Sins of the Past
Chapter 4
Don't remove the key. Don't release him.
Liliana stirred in her sleep for several hours before she groggily woke up in an unknown room. Her vision was hazy at first and her head just hurt like crazy. She could just barely remember being underwater at some point.
And then what? Wasn't something poured down my throat?
She could hardly move from her bedding, but her vision started to get better, as well as her feeling. The bedding felt itchy and dry for some reason, then her brain kicked into gear and realized it was straw. She looked around her. There was a small fire built in the middle of the small room, and the surroundings consisted of mostly more hay and sacks of wheat. The stonewalls were in a square shape and went up almost two stories with two small windows near the ceiling, more like just air openings. A water barrel filled almost to the top stood next to the only doorway that led outside.
Looks like a farm shed or crop storage. Must be out in the fields.
The Triforce! Ganondorf!!
Fear swept through her body and caused her to sit up too fast, making her lean back again because of her throbbing headache. She slowly calmed herself down, getting a hold of herself.
Think rationally. If he had taken the Triforce, you'd be dead right now. You're obviously not dead, so somehow you were saved. He didn't get it. Fine then, so how'd I get out here, and why a shed? And where's my savior?
"Well, it's about time you got up."
The cynical voice from above made her jump again, looking for the speaker. She hadn't noticed it before, but now she saw a figure in the shadows. It was too dark to see whom, but the voice was a man's, and a young one.
"Who are you?" she demanded, looking for something to defend herself with. She also finally noticed her weapon was gone.
The shadow looked like it shrugged a bit, then leaned into the fire's light from above. Sure enough, it was a young male with dark skin and extremely long hair, looking as if it was red but was changing to a dark brownish color. He also wore a black vest-tunic and seemed to have tattooed shoulders. Liliana couldn't identify him immediately, but a second of thinking clicked it.
The Gerudo. The Hero of Time.
"YOU!!" She screamed enraged, barely containing herself from coming after him to tear his face off. "What are you doing here, you bastard?! You did this to us all, you released the evil!"
"Hey, I only did what I was ordered to do, so don't blame me, princess." Jereth didn't need this right now. He waited a long time for her to hurry up and wake herself. Not to mention he went through a lot of trouble to find a suitable place to hide, then was forced to stay and watch for any threats at night while she got to rest nicely. He was in no mood to take any crap she had to offer.
"Well, I do blame you. You attacked the Sheikah with your band of thieves and have released possibly the worst thing you could have on Hyrule! Now why don't you tell me why the supposed 'Hero,'" she said mockingly, "has suddenly turned against us? Huh?! What kind of-"
"Oh, will you shut UP!" He shouted and turned his back on her. This had gotten really annoying fast. "Just shut up. I'd think you'd be grateful considering I just saved your miserable life." Silences filled the room again, save for the crackling of the small fire. He sighed and turned to face her again, finding she still wore a furious expression. His face returned his own.
"What do you want then?" she asked sneering.
"You've got answers to what the hell is going on. So tell me: who was that guy, what's the Triforce, why does he want it, and what," he held up the Master Sword, now in a gold plated sheath, "is this?" He tossed it down. It landed at her feet, near the fire.
She bent down and picked up the sword, removing it slightly from its sheath and inspecting it, as if to see if there was something wrong. Satisfied, she set it down again and looked back up. "That's the Master Sword. That's the weapon forged to smite evil, and the key to opening the Sacred Realm."
"Yes, another thing for me to wonder. What's the Sacred Realm?"
His awful attitude got on her nerves in no time whatsoever. Ignoring the statement, she continued. "The man you saw was Ganondorf, the former king of the Gerudo race, and now the Great King of Evil. He holds the Triforce of Power, I hold the Triforce of Wisdom, and you hold-"
"Alright, alright." He sounded more annoyed as she went along. "I don't need minor details, just tell me what they are and why he wants them."
"They're the relics left from the three goddesses who created this land," she said through gritted teeth. "They form one True Force with the power to grant whatever wish you want. He wants all three pieces to rule the world. You hold the Triforce of Courage and that makes you the Hero of Ti-"
"Shut up already, I've heard enough of that Hero of Time shit." That was the last straw for Liliana.
"Alright, bastard. It is not 'shit!' It is fact! You are the Hero of Time, you hold the Triforce of Courage, and you let him out! Why not stop pretending to be a damn Gerudo and take some responsibility?!" The last part got to him. He jumped from the rafter he was standing on and stood before her, glowering into her eyes with hate. She knew she probably went a little far, but she refused to move.
"What did you say?" he hissed.
"You think I'm afraid of you?" When she received no response except for a growl, she did the most un-princess-like thing she'd ever done: she spat in his face.
He didn't stand for it. In an instant, his arm flew up and he backhanded her, hard. She fell in the straw in a heap, her cheek stinging and her anger searing as she reached for the sword. She almost ripped it out of its sheath and would've thrown it into his stomach had the next second she found herself on the edge of death. His two swords were crossed and placed up to her neck in a scissor-like fashion, ready to decapitate her if she moved.
"I've had a very bad day so far, so don't even think of pushing me." He spoke in very quiet tones, almost frightening. "I may have some honor on me, but I'm not afraid to kill a woman, especially one with a sword. Now put it down."
"You kill me, and you'll be in a world of trouble. I have the other Triforce, and I know how to stop Ganondorf. Without me, you're stuck."
"Do you honestly think I care right now?" he asked. She puzzled over this. The idea that he would do something so stupid was astounding. "Put the sword down."
Reluctantly, she slammed the sword back in its sheath and threw it in the hay. He removed his own swords and put the back on his back straps. Then he went and sat in the pile of hay across from her.
She felt her burning cheek. That was twice she'd been slapped this evening. In the back of her mind, she was actually glad he stopped her. She almost let her anger get the better of her and make her kill him. That alone would've been disastrous.
"Now, lets start over. Why don't you tell me more about this stuff?"
Winds blew strong through the Haunted Wastelands. Zagita could hardly keep herself standing as she wondered aimlessly. She'd been foolish to leave at this time of night; she should've just left in the morning to get away from those pitiful excuses of Gerudos. Allegiance with the King of Hyrule was simply more than she could stand, but abandoning them at this time was unwise. She could die out here.
Not that it mattered. She'd lost everything. She'd lost her pride as a Gerudo, her place among the people, her home, and soon her life. It was the Sheikahs' entire fault. They made the arrangements for the pact, they offered the Gerudo race their sympathy, they took away their honor. And they planned her downfall. This was no place for a forty-two year old woman, not even one as experienced as she. There was nowhere to go, but she didn't care anymore. Anywhere but that awful place was good enough for her, even if it was a grave.
As she climbed the next dune, the winds just blew faster and stronger. She couldn't even see her own hands in front of her, much less turn back if she wanted to. From then on, she decided to just keep going until she fell from exhaustion and the sand covered her. It'd all end there, and there'd probably be no pain. She would just fade into blackness and…
Her thoughts were interrupted when for the first time she could actually see something in the wind. It was a shadow, holding out a light of some sort, and wearing a cloak flapping in the wind. She crawled closer to it, and could barely see the person's outline. It appeared to be more… feminine.
But something about it seemed strangely familiar. The cloak, the strange cold winds about it, its eerie glowing lantern, and… the yellow flashing eyes.
A poe.
Before she could back away, it whispered to her.
"Zagita… Jereth… Ganondorf."
The last thought awoke Zagita from her nightmare. She tried to calmed herself down, but couldn't catch her breathe quite a fast any more. She looked around her room, saw everything was in good order, and relaxed.
The dream. It was how she had first heard of the great king Ganondorf and the Hero of Time. But that was twenty years ago, when the current Gerudo king had aligned with the king of Hyrule. The very same night, that woman, the Mistress of the Poes, Azeal, had given her a vision.
She could never forget that time, for it was that moment that started the chain that led her up to now. She and her small band of followers learned of Azeal from seeking her out by others' information, and made the journey to find the mysterious demigoddess soon afterwards. There they were told how they could win back the pride of the Gerudo race and how to release Ganondorf. And it was there that she first learned of the unborn Hero of Time, Jereth.
Even though it was still the middle of the night, Zagita rose from her bed, unable to sleep any longer. Perhaps some more thinking of her plans would settle her. Her pipe also had that talent, so she picked it up and added more tobacco to it this time.
In just a short amount of time, a think cloud of smoke had already surrounded her head. But she was also cold at night. She walked over and grabbed her cloak from the corner chair, wrapped it over her gown, and decided to walk around the headquarters for a while.
The room with the wounded was busy all night. Those who knew how to treat them slaved over them until they were either healed or dead. Most of the treatment included potions and captured fairies, but some wounds needed more then that. The woman that was stabbed in the stomach was attempted with bandages and sewing it shut, but it continued to bleed after. She had to be constantly given potion after potion while fairies did everything they could to close the wound. Nothing was working for her.
Zagita knew it was no use trying, she was only wasting supplies by receiving treatment. She ordered the medics to stop giving her anything and put her out of her misery. After giving her hurt and shameful looks, the Gerudos sadly put the fairies back in their jars and grabbed the potions out of the barely conscious woman's hands, and Zagita watched coldly as the women very silently reached behind her neck and snapped her vertebrate, killing her instantly.
"It was for the best," she said emotionless. "She was only suffering more and she died without pain. Now go help the others with the two women who'll live." They barely nodded before moving to the other end of the room. It was sad to put your own comrades out, but she knew this was no time for such sympathy. They needed all the supplies they could get, and as she could see, they were already running short.
The other two wounded were more alive than the stabbed woman was, but in no less pain. They had already amputated the woman's lower leg and had given enough potions to slow the bleeding to bandage it, but Zagita hadn't heard her screaming before as they cut through the bone and torn muscles. She had to be given potions just to keep her from dying of the shock.
They'd decided there was no way to treat the woman with the broken back. All they could do was give her water, liquor or anything to keep her comfortable for the time being, and then when Ganondorf woke up, hope that he'd be able to use magic to help her.
Speaking of which, she thought it'd be best to see how he was doing down the hall. As expected, he was still sleeping like a stone, most likely not to awaken for several more hours. He was so tired when he left the void, she was almost afraid it had drained his life away.
Never. He couldn't die; the Triforce has practically made him immortal.
With that reassuring thought, Zagita took a long puff of her pipe, and wondered down the halls, thinking over what would be the next move.
"So this Link sealed him up in the Sacred Realm one-hundred and fifty years ago, and now we have to reseal him?" Jereth summoned it up quite nicely. He and Liliana had talked over the entire past in the past half hour.
"That's right." She was still cross from the earlier fights, though. "Now that I've told you everything about the matter, why don't you answer me some questions? How is it that you didn't know about-"
"Wait, you didn't answer me this." He interrupted for the eighth time that night. It was really getting on her nerves. He picked up the Master Sword. "When I got this from the Pedestal, it didn't have a sheath. How'd one suddenly appear earlier while you were sleeping?"
What annoyed her even more was that he'd been thinking all this time was a dumb question like that. She humored him anyways. "The sword is magical, if you haven't figured it out yet. Once it finds a user, you, it gives him the right equipment and knowledge of it to use it properly. If you used it earlier, you must've noticed how you were able to naturally handle it."
He snorted. "Well, I don't need it. I have my own swords." He referred to the two cutlasses strapped to his back. She didn't take the comment too well.
"Those swords are nothing compared to the Master Sword," she said defiantly. "Besides, you were meant to use this weapon. Anything your two knives can do, this can do much better. On top of that, this sword is unbreakable."
"Well guess what: so are these."
"This is the only sword that can stop Ganondorf. Only it must be used."
"Listen!" His voice rose quickly. She'd decided by now that he simply didn't like people disagreeing with him, ever. Well, neither did she. "These are the only weapons I ever use, and that's final. If you like the sword so much, why don't you use it? You need a weapon anyway."
"I'm not meant to use it. I'm not the Hero of Time!" Her responses were getting her nowhere save making him angry again. She heaved a sigh and gave up. "Fine. I'll use it. Maybe you'll see who's better once you see both swords in action."
As she bent to pick up the sword and strap it to her back, she heard him say under his breath "Not bloody likely." To this, she returned no response. He was just too much to bear.
Silence filled the room again. The fire had dimmed a bit, and they were going to need to add firewood or kindling soon.
Once again, he started the new conversation. "Look, I'll keep watch for anything that approaches. Why don't you get some more sleep for now and I'll wake you in the morning so we can decide what to do?"
"I'm not tired," she murmured, still refusing to look at him. He just shrugged and got up, moving towards the water barrel. He pulled something out of his tunic, what looked like a red potion, but she could tell it wasn't from the different tint, almost cloudy. Then he began to soak his long hair in the barrel, rubbing it and getting the red coloring off it.
"What are you doing?" she asked puzzled. She knew he wasn't a Gerudo because he had brown hair, not the natural red. He ignored her and uncorked the small bottle. As he lifted his wet hair from the barrel, he poured the stuff on his head and began to rub it in. Within seconds, the brown hair was turning a blood-red color. "Are you re-coloring your hair?"
"Ever since I was young, I've been cursed without the Gerudo red. So I always put it back in. It's a matter of pride." She grunted in frustration.
"Oh, please. Don't tell me you actually believe you're a Gerudo!" When all she received was a deadly glare, she got even more flustered. "Din's Fire, and I actually thought you might have some brains!"
"You will hold your tongue, or you will be fed it!" He finished soaking his hair and continued to rub in the liquids while he sat down again. "I am a Gerudo, and I will always have pride to be in its race! Don't you dare say anything like that against them."
"Well, your race just did a very bad thing, if you haven't noticed already. Not to mention, I was a little conscious while you had to fend them off. I believe they tried to kill you."
Every word was getting him more worked up. "It isn't mine or they're fault that they were tricked by that man, alright?! He did something to my mother, possessed her or whatever." Just then, Liliana's eye finally caught sight of the chain medallion around his neck.
"What is that?" she pointed accusingly. He looked at it, then grabbed it and pulled it out of her sight.
"It's the token my mother gave me. It would bring me good luck."
"No! That has the Triforce of Power on it! That's Ganondorf's symbol! You might as well be his follower!"
"Its none of your business!" He started to turn his back to her, but then got attacked. She knocked him to the ground and wrestled him for the medallion. "Damn you, bitch, get off me!"
"Take it off! TAKE IT OFF!" She pinned one of his arms down, and then received a smack across her face for the third time tonight. She was knocked off him, but as he jumped on her, she grabbed his arms and used her legs to flip him over to place her on top. When he slammed to the ground, she grabbed the medallion.
And purple and black lightning shot off it, throwing her against the opposite wall while she clutched her hand in intense pain.
"What the?" he puzzled at the sight, but then something else happened. The ruby on the Triforce medallion began to glow brightly, and the medallion started to get hot. The whole necklace glowed with the strange purple and black energy, and it started to get too hot to bear. He tried frantically to remove it, but it kept shocking his hand and burning into his chest.
"Get it off, get it off me!!" The pain forced him to the floor; it was too much for him. Liliana forgot about her pain and saw that it was now actually burning a black flame on his chest. She grabbed a bucket by the barrel and got some water, then quickly threw some on the agonizing lad. Immediately the water turned to steam as soon as it hit the fire, but it didn't go out. His screams grew louder and louder-
-and then the chain medallion evaporated, the fire on his chest blew out. He was grabbing at his burn in between convulsions. She got some more water, hoping that would help this time. As she poured some on the burn and across his face, he seemed to calm down, the pain looked as if it subsided.
"What-… wh-what the hell… wh-wh-was that?!"
She looked at the wound and almost yelped in fright. Instead of a normal black burn that would normally blister, the skin began to heal itself, but the wound left something terrible. A sizzling black Triforce mark had formed on his chest, the same as the one on the medallion. And the top piece was actually glowing a bright red in the dark with magic.
"I think you can now reconsider what you believe about your friends. They just put a curse on you."
Zagita felt it in the back of her mind and grinned, showing her stained teeth to the underling she was currently addressing. The trap had worked, Jereth tried to remove the charm and it marked him. Now she had the advantage, she'd always know where he was.
She told the woman she was talking to that she needed to settle the matter later, and the Gerudo bowed and left her sight. Now she turned her attention to her lieutenant, Zaniia, still unconscious on the cot. The woman's failure to stop Jereth earlier was still burning in her mind, and now that Ganondorf had been released, Zagita felt that there was no need for a second-in-command anymore. But that didn't mean she had outlived her usefulness. Furthermore, she didn't believe in executing those under her command when they were no longer needed. There was always another use for someone, even when they were completely unreliable and helpless.
Yes, she had splendid plans for her former lieutenant. Ganondorf would surely agree when he awakened. Now that Jereth was marked and the princess with him, they had nowhere to run.
It was only a matter of time…
TBC…