Title: Ganondorf's Return
Game: Zelda
Rating: TGenre: Romance/Action/Adventure
Summary: They thought all was safe once the King of Evil was sealed in the Evil Realm. However, he now threatens to break out and return to Hyrule once again. What will happen and what else threatens to hinder the budding love between a Hero and his Princess? L+Z
Warning: none
Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time belongs to Nintendo.
A/N: It is I, Koume, back from the dead to bring you all a new tale! This is actually the rewritten version of a story I began three years ago that I gave up on. This time around, it's gonna be better than ever and I'm not giving up on it Special thanks to Psukhe, my beta reader.
o O o
Chapter I – Returns and Revelations
A figure rode out of the woods on a young horse, a pensive look on his face as he held to his mount's mane in a manner that was almost possessive. He couldn't be blamed; the horse was his dear friend, and he had almost lost her once already.
Looking back over his shoulder at the woods he had exitted, he sighed. Termina would have been a beautiful land if he hadn't needed to save it from total destruction. He left Hyrule for a short holiday and trouble still managed to find him.
"Link!"
A familiar voice made the boy look up, his azure eyes widenening as he recognised his best friend running towards him, waving.
"Hi Saria!" he said, jumping off Epona and laughing as she hugged him tightly.
"Where've you been? What did you do? Who'd you meet? Tell me everything!" Saria demanded excitedly.
Smiling, Link led Epona to Kokiri Village as he walked with Saria, answering every question she asked him and gesticulating excitedly with his free hand as he recounted his battles as he fought to save Termina from the doomsday moon.
Link had quickly gone out into Hyrule Field to visit Lon Lon Ranch and leave Epona in the corral and was back in his house with Saria, still talking about his trip to Termina when Saria suddenly jumped up.
"Oh! I forgot!"
Getting up in concern, Link looked at her, "What's wrong?"
Slapping her forehead, Saria apologised to Link, "I can't believe I forgot! The Deku Sprout wants to talk to you."
"Talk to me?" Link asked, his eyes widening, "What about?"
"I'm not sure, but it sounded important!" Saria said, grabbing Link's wrist and running to the Deku Meadow.
"I've been waiting, Link…" the Deku Sprout's voice greeted them as they entered the meadow.
"I'm so sorry!" Saria apologised, flopping onto the ground and panting, "I totally forgot in the excitement of having Link back!"
"How was the trip, Link? I trust all is well?" the Deku Sprout asked.
Link frowned and shrugged, "All is well now, I guess."
"He saved Termina!" Saria announced proudly, "A Skull Kid from the Lost Woods stole a mask off the Happy Mask Salesman and it had magical powers and he turned evil and he was going to make the moon fall onto Termina and Link had to awaken the Four Giants and had to confront Skull Kid and then Majora's Mask got a mind of its own and possessed the moon because Link called upon the Four Giants and they stopped the moon from falling down and then the moon began to suck everything in because it had eyes and a mouth you see, and Link had to go into the moon and he fought the evil mask and saved Termina all by himself! All in three days."
If it were possible, the Deku Sprout would have blinked several times in a row.
"Okay… I'm glad to know you are safe."
"What was it you wanted to tell me?" Link asked.
The Deku Sprout looked slightly pained, "Link, it concerns Ganondorf."
Link raised his eyebrows, concerned of the news, but truly wanting to push the thought of the evil man out of his mind.
"When you sealed him away in the Evil Realm, he became dormant. He lost a significant proportion of his powers, becoming weak and not capable to posing threat again… but the problem is… in this time there is no Evil Realm. It was only created when Ganondorf got his hands on the Triforce, in an alternate timeline…" the Deku Sprout began.
"You mean… what was the Evil Realm when I sealed him away is now the Sacred Realm?" Link asked, "Then Ganondorf could get his hands on the Triforce!"
"Luckily, this is not the case. He is very weak. Too weak to claim the Triforce. A relic of such… divinity… would destroy him in this weak state, but however… he has the ability to grow stronger faster if he finds the Triforce. Just being in the presence of it would make one strong very quickly… and this is something we cannot risk Ganondorf doing."
Link looked helplessly at the Deku Sprout, "What can we do then?"
"That is for you to decide, Hero of Time."
Link sighed and looked away, "I gave up that title a lifetime ago."
"It seems to have caught up with you, my child. Go with Saria. I trust you know what to do?"
Saria nodded solemnly, "Yes, I will do whatever I can to help."
The Deku Sprout looked somber, "What you may do will be decided soon. Go now. I trust you will choose well for the fate of Hyrule."
"Link…" Saria said, looking into his eyes, trying to understand the difficulty he was feeling and then holding his hand, "Have faith…"
o O o
"Where are they?" she asked, pacing the crystalline platform she stood on.
"Have patience dear, he has only just arrived in Hyrule. I trust that he missed his home," an elder lady said, standing on another platform, similar to the one the girl was pacing upon.
Zelda stopped and looked at her guardian, "And what if Saria's forgotten?"
"You should have sent me to fetch Linky instead," Ruto said, sitting on the edge of her own platform, her finned legs swinging idly.
"Or perhaps I should have brought him here myself," she replied, almost sharply.
"I'm sure that whatever it is holding the kid up, it's important," Nabooru said with a shrug.
"Of course! Brother would never be delayed for such an important matter!" Darunia added.
Rauru sighed, "Patience, Sages… Link will come in good time. Everything will turn out the way the Goddesses intended."
"Well, I'm sure that the Goddesses didn't intend to have Link late to an important meeting that would decide the fate of Ganondorf, himself, the rest of us and, well, Hyrule altogether!" Zelda snapped irritably.
Silence fell upon the Chamber of Sages, Zelda looking at the middle platform with all their sage symbols on it impatiently, waiting for Link and Saria to arrive.
A green orb soon appeared in the space the princess was staring at, forming into a flustered Saria and a confused Link.
"I'm so sorry! I totally forgot to tell him about the meeting, I was too busy listening to his tales of Termina!" Saria apologised quickly, bowing several times.
Zelda was about to speak, but Rauru waved it aside, "We're glad you made it. This is a very important meeting, Link."
"How are we going to stop Ganondorf?" Link asked directly, the frown upon his childish countenance showing maturity that went far beyond his years – a look that, despite his lack of a fairy, made him look for once like he truly belonged with the Kokiri.
Rauru looked hesitant to go into all the details straight away and looked towards Impa for help, as she was Zelda's advisor.
"Well, we've got two options," Zelda cut in, giving Impa a look that asked that she be allowed to speak.
After a short pause, Impa ascertained she could speak and she continued, "The first is to reclaim your title as Hero of Time. Sheath the Master Sword on your back once more Link, finish Ganondorf once and for all. If you draw the Master Sword from its pedestal, time will be shifted forward again… the Sacred Realm will once again become the Evil Realm and Ganondorf shall be trapped inside. From there, we shall draw him out from the Evil Realm and you must face him in one more final confrontation."
Link and Zelda's eyes locked and for a moment, it seemed as if they were speaking through them, without a need for words.
Impa, who did not notice this continued where the princess had left off, "Your other choice, Link, is to allow time to pass as it normally would. You do not need to step up to the burdens of being a Hero again. We will simply lock him in the Sacred Realm for eternity."
Rauru looked closely at Link and frowned in thought, "You must make the decision quickly, but it is a difficult one… think it over carefully, Link."
"There's no need for that. I've already decided."
Rauru and Impa looked at Link in surprise but the determined look on the young boy's face stopped them from making any further comments.
Link looked at the princess again and she looked into his eyes, once again speaking the secret language between themselves. Link broke eye contact and spoke;
"It's time we destroyed Ganondorf forever."
All the sages seemed to release breaths that they had unconsciously been holding and instinctively turned to Impa, expecting her to give out new orders.
Looking at them all, she nodded, "Saria, Darunia and Ruto… please go to your homes and bring the Sacred Stones. We shall meet in the Temple of Time. Return as quickly as possible and do not let anyone else know of what we are doing."
The addressed sages nodded in return and left as a ball of light, each in their signature colour of green, red or blue.
"The rest of us shall await them in the Temple of Time," Impa said, looking at Zelda before turning into her purple ball of light and leaving the sacred Chamber of Sages.
Nabooru and Rauru left silently as well, leaving Link alone with Zelda. Both pairs of blue eyes interlocked for a long moment, without a word being exchanged before Zelda reached out towards Link, a familiar silvery-blue instrument in her hand.
"You will need this once again," she whispered.
Taking it silently, he played the Prelude of Light and was transported to the Temple of Time.
The mystical age-old temple was a comfortingly familiar sight as Link looked around, noting all the sages were already there, except for Zelda. As if on cue, as soon as the though entered Link's mind, he turned to the final ball of light and watched it materialise into the princess.
Rauru looked at Link and moved his long-sleeved arm in the direction of the pedestal before the Door of Time, where the three sparkling jewels Link had collected upon Zelda's request which, to Link as his azure eyes took in the sight of them, felt just like yesterday.
"This is your duty."
Inclining his head slightly, Link stood before the pedestal and raising his ocarina to his lips, sacrificed seven years of his life once more.
o O o
Link blinked. It felt different this time. During his quest, he would either take out or replace the Master Sword into the pedestal in which he had found it and in the blink of an eye, he would be either a ten year old boy or a seventeen year old man. It never took him this long and he certainly didn't remember ever having seen this bright red light before.
Suddenly, Link felt as though he had been jolted forward and fell to his knees, frowning as he grazed his elbow which he had thrown out to block his fall and blinking dust out of his eyes. He paused. Dust? From where?
Silent and cautious, Link got to his feet, realising he was still holding the Master Sword, tightening his grip on it as he noted so and pressed himself against a rocky wall nearby, tilting his head slightly to peer over boulders around him, blocking him from the source of the orange light being emitted a little further from where he stood.
Frowning as he couldn't see past the giant rocks, he sidled closer to the light, hiding in the large shadows cast by the rocks about him. Hearing the crackle of a fire, he supposed the fire was the source of the light, which only interested him more – who was at the fire and where in the world was he?
He suddenly heard a shrill scream that, although it sounded familiar, shocked him too much for him to recognise where he had heard it before.
"Shut up!" a shout came and Link heard what sounded like a weapon of some sort hitting a body.
The creature bayed in pain, but subsequently kept its silence. Having not shocked Link so much this time, his mind had the time to compute where he had heard this sound before – the scream as well as the baying. His eyes widened as he thought it over and over before finally admitting it to himself. Surely not… this beast couldn't have been…?
"Where in this condemned place is he?" the voice that had shouted out before demanded angrily. The lack of spoken answer was enough, but Link could hear replies in different tongues of… beast-language? He frowned and tested how well the boulder he was near was sitting in the ground before leaning against it, in hopes of getting closer so he could hear more. He now recognised every sound he heard. The sounds of creatures he had hoped to never face again.
Slowly, his seventeen year old face peered from beside the boulder and his mind registered the shock, though he had been expecting it, of seeing seven of the creatures he had slain in their respective temples when on his quest to save Hyrule. Surrounding the fire were seven of the nine bosses he had encountered, fought and defeated. Or so he thought. Why were they still alive? His frown deepened.
The voice from earlier, which Link knew, and now could see, was that of Ganon's shadow counterpart – the phantom that had been stationed in the Forest Temple, now spoke once again.
"Where is he? He told us not to be late, the hypocrite, how can he be late himself? And where are The Mothers?"
The Mothers, Link assumed, were the twin sorceress sisters, Koume and Kotake otherwise known as Twinrova, the resident witches in the Spirit Temple before Link had ridden the place of them. He had heard that the sisters had mothered Ganondorf, or something of the like. He didn't know the details and didn't care to know them either.
Suddenly, he saw what seemed to be a large dark cloud of black and purple and it materialised much, to Link's discomfort, like the way a sage would materialise from their ball of light. All seven other creatures who were previously waiting with what seemed to be impatience, turned eagerly to the man who now stood there, already emanating an aura of authority. Link's eyes narrowed as he recognised the man he had learned to loathe. Ganondorf. Almost immediately, a blue and red ball appeared on either side of the King of Evil and spun around to reveal the twins Koume and Kotake.
"Excuse us," Koume said, though it was clear she didn't care whether the others did or not, "We were busy."
"Very busy," seconded Kotake, her expression identical to her sister's, "Weren't we Ganon?"
The two cackled in unison and Link noticed that Phantom Ganon, who had opened his mouth to yell at them for being later than Ganondorf, shut it when he heard they were actually accompanying him.
With the faintest of smiles, Ganondorf now looked at the creatures around him, "Down to business. For quite some time now, we have been trying desperately to exact revenge upon the pathetic excuse for a boy named Link. Of course, due to our current predicament…"
There were mutters, clicks of pincers and low roars as Ganondorf trailed off and Link wondered exactly what this predicament he spoke of was. It seemed they were all alive and well, which Link knew, meant they could attack Hyrule at any time. Any further thought was cut off by Ganondorf continuing to speak.
"However. My Mothers have come forth with an idea that just might work and help us overcome this barrier."
The witches gave all the others contemptuous looks, resting for most of the time, Link noticed, upon Phantom Ganon, who definitely seemed enangered. To rub salt in the wound, Ganondorf added;
"Though I am surprised my shadow did not think of it before. I was actually thinking of this plan a long time ago, but lacked the sufficient information as to how I would put it into action, which Twinrova have helped me with. I am disappointed you didn't tell me of this idea, Phantom."
Despite the cackles from the witches and a small smirk upon Ganondorf's face, his expression darkened almost immediately.
"I am going to make Link pay for this. I swear it. I will never forget what he did to me, to all of us! Damn his virtuous soul for eternity. How dare he place us here, while he lives in the world that should rightfully be ours. How dare he live while we are made to waste away here, in the Evil Realm."
The impact of these words hit Link at full blast. The Evil Realm. He was in the Evil Realm? How did he end up here? So he, quite foolishly, did the only thing he could do at the moment – shout in shock and in result, betraying his hiding place, and the fact of his presence in general, to the nine evil creatures, all of whom were looking at him, a cruel kind of mirth glinting in their dark eyes.
Swearing mentally, Link was aware of the weight of the Master Sword in his left hand and warily lifted it, his confidence almost entirely diminished as he thought of the prospect of taking on all the bosses at once.
"Well… it seems as if our job's suddenly been made all that much easier for us," Phantom Ganon sneered, lifting his weapon menacingly.
"How did you get here?" Ganondorf cut in, leering at Link, obviously thinking more than his shadow counterpart, "Surely if you've been killed, your pathetic soul would be beamed up to the Goddesses."
"Who cares!" Kotake screamed shrilly, "I'm going to get my revenge!"
Link's eyes widened in fear as all the creatures charged at him at once. Only then he noticed the lack of a shield as he raised his arm protectively in front of him though he knew it wouldn't be of much assistance and raised his sword, hoping to the Goddesses that he would get out of this alive.
All of a sudden, his eyes stopped working. Or rather, he couldn't see anything but a bright blue light which felt comfortingly familiar – it was the coloured light that usually surrounded him as he sped through time with the aid of the Master Sword. Before his mind could register the pain of it, Link's body was thrown back from the pedestal and he slid along the floor, hitting the other pedestal, which carried the Sacred Stones on it, to stop him.
He heard screams and shouts of fear. Trying to get up, he groaned as his head was still spinning and he collapsed onto the floor again.
"Link! Link!" it was Rauru's voice calling to him and even though he knew Rauru was trying to lift him up and the voice was coming from right next to where he lay, it still sounded so far away.
He slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Princess Zelda, seventeen years old, beautiful and with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Noticing he was conscious, even thought it was just barely, she smiled at him. He smiled weakly in return, trying to hide the intense pain and fear writhing within him, and then did something he had never done in his life. Clutching his side and arching forwards, Link retched his terror on the impassive stone, his eyes bleary as consciousness faded, hints of blood swimming amongst the evil.