Eidolon Interloper

Chapter 16

Clockwork currently looked like an elderly man, leaning on the staff clutched in his gloved hands for support. Danny knew that even looking like he did, however, Clockwork was anything but feeble. Clockwork was the literal master of time. The only question was…

"What are you doing here?"

"The real question should be: what are you doing here?" Clockwork smiled mysteriously at the same time his form morphed to look like a small child. "If you had made different choices, this conversation may have never happened."

If Danny had been less overwhelmed by the familiar face, he might have remembered why he hated dealing with Clockwork. His cryptic talk always seemed to have the goal of "teaching Danny a lesson", usually with a side of embarrassment. Clockwork had helped him in the past—far more than he deserved, honestly. At first Danny had been so caught up in the idea of having a ghost who could literally control time on his side that he'd made some pretty stupid mistakes. Clockwork had given him so many second chances. Nonetheless, Clockwork was great at being a condescending jerk about it.

But now? Danny had to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't a dream. He'd been so focused on trying to find a way home that he never let himself stop and remember just how badly he missed everyone and everything he'd ever known. Seeing a real, tangible sign of his home was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. Almost. Because Clockwork was one of the last people he wanted to cry in front of.

"I-I don't understand," Danny said shakily. "Is… is this real? How did we ever get here? And…" He stopped, reminding himself of the hopelessness of the past weeks he'd been in Hyrule. His agitation rose. "Why didn't you come sooner?"

"We are in the space between time," Clockwork said, gesturing to their surroundings. Danny once again remembered that they were in an empty void. The glow from Clockwork's form cast no shadows; Danny couldn't even feel solid ground beneath his feet, though he knew he wasn't floating. "I needed to wait until a time that you were interacting with the time stream or another dimension to talk to you."

"Uh-huh… Why?"

"You were transported to an entirely different universe. I may be the master of time, but I am not the master of space." Clockwork shook his head. "I have no power in Hyrule by default. While I can see some of your fate, this dimension has its own time guardian. And she's not very fond of sharing, especially when it affects her Hero."

Danny's head was spinning as he tried to comprehend that. There were other people who could completely control time? There were people who could even keep Clockwork from interfering? "Then why didn't you just… stop it from happening in the first place?" Danny demanded, clenching his fists. "You would have known I was going to fall through that portal and end up here. Don't you watch everything?"

"Coming to this dimension was merely a possibility; there was no certainty that it would occur at all. Besides…" Clockwork smiled serenely. "All things happen for a reason." His smile dropped as he morphed into the form of a child. "But I'm afraid we don't have much time. It's fortunate that you took this path, as I have something to show you."

oOoOo

Link was beginning to get… concerned. Not frustrated. He refused to admit he was frustrated. Just… concerned.

There was no sign of Danny in the next room of the temple. Nor was there a sign of him in the next one, or the one after that. In fact, the only signs of life in this temple seemed to be Lizalfos, Armos, and various other creatures Dark World-bent on destroying him. And, as Link waded through a nest of spider-like Gohmas that had settled under an ancient elevator, splattering their orange insides all over his boots any time a brave one lunged to get a bite, all just to retrieve an ugly statue to place on top of a switch to keep a door open… Link couldn't help but think how nice it would be to have someone who could go through walls on his side right now.

"Didn't Ooccoo say her people built this place?" Midna whispered from his shadow. "…She doesn't even have hands. Why do they have doors that are so heavy you need to use both arms?"

Link frowned but didn't respond to that comment. He'd been wondering the same thing, but he'd refrained from saying anything since Ooccoo was right there.

Ooccoo was a strange creature that he had met in the Forest Temple outside Ordon. She looked like a slender Cucco, complete with talons and light yellow wings… except for her human-like head. Her face was wrinkled and shaven, enormous pink eyes bugging out from the center with no eyelids or eyebrows. And her son, Ooccoo Jr.—nothing but a head with wings—was even creepier. Frankly, the fact that there were more creatures out there that looked like Ooccoo and Ooccoo Jr. terrified him.

But Rusl and Uli had raised Link with manners, so he was hardly going to say anything.

Ooccoo had met him at the entrance of the temple, blathering on about how she would finally find her way back home in this place. He didn't know what that meant, since the temple seemed infested with monsters. There were some cool feats of engineering, but there hardly seemed to be a map or whatever Ooccoo was hoping to find.

A part of him feared that he wasn't even in the right place. He was looking for a mirror shard hidden by Zant, but somehow he'd ended up in a temple built by intelligent birds. How would the shard have gotten here? Nonetheless, Link was used to odd situations leading to coincidental progress in his journey, so he pressed on. With a bit of luck, helping Ooccoo find her people might help him find the shard.

…Still, this would be going so much faster if Danny were here.

oOoOo

"What do you mean, 'we don't have much time'?" Danny repeated in disbelief. "You're literally the ghost of time! I mean… all you have to do is wave that staff and send me home, right?"

"I'm not sure you were listening," Clockwork explained patiently. "I have no jurisdiction in this dimension. My abilities are limited. Talking to you like this is difficult enough as it is."

Danny's breath hitched in his throat. "Wait… are you saying I'm not going home?"

"I am saying that I can't send you home. Whether or not you make it there on your own is up to you."

Danny's tentative hope shattered.

"Then why even show up?" Danny snapped, feeling frustrated tears building behind his eyes. If Clockwork hadn't still been the only familiar face he'd seen in weeks, he would have probably smacked him. "Are you just here to… I don't know, gloat? Is this funny to you?"

"While I have been known to observe the misadventures of others for my own amusement, this is one of those rare instances where the situation calls for the utmost sincerity," Clockwork said gravely. "For once, the Observants and I are on the same page."

"Really?" Danny scoffed. "You didn't even care when I… when the world was almost destroyed by… wh-when my family was going to be killed. This is more serious than that?"

"Yes," Clockwork said, "because I don't know what is going to happen."

oOoOo

Link leapt out of the way as the Darknut's sword came crashing down with so much force that it cracked the marble floor. His head was pounding, blood rushing in his ears. The Darknut gave him no respite, effortlessly hefting a blade the size of Link's entire body up for another strike.

This creature was tough. Its sword skills were on par with the strongest Hylians he knew, and yet it dwarfed him at ten feet tall with formidable, impenetrable dark armor covering it from head to toe. Out of all the legends Link had the misfortune of learning were real enough to kill him, this was perhaps the most terrifying. (The only ones that would be worse were Lynels. Thank Farore that those didn't exist.)

A monster with the intelligence and skills of a human, plus the strength of a Wolfos? It was a nightmare.

Link stood defensively with his shield up, eyes glued to the enemy's sword. But the Darknut surprised him by bashing him with its own shield instead, causing Link to stumble. The creature did not hesitate to slash, which Link hurried to dodge. Despite his swiftness, the blade sliced just below the chainmail on his arm, leaving a small but deep gash on his right wrist. He gasped in pain, resisting the urge to drop his sword and clutch the wound. He couldn't afford to tend to that, not while the Darknut was still pressing on.

He sidestepped another blow and stabbed, aiming for the gap between the front and back armor pieces. To even his own surprise, it worked, loosening the clasps that held them together. The armor fell off.

This was not over; the Darknut threw its blade at him and withdrew a thinner sword. It was only faster with its armor off, charging quicker than Link's human vision could follow.

Fortunately for Link, the Darknut was not nearly as powerful like this. He managed to block the blow and copied the Darknut's own move from earlier. He bashed forward, stepping in as the creature stumbled and stabbing straight through a gap in its chainmail. The Master Sword sank in with a fleshy squelch. Link followed up by shoving with his shoulder, using his body weight to push the creature to the ground. He yanked out his sword and then stabbed again, straight where a heart would be in a human.

The Darknut's back arched with pain, but it made no noise. After a second of twitching, it collapsed to the floor limply. It did not move again.

Link sighed in relief, slumping to catch his breath. Midna peeked out of his shadow, peering at the defeated foe.

"You okay?" she asked, emerging to stare critically at his injuries. "That didn't look easy."

Link nodded, too tired to speak. Exhausted, arm throbbing painfully, he pushed past her to stumble toward a treasure chest that the Darknut had been guarding. Surely with a creature this powerful, it had to be something good. He could only hope it was some kind of ancient healing magic. He wasn't sure if the potions he'd brought from Castle Town would be enough this time.

But he opened it up and found not treasure, not a powerful weapon from an advanced ancient society… but a stick.

Frowning, Link pulled the object out of the chest. It was a thin stone scepter that split into three wing-like prongs at the top. He waved it around. Nothing happened.

"That's it?" Midna said, disappointment palpable in her voice.

"Oh!" Ooccoo's voice piped up from across the room. She'd hidden in a pot when the Darknut attacked. Link sincerely envied her and Midna's impeccable abilities to hide. "You found the Dominion Rod?"

"The what-a rod?" Midna repeated dubiously.

"This rod was very important to my people in the past!" Ooccoo gushed, scrambling over to them. "We used it to control the stone automatons that helped us build places like this temple!"

"Automatons?" Link glanced up to where he'd seen the stone statue, resting in an alcove overlooking the room. "Like the statue?"

"Exactly!" Ooccoo preened.

"That statue looks like the one at the entrance," Midna said, echoing Link's own thoughts. "Don't you remember how there was a big empty space next to it? Maybe you have to reunite them?"

"How do I use this?" Link asked Ooccoo.

"Point it to the statue and it will activate the magic within. Then the automaton will follow your movements!"

Not entirely sure he believed her, he lifted the rod and pointed it toward the statue. Much to his surprise, a yellow-green orb lit up at the top of the rod and shot toward the center of the statue. The light set the statue aglow and the stone being, armed with an ax, suddenly lifted at attention. Cautious, he lowered the rod, pointing to the ground. The statue's ax moved along with it. He stepped forward, and so did the statue.

"Woah," said Midna, impressed. "I bet this guy will make it much easier to get through the traps, right?"

Her words made Link pause, a sinking feeling in his gut. "The traps?" he said. "But… can't you or Ooccoo teleport us back to the entrance?"

"Oh goodness, I couldn't possibly!" Ooccoo exclaimed. "It's hard enough teleporting you Hylians, you know. You're so much bulkier than an Oocca."

Midna gave him a regretful smile. "Sorry, but same here. That statue won't fit in my portals."

Link thought back to the labyrinthine passageways he'd fought through to get here—the armored Helmasaurs, the moving walls and spiked traps, the hordes of Dinolfos, and more. He was already out of it, especially with the wound on his arm throbbing and Danny still missing. But here he was, considering retracing his steps with a hunk of stone to babysit and a vague hope that it would lead to a mirror shard that may or may not be here.

Link closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He reached into his pouch and withdrew the bottle containing red potion, popping open the top. He downed it in one gulp. It numbed the pain and eased his exhaustion marginally, but a dull throb remained.

Shoving the empty bottle back in his pouch, he opened his eyes and prepared for round two in the death-trapped temple.

oOoOo

Danny blinked. "How could you not know what's going to happen? Can't you see everything?"

Clockwork silently gestured to the side, and hovering in mid-air a picture appeared. It showed a medieval kingdom—except the sky above it was green.

That was Princess Dora's kingdom, Danny realized, within the Ghost Zone. But then why…

Over the horizon, towering over the castle, an enormous monster appeared. It looked kind of like a bulbous, yellow squid… except squids didn't have moving yellow eyeballs on their tentacles or an eye with teeth on the top of its head.

In one powerful swing, one of the tentacles crashed through the walls of the castle.

"I need to help them!" Danny gasped, a transformation ring already forming at his waist. He thought, Man, I really wish I'd brought my thermos before remembering that oh yeah, he couldn't get out of Hyrule even if he did have one.

"Don't worry; this is merely a vision of what could be," said Clockwork.

Danny released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"However, even if it was, you may find difficulties fighting this creature. It is not a ghost."

Danny blinked. He looked at Clockwork. He looked at the squid monster. He squinted. "Um… are you sure? I've heard of giant squids but…"

"That monster is known as Bellum," Clockwork explained. "It's a demonic entity that drains the life force of those around it. When it encounters powerful ghosts, it consumes their power for itself and turns them into Reaplings, which are cursed to wander its Ghost Ship for eternity. The only way to defeat it is with a sword forged from three incredibly rare metals."

Danny grimaced. "Are you telling me this because you want me to get these metals?" He was getting a bit sick of needing to collect items that supposed omniscient entities told him to get.

"Not at all," Clockwork said, sounding irritatingly amused. "It's unlikely that you even could. They're in a completely different world, separate even from Hyrule."

"Then why are you showing me this? And what does this have to do with you not being able to tell what will happen?"

Without responding, Clockwork waved his staff, and the scene transformed.

The next scene was clearly in the Ghost Zone yet again, based on the doors floating around the area. However, there were no ghosts in sight—except for a fiery crimson-colored, faceless winged monster with an elongated body. It has no arms or legs, just a plume-like crown around what would have been its head if it had a face or eyes.

"This is Thunderbird," Clockwork said. "It is an artificial life form created by a king of Hyrule to protect a powerful godly artifact. It can create fire from nothing and is invincible without a specific magic spell. Like Bellum, it is not a ghost."

"Then why—"

The scene shifted again to reveal a ghost he recognized: Youngblood. The child looked the same as always, wearing a pirate costume like the last time Danny had seen him. But on his face was some kind of strange mask. It was heart-shaped, purple, and had colored spikes sticking out of it. Its enormous yellow eyes appeared to contain no eye holes, making Danny question how Youngblood could see.

"What? Are you going to tell me Youngblood isn't a ghost?" Danny scoffed.

"No, he's a ghost," Clockwork said. "But the mask he's wearing is not ghostly in origin. It's called Majora's Mask. It grants its user power beyond belief—somewhat akin to the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire. However, it corrupts the mind of the user."

An ectopus floated past Youngblood. Youngblood raised a hand—and the mask on his face began to shake ominously. To Danny's horror, the octopus began to disintegrate. It melted into a pile of goo, leaving not even its core behind. Youngblood laughed—but it was not his typical obnoxious chortling. This was slow, dark, and much more menacing than anything Danny had heard from him before. It sent a chill up Danny's spine.

As Danny watched Youngblood cackle, he finally lost it. "Okay, okay, I get it! Something bad is going to happen in the Ghost Zone! I can't do anything about it while I'm here though, so shouldn't you, I don't know, help me get home?"

"I've already told you why I can't send you home," Clockwork said. "But there is another reason why I need to tell you this. Our world is currently on course to have these events occur in the not-so-distant future."

oOoOo

Retracing his steps was a major pain. Even with armed statues obeying his commands, Link found the traps, puzzles, and endless number of Gohmas (really, why were there so many spiders?) just as annoying the second time around. It was especially difficult considering the large statue didn't fit into a lot of the places that he could. He needed to use teleportation machines littered around the area and a bit of destruction (which he was grateful Ooccoo didn't seem to comment on, considering this was apparently built by her ancestors) in order to reach the entrance again.

Somehow Link managed, and as he slid the statue into its place next to its match, the colossal doorway at the entrance began to glow. With a low rumbling, the doors slid open on their own, revealing another passage full of traps.

Link clenched his fists, thinking of how much easier this would have been if the statue had been in this room from the beginning. Or better yet, if Danny had been here and they had simply walked through the doorway.

…Speaking of whom, Danny still had not appeared. It had been hours now. He wasn't sure whether he was more angry or worried. He could only hope that somehow the portal had failed for him, and Danny was waiting back in the forest.

The only bright side of this last room? Ooccoo took one look at the utterly ridiculous number of traps and declared that she would wait outside. Though her advice had proven helpful with the Dominion Rod, the lack of her presence was just one last thing to worry about. (And she was still really creepy.)

After one last round of spiked blades and swinging axes, Link entered a round room surrounded by four statues. They had two arms, both hands in fists, with one fist raised above their heads. The room was lit only by four skylights beaming down from a high domed ceiling. Aside from the statues, the room seemed empty.

He approached the center cautiously, peering around. This appeared to be a dead end; there were no other doors in sight. Had he taken a wrong turn?

"Hey, keep an eye out," Midna hissed from his shadow. "I can sense the mirror shard nearby. Who knows what its magic might have done to the tech in here…"

He frowned; how could the mirror be here? Nothing was in this room. Maybe he needed to solve some kind of puzzle involving those statues? He stepped toward the closest one.

A shadow passed over the skylight illuminating his chosen statue. Confused, Link glanced up—

Only to come face to face with a massive spider.

This Gohma was towering, its eight legs easily longer than Link's entire height. Though its back appeared to be covered in thick hairs longer than his arm, the rest of its torso was covered in a thick shell the color of stone, looking almost like ornate armor. From its front protruded two sharp fangs, creating dramatic, trembling shadows against the skylight's backdrop. And as he stared in disbelief, meeting the gaze of the four yellow orbs at its front that he thought were its eyes, a concave hole on the spider's back squelched open to reveal a piercing, singular red eye.

He had a feeling he just found the mother of all those baby Gohmas…

oOoOo

"So you're saying," Danny began slowly, "that the squid, the bird thing, and Youngblood… all of that could happen?"

"Yes. These are beings that nothing in our world is truly prepared for. They belong to the realms connected to Hyrule, protected by the Goddess of Time. Until now, they had no way of accessing the Ghost Zone."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "So what, they could never die? Couldn't they just become ghosts?"

"Ghosts in Hyrule are different. You must have noticed that there are far more ghosts on the mortal plane than you find at your home. Many spirits are reincarnated or simply linger in the Sacred Realm. Those who have ties to the mortal realm or die in particular ways remain as Poes, Ghinis, or other living dead. Hyrule does not have a Ghost Zone as we do. The connection of our two dimensions—the Ghost Zone and Hyrule—has initiated an unprecedented disaster."

"Well I never wanted them to be connected, so go complain to someone else!" Danny snapped.

Clockwork smiled knowingly, and this time the only thing actually holding Danny back from attacking him was the reminder that he'd already tried fighting the time ghost once and lost horribly. Danny was sure, however, that with his glowing eyes and clenched fist communicated the message. He was also sure Clockwork didn't care.

"Unfortunately, you're already involved. It wasn't an accident that you were brought to this world first. The portal that summoned you was made by a mistake of the user. Zant was supposed to send his captives to the Sacred Realm; killing them with Twili magic caused a connection instead to the closest thing with those elements, which was our Ghost Zone. They are now linked in a way they never should have been. Like your Real World, Hyrule is now connected to the Ghost Zone." Clockwork paused. "Do you understand what that means?"

Danny resisted the urge to pout. No, he didn't know what it meant, and he knew that didn't matter because Clockwork was going to tell him anyway.

"Portals to the Ghost Zone will begin to appear in Hyrule, Danny. Ghosts from our world can enter Hyrule, and Hyrule's enemies can now enter the Ghost Zone. And eventually…" Clockwork paused. "They could make their way into your human world."

Danny breathed in sharply. He immediately thought of his home—his parents, Jazz, Sam, Tucker—facing off against even a fraction of the creatures he'd encountered in Hyrule. They'd had a hard enough time with the constant ghost attacks; he couldn't fathom also dealing with the mirror shards, or the Shadow Beasts, or the kid with the puppets, or Zant…

His mind screeched to a halt. Zant.

"But that guy—Zant, the guy who made the first portal? He can make a portal to the Ghost Zone on his own!" Danny gasped. "He… Midna said he's a tyrant. He could send his Shadow Beasts into the Ghost Zone, and… and he can turn people into Shadow Beasts apparently…" His voice trailed off. This was bad. Like… potentially really bad. Zant was capable of magic that Danny couldn't even fight. He'd made a shield around the castle that he couldn't get through as a human or ghost. Worse, if he was anything like Midna, Danny's powers—and likely those of any other ghosts—would be unpredictable against him. And if Zant got into the Real World…?

"That's not all," Clockwork said grimly. "It isn't just threats from the Hyrule you are in. The Ghost Zone is now connected to all of Hyrule's timelines. Connecting multiple timelines into one place shouldn't be possible. It could cause a total collapse."

"A collapse," Danny repeated in disbelief. "What does that even mean?"

"At best, the timelines would merge into one, causing potential destruction where places or people from clashing periods would collide. At worst?" Clockwork shook his head. "Complete destruction of all the worlds involved."

Danny let that sink in. Invaders from another world, impossibly strong enemies, a literal apocalypse…

His trip home just got a lot more complicated.

oOoOo

The spider did not go down easily.

The armored Gohma stabbed at Link with its scythe-like legs, spewed egg sacs full of babies that hatched in seconds, and even shot laser beams. Even when he finally managed to crack and demolish its hardened exterior using the statues lining the room, it formed new legs around its singular eye and tried to crawl away!

Link kind of preferred the living skeletons and zombies of Arbiter's Grounds. He just prayed he wasn't going to develop some form of long-lasting arachnophobia from this.

After an arduous and frankly unnecessary chase of the spider's eyeball scuttling around the room, he managed to get in a good stab. With a squelch and an inhuman screech, it dissolved into a puddle of goo.

Link could feel the dark Twilit magic that congealed in the air like a heavy blanket, rushing to the spot just above the spider's remains. With a sharp sound like shattering glass, a shard of the Mirror of Twilight materialized.

Midna popped out of his shadow at last, grinning. "I knew it was here! The mirror must have corrupted that Gohma like it did with Yeta." She paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Although… knowing that was just a fraction of the mirror's full power… we might be creating something even more dark and powerful than Zant…"

Link was so goddess-damned exhausted. He didn't want to think about the consequences of what they were doing. There wasn't supposed to be a moral dilemma. He just wanted to help Midna and save his kingdom. He wasn't prepared to fear unleashing an even worse evil that he might need to defeat after. He would have told Midna as much if he hadn't been so tired.

He gave her a hopeless look instead.

Midna either didn't understand or didn't care about his expression as she giggled. With a snap of her fingers, the mirror shard vanished into black cubes, which subsequently faded into the air. "Oh well! Only one more shard to go!" She maneuvered around him toward the center of the room and with a zap of magic created a portal to the entrance, as she always did when their task was complete. "Let's get out of here."

Link stepped forward, thinking wistfully of the warm meal and bed waiting for him at Telma's bar—and then stopped.

"Wait," he said, "what about Danny?"

Midna blinked, looking surprised. She'd clearly forgotten about him too. "Uh… maybe he gave up?" she suggested with a shrug. "He's not as experienced with Hyrule's ancient labyrinths as you are. He probably decided it wasn't worth his time and is waiting for us outside."

Link shook his head. He wanted to believe that—although he'd be pretty darn annoyed if that was true—but it didn't seem right. "What if he got into trouble?" Link asked. "Maybe we should look over the temple one more time…"

Midna scoffed. "Link, if he wants, people can't even touch him, remember? I'm sure he's fine. He must've chickened out and ditched you, like I said." She huffed, crossing her arms. "Besides, while I'm happy that I didn't have to deal with his freaky magic, I bet it would have helped you a ton. He doesn't really deserve your help at this point considering he left you to handle everything alone."

That did make sense. Danny was probably even safer than Link himself was with that intangibility spell. But something still didn't seem right…

Grudgingly, Link nodded. If Danny wasn't outside or at the bar, he resolved to return and search for him. But until then, Link needed to get his strength back up anyway. He wouldn't be much help to anyone in the state he was in.

However, just as Link toed the line of Midna's portal, a chilling wind washed over the room, bringing with it the scent of decay. With a hum like low thundering, Link looked beyond Midna in time to see a glowing line appearing in the air, jagged like the edge of torn parchment. It slowly opened, revealing swirling green depths. And from within them, out came…

A dragon.

An enormous, black-scaled, green-horned dragon, bigger even than the Gohma, with purple wings the size of houses and claws as big as doors. It slithered into the room, quickly straightening itself to its full height, which almost touched the rounded dome ceiling above.

"Where am I? Where has this portal taken me?" The dragon spoke with a booming voice which, aside from its volume, was surprisingly normal. "Is this a castle?" Its beady eyes scanned the room before landing on Link and Midna's small forms. "I will take this keep for myself, as my rightful kingdom was stolen. All I must do is defeat their measly guard." It grinned with sharp teeth. "You will make an excellent snack."

Midna let out a very un-Midna-like yelp and hid in his shadow, dissipating the portal. Link felt despair crashing down like a tidal wave, pressing so hard his knees nearly buckled.

The dragon roared, blue smoke billowing from its maw. Hands shaking, Link unsheathed the Master Sword.

He was just so, so, so tired…

oOoOo

"So what do I do?" Danny said, struggling to keep the hopelessness he was drowning in from showing in his voice. Clockwork had shown up just to make things worse somehow, in a situation he hadn't realized could be worse.

"You need to prevent any more portals from opening," Clockwork said, "and return home as quickly as possible."

"But how?" Danny asked desperately. "I was already trying to get home. I was looking for a stupid mirror because a skeleton told me to in a terrible riddle. I don't even know if I'm on the right path!"

Clockwork smiled—and his typical smug manner told Danny immediately that he would hate the answer.

"I trust you'll make the right choice when the time comes."

…Yeah. He did hate that answer.

Before Danny could respond, Clockwork's form began to flicker. The time ghost frowned. "Hmm… it seems as though our time is almost up. The goddess is very displeased."

"What? No! Wait!" Danny cried, stepping closer to the ghost. He wasn't surprised when his hands slipped straight through Clockwork's intangible form, but it was no less distressing. "This didn't fix anything. I still don't understand what's going on or what I'm supposed to do! Why would you tell me just to go home when I was already trying to do that?"

"You will figure it out," Clockwork promised. "Just keep in mind that the barriers between dimensions are weakening. I cannot see what's occurring across Hyrule; there's no telling what may happen. Your enemies from the Ghost Zone may make their way there." Clockwork's voice began fading, cutting in and out like a poor phone connection. "The last… show you… help. Go… luck…"

As the darkness around him began to spread, covering Clockwork and descending upon Danny himself like a physical force, a series of images flashed before him.

A sign written in Hylian flashed by too fast for him to recognize any characters other than the 'D' at the beginning. A flash of red dirt. A mountaintop, with steaming hot water. A stack of boulders, covering an old cave entrance…

And then there were ruins. A room made of stone, aged gray bricks on the ground and a triangular symbol he'd seen on the flags in Castle Town. And then he saw him—the same being who had originally brought him to this world. Zant. As he watched, a pair of Shadow Beasts entered the room, dragging a humanoid form in their claw-like hands. The figure appeared to be unconscious, feet dragging on the floor and head hanging low.

A familiar head of red braids.

And as he stared, he realized he recognized that figure—

Telma.

oOoOo

This was… actually bad. Really, really bad.

Link had been through a lot of hardships on his journey. But this? He was not at his best; the near-misses with swinging traps and the Darknut and the giant Gohma had taken a lot out of him, perhaps even more than he had realized. And now?

This dragon was strong. It could breathe blue fire and its hands were so massive that it shook the room when they slammed on the floor. It was increasingly difficult to avoid them as it tried to bite or crush him relentlessly.

But that wasn't even the worst part. No, the worst was that Link couldn't even hit it.

He slashed at its worm-like tail with the Master Sword, but the blade went through it like air. He commanded the statues in the room to slam down into its torso with the Dominion Rod, and they sailed through him as well. Thinking of the Poes, Link had transformed into a wolf and charged, but his teeth found no purchase and moving through the creature was so unsettlingly chilling that it made him shiver, even with his thick lupine coat of fur.

Yet, without fail, the dragon always managed to be solid when it swiped at them. It was infuriating.

The only thing that did anything was Midna's magic. It was able to hit the creature at least—but it bounced off the dragon's thick scales like pebbles thrown at a stone wall.

Link stumbled up against a wall, human once more, panting. He'd released some Bomblings, tiny creatures that exploded when provoked whom he'd purchased in Kakariko Village. The Bomblings served as good distractions, scurrying around the floor below the dragon. It tried to hit their forms, but they were so fast and small that it couldn't seem to strike them. And even when it did, they blew up in its face, sending bits of dust and floor into the air and enraging the creature into blindly attacking. The dragon's periodic tantrums weren't without danger, since it often swung its tail in large arcs and knocked stone chunks from the walls and ceiling, but there was nowhere safer to go and Link was already doing his best not to collapse where he stood.

"Come on, you've got to get yourself together, Link!" Midna hissed at him. Though she was clearly trying to continue her typical bravado, he could hear the waver in her voice, the thinly concealed fear for his safety. "Keep fighting!"

"How? Do you have any other ideas?" he snapped back, too frustrated to formulate a nicer response. "Nothing is working!"

The monster roared as it was blasted with another Bombling hit. In a fury, it lifted its head in the air, covering its eyes, and whipped its tail around.

Straight toward Link.

A hit that strong, in the state he was in?

He expected to die.

What he wasn't expecting was a green beam of energy hitting the monster and actually knocking it over.

The dragon crashed into the wall above the room's doorway with the force, screaming in pain. Link winced, briefly shielding his face from the cloud of debris that roiled up with the collapsed stone. When it finally cleared up enough for him to see, Link turned his gaze in the direction of the blast.

There, on the other side of the room, was Danny. His eyes were glowing a chilling green that, while feeling vaguely familiar, Link was quite certain he had never seen from Danny. His right hand was extended and smoking.

Danny slowly lowered his hand and smirked as the color drained back to their normal blue. "Looked like you could use some help?"

Goddesses. Link was really relieved that Danny looked okay.

…On second thought, he was actually really pissed off that Danny looked okay.

Link couldn't reply as the dragon began stirring, pushing itself back up. When its eyes landed on Danny, they widened. "You!"

"Yeah, me. Hi. Welcome to Hyrule." Danny sighed. "Of all the ghosts that could have found me here, of course it's the guy with an obsession with the dark ages."

"You will not stop me again!" the dragon snarled. "This keep will be mine!"

"You know, I was really hoping that blast would be enough to take you out. Guess I'll need to use something else to chill you out…" Danny raised his palms again, and they glowed a chilling blue. Link shivered as the temperature dropped and ice began creeping from where Danny stood. He could only stare, wide-eyed, as the ice crept up the recovering monster's body. By the time it realized what was happening, the ice was already up to its wings. It thrashed and screeched, but it couldn't free itself from the trap.

"No! You will pay for this, Phan—"

The ice crept over the dragon's face, frozen in a permanent roar.

No one said anything. The only sound was the settling of dirt and dust from the still-crumbling walls.

Midna popped out of the shadows directly in front of Danny. His eyes widened and he took a step back as she jammed an accusing finger in his face. "Where were you?!"

"Uh… I was… why?" Danny stammered. "What happened to you guys?" He glanced at Link's disheveled form—his messy, dust-caked hair, torn tunic and bloodstained chainmail. "You don't look so good…"

Now that grated on Link's nerves. He felt his hands ball into fists as a wave of hot fury pulsed through him. "No, spending hours fighting doesn't leave you with the best appearance," Link said, struggling to keep his tone calm.

"Woah, wait, hours?" Danny repeated, hands held up in surrender. "I… It only felt like a few minutes!"

Right, Link thought, because time probably went by way faster when you could just walk through everything and didn't have to fight for your life…

"What was that thing, and how were you able to hit it?" Midna demanded, poking Danny in the chest. "We tried everything! Link's weapons did nothing, but... you took it out in seconds!" She crossed her arms. "And your eyes were glowing… what was that?"

"I mean…" Danny seemed really panicked now, but Link couldn't find it in him to have any sympathy. Sympathy had burned up somewhere along with the hole in his boot from a Beamos laser an hour ago. "Uh, that was a ghost?"

"A ghost?" she repeated incredulously. "Is this… are you seriously trying to bring up the Poes right now?"

"No, no, no, it wasn't a Poe! I mean, obviously. No, his name's Aragon? I, uh… I know him. Kind of. And he is a ghost, I swear, just not the kind you're familiar with. Remember how I said my home had a lot of ghosts? Uh, yeah, he's from there."

"He said you'd stopped him before?" Link said.

"Well… he was a tyrant prince and I helped his sister overthrow him. He's not always a dragon…" Danny's voice trailed off, but he shook his head rapidly when Midna opened her mouth to interject. "No, look, that's not important right now. I know this sounds crazy, but there's something more important to worry about. I think Telma's in trouble!"

"Telma?" Link's eyes widened.

"Nuh-uh, you're not getting out of this so easily," Midna growled. "You can't distract us with—"

"What about Telma?" Link insisted. Midna smacked her palm to her forehead in frustration.

"I-I saw something. She was being taken by Shadow Beasts to some… cave thing? I don't know if it's going to happen or already happened or what but… we've gotta check on her. She could be being attacked as we speak!"

"What do you mean you saw something?" Midna asked skeptically.

Danny pressed his lips into a thin line. "It's… you wouldn't believe me. But I promise you, I wouldn't have seen this if it wasn't important."

Link's eyes narrowed. Danny looked the same as before he entered the dungeon, but his expression definitely held true fear. Danny seemed to really believe it, as far as Link could tell. But they still hadn't known Danny for very long. Who's to say he wasn't just a really good liar?

"We'll go check on her," Link said, "but you owe us an explanation after."

"Okay, okay, sure," said Danny. "I mean, she might be fine, because like, who knows when what I saw is going to happen—"

"Seriously? Link, you're really gonna believe this—"

"—but just in case, we need to get there as soon as possible. I probably can't take your method of travel, and you definitely can't use mine, so we'll have to meet up there." Danny looked at the destroyed wall and frozen ghost. "Uh… I didn't block our only way out, did I? 'Cuz I was kinda just gonna leave Aragon there. I don't have a way to get him home."

Midna groaned. "You'd better be telling the truth," she told Danny. She pointed at the floor, and with a flash of Twili magic another portal was created. "This will take you to the entrance."

Danny eyed it dubiously. "On second thought… I'll find my own way out. I've seen what my powers do to you. I don't want to know what that might do to me." He looked at Link. "See you at Castle Town?"

Link nodded.

Without another word, Danny disappeared into a wall.

oOoOo

Zant watched as the Shadow Beasts deposited an old woman in front of him. She looked frail, collapsing instantly when they released her, red eyes staring sightlessly at the ground. Despite her weak appearance, she was a direct descendant of the Sage of Shadow.

Zant had found her by luck. When the Bulblins overran an old village hidden in Eldin province, their king reported a lone Sheikah woman living there. His magic confirmed she was indeed one of the descendants he was searching for. It was easy enough to keep her locked up, imprisoned in her own home, until Zant needed her for his spell.

He was now within an abandoned Fairy Fountain. The lingering magics of the Great Fairy made it the perfect place to perform spells like this. He'd thought with the mirror destroyed that he would be trapped in the Twilight Realm, but his master had proven to have power beyond his expectations.

He'd given his Shadow Beasts long enough. It was time to learn what they have discovered in the Sacred Realm.

The magic crackled at his fingertips, and Impaz screamed.

When the Shadow Beasts stepped out of the portal, they looked… different. The red lines on their chest had a faint green tint to them.

"What did you find?" Zant demanded, ignoring the odd discrepancy.

The Shadow Beasts shuffled uneasily. One of them finally stepped forward. It raised its arm… and it disappeared before his very eyes.

At first Zant couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. But then another Shadow Beast stepped forward and its body began to glow. And then another stepped forward–straight through the glowing one.

The Sacred Realm hadn't just provided information. It had also granted them great powers of their own.

Zant's face broke into a smile, and then his amusement grew into a maniacal laugh. As his laughter died down, he realized the potential. Giving his soldiers these abilities could increase their strength hundredfold. He had to send in more Shadow Beasts.

As the portal closed before him, he realized what that meant.

He needed another sacrifice.

Zant pondered his options. He had just killed the only known descendant of the Sage of Shadow. Both the Sages of Light and Fire had several descendants, but none of them had been as direct as the two he'd already sacrificed. He wasn't sure if it would work if their magic was diluted. Besides, the book he found the ritual in implied that if he removed a descendant from each sage, then there would be a permanent link between the two worlds. That sounded promising if the Sacred Realm could provide such power.

That left only the Sages of Forest, Spirit, and Water. The Sage of Forest had no records, and the Sage of Water's descendant was the Zora prince. Zant had killed the Zora queen, so the Zoras were undoubtedly guarding her son fervently. It would be difficult to abduct him now.

That left only the descendant of the Sage of Spirit, the Hylian woman whom he had attacked previously. His agent had failed then due to an unknown assailant. Nonetheless, she was his best target for now.

He looked at his new soldiers. It was time to test their capabilities.

oOoOo

Danny couldn't remember flying so fast in his entire life/afterlife. The fields of Hyrule passed below him in a blur. He could feel his strength waning but he couldn't afford to slow down. Clockwork had shown him that scene with Telma for a reason.

Castle Town appeared below him, and Danny landed in an alley near the bar and transformed. It was early morning—Link was right, it really had been hours—so the bar should have been closed.

It did not bode well when Danny sprinted to the entrance and saw the door propped open.

He burst inside.

The place was a mess. Tables were overturned, splintered chairs thrown in every direction. Mugs had been thrown off the shelves and shattered on the ground.

In the middle of the room was Link. Considering Midna could supposedly teleport, Danny wasn't too surprised to see him. But he was concerned to see a body that Link was kneeling next to. When Link stood up to face Link, Danny recognized the figure as Ashei. Horrified, he rushed toward them.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

Link nodded. "She's hurt, but still breathing."

Danny sighed in relief. Now onto the next worry. "Is Telma here?"

Link stared at Danny with wide, regretful eyes and shook his head. Danny felt a knot form in his stomach.

They were too late. Telma was gone.

A/N: I feel like I forgot something in this chapter. There were so many things I wrote out of order or rewrote that I might've missed something. Oh well. Tell me if something sucks.

I am doing my best not to alienate any readers from either fandom, so please tell me if anything is too overwhelming/confusing. I absolutely love writing the Zelda lore bits but I know they don't mean much to most people. I haven't mentioned this, but it is my goal to reference every Zelda game before the end of the story. So far I'm down to only 5 left: LoZ, TWW, ALBW, TFH, and BotW. I've gotta think of some cool shout out thing for anyone who can find them all at the end haha. (Btw, hope Thunderbird isn't too problematic? Listen it's from 80s Japan lol they didnt know what they were doing)

Speaking of Zelda references, I talked a bit more about Zant's "Sacred Realm" ritual in this chapter. Can anyone tell what the inspiration for it was now? I didn't just come up with this sage descendants thing on my own.

I'm super hype for next chapter. A lot of stuff is going down. Thanks to fordtato and Hazama_d20 for betaing as always! And thanks to reviewers who keep me going.

Words: 7,982

Published: November 2nd, 2022