Felt a bit jarring editing and posting one story while drafting another, but I think I'm getting used to it now. Maybe. Idk.
The Magic Awakens
Chapter 35
A Precautionary Tale
"Uh, Zel?" Groose mumbled. "I don't think it's the best time for a closet make-out."
That just had to be the first thing he said when the screaming subsided. Zelda would've given snapped at him like a skullfish if she wasn't pressing her ear to the storage closet door. She had followed her gut in there the second darkness struck. What lucky timing they had.
"As much as I adore a dramatic speech, I'm sure the scene has been set clearly enough." Was that Ghirahim's voice? Oh gods, was Ganon out there too? "You can save them." Save who? "I know you love saving people. There's just one teensy tiny thing I need you need to do. Can you guess what it is?" A picture of the scene just outside the door slowly began to form. Upon the clatter of the sword, it flushed into full detail.
"Tie him down." Then came a hint of Link's voice. A grunt as the enemy collided with him, and his rubber soles screeching along the floor. Zelda clamped a hand over her mouth. This was her fault. The dream was real. The warning signs were there. And who paid the price for her neglect? Her brother.
"You two," Ghirahim called. "Find the girls."
Girls? Wait, she had to be one of them! Zelda scrambled away from the locked door and searched for somewhere to hide. What was the point though? This room was a dead end of plastic chair stacks.
"Yo, look up there."
"Not now, Groose. I'm trying to think."
"But there's a vent shaft," he whined. "All the cool action heroes escape through those."
Zelda halted her pace, then followed his finger to the metal grating. Okay, perhaps Groose wasn't totally useless.
"Not a peep," Zelda gritted as she raised her hands. The screws glowed gold as they spun loose, and the grating swung from the hinges. Groose's face was sculpted by a silent scream as his eyes followed the screws into her palm.
The door handle rattled, then a pin clicked around the keyhole. They better not have Link's talent. Without warning, Zelda's magic plucked Groose from the floor and threaded him through the shaft. Bit of a tight squeeze for his broad shoulders, but that was far enough. She floated in after him, pulled the grate up, and screwed it shut just as the door swung open.
"Told ya this was a bust," the Yiga scout said. "She could be far away now."
The blademaster looked up at the grating. Zelda ducked out of sight. "You know, they always sneak through the ventilation in action movies."
"This is real life, and in real life, they dramatically run through the halls in their floaty gowns. C'mon." Footsteps padded out of the closet. Zelda released a breath and scooted herself around, where she was met by Groose's ass in poorly fitted slacks. "Get moving." He squeaked and shuffled forward as if she had just pricked him with a needle.
Every metallic shuffle and creak had Zelda all but petrified of discovery. For once, Groose showed initiative by whispering the directions the ventilation split into, so Zelda pulled up an approximate mental map of the school to determine where they were and where they could go, but she couldn't think of a safe exit point where they could run for help.
She hadn't noticed when Groose stopped moving, resulting in her face bumping his backside. Gods, if he made one comment about it. "Keep mov-" He shushed her, and she nearly fired back before she heard what he saw.
Groose peaked through the grating as the two disgruntled Yiga slammed the door to a classroom. "Look, bud," said the blademaster. "I really think we should check the vents."
"Come on," the scout groaned as his head trailed upwards. "There's no way she could've- Someone's up there!" Groose tried to scramble out of sight, but Zelda's face blocked the way. The scout stepped into the blademaster's laced fingers, but glowing orange tentacles shot from the shadows, seized their necks, and conked their foreheads together. They fell limply. Too limply. Had Groose just witnessed a murder?
"You can come out now." Where did he know that feminine voice, and why did it conjure such feelings of shame and inadequacy from him?
"Move along," Zelda ordered. Groose followed without protest. After all, better Zelda face the eldritch horror than him.
The grating glowed under her gaze until the screws fell away. Zelda descended feet first, landing softly as the gold faded. The shadows shaped into a translucent figure. Harsh red eyes bore into Zelda's. "Where did I apologise?"
"The swings of my local park," Zelda affirmed.
With a sigh of relief, the shadowy cloak fell away, revealing Midna's battle-worn form. She embraced Zelda. "Gods, you had me so worried."
"What happened to you?" Zelda asked as they pulled away.
"Remember when Sakon needed me in sound and lighting?" Zelda nodded. "Well, that was a fucking lie. He turned out to be Yiga. One of their best, too."
"Wait, was Sakon a Yiga or the Yiga Sakon?"
"I don't know. Kinda hard to tell when you're pounding each other's heads into a soundboard." That explained the weird volume changes. "Point is I got away and found Link in the fucking clutches of some Yiga bitch who looked exactly like me."
Zelda cleared her throat. "Yes, about that. They sort of... outed your relationship?"
Midna's jaw dropped, but she clamped it shut and threw her hands in the air. "Whatever. I can freak out about that later. Right now, Link is tied up in that hall with a bunch of hostages. We can't rescue him without getting someone killed, and Ghirabitch isn't gonna let them go until he has you too."
Zelda, who had been cradling her chin, slapped her fingers. "That's it! We'll fake another kidnapping of sorts, but this time I'm the victim."
"Sounds promising, but how?"
Zelda crouched down and summoned a brush, a bottle of ink, and an incomplete illusion strip. "Unfortunately, I only have one of these." She carefully painted the Sheikah characters for 'Yiga scout' at the bottom of the parchment. "We'll disguise you as the scout."
Midna found it rather suspicious that Zelda just happened to be prepared for this, but she pushed it aside. "And the blademaster?"
Zelda cleared her throat and called to the ceiling. "You can come down now."
Confusion mounted upon Midna as the lumbering form of Groose lowered himself from the shaft. Zelda's light guided him to the floor. He wheeled to the unconscious Yiga and whirled back to Midna with bulging eyes. "Did you actually kill three dudes?"
Midna scoffed. "Wanna be the fourth?" Groose flinched, and guilt deflated her. "I don't kill people," she said, "but tell anyone about my magic, and that might change." He cowered with a whimper. It wasn't nearly as fun intimidating him with magic on the table.
"There will be no murdering," Zelda declared. "Groose, do you think you can help us with a very important mission?"
His eyes glowed like a constellation of fireflies. "Is all of Hyrule at stake?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Then this sounds like a job for…" He curled his hands around the lower lapel of his blazer and tugged, but the layer remained firmly buttoned. "Hold on." He tugged, tugged, and tugged some more, until one-by-one, the buttons burst free. "The Guardian!" Groose struck the same pose as the superhero on his shirt. He was donned in brown armour with glowing blue and orange patterns. It was from the movie adaptation where they had cast a Hylian actor instead of a Sheikah much to Auntie Purah's scathing review.
Midna leaned towards Zelda. "Great muscle hire," she whispered sarcastically.
"Shut up."
How could a hero be in a more humiliating situation than to have his hands bound to the pipe behind him as he faced the citizens he was meant to protect? Dozens still gave him that pleading look. Save us, they said. Save us now. How? One act of resistance, and someone was dead.
That was enough to send Link into deep pits of shame, but Ghirahim dragged him down further with his taunts. Ones that cut deeper with an audience present. "Throughout history, I have never known a hero as weak as you," he drawled as he paced. "They all worked alone. Do you know why?"
Link kept his head bowed, hoping his fringe hid his unshakable grimace. It was the only way to clutch his last shred of dignity to his chest. No answers. No tears. Not a single hint of emotion to satisfy the demon.
"It's because anyone who tried to protect them were cut down," Ghirahim continued. "Your guardian challenged our great king, and he cut her down."
She survived, Link wanted to retort.
"Your 'friend' sought to control a body that wasn't his, and he was cut down."
We don't know if he's gone for good.
"Your girlfriend will be next, and then your darling sister."
And yet you still haven't caught them. That was Link's only comfort for now. Just enough to keep Ghirahim's taunts from leeching the last of his resolve.
Ghirahim crouched before the hero, who still refused to raise his head. "Hmm. Aren't you a colourful little chatterbox?" When Link declined to answer, Ghirahim seized his neck and slammed it against the pipe. Link grunted and kept his eyes screwed shut, waiting for Ghirahim to bring a bloody end to his failure of a quest, but for every second that crawled by, he was alive. Why was he still alive? Why the hostages? Why the bindings? Why the bother?
"This isn't nearly as fun without some banter," Ghirahim sneered. His grip constricted. "Say something, or someone gets shot."
Link slowly opened his glistening, bloodshot eyes, and Ghirahim rewarded him with a looser grip. Link drew breath and tried so hard to project strength on his features, but he knew he had failed when he heard the waver in his tone. "No one's died for me yet."
He hoped that would wound Ghirahim's argument somehow, but the villain started to chuckle, then cackle, and as he stood, he threw back his head and roared. One by one, the Yiga joined him in a deplorable chorus that filled the hall like a heavy bell, singing of some great truth Link was painfully ignorant of. And afraid to learn.
"That guardian of yours," Ghirahim began. "She never told you how your parents really died, did she?"
No. Not here. Not now. Not the greatest tragedy of his life unfurled before a crowd. He craved the answer, he truly did, but why now?
"Answer me, boy, or a scream will answer for you."
"They said it was an accident." No one ever said what kind of accident, and everyone told the twins not to ask until Impa was ready to tell. She was never ready.
His only clue of the horrific incident was the night it had happened. He had woken up to sobbing down the hall. Sobbing he did not recognise. Low and desperate and suffocating. He had gotten out of bed and tiptoed along the tile that became glassy and wet under his feet. It flowed from the laundry door, open just enough for Zelda to silently watch with hands clasped over her mouth.
Impa was hunched over the overflowing laundry sink in just her undergarments, crying as she scrubbed at the dark red stains in her clothes. The blood of their parents snaked towards them, and when it touched Zelda's toes, she screamed, and she never stopped screaming.
Neither did Link -he was better at hiding it- but as Ghirahim dangled that mystery before him, the soundproof wall was on the verge of collapse.
The side doors swung wide as the Yiga blademaster returned, followed by a scout shoving his prize forward. "Stop it!" Zelda cried, writhing in the gloved grip that held her arms behind her back. "Let us go!"
Ghirahim snatched her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. "I'm afraid we can't do that," he said. "You see, an old friend of yours has been dying to-"
"LEAVE HER!" Link yelled. Screw still and stoic. Not for one more second. His ropes creaked as if he expected to snap free, snatch up his sword, and down all three of those menaces that dared terrorise his sister.
Ghirahim sighed at Link. "Really, hero. I thought we made our arrangement quite clear. Do you need a demonstration of what will happen if you resist?" He raised his hand.
Zelda cried out before he completed the order. "No! No. We'll do anything. Just leave them."
Ghirahim smirked. "Well done, your grace. Your brother ought to follow your example." He pointed at the blademaster. "You. Bring me the boy."
With a clumsy salute, the blademaster marched forward and untethered Link's wrists from the pipe. His grip was pathetic. If not for the hostages and Zelda, it would've been a window of escape. The blademaster pulled Link by the elbow, and he had no choice but to obediently march along.
Stilled beside Zelda, the demonic lord leered down at his prey. "I do love a matching set." What a sickening novelty this must be for Ghirahim. The hero and the spirit maiden reborn as twins. "My master's servants are going to escort you to a new home," Ghirahim said. "If you try to escape…" He raised his hand again.
"NO!" Zelda screamed. "Everyone lives. Please!"
"Ah, the sound of begging is the best kind of music." Ghirahim spun to the crowd. "Take a good look at your heroes," he mocked, "for this is the last time you'll see them."
Tears sparkled in Saria's eyes as she gazed upon her best friend. Paya's face was buried in her hands as Riju lay an arm around her shoulders. Ashei glared at the twins for daring to give up. Link searched through a hundred faces for the ones he recognised, so he would remember how he failed them. There was one still unaccounted for. Where was Zant?
"Take them away," Ghirahim ordered.
The shadows snaked towards Rauru. He hobbled faster, clutching the golden medallion to his chest. Curse his old legs! They couldn't save him in his twilight years.
He drew his slate from his breast pocket and hit the first contact. Gate of Time. "What's up, honey?" asked Telma.
"The school's under-" A shadow stabbed through the slate and yanked it away. It shattered against a nearby wall.
A dozen more shadows shot forth. Rauru thrust out a hand, conjuring a hard light shield. The shadows chinked at it like pickaxes. "Who are you?" he demanded through gritted teeth.
First there was nothing but the tap tap of shadows, as if the entity was hesitant to answer. The voice came as the shadows twisted into a drill. A drawling voice that Rauru recognised. "Just an intern."
The barrier shattered, throwing Rauru onto his backside, but the explosion of light burned away the shadow cloak. Rauru's eyes widened. "Mr Ozul?"
Zant held out an open palm. "Hand it over."
"My boy, what have you gotten yourself into?"
Zant flinched, but when no scathing rants followed, he composed himself. "Five medallions down, and you get to hand the final one over to the twins as a freebee. That was the arrangement your order had, yes?"
"I can help you," Rauru soothed. "I know you're scared, but it's not too late."
How dare he ignore Zant's words! How dare he label a real threat as some stupid little boy! Zant knew what he was doing. He knew. He knew. He did. He knew. With his father's snarl, Zant's shadows seized the collar of the principal and slammed him against the wall. "What would some blind servant of Hylia know of exceptionalism?" he spat. "You're all about truth and justice and integrity, but that doesn't get you shit!"
"It's gotten your sister plenty."
Another slam. "Then you don't know her at all."
"I suggest you heed her words," Rauru rasped. "The cycle can end with you."
It was always about Midna. Midna, the exceptional. Midna, the beloved. Midna, the gifted. Zant grew up with the bitch, and she hadn't ended shit. He couldn't stand to see her heralded as some redeemed angel by the student body and the paragon twins while his achievements drowned in her shadow.
Vaati always said to have no mercy for those who kept you down with silver words. Morality was a shackle, and moral judgement was an insult, and those who insulted the ambitious deserved to be punished.
The old fool prattled on. "It's never too late to-"
The shadows ripped through flesh with a sick, wet crack. Eyes no longer showed Zant pity. The mouth that dressed insults in kind words hung open. The hands crossed over Rauru's chest fell to his side, and the Light Medallion chinked against the floor. It rolled in a circle to its final jingles, until it was flat. Silent.
There was only the pitter patter of blood.
Zant's hands were clean. His conscience was not. As he stepped away, the shadows withdrew, and the body slid down the wall, streaking it with a shiny, dark stain. Why did this revolt him? Why did this make him want to scream at the Goddesses until they rewound time by half a minute? He had crossed this threshold weeks ago. This was not the first death that he could be faulted for.
It was the only death where no one else shared the blame.
The boy fell to his knees as he pushed back the tears with balls of his palms. It was too late to do the right thing, but that was never his goal. With the Light Medallion in the possession of his shadows, he was the closest to exceptional he had ever been. Why did he still see distance? The exceptional were apathetic about exploiting the weak. Zant should be apathetic too. He just wasn't.
But he would. In time. He just needed a little time.
When the Yiga and their captives pushed through the school's back entrance, Link had a choice to make. The grip of the blademaster holding him was barely forceful, but Link's hands were still bound, and even away from the hostages, the scout could leverage Zelda against him.
The grip on her seemed just as loose, but he supposed Zelda did not know strong and weak grips like he did. She did not recognise these opportunities to resist, so it was up to him to show her.
Link tore from the blademaster, spun around, and delivered a roundhouse kick to his jaw. He thudded into the grass with a howl. Link sprinted for the scout, who was no longer gripping Zelda, prepared to ram that spandex stomach, when she sailed between them. "Wait!"
He skid so hard that he almost fell. As he straightened, the scout reached for something on his chest and peeled it away. The red suit melted into a gown of torn, wispy shadows. Link creased his brow. "Midna?"
"Sorry. Not her," she sarcased as she swept behind him. "I'm a stupid cultist who is oh-so-scared of your headbutts." Her magic cut through the ropes and they fell away.
Link massaged his sanded wrists as he turned around. "If you're the scout, then who's…"
Groose's face stirred beneath the askew mask, a nasty bruise forming on his jawline. Zelda crouched beside him, removed the mask, and raised three digits. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Ouh… fwee?" he answered groggily.
"Well, at least you didn't give him a concussion," Zelda said to Link. She stood and dusted the grass off her knees. "Are you alright?"
Physically? "Yeah." Mentally? Oh gods… "The hostages are still in there. Gotta save them before Ghirahim catches on."
Zelda pressed her fingers together as she paced. "Yes. I, uh, haven't thought that far ahead. We need to… Um, we need to disable Ghirahim and the Yiga all at once somehow. It's the only way no one gets hurt."
"Great," Link answered. "How?"
"I don't know!"
Midna clapped her hands. "Skylight. Bird's-eye-view."
Zelda perked up. "That's a good start."
Groose propped himself on his elbows. "Wha' abou' me?" He sounded like he was talking around a large stone in his mouth.
"Rest here for now," Zelda said. "You've earned it."
He nodded as he lay back down. "Yeah," he said softly to himself. "Yeah, ah di'. Yeah…"
Though Link was grateful for the part Groose played in his rescue, he was glad to not be subjected to working with him. As the rest crept around the building, his mind wandered towards Zelda. Something was off. She was a little too prepared for this scenario.
Zelda stopped by a wall on the outside of the hall. She and Midna levitated themselves to the roof, careful to avoid the windows. Zelda lifted Link as she was the most proficient with the skill. With Link in lead, the three of them crawled towards the bathroom-sized skylight.
Individual sides didn't give them a complete view of the hostages and captors below, partially because they had to keep their heads from casting shadows onto the volatile cult. Link and Midna filled in the details from their angles for Zelda, and now it was up to her to solve their most perilous puzzle-box yet.
"What if we warped away the Yiga before they shoot?" Zelda whispered.
Midna shook her head. "I'd need access to the sky and time to break them down, and that's if I have enough energy in me."
Zelda tapped her chin. "We could find a way to noiselessly open the window, and then I can use a strip to teleport down there and throw up a light shield. It'll only last about ten seconds though."
"Not enough."
"There's ten of them, plus Ghirahim," said Link. "With Midna's blasts and my crossbow, we could take them out in that much time."
"We'd have to be wicked fast," Midna said. "There's a lot to achieve in just the first second."
"Well, I suppose we have no choice but to try." Zelda summoned a premade teleportation strip for herself, and half-a-dozen pre-made phantom arrows for Link. How convenient. He narrowed his eyes as he loaded one projectile onto his crossbow and stored the rest in his void.
With that done, they took their positions for the perfect opening second. Midna knelt opposite the hinges of the sky window, her hands laid atop each other as they hovered above her lap. She was fully cloaked in shadows to hide her identity from the students and staff. Link was on one knee by the window's left, a phantom arrow loaded and pointed at his first unsuspecting target. The ability to summon and shoot arrows without loading them made the Yiga crossbows just as dangerous as guns. That same ability made Link equally as dangerous to the Yiga.
Zelda clamped the warp strip in her teeth as she mentally recounted the plan. Teleport. Shield. Seven metre radius. She could do this.
She signed the spell and the moment she poofed, the first second began. Midna's magic wrenched open the roof. Zelda puffed into the crowd and threw up the shield. The Yiga's ammo ricocheted off the golden light. Blasts and arrows downed all ten Yiga with a second to spare for Ghirahim.
Where was Ghirahim?
The barrier flickered and died. "Run!" Zelda rasped. Everyone stampeded for the exits, pouring into the halls and the outdoors. Midna lowered herself and Link into the empty hall. He made a break for the Master Sword while Midna stayed by Zelda's side, crackling orbs ready to hurl at the first sign of diamonds.
One-by-one, the doors slammed shut. Midna seized Zelda's elbow and held her spare hand out to Link, who sprinted towards her. Once they connected, she could warp them to safety.
Cold steel pressed against her throat. "Fall back, little imp." The arm fell from Midna's grasp. Ghirahim's lightning paralysed her, just as it did in the Shadow Temple.
Link skid to a halt and threw an arm around Zelda, though he ached to have Midna in his protective embrace as well.
Ghirahim growled beside Midna's ear, though she was not the target of his wrath. "You sneaky little princess," he seethed. "Our plan was flawless, but you knew, didn't you?"
Link tore his eyes away from Midna. To stare at his sister. With hurt. At last Zelda knew, with her whole being, that she had made the gravest mistake of her life. It led to the trauma of her brother, her friends, and countless peers. With Midna at the mercy of Ghirahim's blade, perhaps the death of a friend would cap off the consequences.
"ANSWER ME!" Ghirahim yelled.
Zelda gulped. "Yes, I did."
"Then know that right here, right now, I won't let your cheap tricks thwart me again." Ghirahim grabbed a fistful of Midna's hair and pulled it back. Her exposed neck heaved against the sharp metal. "Surrender now, or surrender her life."
Midna hated him with everything she had. How dare he reduce her to some bargaining chip. How dare he force her to live or die as a pawn!
The twins knew how unfair this was on her, but the choices were there, and there was no third option. They parted from each other, the Master Sword dispersed, and Zelda's hand folded into Link's. Whatever awful fate awaited them, they'd face it together. And escape it together if they could.
"Midna," Link said. "No matter what happens after this, know that you're worth it." She wasn't worth a whole kingdom. She wanted to scream that at them, but her tongue was bound.
Ghirahim smirked. "Good little children." He snapped his free fingers. Two small vials appeared before the twins. They held a yellow liquid Zelda vaguely recognised as an ancient sedative of sorts. Why this instead of some fast-acting poison? "Drink up."
Trembling fingers popped off the corks. The rim of the vial rose to quivering lips. Just as glass touched flesh, a loud thwack startled the twins, followed by pained cries, the clatter of metal, and a body hitting the floor.
Midna stumbled towards the twins, hand pressed to her neck. Behind her, Groose stood, panting, with a folded chair in hand. At his feet, the dazed demon stirred. And growled.
Zelda's light pulled Groose in. Everyone snapped to Midna like magnets. Together, they broke down into hundreds of black particles and flew out the skylight.
When they reassembled on the grass behind the hall, Midna's eyes rolled back into her skull as she went limp. Link swiftly caught her, and when her head lolled back with a soft moan, he wanted to take the chair Groose had and smash him with it! Blood trickled from a cut on her neck. The sword must have sliced it when Ghirahim was sent to the floor. Link buried his stinging eyes in her collar. Of course this harrowing night had to end in the manslaughter of his girlfriend.
Zelda squeezed his shoulder. "She's fine. Just exhausted. It only cut through the fat."
Link blinked a few times as he took a second look. Zelda was right. It wasn't deep, and it wasn't gushing blood, but she was still in need of treatment.
"Groose," Link said. "Thanks."
"Oh, uh…" He scratched the back of his head. "You're welcome. And I'm really sorry for all the times I've been such an ass-"
"Not now." Link threaded an arm under Midna's knees. "Don't tell anyone about her magic, okay?"
Groose nodded. "Yeah. Sure. I'll… I'm gonna look for Dad." He joggled away, unable to handle the absurdity of being the average joe among the magical a second longer.
As the twins rounded the building, they glimpsed the flashing lights of what could be an ambulance. Despite his heavy load, Link pushed himself a little faster. Anything to get Midna the help she needed.
Well, there was an ambulance, but there were also police cars, and half-a-dozen guns pointed the twins' way. Zelda squeaked and threw up her hands. Were they just a bit jumpy from the event? Let it be that, please!
One of the officers barked into a megaphone. "Put Miss Ozul down." Link gingerly placed her on the grass and raised his hands. Hopefully that would be enough to make them knock it off.
"Link and Zelda Harkinian. You're under arrest."
Oh, for fuck's sake!
Next up on the mental health chopping block: *bodyslams Link*
