All of the Sages had fallen into a considerate silence. Whereas they had no control over the elements anymore, all they could do was think about a possible solution to the nightmarish plague that haunted them all. Zelda felt bad about failing Hyrule thus far, and had sworn to herself (and the other Sages) that she would work harder to help protect the world from here on out. She knew that there was very little she could do know, and didn't want to leave a heavy burden on Rowen and Link; Zelda had finally begun to believe that she was worthless in this battle, and considered going into hiding again, just like when Ganondorf had control of Hyrule. Maybe it was time to become Sheik again.
"Zelda, are you all right?" inquired Saria gently, putting a small hand on her friend's shoulder.
"I suppose…well…not really…I don't know. I just don't know what to do anymore. It's just…never mind."
Saria's eyes dropped to the watery floor; there was a small drip drip noise. Tears were running down the young Sage's face. The lament and melancholy that Malice had been spreading throughout Hyrule had begun to affect her, and she feigned to be all right. The flow of tears began to increase until she was crying uncontrollably, and she wasn't quite sure why she was so upset. "Zelda, I'm afraid."
Zelda held the little Kokiri both tightly and motherly, beginning to feel her own tears streaming down her cheeks. "Don't be afraid. I won't let anything happen to you…it'll be all okay," Zelda whispered, but she knew inside of her heart that it was a lie.
Then there was a bright blue light surrounding a limp body swathed in green and red. All of the Sages turned to look at the Hero, who was weak with fatigue and his massive wounds, and their hearts sank. If the Hero of Time couldn't stop the evil, then who could?
Darunia tipped the Hero's upper body up and felt the bones that were broken. There were many fractures and even more open wounds; a third of them would be scars. The Goron shook his head sadly, then jumped slightly in surprised when his Sworn Brother began coughing so harshly that blood trickled out of his mouth. "Brother, what happened?"
Link only managed a broken sentence. "Malice…gamble…Bongo Bongo…lost…medallions…Temple…collapsed…"
The King of the Gorons was filled with a flaming rage. "You lost the medallions?"
The Gerudo Nabooru smacked Darunia angrily. "Shut up, it probably wasn't his fault! I bet you would have done the same thing in his place!"
"I would not!"
"You would too. Gorons have no logic, unlike the Gerudo," Nabooru said proudly, crossing her tanned arms triumphantly.
"Please, will you stop fighting? You're acting like children!" Ruto snapped.
"Yes, I must agree with Ruto," Rauru said. "That barrier our dear Rowen is generating will not last forever. Malice will find a way in; I have no doubt of that. In the precious minutes we have, a plan of action is necessary. Does anyone have any ideas?"
Silence.
Something then popped into Zelda's mind. "Rauru," she began, "Malice didn't harm me when he took the Triforce of Wisdom from me, as far as Rowen has told me. It seems that he will not hurt us if we give him what he desires. Maybe we should—"
"That's preposterous!" Darunia interrupted. The other Sages nodded in agreement. "If what I've heard about this Malice is correct, if we do surrender what he wants to him, he'll only grow stronger. Then what will we do? So far we are at a major disadvantage. And with the Triforce of Wisdom, he can find us wherever we run, and anticipate our every move."
"Not quite," Impa finally said. "The Triforce of Wisdom provides its holder with unlimited knowledge, but it cannot read minds. Yes, he can find us anywhere we go, but he will not know what our next move will be."
"Then we should use that to our advantage," Rauru added, a faint trace of a smile appearing on his lips.
Link, for being in such a poor state, seemed very attentive.
"What should we do, then?" Zelda quietly asked.
"Well, our first step is to free Luke. That should be our main goal for the time being. No doubt he can be of great help in our time of need," Rauru said, and saw Zelda's face light up.
"Are…are we really going to save him?"
The old Sage looked kindly at the princess. "Yes."
Link's eyes narrowed.
"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Ruto snapped again. "It's not like we can just waltz up to the guy and ask him to give Luke back."
"True, true."
"What if we drew him out with a spell?"
"You forget that we are powerless."
"Oh, yes, right."
"A prayer!"
"Uhm, how about not."
Link clenched his fists tightly.
Rowen stopped concentrating on the barrier for a moment. "Hey, y'all, I got an idea!"
All the Sages turned to her. "Oh? What?" Rauru asked.
Rowen winked and gave them thumbs up. "You'll all see in a moment."
"What are you talking about? Malice isn't in here!" Darunia retorted and missed the snarl Link shot at him.
"Oh yeah?" Rowen shot back. "Look at Link. Does he ever make faces like that? I don' think so."
Everyone looked at the Hero. He looked completely sinister. Shocked, the Goron King dropped him and backed away quickly. To the Sages' amazement, he stood as if he had suffered from not a single wound and cast his dark glare all about the Chamber before speaking in a voice that was definitely not his own. "Contemptible mortals. Conversing about the very plague that haunts you whilst he is within earshot. An inaccuracy on your component."
"What?" Ruto inquired, utterly thrown. "How in the name of Jabu-Jabu did you get in here?"
Link laughed. "A shadow is simple to manipulate," he replied. Link suddenly looked dead as he fell limply to the floor. His shadow became three-dimensional, and then the outlined shape of the evil god could clearly be seen. Color returned to the silhouette and all discovered that Rowen had spoken the truth. Malice had found a way past Rowen's barrier by using Link's shadow.
"I told ya he'd find a way in."
"Okay, confession time," Ruto snapped. "What'd you do to Link?"
"It was not I that put him in such a despondent state. It was the late Bongo-Bongo's doing," Malice responded.
Impa, who had been rather quiet throughout it all, said with shock: "Bongo-Bongo has been dead for a while now. There is no way it could have—"
The wicked god laughed. "My rebirth revives all vice creatures and empowers them even greater than before."
Darunia crossed his arms. "So, you're saying that all the monsters Link rid Hyrule of are alive again?"
"Precisely. Need I elucidate the logics?"
The Goron King glared at Malice. "I'm not dense, I think I can figure it out on my own."
Rauru seemed baffled. "But then why do you refer to Bongo-Bongo as 'late'?"
"He…slew it…" Link gasped, rolling over on his back. "I saw…Bongo-Bongo's body dissolve…into nothing…"
At this point, Rowen began to worry. Her stern expression softened and faded; she sat next to her friend and closed her eyes while glistening silver tears trickled down her cheeks and onto Link's chest. Malice watched intently with suspicious eyes and clenched his fists.
"You okay?" Rowen asked, wiping her eyes. Link shook his head as if he were trying to get rid of some cloud that rained down upon him and sat up; Rowen smiled and struck him playfully (yet hard) on the back. "Glad to see ya up at it again, pal. Ya had me worried for a minute."
Link stared at her with wondering eyes. "How did you do that? You just—"
Rowen quickly covered his mouth and whispered in his ear: "Etslay otnay alktay boutaay hattay ownay." Link looked completely astonished.
"What? I didn't understand a thing you just said."
"Aterlay!" Rowen urgently replied.
Link caught the urgency in her voice and dropped the subject. He looked to Malice (the god's eyes were narrowed) and frowned. "We aren't going to let you have your way."
Malice ignored the Hero's exclamation and gazed at Zelda. She was crying, but not entirely out of fear. She was still mourning the truth of Luke's past. Finally, she cried out: "Let Luke go!"
An idea formed in the god's mind. "I shall."
The breath left the lungs of every body in the Chamber. They all stared at him in disbelief. They hadn't expected that he'd say "yes". But their shock faded when he continued on.
"You must comprehend, however, I shall not relinquish him on command. Something must be sacrificed in return."
Ruto snorted. "How'd I know there was a catch?"
Link sighed. "What do you want from us?"
"I do not desire anything from you."
"What, then?"
"Notify your associates what occurred after they had departed from your company."
Link turned pale. All eyes were glued on him. He swallowed hard. "I…I can't do that."
"No?" Malice replied, an evil glint in his red serpent eyes. "If you will not inform them, then I shall demonstrate for them the darkness that lies dormant within your wound."
Zelda's voice was soft, yet stern. "Link, what is he talking about?"
"Nothing, just ignore him."
"If being deceived by the immortal and assailed means naught, then they hold the right to disregard my words."
"Shut up!" Link yelled, and then found himself floating in midair.
"Nay, I shall not. I would like for them to observe the abrasion you have concealed." Malice snapped his fingers once, and the wound from Kirek's dagger (which had been cleaned thoroughly and had been almost invisible) appeared, along with other vicious wounds. He revealed the state Link had been in directly after the battle with Kirek, and Zelda, who should have been courteous to the Hero for all of his efforts to protect them and their location, felt the urge to strike him, but ignored it and wiped away angry and sad tears.
"Link, why didn't you tell me you were wounded so badly? How could you keep that from me? After all the struggles we've been through together, how could you?"
"I didn't want you to be upset with me. You had enough to think about already."
"That's not an excuse! You used to tell me everything, be it good or bad, and now you go and-and-" The princess burst into tears at this moment and threw her arms around his shoulders and cried into his chest.
"You got what you wanted," Link said morosely.
"Yes, I will fulfill my component of the negotiation. I will return Luke."
Malice threw his head back, tensed all of the muscles in his body, and spread out his wings as wide as he could. The red gem on his forehead glowed, and kept glowing until the light surrounded his whole body. The dragon on his chest glowed black, as well, and after a moment, a second, smaller man was hurled out into the water. When the darkness faded from his body, Zelda's heart skipped a beat; but she did not leave Link's side.
Luke stood and blinked his turquoise eyes, then looked at his hands. He smiled with pure pleasure. "I…I'm free."