?, Ravio

The Lorulean knight stared out into the troubled land, as the oranges of fire clashed with the black of night. Monsters had attacked out of nowhere, and the army was vastly unprepared and overwhelmed. King Yuga, in his final order to Ravio, told him to find his daughter and find a way to save Lorule. Ravio felt bad for leaving the king behind to fight the leader of the monsters, but Hilda's safety was more important.

He couldn't believe the coward of Lorule was about to save the land's last harbinger of light. Despite his lack of bravery, Ravio was committed to carrying out the king's wish. He took solace in the fact that he knew where Hilda was, and that the invaders hadn't even made it up to this level yet. She was in the chambers that lead to the Sacred Realm, accessible only to those of royal blood or their most trusted confidants. Ravio, being the princess' best friend and personal knight, and (given the mission) highly favored by the king, knew how to enter himself and join Hilda.

Panting and trying his best to hold his footing as the ground began to rumble, Ravio stepped up to the highest floor of Lorule Castle. He rushed to the large, black double doors and quickly chanted the words needed to open them. "Gods! Open the door to the Sacred Realm! So say I, Hilda of Lorule!" The doors budged open, Ravio pushing them further to get inside quickly before slamming them shut. He turned around and fell on his butt, taking deep breaths as he rested.

Down the stone path, Ravio could see his princess knelt before the Triforce in prayer. He got on to his feet and walked down to her, hearing that her "prayer" was actually her crying. He placed a hand on Hilda's shoulder as he gazed at the upside-down Triforce, raised high in the sky. "Princess."

The young maiden looked up to her knight, her irises blending with her sclera. Ravio raised her up, but it wasn't long before the woman was teary-eyed again on Ravio's shoulder. "I….I'm so sorry!"

"For what?" Before Hilda could answer, the realm around them became dark. Ravio looked up to the skyward Triforce, watching the golden relic drop from the sky as it lost its color. It crashed right behind Hilda, breaking into hundreds of black shards. In the distance, he could hear the roars of an awakening mountain, the gurgles of a lake, the howl of a dark woods, and the silence of thievery. He looked down, realizing that he and Hilda were rising above their homeland and everything he could hear...was happening. "NO!"


Nabooru Town

Ravio snapped back to reality, just as another flame burst right in front of him. He was in the former throne room of Nabooru, hiding behind the seats of its former king and queen for projection. His pursuer had finally found the Lorulean and desired to give him a taste of hell's fire. He had no way to fight the ghost, but he did have a plan.

He had found a reflective shield in the room, on one of the many bodies spread throughout. He had heard of a "mirror shield" back in Lorule, but out of all of his various items, never possessed one himself. If the Gerudo's shield was anything like it, all Ravio needed was a few more minutes.

The dawn of a new day was fast approaching.


Great Palace, Link

It was like fighting a mirror, and that mirror could fight back.

Link swung left, his shadow did the same to met his blade. Link rolled back to fire an arrow, the dark figure would destroy it with an arrow of his own. For some reason, Link threw a bomb at the clone, but it caught the bomb and blew out the fuse before dropping it to the ground. Veran had made more than just a copy, she created another Link. It knew his every move, and Link knew his.

That was disturbing on one level, but to top that, it was better than Link too. It was faster. Had Link not trained with Zelda and Impa, he was sure his reaction times would not be as quick as they are, albeit lacking against his shadow. Strength was also against Link, as every strike the shadow make felt like Link was fighting Horsehead all over again. But the worst part was that the bastard had a mouth, which annoyed Link to no end. The shadow just kept talking and talking and talking and-

"Heh, you think too much. How is it that I'm you?" Link raised his shield up to parry his opponent then went for a thrust. The Dark Link (who Link decided to call Dark) rocked his hips to his right, the sacred blade missing its mark. "Oh, missed."

"Haa!" Link spun on his toes to the right, hoping the spin attack will hit. As he came to a stop, he saw that Dark was indeed gone. "Good riddance."

"Hello." Link looked at his outstretched blade, seeing his nemesis standing on his sword.

"What-Ah!" Link held the center of his kicked face, groaning as his copy chuckled in jubilance.

"I don't know how you think Zelda needs to be protected by you when you let your opponent stand on your sword. Heck, now that I think about it, she had never needed to be protected by you." Dark began to pace the room. "When you were bullied by that Mido kid, Zelda had only been there in Ordon a week. She beat that kid to a pulp, and though it embarrassed him, you should be even more embarrassed that a girl had to fight where you couldn't. It wasn't even a respectable tag-in, but she had the lay down the law because you were weak."

Link didn't say a word, attacking Dark. The Hero missed his sword swings but pulled out his hookshot, firing it. Not expecting the hookshot, Dark moved in time prevent a dangerous wound, but not in time to avoid a gash on his left oblique. Blood didn't drip, but in its place, the wound left a gaping hole in the shadow's body, and the dark being indeed felt pain. Link recoiled the chain, placing the item back in his pocket. "I am not weak. I was a kid."

Dark stood up, slashing his sword at Link. The Hero blocked and blocked and blocked until they came to a clash. "Then explain Groose! Explain Horsehead! Explain Aquamentus! Explain King Dodongo! Explain Gyorg! Hell, explain His Majesty! Each time you were up against something, Zelda, or in the latter's case, Ganondorf of all people bailed you out. You were afraid to be the person you were destined to become!" Link pushed Dark away, moving backward as Link tried his best to kill him.

"Shut up."

"You could've saved Ordon, your father, had you fought Horsehead that day if you weren't afraid."

"Shut up!"

"But now they trust you to be the one Hyrule needs? Heh, Hyrule is better off in darkness if you are the light!"

"I said shut up!" Link swung downward, but too much force threw him off balance. Dark took advantage, kicking the Hero in the stomach and elbowing him in the back. Link groaned as his rolled on the cold floor, the clone's laughter echoing off the wall. "But the best part in all this is, despite all your weaknesses, you believe you have a chance with dear Zelda? You believe she could love you? There are better options for her! She's a princess, you're a commoner. She could marry Ravio, heck she could solidify two kingdoms with Ralph." As the clone spoke, Link spotted a small. blue sphere behind him. A plan formed in his mind, but he'll need to keep Dark in place. As he tried to stand up, Dark smiled. "What makes you think you are worth it to her?"

Link held his shield in front of his, his sword pointed towards Dark but not fully outward. "I have done a lot of things in the last month that makes me unworthy to be a Hero, but maybe that's because I am not supposed to do those things. I may have failed to beat Horsehead many times, but I am the one who killed him. Those bosses, I got Gyorg because I accepted who I am. I saved the Resistance on Death Mountain, or did you forget that? But… As much as I wish I could, I couldn't have saved Ordon, because I wasn't the Hero the world needed at the time. I may not be the light the country needs, but I am the Hero of the Resistance. I might not have a chance with Zelda, but I will be her Hero, as I have been before. You named all that and forget when she was lost in the forest, dropped her sandwich in the dirt, or...simply just needed her Best Friend For As Long As You Live." Link charged up a sword beam. "You are not a perfect copy of me."

"How not? I have none of your weaknesses, yet all your strengths."

"Except one."

"And which one is that?"

Link smirked. "You talk too damn much." Link fired the beam. It flew for Dark's torso, but the clone ducked perfectly. It went according to Link's plan as he covered himself up with the Hylian Shield just as the beam zapped the displaced bomb. Link was thrown back by the force of the explosion, falling into the room he met Veran within. As he landed, he could hear the cries of his dark self, shouting curses of vengeance and whatnot before those died out, replaced by an inhumane sound of gurgling. As Link used the rising platforms to pick himself up, he looked to the other room, where he could see the consequence of his handiwork. "Oh shit."

He had forgotten the Great Palace was deep in an active volcano. Lava seeped through the large crater in the wall, quickly filling the room he fought Dark. Hovering above the molten rock was the prize for beating his copy, the red medal from earlier. Thinking quickly, he fired his hookshot and dragged it to him, quickly stuffing both things in his pocket as the lava began to enter his room. He climbed to the top of the platform, looking around for the one living thing unaccounted for. "Spryte! Spryte! Where are you!"

Clink! Clink! Clink! He turned to the northeastern corner, seeing his companion trapped in a bottle, almost consumed by lava as it hastily filled the room. "Spryte!" Link shot an arrow at the cork of the bottle, successfully opening it. Spryte zipped out straight to Link.

"Where are we going?"

"To wherever Zelda is! Hurry!" Link closed his eyes as Spryte flew around him to use her magic to send them away. A bright light enclosed him before fizzling out moments later, and Link's nose was greeted with...fresh air, his feet and legs with tall grass. Opening his eyes, he could see he was somewhere in the plains of Hyrule, and to confirm his location, he looked around until he could spot the mountain range he was formerly upon. He was somewhere in North Hyrule, close to the Midoro Swamp.

"Link! Spryte!" Link turned, facing an opened cottage outside the swamp of Midoro. Out came Hilda and Midna, the latter sheathing her sword and stepping forward.

"Spryte, summon Epona. Hey girls."

Hilda nodded. "Hey yourself. You look like you got out a bad situation."

"Yeah. They don't call it Death Valley for anything. Where's Zelda?"

"She's resting. She used a lot of magic. Heck, even Midna is beat, and I guess I am too. Midoro was no joke. They met the king."

"I met the queen. Yeah, there's a Queen of the Imperials. She's bad."

Hilda sighed, then looked behind Link. "Hey, where's Ravio?"

Link dropped his face. "Shit… We got separated on route to Death Valley. He made a huge Poe chase him. I don't even know where he is. But he's alive, last time Spryte checked." Link looked away to the horizon, gazing at the sunrise. "We need to rest and regroup. When the day is older, we'll search for him."


Nabooru Town

Ravio lowered the Mirror Shield, the front side of it glowing a dull orange. He gazed up at the disembodied Jalhalla, whose menacing mask mocked Ravio's unfortunate situation. The Lorulean was trapped, with nowhere to run or hide. In Jalhalla's mind, Ravio was toasted.

Ravio was many pathetic things right now, but none of that required him to fall to the giant Poe. As a matter of fact, Ravio's plan was about to come to fruition. All he needed was for the monster to blow into his lantern. "Come on! Roast me you fu-eeiihh!" Ravio jumped away before Jalhalla materialized and body slammed into the floor. The ghost rose up, took a huge intake of air, and released. Debris and barely decomposed bodies flew in Ravio's direction before covering him up.

To finish the boy off, the Poe fusion swept its lantern, sending small fireballs to the ground. A blaze instantly sparked the area Ravio was last seen, threatening to consume the old throne room. Jalhalla chuckled, satisfied with its work until the flames suddenly began to dissipate towards a singular point. That point ended up being Ravio and his Mirror Shield as he rose up from the debris, smirking. "Burn you bastard!" Flames expelled from the shield, heading straight for Jalhalla. The monster dematerialized in time, but that was never Ravio's plan of attack. The flames went through Jalhalla, but made an impact at the curtains covering the windows in the throne room. The curtains incinerated as soon as the fire made contact, allowing the bright rays of dawn to filter into the room. Bright as the throne room became, Jalhalla weakened, materialized, and fell to the ground. As the light grew in intensity, Jalhalla burst apart, becoming the miniature Poes that fused it hours ago. One by one, those Poes became little purple fireworks, celebrating Ravio's long-fought victory over them. Once they were all gone, Ravio sighed, dropping to his knees in exhaustion. "Din's Fire, why me?"

A new light shone in Ravio's face, and he looked up for the source of it. Amidst the debris ahead of him, a green medallion floated. Getting back to his feet, the Lorulean stuffed the Mirror Shield in his item pouch and walked over to the medallion. As soon as he took it in hand, the world around him began to swirl, switching from the wreckage of brown and red to the calmness of green, dark blue, and orange. Catching himself on his feet, Ravio began to search his surroundings before hearing voices somewhere in the distance.

"What do you mean you got separated from him!"

"Hilda, I-"

"YOU LEFT HIM ALONE?! AND WITH SOME MONSTER?! I SWEAR TO YOU, LINK KOROKS, IF HE IS DEAD, I WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN WHERE YOU STAND! So say I, Hilda of-"

"Hey." Link and Hilda faced the newcomer Ravio, who sheepishly waved to the duo.

Link sighed, relieved that he gets to live another day. "Oh thank Farore you're alive."

Ravio shrugged. "I handled that ghost. You seem to be alright as well."

"Ah, I just climbed up a mountain, met the queen, fought a clone, and barely escaped a temple filling with lava. Nothing too hard at all."

"Ah." Turning from Link, Ravio faced the princess of his homeland, who couldn't even face the guy she was ranting about. He felt a pat on his shoulder, a sign from Link that he knew what Ravio was eventually going to ask, and began heading for the cottage nearby. Walking up to Hilda, Ravio lifted her face, gazing down at her wet ruby eyes. "Hey. I'm here now. Don't kill Link."

"Ravio." Hilda launched herself upon Ravio, almost knocking them to the ground. Holding their combined weight, Ravio steadied himself while Hilda hugged and cried on his chest.


From the cottage window, Midna watched the scene between Ravio and Hilda, looking away as Link entered. "Hey, Midna."

"Hey Link, hey Spryte. Zelda's awake now, in the back room. I told her you two had just got here, so she's expecting you."

Link nodded while Spryte zipped deeper inside the house. Chuckling, Link patted Midna on her small shoulder. "I guess I won't keep her waiting, huh?"

"Yeah." Link departed, and seconds later, Midna could hear the jubilant voice of Zelda in the back. Sighing, Midna gazed back out the window, though towards the sky. Zelda had her Link. Hilda had her Ravio. Hell, Oren had her Ralph while they're in Labrynna.

Somewhere in the land of Hyrule, Midna's Ganondorf was waiting for her.