Nature Sage - Ch 10
"What are we gonna do?" Zelda wailed, trying to put out the burning door. The castle was under attack by Ganondorf's possessed troops. The castle guards were doing their best to keep them back, but they were failing.
"CALL RUTO!" Malon screamed, hoping that someone nearby had heard her. There was a crash, and one of the dining chairs ignited into flames.
"This isn't happening," the Princess moaned. "This is not happening."
"Yes it is," Trevor said, entering the room. His eyes were full of fear, but his face remained calm. "The people out there are angry, aren't they?"
"Yes," Malon told him. "They are minions of the evil Ganondorf. You have to go find Ruto for us. You know, the Zora?"
Trevor stared at the burning mess that used to be the main hallway. Several more fire arrows shot in through windows and burnt various pieces of furniture. He nodded solemnly, running out of the room to find Ruto.
Leona came in from a different room. "What's going on?" she demanded, using her wind power to blow out a chair.
"The people out there are being possessed by Ganondorf," Zelda said, "and they're burning the place down. Trevor just went to get Ruto. I hope she's close."
"We need everyone to come here," Malon decided. "We can all focus our power and create a shield. This castle is way too big for just one of us to protect."
Zelda managed to put out the door, but most of the main hallway was still burning. "Leona, you go round everyone up. Ruto, Malon, and I will douse the flames here. Hurry!" Leona nodded, rushing away just as Trevor and Ruto returned. They used their power to deflect any arrows that hadn't already hit, after Ruto had put out the fire.
"The door's still half-gone," Malon speculated. "We can't leave it unattended; it'd be far too easy for them to break down."
"I'll go get Link to give me my powers back," Trevor said, and he started to leave.
"No," Zelda said. "Let Link handle this."
"But I wanna be part of the action!" he whined.
"So does Link, and it's no fun hearing Link whine. You, I can tolerate."
Trevor slumped down, feeling defeated.
Impa and Rauru entered the room, looking worried. They watched the girls defending the castle for a while, then sat down with Trevor to wait for the others. It didn't take long for them to arrive. Saria, Lukas, Link, and Nabooru came back with Leona.
"Everyone stand in a circle or something," Malon instructed. "I don't know how to do this.. but we have to join hands? Probably, right?"
Trevor pulled her down so that he could whisper to her. "Leaders always act sure of what they do," he coached. "Even if you don't know if it's right, pretend that you do and everyone will listen." Malon nodded, standing up.
"Everyone join hands, get into a circle. Good, now, close your eyes and focus on shielding the castle. Zelda, you too! Come over here!"
Trevor looked out the window. He watched in amazement as a thin, semi-transparent pink barrier formed, inches away from the castle itself. The people outside looked confused when their arrows bounced back at them. He grinned and said, "You did it! It's working! We're safe!"
The circle broke their concentration and hugged each other, laughing and smiling. They all thought that the castle was going down in flames. It was a relief to know that they wouldn't die just yet.
Freya, the new Guardian Fairy of the Sages, flew into the window, with a dark fairy behind her. "I found our last Sage!" she cried happily. "Everyone, meet Dampé! He's the Sage of Darkness."
Everyone but Link glanced around nervously. Dampé had been dead for years. But his ghost was here.
"Dampé's dead," Freya explained, seeing everyone tense up. "His spirit is the Sage we're looking for. And here's his gemstone!"
Malon took a deep breath. "All right, everyone. How are we going to deal with the crew outside? Re-enter the Sage Realm?"
"No," Link said. "That didn't go very well. I think we should take care of them."
"No!" Zelda said. "Those people out there might be under Ganondorf's control, but they're still Hylians of my kingdom! No one is 'taking care of' anyone.. except maybe Link," she added, grinning. Link glared at her.
"Ha, ha. Hysterical. Now, seriously, I want to hurt someone, and I want it to be Ganondorf. Please can I go into battle? Please?"
Most of the Sages turned and looked at Malon. "No way, I'm not going back there again," she said, stepping back.
Zelda sighed. "I suppose it's alright, then. I think we should all go."
"And we can do our hurricane!" Leona said, looking excitedly from Link to Ruto. They smiled and nodded.
"Wait!" someone yelled, running into the room. It was Melody, the Pisces Sage. "Me and my cousin Aries want to go, too. We don't like being Zodiac Sages. We want to be Nature Sages, like you guys!"
"I never said that," Aries said, walking in behind her. He was usually very shy, while Melody was extremely outgoing. "I just wanted to help. And don't tell Paige; she'll go ballistic!"
"Yeah, what he said," Melody said. "Please? I've got water powers, and Aries has fire powers!"
"That's our signs," he explained. "Aries is a fire sign, Pisces is a water sign."
Zelda sighed again. "Fine. I guess you can come. Let's go then. Everyone focus!" They did, and soon they had returned to the Sage Realm that they had created several days ago. The Princess looked around nervously, ready for almost anything. "How do we summon him here?"
"Try your Sage-summoning spell," Saria suggested. "It worked for that Ryan kid, didn't it?"
"Yes, but Ganondorf's not a Sage," Zelda reasoned.
"No need to summon anyone," a sinister voice called. "I'm right here with you!"
Everyone whirled around, and saw Ganondorf standing behind them. He was holding an enormous sword, waving it psychotically. Link stepped forward, drawing his own sword.
"Let me handle this," he said. "I think I can take him."
Ganondorf laughed. "You want a piece of me? Bring it on, hero!" With that, his sword started glowing with tremendous energy. The Sages could feel the power vibrating through the air. They all winced, getting an extreme headache. "This sword can annihilate any Sage that comes near. If you still want to fight.."
All of the Sages except Link were moaning and holding their heads. He looked around, wondering what was causing such agony. "I don't feel a thing," he commented to himself. Then, to Ganondorf, "I don't know what you're doing to them, but I still feel fine. Cut it out before I have to hurt you. Matter of fact, I think I'll hurt you anyway." He held up his sword, letting it fill with electric energy. It glowed a yellow-white color, sparks flying from the tip.
"Your dream of lights coming from your sword finally came true," Malon remarked, smiling weakly. The pain was starting to wear off, for Ganondorf had stopped his attack. Link smiled, and slashed his sword in Ganondorf's direction. Bolts of electricity shot out at the Gerudo king, but when the lightning finished, he still looked fine.
"Is that the best you can do?" he sneered. Link gulped, backing up a bit. "Well, you're obviously not as powerful as you claim to be. For some reason, you are not affected by my Sage attacks, so I'll have to bring you down by force!"
Trevor sat alone in the main hallway of the castle. The candles had long been burnt out, and the people were still outside. It was dark and frightening for the child.
"Trevor!" the Virgo Sage's little girl said happily. "You save me! I alone and 'fraid in the dark!"
"Not you again!" Trevor complained to himself. Then, more loudly, "Yeah, it is very dark. Your mom is probably worried about you. You should go find her."
"Probly," the girl said, giggling. Trevor sighed.
Suddenly, they heard a crash. Looking over frantically, the little boy noticed glass lying on the floor. "Oh, no," he whispered. "I thought we had a barrier!"
"Somebody broked somethin'!" she giggled. Running out of the room, she yelled back, "I go tell mommy!"
Trevor sat, terrified, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't have his powers anymore, so there was nothing he could do alone. The Zodiac Sages, for the most part, were still in the castle. Paige was probably having a heart attack worrying about Zelda. He decisively got up and ran off in the direction that the little girl had gone. Up the stairs, around the hallways. Most of the corridors were empty.
"Hello?" he called, glancing around. A moan was heard from up ahead. The boy ran toward. When he found the room where everyone was, he nearly passed out.
All of the Zodiac Sages were lying on the ground, unconscious. Some of them were half-awake, but most were totally out. Terrified, not knowing what to do, Trevor ran back to the main hallway. Just as he was entering the room, he was struck with an intense wave of pain. He cried out, falling to his knees and clutching his hair. But Trevor was strong; after a few minutes, the pain was gone. What had caused it, though? And why hadn't he been knocked out? There was only one explanation -
"Now!" someone yelled. Arrows shot into the hole in the doorway, going in every direction. Trevor's eyes widened, and he froze. He truly wanted to run away, but he was so afraid that his body wouldn't respond. Finally, he started frantically scrabbling away as the final arrows shot in.
"Again!" the person yelled, and more arrows shot in. Pressing his back against the door, the arrows shot directly over his head for a few seconds. Breathing a sigh of relief, he started creeping to a different room, a safer room.
"Aaaah!" Trevor cried, realizing that he had run too early. An arrow struck his back, and the pain was unbearable. He didn't even have his healing powers, he realized as the world got fuzzy. "Link," he called weakly, fading into unconsciousness.
Back in the Sage Realm, Link was losing horribly. He was bruised and bloody all over. Please, Farore, don't let me die here, he prayed silently, blocking another blow with his sword. "I need some help here," he yelled for the twelfth time. "Malon? Zel? Anyone!?"
The other Sages formed a circle. "We need that mythical wand or whatever that Navi was talking about the other day. The only way to get it is to have all twelve gems. Twelve, is that right? No? Oh, well, however many. Let's get out of here. Everyone warp separately. We don't want Ganondorf getting into one of out group warps, do we?"
"No," they all mumbled, starting to warp away. Link took a bit longer, because Ganondorf was trying to cling to him, in hopes that Link would take him along. Everyone gathered in the Chamber of Gemstones, as they had begun to call it. Zelda counted the empty slots.
"We need three more," she said, sounding disappointed. "Impa, Nabooru, and Lukas, go find your gems. Wait! There's a bunch of psychos out there. Warp to your temples. Lukas, go to the Ice Cave. Warp, I meant!" she cried as he started walking out.
"Sorry," he said, casting his power just as the other two had.
"What are these spaces for?" Link asked, pointing. Leona and Saria came to see. "They weren't there before, were they?"
"No," Zelda said.
"What are they for?" he repeated. Zelda chuckled softly.
"I don't know if you're gonna believe this," she said, "but Triforce pieces."
Leona gaped. "Like, of the real, live Triforce?" she asked.
"Not live, I don't think, but real. They'll come after we find all the pieces."
"I have Courage," Link offered.
Zelda sighed. "No, the actual pieces. Solid gold, I think. Amazing." Link nodded. Suddenly, he bent over, holding his head. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said. "Just suddenly got hit by this awful headache. It's gone now, though. Lasted about two seconds."
"That's strange," Malon commented. "Nothing even happened to him. Something must've happened.. to.. Oh, Din, no!"
"What?" he asked, as Malon jumped up.
"Your powers are mostly mental, right? Think of what you want to happen."
"Yeah, and..?"
"Nothing in here hurt you. But your powers were shaken by this force.."
Zelda's face fell. "And if his powers were hurt.. Trevor!"
Link joined in looking worried, and the three of them plus Leona and Ruto rushed into the castle.
"Where is he?" Leona demanded as they frantically searched the hallways.
"Where did we leave him?" Ruto added.
"The main hallway," Zelda realized. Everyone took off toward the room. Malon got there first.
"Oh, my Goddess," she cried, backing away slowly. Trevor was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood, and arrow protruding from his back. Ruto and Leona rushed forward to check his pulse. The rest stayed in the doorway, hoping and praying that their little hero was all right.
-+-chapter ten: complete-+-
How pleasant! I'm sure this story really helped everyone's holiday spirit! Anyway, is it okay? Is this way too sad? Did it ruin the whole story?? I'm so critical of myself!! Well, please review. And, in response to Nyx's review, there are eleven Nature Sages, plus Zelda is twelve. If you want to count the thirteen Zodiac Sages, then you've got twenty-five Sages. But if you don't, it's only twelve. Chapter 11 out sometime fairly soon.
Anyway, like I said, please review! And Merry Christmas!