Chapter three

Link tapped on the door to Bruce's room. A groan signaled an okay for his entrance. The king looked around and saw Bruce at his window. He grinned and moved into the room, closing the door behind him.

"That went well." Link stated.

Bruce looked at his father angrily.

"I assure you son, it wasn't as bad as my first dinner with your mother." Link sat in a chair near Bruce.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Sure it wasn't. You didn't flip the table and tea all over mom, did you?" his voice was sarcastically.

"Actually it was a cake and a- now what was it again?" Link thought to himself for a second. "Oh! And a glass of milk!" Link seemed almost proud of this fact.

Bruce, being a little annoyed, sighed heavily and laid his face in his pillow.

"Hey, relax Bruce. Girls are something a man can hardly handle, let alone be around. They are constantly nagging on you. They whine. They groan. They bitch and they scream at you." Link went on with the list.

Bruce looked up and at the door way, there was Queen Zelda. Her arms were crossed with a stern and almost frightful look on her face. Bruce gulped back and pointed behind Link.

"They also tell you you're wrong when you're right! Can you believe that?" Link looked at Bruce. "Don't point son, it's not nice."

"Dad! Look! Behind! YOU!"

Link looked at the door. His heart suddenly leaped in his throat. His skin became pale. If there was ever a thing in his life time that could defeat him in any battle… it was the wife. He gathered his wits- which was a very small amount.

'Bad, bad, bad move Linky boy!' Came Fierce Deity's voice.

"Honey! Hi!" Link croaked.

"Yes… hello love." Her voice was deep and spine chilling. There could be a thousand redead against this woman at this very moment and all of them would dig a hole in the earth.

"Wha- what do you need, honey?" The king was very nervous as she came closer to him.

"Only to check on my son… why don't you go and help the servants decorate for tonight?" The queen squinted her eyes at him as he slowly slipped out of the room.

Bruce swallowed hard. "Hi mom…" his voice was fragile.

"Bruce, honey…" Zelda sat in the spot Link once sat in. Her hands cupped on her lap. "I know how hard it was for you being with her. Your father was the very same way for a while around me."

"Yeah… so he says…" Bruce said dully.

Zelda smiled softly at her son. "You'll have other chance son; don't let one little date make you give up. Next time, we'll wait until you're ready, okay?"

"Okay mom…" Bruce looked at his mother and gave a small smile. She hugged him.

"Now… I have your father to take care of…" An evil look came over her face.

"Good luck to dad…" Bruce muttered as his mother left the room.


People were coming into the palace form their carriages by the time the sun was setting. The food was all freshly cooked at the table. Music played gaily for the dancer to dance merrily to. Most of the guards watched them all, some even joined in if they were asked to dance by a lady.

In the corner of the room were Bruce and his friend, Milika. The prince tried hard to stay hidden from any princesses and when one approached them; Milika would charm her into a dance.

Without warning, a small girl, about the age of ten years old, popped out of no where with a loud "BOO!" in Bruce's ear.

"AH!" cried Bruce. He leaped away, pulling his arms up for defense. When he heard the giggling of a girl, he relaxed some and looked at the child. "Wh-who are you? What do you want?"

"Heehee. Is that any way to treat a guest? A princess more so?" the girl smiled at him.

"No, but answer my question." Bruce snapped back.

"I am Princess Rebecca!" the princess curtsied before Bruce.

"Right, I'm Bruce. Now leave me alone." Not feeling very well, Bruce didn't really want to talk to any princesses that night; especially annoying little princesses.

"Heehee! Is it true you spilt tea all over a princess this afternoon?" questioned Princess Rebecca.

Bruce growled lowly. "Who told you that?"

"It's just a rumor!" argued the young girl.

Bruce heaved heavily. This was just not his day.

After a moment of silence, the girl popped up with another question. "Do you dance?"

"Yes… no! No… I don't dance." growled Bruce.

"I thought-"

"I don't like dancing." interrupted Bruce, glaring at her.

Before the child could ask another question, the horns echoed silence into the ball room. A man with a loud voice boomed through.

"Presenting his majesty, King Link and his lady Zelda!"

Link and Zelda emerged into view, her hand on his arm. Zelda looked at Link's face. She rolled her eyes and sighed. His face had that proud, goofy grin he usually has on when in large groups.

Bruce took this moment to slip away from the young Princess and escape to Léon. The huge brute stood at the entrance to the gardens. His stern and lean face had its usual seriousness about him. JR walked up to the two holding drinks.

"Ah! Such a lovely night for a lovely party!" JR said.

"I wouldn't agree." Bruce spoke lowly.

"Come now Bruce, it isn't that bad." JR grinned, recalling the afternoon's misfortune.

Bruce glared at his smart-ass friend.

"Quelque chose vient." Léon spoke stiffly. 1

The two stared up, blankly, at their friend. A long moment of silence was dawned upon the three. Léon sighed heavily.

"Vous deux êtes très stupide." he muttered to himself. 2

Again… the blank stares.

"Hey guys! What are you saying to them Leon?" Milika came up to the trio.

"It's Léon not Leon…" Léon growled at him.

"Same difference!" Milika snarled.

"Calm down you two!" JR shouted.

"He started it…" groaned Milika.

Léon growled to himself and crossed his arms over his chest again. He looked back into the night. The wind blew through the trees and bushes of the gardens. His eyes deepened with concern.

JR noticed this right away. "Léon… what's on your mind?" he asked, taking a sip from his glass of wine. "In English please."

"I sense something…" Léon answered simply, his voice rough and accented heavily.

"Is it bad?" Bruce asked.

"Oui, mon prince." He replied grimly. 3

Bruce heard that phrase many times before. He knew what it meant by now.

"I'll tell the king." JR turned around to find Link.

From the corner of his eye, Bruce saw Princess Rebecca coming towards him. He sighed heavily.

The princess cried out at him, whining. Just as he turned around to face his worst fear, the windows broke in with a loud bang!

Immediately, Léon was the first to have his sword withdrawn. Bruce had leaped at the young girl to protect her from harmful shards of glass. The people screamed and yelled. All panicked toward the exits. Few escaped, for the guards were out and the doors sealed shut.

Bruce looked around. No one was in the room. He saw his father with his sword out; JR holding a magical spell and Léon with his sword ready. Soon, the screaming settled and small whimpers filled the room. Princess Rebecca held onto him, scared but soon recovered once she realized he had a hold of her in a secure grip.

The prince turned his head sharply to the broken windows. It was too dark out to see clearly. But, the light from the room should be showing some grounds… shouldn't it? Truly; the light from the room was showing nothing from outside. It was as if some magical dark force was hiding the light from escaping into the shadows.

Bruce looked harder. He felt his heart beat in his chest and his blood pulsate through his veins. A creature, black as night, stepped into the room. It was round and gave off a small black aura. Two bright orange and red eyes peered at the people. Others followed it.

"Black Boes…" Léon spoke softly.

Bruce heard him. 'Easy to defeat.' He thought to himself.

Hundreds of them leaped into the room. All the guards in the area had passed out. Link, JR, Bruce and Leon were the only ones to fight.

'Or… so I thought.' Bruce rolled his eyes. He had no weapon on him at the time. Magic wasn't his real strong point either.

"Stay here okay, honey buns?" Link kissed Zelda's cheek.

"Yes snoogy woocums." Zelda rubbed the tip of her nose to his.

Link snickered and grinned. He went to the front and stood before them all as more piled in. "Foes or Friends! I speak peace with you!" He yelled out.

The first of them leaped at Link with a powerful head-butt attack. Link brought his sword across, slashing the creature in two. It poof! in black smoke. "Well… there go peace negations! Léon, I'm ready when you are!"

Léon didn't wait. He charged full speed ahead at the army of darkness. His blade swept through the front line. More charged into the room, ready to had-butt the nearest person.

Bruce could hear JR chanting an ice spell from behind him. A strong ice wall formed in front of the people. Black Boes slammed their faces right into the wall and rolled backwards.

Link slashed his sword about, easily cutting through the predators around them. "How can they stand the light! I thought they were dark elements JR!" the king shouted to his wizard friend.

"The must have an enchantment over them! Give me a moment to decide!" JR replied back. He shot an arrow of light into the group, making them scatter.

"We don't have a minute!" Link snapped back, swinging his sword to slash more of them in half. They just kept swarming in the room.

Bruce was having trouble using both magic AND keeping the princess from getting hurt. She kept screaming in his ear whenever he turned too sharply as she hugged his tightly. "Dad! Help!"

"Hang on Bruce." Link muttered, slashing his way through the Black Boes.

'Let me handle it! I have a BIGGER sword than you do!' Fierce Deity hissed in his mind.

'No! They'll find out!' Link snapped back at him.

'So! You guys are getting your asses kicked and I can sense something MUCH bigger coming!' Fierce Deity responded.

Link shook his head. He continued working his way through the army to his son. JR was holding off at the wall of ice protecting the people.

"Uh… they're protected! Like a magical defense barrier!" the wizard answered finally.

"Well, break it!" Link snapped. He finally reached Bruce in time to slash a Black Boe from head-butting him to the ground.

Princess Rebecca watched as Link glanced back at them. She felt her cheeks flare up.

'He's cuter up close!' She thought to herself.

"Now, remember those ice spells we went over the other day, right Bruce?" Link slashed another Black Boe in mid air.

"Yeah? But what good can an ice spell do against dark elements?" Bruce looked bewildered at his father.

"Who said it would be against them?" A trademark warrior smirk.

Bruce caught on quickly. He brought his arms ahead of himself and repeated an ice spell in his mind twice. From his fingers tips flew bright blue and purple sparks flew out. The dust came soon and like a blizzard concentrated in a swirling vortex, it headed straight for Link.

The king had his sword prepared in front of him.

'Make this quick Fierce Deity!' Link told the dark warrior.

In an instant, his body took a different form. His eyes became pure white and skin more pale. His sword now twirled up in green and yellow. The magic focused on his sword. Fierce Deity had it all concentrated with his famous magical beams. He brought the long sword into the air, and with a simple downward slash, he created a powerful force of neon green and blue freezing snowflakes at ever monster within the area. They all went poof into the air and disappeared.

Before the people had time to realize the Black Boes were gone, Fierce Deity focused back and Link was returned to his normal body. He stumbled backwards a bit and dropped his sword to the ground. Zelda rushed to him and held him up by the shoulder.

"You shouldn't do that honey… it's dangerous and you have trouble staying conscience…" Zelda whispered in his ear softly. She knew of his quick transformation.

"Wow, such pretty colors, baby..." Link said, drowsily. Bright colors filled his vision.

Zelda rolled her eyes and struggled to help her husband's weight on her own pregnant weight.

"Are you alright?" Bruce turned to Rebecca.

"Uh-huh…" Rebecca nodded slowly, seemingly in a daze.

Bruce turned away from her to go to his mother and father. "What should we do-" He never finished his question forhe felt something pierce through his guts. The prince looked down at his stomach. Black claws stuck out.

"Bruce!" Zelda screamed. Her voice rang in Link's high pitched sensitive ears. He blinked and looked at Bruce once gaining his hearing and sight back.

"Bruce!" Link stammered forward.

Bruce was being lifted in the air by his stomach. Blood splattered down on the ground and onto Link's face as he watched his son go above his reach.

"Soyez prêt!" Léon shouted, bring his sword up again fro battle. 4

From the broken windows a black shadowy creature emerged. Its eyes were red and focused deeply on the group of people. It was taller than the room could provide. A deep, low growl echoed in their ears as it stared down upon them. The claws that had stabbed Bruce held him in the air.

Bruce felt suddenly dizzy and hot. He rolled his eyes in the back of his head and became limp all over. The prince was out.

"Bruce!" Link yelled angrily. He grabbed his sword from the ground.

'Link! You don't stand a chance! It's a Beckoner!' Fierce Deity growled.

'Then you fight it, tough guy! Just get my son down from there!' The king wasn't holding back anything. He held his sword tightly and charged at the creatures legs. As he charge, his blonde hair once again went silver and eyes white. The sword became the twisted green and yellow blade once again. Greenish blue energy sparks surround the edges as the now Fierce Deity charged up his magical beams.

He swung his sword at the right leg, causing a powerful volt to shake the entire leg. A howl of pain shook the room from the creature's throat. Fierce Deity didn't waste any time to fire the second round at the other leg. The monster growled in pain as it fell to its knees, dropping Bruce before his mother.

The fierce and dark warrior wasted barely half a second to climb on the monsters head. He brought his sword into both hands and with a quick, powerful downward thrust; he stabbed the very center. In black smoke, the monster was gone and Fierce Deity stood in the middle of the room. Half the people had fainted and passed out. Other stared at their once before King but now a warrior of darkness.

Zelda held her son on her knees, trying to keep him alive. "Healing magic won't do! We have to get him to the infirmary! Quickly!" she was in tears.

JR rushed to the two. He helped carry Bruce away and out of the room with Zelda. Léon stayed behind, approaching Fierce Deity.

"Léon," the dark warrior had a deep and fierce voice. "Take care of these people... I don't think their king wants them to see him in a weakened state."

Léon didn't want to argue but hated being bossed around by a man he hated. Without a fuse, the brute started telling guards to get up and help women and children out.

Fierce Deity walked to the broken windows and stared into the night. He could see just as clear as day out. Night was his favorite time. It whispered seductively in his ears to go out and hunt. But, he ignored them. He felt something was very wrong about the darkness. It was an unusual feeling he couldn't come to understanding. He listened to the cries of the night. Something was afoot, something bad.

As soon as the people were emptied, Léon looked back at Fierce Deity.

"Maintenant, laissez notre roi libre." Léon said coldly. 5

Fierce Deity glanced back at him and grinned. "Vous pouvez le sentir aussi, Léon. Quelque chose se développe... dans l'obscurité." He spoke calmly. 6

With that said Links one cloudy blue eye and other blue eye returned to normal. His hair was blonde again and his body was back. He stumbled forward; his head swimming in a sea of hot blood. He fell on his knees, and then blacked out.


'Learn to trust me you idiot! Since WHEN have I failed to save your little ass from getting chomped, claimed, chopped, slashed, cut up, or, above all, sliced into a dinner plate!' Fierce Deity rang in Links head.

A headache. Not what he needed this early in the morning. Link tried rising in his bed only to feel Zelda's hands push him back down.

"Stay down Link." Zelda spoke gently.

"Bruce… where is he?" Link spoke, though his throat dry.

"He's fine honey… JR has managed to sew him up." Zelda responded.

As soon as he was conscience enough to open his eyes; Link looked at his wife. Her face was pale and expressed DEEP sorrow. Something was wrong. "Zelda… what's wrong?"

"Last night… you transformed in front of the people…" her voice was barely even a whisper. Her eyes began to water. "Link… you know what this means… right?"

Link blinked. Yes, he knew that it was dangerous for the people to know that their beloved king had a dark side.

"They'll want to know… and then, the noblemen will start to claim you're bad for them… and then…" Zelda started sobbing.

No, he didn't know that it would cause a rebellion and start trouble. Link reached up and touched Zelda's cheek very tenderly. She placed her hand on his, tears falling onto his arm. "Zelda… love… come here." Link offered for her with his arms. She laid in them, crying softly. "I'm sure the people will understand if explained to and reasoned with. As long as they don't know who Fierce Deity really is; I'll be okay." Link cooed her softly.

His queen cried still.

"My only son almost died and now my husband is in danger. Oh goddesses, why has this happened?" Zelda said through sobs.

'Uh… Link… she's kinda… um… over reacting.' Fierce Deity spoke in his mind.

Link rolled his eyes at FD and continued soothing his wife. "Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise you Zelda…" Link allowed Zelda to cry in his chest. He sighed heavily to himself. He knew things would start to reach a climax. He was hopeful they wouldn't turn for worse.

Notes:

1.) "Quelque chose vient." – "Something comes."

2.) "Vous deux êtes très stupide." – "You two are very stupid."

3.) "Oui, mon prince." – "Yes, my prince."

4.) ""Soyez prêt!" – "Be ready!"

5.) "Maintenant, laissez notre roi libre." – "Now, leave our free king."

6.) "Vous pouvez le sentir aussi, Léon. Quelque chose se développe... dans l'obscurité." – " You can also smell it, Léon. Something develops... in the darkness."

I hope those notes help those who don't know French clean things up a bit. Boy… having two different languages in a story is such a pain!