Chapter 21

Past Illusions

Hit after hit, Link was dying, no doubt about it, even with the power of two triforce pieces…he was dying. For someone who constantly used servants to complete her evil deeds for her, Malika was strong, her powers stretching far beyond that of any opponent Link had faced before…including Ganondorf.

He collapsed to his knees, unable to stand anymore…

"That's right, bow before your queen." Malika taunted cruelly, enjoying this all too much.

"Never…" Link gasped out as he fought to stand under the never ending onslaught, but to no avail...He closed his eyes tightly trying to fight off the pain…when suddenly, it stopped.

"Why not pick on someone else for a change?" came a familiar voice Link hadn't heard in a while.

"You!" Malika cried out. The boy who had eluded her for what seemed an eternity, now stood before her…so willingly too.

"Yeah, and?" Chunk replied cheekily; helping Link to a standing position.

"Thanks…" Link whispered softly.

"No prob," he said.

Malika seemed to be in a daze, one of those moments where you could have waved your hand in front of her face and she wouldn't have even blinked.

Alexis had been freed by Chunk and stood clutching the sword Link had given her for the time being as though it were her last life line, slowly approaching Malika from behind. She had been overjoyed to see Chunk, but of course said nothing in fear of giving away his position…

Chunk and Link had the same idea as her and rapidly advanced on Malika while she was still in this strange set of mind…Link of course really having to fight to stay upright, but he was strong and he wanted his revenge.

At the last possible second, Malika snapped from her reverie and released dark energy beams scattering in all directions sending them sliding backwards…also taking out large quantities of the wall and ceiling in the process.

As bits and pieces of this and that caved in around them, Malika rationally came up with a solution, "This fight must be taken elsewhere."

In a blinding flash of light, they were all teleported from dungeon…to courtyard, a place Link wasn't to happy to be at. The place brought back so many memories of wonderful times he had spent here with Zelda…even as far back as their first meeting when they were ten. Malika knew this…now that she knew who he was…she knew so much about him that he would not be able to comprehend she knew…

"This place seemed ideal to me." Malika smirked.

Link was speechless…

"Whatever floats your boat," Alexis replied rolling her eyes.

"I believe we have a battle to continue." Chunk put in.

"How right you are." Malika grinned maliciously as she immediately launched a beam their way.

All three narrowly missed being hit. Link had recovered considerably well enough to be able to put up a decent fight. Him and Chunk both maneuvered in, avoiding Malika's attempts to stop them.

"Hello…" a cold, hollow voice whispered in Alexis' ear sending chills up he spine. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw who stood next to her…someone supposed to be dead…Dark Link. Only he seemed more ghost-like in appearance and the once intense red eyes of his were now only a dull shimmer. She didn't make a sound as she was too shocked and black shadow things slithered around her arms and over her mouth muffling any sound she would have made anyway. Dark Link held her tightly to him to keep her from getting away, "We don't need you interfering with this fight now do we? Only the Hero and the king are needed for this fight…you are worthless." All of this went unnoticed by the combatants.

An evil gleam sparked in Malika's eyes as she thought of something, Link still missed Zelda, why not use that against him? She had the power to create an illusion…she could easily do one of past events…She fired another beam at them catching them unawares and sending them rolling into one another. As they struggled to separate and stand before she could attack again, she turned heels and ran.

"Coward!" Chunk yelled finally able to scramble up and give chase.

Link slowly stood, Malika couldn't be running away, she was running towards the window that looked into the throne room…she had to be up to something.

His suspicion was confirmed when she faded through the wall. Chunk stopped running in puzzlement. The room appeared to spin for a moment and then suddenly a younger version of Link and Princess Zelda were standing in front of that window…then they rapidly grew older, becoming closer and closer to signify their growing relationship and then a kiss.

Link's eyes widened in shock, what was the meaning of this?

With the kiss, the room around them completely changed into a different looking, now enclosed, stone walled room and in the center stood Malika facing a past weakened Link…the final battle one year ago.

The present day Link's mind raced, what kind of sick game was she playing? Zelda was standing at the side lines confirming that this was some kind of…illusion...?

Link recognized this part of it all too well…the final blow.

At the time, he had been too weak to even attempt to move…that's when Zelda had come running from the sidelines, and here she was doing just that in the illusion. Logic and reason flew right out the window as the present day and non-illusion Link could not and would not watch her die again even if this was just a flashback of the past. He dashed directly at 'Zelda' to stop her from being hit by the lethal beam that had been meant for him. Much to his dismay, yet was obviously going to happen it just being an illusion, he passed right through her and she was hit. The scene of her death was playing before him and he just didn't know if he would be able to take it…was Malika's plan getting to him?

Oblivious to the fact that anyone else was around him anymore, Link tried to be strong and blinked back a storm of tears as he watched Zelda die in the illusion of himself's arms and her last words were said, "I love you and I'm not afraid." Back then, Malika had snuck away at that moment for reasons unknown, and here the illusion of her was doing it now.

Chunk and Alexis had watched this with confused thoughts, yet they thought the same things…Chunk knew that this had to be the person close to Link that he had lost, and Alexis knew it had to be Zelda. Chunk may not have known Link for all that long, and he sure had been a jerk towards him, but he hadn't missed the depressive moods he seemed to slip right into.

The illusion of that horrific event had hurt Link deeply like Malika had wanted it to, but…it had also allowed him to realize something…something he wouldn't have realized before.

Suddenly the illusion snapped away and Link 's sensitive ears picked up someone creeping up quickly behind him. He rolled to the side just as Malika lunged in with a dagger swiping air. Link abruptly clutched his sword hilt in a death grip and retaliated with such fury and anger, everyone was surprised, even his counter-part…Dark Link.

"You knew she was going to take that hit for me! You knew it!" he screamed in her face.

Malika's face darkened as she pulled away from attack range, "Yes I knew…I wanted to make you suffer the way you made me…You ruined him…my fiancée…you destroyed my Ganondorf."

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((laughs evilly))...I'm so evil…lol

Yup yup : ) lol and yes you got it FallenFenix, there was something behind that hopefully : ) Only there ain't gonna be another big battle between Link and Dark Link…he's there for other purposes…more than just holding Alexis captive…although not much more and he's only a ghost…basically. lol.

Thank you sooooooo much to all my super wonderful reviewers : ) It really means a lot to me : ) : ) : ) And now I will name off everyone who reviewed the last chapter lol: Jupiter-Lightning, da marshmallow, Emeralddestiny, SacredBlade, FallenFenix, dare to dream, harrypotterfan, and Liquid Earth. : ) : ) : ) Y'all rock: )

blondie91