from the fighting, both the blue and the gray. When she was finished moving among the men whom she could heal, she vanished in a great burst of light.
"Holy goddess." Captain Jovani whispered. And the battle was over.