The Reign of Something Different

Author's Note: Thank you sooooo much to all the reviewers who pushed me back into the swing of writing. I had originally planned to finish the story on April vacation, but apparently you all won't let me... *dramatic sigh* Oh well, I guess I can cope with that... ^.^

And so without further adue:Decisions of Gods, or as I like to call it, the "Sheik figures his fealings out" chapter!

Chapter Four: Decisions of Gods

Sheik looked at the towering structure and, for the first time in hundreds of years, knew he was home. This area, his citadel, he had created this area from scratch, void, nothing. It had no residue from the goddesses, no this was his land, his stone, his... home. The Sheikah had a saying, "No one can face the Fierce Deity and his Citadel at the same time" and as the very land and stone of his home called out to him in joyous laughter, he could fully understand that phrase.

His footsteps echoed on the stone of the citadel floors as he climbed the stairs to the top of his home. As he climbed he could feel the power of this place, the untainted love he had poured into this land and his creations, and with it the power of the Fierce Deity that they had known, returning to him. Soaking into his being, his eternal soul. It seemed only yesterday that he had been sealed away inside that worthless piece of wood, only yesterday that he had hid his full power from everyone lest the goddesses find him, but as he reached the top of the citadel and look out over the land he had poured the most of his time and energy into, he felt that once again he truly was a God, not just an immortal with limited powers, but a God.

Sheik stopped abruptly as he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror. He almost laughed at his surprise. Yes, he saw Sheik, but he could also see his former self, Fierce, the Deity that had been betrayed by his own kin. Sheik's hair was longer now falling about his shoulders and lower back, the strands starting out a pale gold at the roots and slowly fading to a pure white at the tips. His body was still the unscarred body of his newer self, but it had inherited the build of his former self. His formal clothing would fit him now, Sheik noticed, and his battle armor, which he almost looked forward to wearing now. Idly he wondered where the priests, who had kept the citadel immaculate in the long years he had been gone, had put his armor. Then with a start, Sheik realized that he was almost giddy with the rush of power now flowing through him, his power.

Sheik, now fully combined with his Godly powers, spent the rest of the afternoon becoming reacquainted with the priests he had known when he was sealed away, and meeting all those who had been born and raised in his absence. There were three orders of priests amongst the Sheikah, all which had been held in the highest respect by all other races when the races and their worlds had been more friendly. The first and most well known were the Priests which watched over the Gate in their temple and were a sanctuary for any weary travelers that happened across their holy ground. The second and more renowned in Sheikah legend were the warrior-priests of the Fierce Deity, the elite group of fighters who would follow their God to death in battle if they had to and were trained body and soul to fight and protect their race and their God creator. The last and least well known were the select group of priests who worked in the Citadel, monitoring the land from the glass room at the top. Glass and silver were excellent conductors for magic and thus a few men could watch over thousands of miles of land with only a few mirrors and time. These were the priests that Sheik most trusted, the leader (now in the later stages of his life but had refused to retire from the position) being one of his consultants back before the betrayal. It was one of his assistants that nearly barreled into Sheik, who was working his way back to the glass room.

"Fierce Deity! One of the glasses have shattered!"

Sheik frowned. Glasses didn't just up and shatter, no they were protected by his power. The glasses (which in reality were large mirrors) should only break when he was hurt... or when his Chosen was hurt. But that was just a legend. Sheik would know if he had Chosen anyone, that required many steps after all. Blood would have had to have been spilt from both people, he would have had to watch over his Chosen for at least a year and then there was the actual ceremony itself which included the whole musical aspect (Sheikahs were very romantic when it came right down to it.)... Suddenly Sheik's blood ran cold, a scene running through his mind.

"You truly are the Hero of Time..."

Oh no. The warp songs, the blood spilt in Link's battles with Gannandorf and then with Gannon (not to mention the dungeons), some of which Sheik himself had spilt carelessly while saving Ruto, the watching over of Link for those seven years... Well, at least that explained why he was so loathe to just leave Link behind at the Temple...

Sheik broke into a run, taking the stairs two at a time, his mind going as fast as his feet. If the mirror broke that meant that someone or something had hurt his Chosen. But Link was at the Temple and the priests there knew that Link was under his protection, so only something not from his realm would dare attack Link. And following that thought brought Sheik to only one conclusion: the goddesses had started their attack on his realm. But something rang false even as the logical part of his mind was crowing with victory for coming up with the situation at hand, and that was that Farore would be livid if something hurt her descendant.

Sheik rounded the end of the stairs and burst into the glass room. His eyes seemed to lock on the shards of glass that littered one corner of the room that proved that Link had been injured in some way. Rage blossomed in his eyes and he felt the small trickle of magic roll down his face as the familiar war markings became prominent features again.

"Where are they?" his voice dripped with poison and all shrunk back from the furry of the God before them.

"The Gate's temple was leveled. Dragons." The old priest spoke and in a flourish of raw power, the Fierce Deity was no longer in the room and halfway out of his Citadel.

There were six dragons. Two looked like offspring of that horrid fire dragon that had nearly fried his Link in the Fire Temple of Hyrule. They were most certainly the minions of Din. There were two finned dragons that seemed clouded in vapor, agile creatures with large wings that dwarfed their bodies. These were Nayru's. And then there were the dark forest green dragons that were large and imposing, wingless and sturdy as tree trunks. These were Farore's. But this did not matter. One of them had dared to touch Link, and therefore they would all be destroyed. And he would do this with his own weapon, with his own power. Yes, that would be fitting revenge.

Dark power swirled to surround Sheik, looking somewhat similar to the Shadow power that Impa had used to break the Shadow seal in Gannandorf's castle, but dwarfing that power and making it look like a puff of air compared to this river of black and purple flames that surrounded the irate God. These flames seemed to condense twisting and gaining solidity to form an evil looking broadsword, the blade of which seemed to have been twisted once in the center of the sword.* On the hilt of the sword a single black triangle blazed as did its match on Sheik's right hand.

The dragons did not have time to adjust to a new foe before two of them had already been destroyed, their bodies dissolving into thin air, their essence returning to the goddess who had created them. Two down, four to go, but Sheik did not think to figure this out, as his eyes locked on another dragon target, eyes that were glowing with blackened bloodlust.

Another dragon screamed as it fell under his blade, and the other two fell soon after. Sheik gave up the slowness of killing with a weapon and instead allowed his raw power to cut its way through their bodies.

With a sudden jolt, Sheik's bloodlust faded and worry set in as he surveyed the ruin of what used to be the grandest temple of his realm. The warriors from his Citadel were just getting to the temple and Sheik barely managed to bark out an order for them to start clearing the rubble to look for survivors. Where was Link? Sheik resigned himself to looking through the mess methodically. Frantic searching wouldn't bring Link to him any faster.

Survivors were beginning to crawl their way out of the rubble by now, aided in part by the warrior-priests from the Citadel. There were more injuries than there were casualties and Sheik knew that this was just the preliminaries so to speak. The goddesses would send more minions soon, and he needed to start preparing his world against these invaders. Not that the Sheikah couldn't take care of themselves against normal monsters, but these minions were almost like demi-gods in their own right.

There was a shout over from one side of the rubble and Sheik moved to the cleared area, only to gape in horror as he beheld the sight that awaited him. The Master Sword, Link's sword, the key to the Temple of Time. Stained. With Blood. Not his blood, no, but blood all the same. But where was Link? Sheik's mind quickly ran to the worst option: Link was in Farore's realm now. But Sheik would not allow that to happen.

"Warriors, find me the one whose sword this is. His name is Link. He is a Hyrulian. Find him. Bring him to the Citadel when you find him."

Sheik collapsed on the now clean floor of the glass room. "Tell me he's still in this realm." the god almost begged the aged priest.

"He is, Fierce one. Where he is, I cannot be certain, but he is still here."

"When will the glass be fixed enough so that you can find out exactly where he is?"

"In a few days, Fierce one."

Sheik cursed. That wasn't good enough.

"You have finally Chosen someone, Fierce one?"

"Yes."

"You must tell the people, Fierce one."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because now all of our prayers have been answered. You have returned to us, and you have your Chosen with you."

"There's one problem, my old friend. Link does not know I am a God, much less that I am the Fierce Deity."

"That barrier is not one which you cannot overcome, Fierce one."

"Easy for you to say." Sheik grumbled, his eyes returning to the working glasses which were shifting between his twenty warriors who were searching for the Hero of Time.

An irate goddess paced back and forth in front of her sisters before stopping in front of the fiery goddess. "Link was hurt! How did this happen?"

"The question is not how your Hero got hurt." Din put in snidely. "The question is why did he resist your summons to come home. And that only you can answer divine sister."

"I don't understand it! I told him what was going to happen! He should have complied without a problem!" Farore resumed her pacing.

"Calm yourself sister, things are now out of your control." Nayru spoke softly, yet sternly. "Can you not feel the link between your descendant and our brother? Fierce has made a stupid decision. He made your descendant his Chosen. That alone could be what it takes to kill him, should Link refuse him."

Farore glared at Nayru. "Oh, but Link will not do that." She hissed. "Once he realizes that Sheik and the Fierce Deity are one and the same, he will not have any objections whatsoever."
Din giggled. "You mean Link is in love with the elusive Sheikah he thought was merely an illusion cast by Nayru's descendant? Now that is funny."

"I do not find it so funny!" Farore spat at her fiery sister.

"Do not worry, divine sister. To tell Link that he is Sheik, our brother must explain everything else. That will be his undoing." Nayru smiled warmly at her sisters. "He will have no choice but to tell his Chosen the truth, all of it."

Farore slowly stopped pacing, realization dawning in her eyes. Both she and Din returned Nayru's smile, a smile which was tainted with the corruption that is caused by absolute power.

A young Sheikah boy opened the door to a house in the main city of the Sheikah, one that was near the Citadel. The cheery look on his face faded slightly as he beheld the visitor.

"Why do the warriors of the Fierce Deity come here?" he asked timidly.

"You are Solinari?"

"Ye-yes."

The warrior's face softened a bit as he looked at the boy. "We come looking for a Hyrulian named Link."

"Why?"

"He is the Chosen of the Fierce Deity."

Solinari's eyes widened before he opened the door wider. "Grandmother says he won't die from his wounds, but we were worried when he showed up a few hours ago. He could barely walk."

Author's Note:

Next chapter: Sheik and Link... all secrets told. What actually happened to Fierce to make him try to start his life over as Sheik? The true story comes out! (plus some love and fluffy stuff thrown in because I want to write Sheik and Link love already! Enough waiting!)

*Remember what Link looks like wearing the Fierce Deity Mask? That's the sword I'm talking about...

Here's the deal: 7-9 reviews from you all (I don't' care if it's only the words "update cuz I like it", I really don't), and you get your next chapter! Sounds good right? So start reviewing please!

signed,

Rio the FlowerofBlackfire