Yes, I know, another update already!Okay, no one had an questions, so I just have this to say... I LOVE MY REVIEWERS SO VERY MUCH! If there's anything I can do to thank you that doesn't involve money, feel free to ask! Without further adieu, here's Chapter Two! Er... I mean, thirteen.

Chapter 13: Just Hold On

Lor shivered, uttering a brief murmur of distress. He rubbed his arms with his hands to generate heat to warm himself. It wasn't a particularly cold day, but even the slightest waft tore through him like a gale. Something was wrong, but he couldn't place it. There was some sort of disturbance, and he felt liable to help somehow.

"Something wrong, Lor?" Artemis asked in concern. The black-haired boy shook his head and breathed warm air onto his freezing hands. "Are you cold at all?" he inquired, shifting his weight from one foot to the other anxiously. Artemis nodded slightly. "I thought it was just the autumn weather getting to me," she muttered, eyes cast downwards.

Lor shook his head and looked towards the southwestern area of town, where he had sent Hieke to search for Isis. Something was up, and it was something bad. "Let's go," Lor said suddenly as he started off in the direction of the sunset. Artemis frowned, but followed nonetheless. She wasn't exactly sure of the nature of the situation, though Lor had tried to explain it to her to the best of his abilities.

---

Link gasped, evoking a shocked look from Diana. He could feel it very distinctly, and it wasn't good. Ganondorf was back, and he was ready for a fight. The boy spared a glance at Diana, wondering if she felt it as well.

"You know what's going on?" he questioned as he stared at the blackening sky. Diana shook her head, mouth slightly agape. Link sighed in frustration with his worthlessness. "The King of Evil is alive again," he construed, eyes clouded with fear or regret. "We need to help. Diana, can you take us to the southwestern part of the city?"

The girl pressed her lips together. "I don't know if I can do two people at the same time…" she whispered, averting her gaze. "Then let's get going," Link said as he took the incarnation's hand and started walking in the direction of Ganondorf. No doubt Hieke was there as well, getting ready to fight that monstrosity…

---

Hieke screamed and collapsed to her knees, hand clasped tightly around her left arm as electrical energy surged through the wound. Ganon chuckled in satisfaction, a grin twisting his countenance.

"Hey!" Isis shouted, thrusting an arm in the monstrosity's direction. A sphere of flame enveloped her body and spread outward. Ganon held his cloak over his face protectively. When he felt it safe to lower it again, his smug smirk was absent.

"Foolish girl. Divine incarnate or not, you're just a little worm on my path to regaining control of the world," he said in a thundering voice. Lightning flashed in the sky as Hieke stood weakly, still holding her injured arm. Beads of sweat littered her forehead. Her hand made its way to the hilt of her bladed whip.

Without warning the Hylian girl lashed the heavy ax at her foe, successfully slashing a terrible wound in his leg before he could react. Blood of deep crimson dripped to the street, staining it scarlet. During this time, Isis had made her way behind Ganondorf and again used the fire magic she wasn't too surprised to learn she possessed.

Ganon, losing his patience with the two girls, launched a massive globe of black energy at Hieke. The girl dodged nimbly, but the aftershock knocked her to the ground. Isis tried to create her flame sphere to protect her companion, but only got a small spark. She cursed under her breath and instead ran headlong at the evil man before her.

"Isis!" Hieke called, shocked to see the girl behaving in such a manner. After all, Din was the goddess of power, not courage. Ganon swatted the charging girl away like a fly, and she lay unconscious in the street with a trace of blood trailing from her lips. Hieke gritted her teeth and crouched over the fallen Isis, feeling for her pulse.

She's still alive, she thought in relief. A sudden agony throbbed through her body, numbing her senses momentarily. Hieke whipped around and immediately lashed her whip, not caring whether or not it struck. She knew Ganon was there, and the strike would at least hold him at bay.

"Guardian Spirit of the Celestials, lend me your power for this battle," Hieke muttered, her eyes half-closed. Nothing happened, to her discontent. She shook her head and growled, then danced aside to avoid another blast of Ganondorf's magic. The evil king was spinning in mad circles, hurling out blasts every which way. Evasion was nearly impossible. She had to get him into physical combat if she was going to subdue him.

However, it was obvious that Ganondorf wasn't going to allow that. He had already established a powerful barrier, deterring all attacks. It seemed all the odds were stacked against Hieke. There was no way to win…

Then she saw it. The triple-pointed mark on Ganon's forehead. While it had been so very long since she fought Ganondorf the first time, she didn't remember that mark being there. It had to be some kind of fault. Hesitantly Hieke glanced over her shoulder at Isis. I won't let you fall go without vengeance, she silently vowed.

"Plotting something, feeble girl?" Ganon taunted. Hieke narrowed her eyes and concentrated on the three-pointed emblem. Somehow, she had to surpass his barrier and strike it. The protective aura encircling him almost seemed to falter for a moment, causing Hieke to perk up curiously. There it was again. It seemed the force field had a weak point that was rotating. If she could time her attack just right, she could surpass the barrier and hit that mark.

Hieke moved into an offensive stance, twirling her ax-headed whip in large circles. Ganon raised an eyebrow. "Surely you don't think you can take me head on?" he inquired pompously. However, the Hylian girl wasn't concentrating on his words. The point went by once… twice…

"THERE!" Hieke shouted, heaving the ax for all she was worth. It penetrated clean through Ganon's energy shield and collided head-on with his forehead. The blonde girl winced, turning her head to avoid seeing the gruesome sight she knew had occurred.

---

"Blast it ALL!" Dameus screeched. "Aiko, you wench! Bring the strengthening potion! NOW!"

"Hey!" Kaze interrupted as the door swung open. "Don't blame Aiko for your errors!" Dameus glared daggers at the Gerudo thief, who recoiled slightly. He didn't wish to incur the wrath of his master. He bowed his head upon realizing how he viewed this silver-haired man. It was funny how quickly he had come to know him as his lord and master. "When this is over…" he murmured to himself.

Aiko, meanwhile, presented Dameus with a small vial filled with blue liquid. The man angrily snatched the potion and shot a quick blast of dark magic at Aiko. Kaze moved behind her and caught her as she stumbled backwards. This time it was his turn to glare.

Dameus, however, wasn't paying attention to the actions or expressions of his minions. He poured the strengthening potion over the image of Ganondorf in his looking glass with a fiendish grin on his lips. Kaze regarded the looking glass warily, waiting to see some change in the pictures flashing across its surface. A brilliant ray of light burst forth from the crystal, temporarily blinding Kaze. He tried to adjust to the light, but found it near impossible.

"Dameus… what have you done?" Kaze muttered to himself as Aiko clung to his arm, still partially stunned from her lord's attack.

Settin' things up for a little OC romance with Kaze and Aiko, as I promised Dragon-Charmer16. The chapter was titled as such because Hieke has to 'just hold on' while waiting for her friends to get there. In case you didn't figure that out.

Hey hey! The new contest is in progress! Deadline's December 1st, and it's not an art contest! Check out my profile for further details!

And please, please review. I mostly know where this is going, but I'd still love a few suggestions every now and then! Love ya! I'm gonna go work on the next chapter now!

Oh, and there's kinda... anotherinstallmentonthewaydon'tkillme. I know almost EXACTLY where that one's going and I'm eager to write it, so I'm going to try to finish this one soon! Farewell and REVIEW PLEASE!