Chapter 4: The Congregation
Hours later as the dark stormy night crept on, Sephia made everything perfect and ready for Dranon and the Ordonra Elite's arrival the next day. As she walked about the castle making sure the place looked great and telling servants and warriors left and right a job to do, the King sat in his room writing in his journal. He had the door closed, and locked as he quickly wrote away on the parchment page in the blue covered book. He sat at his desk writing by the light of a candle next to him, and dabbed the tip of a feather in a small jar of black ink. He wrote a few more sentences, and then was finished. He put his feather pen down, and closed up the jar, along with the book also. He sat up from his chair, and walked over to his bed after grabbing the candle within a candle holder. He placed it on the nightstand next to his bed, and sat down. Suddenly he felt a pain surge through his chest, and he clutched his sternum as he winced a little. After a few moments the pain went away, but the King was a bit surprised and flummoxed by this unexpected pain.
"My word what was that?" he asked himself quietly. He rubbed his chest a little, and thought for a few moments about it. Eventually he just began to ignore it, and lay down in his beautiful, comfortable bed. He blew out the candle, and laid his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes as he quickly fell asleep.
Sephia had been awake now for a couple hours. All she really needed that night was about two hours of sleep, and she'd be fine. She had made several runs around her castle getting everything perfect for the next day. She made sure all the guards and warriors looked as if they were in tip-top shape, and all the rooms were as clean as a diamond in a gem shop. Every single area of the castle; all the towers, the staircases, the dining hall, all the bedrooms, the armory, the archives, the treasury, and every other room that there was within the huge citadel.
Sephia strode up the stairway to the throne room. She had a smirk on her face, and was actually eager for this little congregation with Dranon of the Ordonra Elite. Not that she cared about him or anything, but just the feeling of serving her loved one and doing a deed for him would end up making her feel great. She couldn't wait to see that smile on his face when everything would go as planned. She no longer smirked, but now smiled as she thought about her loved one.
She soon came to the throne room entrance, and opened up the huge oaken doors as she stepped inside. The throne room was absolutely huge. Nearly about ninety feet in height, and then ninety or a hundred feet wide. The grey stone wall, ceiling, and floor as shined from the cleaning that Sephia's maids had done, and she grinned as the greatness of it. She began to take that somewhat long walk to the main area of the room, and looked out as she saw her maids cleaning and waxing up the balcony. She could see an Iron Knuckle by every window, covered in armor bronze-like armor and another color of armor. Her cerulean cape nearly touched the sparkling floor and she strode finally into the main area, and she looked around as that smile once again formed on her face.
The tall grey stone pillars shined just as the floor did, and looked great in the room. The golden rail sparkled on the balcony, and the red carpet had been replaced with a crimson one that had a golden material as a border. The rims of the ceiling were covered by like what the carpet was now, blood red velvet and golden material bordering it. The stain glass windows looked exquisite and scenic. They were crystal clear, and if they weren't such a variety of colors, a bird could fly into them thinking it wasn't there with ease. The colors were a mix of everything; orange, purple, green, blue, sky blue, lavender, red, yellow, golden, cerulean, violet and silver. On them were numerous pictures of angels, spirits, knights, warriors, griffins, dragons, wolves, and even phoenixes. The door to which Sephia's room was covered now by the stone wall, which sealed it up considering Sephia had now chosen a better room for her slumber every night. She began taking a few more steps, before her maids all over to her and bowed as they clasped their hands together.
"We did the best that we could your highness, we hope that you like how the throne room looks" one said. Sephia smiled.
"You did great girls, the place has looked never better. I love it" she replied, "now get going, you can all go to sleep now." They all stood up then and smiled back at their princess who they adored and respected so much.
"Thank you Princess Sephia!" one said, and with that they all fled the room and through the huge, fifteen feet doors. Sephia then looked at all the Iron Knuckles. "You may leave, I'd like to be here alone for a little while" They all nodded, and then after a minute of walking slowly away, the doors opened and closed again. She smiled as began walking over to the balcony, but suddenly a voice stopped her from behind.
"Good to see you enjoy it my Lady" it spoke. Sephia turned around, and saw there a standing Vaarshola, a smirk on his face and his arms crossed. She smiled at him.
"Thank you Vaarshola, I take it that it was you who was able to get that crimson velvet on the rim of the ceiling?" she inquired with a grin now. He grinned back.
"None other. No one else could ever jump up that high and stick it on there with such speed as me, now could they?" he asked back. Sephia looked pleased.
"Thank you, I really like how that looks, and I'm sure Ganondorf will once I revive him and bring him back from the afterlife" she replied.
"Yes, when will you be doing that Lady Sephia?" he questioned.
"Well, I'll begin to gather the energy to do that after I have this gathering with Dranon. I'll be acquiring energy once a day, for it'll be a tiring process and weakening if I do it too much. That should take a week or two, and then I'll have enough to bring him back from the dead" she explained. Vaarshola smiled.
"That's good to hear, I'm fervent to meet the King of Evil and your love Sephia, I'm sure I'll be thrilled to see him and serve him just as I have done for you all these years" he stated. She nodded and smiled.
"And I'm sure he'll be delighted to meet you, after all you're the one who's been advising me to keep this love and never to worry about my father" she began, "you've easily been behind me more than anyone. Not to mention you're also the greatest warrior alive, next to Ganondorf of course though..." Vaarshola grinned and nodded also.
"Of course Sephia, thank you" he said, "now I think I'll be going, I'll leave you alone. Good night my Lady." With one more glance at Sephia, he spun around and walked over to the entrance doors of the throne room. He opened them, stepped through them, and closed them. The sound echoed throughout the entire room, and once it became silent Sephia could hear the terrible wind and rain outside in the night. A streak of lightning tore through the sky and created a great flash, and within a few moments a clap of thunder as loud as a volcano eruption boomed right over the castle, and Sephia smiled somewhat sinisterly.
The terrible rain continued showering Hyrule. Huge drop after drop came from the clouds and plummeted straight onto the ground. Each minute there'd be numerous bolts of lightning tearing through the sky like a knife, and illuminating the entire land. After that you'd hear a clap of thunder louder than any other dragon roar, so loud it would echo throughout Hyrule and shake it. A few stones on Death Mountain broke away from the rocky terrain and slid down the mountainsides from the horrid rumble of the thunder.
Mirren knew he'd never be able to fall asleep while this atrocious storm went on, and began to read a book in hopes to grow sleepier. He lit his candle on the nightstand, and poured himself a glass of a dragon fruit drink. He took a sip of it, and looked over the book he had bought earlier in the day. Mirren was right now looking at a great picture of a golden three-headed dragon soaring through the clouds. The picture was wonderful drawn and painted, and Mirren smiled at how beautiful it looked. Below it read
King Gharidah, the terrible three-headed lightning dragon said to come from one of the stars in the sky. It lived in the clouds, ceaselessly flying around screeching in fury and annihilating lands with terrible lightning bolts. A monster that could fly at great speeds, and take on many beasts at once. On its first attack of Hyrule, it ravaged a good deal of the land, until it met up with Gorida the King of Behemoths, and the grueling battle went on for hours. Finally though, Gharidah was defeated, and Hyrule was safe.
Mirren smirked after reading that. He turned the page, and on it was a picture of a gigantic dark blue lizard-like monster unleashing a beam of lightning from his mouth as it thrashed through a raging ocean during the night of an atrocious storm.
Gorida, the King of Behemoths, is the strongest monster that ever lived. He is incredibly powerful, and has been known to defeat, and even kill numerous other creatures. He once was a terrible threat to Hyrule, journeying over the lands and destroying everything in his path. Luckily though, one day oddly a green light shot from the sky, and struck Gorida in the head. After a few minutes he stopped his attack, and seemed like he decided to no-longer ravage everything. He walked back to the see, and was never seen again for some time. He lived peacefully at the bottom of the sea resting, until one day the terrible three-headed lightning dragon King Gharidah attacked Hyrule. It seemed like the land would end up being ravaged to nothing- but then Gorida came. They met, and the behemoth battled Gharidah to the death. It was a long terrible battle, but even when King Gharidah looked as if he'd be the victor, Gorida fought back and defeated him. Gorida can breath beams of blue lightning from his mouth, proving to be a devastating attack. Gorida had deafeted numerous other chaos causing monsters, and even killed a few. One thing that is a bit odd, is that he can change his size whenever he wants, it's as if he can grow or shrink at his own command. The gargantuan usually sleeps in peace, but when provoked was he the mightiest, most rancorous thing alive. He was truly the King of Behemoths.
Mirren looked a bit surprised. Never had he expected such a monstrosity to actually exist earlier on is the past ages of Hyrule.
"Whatcha reading?" a voice suddenly asked. For a second Mirren was a little startled, but once he turned around to see what it was he merely smiled.
"Oh, hi Yaila, a book about giant monsters and artworks of them" he answered. Yaila wasn't really a Hylian, she was actually a fairy. Though she seemed more human-like. She was much bigger than normal fairies too, close to a foot tall actually eight inches to be exact She had no wings, though she had the ability to hover and fly around on command. She had dark black hair, which was rather long, even with the ponytail she had that hung over her right shoulder. For the rest of her attire, she had a simple orange piece of clothing that covered up her breasts and a good deal of her middle-chest. It had only one shoulder strap, which went over her right shoulder and left her left shoulder bare and revealed. Then covering up her lower-private area was another large orange piece of cloth, though it was very thick, and also covered up her backside. On her feet she wore tan sandals, which covered up a good deal of her skin. On her ankles were orange bracelets then, and on her left elbow was a golden elbow pad. Also she had a beautiful golden brooch about her neck and sternum. For a little fairy, she was actually quite pretty, Mirren was actually one who thought this. She had lived at the castle for a few years now, and had gained friendships with just about everyone, though Mirren was easily her best friend. Yaila smiled.
"Heh, you love reading about those giant monsters don't you?" The child smirked.
"That's why I kinda have about ten books on them..." Mirren replied. Yaila laughed, though soon she stopped.
"So, why are you still up so late?"
"Dang storm woke me up" Mirren began, "I actually fell asleep fine, but then I just woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. So, I grabbed my book, poured myself a glass of some dragon-fruit and started reading..." The fairy smiled.
"You always had funny ways to fall back asleep" Yaila replied. Mirren smiled.
"Zelda actually taught me those, and they've worked ever since..." Yaila grinned.
"Heh, ya know you've been mentioning Zelda a lot lately..." Mirren's eyes slightly narrowed.
"What are you implying...?" he the boy questioned. The fairy laughed again.
"Just jokin'!" she exclaimed, "that seemed perfect right now to say" Mirren simply rolled his eyes. Yaila chuckled. "Well I'm going to bed now, night Mirren!" And with that the little fairy flew over to a little gold and white lantern and simply dissipated straight into it. Mirren smiled as he closed his book, and set it on the nightstand next to him. He grabbed his cup full of the dragon fruit drink, and drank a little of it. The wind blew harder, and he looked to his window as he could hear it hollow like a wolf. A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, and Mirren watched as his door slowly crept open. Zelda stuck her head in his room, and smiled.
"Hi Mirren" she whispered. The boy was a bit startled, and spun around with widened eyes at first before calming down. He sighed with relief.
"Phew! Thank God it's only you Zelda" he replied quietly. She chuckled a little, and walked over to his bed. She sat down on it next to him.
"Couldn't sleep?" she asked Mirren shook his head.
"Actually I've been up all this time, just reading to help me be a little sleepier" he answered. A clap of thunder boomed over the land, and it seemed like the castle shook a little.
"Me too" Zelda added, "ya know I never knew you weren't afraid of the thunder" Mirren smirked.
"Well when I was younger I was terrified of it, but over the years now I really don't mind it" he explained. Zelda smiled, and in the candle light, Zelda seemed a lot more beautiful to the boy. Her face sparkled from the light of the fire, and it seemed like she was wearing great mauve eye shadow. She was now also wearing dangling golden moon earrings, and they looked great on her. "Where did you get those earrings from?" he inquired. Zelda took one by her fingers and looked at it.
"Oh these? I actually got them today when I went shopping, I just put them on a little while ago. I also got the mauve eye shadow I'm wearing now today...." She replied. Mirren looked a little nervous, and gulped a tiny bit.
"They look... nice on you...." He spoke. Zelda smiled greatly.
"Awww, thanks Mirren, you're such a sweetie" she said. Mirren blushed a little, and Zelda began to mess up his hair affectionately as she rubbed his head. She smiled at him, and while he wanted to smile, he still looked a little shy and nervous. "Well I think I'm gonna go to bed now. Nighty night Mirren" she whispered, then patted Mirren on the head as she got up and walked over to the door. She began to close it, but gave once last smile and wink at him before closing it. Mirren felt his face go red a little more. He felt warm and fuzzy inside now from what just transpired. He kind of felt good inside when Zelda called him a sweetie and patted him on the head affectionately. He placed his cup back on the nightstand, and blew out the candle. His room was dark now, and he pulled up the covers as he snuggled up on his pillow. He closed his eyes, and suddenly smiled. Perhaps a crush on Zelda really was coming about...
It was morning now in Herlassia. The rain had stopped, and the entire storm had passed from the land. Many trees and large plants still dripped with water, and the ground was rather moist. The sun was covered up by clouds, so it was a very overcast day. Luckily though, there was no rain or lightning as there was yesterday, but it was still a rather gloomy day out.
Sephia sat on one of the twin chairs in the throne room of the castle which were made of gold and entrenched with numerous gems from garnets to sapphires. She was wearing a deep red, almost like a burgundy cape today, and then a very light blue sarong and the same upper piece of clothing she wore, although this was also light blue. In her right hand she steadily held her staff, and the crystal and aqua marine stone shimmered. She had a grin on her face, and sat as she waited for the onset of Dranon.
After a few minutes passed, she could somehow hear the very slight sound of footsteps striding up the spiral stairs. A bit of glee formed in her eyes, and she could hear Dranon's steel boots clang against the grey stone stairs by the seconds. The reverberation of it echoed, and a tiny bit of it creped through the incredibly thin crack in between the huge oaken doors and over into Princess Sephia's ears. The doors began to slowly open, and soon revealed Dranon, looking as serious and stern as he ever did before. Sephia now smiled instead of grinning, and stood up from her chair. Even though he was rather far away from her considering how huge the throne room was, she could see his materialization perfectly, and began to make her way gradually down the stairs from the balcony.
"Welcome Dranon to my castle, I am Princess Sephia of Herlassia, pleased to meet you..." she stated. Dranon seemed to nod, and could hear her beautiful, smooth voice as it reverberated throughout the huge, and almost empty with people room. He began walking over to her, and within a few moments, was standing right before her. He bowed.
"It is an honor to meet such a beauty, I am also pleased to meet you Lady Sephia, I have come for out gathering" he replied. She smiled.
"Thank you, you certainly know how to address a great princess, even when you don't live in this land or come to it often" Sephia said. Dranon stood up, and nodded. She nodded back. "Now, onto why you have come here. I believe you and Ganondorf have formed an alliance, am I correct?" Once again the leader of the Ordonra Elite nodded.
"Yes, Ganondorf and me had spoken to each other privately one night and construed that we both our set on vengeance against Mirren, as well as Link and Zelda for me" he answered. Sephia nodded.
"Okay, now we're actually somewhere, I have spoken to Ganondorf yesterday, and he told me of a plan to tell you" she explained, "he has said that you and the rest of the Ordonra Elite should wait until we begin our target attack on him and his friends as well as Hyrule Castle, which will be most definitely be right before I have gathered the correct amount of energy to revive him. Then you all can do whatever with them and do what you please with Link Mirren and Zelda. The only thing is that you cannot kill any of them, is that all right with you?" Dranon quickly pondered that question in his head for a split second, and nodded.
"That is fine I suppose, even though I'd like to see my blade slit every one of their throats, simple beat downs will be fine, but of course I won't do to my sister what I will do to Link and Mirren. But why can I not kill them? What else is there to the strategy?" he questioned. Sephia shook her head.
"I don't know, Ganondorf hasn't told me anymore. I plan to go visit him soon, and then I will get the rest of the answers" she replied. Dranon nodded.
"That is fine" he spoke, "though, there is one more thing I'd like to address. If we're going to be attacking Hyrule Castle, I believe it would be smart to recruit a small army to deal with the guards, soldiers, knights and paladins of the castle. Then, once we have beaten the life out of Link, Mirren and their friends and I bring them to you, I was wondering if you'd allow me and the Ordonra Elite to gain control and live in the castle. We won't need the army we will have collected though; just us seven will be perfect in there..." Sephia merely smirked.
"That is no problem to me, and I suspect it wouldn't be to Ganondorf either. Go ahead and take the castle, it'll be all yours..." she answered. The leader of the Ordonra Elite nodded.
"My thanks to you for allowing me to do so, and the rest of the Ordonra Elite's thanks go to you" Dranon said. Sephia smiled, and simply nodded. Dranon then paused for a couple slight moments. "I'll be taking my leave now, there is no more we need to discuss until you hear the rest of Ganondorf. Please inform me when you do, and I'll come here to meet you again." Dranon then bowed and closed his eyes. "Goodbye Princess Sephia" Sephia grinned.
"Wait, before you go, there is something I need to ask of you" she stated. Dranon opened his eyes, and after a second of two stood up and looked directly into her purple eyes, waiting for Sephia's inquiry. "Why do you want so much revenge on Zelda?" she asked. It seemed as if antagonism and pure hatred flooded Dranon's handsome blue eyes.
"Why do I want such retribution?" Dranon then took a pause, and his eyes hardened with animosity. "I'll tell you..."
The wind blew somewhat strong outside. The clouds were still a very light grey, and not one ray of the sun was able to shine through onto the earth. This was usually the sign of a terrible storm coming on the horizon, but today it would merely be the beginning of abysmal winds. Not a single bird flew in the sky. No falcons, eagles, hawks, ravens, killdeer, robins, or cardinals soared in the air today. It was too much of a windy day.
Vaarshola stood behind one of the huge stone pillars silently. He had been inside the throne room for quite some time now, in fact before even Dranon had arrived. He stood motionless, allowing him to not make a sound. He grinned as he leaned against the pillar. He was now wearing a black breast plate on his entire chest, reaching from right above his waist up to his neck and on his shoulders. It was bordered by somewhat groovy silver, and was indented within most spots. Sylence was still in its scabbard strapped his back, and just as its name was pronounced, it too made no sounds. Vaarshola had heard the entire conversation between Sephia and Dranon, and was now listening as Dranon finished explaining his reasons for reprisal on Zelda. He smirked. Vaarshola was truly an incredible, mysterious man...
Ganondorf sat on his chair in the throne room. The throne him in his bastion was much smaller than Sephia's, but nevertheless decently sized. It was made of stone, but a much lighter one that the one Sephia's was made out of. The orangey-yellow stain glass windows had images of more demons, ghost warriors, nefarious monsters and devils on them, ranging from fully dressed black knights with helmets but no body inside of them, to red, green and other colored devils with reptilian-like scales and flesh, basking within the flames and blazes of the underworld. The throne room was at the very top of the citadel, likewise as Emralda's and Sephia's. Even with the sinister and devilish aura of the room, it was lighted pretty well, but oddly there were no torches, braziers, candles or lanterns anywhere. It was like Ganondorf had the room lighted by magic or something, just as it was in his old castle in his first battle against the Hero of Time; Link.
Ganondorf had a golden chalice filled with wine black as the night sky as he sat on a silver chair with the blackest of black topaz stones and gems embedded everywhere within it. The cushion was a very deep red, not crimson though, more like a maroon or burgundy. He held the chalice by the actual cup part of it, and took a sip of the wine. The alcoholic liquid slid through his lips, and flowed through his mouth and all the way down his throat, leaving a feeling and taste of deliciousness everywhere it went by. Ganondorf smiled diabolically, and looked at the un-holy warriors and creatures before him. There were three Iron Knuckles, but with dark grey armor with black in between the pieces of armor. On their chests were dark symbols of abundant colors, like those on a stain glass window. Throughout their suits or armor were more pieces of colored glass, adding a bit f beauty to them, but somehow making them look even more evil and terrifying.
Beside them were two huge minotaurs, with fur and hair as black as a shadow, although with a bit of a smoke-grey tone to it. Their eyes were black, but with pupils a crimson color. The horns on their head were a dark orangey-yellow, and pointed forward after going up backwards in a diagonal direction. They were very tall, a little more than Taursus actually, and unlike him had brunette hooves and whip-like tails. Ganondorf stood up, and walked down the couple steps from his throne. He smirked wickedly, and took a slug of his wine. Once he swallowed it down, he looked before his warriors.
"So, I believe you have the word from what Sephia has done?" he asked. The one minotaur nodded and stepped forward.
"That is correct my lord, she has met with Dranon and discussed all of the plan that you have created so far" it answered with a very deep, tough- sounding voice.
"And where is the Ordonra Elite now?" the King of Evil questioned.
"They are staying at a mansion within a forest near Sephia's castle, and will be there until the main attack" the minotaur replied, "the lady is now currently waiting for your newest orders..." Ganondorf nodded, and stood up after setting his chalice down.
"I'll go tell her then, you may all stay here..." he stated.