The Legend of Zelda: Divine Intervention

Part Twelve

Or

Ancient magic and hokey religions

Quincy007

Author's note: Well, here it is, another chapter in a span of time under a month…creepy. Anyway, this is the last chapter not counting the epilogue which will be up probably by the end of this week. It took two years, but I'm done with this story, and I think I'm a better person because of it. Anyway, read on, and enjoy.

* Water Temple

            Zureal had always liked his job. As a Commander of the Zora Self Defense Force or ZSDF he more often than not did little more than tell much younger Zoras to clear the water ways of dangerous creatures like Octorocks and Blue Tektites. It was an easy and respectable job, one that would have gotten him a decent marriage and high standing in society. Then a giant two-headed water demon appeared in the lake a few days ago, which was an event in itself requiring weeks of investigation before being properly labeled an anomaly not likely to occur again. Even worse, this very afternoon Queen Ruto told him to tell his scouts to be on the look out for a dangerous humanoid army.

            That had been four hours ago. Now, the said army was setting up its base camp on the Shores of Lake Hylia. It was a great move strategically; after all, the lake was unapproachable on all sides except from the river that fed it and the small path through the mountains. Granted there was the secret passage through the ruins by the shore, but none of the creatures were small enough to utilize it. Controlling a source of water was a key feature in making an assault.

Still, the brilliance of the army that appeared from nowhere was a little lost on Zureal and his small company who were trapped in the Water Temple. When they had used the secret passage from Zora's Domain to Lake Hylia they found it deeply infested with thousands of these garish creatures. They didn't feel alive as Zora's knew alive, but they certainly weren't undead. Perhaps they just had a different magical feel about them, Zureal doubted they'd ever really know. Still, the creatures, each one bearing a large series of numbers on their armor, watched them for a few moments, and Higgins, his point man, attacked the closest one. Higgins was no longer alive to regret his rashness, but now the rest of them suffered for it. In their mad dash to the Water Temple he had lost seven men, leaving only five, including himself.

Still what amazed Zureal was that the creatures hadn't made an assault on the Water Temple already. By all rights, they should be very dead by now.

Giving his razor sharp fins a gentle stroke, Zureal walked around the sandy bottom, the temple was drained for the upcoming winter season, and listened to his men.

"I hear that Gannon is back and he built himself an army of the undead."

"No, it's those villains from Gilder."

"I have a friend inside the throne room and he says that Ganondorf himself showed up in the throne room and argued with Queen Ruto for half an hour trying to get us into a war he's starting."

"Its those damn Hylians. They haven't seen the true path yet. If they weren't so stubborn and just accepted the Great Angmar as their savior and God, there wouldn't be a war."

Zureal gave another glance at the last speaker, a rather quiet and unassuming middle aged Zora named Leon. He was a medic, and never talked about politics, religion and her. So, something was up. He began to say something about it when a dark, deep voice from the shadows spoke up. 

"Listen to yourselves. You fish spend so much time worrying about why and analyzing the whethertos and whyfores you don't realize when something is just wrong. Hyrule is under attack and you are doing nothing about it. Cowards. I wasn't even born and I love this place like my home. These monsters have no purpose here except to cause hate and discontent. I thought about waiting the storm out, but fighting my way through all of them is better than listening to your drivel any longer."

They heard the crunch of boots on sand walk off. Zureal looked at his men contemplatively.

* Hyrule Field.

            Ganondorf had chosen a large black warhorse and he gripped a large sword passed down through the Kings of the Gerudo. It was Biggoron's work, a huge flat blade that was eight feet long from hilt to tip and the blade was at least a foot wide. He had been trained in its use since he was a child, but was reserved only for when the Gerudo rode to war.

            Darunia had arrived just in time. The Goron army was not very large, but its small size was deferred by their amazingly enough, their speed. The Gorons rolled up and moved at amazing speed, brandishing spikes and clubs as they rolled. Darunia, however, wielded a large hammer that Ganondorf remembered a little to well. Link had used it on him during their very first battle in the alternate future. It really did feel like many tons.

            Ganondorf looked to the north but saw no cloud of dust signaling the approach of the Hylian army. "Looks like it's just us." He said to Nabooru and Darunia.

            The great Goron leader smiled, "I have sent some messengers to Castle Town, and if the King does not even heed his sworn brother's request for aid, maybe we should let them pass."

            Ganondorf looked grimly to the south. "Perhaps, yet, somehow, I feel as if this won't be our last council on the matter. Are the troops ready to deploy?"

            Nabooru nodded, "Shall I give the order?"

            The sun was creeping down under the horizon sending shadows across Ganondorf's gray and dead face. "We will wait for the scouts to return. Tell them to sleep if they can, we will march through the night into battle."

*Edge of Angmar' Army's Camp.

            The large monster standing sentry did not have a name. It was unit 3057 as determined by the number printed on its armor, and it did not get bored or tired with its duty, as it felt as if it was created for standing sentry. It derived the most pleasure from standing still; watching the area it was assigned to watch. It did not have a home or a family to miss, nor did it have ambitions or goals. It was approximately seven hours old and knew only how to stand sentry and kill. It had never killed before, so it did not know if it liked killing. But it couldn't be more fun than standing sentry.

            However, 3057 did not know that the red headed woman hiding in the bushes for the past hour was its enemy. As she had just been sitting there watching him and occasionally moving off into the shadows. 3057 could watch her move in the darkness as it saw as well in the dark as it did in the day. 3057 knew that it had to watch for things that weren't supposed to be there, but that woman was there when it assumed to watch. Maybe she lived in that bush. It wanted to ask the Watch Commander, but it couldn't leave its post and had no messengers. It knew there was a punishment for raising a false alarm, so it was best to just wait for its shift to end and go talk to Watch Commander about it.

            3057 may have been created for standing posts, but could have really used a good briefing on the enemies they would encounter. Not that it would have saved it from its fate.

            San thought she was a damn good thief. She had pulled some amazing jobs before, even getting into the castle treasury. Still, she was only a reservist in the Gerudo Superior Female Forces (GSFF) and her entire platoon had been activated. She did not look forward to fighting these things in open combat, but that was the downside of joining the reserves: when the cry of war was called, you had to drop everything and go to war. Hopefully she would be able to return to her job when this was over.

Now, her job was primarily scouting, but San had stood a few posts in her time, so she knew what sentries were supposed to do and that ugly creature was doing it all, except for raising the alarm when it locked eyes with her. Either it didn't know that she was the enemy, which could be possible, or it communicated some other way.

            She was about to creep off and report back to the command. After all, it was important that the creatures took over Lake Hylia and were going to be staging their assaults from there.

            A gust of wind howled loudly and San blinked to keep the wind out of her eyes. When she opened them, the sentry was dead and a figure in black was running at her.

            He probably didn't see her, because he ran right into her as he tried to hurdle the bush. They skidded along the ground in a heap of limbs. She noticed he was very warm...

            "Ow!"

            The Gerudo sighed and cuffed him upside the head, "Idiot. Do you have any idea what you've done?"

            "You think this is bad? Try listening to Zoras spew nonsense about Fierce Deities and why they think that they should just go home for hours on end. Or how about uppity young punks who lead giant two headed demon eels into your house? I've had a lousy week and if I knew I was going to run into an abusive shrew I might have let those…things take me prisoner."

            "Shrew? If that wasn't enough proof of your lack of brain. I'm on an important scouting mission and you've probably alerted the entire camp by killing that sentry."

            The figure in black got up and dusted himself off, "Scouting? You want to know about the inside of the camp? I got the inside scoop. Just take me out of here. I haven't left the lake area in about ten years, I'm a little lost."

            The young Gerudo sighed and wrapped her cloak around her a little tighter. "Fine, but Nabooru and the King will probably want to see you." She looked at the figure in black that stood up but had a hard time seeing anything but his blood red eyes. Did he crawl through a pile of ash or something?

            "Sure, lets go. By the way, I'm D."

            The guy could sure use a couple of lessons in being suave, but she wouldn't let his own idiocy keep her from being polite, "San."

            With a half hearted point in a direction, She lead the man in black towards the camp, just as another Sentry came up to spot where 3057 had been standing. It was odd how 3057 was laying there like that, leaking its vital fluids on the ground like that. Very silly, didn't it need those fluids to live? Maybe it was attacked, but who would be that stupid? Even it, lowly number 9253, knew that the Great Angmar created them and no one was stupid enough to fight them. Well, if he didn't get up in another hour, he'd have his replacement tell the Watch commander.

* Heaven

            Angmar might have noticed the flaws in his methods of programming knowledge if he had been paying close attention, but he had…situation right now.

            Nayru wasn't surprised when he materialized Nil in front of them, but Angmar then killing him as soon as he arrived caught her completely off guard. The future of events in Heaven was even harder to predict because fate was often not watching the place. She had cried out then got ready to try to smite Angmar, her son or not, She wasn't going to let anyone get away with killing Nil.

            Nil had not been having the greatest of weeks. He had been clawed, chewed, sliced, diced, broken, shattered, wrenched, burnt, yelled at, slapped, hung over, flung, hung, hit, stabbed, and ripped. In fact, he had been pretty sure fate had run out of ways to hurt him. He was wrong. But more surprisingly, still alive.

            It certainly wasn't a miracle, nor was it from lack of effort. It was just simple, old-fashioned foresight. Link had given out those bottles of fairies for a reason you know. As soon as Angmar turned his back to fight off his enraged girlfriend, the Fairy had uncorked the bottle, healed Nil's large sucking chest wound, and departed.

            He had staggered himself up, feeling the wonders of an intact circulatory system. Taking a deep breath of sweet heavenly air, he picked up the surprisingly light double helix sword that guy he could only assume was the Fierce Deity ran him through with, and grinned.

Now, Nil had a fairly mild temper. He tolerated a lot of crap from a lot of people, but over the course of the week the Fierce Deity had made it to the top of his shit list by:

A: Starting this mess.

B: Trying to take his Girlfriend's job

C: Making all those monsters that hurt him so much.

D: Trying to kill him as soon as he appeared

E: Hitting Nayru

F: Being a snot nosed little punk

G: …Well, he actually didn't have a G, but give him a couple of minutes and he'd do something else.

[Well, if you're still looking for reasons, for all intents and purposes, Nayru is Angmar's mother.]

G: Disrespecting his mother.

Nil drove the sword into the ground, and pointed a finger, "Daddy's home children, and he's very disappointed…"

Nayru and Angmar stopped their fight to stare in disbelief. "How can this be? I killed you! Inconceivable!"

"The Triforce works in mysterious ways."

"Triforce? In Heaven there is only the Uniforce, the Great Fierce Deity Angmar!"

"Uniforce? I certainly hope you didn't spend a lot of time coming up with that. Why don't you take some time and think of something better." Nil said and walked by Angmar.

As Angmar stared in utter disbelief, Nil strode up to Nayru and hugged and kissed her.

"Hi Honey."

"But…but you were dead, there was no way you could be alive! How did you?"

"Now, I let you keep your love child a secret for awhile, so let me have my fun."

She raised and eyebrow, "He is not my 'love child.'"

"True, I don't see the family resemblance, I was just poking fun, but still I'm not going to have to support him am I? He's got to be at least twenty or thirty, and he still lives with his mom? No offense, but I think he's a dead beat."

Angmar's voice rose over Nayru's, "Dead beat? You are bold mortal, making such statements about your god!"

Nil turned to face Angmar, keeping an arm around Nayru's waist, "First of all, you are not my god. I didn't even know you existed until yesterday afternoon maybe. You show no signs of benevolence or forgiveness, signs that every good sinner wants in their god. You felt threatened by my relationship with your mother so your first impulse was to kill me. While it shows great ambition, it also shows a simplistic mind whose first instinct is to violence. Would you like to worship someone who is just as likely to kill you if he had a bad day?"

"People need to fear their gods. They need to know who is in charge."

"People hate being ruled. Especially with an iron fist. They don't want a person to come in and make it all better, even if you didn't want sacrifices for it. We want a god who will recognize us as individuals and realize that A: We are not perfect, and B: respects and nurtures in us a desire to make our world better by our own hands. To craft a Golden Land for ourselves using our wits and the materials on hand. And how about the way you've been trying to take over something that you had no hand in creating, not even an iota of sweat equity involved. That's just rude. You are being a sorry excuse for a higher being and acting like a spoon-fed toddler. Go stand in the corner until you've realized what you've done wrong."

"You presume to order me?"

"I said to go stand in the corner. Hurry up with it, Nayru and I have things we have to talk about."

            For all his infinite knowledge and amazing power, Angmar had no words to combat Nil's actions. He was just stupefied.

* Sublevel 36

            "I think it's the lever on the left."

            "No, it's definitely the one of the right."

            Sheik looked at Link and Attëa quite bemusedly. After Nil disappeared and they opened the coffin, the body that Nil had seen was gone. Shrugging it off, Link had commented on how Nil was probably out of their reach, and could take care of himself. Sheik wasn't that sure, but they did need to rescue the Goddesses. They had taken the teleporter through a series of teleporting mazes eventually landing them in Sublevel 35. After dispatching some Like Likes while dodging the Wall and Floor masters, in between ducking the attacking jars and tiles, they made it to Sublevel 36 and into a room with two levers. One of the left. One on the right. And a door in the middle.

            The lever on the left looked innocent enough, just a simple wooden rod attached to a mechanism in the wall. The lever on the right was made of iron, but otherwise identical.

            "Couldn't we just pull both of them?"

            "In this were any other dungeon I'd say yes, but, this dungeon is likely to kill us if we pick the wrong lever. I'll look over my notes and see if I can figure out a pattern."

            Attëa titled its head, "Pattern?"

            "Well, if all the other levers on the other levels are left, then this one may be to, or it could be an even/odd switch, the possibilities are endless, but I have a formula here that figures it out. It's been right about 79% so far."

            "79%?"

            "Its better than 50."

            Sheik frowned and watched the two discuss it as Link checked his notes. He muttered to himself, "What do you think?"

            Zelda gave off an emotion similar to shrugging, {I really couldn't tell you. I'm partial to the lever on the left myself, but I also remember something Link said about a week ago. It could be neither of them.}

            Sheik looked at the door. "Maybe…"

            Link was in the process of carrying the one and dividing the remainder over the mass of Termina's Moon when he saw Sheik walk up to the door and open it.

            "Guys? I got it."

            Attëa looked at the levers and then the door, which Sheik was standing next to smugly. "How did you…"

            "I remembered something Link once said. "I'm in a room with three levers…" or something to that effect. Anyway you have to check all solutions no matter how improbable."

            Link looked at the levers. He really wanted to know what they did now. Especially the left one. His instincts usually don't lead him astray like this. That lever did something. Maybe important, perhaps not. All he knew was that he wanted to just reach out and give it a little tug. "Can I just…?"

            "No."

            "Just a little?"

            "No Link."

            The blonde Hylian alternated from staring at the lever on the left and Sheik. Lever. Person who was really Zelda. Lever. Girlfriend. It was a hard decision. He gave a glance at Attëa who was shaking his head 'no'. He almost didn't feel his arm move up and grab the lever. Sheik's eyes went wide and started dashing towards him. Not fast enough though, because Link pulled the lever down with a sharp clank. Much to his surprise a trap door opened beneath his feet and he began to fall.

            Sheik dived after him and grabbed his hand, but was being pulled through the hole as well. Attëa grabbed Sheik's foot with one hand and used a sword it drove into the floor to anchor them.

            "See? I said don't pull the lever!" Sheik yelled as Link looked around the black abyss he was floating in, "And what does he do? Pull the lever! Am I fucking invisible? If I had half the mind I'd just drop you!"

            Link's reply was cut off by a familiar voice yelling, "Hey! Who goes there? And why didn't you use the door?"

            "Mom?"

            "Link?"

            Attëa was just confused. "The trapdoor on sublevel 36 leads to the dungeon? It almost makes sense…sorta…kinda…not really. Link hand me the map for a minute."

             Sheik and Link gave a glance up at Attëa and just shook their heads. Link called down into the abyss, "I need to get to the ground. How far is it?"

            "68 feet give or take 1/16."

            "Damn, that would break something."

            "Don't you have your hover boots?"

            "Yes, but they don't work like that."

            "No, but they would have come in handy on sublevel 2."

            "There was four of us, I don't think it would have been that handy."

            Attëa sighed. It repositioned its feet and let go of the anchor. Reaching into its robes, it pulled out thirty feet of rope. "Here's a start. Now stop nagging each other. It's disturbing when Sheik isn't Zelda. Really disturbing."

            Finally, they managed to make the distance by extending the Longshot, Sheik's chain whip, and Attëa's rope.

            Link and Sheik went down, Attëa staying up to make sure the rope didn't go anywhere. That's what it said anyway.

            Din and Farore were sitting around a campfire made of the various torture devices. It crackled cheerfully in the black abyss. Farore smiled, "Well, I'm glad you showed up when you did, we ran out of wooden racks."

            Link looked around as far as he could. The entire area was full of splinters and various metal torture devices were laying destroyed on the ground, "What happened here?"

            "Well, we were chained up over there," Din pointed to a gaping hole in the wall, "And the anti-magic field prevented me from just outright melting the chains, so we used opened a hole in space and time between us and your bomb bag."

            Link reached for his bag of bombs, and lo and behold, it was empty. "Yea. You're welcome."

            "I knew you'd approve."

            "So you blow yourselves out of the chains and you make a fire?"

            "The door is locked and only opens from one side. If it weren't for the anti-magic field in the dungeon, which is wearing a little thin, the spell must be really old; we would have teleported out of here. Now, seeing as you have a nice rope there, let's go."

            "Where?"

            "You and Sheik have to go back to Hyrule, Ganondorf is in over is head. Attëa has to stay here and fix things. We are going to go beat the shit out of Bob, then up to heaven to save the day, we thought of something that will work if we can get to Nayru and keep Angmar distracted long enough."

            Farore pointed to the rope, "Transform and Roll out!"

* Hyrule Field.

            "There was about ten thousand troops, no horses, but they all carried long swords and shields. Not a spear or archer among them. I didn't see one shorter than 6'8"." D told them.

            Ganondorf sighed and looked at San who nodded, "That's about the long and short of it. The sentries were not the smartest things I'd ever seen, but they saw everything. They noticed me, but probably didn't know I was the enemy."

            Nabooru nodded, "Those are the reports we've been given. The sentries are good at it, but inexperienced."

            "They're book smart. They lack common sense. This knowledge was just implanted in them, most likely with very little will to use it and poor logic. That's what happens when you just try to rush things."

            Darunia frowned, "But that means all the soldiers know is killing, and will enjoy it No mercy. As soon as they recognize us as the enemy, they will use all of their faculties to destroy us. They will be formidable opponents."

            Ganondorf sighed. {If all they know is fighting, that also means they don't know surrender. You will have to kill ten thousand warriors, and I expect some excellent maneuvering from the general of the warriors. How about psychological warfare? We could get some really big condoms…}

            "Just when I begin to listen to you, you say something really stupid."

            "Who?"

            "Him." Ganondorf tapped the mask. "Despite the situation, he insists on being a fool. What we need is a plan." And Ganondorf was without one. He could not think of some brilliant maneuver that would outwit these monsters, so the only thing he could do was plan the assault to the best of their abilities. "Nabooru, I want you in command of the archer troops, whether they are mounted or not. We will need all the volley fire we can get into their ranks. The armor is weak at the—"

            "Neck and joints, just like anybody else." D added.

            "Right. I hope you brought a lot of ammunition. The Goron's Bomb Brigade is under your command as well; I want those troops decimated before we get within range of their swords. Darunia, you know your warrior's strengths and weaknesses, what is the best way for you to attack?"

            "We will take vanguard, our speed will cut through the ranks, and swords will break on our hides."

            "I'll lead the mounted troops and the foot soldiers. Dark Link, feeling up to war?"

            D frowned at his full name, but nodded. "Its better than being called a coward."

            "Then we all know where we should be let's get there. We move out as soon as possible."

            As Ganondorf walked to his horse and gave the orders to form up behind the Goron ranks, he couldn't help but look back at the castle in the distance, "Majora, I know we'll survive this, we've already been ripped in half this week, but if all these people die because the King wouldn't help us I'll kill him myself."

* Hyrule Castle, Throne Room

            Sheik and Link appeared in the middle of the throne room looking very confused. Just as soon as Farore had said Roll out, a phrase neither of them was familiar with, they had climbed the rope and before another conference could take place, Farore teleported everyone where they needed to be.

            The King was surprised, but not quite as surprised as Impa, who, because of the complex physics of Time travel and its many effects on people who didn't happen to be bearing Triforces at the time, never remembered doing the bonding spell on Zelda.

            Sheik began issuing orders, "Muster the troops, and get them moving towards Lake Hylia now!"

            The King almost interrupted, but she cut him off, "Don't even think about stopping me Dad, unlike you, I happen to know what the hell is going on."

            There was a Goron in the throne room who nodded, "Finally, someone who listens."

            The King looked at the young man in the leotard who he could have swore just called him dad. "Who are you?"

            Sheik looked at himself then sighed. With little flourish, he changed into Zelda, "The orders still stand, get moving! There is a war being fought on our land, while you're sitting here!"

            Link did a quick check to make sure Zelda had everything in control before using the Triforce of Courage to teleport himself somewhere else, probably to the battle.

            Hyrule's confused King could only watch how his daughter took his Kingdom from him (albeit a temporary measure, but still disturbing) and was issuing orders like she had been doing it for years. A part of him was proud, and another was slightly annoyed.

            "Knights on horseback, foot soldiers, don't worry about siege weapons, we won't need them, now go! It may already be to late!" When the captain of the guard and the Army's general were gone, she turned to her father.

            "You knew about this hours ago. That time could have been well used, father. Instead you wasted it, and now people are going to die because of it. In a place where things are happening every minute of every day, the worst decision you can make is to make no decision at all. You must act. The Gorons were even asking for help, and you hadn't begun a muster. Why on Din's earth would you not act?"

            "I was weighing my options. When my spies reported the Gerudo Army marching, the idea came to me that we could finally eliminate a major portion of the criminal element on Hyrule if they were all defeated on the battlefield. A pity about the Gorons though."

            Zelda felt her eye twitch. {Don't do it. He's your father. You love him, remember that, or at least try to. Try counting backwards from ten or something.}

            "Father, I don't think I've ever heard a more revolting sentence from you. Even that nonsense about an arranged marriage was more stomachable than that. I'm leaving now, to help in the rallying of the troops, but I don't want to hear one word from this throne room while I'm gone. Impa?"

            "Yes, princess?"

            "Can you please make sure no messengers enter or leave the throne room?"

            "Of course. Princess Zelda?"

            "Yes?"

            "How did you…?"

            "I'll have to get back to you on the Sheik thing Impa, I really must go."

            There was a flash of green and a small gust of wind as Zelda went off to take care of things.

            Impa looked at the King and shook her head; "You were just like her at that age."

            "I never ripped the rule from my father's hands."

            "He never made a mistake."

            The King crossed his arms and pouted.

* Heaven

            Din had a satisfied smile on her face as she wiped some of Bob's blood off of her hand as they appeared in Heaven.

            They were a little surprised to see Nil and Nayru talking to each other quietly, with Angmar just staring.

            Farore looked at Din, "I'm confused."

            Din thought back, "Nayru and Angmar got in an argument, Angmar got hasty and summoned Nil here. He killed Nil rather violently, and as soon as Nayru blew up on him, a fairy that Nil had in a bottle healed him. Nil put the sword in the ground, and said some harsh words to Angmar before commanding him to go stand in a corner."

            "I know that. I knew that as soon as we got here, what confuses me is why he's still standing there."

            "He's stupefied. I mean, really, who is dumb enough to tell a God to go away while he and his honey whisper sweet nothings?"

            "I doubt that's what they're doing Din."

            "What? You don't have to respect his privacy you know, we are Goddesses. Just take a quick listen. Better yet, read his mind, especially the dark little corners."

            "Din, you're incorrigible."

            "I know. Well, let's go save the day." Din said, snapping her fingers. The obstinately white arena's features melted like wax into a small room with three chairs around a large table that contained several scrolls, parchments, and a chessboard. The walls were a faded gray, and there were no windows, but it was still very bright.

            Angmar turned to see Din and Farore, "Inconceivable!"

            "Nil frowned, "I'm beginning to think you don't know what that means."

            "Shut up, mortal." Angmar formed some magic energy in his hand, ready to blast the two new arrivals when Nil walked up to him and sucker punched him across the face.

            The towering figure of Angmar stumbled back, tasting blood in his mouth. "How could you…you're just a mortal! And a short one at that."

            "My height has nothing to do with this. And I'm no mere mortal, for you see, I am Nil Chavez, former knight of Hyrule, friend of demons and undead kings, seducer of Goddesses, loiterer around heroes, recovering alcoholic, and all around nice guy. Now how many people do you think can claim all that? And you call me mere? I think you're a lousy judge of character."

            Angmar looked at Nil in confusion for a few more seconds. After a moment of contemplation Angmar scoffed, "You are just trying to stall for time by making yourself a target and going out of your way to infuriate me. You can't pull the wool over my eyes. I don't think that you are that clever Mr. Chavez, a man who lives in the shadows of his past wasting his time wishing that things were different and that world was fair. Even the way you stand before me now with pride and righteousness is temporary because you have the benefit of knowing the warm touch of a Goddess. You rely on others to force you to change when you would much rather just maintain the status quo as miserable as it may be."

            Nil looked down at his feet for a moment. He didn't really want to believe that. After all, ultimately he is one who decides to change, any number of circumstances could have brought about the exact same outcome…still, his words…they stung.

            [The truth often does]

            The Knight turned around from Angmar and hissed at the voice in his head. "Where the hell have you been?"

[Watching, Waiting, commiserating. I have to take it all in. Besides, I didn't have anything worthwhile to say. You were actually doing all right by my book.]

"So what did I do?"

[I just thought that I'd mention that the truth hurts more than a lie.]

"You bothered my sanity for that? Go away."

            [Well, I'm just saying that he has a point. You know that if it weren't for the them coming down here…]

            "Shut up! Divine Intervention doesn't exist! The only changes are the ones you make yourself!  And You!" He pointed at Angmar, "You think that this—" He gestured to the room they stood in, to his right hand with the Triforce mark glowing on it, "—is what makes me the man I am before you? You may be right; a man is nothing more than his gifts, his situation, and the sum of his character. But I can tell you that I don't need this to beat you."

            Angmar watched as Nil glowed with a golden light and pulled the Triforce of Power from his body. Oddly surprised that he could do that, and even more surprised that he did do it, Angmar tilted his head and watched.

            With a smirk, Nil tossed it over his shoulder, "I figure with that gone I have maybe five minutes here before I'm overwhelmed by the power here. Shall we do this the civilized way, or shall we do it the not-so-civilized way?"

            Angmar decided that enough was enough. It was time to end this the only way he knew how, through action. He was after all, Angmar the great, Fierce Deity, lord of Heaven.

            He materialized his double helix sword in his hands, "Enough of this!"

            Nil unsheathed his sword and tossed his scabbard to the side, the damn thing would just get in his way.

            Angmar swung his sword and Nil blocked it. Angmar growled, "My attacks have left entire cities depopulated."

            "Ugh, from the smell of your breath, I'd say they suffocated."

            Angmar kicked Nil back and thrusted his sword with a blinding speed, Nil twisted his body, just in time to feel the steel whisk by his chest. As Angmar passed him, He hit the God with the flat of his blade.

            The tall white haired god whipped around and snarled. He changed his sword position and attacked again. This time he made several dozen lightning fast swipes that Nil only managed to block three. Blood spurted from his new cuts on his arms and legs.

            Nil stumbled back and deflected the deathblow—barely.

            "Not feeling so high and mighty now are we? My skills with a sword are highly venerated!"

            Reaching behind his back and grabbing his shield, Nil stood up again, ignoring the pain from his cuts, "Too bad they're all fabricated."

            Nil launched into the offensive, blocking the large sword of the Fierce Deity with his shield then striking with his blade. The God was so fast, that even if he was going to strike him, he would move out of the way. Nil thought he was cheating and using superhuman powers, but then again, they never said he couldn't.

            As Angmar twisted once more he pushed Nil to the ground, "Never have I seen such clumsy sword play!"

            "You would have but you were always running away." Nil swung his sword at Angmar's feet and the God easily jumped over it. Nil dropped his shield and grabbed the hookshot. As Angmar came back down, he fired the hook into the sword, and the hook got stuck in one of the holes. He pulled hard and wrenched the sword from Angmar's grip, and made a lunge for his chest.

            The God contorted out of the way, but the blade nicked his cheek. Fierce Deity put a hand to his wound and clenched his teeth. Without even a motion of his hands, the sword was back in his grip.

            "For that trick mortal I'll leave you devastated, mutilated and perforated!"

            "Your odor alone makes me aggravated, agitated, and infuriated."

            Angmar pulled his sword back and made a quick slice that would have decapitated Nil but his blow hit nothing but air.

            "Eh?"

            Nayru, Din, and Farore stepped forward, "Angmar, we're ready to deal with you now."

*Hyrule Field.

            Number 0001 of Angmar's Awesome Army (AAA) was not having a good day. Its enemies were making the sky rain with projectiles of uncountable numbers. The arrows never seemed to stop, nor did the explosives. Scores were dead before they even saw the enemy's soldiers.

            And the vanguard of the enemy was very fast and tough. Gorons, they were called, but it had expected them to be simple, docile mountain people. Not fierce warriors laden with spikes. For each one they managed to kill, at least ten or twenty of its warriors were killed, sometimes worse.

            But, the bane of its existence was the foot soldiers of the enemy. They fought with a sword in each hand, some of them used magic, and worst of all were women. It puzzled the warriors that the enemy would not send their best to fight the greatest army ever created.

            Still, they were mortal. And the AAA had sheer numbers on its side. So, no worry. Yet, to secure victory certain things would have to be accomplished.

            First of all, that damn archery fire and bomb brigade would have to go. That required getting through the legions of foot soldiers. And the soldiers of the enemy were well organized under very capable leaders, a huge Goron, a man in black, and the undead King Ganondorf.

            So, to secure victory and save their numbers, 0001 had to lead the troops to kill all the foot soldiers so they could access the archers and kill them, but to kill the enemy's foot soldiers, it would have to kill the generals.

            "Kill the head and the body will die. Yesss…"

            0001 raised its sword and charged forward into the battle, ready to take on the Undead King.

            Ganondorf on the other hand was more concerned with saving his troops. According to Nayru, she wanted it to last three days, and from the looks of it, they wouldn't last the night.

            Even though thousands of the AAA were dead, the GSFF and the Goron Unified Armed Forces (GUAF) were suffering losses as well, nothing catastrophic yet, but if it continued at this rate, the AAA would whittle away their numbers.

            Swinging his sword with one hand, Ganondorf used a magic blast to burn three soldiers to dust. They had a mediocre flashpoint, which surprised Ganondorf. Still, he brought his sword around again, and killed two more with the back swing. Majora had control of its tendrils and was snapping necks and tossing bodies left and right. Basically Ganondorf was slaying them usually seven or eight at a time.

            "This is like trying to break down a wall!"

            {I know. Every time we kill one, two take its place.}

            As Ganondorf mutilated his way into the AAA's ranks he found himself slowly being surrounded by troops. And at the head of the circle was a monster a head taller than the rest with a much bigger sword. Its armor read 0001. This was it, the enemy General.

            The General stared down Ganondorf and chuckled. This would be child's play. Of course, 0001 forgot that it had never been a child. Still, "Do you have any last words?"

            {Tell him how cliché that is.}

            Ganondorf gripped his sword and prepared himself for battle, "If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be no help."

            About a hundred feet to the left, Dark Link and Darunia were having a challenge keeping up with the masses of soldiers.

            The Megaton Hammer knocked down another two with a resounding crack, but they were slowly getting up, "Its not hard to knock them down, its getting'em to stay down that's the trick!"

            D stabbed 2006 through the chest while blocking a blow from 6036 with his shield. "I think it's a trick just killing one. You have to stab them just right, and twist just so." He muttered with a twist of his sword. Still, while doing this, his other opponent, got passed his shield and knocked him down.

            6036 was happy that it thought it would finally get to kill something; unfortunately, it wouldn't as the large evil smiting sword of legend otherwise known as the Master Sword punctured its braincase.

            Link's downward thrust drove the sword up to its hilt in the soldier and pulled it out as it toppled over, "What a rush. Darunia. Evil Me." He gave a nod.

            "I appreciate a family reunion as much as the next guy, but where's your army?"

            "Zelda is getting it. Don't worry."

            "Where were you?" Darunia asked as he belted 0067

            "Hell. Long story, and they won't wait for it. Now it's the time we draw our swords together eh?"

            They tapped their blades once and turned back to the slaughter of the AAA.

* Heaven

            It was over before he realized it had begun. One of the Goddesses had teleported him away from Angmar's sword, there was a flash of light and then the Fierce Deity was gone. Nil looked around the room and under the table, but the Link-ish God had disappeared. The sword was gone as was the skid marks and cuts from their brief battle.

            Scratching his head, Nil shrugged, at least it was over. He gave a glance at the Triforce of Power lying on the ground. In all actuality, he never removed the Triforce from himself. He had just formed an explosive device in the shape of a golden Triangle in case Angmar was after it. Then he would have gotten an unexpected surprise. Underhanded? Yes. Practical? Even more so. With a mental command, the Triangle dissipated.

            He looked over at the Goddesses. "Is it over?"

            There was an awkward pause. Finally Farore said, "More or less...yea, sure."

            "What did you do?"

            Din scowled, "Took care of him, alright? Stop questioning your objects of worship and be happy we decided to take care of things like we did. Speaking of which you aren't dead, and most definitely aren't a saint, so get outta here."

            Nil decided that omnipotence didn't suit Din, but he looked at the other two Goddesses who weren't dissenting in either way, so Din must be the spokesperson.

            "Nayru? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

            She gave Nil a sidelong glance before nodding, "Sure. Hold on, I don't feel like multitasking."

            Interested, Nil got up and walked over, "What are you doing?"

            "Turning the tide of the war in our favor, causing some stupid mistakes in the enemy, smiting, when you're the Goddess of Righteous War, you have to take care of things like that."

            "Oh."

            "And once upon a time, there was a patron deity for recreational sex, but it phased out around the time we decided monogamy was the way to go."

            "I'd been wondering about that."

            "And I know you're curious as to what happens to us now, but that really isn't the conversation for us while I already know everything. Give me a few more minutes, of course time being entirely subjective to divine beings, and we'll arrange a trip home for you and we'll talk then."

            Nil just chuckled and shook his head. "Very nice and neat. I was wondering how you were when on the job."

            Din sighed, "Nil come over here."

            "Yes, oh Mighty One Whose Presence I'm Not Truly Worthy To Be In?"

            The Goddess of Power nodded approvingly, "Well, there's hope for you yet. Now, as bearer of my part of the Triforce, you have certain responsibilities…"

* Hyrule Field

            The sky was red as the sun rose in the morning, and down in Hyrule Field, just north of the entrance the Lake Hylia, the remains of a war that had lasted less than two days were being taken care of by His Majesty's National Guard (HMNG).

            Ganondorf was leaning on his giant sword enjoying the sunrise and the efforts of a battle hard fought. His fight with the enemy General seemed hopeless until a completely random arrow had pierced its sword arm, giving Ganondorf the opening he needed. As soon as 0001 died, the others became disorganized and lost some of their unit cohesiveness. Apparently they didn't learn up the chain of command.

            Even though no one was counting, Ganondorf wasn't so sure that his small army had killed all 10,000 enemy troops. He most certainly doubted that that the remains of that ZSDF Company took out the base camp, despite their claims as such.

            But, such thoughts were a waste of time because they had won, even though it was against all odds. Goddess of Righteous War herself…

            He gave a look at Nabooru, Darunia, D, and Link. They had joined him in the last assault against the enemy, and that was where they sat now, pondering the outcome of things.

            "What does one say at a time like this?" He asked, watching as the Hylians piled up the bodies of the AAA for burning.

            "A deep, inspiring thought that makes us look back on the follies of war."

            "A toast to victory is usually acceptable."

            "Discuss the spoils."

            Link just shook his head; "Sometimes you can get the most out of a situation by not saying anything at all. I mean, we survived a terrible battle at great odds, can't we all just be happy that we're alive?"

            With a shrug the Undead King looked back at the sunrise, "I suppose." {You know, I bet you are thinking that this whole situation seems anti-climatic and that it's not over because we haven't had a long discussion over the philosophies of right and wrong or just and unjust with the villain. Well, its time you faced the reality that we are only supporting actors in this act of the play of life. Its Nil's job to do that.}

* Heaven.

            Nayru appeared in puff of blue smoke. Din and Farore were playing chess, again. Farore looked up, "Attëa called while you were out. Things are all nice and good in Thanatos Lemures for the time being, but it was wondering if you wanted to resurrect anybody who died in the last week."

            "That would require messing with time, and they wouldn't be able to handle such a jarring transition. I'll tell it to make sure it personally reviews each file though."

            "How was Nil?"

            The Goddess of Wisdom turned around quickly, a look of shock on her face, "How did you—" She stopped herself, "He certainly wasn't happy about it, but he understood, or at least accepted."

            "Well, that's good. Did he ask what we did to Angmar?"

            "No. He believed us when we said we took care of him."

            Farore laughed, "Now he starts to get all trusting. That's funny."

            Din tilted her head, "But we did take care of him. I think reverting him into a baby is pretty much taking care of. Only we have to continue to take care of him."

            With a sigh, Nayru walked over to the crib where the infant Fierce Deity lay sleeping. It was her addition to the plan, a selfish wish that maybe if they raised Angmar a little bit more traditionally, he would grow up with a sense of responsibility see how it was meant to work. And of course, they sealed away all but the most basic of Godly powers.

            Finally after several minutes of doing nothing, Din tipped her King and turned to face Nayru, "Look, if you want to go back we aren't going to stop you. The two of you don't have to be apart like this. Despite my personal distaste for the man, he isn't the type to get arrogant for having a Goddess for a lover."

            Nayru shook her head and looked out the window that wasn't there before. It showed a view of the Hyrule Castle Town Market "Din…This is how it has to be. I can't just ignore my responsibilities here for…I weighed all the options and made the best decision for the most amount of people."

            "Alright." The problem with wisdom is that love often defies it conventionally.

* Hyrule Castle Town Market.

It was the usual crowd at Havelock's bar. The drunks and the guards getting off work, trying to relax a little and socialize before going home to an empty bed or an angry wife. It seemed that it was the only respite in their boring lives.

            The door made a groan as it was pushed open and Nil Chavez walked in. His armor made an ungodly amount of noise as he sat down, adjusting his sword and shield, which looked pretty banged up. His clothes were ruined, his tunic and shirt having a large gaping hole in the front and back.

            "By the Triforce, what happened to you Nil?" The bartender asked.

            "I had an adventure. But, it's over now, so I have to go back to work tomorrow. Give me the usual."

            With a sigh, he raised his glass and peered through the amber liquid with a sad expression on his face. "Angmar was right. Who was I kidding? Like it could have ended any other way…

            Nil chuckled as he lazily brushed a loose strand of hair from her face, "What's so funny, love?" Nayru asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

            "It isn't usually considered socially acceptable for two people to be lovers without being married, and I thought it was funny that I thought of that despite the fact that I was never really concerned with how I stand in society to begin with."

            Nayru smiled, "Perhaps I brought out your inner decency, oh, but alas it was all for naught for I find out that the second time we get some time to ourselves you sweep me off to the bedroom."

            "If this is price of being a scoundrel, I think I can handle it."

            Nayru shook her head in amusement and rested her head against his chest, "Nil…"

            She felt his arm tighten around her, "You're leaving aren't you?"

            "There are…things I have to take care of. Promises to keep, a universe to maintain."

            "You made the universe too?"

            "…We're just leasing, but it still has to be taken care of."

            Nil sighed, "Well, if you have to go, I suppose you have to go. I want you to stay, I don't know how well I'll do on my own."

            "Nil, love, you're hopeless on your own. Still, just remember that I'm always there. And don't become a stranger to your partners in crime, Especially Ganondorf and Majora. They need the supervision."

            "Don't they though…Nayru, would it be wrong of me to ask you to throw all of your responsibilities to the wind and run off with me?"

            "Not at all. That's one of the things I love about you."

            "I'm selfish?"

            "No, you aren't afraid to ask for what you want, and after all this they only thing you want is me…it makes a woman feel important."

            "Will I ever see you again?"

            "I don't know. Its not likely."

            Nil looked at the Goddess right in her dark blue eyes, "Then know that I love you as much as man can love someone and no one, not anyone can change that. For me, I don't see the all powerful, all knowing goddess of Wisdom I got a glimpse of back in Heaven, I see the young sorceress who was watching me as I lay unconscious—repeatedly."

            "I think you're just trying to make me regret going in hopes that I won't."

            "Did it work?"

            She kissed him, "A little."

            "A little." Nil said quietly. If there was thing he didn't want to look forward to it was a future without Nayru. He doubted if he would find another woman quite like her. Of course, she was a Goddess so he was setting the bar just a tad too high, but what could he do? He loved her. Always will too.

            Nil set the glass down and tossed some rupees on the bar. He didn't drink any just to spite Angmar. He would change.