Chapter Fifteen: Terrible Battle
Link was unarmed, but he was determined to stop the fierce deity Charantanatah at all costs, save one: the life of his beloved princess. "You..." growled Charantanatah as he turned towards Link. "You're the one who refused me. You struggled against me and you shunned me. And now you will pay the price for your insolence boy..." Charantanatah walked right up to Link and the two stared at each other face to face, both determined to see the other one die. Charantanatah was a good six inches bigger than Link, but Link's internal fire made him seem like a giant before the fierce deity. The two faced each other, and neither one moved. The wind blew fiercely for several tense moments, moments that Zelda wisely used to leave the battlefield. Once at a safe distance, Zelda watched as the two continued to stare at each other. Then, seeming almost without motion, Link struck Charantanatah with a hard fist across the face. Charantanatah recoiled slightly and reciprocated with a fist of his own that knocked Link back into a wall. Link hopped out of the whole left in the wall and shook his head, so he could see straight. He looked up to see Charantanatah swinging down at him with his giant sword. Link rolled out of the way and got up and made headway towards the master sword. He leapt through the air just as power blasts destroyed the spot his feet were on. He rolled over where the sword was grabbing it as he went by. Landing on his feet. Link took a defensive stance, then he smiled and held the master sword up over his head; the master sword started to glow and tremendous power resonated from the blade. "How, how did he do that?" asked Zelda in amazement.
"He's the hero of time. He understands that sword better than Ruaru. In his hands, the master sword is probably fifty times more powerful." explained Mema as Zelda watched on, stupefied. Charantanatah smiled when Link made his power known.
"Quite a fancy trick. How about this?" he shouted as he swung his sword unleashing another powerful energy disc. Zelda panicked when she saw it.
"Oh no! Here we go..." she said as she waited to see what Link would do. Link looked at the disc and curled his upper lip. He straightened up, hauled back and knocked the massive disc back with the master sword with ease. Zelda's jaw dropped. Link followed up by charging the fierce deity with a mighty scream. Charantanatah was struck by the disc and screamed in pain, since he didn't think anyone could do that with just a sword. He recovered just in time to get his sword up to block Link's ferocious attack. The two clashed swords, and the fierceness of Link's strength drove Charantanatah backwards a bit. He grimaced as he struggled to regain the upper hand over Link. The two broke off and Link reciprocated the fastest and was on Charantanatah before he had the chance to regain his center. Link hammered away, laying it down on Charantanatah's sword with the master sword. He drove Charantanatah backwards a few more steps until Charantanatah finally regained his equilibrium and vanished using his awesome speed. Link stopped and looked around wildly as his eyes shifted from side to side. He whirled around to see Charantanatah's boot hit him right in the face as it launched him into the air. Link landed flat on his back. He sat up, shook his head and made a mad dash for the mirror shield. Charantanatah saw Links goal and opened fire on Link with a succession of rapid-fire energy blasts. Link strafed from side to side, narrowly missing the bolts as he flipped over the shield in a cartwheel fashion and picked it up. His feet hit the ground and instantly he turned behind him with his feet firmly planted and his shield up to intercept Charantanatah's fist. His strength knocked Link down nonetheless but Link rolled on contact with the ground and was back on his feet before Charantanatah began to advance.
Link met Charantanatah's offense with a wild advancement of his own as he leapt straight for Charantanatah's inside with a wide swing that Charantanatah dodged with a backwards jump. Link pointed the master sword and an energy bolt fired from the blade that Charantanatah dodged easily. The two warriors collided their swords again trying to push the other one into submission.
"I'm going to wipe out this pitiful world! I was going to allow it the honor of being the battleground for the war of legends! But you and the woman have ruined any and all chances of that happening boy!" Charantanatah growled into Link's ear. Link just pushed harder and managed to force the deity back a few steps. "Give in boy! You can't defeat a god!" shouted Charantanatah.
"Watch me!" shouted Link in defiance as he pushed Charantanatah off and lunged into him with a shoulder tackle. Charantanatah met the tackle and grabbed hold of Link and lunged him into the air as he went backwards. Before his back hit the ground, he doubled around and kicked Link, who was still in the air, hard. It knocked the wind out of him and he hit the ground with a hard thud. He was still for a few moments and then slowly stood up.
"Get up Link!" shouted Zelda and Mema as they cheered Link. Link looked up and saw Zelda depending on him and then getting up with out the strength to do so seemed easy. He looked over his shoulder to see Charantanatah brooding over him smiling.
"You see now that fighting me is useless mortal." Immediately, Link hurled a deku nut to the ground and blinded Charantanatah. He then straightway leapt in with two strong horizontal slashes to Charantanatah's midsection drawing blood on both swipes. As Charantanatah leaned over to clutch his stomach, Link finished off the combination with an upward slash that cut right up over Charantanatah's shoulder. Charantanatah recoiled backwards in pain. Zelda cheered ecstatically as Link finally did what she and everyone else had tried to do, damage the fierce deity.
"Unbelievable! Link is incredible! The army, the paladins, even you couldn't hurt Charantanatah like that!" shouted Mema. Charantanatah stumbled backwards making his injuries seem worse than they really were and countered with an eyeblast attack that caught Link off guard and hit him in the chest. Link grunted in pain as the force knocked him on his back. He clutched his wound and rolled around on the ground a little as Charantanatah laughed in self-appreciation of his tactic. He picked up his sword in one hand, and then proceeded to pick Link up by the shirt in the other. Link grimaced as he moaned aloud.
"Fool. I told you you weren't a match for me. I've injured you badly now. And I'm sure this makes it hurt!" he shouted in Link's face. Link opened his eyes in anger and looked at the grinning Charantanatah with anger, and then kicked him in the face getting Charantanatah to release him. Link fell straight to the ground and landed on his feet and followed up with a fast sweep kick, but Charantanatah vanished just before Link could make contact. Link straightway rolled out of the way as Charantanatah's foot plunged into the ground where Link was crouching. Link turned and looked at Charantanatah and was then struck by a hard fist from the right, just as had happened to Zelda in the chamber of truth. Link was amazed by the monster's speed. He managed to turn himself around in mid- fall just enough to face Charantanatah, who had both hands pointed directly at him. Charantanatah opened fire with more rapid-fire energy bolts. Link got the mirror shield up in time and, with his experience, he was able to aim all the blasts back at Charantanatah. Charantanatah looked in disbelief as his own blasts returned to him just as fast as he'd shot them. He became a blur as he dodged all the bolts. Link watched in disbelief as he witnessed another demonstration of Charantanatah's superhuman speed. Link recovered and landed on his feet. He was up against an inhuman force of unimaginable power, and he realized he was going to have to fight with everything he had if he were going to stand a chance. Link held out the master sword and it began to glow.
"Master Sword!" he cried out. "Lend me your power once again! I need it!" The sword's glow grew out of control as energy whipped about from the blade. Charantanatah looked in confusion for a moment and then smiled as he held out his sword. It began to surge with power as well, creating an energy field much larger than the one Link generated. He smiled at Link as Link stared at him with determination.
"Shall we?" asked the confident Charantanatah. Link pointed his sword at Charantanatah, to attack, and Charantanatah unleashed a blast of tremendous power. Link then withdrew his sword and leapt into the air over Charntanatah's attack. Charantanatah looked up in alarm as he realized Link had duped him. Link pointed his sword at Charantanatah who was still convalescing from his previous attack and unleashed the Master Sword's full power. The blast was massive. Charantanatah dropped his sword immediately and crossed his arms in hopes of defending from Link's blast. He was struck with immense force and grunted as he struggled to hold his ground. The blast was brief, however, and as he wearily looked up, Link planted a firm sidekick in his face on the way down.
Zelda and Mema cheered with delight as they saw their champion put the deity on his back. Link landed and paused to catch his breath. Charantanatah slowly rose to his feet and held up his hand and began to summon power. Link slowly looked up in surprise at Charantanatah who had seemingly recovered as if nothing had happened. Charantanatah glared with disdain as he gathered power. Link noticed that Charantanatah wasn't looking at him. He wearily looked over his shoulder to see Saria come running over the hill. Link was at first shocked that she had left the forest and was still alive. Then he remembered that she was also a sage. Then he wondered why she was there.
"Link!" she cried out.
"Saria?" Then all at once Charantanatah unleashed a massive bolt of energy at Saria.
"No interference." he calmly said.
"Oh great!" shouted Zelda as she dashed out onto the battlefield after Saria. She leapt into the air and tackled Saria, tucking her into her chest as the blast of power struck her from behind. Both Zelda and Saria cried out in pain. It all happened so fast Link didn't even realize what had happened until he heard their cries of pain. He watched in horror as the two people he cared the most about fell to the ground like tattered rag dolls. He felt heat surge through his body.
"NOOOOOOO!" he shouted as he threw his shield to the ground and jumped into the air brandishing the master sword, which was glowing more furiously than ever. Charantanatah was taken by surprise by the seemingly rejuvenated Link. He quickly grabbed his sword and collided with Link, but Link struck with such force it drove him down to one knee. His giant, twisted sword was cracked and Link continued to push down harder, causing Charantanatah to grunt in pain. He looked up in terror at Link's eyes, which were trembling with fury. "I'll kill you!" he quietly growled. Link then chopped down on Charantanatah's sword with three powerful consecutive strikes. Charantanatah's sword gave way on the third strike as Link shattered through it and the sword went through Charantanatah's shoulder. He bellowed in pain. He instinctively grabbed the sword to pull it out and it burned his hands. Link then pulled the sword out as painfully as he could, in one powerful yank. Leaving Charantanatah gravely injured, Link held out the master sword once again and it gathered energy, more than it ever had before; so much that the ground beneath him began to break apart as the power ripped chunks of earth from the ground. The ground trembled. Charantanatah looked up at Link's burning eyes in fright as he understood that he was defeated.
"Nooooooo!" screamed Charantanatah as he looked to the sky. Link yelled and swung his sword in a mighty spinning slash attack that decapitated the fierce deity, defeating him once and for all. The clouds swirled and opened up as the body of Charantanatah broke apart. Out of his exposed neck, lightning shot out into the sky and his body disintegrated in a flash of light. The head transformed back into the mask that it once was. Then all at once, every thing was quiet. The ominous clouds were instantly gone. Birds, started to chirp in the distance. Link held up the master sword in victory as it gleamed in the sunlight.
Link clutched his ribs and looked around to survey the damage. The grass beneath him was gone all over the area of the spin. Nearby trees had been cut in half. A nearby mountain had a severely deep gash in the side of it. "Whoa..." he chuckled to himself. Link then turned and hurried over to Zelda and Saria. He knelt down and gently touched Zelda. He feared the worst. "Zelda? Speak to me..." begged Link quietly. Zelda moaned in pain as she stirred. Link's eyes lit up with joy. "Zelda!" Zelda wearily looked up. She squinted in the sunlight, and had to wait for everything to come into focus. But she could hear Link's voice; she thought she was dreaming. Her eyes adjusted to the light and the blue sky and white clouds came into focus, and then Link came into focus. At first she didn't believe it. Link smiled a sorrowful smile. "Zelda..." he blissfully whispered. Zelda sat up and the two embraced each other. "I'm so sorry Zelda." he whispered. He was so choked with grief he couldn't use his voice. "I'm so sorry."
"Shhhh..." Zelda coaxed him. She knew his emotions would be in shambles. She looked at him with tears of joy in her eyes as she delicately put a finger over Link's lips to silence him. She smiled and said, "I'm sorry Link, I should have been sensitive to the needs of your heart, but I was selfish, and I let you down." she said as she started crying sorrowful tears. "Please forgive me." Link took hold of her hand.
"There's nothing to forgive, Zelda." his soothing words made Zelda sob. "You weren't obligated to love me, and I had no right to put pressure on you like that. I apologize if I did." Zelda smiled a weak smile at Link. "I see now that I had no right to love you. I'm the only one who should apologize." Zelda squinted in angst.
: "What?" she whispered. "How can you say that? Your love for me is what made me smile at the end of the day. I savored every visit you made to the castle. You're what made the sunset so beautiful." she gave a slight giggle as she sniffled. "You were always so bashful and cute, I couldn't wait until you came back again." Link felt guilty and looked away. "You were always so quiet, about how you felt, Link. I knew you loved me, but I...I guess I wanted to hear you say it. So I foolishly toyed with you in silence." Link looked back at her. "Well, silence must be heard Link..." she whispered as she lost herself in his eyes. She leaned up to him, and he backed away nervously, she put her calm arms around his shivering chest and whispered into his ear. "I love you Link." Link stared straight ahead for a long time, unable to say anything. "I've loved you since I met you, but I didn't know how to say it."
Link pulled her away and looked into her eyes. He put his hand on her face and gently brushed a tear away with his thumb. "You don't know how many times I've wanted to hear you say that." he said. "I love you Zelda, with all my heart..." Zelda's eyes lit up, but Link looked away from her eyes, with pain. "But, I don't deserve you." he said as he stood up and stared solemnly at the corpses that littered Hyrule field. Zelda stood up and looked out on the field with him. She swallowed her sorrow, knowing that it was undeniable that the carnage was his doing. "I'm a monster Zelda." he said in his quiet angry voice. "What have I done?" he asked in horror. Zelda slipped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Link. You must understand, you didn't do this, not really." Link looked down at her with disdain.
"Yes I did Zelda. You saw me do it. Don't tell me I didn't."
"You were under the influence of Charantanatah. The monster possessed you and poisoned your good heart and mind. Now that he's gone, your back to normal, so you can't be the evil monster that did this, you just can't be!" she reasoned. Link smiled and looked down at her as he returned her embrace.
"You saved me Zelda. You fought so bravely; you saved all of Hyrule. You defeated the Fierce deity mask. I owe you my life." Zelda blushed.
"All I want is your heart." she said. "And, if I recall, I was unconscious while you defeated the fierce deity mask." Link rolled his eyes.
"You're the one who got stronger, you're the only one who was determined to help me, while everyone else wanted to kill me. You're the hero this time Zelda. I just finished the job. It was personal." he said as he looked at the now harmless mask lying on the ground. He let go of Zelda and walked away.
"Where are you going?" she asked as her hair blew in the wind.
"I've wronged his country, more so than any other monster that has ever threatened it. I have to right that wrong. It can never be done, but I have to try. Please, get Saria back to the forest. There's something I have to do." Zelda watched him walk for a moment and then turned and picked up Saria, who was still unconscious. She vanished in a flash of green light.
The drawbridge of the castle lowered as the King of Hyrule, the king of Calatia and his son, and the Hylian army marched out of the castle to do battle with fierce deity Link. The king signaled a halt to the march as he saw in the distance Link approaching. Link stopped amidst the bodies of the first wave of Hylian troops that had attacked him a week before. "I think he has decided to surrender." said the King. In the distance Zelda materialized to watch what Link was going to do.
"That's the rod of enrichment,..." she said to herself. "What is he going to do with it?"
"Your majesty. I have done a terrible wrong. I will be eternally sorrowful for what I have done. I know you can't forgive my betrayal, and I know I can never do anything to earn it, but please allow me to right the wrongs I've committed." he said. He held up the rod of enrichment and with a mighty grunt, he plunged it deep into the earth of the battlefield. It's power pulsed across the ground throughout the land. It's rejuvenating power began to undo the damage that Link had done. It revived the soldiers that had died. Link slowly stepped back and watched in awe as the rod of enrichment rejuvenated the dead soldiers. The soldiers looked around at each other in confusion, they didn't know what had happened, not one of them had any memory of their deaths or battle with fierce deity Link. Zelda smiled.
"Unreal..." she said.
Link was unarmed, but he was determined to stop the fierce deity Charantanatah at all costs, save one: the life of his beloved princess. "You..." growled Charantanatah as he turned towards Link. "You're the one who refused me. You struggled against me and you shunned me. And now you will pay the price for your insolence boy..." Charantanatah walked right up to Link and the two stared at each other face to face, both determined to see the other one die. Charantanatah was a good six inches bigger than Link, but Link's internal fire made him seem like a giant before the fierce deity. The two faced each other, and neither one moved. The wind blew fiercely for several tense moments, moments that Zelda wisely used to leave the battlefield. Once at a safe distance, Zelda watched as the two continued to stare at each other. Then, seeming almost without motion, Link struck Charantanatah with a hard fist across the face. Charantanatah recoiled slightly and reciprocated with a fist of his own that knocked Link back into a wall. Link hopped out of the whole left in the wall and shook his head, so he could see straight. He looked up to see Charantanatah swinging down at him with his giant sword. Link rolled out of the way and got up and made headway towards the master sword. He leapt through the air just as power blasts destroyed the spot his feet were on. He rolled over where the sword was grabbing it as he went by. Landing on his feet. Link took a defensive stance, then he smiled and held the master sword up over his head; the master sword started to glow and tremendous power resonated from the blade. "How, how did he do that?" asked Zelda in amazement.
"He's the hero of time. He understands that sword better than Ruaru. In his hands, the master sword is probably fifty times more powerful." explained Mema as Zelda watched on, stupefied. Charantanatah smiled when Link made his power known.
"Quite a fancy trick. How about this?" he shouted as he swung his sword unleashing another powerful energy disc. Zelda panicked when she saw it.
"Oh no! Here we go..." she said as she waited to see what Link would do. Link looked at the disc and curled his upper lip. He straightened up, hauled back and knocked the massive disc back with the master sword with ease. Zelda's jaw dropped. Link followed up by charging the fierce deity with a mighty scream. Charantanatah was struck by the disc and screamed in pain, since he didn't think anyone could do that with just a sword. He recovered just in time to get his sword up to block Link's ferocious attack. The two clashed swords, and the fierceness of Link's strength drove Charantanatah backwards a bit. He grimaced as he struggled to regain the upper hand over Link. The two broke off and Link reciprocated the fastest and was on Charantanatah before he had the chance to regain his center. Link hammered away, laying it down on Charantanatah's sword with the master sword. He drove Charantanatah backwards a few more steps until Charantanatah finally regained his equilibrium and vanished using his awesome speed. Link stopped and looked around wildly as his eyes shifted from side to side. He whirled around to see Charantanatah's boot hit him right in the face as it launched him into the air. Link landed flat on his back. He sat up, shook his head and made a mad dash for the mirror shield. Charantanatah saw Links goal and opened fire on Link with a succession of rapid-fire energy blasts. Link strafed from side to side, narrowly missing the bolts as he flipped over the shield in a cartwheel fashion and picked it up. His feet hit the ground and instantly he turned behind him with his feet firmly planted and his shield up to intercept Charantanatah's fist. His strength knocked Link down nonetheless but Link rolled on contact with the ground and was back on his feet before Charantanatah began to advance.
Link met Charantanatah's offense with a wild advancement of his own as he leapt straight for Charantanatah's inside with a wide swing that Charantanatah dodged with a backwards jump. Link pointed the master sword and an energy bolt fired from the blade that Charantanatah dodged easily. The two warriors collided their swords again trying to push the other one into submission.
"I'm going to wipe out this pitiful world! I was going to allow it the honor of being the battleground for the war of legends! But you and the woman have ruined any and all chances of that happening boy!" Charantanatah growled into Link's ear. Link just pushed harder and managed to force the deity back a few steps. "Give in boy! You can't defeat a god!" shouted Charantanatah.
"Watch me!" shouted Link in defiance as he pushed Charantanatah off and lunged into him with a shoulder tackle. Charantanatah met the tackle and grabbed hold of Link and lunged him into the air as he went backwards. Before his back hit the ground, he doubled around and kicked Link, who was still in the air, hard. It knocked the wind out of him and he hit the ground with a hard thud. He was still for a few moments and then slowly stood up.
"Get up Link!" shouted Zelda and Mema as they cheered Link. Link looked up and saw Zelda depending on him and then getting up with out the strength to do so seemed easy. He looked over his shoulder to see Charantanatah brooding over him smiling.
"You see now that fighting me is useless mortal." Immediately, Link hurled a deku nut to the ground and blinded Charantanatah. He then straightway leapt in with two strong horizontal slashes to Charantanatah's midsection drawing blood on both swipes. As Charantanatah leaned over to clutch his stomach, Link finished off the combination with an upward slash that cut right up over Charantanatah's shoulder. Charantanatah recoiled backwards in pain. Zelda cheered ecstatically as Link finally did what she and everyone else had tried to do, damage the fierce deity.
"Unbelievable! Link is incredible! The army, the paladins, even you couldn't hurt Charantanatah like that!" shouted Mema. Charantanatah stumbled backwards making his injuries seem worse than they really were and countered with an eyeblast attack that caught Link off guard and hit him in the chest. Link grunted in pain as the force knocked him on his back. He clutched his wound and rolled around on the ground a little as Charantanatah laughed in self-appreciation of his tactic. He picked up his sword in one hand, and then proceeded to pick Link up by the shirt in the other. Link grimaced as he moaned aloud.
"Fool. I told you you weren't a match for me. I've injured you badly now. And I'm sure this makes it hurt!" he shouted in Link's face. Link opened his eyes in anger and looked at the grinning Charantanatah with anger, and then kicked him in the face getting Charantanatah to release him. Link fell straight to the ground and landed on his feet and followed up with a fast sweep kick, but Charantanatah vanished just before Link could make contact. Link straightway rolled out of the way as Charantanatah's foot plunged into the ground where Link was crouching. Link turned and looked at Charantanatah and was then struck by a hard fist from the right, just as had happened to Zelda in the chamber of truth. Link was amazed by the monster's speed. He managed to turn himself around in mid- fall just enough to face Charantanatah, who had both hands pointed directly at him. Charantanatah opened fire with more rapid-fire energy bolts. Link got the mirror shield up in time and, with his experience, he was able to aim all the blasts back at Charantanatah. Charantanatah looked in disbelief as his own blasts returned to him just as fast as he'd shot them. He became a blur as he dodged all the bolts. Link watched in disbelief as he witnessed another demonstration of Charantanatah's superhuman speed. Link recovered and landed on his feet. He was up against an inhuman force of unimaginable power, and he realized he was going to have to fight with everything he had if he were going to stand a chance. Link held out the master sword and it began to glow.
"Master Sword!" he cried out. "Lend me your power once again! I need it!" The sword's glow grew out of control as energy whipped about from the blade. Charantanatah looked in confusion for a moment and then smiled as he held out his sword. It began to surge with power as well, creating an energy field much larger than the one Link generated. He smiled at Link as Link stared at him with determination.
"Shall we?" asked the confident Charantanatah. Link pointed his sword at Charantanatah, to attack, and Charantanatah unleashed a blast of tremendous power. Link then withdrew his sword and leapt into the air over Charntanatah's attack. Charantanatah looked up in alarm as he realized Link had duped him. Link pointed his sword at Charantanatah who was still convalescing from his previous attack and unleashed the Master Sword's full power. The blast was massive. Charantanatah dropped his sword immediately and crossed his arms in hopes of defending from Link's blast. He was struck with immense force and grunted as he struggled to hold his ground. The blast was brief, however, and as he wearily looked up, Link planted a firm sidekick in his face on the way down.
Zelda and Mema cheered with delight as they saw their champion put the deity on his back. Link landed and paused to catch his breath. Charantanatah slowly rose to his feet and held up his hand and began to summon power. Link slowly looked up in surprise at Charantanatah who had seemingly recovered as if nothing had happened. Charantanatah glared with disdain as he gathered power. Link noticed that Charantanatah wasn't looking at him. He wearily looked over his shoulder to see Saria come running over the hill. Link was at first shocked that she had left the forest and was still alive. Then he remembered that she was also a sage. Then he wondered why she was there.
"Link!" she cried out.
"Saria?" Then all at once Charantanatah unleashed a massive bolt of energy at Saria.
"No interference." he calmly said.
"Oh great!" shouted Zelda as she dashed out onto the battlefield after Saria. She leapt into the air and tackled Saria, tucking her into her chest as the blast of power struck her from behind. Both Zelda and Saria cried out in pain. It all happened so fast Link didn't even realize what had happened until he heard their cries of pain. He watched in horror as the two people he cared the most about fell to the ground like tattered rag dolls. He felt heat surge through his body.
"NOOOOOOO!" he shouted as he threw his shield to the ground and jumped into the air brandishing the master sword, which was glowing more furiously than ever. Charantanatah was taken by surprise by the seemingly rejuvenated Link. He quickly grabbed his sword and collided with Link, but Link struck with such force it drove him down to one knee. His giant, twisted sword was cracked and Link continued to push down harder, causing Charantanatah to grunt in pain. He looked up in terror at Link's eyes, which were trembling with fury. "I'll kill you!" he quietly growled. Link then chopped down on Charantanatah's sword with three powerful consecutive strikes. Charantanatah's sword gave way on the third strike as Link shattered through it and the sword went through Charantanatah's shoulder. He bellowed in pain. He instinctively grabbed the sword to pull it out and it burned his hands. Link then pulled the sword out as painfully as he could, in one powerful yank. Leaving Charantanatah gravely injured, Link held out the master sword once again and it gathered energy, more than it ever had before; so much that the ground beneath him began to break apart as the power ripped chunks of earth from the ground. The ground trembled. Charantanatah looked up at Link's burning eyes in fright as he understood that he was defeated.
"Nooooooo!" screamed Charantanatah as he looked to the sky. Link yelled and swung his sword in a mighty spinning slash attack that decapitated the fierce deity, defeating him once and for all. The clouds swirled and opened up as the body of Charantanatah broke apart. Out of his exposed neck, lightning shot out into the sky and his body disintegrated in a flash of light. The head transformed back into the mask that it once was. Then all at once, every thing was quiet. The ominous clouds were instantly gone. Birds, started to chirp in the distance. Link held up the master sword in victory as it gleamed in the sunlight.
Link clutched his ribs and looked around to survey the damage. The grass beneath him was gone all over the area of the spin. Nearby trees had been cut in half. A nearby mountain had a severely deep gash in the side of it. "Whoa..." he chuckled to himself. Link then turned and hurried over to Zelda and Saria. He knelt down and gently touched Zelda. He feared the worst. "Zelda? Speak to me..." begged Link quietly. Zelda moaned in pain as she stirred. Link's eyes lit up with joy. "Zelda!" Zelda wearily looked up. She squinted in the sunlight, and had to wait for everything to come into focus. But she could hear Link's voice; she thought she was dreaming. Her eyes adjusted to the light and the blue sky and white clouds came into focus, and then Link came into focus. At first she didn't believe it. Link smiled a sorrowful smile. "Zelda..." he blissfully whispered. Zelda sat up and the two embraced each other. "I'm so sorry Zelda." he whispered. He was so choked with grief he couldn't use his voice. "I'm so sorry."
"Shhhh..." Zelda coaxed him. She knew his emotions would be in shambles. She looked at him with tears of joy in her eyes as she delicately put a finger over Link's lips to silence him. She smiled and said, "I'm sorry Link, I should have been sensitive to the needs of your heart, but I was selfish, and I let you down." she said as she started crying sorrowful tears. "Please forgive me." Link took hold of her hand.
"There's nothing to forgive, Zelda." his soothing words made Zelda sob. "You weren't obligated to love me, and I had no right to put pressure on you like that. I apologize if I did." Zelda smiled a weak smile at Link. "I see now that I had no right to love you. I'm the only one who should apologize." Zelda squinted in angst.
: "What?" she whispered. "How can you say that? Your love for me is what made me smile at the end of the day. I savored every visit you made to the castle. You're what made the sunset so beautiful." she gave a slight giggle as she sniffled. "You were always so bashful and cute, I couldn't wait until you came back again." Link felt guilty and looked away. "You were always so quiet, about how you felt, Link. I knew you loved me, but I...I guess I wanted to hear you say it. So I foolishly toyed with you in silence." Link looked back at her. "Well, silence must be heard Link..." she whispered as she lost herself in his eyes. She leaned up to him, and he backed away nervously, she put her calm arms around his shivering chest and whispered into his ear. "I love you Link." Link stared straight ahead for a long time, unable to say anything. "I've loved you since I met you, but I didn't know how to say it."
Link pulled her away and looked into her eyes. He put his hand on her face and gently brushed a tear away with his thumb. "You don't know how many times I've wanted to hear you say that." he said. "I love you Zelda, with all my heart..." Zelda's eyes lit up, but Link looked away from her eyes, with pain. "But, I don't deserve you." he said as he stood up and stared solemnly at the corpses that littered Hyrule field. Zelda stood up and looked out on the field with him. She swallowed her sorrow, knowing that it was undeniable that the carnage was his doing. "I'm a monster Zelda." he said in his quiet angry voice. "What have I done?" he asked in horror. Zelda slipped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Link. You must understand, you didn't do this, not really." Link looked down at her with disdain.
"Yes I did Zelda. You saw me do it. Don't tell me I didn't."
"You were under the influence of Charantanatah. The monster possessed you and poisoned your good heart and mind. Now that he's gone, your back to normal, so you can't be the evil monster that did this, you just can't be!" she reasoned. Link smiled and looked down at her as he returned her embrace.
"You saved me Zelda. You fought so bravely; you saved all of Hyrule. You defeated the Fierce deity mask. I owe you my life." Zelda blushed.
"All I want is your heart." she said. "And, if I recall, I was unconscious while you defeated the fierce deity mask." Link rolled his eyes.
"You're the one who got stronger, you're the only one who was determined to help me, while everyone else wanted to kill me. You're the hero this time Zelda. I just finished the job. It was personal." he said as he looked at the now harmless mask lying on the ground. He let go of Zelda and walked away.
"Where are you going?" she asked as her hair blew in the wind.
"I've wronged his country, more so than any other monster that has ever threatened it. I have to right that wrong. It can never be done, but I have to try. Please, get Saria back to the forest. There's something I have to do." Zelda watched him walk for a moment and then turned and picked up Saria, who was still unconscious. She vanished in a flash of green light.
The drawbridge of the castle lowered as the King of Hyrule, the king of Calatia and his son, and the Hylian army marched out of the castle to do battle with fierce deity Link. The king signaled a halt to the march as he saw in the distance Link approaching. Link stopped amidst the bodies of the first wave of Hylian troops that had attacked him a week before. "I think he has decided to surrender." said the King. In the distance Zelda materialized to watch what Link was going to do.
"That's the rod of enrichment,..." she said to herself. "What is he going to do with it?"
"Your majesty. I have done a terrible wrong. I will be eternally sorrowful for what I have done. I know you can't forgive my betrayal, and I know I can never do anything to earn it, but please allow me to right the wrongs I've committed." he said. He held up the rod of enrichment and with a mighty grunt, he plunged it deep into the earth of the battlefield. It's power pulsed across the ground throughout the land. It's rejuvenating power began to undo the damage that Link had done. It revived the soldiers that had died. Link slowly stepped back and watched in awe as the rod of enrichment rejuvenated the dead soldiers. The soldiers looked around at each other in confusion, they didn't know what had happened, not one of them had any memory of their deaths or battle with fierce deity Link. Zelda smiled.
"Unreal..." she said.