Bargain With the Fierce Deity

Ganondorf looked at this new person suspiciously. It seemed more like some alternate version of Link rather than a god.

"You hold two pieces of the Triforce," Oni spoke, sounding like an emotionless version of Link. "Consider your life at an end. If you give me but one triangle, I will spare your soul at the very least."

"What?" Zelda exclaimed. "Don't bargain with him!"

"I don't know who you think you are," Ganondorf said, holding the energy ball in the air. "But I don't take kindly to threats!" The ball split into several blasts of energy that all surged toward Oni. The god stood there as they all exploded onto him.

"A poor choice," Oni said, clearing the smoke with his aura. The room darkened as he materialized the Double-Helix Sword. With one slice through the air, a disk of energy blazed toward Ganondorf. It bounced off of his armor, but sent Ganondorf flying backward. Oni disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room in the air. He spun his sword straight down at Ganondorf and smashed him through the floor. Oni raised his sword with one arm and swung it downward, sending another disk of energy down into the hole.

"Uagh!" Ganondorf's pained voice sounded. Ganondorf burst through the floor behind Zelda and grabbed her. "Stay back or she dies!" Geno already had his guns aimed at Ganondorf, but could do nothing more. Oni, however, floated closer.

"This is why you did not receive the Triforce of Courage," Oni spoke.

"Silence!" Ganondorf held his arm tightly around Zelda's neck and lobbed an energy orb at Oni. Oni caught the ball with one hand and absorbed its power. Oni raised his sword in a stabbing stance with both hands. He flew straight at them, despite Zelda being in the way. Ganondorf pushed her in the way and flew back. Oni phased through Zelda harmlessly and pressed the point of his sword into Ganondorf's abdomen, cracking his armor, but not breaking it. He pushed him all the way through the wall and sent another energy disk at him. Ganondorf dodged the projectile and sent a flying punch into Oni's jaw, sending the god flying across the room and sliding along the floor.

"Some god," Ganondorf sneered, clutching his throbbing fist. "Now die!" He charged his energy and both crests glowed on his hands. Then, he threw dozens of beams into the downed god, eventually causing the floor to cave in beneath Oni, Zelda, and Geno. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" he laughed as the collapse caused the entire spire to crumble beneath him. "You're a poor excuse for a Fierce Deity!"

"Your armor is crafted beyond mortal skill," Oni's voice echoed. "But your soul is poor. Greed and bitterness have brought you your downfall."

"Shut…up!" Ganondorf screamed, creating a giant ball of energy and tossing it down to the smoky remains of the spire. Oni, looking completely unharmed, flew out of the ruins and bypassed the projectile. He went into a spin-slash to smash Ganondorf higher into the air, cracking his armor even more. He teleported above the Gerudo and swung his sword like a baseball bat, sending him over the castle. He teleported again, but far enough to pour his energy into his sword and cause it to glow first blue, then purple, and finally black.

"Seyah!" Oni yelled, bashing his empowered weapon into the Evil King. The armor shattered like glass and Ganondorf was sent rocketing down into his own massive energy attack. There was a great explosion of energy and Ganondorf could be seen spiraling limply to the ruins. He landed with a thud. Oni snapped his fingers and Geno and Zelda dropped out of thin air and next to Ganondorf. The Evil King clawed at the gravel and began to tap his wrist as if there were buttons on it. Oni dropped out of the sky, aiming to behead him with a final plunge of his sword.

"I'll be back," Ganondorf groaned, glaring at Zelda and Geno. Suddenly, the Zelda-look-alike appeared. She glanced at Zelda with a smirk and helped Ganondorf up. Zelda was stunned to see someone who resembled her so precisely, even going as far as to wear her royal dress and silk gloves. The look-alike saw Oni coming down and disappeared promptly with Ganondorf. Oni's sudden halt mere centimeters above the ground caused air to rush all around. The ground cracked and melted beneath him, almost instantly turning into a small crater. His sword was in black flames and his eyebrows were arched. He frowned and planted his feet on the ground calmly. He snapped his fingers and Peach appeared on the ground a short distance away and Navi soon appeared as well.

"What happened?" Navi asked. "Where's Ganondorf?"

"He escaped," Oni spoke, making his sword fade away. "I have failed to carry out your wish, so there will be no pri…"

"Then return to the mask," Geno spoke boldly.

"No, stay," Zelda insisted, frowning at Geno. "We'll need that sort of power. You can fix everything, right?"

"Yes," Oni nodded.

"We don't want to accept help from him," Geno insisted. "His price is too high."

"Price?" Zelda said as if he was speaking absurdly. "He is on our side! Isn't that right?"

"Yes," he nodded again.

"You don't know what he'll do if we use his power!" Geno yelled back.

"That's enough!" Navi screamed, quieting them. "Okay, we all know this guy is powerful, right?"

"Yes," Geno and Zelda agreed.

"Geno, you seem to think he's evil though," Navi said, to which Geno nodded. "Oni?"

"It depends on the current definition of the word," Oni answered. "By the modern standards of this age, I would most likely be considered evil. That is likely why Majora labeled himself the hero, while I would be the villain. He was merely insane, while I…am merciless."

"…Okay," Navi said unsurely. "I don't know what to say. Every evil being I've ever come across would never admit to it like that…especially not like that."

"You are a guardian, are you not?" Oni asked Geno.

"Yes," Geno said. "It is my duty to protect the Star Road."

"I see," Oni said, glancing over at Peach. "Seeing as you all are having a disagreement and your friend's time is fading, I will give Zelda three choices."

"Why are you only consulting her?" Geno asked suspiciously. "Is it because she doesn't know any better?"

"Calm yourself, Officer," Oni said, looking down on the living toy. "I choose to consult her because she is the daughter of my only remaining servant. Ingrid has remained true to my ancient laws despite ridicule by the Hylians and her fellow Sheikah. Her status as a warrior is unsurpassed, yet her story remains tragic. The ancient ones who followed my laws in life have passed on to Heaven, Hell, and otherwise. She is the last. At the very least, I owe her next of kin, who deemed me worthy of summoning, the chance to decide the fate of this world and others. Is that satisfactory, Officer?"

"State her options," Geno answered bitterly, turning away from him broodingly.

"The first will appeal to you most," Oni spoke. "I will simply return to the mask, thus returning to obscurity and oblivion. You will have a difficult quest to complete on your own...but there will be no repercussions from me."

"You'd be willing to do that?" Navi asked. "Why?"

"My ancient laws are just that: ancient," he answered. "I am an outdated god who has little place in the modern world. And as the guardian stated previously, the price for my service is steep. I am fierce, but I am also fair. I guarantee you that few people will be happy with the second choice."

"Which is?" Navi asked.

"I will fix everything," he said. "I will travel into whatever world I need to in order to annihilate all that has corrupted the rightful order of things. I will destroy Ganondorf, his accomplices, his minions, and every aspect of his influence. Their souls will not be spared, regardless whether they offer the triangles to me or not. I will make them literally cease to exist, be it in this world or the next."

"That sounds…perfect," Zelda said, confused. "Everything will be returned to peace again and…"

"Tell her the cost," Geno said, still with his back to them.

"All will submit to my will," Oni said, still in his emotionless voice. "The Age of Darkness will truly begin. All servants and beings of Light will be destroyed. Everyone will have no choice but to accept my laws. Essentially, Ingrid's personality and virtues will be commonplace. Every man, woman, and child will be trained to kill without mercy and without feeling for their prey. It will not necessarily be a world of war, but rather...a world of warriors."

"And the daylight will be replaced with eternal night?" Navi asked fearfully.

"Of course not," Oni chuckled slightly, catching everyone off guard. "That would be just plain silly. The beauty of darkness cannot be fully appreciated without the pale, blinding, urine-stained hue of light." His eyes narrowed upon mentioning light. "Furthermore, nearly every creature under Farore's creation relies upon at least some form of light. I want to purify the world, not kill it."

"And the Goddesses will tolerate this?" Geno asked.

"We have an awkward relationship at best, but we are not enemies. They will not be happy…but they will tolerate it. And I will leave the Star Road untouched, so you have nothing to worry about. I may invest in replacing less significant stars with dark stars, however. The cheery nature of your kind will be purged." He turned to Navi and said, "And most fairies will probably be annihilated."

"That's a hard bargain," Zelda frowned. She glanced at Peach. "But at least there will be peace. Peach… She will be safe, won't she?"

"I'm sorry," Oni said, looking back toward Peach. "I neglected to mention her fate. In both the first and second choice, she will die."

"What!"

"The first choice is my inaction," he said. "No power or magic short of divine might will cure her. It need not be a powerful god, but it would require at least a lesser divinity. I'm afraid that even the most powerful Great Fairies would only prolong her life rather than cure her, since they are holy, but not divine. The poison that slowly kills her is made of an essence that exactly opposes, counters, and overwhelms her own. In many ways, it is similar to her kissing and crippling Link's dark side. Currently, I am the only one capable of curing her in time. If she dies…well, the only person capable of reviving her has long-disappeared. Not even the Sage of Life will be of any use to this cause."

"In the second choice," Zelda said quickly, "won't you cure her?"

"Yes," he said. "However, once I have performed my service, she will be among thebillions who must die. She belongs to the light."

"Can't you make an exception?" Zelda cried.

"No."

"Why not?"

"It is not my way to make unnecessary exceptions," he said. "You would be the only person of the light to be spared. That is because you are half Sheikah, thus half dark, and you are my summoner."

"Then, how can I save Peach?" Zelda asked frantically.

"What about the third choice?" Navi asked.

"I will cure Peach and leave you to your quest," he said. "I will retire from this plane of existence, just as in the first choice."

"The price?" Geno asked, turning to face him.

"She will act as a sacrifice for a future investment," he said ominously.

"Why? Can't you sacrifice someone else?" Zelda asked.

"That would be bothersome. You see, the sacrifice must be pure of heart. There is no one in this world with a purer heart than hers."

"What about her world?" Zelda asked. "Surely a land as colorful and insipid as hers would have a soul as pure as hers."

"Only one," Geno said, looking at the ground. "Purer in fact."

"The Wanderer," Oni said.

"Peach's mother?" Zelda said, cursing her horrible luck.

"I currently do not have access to her at all," Oni said. "By the time she will be accessible, you will have made your decision."

"Then…use Peach's mother," Zelda said, shaking her head in disbelief at what she was saying.

"I cannot," Oni said. "There is a chance that I will never have access to her. That is unacceptable."

"I don't know what to do…" Zelda said, sinking to her knees. "Geno?"

"It's out of my hands, Zelda," he said. "If the Star Road is safe, then I have no jurisdiction. My duty draws me to pick the second choice since it will fix the Star Road… but I value Peach's relative safety in the third."

"What kind of sacrifice is it?" Navi asked.

"I will set events in motion to have her become the vessel of a certain associate of mine," Oni spoke cryptically. "Peach will have freedom until the late springtime of her kingdom. A thousand-year seal will end and a powerful demon of shadow will take her as her new body. Her entire world will plummet into darkness…including the downfall of the Star Road. Hyrule's will follow suit soon after. Darkness…will consume all." Geno frowned and Zelda sighed.

"Can't you make any changes?" Navi asked.

"No. However, the price of the last choice assumes that she will survive that long. If she does not, then I will have to settle for the next best specimen, which can be found in her world. Furthermore, if you should reach the end of your quest in success, there is a chance that she will have a savior."

"Mario," Geno spoke. "He is in the Dark World now."

"Without his soul," Oni spoke, walking to a particularly large slab of stone. He lifted it with ease. There lay the crushed, but life-like statue of the Happy Mask Salesmen wearing a now broken Stone Mask. Oni took his sack and picked off a particular mask. He tossed it to Geno and walked back.

"A Mario mask," Geno said.

"It contains his soul," Oni spoke. "If I save Peach, there is a chance that he will save her. Legends spoke of a man wearing a red cap with that insignia who would save the same princess from the same evil for ages. A near endless cycle, assuming he succeeds."

"He will," Geno said, as the insignia of the Spirit Medallion appeared beneath Zelda. He tossed it as her feet and the mask dissolved into sparkles. Strangely, the image and sound of a "1-Up!" floated out of the sparkles and disappeared. Mario's soul was freed.

"What will it be, Zelda?" Oni said, making Peach's body float to them. "That day you were walking to the Shadow Barrier around Kakariko Village, you asked if you would be willing to make the same sacrifice Peach had. I heard you say that she sacrificed herself and her kingdom to save your life. You were not sure if you would do the same for her. You are now presented with a situation that allows you to save her, if only for a short time, while risking everything. I'd suggest that you make your choice within…two minutes." Zelda looked down and went into thought.

"What do you two think?" Zelda asked desperately. Navi and Geno did not seem to have a much easier time deciding.

"…The third choice," Navi said. "It gives us the best chance of fixing everything without the bad parts of the second choice. I won't survive in the second choice anyway…"

"Geno?" Zelda asked.

His frown turned into a grim smile. "Save Peach. She's gotten us this far. It may put the Star Road and myself in danger, but...she's still my friend."

"Thank you," Zelda sighed of relief. "Oni, we've made our decision. Peach is too important to us. Even if it's only for a while, we want her back."

"So it is said," Oni spoke, reforming his sword. "So it shall be."

"What are you going to do with that?" Navi asked.

"The poison is of a dark element that has buried itself within her core," Oni said. "Since I am of the same stuff, my cure will cause her extreme pain no matter how I do it. At the very least, this method will work the quickest since it will pierce her core."

"When you say 'extreme pain,' how extreme do you mean?" Zelda asked squeamishly.

"I'll bet she did not take very well to the Shadow Temple, did she?" Oni said, setting his sights on her stomach.

"No…" Zelda said worriedly.

"I estimate that it will be twenty times worse than the Shadow Temple, Black Mist, and the feeling a corrupted Sage feels upon being healed, all combined," he said. "It is a pain that would make even Ingrid flinch.You might want to avert your eyes." Zelda, Navi, and Geno all turned the other way and walked some distance away.

Oni plunged his sword into her and her eyes shot open. Her shrill scream was deafening. The energy of the sword poured into her convulsing body, causing her to glow blue. She grabbed onto the blade to remove it, but Oni held it there effortlessly. Zelda felt like ripping her ears off from all the noise. Then, it abruptly stopped.

"It is done," Oni spoke, holding his bloodied sword. They saw Peach lying there on the ground with a smoking, bloody hole in her stomach. It quickly closed up, but Peach was obviously still in discomfort and clearly unconscious.

"Will she be okay?" Navi asked.

"She will experience internal bleeding and shock for some time," he said, beginning to fade away. "Her powers will also be nullified for a while." He waved his hand and Zelda suddenly felt all her wounds heal.

"Thank you," she said.

He smiled and said, "When you see your mother again, tell her to loosen up. There is no more need to follow outdated doctrines anymore."

"I will," Zelda nodded as he completely disappeared.

"I think that was enough excitement for one day," Geno said, hefting Peach over his shoulder. The dark cloud around the castle faded and gave way to the clear evening sky. Soon, the fairies swarmed around the castle to meet them. Navi flew into the cloud of lights.

"We'll catch up later," she called to Zelda and Geno.

"Hey!"

"Look!"

"Listen!"

"There!"

"Hi!" The air was filled with small, chattering voices.

"Talkative bunch, aren't they?" Zelda smiled, beginning to walk back toward town.

"Tell me about it," Geno chuckled.

"Yeah," Zelda giggled. Then, her smile became slightly saddened. "Are we going back to the Mushroom World?"

"Hyrule has been cleansed for now," Geno said. "You're free to stay here. But I was hoping that you would come back with us to finish this. I have a feeling we might be dealing with something more than Bowser and Ganondorf. Oni's…associate…may well be the culprit. Will you join us?"

"Gladly," Zelda said.

"I'll brief you on the current situation later," he said. "First though, I need to consult the higher-ups. We'll have to make a pit stop to get to the Mushroom Kingdom. After we rest up, it's back to the Temple of Time."

"Zelda," Ingrid's voice sounded.

"Mother?"

"I'm very proud of you," Ingrid said, trying to sound more expressive. "You've done me a great honor to see my god in action. I have faith that you will solve our troubles…"

"So…you aren't disappointed in me?" Zelda asked hopefully.

"Of course I'm disappointed in you," Ingrid said warmly. The fact that there was no humor in her voice really spoiled the moment. "However, it is not your fault for being conceived, raised in royalty, and…"

"That's enough out of you," Malon's voice said. "What she means is that we're all happy that you've done all of this. We still have some work to do in Hyrule, rooting out other evils and stuff."

"Like the witches," Nabooru said. "I forgot to hold onto their souls. But I do have some great news. Link's soul has rejoined his body. He's in the Dark World, but at least we know he's okay."

Ingrid spoke, "We have reached the Chamber of Sages in the Temple of Light. Rauru is dead, but he is still able to help us. We can go no further in this world, but we will join you when we can. Hyrule pledges its allegiance to the Mushroom Kingdom. Every dead soul under my command also vows to help Peach when the time comes."

"Your assistance is greatly appreciated," Geno said.

"And Zelda," Malon said. "Remember that no matter what, I'll always love you…"

"You will always be in my heart, Malon," Zelda smiled, blushing slightly. "Mother, you heard Oni's words about you, right?"

"…I will try to express my feelings to the best of my ability. I love you."

"I love you too, Mother."

Notes: And that's the end of Sage Revival. I hope you enjoyed this dark little sequel. The third and finalsaga to Princess to Princess will be coming soon.Secrets will be revealed. Truths will be told.Questions will be answered or conveniently left as plotholes for you to bug me about. (Seriously, bug me aboutany ASAP so I don't mess up too badly.) Expect "Her Shining Majesty" to show up in the Mario section of this site. Or just check my pen name.