Chapter 31: The Temple Sage

Maiku woke up to the feeling of a pointed toe of a boot kicking him in the side, he opened his eyes and saw the hooded face of Zelda, or rather Sheik, glaring down at him angrily. "Wake up, you poor excuse for a man!" she yelled at him.

"Ugh," he groaned, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Zelda? If I wasn't waking up right now I'd beat your blond, tight wearing ass in a heartbeat!"

"Do you have to heart?"

"What are you talking about…?" he yawned

"Killing the Forest Sage… what exactly is your problem?" she crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest

"I was just sending her soul away… to her place in the Chamber of Sages… besides, why should you care?"

"Are you just acting without thinking first? The Sages can't make their way to the…" she stopped and looked directly at him, "How do you know about the Chamber?"

"I know a lot of things, Princess…" he got up and started to walk away, "… Just make sure you steer the Hero of Time in the right direction…" He stopped when he reached the edge of the roof to the front entrance and glanced back at her, "Until later, Zelda…" He leapt off of the roof, landed on his feet and ran into the Lost Woods.

"Damn it… Maiku, you have no idea what is growing inside of you…" she said solemnly and ran away in the opposite direction.

*                                  *                                  *

Link fell to one knee as he landed the final slice onto the Phantom, sweat and blood mixed together on his face as he breathed hard, exhausted from the battle. "I finally… beat him…" he gasped and supported his weight on the sword as he stood up. The Phantom started to convulse in pain as it began to slowly dissolve and an amethyst colored vortex formed in the center of the room, its voice bellowed in pain as more particles of its body began to unattach themselves from it and descend into the vortex.

"Hey kid," Ganondorf's voice boomed from somewhere in the room, "You did quite well."

"Ganondorf!" Link yelled out, "Where are you? Show your face!"

"It looks like you may be gaining some slight skill... But you have defeated only my phantom..."

"Why did you send Maiku here; why did he have to kill Saria?!"

"I did not send him there to kill your precious Saria… he did that on his own."

"What?"

"I only told him to do whatever he could do in the temple to make it more challenging for you… keep this one thing in mind, though…. When you fight the real me, it won't be so easy! What a worthless creation that ghost was! I will banish it to the gap between dimensions!!"

"L-Lord… Ga-Ganon-d-dorf….. Noooooooo!!" the Phantom moaned as the vortex absorbed it completely

"That's so sad…" Navi said sympathetically, "… Even though it was our enemy, I just help feeling sorry for it…"

"I know, Navi…" Link said as he held her in his hands, "I know…" He widened his eyes as Saria's body let out a soft green glow and hovered into the air, she opened her eyes and a smile formed on her lips.

"Thank you..." she said, "Because of you, I could awaken as a Sage... I am Saria. The Sage of the Forest Temple..."

"Saria… but I thought that Maiku killed you!"

"He thought that killing me would send my soul to the Chamber of Sages… but do not think too harshly on him. He is just lost in emotion and darkness. I always believed that you would come. Because I know you..."

"Saria… is there anything I can…"

"No… You don't have to explain it to me... Because it is destiny that you and I can't live in the same world."

"But there are still some things I must ask you."

"Shhhh…" She put her small hand on his face, "I will stay here as the Forest Sage and help you... Now, please take this Medallion..." She put one hand behind her back then returned it to his view to reveal a green disc with a design on it. "I will always be… Your friend, Link… Goodbye… And please try to understand Maiku's actions, try to help him somehow." She seemed to become engulfed in a green light and vanished.

"Damn you, Maiku…" he mumbled under his breath, "Damn you…"