Zelda's Seven AU created by Lu

Story 2 - The Battle at Zora's Domain

Disclaimer: The Magnificent Seven and the Zelda universe aren't mine and I don't make any profit from the stories in this universe.

AU Type: Zelda's Seven (Magnificent 7 and Zelda crossover) for more info. on this AU refer to The Seven Heroes Story Info.

Please note: 5/7 of the main characters are children. If you don't like any of the seven as children you have been warned and it's your choice if you read further or not.

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Rating: PG-13

Main Characters: All seven

There are no warnings needed for this story, if you read it and think differently, please let me know.

Open AU - there is plenty of info. about the AU in the stories if you are interested in playing.

I hope you enjoy reading this story - please let me know what you think, but please be aware that I prefer constructive criticism if you want to criticise this story. Flames will be used to cook my dinner with.

Some bits in this first part were inspired by Mag. 7 (OW) TV Episodes.

This story follows on almost directly from where Story 1 finished.

Thanks to Lara for helping me improve this.

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Part 1: Chapters 1-3

Chapter 1: Maude's Imprisonment Continues

In the Shadow Lands deep under Kakariko Graveyard, a woman with raven-black hair sat on the floor of her cell sewing. The only light was from a few torches on the walls outside the barred cell.

Maude, who was the prisoner, heard the noise of someone nearby and looked up; she saw the evil eyes of the Shadow Lord looking at her through the bars in the dim light.

"Maude, I will free you from your prison if you will become my bride. I loved you from the first moment I saw you."

Maude hesitated for a minute thinking about the proposition, then decided; "I will be your bride if you will let me select the wedding's location." If the lord would marry her outside of the Shadow Lands she might have a chance to escape.

"I will not allow that. We shall marry in the Shadow Temple," said the Shadow Lord, angrily. Maude was not brave enough to attempt escape from the dark lands filled with dangerous traps and evil, powerful creatures.

"I refuse your offer then." Maude went back to her sewing.

"You anger me with your refusal; call me if you change your mind," said the Shadow Lord before he disappeared in a black cloud of smoke. The Shadow Lord had very powerful magic and was feared by almost every shadow person. Maude refused him because she thought that he wouldn't hurt her because of his feelings for her. But the Shadow Lord would surprise her the next time she upset him.

"Baby boy, where are you?" asked Maude quietly, wishing that Ezra would come and rescue her. She was certain that he would come if he knew where she was. Maude knew that her boy was far stronger and braver than she was and would have no trouble in rescuing her.

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"MOTHER?" asked Ezra loudly. He had been riding with the others of the Seven Heroes across Hyrule Field when he had suddenly heard his mother's voice. "Mother? I have to rescue my mother!" said Ezra in desperation, and turned his horse toward Kakariko Village.

"No Ez, we have to go to the Zoras," said Vin commandingly. Vin felt responsible for the Shadow Hero as they were riding together, and if Ezra left them it would be Vin's fault for not stopping him.

"I cannot neglect my mother any longer. I must return for her." Ezra rode swiftly away, leaving Vin staring after him. The other riders had been a fair distance away and hadn't heard Ezra's voice, so were unaware that he had ridden away.

Vin shook his head and continued riding to Zora's Domain. Hopefully Ezra would rejoin them later and he'd just get a stern talking to from Chris, the chosen leader of the Seven Heroes.

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Maude lay down in her Shadow cell sleeping. She hoped that her boy would come to her soon and rescue her from this awful land.

A slight noise startled her awake and she looked out through the bars. "Hello?" Maude asked, unable to see in the darkness. The lord had blown the flames of the torches out.

"Maude, your son has abandoned an important mission to rescue you and if he succeeds in reaching here, the six remaining heroes could perish in battle."

"What are you talking about? I left my baby boy with his uncle, days ago."

"He came after you and had to escape when the Shadow Lord saw him. He has been told of his Hero Spirit and has since joined with the six other heroes. But he longs for his mother and has left them. Now he is riding back toward Kakariko Village to rescue you."

"I thought I had the Hero Spirit within me," said Maude, puzzled.

"You bore the marks only to hide the identity of the true hero. Ezra mustn't come here; you must turn him back," said the fairy.

Chapter 2: Reaching Zora's Domain

Josiah, Chris, Nathan, Vin, Buck and JD rode in a group along Zora's River as fast as their horses would go. They had to get to the water lands before something terrible happened there. So far it seemed like enemies were attacking lands throughout Zelda's kingdom and eventually nowhere above-ground would remain untouched. Goron City inside Death Mountain had been completely destroyed with no apparent survivors; Gerudo Valley had been attacked after, but only a small amount of homes had been seriously burnt in that attack.

Buck and JD rode side by side discussing the differences between their lands. Buck lived in Gerudo Valley, a hot desert land far different from JD's underwater land called Zora's Domain.

Chris rode on the other side of Buck ready to protect the boy if enemies decided to strike; he feared that more enemies would soon arrive in Zelda's Kingdom. On the other side of Chris, rode Nathan then Josiah next to him. Nathan was getting better at riding but Josiah was close in case the boy got into difficulty.

Vin rode behind them, watching in case enemies decided to creep up on their group. He had told the others about Ezra riding away to rescue his mother and Chris had been angry, wanting to ride after the boy until Vin had reminded him of the lives that depended on them at Zora's Domain. Hopefully, Ezra would rejoin them soon.

JD saw the waterfall ahead and rode ahead of the others; the entrance was hidden and the other heroes would need him to access it. The boy was very inexperienced at riding and had already fallen off a few times, delaying their arrival slightly. Buck rode after him worrying that the younger boy would hurt himself if he fell again.

JD reached the side of the river near the waterfall and made the horse stop - Buck had taught him how to do that very well. The boy walked to the river's edge and as Buck watched, the boy dived in. JD swam closer to the waterfall and climbed onto a rock which Buck hadn't noticed was there. Buck continued to watch as the boy took out a small wooden flute and played a short melody. A grinding noise was heard and then some steps appeared to come out of the wall, making the waterfall easy to climb up to from the rock. "Come onto this rock then follow me up the steps - it is the only way into Zora's Domain. Hurry, as I must make the steps disappear as soon as you are all in, to protect our home."

The boys each dived into the water, after leaving their clothes on the shore along with the horses that were very obedient and would wait there for the heroes to return.

Buck got onto the rock and walked up the stone steps, finally reaching the now visible hole in the rock wall behind the waterfall (which was now nothing more than a light shower of water). He stepped carefully through the hole and gazed at the large, beautiful cavern within.

The walls were light-grey rock and glistened as though they were washed regularly. The floor around the edge of the cavern was below a shallow pool of light blue water, but toward the centre of the huge cavern was a deeper pool and the bottom wasn't visible.

A voice startled Buck and he looked around to find out who had spoken. He saw a large man with white skin that gleamed dark blue where the light hit it; he sat upon a rock ledge built into one wall.

"Welcome to Zora's Domain. I am King Zora."

Buck bowed down to him nervously. "Hi, I am one of the Seven Heroes who have come to save your homes from danger. Enemies will come this way soon - they have already caused damage to Goron City and Gerudo Valley."

"Zorania has told me much about the Seven Heroes – I am pleased that young JD is one of them, as he has always shown great promise. You must take good care of him until his mother returns here. She is in a safe place, away from enemies who might hurt the mother of the Seventh Hero."

"I promise I will, but Chris and Josiah, who are the men with me, will look after us far better."

Chris had now come through the waterfall and stood beside Buck. "You must all get to safety quickly; we will protect your homes," said the blonde man, confidence and authority in his voice.

The King jumped down from the ledge and went through a doorway. A loud horn was heard somewhere and there was the noise of many people moving about. After a few minutes, the Zora people started exiting through the Domain's entrance, heading to a secret hiding place.

"Everyone - we must wait for the enemies and fight them when they come. There is no other way the enemies could get in except through the Domain's entrance."

They each stood at a different part of the large cavern and waited, watching the entrance. They didn't have long to wait until large black monsters of different shapes and sizes started to appear, forcing their way through the rock behind the waterfall, damaging the whole wall. All the six heroes had swords and they started to fight with the creatures until they had killed them all. The creatures proved to be no match for the heroes and were soon all destroyed.

Vin stood listening to something the others couldn't hear. Chris looked at him questioningly and the boy answered, "More enemies are coming and these ones may be tougher to beat."

Chapter 3: The Escape

Ezra had now reached Kakariko Village and was about to head to the graveyard when he heard his mother's voice. "Ez-ra! Ez-ra!" it called in a voice that sounded in pain. Ezra ran to the graveyard, concerned for his mother's safety.

At the graveyard, his way was blocked by a large group of zombies. He took out the slingshot from his belt. Buck had given him the weapon, as there was no sword available yet for the Shadow boy. It was too dangerous to get close to the walking dead so he would shoot them from a safe distance. He quickly looked about the ground and found the special seeds that he knew would kill the zombies - nothing else would work.

Ezra loaded a seed into the slingshot and took aim at his first target that approached him. The boy fired and watched as the seed hit the zombie and the enemy fell to the ground, broken into many pieces.

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"If I cannot marry you, then no one else will," said the Shadow Lord as he raised his arm and pointed his hand toward Maude. He clenched his hand into a fist and started to tighten it.

Maude felt as though she was being strangled and hurriedly called out to her baby boy. She hoped that he wouldn't try to rescue her - the Shadow Lord was too powerful and no harm must come to her only child. She was unable to tell him to stay away before she fell down unconscious.

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Ezra had killed all the zombies now and had pulled the gravestone away from the entrance that it hid. He took his flying boots out of the satchel that he carried on his back, and put them on hurriedly. He feared for his mother's life and must get to her before it was too late. He put on his cloak - it seemed like even the powerful Shadow Lord couldn't see the boy when he wore it.

The boy stepped into the hole and quickly flew down into the Shadow Lands, being careful to watch where he stood as some of the floor wasn't as real as it looked. Ezra also listened out for any Shadow Hands or bats. The Shadow Hands were large hands only visible through either the Lens of Truth or Shadow Vision and they would jump up and grab onto someone's neck and attempt to strangle them. The bats were also invisible to the naked eye and stung the person they touched causing the person to lose life energy. If they stung enough times they would cause the person to die.

Ezra didn't hear or see any hands or bats but stayed alert all the way to the Shadow Lord's castle, where he knew Maude was being kept prisoner.

The boy crept into the castle; his skill at picking locks had come in handy for the big lock on the castle's front gates. His mother and various babysitters had taught him many skills he would find useful for his survival.

"Ah, you arrives at last. I have been waiting for your return," said the Lord, in a voice that sounded friendly, but Ezra detected the falseness in the tone.

"I have come for my mother," said Ezra loudly and confidently.

"You are too late - she is no longer here."

Ezra suddenly heard a voice in his head say, "Left" and looked toward the left side of the room. His mother was in a large cage that floated there and she looked very much alive.

"Give me my mother or face my wrath," ordered Ezra.

The lord laughed loudly at the boy and the cage was suddenly falling fast toward the ground.

"No, don't!" screamed Ezra, knowing that if it hit the ground at that speed, it would kill his mother instantly.

The cage stopped falling and remained still. "Perhaps we can make a deal, Ezra," said the Shadow Lord.

"Take me and let my mother go free," said Ezra, a plan forming in his head.

The Shadow Lord chanted something Ezra didn't understand and his mother suddenly stood next to the boy.

Ezra instantly pulled his cloak on and vanished. He made his mother disappear as well, although he felt himself growing weaker.

"What trickery is this? Your magic will not last long while you are both invisible. That cloak does not make you invisible on its own like you thought - it is your power that does it."

"Follow me, Mother," whispered Ezra to Maude. While they were both invisible, they could see each other, but no-one else could. Ezra helped his mother get safely through the Shadow Lands and back to the surface. Maude had no flying boots so she carefully climbed the ladder which was attached to a wall near the entrance. No one seemed to be chasing the mother and son, much to their relief.

They ran back through Kakariko Graveyard the way Ezra had come, but Ezra trailed more and more behind. "Mother, keep moving. My black horse, Swift waits outside the village - ride it to the mouth of the river to Zora's Domain and wait outside there for the other heroes. I am too weak and must stay here to rest."

"I can't leave you here, darling boy. Let me carry you," said Maude and picked the light boy up in her arms.

When they were near the village's entrance, Ezra felt his energy returning. "Mother, I feel I can walk from here and must do so to protect us from any evil which may be waiting - I fear that the Shadow Lord may be summoning more evil to stop us escaping."

"I have lived in the Shadow Lands for most of my life, where am I to live now?" asked Maude suddenly feeling homeless.

"I shall find you a fine home, safe from harm's way," promised the boy, feeling suddenly older and more responsible.

"You are growing up so fast," commented Maude, glad that her boy would be able to look after himself now, without her having to find him babysitters above the ground, while she worked on more schemes to make rupees.

"Mother, the people here are very friendly and generous. The owner of the Travis Ranch has loaned me his most valuable horse, Swift. I am sure they will help you to survive here."

"I'm pleased that you have gained the people's trust so quickly; it will help us greatly in our next rupee-making scheme," answered Maude.

"Mother, there will be no rupee-making schemes. The people trust me to help protect them and I intend to do just that."

"You don't sound like the son I raised," said Maude, sounding upset.

"Raised me? A skulltula raises their young far better than you raised me," retorted Ezra.

Maude climbed upon the horse and pulled Ezra up to sit in front of her. The woman was clearly hurt by Ezra's remark because she didn't talk to Ezra while they rode across Hyrule Field. Ezra directed her to Zora's domain, hoping he could still help fight some enemies once they arrived there.

To be continued...