The Legend of Zelda: Divine Intervention Part Seven: Death is Only a Minor Setback
Quincy007
Author's notes: Is anyone reading this? If you are you could just tell me. I'd appreciate it. Nothing fancy, just a good word or two. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns tell me.
====================================================================================
Ganondorf burned the last Redead away--coughing as the putrid smoke collected at the top of the room. Given his height, it was uncomfortable.
{Ganondorf, we've been here for nineteen hours now, and I don't think the Triforce piece is in the temple proper.}
Sitting down to get his head out of the gray cloud Ganondorf sighed, "Well, I still think I have the right idea. But if it isn't in the Shadow Temple, then where could it be?"
{I'm glad you asked, because while you've been rekilling Redeads I've been thinking of all the places you find ghosts, goblins, and ghouls.}
"Something useful for a change? How…surprising."
{Shut up. All right, if it isn't here, we should check the graveyard below.}
Ganondorf walked out of the room, taking a deep breath of the dank air. Somehow he knew his assertion of the final Triforce piece was correct, but he didn't know where he would find the spirit containing it. Majora was probably right, best to check every possible location,
"Fine, we're going."
He never noticed the shadow as it ducked into his own. There was a faint yellow flash as Ganondorf walked out of the Shadow temple.
* Kokiri Village
Nil Chavez was having what he would call, 'an interesting week'. It started off like any other, wake up hungover, go to work, get plastered, a little bit of gambling, etc…but it soon turned into an epic adventure, with monsters, religious relics, heroes, and of course beautiful women.
He was still mentally recovering from his last battle with a giant monster he had named Billy Bob. Somehow when he has assimilated the piece of the Triforce, it healed his open wounds. He hadn't told the others yet; he thought that it would only worry them.
He was currently sitting alone next to the trading post, the least damaged of all the buildings. By the position of the sun, he guessed it to be about 8:30 am (It was 8:32), and he was reading the book he had grabbed from the ruins of his house when he started this adventure.
Nil had been trained to be a knight from very young, only failing all of his instructors in recent years, and with his sobriety and general wellness his skills were beginning to hone themselves again. He had heard Din walking up behind him a few minutes ago and thusly wasn't too surprised when her whispering into his ear interrupted his tranquil morning. "What are you doing this early?"
"Reading." He replied, hoping she took the hint to not bother him with her immaturish banter. He respected Din's ability to fight and her will, but she was most definitely the most wild of the three, something that Nil could not appreciate.
She took a seat next to him, "About what, may I ask?"
"You may."
With a glance out of the corner of his eye, Nil saw her scowl and ready her arm to smack him one. He forced himself to remember that no matter how Din acted she was a lady, and deserved to be treated as one, not like one of his drinking buddies.
"It's a small book of legends that my sister gave to me when I was knighted. She always said that since I was destined for great things, I should know what's coming. I never seriously looked at it until now."
"Why did you bring it along?"
Nil frowned as he turned a page. "Its one of three reminders I have of her."
"What are the other two?"
"My shield. She could always fix it, no matter how damaged I got it. We've been through a lot, this shield and me."
"And the last reminder?"
"This." He pointed to the scar on his left cheek. Din had never given it much thought before, but it was pretty nasty for a head wound. He flinched as she traced it with her finger.
"Why does this remind you of her?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Nil muttered pushing her arm away.
"I could just guess, and you could tell me if I'm right."
"Din, I know you and Nayru and Farore aren't normal girls…eh…women, but still, some things are just better left unsaid."
"What are you so scared of?" She asked as he got up.
Nil tried to smile, but he just managed an uneasy grin, "I'm scared that if I move on, and stop having the nightmares, then I may never seeing their faces again."
As he walked off into the fading mist, Din picked up the book "That's so sad."
* Link's house.
"Or what's left of it anyway." Link muttered as he tapped the leg of his table, kicking up lots of dark ash.
Nayru didn't say anything; she just looked on with a touch of anger. If the three of them worked together her, Farore, and Din they might have enough power to undo the damage wreaked upon the Village. But was it right for them to do it? Forest fires are natural occurrences and the forest grows back better than ever. Fate was the one thing that even Goddesses were subject to.
Link sighed and walked out of his charred home. "Let's go see if Zelda came up with anything."
"All right."
As they climbed down, Nayru caught a glimpse of Din and Farore walking up. "What is it?"
"Somebody wrote this down."
"What down?" Link asked.
"This whole mess. Its in Chavez's little book."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh. All of it."
"What does it say?"
Din flipped open the book. "Ergh…rassum frassum verse…Hey, next time we have someone write something down, I want it dictated, not in verse."
"Din!"
"Oh, right."
There once was a man from HyruleWhose life was a proverbial cesspool
The Triforce is on the blink
The three Goddesses needed to fix this kink
With the help of this drunken fool
"Uhh…that doesn't sound like any verse I know." Link commented, peering over Din's shoulder
Nayru giggled, "Its limerick, Link."
"What?"
"A light humorous, nonsensical, or bawdy verse of five anapestic lines usually with the rhyme scheme aabba." Farore explained. After a slight pause she added, "Actually, it's a little ahead of its time."
Din eyed everybody, "If I may continue?"
His reaction was amusing
To the Goddesses it was confusing
Though he held the Triforce of power
All this guy could do was cower
And Din thought, "What kind of drugs is he using?"
Nayru looked at the book oddly, "Did you really?"
Din shrugged, "Pretty much, yea."
Link sighed, "Skip to the part we haven't experienced yet."
"Fine, fine…wait…Nope…uh-huh. What the hell is this?" she asked, pointing to a limerick about halfway down the page.
Nayru read it slowly.
After falling into a little pouchy
The Redead King was a little grouchy
Billy Bob made him no longer quite whole
from head to asshole
He'd been split down the middle, that's ouchy
"That's not quite right. He was ripped in half at the waist, not head to toe." Nayru added.
"Pouchy? What the hell is that?"
"Hey, its hard to rhyme Grouchy."
"And ouchy."
Link sighed, "Get to part with it telling us what we need to know."
"Wait…wait…here it is. I think. These are getting more and more vague."
They fought the Redead king
Hoping that he might sing
The location of the last triangle But before the king they could mangleThe last piece called the knight into the ring
Link frowned, only this time is wasn't from the bad verse. "So all we have to do is find Ganondorf?"
"Actually we have to fight the Redead King." Farore corrected.
Link groaned, "The Redead King has to be Ganondorf, who else could it be?"
Din rolled her eyes, "The leader of the Redeads?"
There was an odd silence as everyone seemed to ponder that
* Great Deku Tree's Meadow
"…That is one big tree."
"Verily Nil Chavez."
Nil stopped and looked at the huge tree "…Holy shit."
The gigantic tree in the middle of the clearing did not just talk to him, Nil tried to convince himself, despite fact that it just called him by name.
"Not quite."
"Uhhh…How do you know my name?"
"I know all and see all."
Nil looked at the tree dubiously. The talking tree had to be bluffing no living thing was omnipotent. "Bullshit. Navi told you didn't she?"
"………Well…yes."
Nil snorted, and crossed his arms, "I knew it. Omnipotent my ass."
"Anyway, I have important information for you—"
"You just lied to me! A lying tree forest deity! How can I believe anything you have to say?"
There was a loud rushing of air that Nil could only ascribe to a sigh and the tree's tenor and voice changed, no longer sounding all knowing and awe-inspiring,
"This is why I deal with children, one fucking miracle every couple of years and they follow you to the ends of the earth, but now I have to deal with assholes like you."
Chavez shrugged his shoulders, he could understand how the tree was feeling—that was the weirdest thing he had ever thought, period.
"You must have a lot of pent up anger huh? I'm sorry I was such a dick, but I've been having one helluva week here."
"You've had a bad week? What about the Great Deku Tree? I'm a sentient plant for Din's sake! I can't go anywhere, I can't do anything, and I get to boss around a bunch of little munchkins. Goddesses my life sucks."
Nil would have tried to cheer up the aging forest spirit, but any attempts were cut off by the tree's next rant.
"And with the Goddesses not even in the heavens I don't have anyone to talk to anymore! All the fairies do is gossip and those little bastards don't even talk to me, they just bow and pray and all that wonderful shit. Listen, if anyone ever makes you a patron deity of anything, don't fucking do it. Your life will be over."
"Even the patron deity of recreational sex?"
"Don't even get me started on that lucky son of a bitch, I'd swear he sold his soul to Bob to get that job, but that doesn't make much sense now does it?"
"No…not really. …Bob?"
"You mortals probably call it the Great evil, or destroyer of worlds or some other stupid ass fear inspiring name. Its given name is Bob."
"Right, I'll be sure to remember that. So was that it? Your great sage like wisdom: Stay the fuck away from becoming a religious icon?"
"Actually, no. Good advice, but not what I'm supposed to tell you. Now…lets see if I remember the verse correctly…
When you fight next you shall not fight at all But live again a day in the fall
All you'll want is to be let be
And Golden Wisdom shall set you free
Then…oh shit…something bad will happen…yea.
"What was that supposed to be? That didn't rhyme."
"Silly mortal, that was a limerick, it isn't supposed to—"
"Hey, I know what a limerick is, I got a whole book full of them. That is not a limerick. Limericks are like…"
There once was a man from Nantucket
Who had a dick so long he could suck it
He said with a grin
Wiping cum from his chin
If my ear were a cunt I'd fuck it.
"…Right…I can see why it isn't so popular with actual poets."
"Actually, the credit for that gem goes to Bart the bard. He's a regular at the bar I patron."
"I shouldn't be surprised and yet…I'm shocked."
"Because someone who takes down up to five bottles a night can rhyme that well?"
"…That, and the fact that he can live with the name Bart the bard."
"He lives behind the archery range, he's happy that anyone knows his name."
"Most great artists lived in poverty."
"Because they spent all their money on vices."
"Vices?" The Deku tree asked, sounding too curious for Nil's peace of mind.
"Crack, cocaine, booze, heroin, women of ill repute, pornography, gambling, tobacco, etc, etc."
"I'd love that. All of it. At once."
"I think I'll be going now…"
"Wait! Don't go! Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had an intelligent conversation? Its almost time for morning mass! Please!"
Nil ignored the pitiful tree as he walked out of the meadow. As he reentered the village proper he could have swore he heard sobbing. "Note to self: Do not become a religious icon. Ever."
"Hey, Nil!" Link called, waving his hand.
"Link, that tree is seriously in need of help."
"Really? What's wrong?"
"If I was to guess…pardon my Gerudo, he needs to get laid."
"WHAT?"
Nil stopped and thought for a minute, "Well, I can see how it's hard for a tree to actually do that, but the spirit is the same. Really wound up, needs to relax, y'know?"
Link watched Nil walk off and greet the girls in his usual respectful yet casual manner. Link looked back at the entrance to the meadow. "Where does he come up with this stuff? Its just a weird old talking tree…right?"
*Kakariko Village Pub
It was late at night when the door to the Pub creaked open. The huge hulking form of Ganondorf walked in, covered in dirt and grime. His bright orange hair was dull and he wasn't carrying himself like an evil king.
Sitting down on a stool in the far corner he started talking to Majora, but everyone else thought he was talking to himself.
"We have dug up twenty seven graves in the past four hours and not one single wayward spirit. Given the circumstances I need to raise mine." Ganondorf said as he ordered a beer.
{You're telling me. I really thought that we had it with that last one.}
"Well, its not like the day was a complete waste." Ganondorf muttered jingling the rupees they'd dug up.
{Isn't grave robbing one of those things you aren't supposed to do if you want a decent place in the after life?}
"I'm rolling my eyes now."
{Oh yea, we're already damned aren't we?}
Ganondorf nodded and waved his hand, indicating that the bartender should keep them coming.
"Still, I feel really drained, and its not like I've been doing much work."
{Well, I don't know what these Hylians were thinking when they made their graves either shallow, or labyrinths}
"Do you remember the old grave digger's? That was one helluva grave."
{Well, it was cool.}
"I never thought I would be reduced to digging up graves. When I was a young boy growing up around way to much estrogen, and I first learned about the Triforce, there were stories of grand palaces, large amounts of money, and of course beautiful women."
{That got you hooked on finding it eh?}
"Yea…but it seems so petty right now. Looking back, I could have had more power ruling Hyrule's black market and crime rings than I ever had while ruling Hyrule with the Triforce. And I wouldn't end up becoming a grotesque pig like monster."
{Hey, them's the breaks, right?}
"Fortune and glory."
{Eh?}
"That's all I wanted. If I had found the Triforce back when I was that young, I would have had fortune and glory. As I grew older, I lost sight of my shallow ideals and thought that with the Divine Triangle I might be a great ruler. Then I found my little 'thing' for killing."
{You are a messed up guy G.}
"Damn straight."
*Hyrule Field
"So…its all in my book?"
Din shrugged, "We think so, its pretty vague, but most prophesies are."
Nil sighed and shut his mouth. He really didn't want to know. He remembered reading that book a long time ago and laughing at some of the verses. The idea that it held the key to saving Hyrule… Or did it?
"Hold on a minute. Why are we doing this again?"
"We are getting the pieces of the Triforce of Power before Ganondorf does."
"Does the fate of the world hang on this or something?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Nil rolled his eyes. "Great. Just great."
"We don't know." Nayru admitted.
"All we know is that we don't want it to happen. Ganondorf is a very evil thing and we don't want to give him any sort of power whatsoever. The world will be better off if we can get the Triforce back into the Golden land where Ganondorf cannot get to it."
"I see. So this is a preemptive measure?"
"Yes."
Nil sighed and shook his head. As he rode his horse further ahead, Epona pulled astride to Farore and the other girls.
"Hey, when I woke up in the Golden land, I noticed something wasn't right. The sky was black and shadows seemed to be creeping up from the edges."
The three Goddesses thought on this for a few minutes. Din was the first to start speaking, "Is it the absence of the Triforce?"
"I wouldn't think so, the Golden Land should still be under the effects of Link's wish even if it wasn't there." Nayru pointed out.
"So if it isn't a negative status effect, could it be an alteration forced upon it?"
"I wouldn't think so, because the Triforce doesn't control the anti evil spells around the Golden land."
Din snapped her fingers, "I'll put 200 rupees down that Bob has something to do with it."
"What? Why would Bob want the Golden Land?" Link asked.
"Because it's a stepping stone to the Heavens."
"You can't get to the heavens from the Golden Land." Link said.
"But it is an extension of our power, a little sub dimension if you will." Farore pondered.
"But since we can't keep tabs on Bob right now, it could be him."
"Should we go back? Check it out?" Din asked.
The four of them looked up to see Nil Chavez waiting in front of them, "Check what out?"
"Kakariko. What do you think?" Link said quickly.
"Not a bad idea, when we left this morning I was wondering if we had a destination or just wandering around aimlessly."
Nil gave his horse a light kick to get it moving again. He moved on ahead, but he asked, "Who is this Bob you speak of?"
After a few moments of silence and curious looks Nil's face turned sour, "Huh, to hell with you then."
* Hyrule Castle
Princess Zelda was feeling somewhat neglected. Not that she ever played a huge role in Link's previous adventures, but something about today felt off. Like she should be there helping. The final Triforce piece continued to elude her, but she felt confidant that truth and justice would prevail over evil.
She had found a book of monsters that had the Triforce creatures described in them. The Saurian, Volcano Lizard, Big Ugly, A huge Scorpion, and this newest one that had a really long name—Zelda just called it Billy Bob.
The book was actually a historical record of ancient demons that the ruler of hell created to attack the Golden land in an attempt to steal it from the Goddesses. The Knights of Hyrule defeated the monsters.
The last and most powerful monster was a Shadow beast called Yoneven. It attacked the minds of the knights, incapacitating them while it sucked their life away. It had no shape and couldn't travel on its own, only in the shadows of other things could it move.
This was important enough to find Link and the Goddesses and tell them. She book marked the page in the book and prepared Farore's Wind.
*Kakariko Village
Nil wasn't in the mood to deal with other people. He just wanted to get some sleep and pray that all his problems go away in the eight hours he plans on sleeping during.
Just when he thought he was making a breakthrough with the girls and their mysteries they do something else or stop communicating properly. He began to wonder how right he was when he called himself bitch of the trip. They had to know this Bob person, but they wouldn't tell him for some reason.
"Bob…Could it be the same Bob Deku was talking about?"
[I'm just the sentient essence of the physical manifestation of a Goddess's power don't ask me.]
Nil ignored the voice and tied his horse up in front of the bar. The Bartender would know what to do; they had infinite wisdom beyond their years.
He pushed open the door and stared in utter horror as a person who looked like Ganondorf was standing on the bar leading the crowd in Zora drinking songs sung in an off key Hylian dialect.
The crowd was shouting the chorus a few stopping to drink from their huge mugs, "I've got friends in low places, where the whisky drowns and beer that chases my blues away…I'll be okay. "
Even after several moments of staring in horror Nil couldn't do anything but shake his head in horror and sick fascination. He forced himself to turn away and leave before he got any stupid ideas, like joining them.
"Was that really…?"
[Don't ask don't tell.]
"Yea."
He walked into the open area by the town entrance and sat down against the tree. There was a rush of wind accompanied by a green glowing light as a very feminine 'oof' echoed in his ears. He looked to the left and the right and saw nothing. He looked up in the tree and couldn't help but chuckle. Princess Zelda had teleported herself right into a tree.
She was muttering to herself, completely ignorant to his presence. He stood up and called up to her, "Well…good evening Princess, do you need a hand?"
* Kakariko Inn
"If you would just level with him, I'm sure he wouldn't get like this."
Nayru shook her head, "Maybe if he would level with us."
Link threw up his arms. "You're human for under a week and you have pettiness down already, some days I feel so proud to be your champion."
Link walked out of the room, shaking his head and muttering something derogatory about women.
Din, Farore and Nayru collectively sighed. "Is it us?" Din asked
Farore shook her head, "I think it's a guy thing. We wouldn't understand."
Nayru looked out the window, "We do understand though. Nil is always getting upset because we're keeping things from him and he knows that we're doing it."
"I thought we agreed it was for the best."
"Granted, but he doesn't know that. He thinks were doing because we're trying to hide something from him to keep him uninformed, not for his benefit."
"Could we explain it to him? Our rationale, not the situation." Farore suggested.
"Sounds like a start."
* Roof of Shooting Gallery
Zelda watched with a slight smile as Nil scrambled up the side of the building. She had just levitated herself up there, and he had to jump several times. He finally got up and promptly sat down, catching his breath.
"Why did we have to come up here?" he asked, laying down on the shingles.
"I wanted to mostly. And we have a much better vantage point."
"Of what? We aren't exactly under siege here. Learn to relax when you have the chance, because more often that not, they're fleeting."
"What's fleeting?"
"Chances."
"Oh." After a long pause, which to Nil signified a change in subject, Zelda spoke again, "You seem…different."
"I changed my clothes."
"Not that…"
"Haircut?"
"No…"
"I don't know then, maybe you are getting over your first impression."
"That's probably it."
Nil watched the evening sky as the stars sparkled and the moon glowed softly. "Why did you come out to Kakariko?"
"I wanted to see Link and the others."
"I'm assuming I wasn't one of the others."
"I wasn't really thinking of you at the time, no."
"At least you're honest. Its better than trying to placate me."
"I'm just not that nice."
"Oh, so it comes from your attempts to be evil and unjust. I'll keep my eye on you Princess." He laughed.
"I think I found the last monster."
"That's good. Of course, I'm not the type to go out looking for extreme pain, but hey, more power to you."
"What?"
"Every time I've fought with one of these monsters, I've ended up getting extremely hurt, or at least experiencing a lot of pain. For the world or not, that is not something I look forward too. People who are just looking for the next good fight are either undefeated, invulnerable, or masochists."
"And you are none of those things." She said, though to Nil it sounded more like a question.
"I've been defeated. Nobody has ever been undefeated. No matter how good you are there is that one time that no one ever forgets, no matter how long it's been."
There was a ratcheting noise as a shiny hook sunk into the shingles. Link slammed into the side of the building and scrambled up the side. "Damn that's a lot more stressful than I remember."
"You're getting old Link, welcome to the club." Nil teased.
"I'm not that old."
"Old enough that you should give up all this adventuring, get a real job, marry some nice girl, and raise a couple of Link juniors."
"You are older than I am, what about you?"
"I'm on part 2 section 1: Finding the girl of your dreams."
"Whoa! Hold on a minute here! You didn't mention sections and parts."
"Of course it's a multi tiered process. You don't expect to change from swashbuckling adventurer to family man in four steps did you?" Nil shrugged and got up, "I bet you two have some kind of 'chosen by destiny' chat to catch up with. See you later."
He jumped down the side of the building, and there was a loud thud as he landed on the ground rather uncomfortably.
"Don't worry, I'm okay!" he called back up the building.
"I don't understand him sometimes." Link said, shaking his head.
"He really is a nice guy once you get past the first impression." Zelda said as she sat down next to him.
"True. So what have you been doing?"
"Research mostly."
"On what?"
*The next morning, Kakariko Village
"I don't get it, the clerk said he came in last night." Nayru said quietly.
"And left before we woke up." Farore pointed out.
"Makes me wish I was more of a morning person. The sooner we get this squared away the better." Din muttered.
The three Goddesses were taking a midmorning walk in the village hoping to find Chavez. Apparently he came into their room last night, slept in a chair, and was gone before they woke up. The consensus was that he was avoiding them.
They were thinking of a list of places where he might go, and Din thought the best place to look first was the pub. Farore and Nayru weren't so sure, but they were still thinking, and it never hurt to check, right?
They immediately noticed Nil's horse tied in front of the bar, and the loud amounts of groaning and swearing coming from inside.
The door swung open and two burly men heaved on an unconscious lump. After a few more seconds they managed to get the mass of flesh out the door and off to the side.
"By the Goddesses he is heavy."
"Yea…at least he paid his tab, I'd hate to try to get it out of him in blood."
The two men walked back inside and the lump stirred… "I can see clearly now the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way…gone are the dark clouds that had be blind, its gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiny day."
They just stared at Ganondorf as he slowly rose from his liquer-induced slumber. Even Majora's Mask seemed hungover.
" I look all around, nothing but blue skies…what? Yes, I can see that. Huh?" He looked over at the trio. "Mamma no…"
{If this happens every time we get plastered I'll suggest never doing it again.}
'Yea.'
Din had already drawn the Biggoron's Sword. "Ah-ha! We have found you Ganondorf! I think its time we had a nice little chat about sleeping spells."
"Now? I'm kind of hungover at the moment. I probably couldn't tell you where I live let alone anything about intricate spell casting."
"You don't live anywhere."
"Oh."
She swung the sword down, and he caught the blade on the flat sides. He twisted the sword away as he stood up. Tossing it aside he sneered, "You would be surprised how fast a drunk guy can move."
{You got lucky with that. You were aiming to hit the sides of her head.}
'Go with it. They don't need to know that.' he thought to his partner. Ganondorf got into a fighting stance. "You want to fight me? I'm here. But, please, move slowly."
{Ganondorf, I think I have to tell you that I'm not feeling to good. Our magic levels are extremely low for some reason, and we're about seven hearts down on our life meter.}
'I have a life meter?' Ganondorf thought as he dodged an arrow.
{Sort of. Anyway, we can't fight them like this if they start bringing spell casting into it…duck!}
Ganondorf immediately threw himself to the ground, and the ball of flame missed him by a few centimeters.
He formed some electrical energy at the end of his fist and swung at Din, and the air sizzled with power.
{Don't use your magic! We'll need it to pull ourselves back together! What if Link and the Master Sword show up?}
'I'm thinking. Hey! Why don't we run away?'
{They would catch us almost instantly. You aren't a marathon man Ganondorf.}
There was a sharp pain in his back as Farore latched the Longshot into his back then tugged it loose before the chain retracted. He didn't bother spinning to face her, because Din was up in his face with a series of flaming punches and kicks
* Windmill ledge
When people saw the two holes in the front of the windmill, they would guess what they were for. Link had always assumed they were left over from construction and used for maintenance. He did know that it was a nice secluded spot to take people when on the town, and if the wind was right and the chicken was strong, you could sail halfway across the town.
The explosion rocked the windmill (the rest of the town too) while some smoke rose into the air. If he guessed right, it was near the Pub.
He nudged Zelda, who was still sleeping. "What?" she asked.
"Sounds like trouble."
"We better get there then huh?"
Link nodded and grabbed his sword and shield.
* Holden's House of clothes.
After the recent fights Nil had realized his need for new clothes, but he certainly didn't want to part with his favorite tunic. He was getting it repaired at a decent rate, and he found some nice black undershirts. At this point, he was willing to try anything to stop looking like a Link wannabe. That included new boots and pants.
"Well, at least I never got a silly hat like his." He said, tucking the shirt in.
"We have hats."
"I don't need one. How long till my tunic is done?"
"Oh…a couple of hours."
"I'll be back at two okay?" Nil said as he strapped his sword around his waist and slung his shield on his back.
"I'll be here."
No sooner had Nil walked outside did he look across the street at the Pub he had seen Ganondorf in last night and saw the Evil King himself, fighting with the girls. His first impulse was to draw his sword and join the fray, but Ganondorf was being beaten quite handily. It wouldn't be very fair to have four people attack him at he same time plus the way he stumbled as he tried to swing and the lack of raw power coupled with Nil's knowledge of what he was doing last night…
"How could they?" He asked as he drew his sword and shield.
A dodged ball of energy exploded right next to him, sending all sorts of dirt and small stones flying into the air with him. He landed on the ground rather uncomfortably.
He picked himself up and just rolled his eyes as he saw the tears in his new shirt. "Figures."
As he got closer to the battle, he noticed the Triforce mark on his hand glowing. That meant that Ganondorf had the final piece. But that was no excuse.
Farore launched the Longshot at Ganondorf, but Nil grabbed the chain in midair and yanked it from her grip.
Nil didn't even hear her shouted questions as he was already tossing his sword, it slicing the string on the Fairy bow and buried itself in the wall of the pub. Nayru's shocked expression didn't faze him.
And as Din swung the recently recovered Biggorn's sword in a fluid arc towards Ganondorf's head, but Nil stepped in and blocked it with his shield. The blow knocked him back and broke his trusty shield down the middle.
"Nil!" They all shouted.
"What the hell were you thinking?" He yelled as he stood up, throwing his broken shield aside. He turned to Ganondorf, "Don't go anywhere, I haven't even started with you."
The huge man collapsed onto his knees, "Whatever kid."
Nil turned back to the girls, "What kind of person attacks someone who is obviously hungover? He couldn't have been thinking straight. He didn't pose a threat to anybody like that. You can't attack someone with no reason. And why are you triple teaming him? Din, you were kicking his ass. Farore, Nayru, were you just attacking for fun? This was so not right it wasn't funny."
"He's the bad guy! Would you rather fight him at full strength?"
"Of course. It's the honorable thing to do. And Link has fought him at the peak of his power more than once right?"
"Its not like he would extend you the same courtesy."
"He's the bad guy, I don't expect him too. But that is what makes us the good guys, following the rules. What you did was just cold blooded and ruthless. Not to mention the civilian casualties that were possible. This is a city street! Any single one of those attacks could have gone through a wall and killed somebody! What kind of example are you setting?"
He stopped talking to them and turned to face Ganondorf. "And you. You let your guard down. That's a big mistake. Things like this happen. I only saved you this time because what they were doing was wrong. You have to take care of yourself. Hunted men don't have the liberty of having a night on the town. Use your head a little.
"…You know? You're a good person. It is kind of a pity…"
Nil kneeled down to look Ganondorf in the eyes. "You aren't as hungover as I thought, but you are seriously ill. Your breathing is labored and your wounds haven't healed yet. No offense when I say that even I could take you right now."
Nil stood up and started to walk away. As his shadow crossed Ganondorf's the Yoneven attacked. It melded to Nil's shadow before it adhered itself to his legs, turning them black as night. The darkness snaked up Nil's legs and stopped at the base of his spinal cord. He seizured for several seconds before collapsing in a heap.
The change in Ganondorf was immediate. His small wounds snapped closed and his magical aura shot through the roof. He was on his feet in seconds and looking very evil and powerful.
"We had a hitchhiker."
{That dirty bastard.}
Ganondorf looked at Nil and sighed. He knelt next the knight's fallen body. "What do we have here…?"
He felt the sword under his chin. He glanced to the left and saw Nayru holding Chavez's sword at his throat. "Get away from him."
"I was just..."
"Get away from him."
Ganondorf stood and walked back a few feet, but he sat down again in deep thought.
{What are you thinking now G?}
'What if we helped them rescue the knight?'
{You just want to do that because you owe him for saving your life.}
'So? He did a good thing; he stopped them from attacking me even though I've tried to kill him already. If for no other reason than to ask him why'
{This is true. Still…even if we wanted too, how could we help them?}
'Trust in Ganondorf, Ganondorf is right 98.9% of the time.'
{Don't speak in third person. It's creepy.}
Din, Farore, and Nayru huddled around Nil's body. "What do we know about these things?" Din asked.
"Not much I'm afraid. I'm sure that they are demonic creations now." Farore said casually. Nothing she had a hand in would do this to another living being. Tear it apart with huge gleaming incisors, yes. But knock it out and sap its life force? No.
"How does that help us? That has to be the Triforce monster. If it kills him, it gets the Triforce of power, and we have to defeat that." Din sighed, nudging Chavez's body with her toe.
"Don't do that. Did you see how it affected Ganondorf? It must be drawing on Nil's life energy." Nayru said as she straightened out his body. Was that a new shirt?
"So where is the righteous moron anyway?" Din queried, picking up a piece of Nil's shield… "Wow. Sometimes I amaze myself."
Farore thought a minute then used her multiple planes of existence-scanning spell:
Power of Earth wind and FirePlease tell me what I desire
What has happened to our knight's head?
It would certainly suck for him to be dead
Please answer before our situation becomes dire.
Din frowned, "A little lengthy there."
"It rhymes and it scans, I was in a hurry." Farore commented as a mist appeared over Nil's body. Soon text began to scroll in the air.
"Uh huh…I see…yup…okay…" she read the text muttering to herself.
"So?"
"His body is here, but his conscious mind and spirit are in 'The Inbetween'
"'The Inbetween'?" Din asked, shocked.
"The plane of existence where his mind tries to fill the void with a world of its own making. Sometimes it is a nightmare; sometimes it is a dream world—whatever the mind makes up. The Yoneven somehow forced Nil's mind and spirit there so it can eat away at his body and get the Triforce piece when his body died."
"What would happen to the parts of him in 'The Inbetween'?" Nayru asked as she put Nil's sword in its sheath.
"He would cease to exist on all planes of existence."
"So how do we get him out of there?"
They heard Ganondorf chuckle and yell out, "Kill yourselves!"
"Shut up freak." Din snapped.
The evil king stood up. "Do you know why it is called 'The Inbetween'? Because it is the place your spirit goes to while you are dieing. Your life flashing before your eyes? That would be your mind trying to make a world. Since you either come back relatively soon or die, you don't get past that part. Then there is the whole 'light at the end of the tunnel' bit that I've never understood, but I digress. So you kill yourself, and in that span of a few seconds or minutes before your godliness is reinstated, you can try to get through to him."
"That's not enough time."
"Hell, he'll be dead in twelve hours max." Ganondorf muttered. "I'm damn lucky it didn't want to kill me otherwise I'd be redead."
"But, if we start dieing, our minds will make our own world in 'The Inbetween'."
"You need a link, or a conduit. Hopefully one of similar energy types. She would be the channel for the dieing person to Chavez."
"She?"
"It certainly won't be me or Link."
"Similar energy…Din?"
Ganondorf shrugged, "Presumably. Since the Triforce of Power belongs to her."
Farore raised her hand, "I'll go after him."
Ganondorf shrugged, "How well do you know him?"
"Not as well as I could, but I have a feeling I'm here just so that we can have three Goddesses in this story."
"Well…a person who knows him or he has an attachment to has a greater chance of not being rejected."
"Rejected?" They asked
"For example, if I was to go in, and I don't fit with his dream world manifestation, then my spirit would be thrown out of his 'Inbetween'. Get it? Of course it can't be me, because I can't die."
"So…does that mean I can't go?"
"Well, we can try to kill you and see what happens, but time is of the essence. Getting it right on the first try is crucial."
Din sighed, "Then let Nayru go, he's all head over heels for her anyway."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"That works. That's better than most."
As if though delayed by unforeseeable circumstances Link and Zelda chose now as the time to show up. Link's first reaction was to find something to attack Ganondorf with. He lit a bomb fuse and tossed it.
Ganondorf's fist knocked it away, and didn't even turn to face Link. He did however, speak to him, "Boy, run to the potion shop and get Red potion, lots of it."
"What?"
"Link, go. Nil's life depends on it." Farore told him.
"I got some fairies in bottles…"
Ganondorf sighed, "Its not for him, its for her." He pointed to Nayru. "I'll explain while we wait, later."
As Link ran off, Zelda jogged up to them. "Damn, I was too late."
"You knew this was going to happen?"
"I knew what was coming. And I wanted to warn Chavez. I should have told him last night. If you attack the creature while it's in your shadow, you can kill it."
Ganondorf shrugged. "Water under the bridge now, anyway, you princess will have to use the Triforce of Wisdom to keep Nayru in stasis. If that doesn't work, we will have to apply small amounts of red potion to her wounds. That will be your job."
Nayru watched with a disinterested look on her face as Farore directed traffic and Din and Ganondorf made a channeling mandala on the ground.
"You certainly are a lot of trouble Mr. Chavez. Now I have to die for you. You better appreciate this."
While her life force was not at risk whatsoever, should they screw up or Ganondorf betray them for some reason, she would return to the Heavens within a second. But, she knew that Nil would disapprove of any of them risking their 'lives' for him in such a manner. Especially after that last outburst he had. She wasn't quite sure what had caused him to react like that, but he was acting more and more like…someone she didn't know. Was the broken Nil better than the neat and shiny version?
She stood up and tossed the thought away, Nil was Nil, no matter how he acted. Besides, he was just objecting to an obviously unequal situation. As a Goddess she didn't have the power to change what she thought was wrong after creation or after the fact. She could only hope that Farore's children did the right thing.
"Ha. Someone telling me, who created right and wrong, that I was in err. Only you would have the courage to talk back to Goddesses." After a slight pause, "Not that you know we are Goddesses, but you know what I meant."
"Nayru. Ganondorf wants to talk to you." Farore said as she walked by.
"Great." She muttered several cuss words to herself as she walked over by the towering giant of a man. "What?"
He looked down at her "Do you want to do this? Your ass is on the line here. I only thought to mention this because once we start, we can't turn back. We will essentially be keeping you barely alive—mostly dead is a better term for it while you run around in his head and talk some sense into him. If your body should lose life completely, we can't hurry up and use the rest of the potion, or a fairy—this is due to the nature of the channeling—you will die here."
"I'm ready. Nil would disapprove of this whole thing I'm sure."
Ganondorf smiled. "Yes…he would wouldn't he? I haven't met a person like him in all my years."
"Ganondorf? Why are you doing this? I never thought of you as the helping out another type."
"During my most recent reincarnation, I've had plenty of time to think about who I am and what makes me the creature I am today. I know I've done some things wrong and I've already come to the conclusion that I should have just left that fucking triangle alone."
"Speaking of which, how did you come back?"
"Bob reincarnated me in a demon's body and I was later conjoined with Majora's Mask."
"It was Bob. That bastard. Well now we have no choice but to kill him now." Nayru shook her head. "Now what do you want out of this?"
Ganondorf shrugged, "I hadn't thought of making a request yet, but a second chance is always a nice repayment."
{Don't forget about me Ganondorf.}
"And for my Mask-y companion here." He tapped the wooden mask set into his chest.
"If it works, we'll talk."
Ganondorf shrugged again, "Now, how we going to pseudo kill you? Strangulation won't work, nor will severing limbs…any ideas?"
"Just tell me when you're ready."
* Ten minutes later…
"Everybody ready? Good. Nayru, stand in the middle of the circle on the left…right there…no…a little left…perfect. Okay, go."
Nayru reached into the quiver and pulled out an arrow. "Why am I doing this?" she asked herself before she stabbed herself in the chest through a lung and clipping a chamber on her heart, and then she twisted the arrow.
"That…really hurt…"