Chapter 5
Zelda sat on the bed in her cell. There were no windows, and Maleficent had not visited her again. In the last two days, food had been brought to her by the sorceress's "servants;" ghastly, long dead skeletons of former inmates or their guards that had been re-animated with a sickly green light in their empty eye sockets. They made no move to threaten her, but neither would they allow her to leave the open door of her cell, standing in the damaged doorway to block her exit.
The truth was she had no idea how long it had been, but she had involuntarily fallen asleep twice since Maleficent's visit, so she was working on the assumption that it had been two days. Her waking hours had been spent memorizing every detail of the dimly lit stone cell.
She knew from her studies of ancient lore, that many of these ancient structures from Hyrule's past had secret passageways and rooms, and the arbiter's grounds were no exception. She had hoped to find some gust of air, some crack in the wall where one shouldn't be, something which could point her in the right direction, but there was nothing; at least not in this particular cell.
From her only conversation with the black clad woman, Zelda had gleaned some useful bits of information. The witch had no interest in killing her herself, only to use her as bait for someone much worse than herself, and as such she needed her alive. Not necessarily comfortable, but alive. She also learned that neither her captor nor her captor's prey was from their world. That disturbed her.
As the person in charge of the administration of Hyrule's temples for the royal family, Zelda had been privy to secrets held by the royal family which were shared with no one, absolutely no one else but the most trusted of their agents. One of those was the knowledge of the portal of time, and the linking books. In Hyrule's past, these were used by friends and at times foes alike to travel to and from their world from other worlds and realities.
Up until the secession of Eastern Hyrule from the United Kingdom of Hyrule, she knew, there had even been a substantial relationship with the Kingdom of Gondor in a world called "Middle-Earth." But that public relationship had to be curtailed during the violent uprising which led to the formation of the eastern republic. Contacts were still maintained with Minas Tirith, but as with the Temple of Time itself, only by the royal family or their official representatives, and out of the public's knowledge.
But outside of these two entry points, unless the new threat came from outside their planet from space, she had no idea how either Maleficent or her target got there. And if they came from space, that presented another set of problems she didn't even want to think about. The kingdom's own space program was still very much in its infancy. They had yet to actually put anything more than artificial satellites into orbit, and this had been hailed as a great accomplishment.
Zelda then considered Maleficent herself. There was something familiar in her face and voice that she struggled to remembered. She wasn't Hylian, of that Zelda was certain, but she wasn't Ordonian either, and certainly not any of the other sentient species she encountered on a regular basis. But she reminded her strongly of one she had met a long, a very long time ago, almost as if in another lifetime.
"Oh good, you're awake again!" The witch's voice called out in the overly friendly manner she had chosen to adopt with Zelda. Zelda still didn't understand why she chose this particular pretense of familiarity, but the princess chose to partly play along to keep the sorceress talking. She needed more information from her, and the best way she could think to get it was to play nice.
"That makes things so much more convenient. I have some news, and some questions for you." Maleficent told her.
"News?" Zelda asked.
"Yes," she said as she entered the cell. "My raven has been flying to and fro in your little kingdom." Maleficent told her, stroking the black bird which sat on her staff. "He tells me an interesting tale. It appears a green clad boy has appeared in some heavily guarded ruins and has pulled a sword from some stone."
So it's true! The Hero has come and he's already drawn the Master Sword! She thought inwardly, trying to keep her face impassive. It didn't work as well as she had hoped, because Maleficent next said, "So you know who he is, and what that means. Please, enlighten me."
How much should I say? Zelda quickly reasoned whether to tell her the truth, or to come up with something more believable to someone from outside their world.
"Please, dear; while I enjoy a good fiction as much as the next person, don't presume to lie to me. I will know." An edge of seriousness and malice tinged Maleficent's words.
Okay, so a lie is out. Zelda thought, well, maybe she won't believe the truth. "I think he might be the legendary Hero of Hyrule coming to rescue me." She said flatly. It was, after all the truth she asked for.
"I see." Maleficent turned this information over in her mind, watching every expression on Zelda's face. "And what is the significance of the sword in the stone?"
Zelda paused. How much could she reveal to this person? "It's a Sacred Sword held in trust by the Royal Family for the Hero alone to use." She said. Again, it was the truth, though not necessarily all of it.
"Let's say I believe you." Maleficent said, her own face betraying nothing of what was going through her mind. "He is only one teenage boy, accompanied by four or five other men that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the ruins."
That surprised Zelda, and it must have shown on her face, because Maleficent then said, "So that means something to you to, I see. I meant what I said dear, I have no interest in killing you myself, but I can't have your hero and his friends interfere with my own plans. How much of a threat to me are they?"
The Princess couldn't keep her "poker face." Zelda just looked at her, her eyes shining hopefully, the rest of her face fighting hard not to smile.
"I see." Maleficent said, understanding perfectly. "Well, I can't have that, now can I? Perhaps I will invite them here, myself, and explain the situation to them personally."
The princess didn't reply, but instead tried to look as sincerely worried about that possibility as she could. Perhaps, she thought, the witch can bring my rescuers to me herself.
"I do so enjoy these little chats of ours, perhaps I will visit again very soon." Maleficent said, as she turned to leave the cell, apparently satisfied that she had given Zelda cause to fear for them.
"You're a Great Fairy, aren't you?" Zelda asked to her back. Her mind had been turning it over the entire time they talked, and Zelda had been trying to place her face. "Only, where are your wings?"
Maleficent stopped abruptly, her hand tightening on her staff. She turned once more to face the princess, her unnaturally pale green eyes flashing with an anger she hadn't exposed before now.
I touched a nerve, Zelda observed. But with which observation?
Maleficent's smile returned, but the anger didn't fully dissipate, the princess could see. "That is a more complementary way of putting it than I have been called before, but yes, I suppose I am." She didn't answer the question about her wings.
So it's her wings then, Zelda realized, and filed that information away. "In Hyrule, the Great Fairies preside over springs and natural fountains. Do you?"
Zelda could see a memory of a place forming behind Maleficent's eyes, one she longed to go home to, she could tell. "I did, once. It was a great enchanted moor where I was born and grew up, and filled with wondrous creatures and people; not unlike your Hyrule, actually. It was beautiful." She said.
"You make it sound wonderful. Why would you want to leave?" Zelda asked.
"It was wonderful, dear, until I made the mistake of permitting a human to enter it." Maleficent told her. "Do you truly want to know how I lost my wings, dear?" She said, her voice tinged with a sad anger born of a very personal pain. Zelda nodded, and the wingless dark fairy continued, "That human professed to love me and I believed him. Then when I was asleep, he cut my wings off so he could be a king in a nearby castle."
Zelda was horrified. There was now no wonder what had turned this natural creature of light so very dark. "How could anyone be so cruel?" She asked in a near whisper, compassion filling her heart for her captor. She knew there were villains like that in the world, but she had never personally met one, at least not yet. "Is this the man you're pursuing?"
"What? Him? No! Not that pathetic wretch! Oh, don't you worry I've already taken care of him and his pathetic family." She said with an evil grin. "No, the man I'm chasing has done something that merits my special attentions."
"What could be worse than that kind of betrayal?" Zelda asked, fearing the answer.
"Killing someone who was dear to me, my dear." Maleficent told her as she stroked her raven, and her whole demeanor became very serious and malicious, "And I will chase him to and into the gates of hell if I must, but he will not escape me. That is why I can't have your little friends interfering."
"What if we could help?" Zelda then offered. "If this man is as evil as you say, then he is a threat to our world as well, and we would want him gone as well. The means notwithstanding. We don't have to be enemies. If you want him, perhaps we could help you get him."
"A charming offer, dear." Maleficent said, thoughtfully. "I will think on it." And then she left Zelda's cell. And Zelda was alone again, turning the conversations she had held with the dark fairy over and over again in her mind, trying to understand the important clues that had just been handed to her.
Doctor Bill Lee was riding in the back seat of a gray, steam-powered, Hylian military vehicle that looked suspiciously like a U.S. military Humvee, as it traveled north late at night on the Trans-Hyrule One highway. The royal winged Triforce insignia was emblazoned in black on the two sides of the vehicle as well as the hood. He still couldn't believe he was actually there, in Hyrule. His second favorite video game world, ever.
I mean, okay, so it was a more modern, industrialized Hyrule, and of course he wasn't playing the game, although an argument could be made for that, but come on! It was Hyrule! He couldn't help but smile from the sheer geektasticness of the whole thing ever since he arrived. He couldn't believe that Colonel Shepherd and Mr. Woolsey actually asked him to join the mission this time!
"But, I'm not a field man," he had told them modestly, though his eyes had been practically begging them. "And I don't speak the language. I don't know how much use I'd be."
"We need someone on the team this time who can make certain 'connections' that may be outside of Doctor McKay's area of expertise." Mr. Woolsey had tried to put it delicately. "We're facing an unknown threat, and we need to identify it quickly."
"Huh?" Bill had said.
"What Mr. Woolsey's trying to say, Bill, is that we need an expert in video game lore, and you're the one who's come up with all the useful ideas relating to Hyrule in the past. We want to take you along so you can put together for us who might be threatening them now." Colonel Shepherd translated.
Who knew his hours of combing Azeroth on his computer and dungeon crawling on his Wii would be the exact skills that would be needed on a mission? It was a dream come true for him.
He felt bad for the young man who sat in the front seat next to Colonel Shepherd. It had been necessary for him to leave his horse stabled back at the Sacred Grove command post. It just wasn't practical for him to try and keep up with the Humvee on horseback.
Bill grinned again when he thought of Link's reaction to what was in the package. It was a complete set of "Hero's clothes," including chain mail and gauntlets that looked straight out of one of his games back home. "You've got to be kidding me." He had said out loud, picking up the very renaissance looking tunic and breaches and looking at them. "The Sage of Time really wanted me to wear these?"
"It's traditional." Colonel Shepherd had told him. "And the chain mail isn't so bad."
"It's not the chain mail that'll get me laughed at." He said unfolding the long green cap. "At least the chain mail will offer me some protection in a fight. What exactly is the hat for again?"
"It's all part of the whole "Hero of Hyrule" thing." Shepherd told him. "It's a great honor, really."
"If you say so." Link had responded. "But I'm keeping my jacket."
"Fair enough." Shepherd had conceded.
Then it had been the rest of their team's turn to change their own U.S. military issued clothes for something a little more local. "It'll draw less attention and fewer questions, sir." Captain Jovani had explained. And so Colonel Shepherd, Rodney, Daniel, and himself had all changed into gray tactical suits from the black ones they had worn from Atlantis, although Shepherd had insisted on keeping their own weapons and equipment. The three scientists' rank insignias were left blank while Jovani had found a general's insignia for Shepherd. "So no one questions you at all, sir." He had also supplied them with military identification papers which had been hastily delivered from the palace.
"When did they have the time to come up with these?" Daniel had questioned. "We've only been here a few hours."
"The royal magicians are adept at what they do, sir." Jovani answered.
"Oh, right." Daniel replied. "Magic."
"The rules of the game, Danny-boy. The rules of the game." Rodney had said smugly.
Of course, Daniel had been good to translate everything that had been going on for Bill. He couldn't make heads or tails out of the tongue twisting language that sounded like some weird combination of Japanese and Latin. He was just glad that the others translated everything for him so he didn't miss anything that might be important.
And speaking of important, "Hey guys, I've been think about who it might be that we're after." he announced to the others in the vehicle.
"Oh, who?" Shepherd asked in English, keeping his eyes on the road. Like in both England and Japan, Hylians drove on the left side of the road, and the steering wheel was on the right. Fortunately, the controls were about the same as on an Earth vehicle, so Shepherd drove as Link didn't have a license yet.
"Well, there's only two ways anyone knows about to get into this world from the outside, right?" Bill said, trying to lay out his reasoning.
"Yeah, the stargate and the linking books." Rodney offered. "We know this Bill, no one came through either, or else Talon would have known about it."
"Exactly!" Bill continued, "So it only makes sense that they used another means that no one else from this world would have considered before. Remember how I thought of the Master Sword as a key blade, a lamna clavia?"
"Yeah." Shepherd said. "That had something to do with another video game, right?"
"Precisely. It's from another game I've played a little of, Kingdom Hearts. In it there are these special swords shaped like keys that can open up doorways between worlds allowing passage between them. I'm just thinking maybe, if one key blade exists, maybe there are more."
"And maybe someone used one to get into Hyrule?" Shepherd asked.
"Wait, isn't that the Mickey Mouse game?" Daniel asked.
"Oh boy." Rodney said, "Just what we needed. 'Hi Mickey, how's Goofy these days? Seen Donald lately?' No thanks." The sarcasm was palpable.
"Hey, I didn't write the game." Bill said in his defense. "You brought me along to make connections, so I'm making one. If Hyrule and The Legend of Zelda is real, maybe the stuff from Kingdom Hearts is too. I mean, it would make sense actually if there was a dragon involved in the princess's kidnapping."
"And why is that, Bill?" Daniel asked, trying to keep a straight face in the face of the unbelievability of his line of thought.
"Well, one of the main bad guys in Kingdom Hearts is Maleficent. Well, she's not the main bad guy, but she's way up there." Bill said.
"Maleficent? Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent? The witch that cursed the princess to sleep for a hundred years and turned herself into a huge black fire-breathing dragon, that Maleficent?" Shepherd asked, his voice rising.
"Well, yeah." Bill said.
"Oh crap." Rodney said. "Didn't the report from the men who were with the princess say it was a black dragon that breathed green fire?"
"Yep." Daniel replied, folding his arms, feeling like he was in a bad dream after too much pizza and Disney movies.
"Well, yeah, that's what why I was thinking it was her. It also might explain why she kidnapped Zelda. You see, in the game, she was trying to collect princesses who had no darkness in them to open a portal to a realm called 'Kingdom Hearts' which was the core or source of all other worlds so that the main bad guy, Xehanort could go in and cover all the worlds in darkness." Bill explained. "It's just a theory, but so far, it fits the facts."
"Yeah, in a weird way it does." Daniel agreed, in spite of the absurdity of it all.
Colonel Shepherd translated everything for Link, who said something back to him, and he relayed it to the rest of the men. "Link says that the princess Zelda he knows, at least from watching her on TV, would probably fit the bill of a 'princess of heart.' She's a real sweetheart who works a lot for equal rights and kids' education; that sort of thing. Sounds a lot like the Zelda we knew."
"Okay, so we work under the assumption that we're up against an extremely powerful wingless dark fairy who can turn herself into a huge, fire breathing dragon. No big deal, right?" Rodney quipped.
"No big deal." Shepherd repeated, sounding about as sure of the statement as the rest of them felt.
"So, how long until we get to the abduction site?" Bill asked.
Shepherd asked Link, who responded, and then Shepherd said, "Link said it should be soon. She was taken about a half hour south of Castle Town, and we've been on the road for about an hour."
"Out of curiosity, just what do we hope to find there?" Daniel asked. "Hyrule's guard will have been all over the site with a fine tooth comb. Isn't there some better way of figuring out where Zelda was taken to?"
"We've got to start somewhere." Shepherd said. "And the abduction site is as good of a place as any."
Flashlights out they went over the stretch of highway where the princess was taken looking for anything they could find. The twilight glow of a major metropolis in the distance could be seen off to the north of them as they checked the grassy field near the highway. This stretch of road had been blocked off by flares and barriers, the traffic having been diverted to share space with the northbound lane until construction crews could come in and repair the damage the dragon's claws and immense weight had done to the road.
"Wow, she really tore this road up." Rodney said, impressed.
Link looked up and nodded. "It seems so." He agreed. There were no streetlamps this far away from Castleton, and the only lights were their flashlights and the full moon above them. The dark didn't bother him, but something didn't feel right as he turned off his flashlight and used his more sensitive hearing than his human companions to try and figure out why.
"Hey, buddy, what's wrong?" Shepherd asked.
"Something's doesn't feel right." Link told him. The shadows seemed to be shifting in the distance around him almost as if they had a life of their own. "Turn off your flashlights for a minute."
"Do it." Shepherd said, trusting Link's instincts, pulling his assault rifle around, taking the safety off. Daniel and Rodney did the same. "Bill, get back to the vehicle." He told the scientist in English, who had no combat experience. "Keep your sidearm in hand." The balding man didn't question it, he went straightaway.
Their eyes adjusted to the bright moonlight, and Shepherd then noticed what Link had. The shadows from the moonlight were moving, it seemed, of their own accord across the grassy expanse of Hyrule Field. And they were moving all around their position towards them.
"What're we looking at here, Link?" Shepherd asked, his rifle up and ready to shoot, but not sure of what he was shooting at yet.
The Master Sword and his uncle's shield in his hands, Link shouted back, "Nothing good! If it's what I encountered before, you've got to wait until they solidify!"
"When does that happen?!" McKay shouted.
The first group of shadows reached them and rose out of the darkness on the ground to form dark, humanoid shapes armed with swords and glowing pale green eyes. "Me and my big mouth." Rodney said.
"Get a quick count, how many are we looking at?" Shepherd asked.
Link didn't hesitate as he charged into the first group and took off the head of the first one with a spinning slash, "One less!" He called back.
"Right! Light 'em up!" Shepherd called out as the shadow creatures charged them, swords held high. Rapid gunfire rang out across the previously quiet landscape, and the shadow creatures began going down and disappearing into black puffs of smoke.
Link thrust the Sacred Blade into the middle of the next, and then immediately pulled it out and thrust it behind him, both creatures rendered motionless disappeared. He didn't wait as three more came up to him bringing their own swords down on him in a vicious attack. He took the blows on his shield and then spun with the blade extended. His attackers fell, halved in two.
The creatures kept coming as more shadows descended on them and solidifying into the dark warriors. "This could be a long night." Rodney said. "A very long night."
Maleficent watched the whole affair through the eyes of her raven who flew in the night sky over the whole. "How interesting." She said aloud as she sat in her makeshift, stone throne at the top of the Arbiter's tower, her eyes closed. The ruins of a great, etched metal mirror lay shattered around her, a relic from another age of that mysterious world. "I wonder how fast I can wear them out before they collapse. Hmm, should I see?" She asked to no one in particular.
She watched the one dressed in green with particular interest. "Yes, I do believe that one could be a significant threat to my plans, or perhaps a useful tool?" She queried. "The others appear to rely on their little pellet weapons. They're easy to dispose of aren't they? But still, I suppose if the green one would be useful to me, it wouldn't do to kill his friends. It would make him much less cooperative. Pity. Alright then. We must make some little sacrifices, mustn't we. I can always kill them later, or something more entertaining." She made a quick gesture with her hand and the shadows surrounding the men disappeared completely.
"Now, my pet," she said, "should we invite them for tea?"
"Where'd they go?!" Shepherd called out. "Jackson, you see anything?!"
"No, nothing! You Rodney?!" Daniel called out.
"Nothing. They just disappeared!" Rodney said.
"No, something's still here." Link said. "Can't you feel it?"
The darkness around them became palpable and cold as the four men looked this way and that trying to determine what new threat surrounded them. Overhead, a raven announced its presence, "caw, caw," and Link went for a bow and arrow on his back, only to find he wasn't carrying them.
The raven circled and then landed in front of them. It then grew and elongated into a human form. "Greetings." Said a young looking, dark haired man in black robes. "I bring greetings from my mistress, the Great Fairy Queen Maleficent." He then looked down to find three tiny red dots lined up on his chest as the three men with rifles had them pointed at him. "I assure you that won't be necessary, if you will allow me to speak."
"Go ahead, speak." Daniel said, "We're listening. Right guys?"
"All ears." Rodney said, his weapon's laser sight not leaving the man's chest.
"Of course." The raven turned man replied. "My mistress invites you to join her. She has a proposal to discuss with you."
"Oh?" Shepherd asked. "What kind of proposal?"
"She invites you to join her at the place your people call the 'arbiter's grounds.' This is where the princess called Zelda is her guest. If you wish to see her, you will meet my mistress there to discuss an alliance with her. That is my message. You have until midnight tomorrow night to meet her there," the man said, "or the princess will die."
"Tell your mistress we'll be there." Link said flatly.
"Of course." The raven man said, then he jumped into the air and his form quickly collapsed back into the raven and he flew off.
"Are you kidding me?!" Rodney said. "We aren't seriously going to walk into what is most definitely a trap, are we?"
Shepherd was quiet, thinking it through.
"Well, if she had wanted us dead, why did she stop the shadows?" Daniel reasoned. "There were hundreds of them coming at us. We would have run out of ammo and it wouldn't have stopped them all."
"I agree." Shepherd said. "She had us dead to rights, and chose not to shoot. I agree with Link. Let's get in the truck and check the map. The last time I was in the Lanayru desert was a long time ago, but even by truck it'll take a while to get there. We'll take turns driving and sleeping."
Link nodded, still eying the darkness around him as he replaced the sword and shield on his back. "They're still out there, watching us." He said as he walked back to the Humvee, Shepherd had already started the steam engine warming up.
"I don't doubt it." Shepherd said. "Anyone that powerful could have squished us any time she wanted to. She'll probably have eyes on us the whole way there."
"The question is, what does she really want from Zelda or us?" Daniel asked.
"What do you mean?" Rodney asked.
"Well, Zelda's probably still alive, and Maleficent, assuming that's who it really is, just invited us to discuss an alliance with her, which she wouldn't even consider unless it was in her best interests to do so, and she has to know we wouldn't either. So, what would be in our interests to even consider such an alliance?" Daniel explained.
"Hey guys?" Bill, who had been in the truck the whole time, spoke up. "What just happened? Can you let me in on what's going on?"
Daniel then quickly explained what had happened and what was said in English, adding, "So, what do you think, Bill?"
Bill thought for a few minutes, until he realized everyone's eyes were on him. "What?" He said. "I'm thinking. Why is everyone looking at me?"
"Because you happen to have been right, Bill, and seem to have all the good ideas." Daniel said.
"Well, give me a few minutes. Let me think." He said. "Shouldn't we start driving or something?" He said, flustered.
Shepherd released the brakes and put the engine into gear and the truck began rolling on the road back southbound. "Okay, we're going to need to head west towards Lake Hylia." He said. "Look for the, uh..." He checked the map in his lap, "Highway 2a, I think."
Daniel relayed what he said to Bill, who seemed confused. "But in the game, Lake Hylia is to the east of Hyrule Field." He said.
"Yeah, weird, huh?" Shepherd said in response in English. "Link's right handed in the Wii game, too, but I've always known him as left handed. Lake Hylia has always been to the west of Hyrule Castle though, at least in this reality."
"Strange." Bill agreed. "Nintendo should get so many details right, but mess up on basic directions between east and west, or whether or not Link's right or left handed."
They drove on a bit, until Bill spoke up again. "You know, I was thinking. If Maleficent wants an alliance, maybe someone else came into Hyrule that she needs help against. Maybe that's why she's here, because of the other guy."
"Who would Maleficent need help in taking down?" Rodney asked. "I'd think she could do just fine herself against just about anyone."
"Yeah, I'd normally agree, but there was this one guy in Kingdom Hearts. Oh, oh that's bad if it's him." Bill said, trying to think through the implications. "He's actually the main bad guy of the whole series who wanted to enter the Kingdom Hearts and shroud the entire universe in darkness."
Link asked what Bill had said, and Daniel told him. He then said something in response, and Daniel relayed it. He asked, "Can he be killed?"
"I don't know. He never dies in any of the games, he only runs away to plot and plan something else after he's defeated." Bill said.
"Well, we've taken down one undying Demon King before. How hard can this one be?" Shepherd observed.