Vah Medoh
24 hours remain. 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds remaining. 23 hours, 59 minutes, 58 seconds remaining. Veran herself counts each second that passes, every second that brings the world closer and closer to her heel. She once heard that every second of life counts, to live life to the fullest because when the time is up, nothing in the world can bring it back. Sure, you can rewind time, but that means you wasted the previous use of it. Going forward in time to see the future ruins the time you could have had in the present, just to prevent said future. To freeze time is to freeze life itself. To change the past to change the future is the most dangerous use of time, for ultimately what is changed is usually worse than the natural progression.
Veran, a long time ago, meddled with time. She possessed the body of the Oracle of Sages, went back half a century in Labrynna's history, and possessed the queen of the time period. The change was to bring sorrow to the hearts of the Labrynnians in order to help some witches revive Ganon. After possessing the Oracle, she gained the ability to manipulate time on a smaller scale, by either slowing it down to a near-freeze or speeding it up. This only had an area effect, so she couldn't, for example, speed up the next 23 hours, 58 minutes, 27 seconds.
The upper deck of Vah Medoh, essentially its back, is exposed to the chilly air of the upper troposphere. She has grown used to being on the deck for long periods of time. It allows her to see the earth below, to watch the carnage Vah Medoh inflicts with its powerful beam with a literal bird's eye view. It beats looking through a glass ball, for sure.
23 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds until she gets to destroy Darunia as she did Rauru.
"It is a beautiful night, isn't it Veran?" Veran didn't need to turn to know the clicking of hooves belongs to Horsehead. He steps to her side like an equal, but she doesn't mind. Ranking has never really mattered to her, as long as results were being produced.
"Tonight is indeed beautiful. A cool calm before a song of storms."
"That is what you humans say."
"Yes… Horsehead, you cannot see it now, but in the city, the people are realizing that tomorrow might be their final day on earth. You know what we humans do in that moment of finality? We hang close to those we love, forgive those who have done us wrong, and pray to the gods for redemption. We do that because it is all we know how to do. Monsters, they don't have that soul, and that is why we're superior. We have a soul."
"If that is true, Lady Veran, then what are you, Vaati, and Zant? Man or monster?"
"Neither."
"Do you love the king?"
That question shakes Veran to her very core. She turns to Horsehead, offended he asks that of her. "Of course."
23 hours, 53 minutes, 43 seconds remaining.
"As a woman loves her husband, or as a monster who loves the ambition?"
She turns away, lowering her gaze to Darunia. Below, the city was lit by candlelight, whether on the street or inside homes. In one of those homes, the Princess and the Sage of Forest hides. It reminds her of another city back in her younger days, one she still calls home but under the night sky, it doesn't light anymore. "Would you believe me if I admit the former instead of the latter?"
"I'm not judging you for either, but I have always wondered."
"Hmm. Yes, I love his ambition, but I loved the man first."
"Then you won't mind me asking if...if there's a reason a true heir hasn't been born."
Veran had nothing to say for an answer. She didn't know if she didn't want to answer or if there is one she can give. It isn't like she never had an opportunity to have a child, yet as the thought bears more on her mind, she couldn't help but think why she had never borne one.
23 hours, 52 minutes, 53 seconds remaining.
Beside her, Horsehead sighs, most likely realizing what he had done. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, for-"
"No, it is fine. To answer you, I believe...that something so pure as a baby cannot inhabit a dark evil such as I."
"When you held the Goron child, I thought you could be a great mother. You have the Gerudo Princesses, you raised them well the past five years, and I know Vaati considers Zant his own son. But...maybe you are right."
"...Maybe."
"A monster, such as I and Ghirahim, would not care about love or children. You, my queen, are definitely a man."
23 hours, 50 minutes, 54 seconds remaining.
Horsehead walks away, unknowingly leaving a heartless queen heartbroken. That feeling allows the queen to let a singular tear fall from her eye. It is not a tear from the woman Veran is, but a tear for the woman she was and could have been.
Those feelings were tossed aside immediately as a new presence appeared behind Veran. Quickly wiping her tear away, she slightly turns her head to acknowledge the newcomer. "Koume and Kotake." Saying the names of her adopted princesses has a slight distaste on her tongue, as those were the names of the witches who strove to revive Ganon centuries ago. Yet her daughters were nothing like those conniving hags. The current incarnations were...not as annoying, especially since they didn't bicker. "What brings you here?"
"Kotake is no more. She was defeated by Zant's sister. Twilight Princess, I think she's calling herself."
"Then what did you do, Koume, that I sense the both of you?" Veran turn fully around this time, gasping as she saw Koume's new form. Physically, she was Koume, but on the left side of her body, wherever there was once orange is now ice blue. The left half of her hair, the left iris, the left half of her clothing, all now blue. Koume nor Kotake stood before her; it is Twinrova.
Twinrova gestures to herself. "Love the new look?"
"Did you kill Kotake, Koume?"
"She was weak, Mother. You knew it, I knew it. I am the true successor to the Imperial throne, so I had to eliminate the competition. She was dying anyway."
"Your brother?"
"I don't know, but his presence is so weak he might as well be considered dead. Death Mountain caved in, after all."
He survived being thrown off the mountain. He survived a fatal blow to his heart. A cave-in is possibly nothing to the Prince of Thieves. Veran keeps that thought to herself. "Hmph. And Zant?"
"Disappeared. I don't sense his sister anymore either. But dead, they are not. More like gone from this realm."
Midna and Zant returned to their homeworld then. Both royals of the other realm were searching for the path back, and they seemingly found it. That eliminates another sage from the equation. Zant's loss will be heavy, yet she is sure Vaati will find a way to bring him back, if Zant doesn't do so himself. "That is unfortunate. Why are you here?"
Koume walks to her mother, gazes down to the town below, and smiles. "You should let me give this place a makeover. First I'll freeze it, then melt it down. Or maybe burn it all and then cool it."
"Or maybe neither." Veran, despite her statement, bears a smile on her face. Her daughter's tenacity is welcoming in this new form, but Darunia is Veran's playground. "I have things here under control. But if you desire carnage, introduce it to your people. Join Ghirahim at Mido."
Koume's smile broadens. "Thank you, Mother."
"Remember that Ghirahim is in charge, but...the kill of the Sage of Spirit is yours."
"My pleasure." Koume, or Twinrova, vanishes immediately. Veran looks down on Darunia Town again, her smile morphing to a scowl. Tomorrow, her family will be victorious. This world will end, a new one will begin, and maybe in that world, Veran will have all she desires. No Oracles, no Ambi, no rebellion, and a child of her own.
The lights of the city gradually disappear under a veil of clouds, yet as Veran looks around the city, she could only see that only the city itself is barred from sight. The surrounding plain is clear, and like the plain, it is clear to her as to what was happening. It makes no difference to her as she chooses not to act...as of right now.
Once she acts, she will rip a baby from his family, and give Darunia Town a final warning. With a single thought, she will call upon Fyrus.
23 hours, 47 minutes, 42 seconds remaining.
Spryte
Spryte sits on the windowsill in Daruk's home, looking to the empty street the mayor's residence resides. It is quiet, not because of the day of the week or because of seclusion; like most of the city, it is quiet because, in a day's time, the world they know will be fall in chaos. It is a miraculous wonder that no one has turned in Princess Zelda and Ravio despite being wanted by the Imperials. Even more miraculous is the will of the Darunians; like Mido Town, they too had a public execution of their former leader. They know the tenacity of their overlords. They deny to give in to it.
She remembers coming to the town with Shade and Queen Zelda, both when they were nineteen years old and Hyrule was free of threats. They spent many hours on the beach just west of here and would watch trade ships arrive and depart from port. Not much of that happens these days. Not much of anything she remembers of North and East Hyrule is the same. Vaati and his rule sapped the spirit that not even Ganon and Agahnim could.
It starts to rain outside, and Spryte loses interest in the world. She turns to Ravio, the young man resting his chin on the windowsill. His face is as blank as hers, though both were expressing the same feeling of uselessness. They are the last of the Resistance in the town, yet without their friends, they didn't know what to do.
"Spryte… It is raining now."
"I can see that."
"We came inside an hour ago, right?"
"You could say that."
"We checked the skies several times today, and from what I can recall, there weren't any clouds in the sky an hour ago. Not over land, not over the sea."
Spryte tries her best to remember the weather an hour ago. She too can recall clear, dark skies around the town. In her many years, she doesn't recall the weather changing dramatically in an hour without warning. "Well...it could be some form of magic. You think it is Veran?"
Ravio lifts his head. "No, I do not believe she has control over the weather...but now that you say it, we know someone who can." Spryte watches the lightbulb turn on for Ravio and the Sage of Forest quickly races across the room she shares with him to gather his belongings. Spryte has never seen the boy move so quickly when Hilda's life is not in danger.
"Ravio?"
"Din! It's Din, the Oracle of Seasons!"
"Oh...Oh!" That meant one thing, the Resistance has arrived and, with the magic barrier in place, also within the city.
Ravio gathers his gossip stone and excitedly shouts at it. "Can anyone read me? This is Ravio. I repeat this is-"
"You do not know how good it is to hear your voice again, Sir Sheerow. Where are you?"
Spryte recognizes the voice as General Bagu. "Spryte and I are with the mayor."
"Princess Zelda and Princess Oren?"
"Oren was taken and Zelda...well, I do not know how to explain it, but she's safe. We cannot disturb her meditation, she says."
"I think I understand. Now I need you to get the mayor out the city. We're evacuating the town and fortifying defenses for tomorrow's fight. We only got a few hours of cloud cover, so we must be hasty. Come to the southern entrance to town."
"Yes, sir."
Ravio
Getting the mayor and his family assembled and ready to evacuate took about ten minutes. Ravio has Spryte scouting the road ahead while he leads Daruk and his family a short distance behind, in case Imperial monsters were around. He is sure that Veran, Yuga, and Horsehead know something is up, and he expects retaliation before tomorrow.
He did his best to lead the Goron family, but he quickly finds out that Gorons really hate water. It is a fine irony that Daruk is mayor of a port town yet has apprehensions about stepping in a puddle.
"How much longer?" the mayor asks.
Ravio thinks that Daruk would know just how far they are from the southern gate. "I do not know, but it shouldn't be far. He's following Spryte, who in turn in dowsing for the presence of Nayru, who is stationed at the southern gate. Ravio's backup is to use his sage powers to detect life, but because he cannot pinpoint a singular person's life unless he has many interactions with the person, searching for Bagu is his choice. That will take more time to single one person out from what he expects to be a large crowd.
Ravio is so focused on moving to the gate he almost doesn't notice Spryte hovering in place. He stops just in front of her. She has her back to him, still as a blade of grass in a dead wind. "Spryte, are you okay?"
"Ravio...I sense something sinister behind us."
Ravio turns around, looking to the five Gorons behind him. Indeed he could sense a threatening presence and it was indeed close. There is no one but the seven of them in the area. Daruk, his wife, his son, his daughter-in-law, and his grandson couldn't be producing the darkness. They couldn't be…
Spryte floats over to the youngest, placing a hand on his forehead. "Oh no."
"Spryte?"
"It is the baby. The darkness...is Veran's."
Right on cue, little Yunobo explodes with dark power. The force knocks back Ravio, Spryte, and the four Goron adults off their feet, but Yunobo floats in the air, slowly being wrapped by some cloudy, dark material. Ravio watches as the baby, cocooned by the material, grew legs, arms. and mass. First, he was as half as tall as Ravio, then as tall as Ravio, and grew to the size of a fully grown male Goron. Then he grew beyond that.
He had to get Daruk and his family away. "Daruk! Take your family and get them out of here. Spryte, lead them out, and bring an Oracle back with you." Daruk and his family look conflicted to leave his grandson behind, so Ravio lowered his voice to comfort the rock humanoids. "There's nothing you four can do right now. Leave it to me to return him to normal. The only way I can do that is if I know his family is okay."
Daruk faces his family, saying something that Ravio couldn't hear, and turns back to his grandson as his family begins to roll towards Spryte. Ravio begins to argue, but the Darunian chief stops him. "Before you say anything, I am not going to let you fight for my town alone, especially my grandson. We take him together."
Well, Ravio couldn't argue with that. "Fine, but even for a Goron, you need to defend yourself."
Daruk smirks as he turns to Yunobo, now towering over most of the buildings in the vicinity. "I got offense and defense covered. HAH!" Daruk claps his hands together. As they part, a large hammer-like weapon appears from thin air, in which Daruk grabs and heaves up to his shoulder. At the same time, a shield similar to Zelda's Nayru's Love surrounds Daruk until he casts it away.
Yunobo is finished growing and is now the largest thing in Darunia Town. To Ravio's calculations, he is now fifty feet, and with the combined power of Veran and a Goron, Yunobo is probably the most powerful monster the Imperials have unleashed. Add the weather conditions, and Ravio is looking to a sloppy battle.
Just his luck, Zelda, Ralph, Oren, Link, Ganondorf, Spryte, Midna, and Hilda just had to be elsewhere.
Yunobo deafens the two warriors below him with a powerful roar. Ravio could feel the bones in his head rattle, and it isn't pleasant. If Gorons had ears or something of the sort, Ravio learns that too as Daruk covers his auditory receivers. That roar leads to an intense heat around Daruk and Ravio, rooting from Yunobo igniting himself on fire. Before the ringing of their ears and the warmth of the air could subside, the ground begins to quake. Ravio looks up to see Yunobo taking his first step, much like a baby would with some difficulty. Ravio calms down a bit. Veran took over a baby, practically a newborn. There's no way it will know how to run.
Run?
Yunobo is running. To that end, Ravio makes the only call he supports any day of his cowardly life. "Run!" Ravio makes a quick click of his boots and pivots on his ankles. Now that he wears the Pegasus Boots, he runs twice as fast as he normally could. He dashes away from the monster, Daruk rolling at full speed beside him. The thundering footsteps of Yunobo are still close, yet it seems the gigantic baby is not moving any faster. Now Ravio can think.
When he defeated Jahalla in the ruins of Nabooru, he already knew Poes had a weakness to light of any kind, but it was just to his luck he needed an entire night of running and hiding before he got sunlight. Link and Zelda's stories of Aquamentus, Dodongo, Gyorg, and Vah Ruta. Midna's tale of Gohma. Ralph's tale of Vah Ruta, Arrghus, and Onox. All these bosses had a common theme, and that there is a weakness to be exploited.
Ravio never really observed baby human(oid)s, but he knows animals. Predators chase their prey. They are more attracted to the slower moving animals as they are easier to catch and kill. If he applies that logic now, maybe he could find a weakness on Yunobo. "Daruk!"
"What's up, brother?"
"Slow down a bit. He needs to follow after you."
"You want to use me as bait?"
Ravio is not crude enough to think of this stage of the plan with such words, but it is the case. "If we're going to beat him, then-"
"Ha ha, I never said I disagreed! Just hope you know what you're planning." Daruk begins to decrease in speed and turns at the next junction. Ravio had already gained some distance in the short time of enacting his plan, so as expected, Yunobo followed his grandfather.
Now to follow.
Rising to the rooftops by using the hook shot, Ravio chases after Yunobo and Daruk. Maneuvering the heights of Darunia Town is an easy task thanks to the wings on the sides of the Pegasus Boots, even though what he calls 'flying" or "hovering" is essentially careful leaping and landing. It allows him to keep up with his target while not being worried too much about how he crosses building to building.
Ravio begins to run down the traits of Yunobo's form in his head. For one, he's powered by dark magic, a magic only the abilities of Zelda, Midna, Hilda, Ganondorf, and Link's Master Sword can deal with. He is also on fire, which only Ralph and Oren can fight against evenly. It is nighttime too, which means Ravio's power is weaker now than it can be if it was daytime.
Physically, Yunobo is large and mobile, which makes him dangerous in small spaces such as the streets of Darunia. He also possesses an infant's mindset, yet with it being similar to predatory animals, it poses a danger too. As far as he could see, Yunobo had no obvious weakness. No giant eye, no enormous mouth inhaling air, no bright glowing light on the forehead. Just a running, large, darkness-possessed, rampant, energetic baby.
Wait a minute.
Energetic babies, from what Ravio has experienced, are always said to be sleepy, which makes no sense, but it might be the answer. If Yunobo could be knocked out, even if it doesn't return him to his natural state, it stops the baby from destroying the city. It will have to do.
A distance between grandfather and grandson had been created due to Yunobo still adjusting to moving at high speeds with wet weather conditions. Ravio moves quickly to arrange himself back on the ground and back at Daruk's side. The rolling Goron takes notice. "Tell me you have a plan."
"Just keep moving, and at the right moment, use your hammer." Ravio draws his sword, calls upon his sage powers, and swings it forward. Green light materializes a few feet ahead. Daruk and Ravio pass through it before the latter turns on his heel to face Yunobo. "Vinea, crescere!" At Ravio's command, thick green vines appear in place of the green light. As expected, Yunobo kept running, resulting in him tripping over the vines. He falls down to the street, kicking up dust and extinguishing his flaming body. This is the opportunity Ravio desires. "Daruk, now! On his head!" The Goron rolls back around towards his grandson, and at the right moment pops himself in the air, folds out the ball, and slams his hammer on the forehead.
Daruk lands close to Ravio. They gaze on Yunobo, groaning after the impact of Daruk's hammer. The Goron heaves the hammer back on his shoulder, turning to Ravio with worry. "You sure he's okay?"
"If you hit him with enough strength, he should only be slipping to an unconscious state. That should be enough to-DARUK!" Daruk turns to where Ravio points, to his rising grandson. He growls once he's at full height, and roars towards the heavens in anger. Looking down at his prey, Yunobo opens his mouth and spits a fireball. Daruk steps in front of Ravio and throws his arms forward, casting his shielding technique. The pair is unscathed, but their troubles were just beginning.
"We just need to get him down again."
"In that case." Daruk grabs Ravio and with all his strength throws the Lorulean down the street. Thankfully Ravio thinks quickly when he's afraid, or else to think of turning his sword to a large leaf would have escaped him. He lands safely, yet he doesn't know if his clothes are wet due to the rain or...something more embarrassing.
Daruk is rolling in hot. Changing the leaf back to the sword, Ravio recasts the green light, waits for Daruk to pass by, then summons the vines. In anticipation, Daruk passes Ravio before curving back around for the strike.
"Wait, Daruk!"
The Goron is smacked like a fly into a building, vanishing as the building begins to collapse on itself. Ravio has no time to check if Daruk is alive as he is now alone with Yunobo. And Yunobo had just learned to jump over vines.
Ravio needs to end this now. If the monster continues to adapt, there will not be a Darunia Town left to save. He points his sword forward, shouting "Vinea!" to send vines directly to Yunobo's chest. He expects the vines to burn once making contact with Yunobo's body but doesn't expect Yunobo to be pushed back. It is as if Ravio himself is stronger, which should be impossible. His powers are based on the forest as his title is named, meaning that whatever makes a forest stronger makes him stronger. Sunlight, water, and fertile ground.
At this moment, Ravio realizes just how much of a dumbass he has been. He's been so focused on the lack of sunlight that it passes his mind that there's a plethora of water falling from the sky, soak in by the ground and his clothes. He's so used to naturally being stronger in daytime due to light while he needs Oren to gift him her strength. Now, just as he siphons the rays of sunlight, he will siphon the droplets of water.
"Crescere circuitu." The vine begins to grow, little branches forming off the main one. They barely resist the fiery body of Yunobo before being shigned like string. Desperate, Ravio digs his boots in the ground, rooting himself for the water collected by the ground. This improves his powers, with the branching vines growing larger and stronger. In short moments, the entire body of Yunobo is wrapped by Ravio's power.
Now to knock him down before the child adapts. Ravio spots Daruk's weapon lying close to the rubble its master is buried under. Creating another branch off the main vine, Ravio picks up the hammer. Using his sword to control that vine directly, Ravio arches both arm and plant back for a big swing. "Forgive me Daruk and Yunobo, but I must do this." Swinging his sword multiple times, Ravio's hammer-holding vine strikes Yunobo's head at the temples or on top of his forehead. The monster cries out at each strike, yet Ravio displaces his feelings for the hurting baby in place of hurting a weapon of the Imperials. Ravio swung his sword until his muscles give out, to which he unleashes one final big attack before he drops his sword and the vine drops Daruk's hammer. Exhausted, Ravio falls to his knees; likewise, the battered Yunobo collapses once his bonds are broken.
Time passes, and Yunobo doesn't get up. His body stays midnight black, but his flames are gone. He's down for the count but breathing. Ravio sighs in glee. He had kept his promise to save Yunobo to a degree, while also saving the city. If Hilda could see him now…
"Impressive, Rabbit Boy."
Ravio jumps to his feet, though it gives away almost immediately. He's forced to kneel in the presence of the snickering clown in front of him. "Yuga."
"Ha ha ha! I could make you to a fine painting at this very moment. It would be quite a masterpiece after this battle. Yet I had my fill for today."Yuga walks over to Ravio, shoving a small painting in the latter's face. "Just look at this. Such a small work, yet it captures every fine detail of that annoying bug. What's her name? Spite?"
Ravio's anger flares. "Her name is Spryte. Why would you capture her?"
Yuga shrugs. "For fun, maybe to incite you, who cares? You want to save her and your little friends? Then I suggest we meet again. Tomorrow, on Vah Medoh. That is if you can get up there." Yuga laughs as he vanishes just as Ravio leaps for him. The Lorulean lands on the muddy ground yet is too exhausted to move. Too exhausted to hold on to consciousness.
He has enough strength to remember Yuga's challenge.
Sunlight returns to the land of Hyrule, but nobody welcomes it. To the far north, a fleet of ships is just hours away from landfall. A young woman glances up to an older man, who shouts orders for every sail to be dropped. He doesn't know what the world has come to in the last few days, yet he can tell that whatever happens is decided today.
At their destination, rebels build defenses, manage supplies, evacuate remaining civilians out the city, and bide their time for the final hour. In the skies above, upon a soaring destructive power, a vile queen and her generals prepare to unleash hell on earth.
Just south of there, a young woman rides her sand seal out in the desert to join her soldiers, both man and monster, as they prepare for their own battle with a demon lord and, unbeknownst to them now, their former princess.
To the northeast, under the veil of darkness, a wizard begins an experiment for his master with the mysterious pod the Yiga constructed. Once, it gave the living immense powers. Now, it will bring back a dead warrior.
In the same castle, when the sun reaches its peak, a king kindles his powers, aided by the examples of courage and power. As the rays of light wash over him, he smiles to himself, think that when the sun rises once more, it will be upon him as the victor.
To the far southwest, the returned leader of the shadows petitions her people to fight one last time, not because of their loyalty to the rebellion but because of their sworn oath to the goddess' blood. They reaffirm their oaths in a thunderous roar except for one lone soul who watches over another pod, where the healing body of courage still slumbers.
In the heavens, the souls of two heroes are taken to another memory of the past. The three goddesses, aware of what the day is, gather to watch the events of the world unfold. With only two of the four stones obtained, they fear their plan may have to take place earlier than expected.
On earth, when the sun has passed its high point, two bloods flow at an equal rate. Two breaths are taken at the same time. Two powers grow at the same speed, yet no one can sense just how strong or how fast. Yet once unleashed, there will be only a few to match them. One power to be the strength of a holy bloodline, the other, the power of blood tainted by a devil's reincarnation. Today, whether rooted by heaven or hell, they are the last hope on earth. They are the hope of blood.
The third day has arrived.
