Ollen70: It's taken me way too long to get this up. Thanks go out again to Rai Dorian and H7, the greatest reviewers a writer could ever ask for.
If anybody's interested, I posted another Legend of Zelda story some time ago called Mortal Men. I'd appreciate any feedback for it that you feel like giving.
Disclaimer: If I didn't own it before, I don't own it now.
Chapter Ten - - Finality
Nayru was there - present in the pages of the book of Mudora and in the drops of blood shed from both the hero and the king, lingering still around the crystal that held her young princess.
Farore was present in the singing of the master sword, forged so many centuries ago. She clung to the ancient metal, savoring what it symbolized to the world and what it meant to the young man that wielded both it and her in unison.
Dinn was present in the flickering of the torches that illuminated the form of the treacherous king for the arrows of the hero's bow, in the power that leapt from the king's fingertips, from the fire that burned in both of them, now that each was driven by nothing more than to destroy the other and so claim his power for their own ends. The hero had pure ideals - the king did not, but it mattered little to her. Either way, the world was going to change. She already knew the outcome, so why focus to the inevitable?
Courage, Power, Love. They stood in a perfect trinity, each complementing the other endlessly, never rivaling or hoping to outshine. The three mortals who bore the burdens of their particular virtues were all in one place once again. This had not happened since the first conflict of the three mortals, when the king was severed from the earth and this ghastly second world was built.
Each second that passed felt the mounting tension that formed and flowed like a living thing, building and building and building until, after the quiet note from a plucked bowstring, all else was silent. The song sung by the single silver arrow was a fitting requiem, beautiful and pure, delivering death but taking no dignity from its target. It was not boastful or unkind, just as the hero who delivered it was also respectful as he knelt beside the body of the king, offering silence for his foe.
In Dinn, a great fury and sorrow fell at that arrow stroke - so great that, for a moment, the others almost feared for the sake of their world. Her heartache was tangible, and the earth below them might have begun to respond to her cries, had it not been for the calling of a familiar thing in the back of their minds. In a moment, the flash of gold from within the king flickered and went out. His bond with the goddess of power was spent.
The same golden light from the crystal in the hero's grasp was sundered, the forces of unity between the goddesses of love and power now broken. There was a sudden gathering of great light as the essence of the triforce, the mystical golden triangles, made itself known to all.
Enter, thou. The power called quietly to the hero's heart. Enter, and claimeth for thine own that which thine hast ever sought... for thou hast stricken the ancient holder of this power... its secrets now passeth upon to thee. Wilt thou accept them? Wilt thou taketh this blessing and this doom into thine heart?
The hero remained silent for a moment, unmoving under the eyes of all three goddesses. He opened his mouth slowly, cautiously testing the air around him without breaking his gaze away from the splendidly decadent adornments of the innermost room of the pyramid. The triforce rotated slowly on an ivory and marble pedestal, casting its rays of golden light amongst draperies the colors of blood, of water, of forest.
I... I will accept this power and its burdens. The hero murmured. I will make right the things that Ganon ruined.
This be a grand undertaking for thee, young hero. Dost thou know that what lies before thee? Mortals be doomed to liveth from one moment to the next, unknowing in the changing face of this earth. Wield this power well, and deliver unto a future of promise.
A tremendously brilliant flash radiated from the triangle, and in an instant the hero's hand connected with it and the boundaries of reality began to fade.
Hail, legendary hero... The essence called. One by one the goddesses added their own voices into the union of mortal and eternity. Hail, seeker of wisdom, harbinger of power, deliverer of courage... The hero's mind cried out under the onslaught of the voices, the pouring out of sensations ten thousand times greater than any mortal had ever felt before.
Hail... Link.
Ollen70: Well, that's that. Hope you enjoyed it.
