All I can say is thank you to all of my reviewers. I have made it so that, in the flashbacks, Ganon's special area under-sea wasn't frozen before Link got the MS. I will, once again, restate me question from chapter six. DO YOU PEOPLES WANT A FAIRY-TALE ENDING, A SORT OF HAPPY ENDING, A SLIGHTLY SAD ENDING, OR A VERY SAD ENDING? IT'S UP TO YOU GUYS. REVIEWS THAT STATE WHICH FROM LAST CHAPTER ARE STILL INCLUDED. IN THIS CHAPTER, IT WON'T MATTER, BUT I NEED RESPSONSES FOR NEXT CHAPPIE! (P.S. I don't own anything that Daryl Worely does, which includes all of his songs' lyrics/names. I just think that this song name is a perfect chapter name for this chapter. Also, I'm not a country fan, but I think it's a pretty decent song… All I gotta say is go Rock N' Roll!)
CHAPTER 7 'HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN'
FLASHBACKOut of the darkness, shadows appeared. They came forth, bold and fearless, and silently strode towards their creator. The two shadows paused, looked around the cavern with which they were in. The cavern had smooth, slick walls, and a small, stone staircase leading upwards. It carried on for miles, following the cavern's walls until the stairs hit upon a ray of light. The male figure raised his hand, focused on the point of light, and then squeezed his hand tight. The light there once was no longer lived. The black water underneath the figures' feat splashed wildly about, though the shadows acted as though they couldn't feel it. These magical beings were the start of a horrible fate cast upon the Great Sea.
"Zakreth and Flalone, look at me. I created you both from nothing, and I expect you two to listen to me well."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"I command you both to create a never-ending night and a raging storm."
"Yes, Master."
"Yes, Master."
"It won't ever happen, but if I ever die, I order you both to search and slay the one or ones who killed me."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Good."
Zakreth and Flalone began walking up the staircase, their movements calculated and powerful. The second they entered their master's castle, they walked out the monstrous door in front of them. Light shined upon their essence, and Flalone clapped her hands once, then twice, then spoke in the tongue of evil only she and her brother knew. Dark magic swept the waters, and rose up through the waves. The pair floated up with their evil, both of them silent. All of a sudden, light was, once again, cast upon them as they neared the top of the waters. They grabbed a hold of each other's hands, and muttered more dark magic. Clouds billowed from nowhere, pouring buckets of rain on the citizens of the Great Sea everywhere, and hail started to form. The Sea went dark, and the sun shined no more.
Another shadow came forth from the darkness where Ganon was standing. First, a blackish-blue sword protruded from the shadows, then an arm, and then finally the rest of the body. The figure was holding his sword out, prepared to face anything. Blue and red lines crisscrossed over each other, creating the illusion of a magic shield. The blue and red magic suddenly swept the cavern, and killed the tiny mouse in the corner. "You are my phantom." Ganon said.
"Yes." The figure replied.
"You will always obey me."
"Of course."
"I also order you to always obey the Shadow Twins' orders, too."
"Yes."
"Now, go above the clouds and throw lightning upon the islands and sea."
"I'm going."
"Good. Have fun. Don't fail me."
And so Phantom Ganon, the Shadows, and the merciless storm were born.
END FLASHBACK
Back at Windfall Island, Link was treating his wounds. Thankfully, an expert nurse was there that day, and was helping Link heal his cuts and bruises. Lola was anxiously sitting on a bench nearby, sullen-faced with her head down, facing the ground. She lifted her head, and stared out towards the sea. 'You're where my adventure began. If I hadn't agreed to travel through you with Tetra, none of this would've happened,' she thought angrily at the sea. But then another voice popped up. 'No matter what you do Lola, you can't change the future.'
And while he was being healed, Link told Lola about the part he left out of his adventure: his fight with Phantom Ganon. And so he now told her all about it, and why he thought the shadow figure was trying to kill him. "Do you really think that he can only die if you die, Link?" Lola asked, frightened. "No, I'm sure he was bluffing. And yet, I have the feeling that I don't know all of the Great Sea's mysteries." Link replied.
Link thought about what he could be missing to kill the shadow-man, but nothing seemed to make much sense. 'Well, I suppose I'll just have to continue with my search of the seas and slay every monster. Maybe then I'll find what's needed.' He thought.
It took Link almost one fortnight to recover. He decided that he would comb through every island, whether or not Lola would come. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to either leave Lola or ask her to come. Whichever way, it'd be disastrous.
Link couldn't control his senses, and, in the end, had a small discussion that night. He and Lola were sleeping on the shelf in the Bomb Shop, and the owner was polite enough to give them pillows and blankets. The white pillows had inky black smudges on them, and same with the blankets. "The Bomb Shop isn't very careful with their merchandise" Lola commented. "No, they're not." Link replied. "Hey, uhh, Lola?"
"Yes, Link?"
"I was thinking… would you rather stay here, or help my end my adventure?"
"I'd prefer to kill every monster who could have hurt that poor dragon…" Lola said very un-Lola-like.
"Well, then… that's… good. We'll leave Windfall tomorrow."
Link was pleased with the outcome. Lola had many hidden qualities within her, and he was glad she agreed to destroy the evil on the Great Sea. Hopefully he would meet Tetra again, in hopes that she would know more about the sea than he did.
Morning came, and light flowed deeply into the Bomb Shop. The brightness startled Lola when she first opened her eyes. Lyrial from Outset told her how to tell time from the position of the sun, so Lola exited the Bomb Shop, leaving Link behind. Lola looked up, and the sun's warmth swam on her face. She guessed at which direction west was, and determined that it was about 10 in the morning. 'Wow…' she thought. 'Back at Outset I would've woken up 3 hours ago…' And with that, an immense strain of homesickness overcame her. Tears began to flow, and her face became a bit red. It was at that time she saw Link watching her, and she turned her head away. In shame, she sat down and tucked her head into her knees. "Lola… what's the matter?" Link asked.
"I'm… homesick…"
"Lola, that's ok. We'll be back at Outset soon. Don't worry about it."
"Ok…" and Lola took one last, deep breath, and stood up. "Onto Outset!" she said with excitement.
CONTINUED FLASHBACK
Zakreth and Flalone, for the few days following the Storm, spent their time altering their image, so that, eventually, they could switch forms with relative ease. The only flaw with their plan was that they could only copy the forms of things they had harmed. Zakreth, becoming bored easily, started to scrounge his master's under-sea land, and killed every living thing he could spot eyes on, whether it be a bird, a turtle, etc. Flalone, meanwhile, concentrated on her throwing knives, and perfected it with ease. All in all, they seemed to be the most powerful being in Hyrule. That is, except for their one and only flaw… their Achilles' heel could ultimately kill them, but they went to great lengths to avoid this flaw when battling.
Darkness and light have battled for centuries. Legends speak of dark evils, and light heroes and heroines. The Shadow Siblings were about as black as darkness could get. The sun's brightest light would shred their essence, and even the moon's light would weaken the pair. Even if the pair would sit in the shade, the faint light would slowly devour them. Never, they promised, would they allow themselves to be beaten by the stupidity whose name was light.
When they were informed of Link entering the world below for his first time, they grew extremely angry. They sent orders above waters to punish those who allowed helped Link. Islands grew infested with Moblins and Miniblins, along with other evil beings. And when they heard how Link obtained the Master Sword, which was the only sword which could harm the pair, Zakreth gave every being under his command the privilege of guarding areas of the waves, and Flalone had all of her subjects permission to take over populous islands.
"Why did you allow them to destroy the islands?" Zakreth questioned angrily when he heard of it.
"Why not?" Flalone answered, also steaming. "We now know how far Link has progressed, whereas before we hadn't a clue until he entered Lower Hyrule. At least now we'll be able to warn the Master when Link comes, and therefore he'll be able to prepare."
"Fine, just don't let your minions take over Windfall Island. The people there will kill all of them before Link does."
"Fine."
And so it was settled.
The pair never went above waters, not until Phantom Ganon was dead forever. And when the pair heard that Link destroyed Ganon's Puppet, they raged above the waters, and attempted to stop him once and for all. Although, due to the coward ness that controlled them at the time, they simply ordered for the Labyrinth to be packed, and didn't enter it themselves.
END CONTINUED FLASHBACK
Water… Water… Water was everywhere. Blue was above them, and blue was below them. Wind lashed at Lola's face, and created a smooth, flowing tide of hair behind her. Link had his eyes squinted, and was trying to search for anything that would tell him where he was. Unfortunately, the magical map he once had fell out of his pockets when he was fighting Zakreth. And he couldn't use his Wind Waker to warp to Outset, because he knew Lola would probably get sick from it.
A tall, wooden platform rose up from the depths of the sea, towering over Link and Lola. A burst of pride shot through Link when he saw it. 'This is the final platform I freed from the Bokoblins' rule. Okay, now I know where I am…' He thought. Lola, on the other hand, didn't notice Link's emotions. Instead, she was staring at the water, deep in thought. 'I'm finally returning to my home… It seems like years ago that I became part of Tetra's crew…'
It wasn't until the large shadow passed over her head that Lola noticed the wooden platform. She ignored it, since by this time she knew that the Great Sea held many mysteries, most of which would never be solved. Her staring at the water then continued, and her thoughts turned to her parents.
Tetra scanned the waters too, as she herself and a few specially selected pirates of her crew stood on the deck of her ship. She was going full speed, just traveling where the wind took her. She was looking for anything that could solve the mystery of simply who her would-be assassin was. The Tower of the Gods loomed over her, and cast out a huge shadow. Tetra checked her map; they were heading east, and by now they were nearly off of the map. Dread overtook her, but she tried to throw it aside, not wanting to show her fear to her crew. 'I've never been past the map's edges… what's beyond them?' she thought with horror.
Tetra's ship speeded faster and faster, eventually leaving huge ripples in the water behind it. She checked her map again; and with horror, she ordered the sails to be put down as she realized where she was. "All men below deck, and work your butts off and turn the ship around!" she screamed. She herself went to the hallway of oars and helped to change the ship's direction. After she was fully satisfied that the ship was turned around, she walked back up the stairs and onto the deck. She went to the tip of her ship, and screamed again in horror. The strength of the current was so great that, even though she had 20 tough pirates, the ship was slowly going backwards. 'Nothing in my power can prevent my and my pirates' deaths…' Tetra thought horribly.
And ever so slowly, the magical dot on Tetra's map vanished, and Tetra said goodbye to the ocean she's forever loved and forever, until now, had control over.
Link sensed in his mind that something was wrong with Tetra. Ever since they killed Ganon together, they'd had an inseparable link between them. He ignored it for now, and continued to Outset. Before the actual island came into his and Lola's view, the pair saw a thick, black smoke rising from the island. After a minute or so, they got a better view of from where the smoke was coming from. It was billowing from the forest at the top of the hill. Out of frustration, Link shot an arrow into the endless sky above them.
AUTHOR'S FINAL NOTE OF THE CHAPTER
So, I hope everyone liked this one! I swear, this chappie must've taken me months… Also, just as a heads up, prepare for a nice little treat next chapter… (Don't worry, it's nothing offensive, it's just going to completely change the way this is going so far.)