Disclaimer: anime animal refuses to aknowledge that she owns The Legend of Zelda. 'Cause she doesn't. But she does own this nifty purple kimono top that she bought from Buddies on Monday. It's really cute, and makes her look very slender in her opinion.
A.N: You might like to refresh your memories of Chapter Seven of Heroes of Hyrule. There is a reference to something I mentioned there that has come back to haunt you, and will make something painfully obvious if you haven't already put two and two together.
More later, after the end.
And the voice is back...
Chapter 11: Last Resorts
The air up here was so much clearer than it was down below and there was so much more vitality, so much energy. There was much to do, and now there was nothing to hinder him in his efforts.
He took a deep and then opened his eyes.
Ah no, maybe he'd been wrong in that last thought.
There were two major sources of power in close proximity to him, power that seemed so familiar but different. It was like that fool Ganon's, only this time there was something else behind it.
The power of good.
Mortis rolled his dark eyes and sought out the direction of the two other Triforce parts. He smiled crookedly and looked up at the skies, mocking the heavens themselves with his grin.
"You could not stop me last time sisters, I should like to see how your feeble champions fare."
But still he felt a nagging sense of unease that hadn't shifted even when he felt Endeffera's power fade out and die. The atillian hadn't returned, and that was a small worry in itself at the time, quickly dismissed by Mortis' memory of the one that Dragmire spent most of his time cursing.
Link, the Hero of Time.
Mortis could understand how such a mortal could infuriate the mage, Farore had a knack for producing or favouring especially persistent opponents. He remembered all too well the last encounter he had with Valour, Farore's overly confident son. Cocky or not, the demi-god had kept him occupied long enough for his irritating daughter Endeffera to destroy herself defeating him.
That was not a part of history that would repeat itself.
He turned his head to look over his right shoulder, his attention caught by the sudden appearence of eight lights in the distance, the brightest of these being two golden orbs that flew ahead of the rest. Mortis was under no illusion as to what these lights were.
The welcoming committee had arrived.
******
Zelda had gone with Link to the Temple of Time having summoned the Sages to the Temple of Light. She was satisfied to see them waiting within the Chamber of Sages as Link slid the Master Sword into his scabbard. They had been met by the sympathetic faces of their friends and she had, much to their amazement, hurriedly explained the situation to them leaving no hazy detail whatsoever.
And now, totally unprepared, her Sages were following her into the line of fire totally unprepared to do battle with an immortal God.
She was amazed at how calm she was.
Link was beside her as they warped to their location. It had been simple really to find who they were looking for, they had needed only to wait for the eclipse and then the overwhelming mass of dark power was evident even many miles away as they were. She had seen Link's look of determination on his face many times before, only never with so much unrefined hatred. He was going to take revenge for Orla's death.
Or die trying.
It was that thought that scared her more than the prospect of the battle ahead of them. If she lost Link...
She shook all such thoughts from her head. It didn't bear thinking about, not now. Besides, she needed to have her head clear for the fight ahead of them, she couldn't afford to be distracted. There were more important things to worry about, and she needed them both to come home for Amalia.
We will.
Link's voice echoed around her head and she felt at ease with his presence.
I know we will. Just promise me that you'll-
I'm not about to do anything stupid Zelda. Sure I'll be risking my life, but I can't stop living just because Orla's gone. All eight of us will get home safely.
She sighed inwardly as they landed in the centre of a field just a few miles away from Mortis' location. The open space was as black as ink that no even the light of the stars was able to make up for the moon's absence. To the left of Link, Saria shivered in the cool night breeze.
"I don't like this place."
Impa's hand rested on the Kokiri's shoulder as she looked out across the field into the darkness.
"He is close by. It's only a matter of time until he comes to us."
Ruto grimaced and then folded her arms across her chest.
"Yeah, too soon for my liking. Y'know it would have been helpful if somebody had told us sooner that we were going to have to do battle with a god."
Zelda hung her head in shame until Link entwined his fingers with hers and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Y'know it would be helpful if you lay off her Ruto," Nabooru said coldly. "Perhaps you didn't know, but she's just lost her daughter."
"I-"
"You what? You didn't know? Come off it, I know you're not that stupid."
"That's enough!" Link snapped. "Guys, this is going to be hard enough as it is without you two taking pot shots at each other, we need to be a united force here or we're all dead."
The grim reality of his words sunk in immediately.
"He's not as powerful as he was when the other gods imprisoned him," Zelda said quietly, "but I don't think that just one of us is going to be able to contain him in order for Link to deliver the final blow like with Ganon. This is a god we're facing, and I have no idea what his weaknesses are. I'm sorry."
Darunia chuckled good naturedly, turning all attention to him.
"So we're just going to have to throw all we've got at him and take no risks. This is going to be quite a fight, I'm glad that we're not going to miss out on all the action like last time."
Zelda thought that in the darkness she caught the Goron chief winking in her and Link's direction.
"No-one's going to miss out on anything," she said. "Like Link says, we have to be united or else there's no point in us being here. One weak link in the chain and it's all over. There can be no second chances."
"Link's not weak!" Saria protested.
To be fair to Saria, she was very tired and up way past her bedtime, but the absurdity of her comment caused many of the party to laugh.
"Of course he's not," Ruto said testily. "He's the best out of all of us here."
Link was too focused on the task at hand to roll his eyes at her adoring statement.
"The plan is," Zelda began, "to encircle Mortis when he emerges and hold him in a forcefield until Link is able to use the Master Sword to send him back into the Evil Realm."
"No offence Princess, but I don't see him to be the sort of oponent we can just sneak around and trap so easily," Nabooru said gently.
"Which is why I'm going to keep him busy," Link said grimly. "He's going to wish he never set foot on this plain by the time I'm done with him."
"But he's a god," Saria said quietly.
"God or no god, that son of a bitch killed Orla."
Everyone with the exception of Rauru and Zelda stared at him.
"Is that true?" Impa asked softly, turning to Zelda for confirmation.
Zelda nodded and murmured in reply.
"I thought that something like this might happen," Rauru said sadly, shaking his ancient head. "She had the potential to be too powerful for him to contend with."
"You kn-" Link began, but was interrupted by Zelda's hand on his shoulder.
"What passed has passed. Save it for the person who deserves this anger."
He nodded and even in the darkness could see the expression on her face. Her eyes pleaded with him, and he took her hands in his.
"Don't worry about me Zelda."
Saria tugged on Darunia's hand insistently.
"Darunia..."
The Goron had been scanning the area intently, alert and ready to fight.
"Darunia, there's a strange man over there," Saria said fiercely and pointing over towards a small cluster of boulders.
The others all caught her words and turned in the direction she was pointing. Sure enough, there sat a man, observing them silently from his seat on a rock.
He was unnaturally tall and wiry looking, with delicate and finely sculpted features that displayed some kind of fragile beauty in them, but he was by no means a beautiful man to look at. His face was pale, almost chalk white and framed with long black hair that absorbed the darkness of the night. The face, whilst essentially young, showed not only some kind of keen intelligence and grim amusement at the situation he was presented with but also the experience of millenia. His robes were deep grey whilst his sash and swirling cloak were of the deepest black. Deep set grey eyes watched them unblinkingly whilst his thin and colourless lips twitched in a mirthless smile.
"Well well well, this is quite the welcome party."
Link pushed Zelda behind him and drew his sword, his glare cold and calculating as he observed the immortal. Mortis chuckled softly and stood up in a graceful, panther-like movement.
"Ah yes, you must be he which Farore chose to embody her will. The resemblance is staggering."
Link gripped the hilt of the Master Sword tighter and narrowed his eyes. The god seemed oblivious.
"And she must be Nayru's chosen," he purred, turning his attention to Zelda. "I might just have to keep her."
Link's temper flared as he glowered furiously at the god. Zelda remained cool, meeting Mortis' eyes with a blazing sea of blue fire.
"Yet like my sisters neither of you are willing to play. What a shame. I suppose that means you shall have to die."
"The only person doing any dying tonight is you!" Link snarled, finding his voice.
Mortis laughed merrily.
"Whelp, I find your optimism refreshing but your attitude irritating. If anything it makes me think even less of that fool Dragmire, as it would have been so nice to find in you a challenge. But what are you? Twenty four, twenty five? A blink of an eye in the scale of the universe. Boy, what hope have you possibly got of defeating me?"
"He has every hope in defeating you," Zelda said grimly. "And we will not rest until your attempt to enslave mortality has been quashed."
Link broke into a run and cried a hoarse battle cry as he attacked.
******
Why wasn't he coming to him for help?
The foolhardy mortal was brave, he had to give him that, but all his efforts would prove to be vain if he didn't come to his senses soon.
The god was too much of an enemy for him, anyone could see that. Even with the pretty toys that his Sage friends had given him he was still no match. Light Arrows had no effect, and the constant stream of magic coming from each Sage was not inexhaustible. The little one was wavering, the Zora close behind while the others struggled on, painfully aware of the futility of their actions.
Their forcefield was a brave idea. The seven of them held the god within a shield of their power, not offering him the opportunity to teleport away as they suspected that he may.
He had to hand it to that seventh Sage, she knew her stuff.
The Hero would attack, every inch the valiant star of the show. His insatiable quest for Right was a quality that he admired greatly in him, as much as he hated him. He always knew that he needed the Hylian in order to survive. It had been ordained the day Valour had crafted that sword that the Hero held. Throughout the ages, they were bound to each other through some inexplicable force. Even now he didn't know what it was, but fourteen years before the pair had collided and their power had been great, and then the second time it had been deliciously strong, stronger than he had expected.
Third time lucky.
He would yield, and this time he wasn't going to give up what was rightfully his for the taking.
******
Hope slipped from the grasp of the troubled Sages like dry sand through an hourglass as Link's battered and bruised body hit the ground with a thud and a cry of pain that caused Zelda to cry out in fright. He drew his weary body off the ground, panting heavily and wiping the trickle of blood from his mouth.
Mortis stood regarding the proceedings, his sadistic smile still in place and not a bead of sweat on his body.
"Come come, you are beginning to try my patience. Either you land a blow or I kill you now, although perhaps I should remind you that your death is inevitable."
"You dirty-" Nabooru cried.
Darunia held the irate Gerudo back from flinging herself at the god like a whirling dervish of blades and tanned skin with a sombre shake of his head.
Link spat on the ground and flexed the fingers on his left hand, his breathing laboured.
I don't know how much more of this I can take.
He shook such thoughts out of his head and braced himself for the ball of black magic Mortis was preparing to fire at him. He stretched the Master Sword out before him, his face a mask of determination as the orb flew at him.
He mistimed his strike.
The dark power struck him on the chest and catapaulted him backwards through the air.
"Link!" Zelda screamed.
The Master Sword whistled through the air and spun away from Link's form as it hit the ground again, face down.
This time, he didn't make any effort to get up.
Now will you listen to me?
The absence of the unknown voice finally ended as it spoke, more urgently and sympathetically than ever before.
"Brother, are you alright?" Darunia called.
"Oh no, Link!" Saria and Ruto cried.
"Link!"
Firing a furious orb of magic at Mortis (which impacted as though it had been little more than a bee sting), Zelda flung herself down beside her husband, moving her fingers to his neck to search for a pulse. Much to her relief, his hand touched hers, although the grasp was a lot looser than normal.
"I'm OK."
Stop lying to yourself. You're losing. Horribly.
"Shut up," he muttered under his breath
Zelda placed both her hands on his chest and closed her eyes, pouring healing magic through his veins and reinstating his energy.
You can't keep this up, it's not fair to anyone. Look at your wife, she can't take much more of seeing you get tossed about like a rag doll, your body won't either. You must let me help you, otherwise what little chance you have of winning will be destroyed.
Link looked up at Zelda's face and met with her eyes full with worry.
"Link, can you still fight?"
He nodded.
"Yeah, but I don't know what good it's gonna do. He's too much for me."
With me, you stand more than a fighting chance.
"I'm not going to give in to you!" Link cried, both to Mortis and to the voice. "I can beat him!"
Mortis laughed, throwing his head back in amusement.
"Come and try it mortal, I am in need of a good workout."
Link struggled off the ground, Zelda offering her arm to help him up.
"I'm OK," he reiterated.
Zelda looked at him sceptically but didn't let go.
"Zel, please. I'll be alright, please just go and help the others."
He walked towards the Master Sword, but as he did his boot connected with something that lay in his path.
"What the-?"
The Fierce Deity Mask looked up at him with its blank eyes.
You need me.
Link felt a cold sweat trickle down his back.
"My darkest fear, and yet my strongest ally," he murmured, remembering words spoken long before.
You need me.
He looked across at his friends, holding the god within their forcefield. Saria was tiring, he could see her fatigue etched on her face. Ruto looked ready to drop, and the others were by no means looking as fresh as they had before.
"Link?"
He stooped to pick up the mask, holding it in his hands and staring at its expressionless face.
"If I put you on, how do I know you won't control me?"
You don't. No-one controls me, you should know that by now.
"No. I'm not going to lose a battle to you as well as that bastard."
Zelda saw what he was holding and gasped.
"Link no, don't use that mask. Please."
He'd told her all about it, he'd explained how powerful it was and had also told her about Athaz. The look of alarm on her face was well justified.
If not for the rest of the world, then for her. You don't want her to die, do you? Or maybe you're happy to let that happen, maybe you won't mind when Mortis uses her for his own devices before he kills her.
"Stop it," he growled.
He'll do it you know, and then everyone who opposes him will die, starting with her and then he'll go after your daughter, then your father. Your brother's family will all die. Do you really want their blood on your hands?
Link shook his head and then slumped to his knees in despair.
"If I do it, you must swear not to let me harm anybody after Mortis."
"Link no!" Zelda cried.
I can't make that promise.
Link swallowed hard as Zelda knelt before him. She touched his face softly.
"Please don't do this," she whispered. "What if you lose control and I can't get you back?"
"Zelda I have to. If I don't, then we can kiss this fight goodbye because I can't beat him. It's not like Ganon, the Master Sword can't hack it. I can't hack it."
"But there has to be another way..." she pleaded.
Link shook his head.
"I know, I don't want to do it. I don't want to lose control, I won't be able to stop myself. Which is why you're going to have to."
Zelda's eyes widened in horrific realisation as the Fairy Bow rested in her lap, a single Light Arrow notched in it.
"No! Don't do this to me!"
"I won't fight you. Anyone else and I might, but not you. The mask can take every part of me except this."
He took up her hand and placed it on his chest above his heart.
"This is yours, and yours alone. I won't fight you, which is why you're going to have to stop me."
"No! Link, I won't let you do this."
"If I don't then everything was in vain. Ganondorf, Majora, Onox, Veran, all of it will be meaningless. Orla will have died for nothing."
Zelda hung her head and blinked back her tears, closing her fingers around the bow.
"Alright. Do it."
Link sighed and then stood up, drawing Zelda up with him. She met his eyes sadly with hers, tears sparkling in their azure depths. He smiled weakly and squeezed her hand softly.
"I love you."
She pressed her forehead against his with a sad smile.
"I know you do."
"No, you don't know. You don't know at all. I love you so much that I don't know what my life would have been like if we'd never met. Farore Zel, you're amazing! You placed your trust in a nobody, you risked everything on his worthless shoulders, you believed in him when no-one else ever had. And then you gave me your heart, you let me love you, married me and let me father your children. You're my soul, my saviour, and I'll never find the words that can fully describe just how much you mean to me. So I'll just make do with I love you in the hope that you understand."
She kissed him despairingly, clinging to him in the hope that he wouldn't let her go. He kissed her back with bittersweet tenderness, breaking reluctantly to cup her cheek in his hand and smile sadly at her.
"Don't let Amalia forget me Zelda."
And he put on the mask.
******
A.N: The fight, at long last. This however, is not such a great fight. I know, I know, you were all expecting some mammoth battle. But then, if I did that then you wouldn't read Chapter 12. Or 13. Or 14 and 15? Nope. Glad we got that established. Now, go and review. Go on! Review, review review! If I can get up to 110 reviews, then the 110th reviewer will get a present, so be sure to include your e-mail if you want it! (I saw someone use that once, I thought that I'd use it as my own futile attempt at blackmail for reviews.)
