BEHOLD!!! Plotholes abound in this chapter! Yeah, that's what I always say, I know. It's because I have an inferiority complex. Put up or shut up. And be prepared for some gory battle scenes all the way through the chapter…

Scroll V:

Angels Aren't Always Good

It was hard to say whether the battle was in the favor of the monsters not. Link and Ralph took the monsters head on, cutting arms, legs, and heads off the creatures. They worked as a perfect team; when one was about to be cut down the other leapt to his defense. Nabooru had since discarded her spears and stole two scythe-shaped swords from the bodies, which were better suited for a Gerudo. She pushed her training to its limits and spun around in a Dance of Death, cutting down no less than two monsters at a time. A Stalfos brought down its sword, about to cut Impa in two, but she stopped the sword a few inches from her face. She tripped over an arm lying on the ground, and fell backward. The Stalfos flew away, loosening its grip on the sword. Impa sprang up, and deftly sliced a Moblin behind her in half. And Darunia demonstrated amazing strength by picking up a Moblin and throwing it as hard as he could across the courtyard. Ralph, who was nearby where the poor beast landed, flinched as he heard its skull crack.

Yet no matter how much they tried, even more Moblins and Stalfos kept climbing over the walls, and soon, the defenders began to grow tired. So was the scene when Sheik arrived. He pulled out a dagger and instantly sprang into the fray. He turned around, frantically searching for any sign of Link or the others, and tripped over something. It was a body, and Sheik was horrified to see it was the body of a guard. He felt something light inside him, some anger, some rage, and he was soon slashing in every direction, taking out the monsters with a furious energy.

"Sheik?!" he heard a familiar voice cry out.

Sheik turned to see Darunia in an armlock with a sword-carrying Moblin. A Stalfos moved silently behind Darunia and raised his sword. But almost instantly, the bones and armor clattered onto the floor. Darunia ripped the arm with the sword off the Moblin, and decapitated it. Sheik and he turned to see who the savior was. It was Nabooru, wielding two scythe-like swords and covered in blood.

"Nabooru, are you all right?!" Sheik called.

Nabooru shrugged. "Yeah, I'm okay." She did a double take. "Sheik?!"

Sheik nodded and sprang away, looking for Impa and Link. He didn't have far to go. Link was in the middle of a group of Moblins, all ready to impale him with their spears. Link did a quick spinning attack, and the four of them were sliced in half. Link heard someone shouting, and Ralph ran forward. Sheik came closer.

"Link!" he shouted.

They turned. "Zelda?!" Link cried.

Suddenly, the form of a Stalfos lured up behind them, sword raised. "Look out!!!" Sheik yelled. Too late. The Stalfos swung the sword. The weapon hit Link head on, and he fell. Sheik gasped.

Link went down on one knee, and moved his hand to his shoulder, clutching a deep wound. Sheik ran to him. Ralph sprang forward and destroyed the monster.

Link took a deep breath as Sheik bent down. "It's not bad…" he gasped.

Sheik bit his lip and pulled out a vial of red liquid. Link instantly recognized it as a Red Potion and gratefully drank, even though it smelled terrible. Instantly, the pain vanished and the bleeding stopped. Link jumped up, revived and ready for action.

Something dark shone atop the castle tower, and the ground shook. A shock wave came from the castle and swept over the battlefield, knocking everyone and everything down, and killing all the monsters.

~~~

Darunia shoved a Moblin carcass off of him and got up. "Is everyone all right?!" he called.

A nearby Moblin split in half, and Nabooru climbed out of the center, disgusted.

"I'm all right," she said. "But… where is everyone?" She cupped her hands to her mouth, and called: "Impa! Link! Ralph! Sheik!!" Where are you?!"

Someone moved nearby, and Impa emerged from a pile of bones and armor. She had a gash on her arm that was bleeding profusely, but seemed to be all right.

"Wh-" she gasped, looking around. "Where is the princess?! She came out here, didn't she?! I heard-"

There was a muffled explosion, and several bodies flew into the air. The first thing the three Sages noted was a spot of green. Link emerged and dusted himself off. He then reached down and helped Princess Zelda up. Ralph arose nearby, and moved towards the group.

"Zelda!" Impa rushed forward. "Are you all right?"

"Y-Yes…" Zelda nodded. "But… what happened?!"

They all sat, stooped in silence until the silence was broken by a chuckle, which turned into a hideous and evil laugh. Nearby, someone pulled himself off the ground and stood tall, about six feet high. How he got there, nobody could figure out. That wasn't what made Link drop his sword in shock, though. It was the man's flaming red hair, sunken eyes, and dark skin.

"It's-" Zelda gasped.

"No…" Darunia shook his head.

"It… can't be…" Link glared.

The man just smirked back, a small laugh escaping from his throat.

"GANONDORF?!"

~~~

Din returned to the room with Nayru and the Skull Kid.

"Din, are you all right?" Nayru asked.

"What happened?" The Skull Kid leapt up.

Din explained. She had followed Sheik but soon lost him within the castle. Then, a few minutes ago, she had been knocked off her feet by some sort of quake.

"We were too," Nayru added.

Din nodded "I began to get worried about you guys," she finished, "and ran back here."

"Sit down and rest," Nayru offered.

Din sat down gratefully.

The Skull Kid smiled. But without warning, something drew his attention, and he whipped around to face the window.

"Skull Kid?!" Din gasped.

The Skull Kid narrowed his eyes, "No-" he hissed. "No way…"

~~~

It was a tense moment filled with shock, surprise, and anger. Link was the first to recover. He seized his sword off the ground and he and Impa leapt in front of Zelda, protecting her. Darunia took a surprised step back, but regained himself and stood firm. Nabooru readied her scythes. And Ralph let loose such a strong stream of curses that Link was glad Saria and the Skull Kid weren't there to hear it.

The silence was broken when Link stepped forward, or as good as he could, considering the circumstances.

"What do you want?" Link asked. Ganondorf did not reply. "Did you just-"

They were broken off by footsteps. Din, Nayru, and the Skull Kid burst into the courtyard, but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what was happening.

"Wha-" Nayru gasped when she saw Ganondorf. "Wha-Wha-Wha-What?!"

"Nayru!!!" Ralph yelled and dashed over to her. He whipped around to face Ganondorf and pulled out his sword, protecting them all. The Skull kid backed away slightly.

Ganondorf hardly paid them any mind. He glanced over once, then his eyes returned to Link. And Link stared back. The air seemed to crackle with energy.

"So, you did…" Link repeated. "I mean, did you just-"

"Save you?" Ganondorf snickered. Link furrowed his brow and nodded. "Not exactly. And I don't expect any favors from you either." He chuckled and held his hand out. A cloud of purple smoke issued out of nowhere and spiraled upwards, disappearing after a few inches. In its place was a shining red ruby.

"The-" Darunia gasped. "The Goron's Ruby?! How-!!"

Ganondorf smiled and clenched his fist, crushing the ruby as well.

"No-!" Link yelled.

Ganondorf just laughed. The red light shone brighter, until it consumed his body. Then, instantly, the light disappeared. Link could tell there was a change. Ganondorf seemed more confident, more powerful. Then, he understood; The King of Evil was back.

"There was a legend…" Impa whispered partially to herself, "That if one of the Triforce bearers manages to break the Spiritual Stone, they would receive immense power… and new life."

"That seems to be the case, huh?" Nabooru replied.

Din was watching this in terror when she suddenly felt something pang her chest. She gasped, and went down on one knee.

"Din?!" Nayru bent down. "Are you all right!?"

"What's going on…?" Din asked, gasping for air. 'It hurts…'

"Din-!" Nabooru gasped, and turned to Ganondorf, furious, "What did you do?!"

Everyone was silent for a moment. But Ganondorf just stood there.

"So?" Link asked. "Why won't you destroy me? Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

"Yes," Ganondorf said. Link could have sworn on the Holy Triforce that there was some disappointment in his tone. "But I will not."

"What?!" Link gasped, dropping his sword in shock again. "Why?!"

Ganondorf just stared straight ahead. "Because of what's to come." he said finally.

"What do you mean?" Ralph asked.

Ganondorf blinked, coming out of his trance. "You mean, you don't know?!" he looked at Ralph.

"Know what?" Ralph asked.

Ganondorf shook his head. "You know, don't you, kid?" He turned to Link. Link looked confused. Ganondorf sighed. "I'm surrounded by idiots. I've been trying to warn all of you for the past day or two."

"What are you talking about?!" Link cried.

Ganondorf sighed.

"The Angel of Death's coming for you, Link, all of you. And she isn't happy."

"Wha-" Link gasped.

Hero of Time, are you ready for death?

"So… that was you…" Link nodded.

"Yes. I still have the Triforce of Power inside me. I felt this was going to happen. So I attempted to warn you. Don't look stupid, kid, I'm not going to kill you."

"Then, what-?" Link asked.

"They have a word for this… Oh, what's it called? Oh, yes. A demonstration. This is a demonstration of the power the Angel and her demons hold. Like I said earlier, I'm not trying to be nice or anything. And I'm not telling you everything.

"The minions of the Angel of Death will be coming soon. They can sense death-and all these bodies lying around here-and they know someone who is not supposed to be alive is. That's me."

"So they're coming… to kill you?!" Link asked.

Ganondorf smirked. "I've been dead long enough for people to know about it. So if they saw me walking around, don't you think they'd get a little scared, think something's up?"

Link nodded.

"Now listen carefully, because this is the single most important thing I will ever tell you. Do not let them get the Triforce from my body. They need it to make the angel stronger-she's not at her full power yet. And once they take the Triforce from the you and the princess, it'll all be over. This time, for real. So don't let them have it. Ever."

Link nodded again.

Ralph looked up. "Something's here," he said, pointing to the highest tower again.

A creature was silhouetted against the moonlight. Link recognized the big black wings-it was the creature from earlier. Without a warning, it took off again and landed in front of them all. At a closer observation, Link could tell that the creature was actually a woman-but she couldn't be human. She stood at least seven feet tall, and her long black demon wings had to be almost as large. She surveyed the scene with dark eyes, and brushed raven-black bangs out of her face. Then, without warning, she turned to Ganondorf, and flew at him at an alarming rate.

What really happened no one could tell, but one instant, Ganondorf was there, in front of all of them, the next instant there was a horrible noise and the King of Evil had a giant hole in the middle of his torso, and the next, he vanished. The Triforce piece stayed where his hand had been, and glowed for a brief moment before dropping onto the ground. The woman turned around and walked back over. She bent down, and picked up the piece of the Triforce with one bloodstained hand. She turned to them, cackled, and took off.

Do not let them get the Triforce…

Link was shaken back to reality. The Triforce of Power would fall into the hands of the Angel of Death, and he wasn't doing anything about it.

"I don't think so!!" he yelled, and quick as a flash loaded his bow.

The arrow flew at the creature, but at the last moment, it disappeared into a black thundercloud. The arrow lost its power and fell.

"No-" Link closed his eyes. A minion of the Angel of Death had killed Ganondorf. How much stronger was the angel? And once she had the Triforce…

Everyone else seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Zelda, who had been scared silent for so long, screamed.

Nothing really to say… Be prepared for the plot to actually ::gasp:: MOVE ALONG next chapter!!!! O.o

~ Megun-chan