Legend speaks of a group of ninja's known as the Garo. Ruthless and efficient, they were said to be such fearsome fighters that even death would not stop them from achieving there goals. It is said that when a Garo Ninja dies, it leaves behind a shell to continue its work, even in afterlife. Now, the Garo where said to have been wiped out in a war long ago, and all that remained of them were these shell. Phantom Ganon and Dark Link were currently learning that this was false, as before them stood ten Garo, who did not appear to be mere shells.
Dark Link was the first to move; charging forward at the ninja's determined to cut them down. However the Garo had other plans, reaching into there robes each one took out a deku nut and threw it to the ground producing a bright flash that blinded Dark Link and Phantom Ganon long enough for each Garo ninja to disappear. When they regained there sight, they where surprised to find that they were alone.
"Where did they go?" Dark Link eyes darted around seeing nothing but graves. Determined not to let the Garos tricks get the better of them, Dark Link and Phantom Ganon slowly made there way around the graveyard, keeping an eye out for sudden movements.
"They are still here, I can sense it." Phantom Ganon said as he took to air, trying to find some sign as to where the Garo had hidden themselves. He soon spotted one making his way for Dark Link.
"Dark, behind you!" The Garo sped up his approach as Dark Link turned around. Using both swords the ninja slashed at Dark Link in a scissors movement, or to be more specific, slashed where Dark Link was. The Garo looked around trying to figure out where his prey had disappeared to, only to have his questioned answered a second later as a sword pierced his from behind. Dark Link had enough time to shadow-warp behind the ninja before he struck, just another benefit of being a shadow. As he removed the sword from the dead Garos chest, three Garo suddenly jumped out from behind various gravestones before Dark Link.
"So you are a shadow... No matter, we have dealt with your kind before." Each Garo moved in different direction, one to the left, one to the right, and the other straight for Dark Link. Dark Link raised his sword and shield and blocked the first Garos attack but had no chance of blocking the other two, and without enough energy to shadow-warp again, he knew he was in trouble. The two Garo approached swiftly with swords ready to draw blood, only to be struck down by a barrage of dark energy balls.
"Do not count me out of this." Phantom Ganon dived down and with his spear, impaling one of the fallen Garo with a sickening crunch. Dark Link jumped away from the Garo he was currently engaged with and moved in again, slashing his sword down his enemy. The Garo blocked with his own swords and both opponents stared each other down.
"You have no hope of winning. Surrender now and you will be spared." The Garo offered, but Dark Link just gave him a smug smirk.
"What, and miss out on the fun? Were just getting started." Dark Link backed away quickly, the Garo sensing an opportunity, thrust his sword forward at him only to be surprised as Dark Link jumped into the air and landed gracefully on his sword. Dark Link looked down at the shocked Garo.
"This really brings back memories." With a quick movement and the crunch of bone, Dark Link drove his sword into the Garos skull. With a back flip he jumped off the sword as the Garo fell to the ground dead. To his right he saw Phantom Ganon finishing off the remaining ninja. The ground was now covered in blood from the four Garo, and both fighters knew it there would be more before this was over.
"That was four, now how many are left?" Dark asked himself. Surprisingly, someone answered.
"Enough to finish you." The remaining Garo came out from hiding, six in all, and charged both Dark Link and Phantom Ganon at once. In an instant, Phantom Ganon drove his spear into the ground and raised his arms in the air, and with great concentration he began to channel his energy into a large mass above him. With a yell he unleashed a wave of dark energy at the Garo, sending waves of pain coursing though there bodies. Two of them however had managed to avoid his attack and were now making there way towards Dark Link. Sword met shield as Dark Link met with the first ninja, blocking his attack and countering with one of his own. Meanwhile, the four Garo that had been struck by Phantom Ganon's attack where beginning to recover. As they stood up, they could feel a presence above them. Slowly looking up, they saw Phantom Ganon floating above them, his hands ablaze with dark magic.
In there weakened state, they never stood a chance.
Dark Link skillfully avoided the Garo's attack as he landed a hit in the ninja's side, his sword creating a deep wound. The second Garo attempted to avenge his comrade, moving in to strike but Dark Link just shadowed-warped behind him, quickly separating the Garo's head from his shoulders. Now only one Garo remained, and with the blood pouring out of his side, his chances where not very good.
"I am not yet defeated. As a Garo Ninja it is my duty to complete my mission even at the cost of my own life."
"That's great, but I don't really care about your mission. All I care about is getting out of this world, so for it's time to die." As Dark Link said this Phantom Ganon floated down next to him, blood still dripping from his spear. The Garo ninja stared at them, a look of confusion in his eyes.
"You really have no idea what it is you are doing do you?" Dark Link and Phantom Ganon exchanged glances but did not reply.
"Fools…" With his final breath, the Garo ninja revealed a lit bomb from underneath his cloak and with surprising speed ran towards them. Phantom Ganon immediately took to the air. Dark Link had just enough time to raise his shield before being thrown back by the explosion, hitting his head on a grave marker as he landed. Before losing consciousness, Dark Link could hear a voice whispering in the air.
"To die without leaving a corpse, that is the way of the Garo…"
It was not long before Dark Link came to. As he lifted himself up he saw Phantom Ganon was sitting on the gravestone next to him.
"I have been thinking about our current situation." The phantom put simply.
"What, not even going to ask if I'm alright?"
Ignoring Dark Link's statement, Phantom Ganon continued "Before the battle began the Garo said they would not allow the evil to escape. What do you think they meant by that?"
"Well obviously they were talking about us. We are the worst things in this world, and I doubt that someone would go to all that trouble to prevent a couple Stalfoes or redeads from escaping."
"I do not think so. The Garo seemed genuinely surprised to learn that you are a shadow. Now tell me, do you not think that of someone went to all this trouble to prevent us from escaping they would have informed these men of who we are?" Dark Link said nothing, but the look on his face showed that he was beginning to question things himself.
"It is my belief that they were here to prevent something else from escaping, something that they believed to be evil. If we…" Before he could finish his sentence, Phantom Ganon was interrupted the sound of laughter filling the air. As it quieted down a poe materialized in front of them, one that Dark Link was already familiar with.
"Ha ha! You boys did it! I always had faith in you!" The poe swooped around the air letting out cheers of triumph, much to the announce of Dark Link.
"Knock it off!"
"Fine fine, no need to lose your temper over anything." The poe settled down after Dark Links outburst, but still let out the occasional giggle. "Oh by the way sorry about not telling you about the ninjas, these things just tend to slip my mind."
"I take it that this is the Poe you spoke of?" Phantom Ganon inquired.
"Yeah, but I don't remember him being this annoying." Dark Link put away his sword and shield and marched towards the poe with a menacing look in his eye. "Alright listen, you're already on thin ice for not telling us about the Garo, so now your going to cooperate with me and answer a few questions, understand?"
"Ask away."
"Why do want us to kill the Hero for you? Phantom and I have our reasons, but what's yours?" The poe just simply floated before Dark Link, his one eye closed as if in thought. Opening it again he spoke.
"Let us just say that Link is responsible for the form I have now and nothing would suit me better than see to his mangled corpse bleeding in front of me. There, how's that?" Dark Link glanced at Phantom Ganon, who gave a nod before he continued.
"Alright I guess that will do for now, but there's something else that my friend here brought up. Exactly what "evil" where those Garo referring to?" The poe's eye widened a bit and he floated up a bit higher, his ghostly body acting a bit stiffer than usual.
"How would I know? All I know is that at the bottom of that well is something that can get you out of the Dark Realm. Besides, what do you care about some evil escaping anyway? Its not like you care about what happens to Hyrule, do you?" Dark Link and Phantom Ganon said nothing. Neither of them really did care what happened to that land, why would they? Still, both of them felt something was off about this hold situation.
"I didn't think so. Now come on, I'll be waiting for you at the bottom of the well. I'm not going to wait forever so hurry up." With that the poe vanished, leaving Phantom Ganon and Dark Link alone once more.
"Do you think we can trust him?" Phantom Ganon spoke as they both made there way to the well.
"Hell no, but I don't see what else we can do so we might as well see this thing through." Finally they reached the well. It was nothing spectacular, just a circle of stones with dead vines covering it. Dark Link peered down, from the looks of it there was no water at the bottom so at least he wouldn't have to deal with that. Spying a ladder leading downward, Dark Link lowered his foot onto it and slowly made his way down with Phantom Ganon floating down above him. Soon they reached the bottom which consisted of nothing put a large dark room with a pedestal in the center. As he had told them, the poe was floating there next to it.
"Now that you're here I can show you exactly how you are going to leave this world." The poe waved his hand over to the pedestal and Dark Link slowly approached it followed by Phantom Ganon. In the center lay a medallion, beautiful in its design. It was a deep violet color and seemed to be a perfect circle. Carved into it was an eye with a single tear, the symbol of the Shieka. Dark Link reached out and grabbed the medallion from its place and jumped back, expecting something to happen. Nothing did.
"Well, that was a bit anticlimactic."
"What, you where expecting a huge monster to pop out and attack? Honestly, calm down and listen. That medallion you hold in your hand was created by the Shieka years ago as a way to travel from Hyrule to the Dark World. With it all one would have to do is recite the proper spell to create a passageway between Hyrule and the Dark World."
"So what is this spell?" Phantom Ganon inquired.
"I'm afraid that you two lack the power to create one yourself, so you will have to use one that's already been created. I believe you two already know the location of two." Dark Link eyes widened as realization hit him.
"No way in hell am I going back to the Water Temple! I haven't been back there in years and there's no way I'm going back now!"
"Then I suppose we will have go to the Forest Temple." Phantom Ganon said quietly. It had been a long time since he had been there and needless to say he was not looking forward to it. To him, all the temple represented was his failure.
"You two are smart. I made a good decision when I picked you." The poe floated higher into the air and began to fade away. "Since you already know where the passageway is located this should be easy for you. Now when you are close to the passage the medallion will glow brightly, when this happens raise it in the air with the eye facing away from you. At that moment the magic within the medallion will be activated and the portal will open. Good luck." As soon he finished his speech, the poe was gone. Dark Link pocketed the medallion and turned to leave. Phantom Ganon just stood there for a moment before following. As both shadows made there way up the well, the only thing going through there mind were thoughts of freedom and revenge.
Hello to everbody whos read up to this point! Thanks for giving this story a chance. I'll have the next chapter out soon, so thanks for reading and please review!