The Legend of Zelda: Divine Intervention: Part 5
Quincy007
Author's Notes: I don't own 'The Legend of Zelda' its characters, or anything like that. I do own Nil Chavez. (I wonder though, can I claim ownership to the personalities I gave the Goddesses? Probably not.) Anyway, Enjoy reading this.
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There was a soft poof as they appeared on the lush grass near Lake Hylia. Nil was keeled over, heaving like he wanted to throw up. Since he didn't have anything to throw up, he didn't. He just felt like crap. It was comforting though. That nausea reminded him of his binge drinking. The comforting feeling went away as he remembered what he drank to forget. "Aw hell. It's been three days with out a drink, and I'm already depressed."
Farore looked at him, "You were a depressed drunk."
"Well…so? At least I never remembered any of it." Nil stood up and checked his pockets for something that might help.
Nayru watched the crowds of people. Nobody was screaming bloody murder, and she took that as a good sign. She got a general feeling of happiness and the fact that the people were at ease. "I can't sense her."
"So its not gonna be easy, oh well. She is a red head with a temper like a volcano. She is carrying the most powerful evil smiting sword created, and has a shield that doubles as a vanity mirror. How hard can it be to find her?" Nil said, looking around. He let himself relax a little and tried to use his skills. Of course, his insanity got in the way.
[I can help you find her.]
'I thought we were done with each other. I don't need help.'
[You are talking to the essence of the physical representation of a Goddess's power, and think it is a voice in your head, Charter couldn't help you.]
'Charter?'
[Never mind. It's an omnipotent thing.]
Nil broke away from his conversation because he heard a loud scream. Somebody found a dead body? No…wait. At the way this day was turning out to be, yea. It was.
He tried to jog to the source of the screams, but his back hated the idea. Losing several ounces of muscle and flesh tended to do that. He had to move at a walking pace. "Go on ahead of me. I'm too injured to move fast."
Farore nodded and sprinted off in the direction where the big crowd was forming. Nayru stopped to look at him. "Your back?"
"Actually, its my little toe. Of course my back. Get going, I deal with my pain in my own cute masochistic way."
She frowned, but ran off after her green haired companion. Nil walked behind them, wondering just how he was alive.
*
Ganondorf looked at the big crowd. Who would have thought these simple minded fools cared so much? It was just a girl. Oh well. He turned back to face the Lake.
"This is boring."
{Duh. What did you expect?}
"I don't know. I wanted more screams, bloodshed, etc."
{Then cause some!}
"I'm surprised you lasted more than 10 minutes."
{Well, I had to wait for the moon to get close enough, but I caused more than enough strife amongst the people.}
"Uh-huh…did you see that?" Ganondorf said, looking at the crystal clear lake. He could have sworn he saw a large black spot, like a shadow.
{No.}
Ganondorf frowned and looked back at the shadow, but it was gone. "What do they put in the water around here?"
{Vitamins, minerals, fluoride, horrible monsters capable of eviscerating a Hylian in several seconds.}
"Fluoride?"
{Its this stuff that you put on your…never mind, doesn't apply to demonic zombie Evil kings.}
"Can you be evil and demonic? I thought demonic and evil went hand and hand."
{Well, you can be evil and not be demonic, but you can't be demonic without being evil…I think. There have been good Demons.}
"Whatever."
*
Nil pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring their protests. Most of them shut up when they saw the look he gave them, or shreds his tunic was in. When he broke through he saw some Hylian guards on Lake duty and the girls arguing with them.
"You don't know what you're doing! Get away from her!" Nayru snapped at them.
"Lady, we're waiting for the Doctor and an investigator, I don't want to have to arrest you, calm down."
Nil walked by them, and knelt by Din. Her hand was clutching the Master sword and blackish blood was on it. Her face was oddly calm, like she was sleeping. He looked and saw that she was breathing.
"A coma? How?"
The guards stopped arguing with the girls long enough to see him and try to chase him away. "Hey! Get away from her!"
"Shut up. I just happen to know what the hell I'm doing." Nil said, and looked at the burns on the walls. The rock was still warm. He tried to comprehend how this happened.
"Nayru, can you tell me what's wrong with her?"
"I don't know. Let me see."
Farore stepped up too. "She isn't dead."
"Gee, what brilliant observation. So she isn't dead, but not quite alive either. What is she?"
"Asleep almost." Nayru said, trying to get the Master sword from her grasp, but gave her a harsh shock.
"Nayru? You okay?" Nil asked.
"Fine, the sword doesn't seem to want to let go."
Farore sighed, "Nil, please grab the sword and put it in the sheath."
Nil looked at her like she was crazy. "Hell no. That thing doesn't like her, what makes you think it will like me?"
She looked at him, "Trust me, okay?"
"Fine. But I end up like that guy in castle town…" he reached out and gingerly touched it. He could have sworn that it would zap him. It was extremely hot to the touch, and he felt a pit in his stomach. The sword came out of her limp grip easily. He closed his mouth and gritted his teeth as he felt the electricity from the handle pour into him. It wasn't enough to knock him on his ass, but the sword was crackling enough to be heard by the crowd. A few gasped, but most groaned imagining the pain he was in. He got the sword in the sheath and looked at the burn on his hand. "I hope you appreciated that, I write with this hand."
They ignored him, and Nil began to talk to witnesses.
"Well, I saw dis great big ole' ball of fire…"
"Red or Blue?"
"Uhh…red."
"Did it appear random or did it have shape?"
"Kinda looked like wings for a second…but it was probably the grog."
Nil had a pretty good idea of what happened. Din showed up, and was attacked by Ganondorf a.k.a. 'That huge freaking guy' and what could have only been a 'serial crusher guy' He really didn't like the types of people who hung out at Lake Hylia, the mist soaked their brains, and were slackers. Anyway, Ganondorf and her got into a big 'tiff' and then this. He knew what had happened, he just didn't understand why.
"She's under a spell, but why not kill her? I doubt he is very merciful." He said to no one in particular.
He moved over to the girls, "Tell me good things."
"I'm young and beautiful for at least another 10 years." Nayru muttered.
"Only 10? Give yourself more credit." He paused and shook his head. His mind reached out and mentally cuffed him upside the head, 'Hey! What the Fuck? The redhead? Remember her? Stop trying to be charming and get back to business!'
[I agree with that little voice in your head.]
'That's the self who observes the self. Every self is comprised of two selves you know.'
[No, I don't, and don't explain it to me.]
"About Din." He prodded, kneeling next to the fallen woman.
"Well, We think it's a sleeping spell. An old one at that."
"Old one?"
She nodded, "Well, sleeping spells are a constantly changing area of magic. Some witches devote their entire careers to sleeping spells, just like a doctor would specialize in feet or something."
"Never met a doctor who specializes in feet."
"Do you know what I mean?" She snapped. Nil winced and nodded.
"There two kinds sleeping spells: ones that last for a few hours, and those that last until certain conditions are met."
"Uh-huh."
"Now, the timed ones aren't our concern, because this isn't one of them, you can tell by the relaxed and dreamless state. Indefinite sleep is harder on the mind, as once the body is rested the mind wishes to wake up, but it cannot."
"Right…So can you tell what the conditions are?"
"Well some require a magical item, like a ring from finger of a demon or something, or maybe they need a potion. The condition flux on this particular piece of magic is dark and evil. Evil magic usually requires a really good item or something to wake the person up."
"So we need a really good magical item?"
"No. That's the thing about sleeping spells. They are often used as a fidelity detector. In the Eastern Hylia sects, the bride is required to undergo a sleeping spell in which the man she loves is the only one who can awaken her. If the groom fails to wake her up every man in the town gets to try, and when she wakes up, the guy who woke her up is usually killed. The woman will never have a chance to wed again."
"I've never heard that."
"Actually, now that I think about it, it died out awhile ago when the girls were no longer woken up by anybody in town."
Nil laughed, but turned serious, "Great, now what does that have to do with Din?"
"The difference between an item and a person is very thin in magic, you can enchant both to do almost the same things. And since a person can love items…"
"Are you telling me that Ganondorf put Din under the 'Clichéd Princess Spell'? You have to be joking."
"I'm not getting a magical resonance from the spell, so it isn't a magical item."
"She isn't capable of Love!" Nil pointed. "I can't believe she is soft on anybody!"
"That's the thing. She doesn't have anyone."
Nil sat down and put his face in his hands. "Ugh…why me? So what do we do? Isn't there a loop hole or something?"
"Sometimes when you kill the spell caster, the spell will dissipate." Farore suggested, as little purple tendrils of energy emitted from her fingertips and played over Din. "Hey, N&N. Problem."
"What now? The world is going to end if she doesn't wake up?"
Nayru and Farore winced and looked at each other. Nayru nodded, but Farore shook her head. The silent stand off lasted for a few seconds before Nayru threw up her arms and let Farore continue. "Well, she is going to end. The caster didn't put any safety spells into it. She needs water, food, and all that stuff."
Nil threw up his arms is frustration. "Great. Just Goddess damned great. Speaking of which, why would he leave that out if she can't be woken up, and is going to die anyway? What's the fucking point?" He was standing now, just irritated beyond belief. He was swearing, and that was a sure sign of his lost patience. When he was categorically denying magic existed he didn't have these problems, all he had to worry about was how to pay for his next scotch on the rocks.
"Actually, I think it was an accident, there is a time pause loop, but he neglected to activate it. So, he was must be an amateur at this kind of thing. Sleeping spells should only be done by licensed professionals."
"Can you activate it?"
"Without knowing the intricacies of the spell I wouldn't dare try to alter it." Farore said calmly.
Nayru spoke quietly. "We should end her."
"WHAT? No. I did not just hear what I thought I heard. There will be no killing of anyone who might even be remotely considered a good and decent person."
"You don't understand Nil, This is a…private matter of sorts."
"What I understand is that you just suggested that you kill her. I've been around, I know all the euphemisms for death: Off, whack, end, kick it, etc. And I will not allow it. For Din's sake she's your friend!"
Nil walked off, pushing his way through the crowd, giving people evil looks if they brushed against him. He never understood women, not then, not now, not ever. He thought he had a handle on those girls. Kill Din? What the fuck where they thinking?
[You don't understand. It is the only way to save her. No being exists who she loves. Perhaps one, but it wouldn't work. Its not that kind of love.]
He was to angry to speak to himself in thought, so he spoke aloud, "Look all I know is that she suggested that another innocent girl die. I can't allow that. Never again."
[Oh…part of your story starts to come out.]
"SHUT UP! I can't stand you! Why won't you just believe that I don't want an innocent person to die!?"
He was so angry he didn't realize he had walked all the way to the island in the middle of the lake. He leaned against the tree, glaring at the beach.
"I can't believe her. Why would she want to kill her? How is she better off? I bet they'd ask me to do it too, just because I'm bitch of the trip. I want a drink."
* On the other side of the tree Nil is leaning against.
{Not good Ganny! If they kill her, she resumes her place in the heavens!}
"I know that. You think I don't know that?" He whispered.
{You didn't even know they were Goddesses until Bob told you.}
"What? They looked Hylian enough. Except for Din, she looked very Gerudo…hmm…"
{Speaking of which, why didn't we take advantage of her precarious position?}
"Aside from the fact that I was run through with an evil smiting sword, which I can't heal as quickly, I happen to be a man of the Goddesses. I do not condone rape. I'm taking a stretch killing and trying to conquer the world, but some things are just unacceptable."
{You have religion? I'm surprised.}
"If I didn't, how would I come to believe the Triforce exists? Just because I'm evil doesn't mean I don't believe."
{Well, I'm just an evil mask, so I don't have a soul parse.}
"Look, I'm not getting into this discussion with you. I don't want to discuss my religion with…hrrr…partners."
{Well, can we kill this schmuck and steal the pieces of the Triforce of Power back? I'd really like it, and we wouldn't have to deal with his annoying face anymore.}
"Good idea. I'll get right on it."
As Ganondorf stood up, he began to put his boots on. Majora continued for no reason other than he liked to hear himself talk. {Bob hasn't called recently. I wonder why?}
"Can't get a word in edge wise." Ganondorf muttered
He walked around the tree, his shadow overtaking Nil. The guy didn't even notice he was so upset. Ganondorf clunked right up to him and began to lower his hand to Nil's head, hoping to crush it like the overripe excessively juicy melon it was.
The bright light that emitted from the holes in his tunic made Ganondorf take a few steps back. Nil's head snapped up and he stood. His mark was glowing, more like pulsing gold light. Ganondorf watched him as he started to stand straighter and stopped leaning on one leg. Was he using the Triforce to heal himself? How did he draw magic from an uncompleted Triforce?
{Zap him! Strangle him! Do something besides stand there and gawk at him!}
Shaking his head, he formed a large amount of small energy balls in his hand and threw them, so he would get hit repeatedly.
The dark magic hit Nil, and he flew back several feet, his head getting wet in the lake. He stood up, groaning and swearing. "You really screwed up my decent life! You know that? I was happy not remembering anything! Blissful ignorance caused by an alcoholic haze!"
Ganondorf snorted, "You are weak. Hiding from your problems. I may be evil, but I would try to stop all my problems! And you are a problem."
Nil charged at Ganondorf, despite his lack of any weapons. He let him get about five feet away before he backhanded him. "Do you really think that you stand a chance against me?"
"No, but she would be sad if I gave up." Nil said, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"Your sentiment is wasted on me." Ganondorf thought about using his Majora Tendrils, but without weapons, this mere mortal stood no chance. He could beat him with sheer brute force.
Nil chuckled and held up his fists, a classic boxer's stance. Ganondorf strode forward, and kneed Nil in the stomach. The sound of ribs cracking was quite evident. Ganondorf pushed him off his leg and reached back to give him a kick.
Ganondorf now knew that this man was the bearer of the Triforce of power. But he was unable to use it, buts its mere presence worried him. He realized he might use it out of desperation. Best to finish him off quickly.
The Triforce mark on Nil's chest glowed again, but it just stayed lit up. Like it was reacting to something. The Lake creature was here, drawn to Nil's Triforce pieces. Ganondorf looked around, wondering where it will strike. As his eyes scanned the lake, he saw no shadows. So what was the Triforce reacting too?
{I don't know where it is, but I think you may be right.}
"Where…"
He was about to give up and go back to killing the little man when he was toppled over by him. As his back thudded against the ground, a large beast passed over him, water and slime dripping off it.
His first thought was "What the fuck?"
* Location of Lake Hylia Triforce Monster, currently bottom of lake.
Nil wondered why he did that. He was an idiot that's why. Trapped in the coils of a Leviathan sea creature. It didn't have scales, but a soft skin and a hard skeleton. Powerful muscles shifted and twisted as it worked them. Two graceful webbed wings were folded along its back, so it could fly. The teal eel-shaped body ended in a hard pointed stinger. Both heads were tapered, but ended in blunt snouts. Their eyes, three on each side of the head, were blood red, but the iris glowed with divine light. The jaws were huge and powerful, but he couldn't see the teeth. And didn't want to. It squeezed its body around Nil forcing the air out of his lungs.
Determined not die, he pushed against the creature, he'd name it later. Its body was slick and he could push it in. but as he tried to wriggle out of it, but it was wise to his plan, and forced its muscles into place again.
As he struggled, the monster knew that its prey was not dying in the traditional manner. So, it rushed out of the water.
Nil was slightly confused at the ability to breath again, but refused to complain about it. He breathed calmly as the creature took a short loop around the lake. He noticed it sped up as they approached that great big tree. Then, he was freefalling. The creature let him go.
He was glad, but his glee was short lived as he noticed his flight path took his head right for the tree. Screaming loudly he twisted his body to not hit his head. He would categorically deny for the rest of his life the pitch his voice hit during the next few moments. His shoulder cracked against the age-old wood. The bark splintered and he felt a burning in his shoulder. It occurred to him that his shoulder was probably shattered in three places.
He fell to the ground and held out his arm, the one attached to his wounded shoulder. The bone of his lower arm snapped just below the elbow, and twisted. It jutted out and broke through the skin; the white bone shined dull red as the blood was exposed to air. He screamed again and rolled onto his back.
Big Ugly wound itself around the tree, its two heads snapping joyfully at its drawing first blood. It stared at Nil, judging his worth as a meal. Its wings spread and began to slowly uncoil itself. Lowering its left head, then its right. It took great pleasure in the slowness and the attempts Nil made to escape.
"Damn it, where are the girls?" He breathed out. He was the first to admit he needed help now.
He feebly kicked the head when it got close enough. Ugly backed up and its eyes seemed to look at the faint red spot on its nose. Ugly's other head opened its jaws and rushed its head down. Rolling to the side, it got a mouth full of dirt. Nil tried to stand up, and was knocked into the water by a tongue.
Unsure what to do, Nil dived as deep as he could with one arm and sore legs. He never knew how all of his muscles were connected until now, as moving his good arm made his other one hurt. Big Ugly shot straight up into the air, and dived straight down into the water, making very little splash.
Underwater was not Nil's forte. After that summer near Zora Falls, he was just about to stop drinking water. Ahh…traumatic childhood memories. Shaking his head, his hand brushed against the lip to an underwater cave. Taking his chances he feebly swam in. Ugly slammed its head against the rock of the island.
He popped up in an air pocket, but noticed the fine stone. Painfully pulling himself up, he saw that he was in the water temple. "Well... better than to be out there I suppose."
* Just where are the Goddesses anyway?
Nayru felt the spell casting and looked around, spotting a hulk of a man on the Island. "Its Ganondorf."
"Crap." Farore put on the Power bracelet.
Nayru readied a light arrow, and drew back on the bow. "Who is that he's attacking?"
"Who's stupid enough to fight back?" Farore said, starting to push her way through the spectators.
"Nil…" Hoping her aim would stay true she released the arrow.
The light arrow didn't get very far. An armored guard grabbed it before it sped up very fast. "Look Lady, I've had just about enough of this from you and your friend. We do not condone vigilantism."
"Well, then you do something! He's killing him!"
"I'd love to but I can't. We're waiting for special ops."
"Idiot." She made an energy wave, and pushed him back. Nayru ran through the crowd to the wooden bridge. Farore was standing in shock. A giant two headed monster just jumped out of the water, and was gracefully sailing towards Nil and Ganondorf.
"The hell is that?"
"A Triforce monster. C'mon." Nayru tugged on her arm.
"We can't defeat that! Look at it! Its gotta be two hundred feet long! It has two heads! What can we do?"
"We can't just sit back and do nothing!"
"Right, right. Oh my god, its gonna get him!" The next few seconds everyone on the beach watched in horror as the creature wrapped around Nil in one stroke and dived into the water. Ganondorf, stood up slowly and peered into the murky water. Then he shrugged and disappeared.
"Why can't I move Nayru? I feel so weak."
"That would be fear." She whispered, and nocked another arrow.
* Water Temple
Nil took a moment to stare at his horribly fractured arm. No doubt he'd have to get it amputated or something, no one could fix this. He guessed that it didn't hurt so much because he was on a combat high, and sheer willpower.
He collapsed against the wall, his head making an empty thump as it hit the wall. It kind of hurt, but he wasn't too concerned with that right now. Reaching to his shoulder, he felt the bone shift under his touch, much to his extreme pain. "Ow…I wanna go home. Please let me go home. This is the worst trip I've ever been on."
"You do look like shit."
Nil shot up and looked around. He saw nothing, but the shadows were all encompassing. "Who are you? Where are you?"
Nothing responded and Nil clutched his head with his good hand. "No. Now I'm hearing hearing voices, not just inside the head."
"Who I am isn't important. Okay? You don't need to worry about the whom. Where is just as unimportant. What is important is that you leave."
"Yea, just leave. A giant two headed Big Ugly is trying to kill me! And you want me to leave? Fuck you!"
"If I give you something, will you leave? I don't like you being here. You remind me of him."
"Does this something have the power to heal all wounds?"
"No."
"Can it vanquish my enemies?"
"Not really."
"Then what good are you?"
"It makes a really cool noise. And you can point the red dot at people's eyes and blind them."
"Gee…a teenager's delight. Pity I'm 24." Nil muttered and promptly fell down as the entire temple shook. A crack appeared on the south wall.
"Please? You must go. If people follow you here, they might find out I exist. I can't let that happen."
The mystery person seemed desperate. But honest. And he really didn't want more than his death added to his conscious. "Fine. I might as well meet my death anyway."
From the shadow a black-gloved hand dropped a small version of Farore's Longshot.
"Somebody left this here a long time ago. It almost seems like it was in another world. But you may have it, if not just to remove the remainders of his presence here."
Nil picked up the Hookshot dubiously. "Right…Thanks."
He walked over to the small pool entrance and began to crawl in. A loud shaking and crashing shook the temple. Ugly had burrowed under the ground and came up from the sandy bottom. Its huge heads looked right at Nil and dived for him.
No one would probably notice the long cut that appeared on the side of Ugly after it left the temple. Then again, Dark Link never wanted anyone to remember he was here. Putting the Dark Master Sword away, he wished the man Godspeed.
Nil didn't really know what to do with a Hookshot, but he figured he had something with a pointy end on it. Ugly swam behind him. Nil turned and pressed the trigger on the Hookshot. The spring coiled and released, which sent the spiked chain flying towards Ugly. It stabbed into its flesh, blackish blood with gold specks poured into the lake. It roared in pain, and Nil smiled, until he realized that the Hookshot was going to draw him nearer to it now. Not wanting to let go of his only weapon, he let it pull him near it. It thrashed and wriggled, trying to remove the steel point from its body. Nil twisted and pulled on it, making a round hole in Ugly.
It brought its head out of the water. Its scream sounding like thunder and the pain of hundreds of men and women. Nil was sort of holding onto the creature by jamming his foot into the hole so he didn't fall down. An idea popped into his head, and he used the Hookshot to climb up the creature. When he was close enough the right head, which was shaking left and right in agony, he aimed the little red aiming device at the eye. It howled and ducked away from the light. He aimed it at left head, and this one lashed out at him. As its head came rushing down at him, he fired the hook and chain.
It sank into the roof of the mouth of Lefty and it promptly closed its mouth. Not rescinding his death grip on the Hookshot, The monster whipped its head around-the force keeping the chain extended. As he was whipped around in the air, Righty began to snap at him. An explosion of ice on Righty made the head cower. Nil saw Nayru nocking another arrow, this one glowing red.
"About damn time you showed up!" Nil shouted and got the chain to retract. He gave it a yank and dislodged it from Lefty's mouth.
"Jump!"
Nil did, and prayed that he could trust them still. The explosion on Lefty's head sent Ugly cowering back to the water. Its head rushed past him as it dived again. Nil then realized he was going back into the water, with Big Ugly.
"Damn it all to hell!" He shouted as he sank below the crashing waves again.
Didn't take Ugly long to find him, as it was furious and had his scent already. It swam straight at him open jawed. Nil did a power stroke to the side and it just missed him. Because his wounded arm was closer to Ugly, he ignored the pain and tried to hit it in the eye with his arm.
His exposed bone popped one of Lefty's eyes like a grape. But he couldn't get it out in time as it swam by. More of his bone was ripped out the side of the arm, making a long tear down his arm, with a huge amount of bone sticking out of it. Nil almost fainted from pain, but his mind wouldn't allow him to do it underwater.
He felt the coils wrap around him. But he was just to tired and pained to care anymore. He did his best, but now…it was over. Ugly squeezed the air out of his already burning lungs. He began to see black. 'At least its over.' Was the only thing he could think of.
His eyes shot open as his lungs were filled with air, or what seemed to be air. It was more like he was breathing water. He was lying on the bottom of the Lake; a blue tunic hastily put over his wounded body, and weighted down with a bag of…bombs? Tied to his waist.
His arm was useless, the bone practically ripped out. Probably hanging on to his wrist by a tendon. He looked over to the left and saw a faint figure fighting Ugly with a gigantic sword. Black blood obscured his vision, but this fighter was winning. He wondered if that was who saved his life. Then he wondered why…he passed out again.
* Lake Hylia Beach
Nayru randomly grabbed an arrow, which happened to be an Ice arrow. Running down the wooden bridge she pulled back on the string. Stopping on the lone grave put there she let the Arrow fly. It hit the right head, and it cowered. She saw Nil move around by the other one's head, but she didn't want to risk hurting him more.
"Jump!" she bellowed.
It was kind of reassuring to see him immediately jump off of the creature. She let the Fire arrow fly, and it hit it, burning its face. It dived for the water, and moved so fast it got there before Nil. She mentally hit herself. Now both of them were in the water.
"Oops."
She heard a hollow clumping followed by a few cheers. She looked over at the horse that was approaching. "Epona?"
"Damn straight." Link said, before he jumped off the horse into the Lake.
Epona immediately slowed down and stopped next to Nayru, and both of them were looking into the water, which was quickly turning black from blood.
"Be careful."
As the iron boots did their thing, Link changed tunics, the Air supplying Zora Tunic would probably be needed. His feet touched the ground, sinking in a little from the muck. He ran forward, determined to stop this monster, and figure out what was going on later.
The thing suddenly screamed, the water trembling as it happened. He saw a man next to one of the heads, pulling on his ruined arm. Creature wrapped around the guy and started to squeeze.
Drawing his Biggoron Sword Link pondered on the effectiveness of fighting underwater. He took a huge swing, and despite the water resistance, he drew blood from its tail end. It dropped its intended victim and decided to attack him. As he ran underwater he shucked his Zora Tunic, as that guy would probably need it before him. He needed to distract that huge thing somehow. His usually razor sharp mind was seriously dulled having just gotten over a Triforce induced acid trip. So he did what he always did when in doubt, throw bombs at it. Even though he had no way of keeping it lit, or even lighting it to begin with, he threw a bomb at the creature, and beaned it in the head.
It actually stopped and tried to kill the bomb and the after effects would be rather amusing. Righty bit down on the bomb, breaking a large fang on the cast iron shell.
With the monster preoccupied, Link set to work. He pulled the tunic over the man's muscular frame, not bothering to deal with his arms. He also strapped the bomb bag to the belt on the tunic to keep him there.
With that out of the way, and his own air supply dwindling, he grabbed the Biggoron Sword and charged the monster. As he got closer he felt the powerful magic in it, and was dumbfounded to find it not evil. He almost lowered his sword, but it rushed him, and self preservation took over, holding the blade straight out, the huge eel thing ran its right head onto the blade, killing it. The head fell to the side, ripping the sword out of his grasp. The left head struggled forward, intent on killing him. Grabbing the first thing in his inventory, he pulled a thin piece of wood. Pressing a recessed button, the magic storage device turned it into the Cane of Someria. Focusing his magic power on the cane, he made a block of magic. The eel ran straight into it, and it probably hurt. Dazed and confused, it backed away. Taking advantage of the moment, he grabbed the Biggoron Sword and put the huge blade into the side of it. It tried to swim up, but the dead weight of its other head slowed it down. Link planted his feet and pulled down on the sword as it tried to swim up. Even though he could not see through the murky water, he felt it collapse. He smiled and looked at a strange glowing thing in its body.
Nayru watched as he walked out of the water, carrying Nil's limp form. He always managed to look good; she could never figure it out. He didn't say anything, and only took his Zora tunic off of Nil.
"Oh my…" she said.
* Hyrule Castle 2 and half hours later…
When he woke up in a bed/cot thing, he was glad. Firstly he wasn't underwater. He'd had enough water to last him at least 4 years. He was also glad that his body didn't scream in agony. He didn't hear much, so he slowly opened his eyes. Alone. "Damn. I almost get myself killed and nobody even cares."
[Appearances can be deceiving.]
'I don't have time for you. Okay? I need to mope and ponder why I still have my arm here.'
Because he just mentioned it to his voice, he looked at the arm. No bandage, just a long scar that ran along the edge. About a quarter inch thick too. It kind of disgusted him. He remembered his white bone sticking out of that arm. The pain was quite unfathomable. He reached for the broken shoulder, and noticed it wasn't shattered.
Succinctly amazed with his newfound healing ability, he looked around the room from right to left. Done in typical Hylian brick, the light tan illuminated by the lamps made for a dim outlook. A glance out the window told him it was night, and he was in Hyrule Castle town. Looking to the other side of the bed, he saw Nayru sitting in a chair, asleep.
"Your neck is going to hate you in the morning." Nil muttered and reached over.
She mumbled something as he lightly shook her; her first response was that she looked relieved, almost happy. Then her face turned even and almost cold, like she remembered something. She simply said, "Oh, you're up."
"Yea. I'm up. Gee, your concern touches the very depths of my blackened heart." He sighed and tried to stand up. He stopped when he noticed a lack of clothes. So lacking, he was naked. "Hey…my clothes."
"Were shredded piles of cloth. We didn't have to do much to get them off."
Nil shrugged and looked at his scars. "You do this?"
She grinned, "Yup."
Nil sat on the edge of the bed. "Its good work. Thank you."
"Well, I'm sure you would do the same if you knew how."
They sat there for a minute or two before Nil spoke. "How's Din?"
She didn't say anything. Nil looked over at her, she was playing with a lock of hair. She finally responded, "She's not dead, if that's what you mean."
"Partially, but I was also wondering if her…condition was any better."
"Can we not talk about this?" she said. Her voice was cold and detached.
"Of course." Nil looked around with a slight smile. "Look, I'm sor—"
She got up, "I'm going to tell the others that you're awake."
Nil didn't say anything as she got up and walked out the door. When he was alone, he fell back to the bed. "Why is it that I have to screw up every good thing I have going for me? Every single time…"
* Hyrule Castle hall
Nayru walked down the hall, angry at Chavez, angry at herself, angry for just about everything. Every time she tried to talk to him, he would say something or do something that really pissed her off. He was pretending like it didn't happen! The hell was that? He was so pissed earlier, now he was civil. Damn that man.
She stepped into the next room where Din, Farore and Link were.
"He's awake."
"Oh jeez. What did he do now?" Farore asked.
"Nothing. And that's what's so frustrating! He's pretending like it didn't happen or something!"
Link looked up, "Maybe he doesn't want to resume bad feelings. He could be feeling equally bad."
"I'm not feeling bad! I'm perfectly alright with myself."
Link just nodded. "Yea," he dug into his Tunic, "Here. I'm going to go meet this guy." He tossed Nayru the piece of Triforce. He walked out the door, his armor clunking and clanking as he moved down the hall.
"Think its us?"
"No. Link would agree with Chavez. There's always a way to save everyone."
"Why is it that every time we have something good going for us we screw it up?"
"I don't know."
*
"May I come in?"
"Go ahead, I couldn't stop you if I wanted to." Nil muttered. He didn't even look at him; he just stared out the window.
"I'm Link--"
"You ever notice how much more beautiful the world seems at night? The sky seems to stretch forever, sparkling with the stars. The glow of lamps creating a golden aura. If you can find a spot to sit and just watch…it really is beautiful."
"I guess. I'm told your name is Nil Chavez?"
He shook his head, and Nil turned to face Link, "Sorry, my manners are not what they should be. Yes, I'm Nil Chavez."
"I'm Link."
"Hi. What do you need?"
"What makes you think I need something?"
"Why would someone as important as you bother to talk to me? The only thing I have going for me right now is that the Triforce took a liking to me, only problem is that it's driving me insane."
"I don't want anything. I just wanted to talk."
"Talk away. Though I'm probably not good for any conversation at the moment."
"Farore brought me up to speed—"
"Even the part about killing Din?" Nil asked, staring out the window.
He paused, mouth open. "No. They didn't mention that part. Why would they…?"
"She's under a sleeping spell, and they don't know who could wake her up, so they said something about she'd be better off dead so she can resume something or other, I'm not sure I didn't really listen after the kill thing."
Link took a moment. "You don't know? That…"
"What doesn't he know Link?" Nayru asked.
He turned. "The truth." He whispered.
"He didn't even believe in our existence until he had the piece in him, and you want to tell him that we are Goddesses? It's probably better this way."
"Nayru…"
"Don't tell him."
"Promise me you will. Someday."
"Alright."
"Say it."
"I promise that I'll tell him before we leave."
"Good. I'll hold you to that."
Nayru watched him leave. A part of her was angry, how dare he tell her what to do? She had every right to do whatever she wanted. Then again, Link hated being deceived. It was a real sore spot with him. Makes for bad feelings.
"Alright, what aren't you telling me?" Nil asked.
She tossed the piece at him, "Don't worry about it."
He didn't bother to try catching it. It hit his chest, and stuck there for a second before melting into him. He crossed his arms. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Can we not talk about this right now?" she asked, almost meekly.
"Oh, of course. No need to concern myself with the big scheme of things. I'll just be waiting here for your next command."
"Nil…"
"No. Don't bother explaining yourself to me, I'm just a small stupid pawn who doesn't need to know the whole story."
Despite anything she asked or said, he wouldn't speak again. He stared out the window blankly.
"Damn you! Grow up a little! There are things about this you couldn't understand! Stop acting like a…a…"
He looked at her. His pale blue eyes gave him a very disturbed look, "Human? I'm sorry that I have feelings that can be hurt Nayru, and I understand my situation plenty. You don't need me any more except as a receptacle for this." He pointed to the Triforce mark on his chest, "Now, please leave me alone for a while."
She looked at the door, then at him. "No."
* Hyrule field
"What the hell happened back there?"
{I don't know. He…he…saved us.}
"Yea! What's up with that?"
{Maybe he wishes for us to defeat him on the field of battle, the simple fool that he is.}
"No. I think it's more like he didn't want anyone to die."
{Pointless for a Zombie eh?}
"He may not know that."
{So? He knew exactly what we are to him, an enemy.}
"It boggles the mind."
{Maybe that was his intention, to confuse us into not acting.}
"Just when I begin to think that we are having an intelligent conversation…"
{It's feasible! He could be trying to make us think that we owe him for saving our life, so we won't kill him next time we meet him!}
"Or he didn't want anyone to die-except him."
{If he was suicidal, why didn't he just beg us to kill him?}
"He practically did. He charged us with no real intention of winning. He didn't even hurt us."
{Oh, ya.}
Ganondorf kicked a stone over, and looked at the forest to the east. Damn it was big. It would take him days to find the monster, and then there is one more, that for the life of him he couldn't even fathom where it would come from. "Just two more…then I'm really screwed."
{Hell, I'm pretty sure we're screwed now. Didn't you hear? Link is back.}
Ganondorf never considered himself an emotional man, but he really wanted to go home to the desert and cry.
* Hyrule Castle
Link was glad he had taken off all his armaments. He felt about 124 pounds lighter. In reality it's was more like 115. He sat on a chair next to Din's bed talking to Farore.
"He killed it? By throwing a broken sword at it? That's rich."
"It's always like that. Weird coincidence follows him wherever he goes."
"I bet. Hey, I haven't seen Nayru in a while. Is she still with Chavez?"
"Probably, she feels responsible for him. I don't know why, its Din's Triforce."
"Ah, that's the thing, Din doesn't care about anything."
"You only think that because you don't know her well. She's angry, but she can't help it. This is her land. Most of my children shun Din, as she created the Triforce of Power, the one held by Ganondorf. They'd rather pay respects to Nayru, or myself. Even though without her we never could have done this."
"I always respected her. The Triforce is just an object. It can be used by anyone who finds it."
"You are a bit more sensible than most people."
Link scratched the back of his head, "Well, I wouldn't go that far."
"It's always assumed that power is bad, that it corrupts. But every trait is capable of being used for evil."
"Evil Courage? Do tell." Link said leaning forward.
"Courage can be used for dark purposes. A full frontal assault on the Castle could be considered courageous, but his motives are not good. You get it?"
"Yes. But isn't it easier to misuse power?"
"Only if your heart is in the wrong place."
"Free will is the bane of man."
"More of a double edged sword than bane." Farore corrected, and stood up stretching. "I'm going to check on N&N. Even I have no clue as to what she's doing to him."
"He's kind of angry at the moment. Or at least he was when I left."
Farore left him to sit next to the Goddess of Power, at a complete lack of ideas as to what to do. He'd never actually helped people medicinally. "I know you have to be hating this. But I bet you are angrier with yourself than Ganondorf. Then again…you hate him more than I do. That's a horrible thing we should probably let go of eh?"
Dead silence returned. The room became dead quiet except for the sounds of two people breathing.
Link shrugged, what was he expecting? "You know? We are pretty similar. Both love a good adventure, hate Ganondorf with a vengeance, and have no patience for stupid people, though I must say I'm glad I picked up Nayru's tact somewhere along the line. But your temper is so short. I can't understand it. Maybe people don't respect you, or fear you as much as you'd like, but there is always the people who know the whole story and refuse to give up on you. Isn't that worth something?"
After another long pause, he smiled. "I feel kind of stupid talking to you, even though it's probably the right thing to do. I'll be right back, Farore isn't back, and is probably listening at the door. That's a bad habit I wish I could be rid of."
He gave Din a quick kiss on the forehead, and squeezed her hand. "Hell, you'll pull through. You're just as determined as I am."
The door closed with a heavy clunk. After a few seconds, Din sat up straight as a board. "Damnit! That Stupid pig! I'll rip his arms off…where is everybody?" she paused to look around. Alone. Great. Probably off with that idiot Chavez.
Growling, she threw off the covers, and was pleased to see no one messed with her clothes. She hated the very idea of hospitals. So…impersonal. And Doctors? Putting drugs of which they know nothing, into a body of which they know less. Despicable. Wait…this isn't a hospital. This is the Castle. Whose brainstorm was it to bring her here? Din had a strong urge to kill something.
* Two rooms down, in the hall.
Farore was listening to the conversation, if you could call it that. It was more like a shouting match. The purpose had long been forgotten, and they were just venting. It was kind of amusing.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" Link asked, raising an eyebrow when Nayru shouted 'stupid undisciplined bastard' at him.
"Me? No. I came to check on them, and they were getting into an argument. I open the door to tell them to knock it off, and she forces me out. I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
"We can't just…if you push Nil to much he might…"
"No. I'm worried about Nil more than Nayru. She will hit him if he keeps this up. He is being a stubborn dick at the moment."
"Did he just say what I thought he said?"
"Yup."
"He's going to regret that later."
"Yea."
"You're like children I swear." Din muttered, "Oh my god, the newlyweds are at it again, big whoop. Let me through."
"Din! You're up!"
"Yea, and I'm not in the mood to waste more time listening to these two yap at each other, and I know if I don't interrupt soon they might do something I'll regret not stopping."
"You love violence though."
"Are you dense? I bet even Link knows what's going on. He likes her okay? That was obvious the way he's always staring at her. And we all know that Nayru tends to get personally involved with her little projects. Probably letting the physical body have a little too much control too. Can never maintain an air of professionalism I swear."
"No." she said, not quite believing.
"That's why I like you, Farore. You may be courageous, but god you are naïve."
Din kicked the door in. Nil was standing inches away from Nayru, the bed sheet wrapped around his waist. The first thing that Din noticed was that they weren't glaring or frowning like you're supposed to in an argument. Nayru was smirking, like she had won a game or something. The second was that under that bed sheet, Nil had no clothes.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Din!" Nayru shouted and hugged her. While pleased to see that she was worried, it was ruining her fury.
"Let me go. I have to kill this idiot."
"I didn't do anything! No need to kill me! By the way, how are you feeling? Tired? Cranky? Well rested?"
"I'm fine. Thanks for stalling."
"I knew it was a bad idea to kill her."
"Oh shut up, so I was wrong once."
"I'll keep that in mind. I'll never forget the day you admitted you were wrong."
Nayru sighed and smiled, shaking her head. "I don't know what to do with you Nil."
"I could think of a few things." Nil and Din said at the same time.
"Talk about double meaning." Farore commented, walking into the room.
"Shut up! It's not like that!" Nil and Nayru said.
"Please stop speaking at the same time." Link said calmly. "Everybody take two steps back from each other, a few deep breathes…good. And somebody needs to fill Din in on what's going on. Farore and I will do that, somebody has to get Nil a new set of clothes…and Nil…I don't know. Rest or something."
"You're a real stick in the mud, Link." Din said, throwing her arm around his shoulders, "But that's why we love ya."
Nil was counting off on his fingers. "Hey, Nayru, does that mean you have to buy me some clothes?"
"Unfortunately. I'm still angry with you."
"Can I apologize for being mildly upset? I know it isn't a crime or anything, but it seemed to piss you off."
"Alright. Fine. Apology accepted."
She walked out of the room shaking her head. "He does things to me, that I can't even begin to explain. How can anyone be so infuriating, and likeable at the same time?"
"I guess its part of his charm. It just goes to show that women go for almost any kind of man. If we polled, I bet Link would be considered the most eligible bachelor in all of Hyrule. I mean he is handsome, funny, famous, polite, honest, I don't know about rich, but you catch my drift. Whereas you have people like Nil: Cynical, loudmouth, right or left wing ideas, plenty of vices, but for some reason certain people like them." Farore said, letting Link and Din move ahead.
"Knight in shining armor and the Scoundrel. Pretty much two opposites I guess."
"Uh-huh." Nayru sighed. "You should go on ahead. I need to scrounge up some cash, and then buy clothes. Just the idea of shopping out there gives me the creeps, why is that?"
"I don't know. Ask Link for some cash, he's loaded."
She rolled her eyes, but did ask Link for his moneybag. He handed it over without a second thought and she was glad that he trusted her that much. As he began to leave, Nil called out to her. "Hey! Nayru! Could you come here please?"
"Wow, I'm honored that you bothered to even give me a 'please'. What?"
He looked a little hurt, but it went away just as quickly. He reached into the remains of his overcoat and handed her a thick stack of check tickets. "You should only have to go to the Pawn Shop, but I think the bottom tickets might be overdue. So…just trying to make your life easier."
"Then you would have kept your clothes together."
"Well, it's not my fault that a giant…never mind, that was my fault."
She laughed, despite trying to be upset with him. She pocketed the tickets and left.
Hyrule Castle town during the night is a festering hole for muggers, conmen, and other undesirables. Most of the shops were closing up and the people going home. She asked where the pawnshop was, and aside from a few dirty looks, she got lousy directions.
An hour and half later she was very pissed off and using all of her patience to not hit people. Din was probably right when she said it felt good. Taking a moment to gain her bearings and ponder if a transportation spell could take her there even though she had no idea where it was.
She felt their presence before she saw them, but two men were approaching her with intent to mug, beat, and various other things. Unacceptable. She knew this because she was the guiding force between right and wrong, for her sake, she made right and wrong.
She waited to see if they would change their mind, but they didn't. One reached for her hand, the other produced a large dagger. As soon as one grabbed her arm, she twisted it making him howl in pain as his arm bent into a very unnatural position. The man with the dagger charged and Nayru kicked once, twice, three times. The first sent the dagger flying, and probably broke three fingers. The second was in his soft belly to get him to bend over. The third hit him in the head and cracked his skull. She asked the man who she was holding where the pawn shop was, and he pointed down the street and said, "Three buildings down! On the right!"
"Thank you. Now get go become a productive member of society." She elbowed him into unconsciousness. She didn't want him getting up anytime soon.
The Pawnshop was brightly lit on the inside, but shades kept it dark on the outside. She lightly stepped in, and was very overwhelmed by the neat and organized manner in which its owner kept it in. "Wow. I didn't expect this."
The clerk, a young woman who looked very tired, waved her over. "I'm Mirax, Owner/proprietor. What can I do for you?"
Nayru paused… "Quite the establishment you have here."
"Was my father's but he got old. What can you do?"
"Yea. Umm…I need to get some stuff out of hock…" She set the pack of tickets on the counter.
"Hey! Those are Nil's tickets! What are you doing with them?"
"You know him?"
"Hell, he comes in here every week. Haven't seen him in a while though."
"He's been busy."
She raised an eyebrow and winked, "Gotcha. Normally, I'd accept just the tickets and the cash, but I know that this is Nil's stuff, so I feel obliged to ask how you know him. Co-worker? Landlord? Girlfriend?"
"It's not like that! I'm…his partner."
"Right…"
"Business Partner."
"Uh-huh. I believe you. Really. Now let me see here…" She flipped through the tickets and removed one or two. Those items were probably sold or something.
"Gotcha. What do you want back?"
She sighed. "Want to give me the whole lot?" She plunked the wallet down.
"Sounds fair, besides, Nil's a good guy. Pity what happened to him though."
"What?"
"You don't know?"
"No. He doesn't like to talk about it with me."
She nodded, "Took me a awhile to get his side of the story too."
"What happened?"
She paused. After a moment's consideration she spoke, "They say that he's responsible for the death of his family."