Epilogue

"All right, let's go, lad! Time to wake up!" Uncle Albert's booming voice rang in Link's ears. "Way past time, in fact! Let you sleep in ten minutes! I must be getting soft in my old age!"

"Yeah, like a brick." Link muttered, rising from his bed. "I'm coming already."

"What was that?" Albert whirled around. "Try again, lad!"

"Sir, yes sir." Link gave in.

"Good!" The old Knight harrumphed, turning back to the door. "Can't have you getting a big head now with all this Hero of Time whatnot! Just remember that! Now then, today's the big day so don't go wearing any of those newfangled Goron or Zora clothes! Stick to the formal green tunic, you got me?"

"I'd dispute the classification of those as newfangled, since those things are older than you are, but fine." Link sighed, pulling on his green tunic.

"That's the way, lad. Now come on downstairs, breakfast is waiting." Albert grunted and led the way down. After they had eaten, he crossed to the weapons cabinet. "Right then, you'll insist on that shiny shield of yours, I'll take it… kids these days. Wasn't it enough for you to ruin mine? Red and wide enough to cover an elephant now! Still, I'll have to take it, there's no helping it. At least you didn't break my sword… and you've got a decent blade to call your own now…" He paused. "You haven't taken it back yet, have you?"

"No, Uncle Al." Link smiled. "That's later today, after the ceremony."

"Good, good." Albert nodded. "Well, we might as well be off…" He paused. "What are you grinning like that for?"

"Oh, nothing." Link shook his head. "I'm just glad you're back, Uncle Al."

"Yes, well…" Albert scratched his head. "It's good to see you too, lad… you did good. Ahem… anyways, we can't sit around chit-chatting here all day! Let's head off!"

"Yeah, yeah." Taking up the Master Sword, Link followed Albert north, towards Hyrule Castle. The entire population of the kingdom seemed gathered out front; Link saw all of his friends from Kakariko were closest to the bridge. Even Simon was there, fully recovered from his time as a tree. As he and Albert approached, they let out a loud cheer. Next were the Knights of Hyrule, lining the two sides of the bridge in formation. As one, they drew their swords with a steely rasp; Sir Remus and Sir Romulos holding theirs particularly high. Finally, in front of the gates, the descendants of the seven sages and their daughters formed a circle. Sahasrala, beaming like the sun; Aginah, smiling just a bit sardonic at all the formality; Morris, happy but still a bit vague; Tom, looking uneasy in the formal wear but still maintaining a grin; Quincy, quietly nodding his approval; Agahnim, wearing a smile despite a strange gloom in his eyes. Their daughters echoed their expressions more or less. And in the back of the circle, King Lucas and Zelda, both waiting quietly. Together, Link and Albert took their positions completing the ring and bowed to their rulers.

"Rise, both of you." Lucas instructed them. "You, of all men, have no need to pay me obeisance… if we were being honest, the other way around would be more likely." His eyes twinkled above his huge white beard.

"Father." Zelda chided him. "Be serious."

"Ahem, yes…" Lucas coughed. "Link… you have performed a great service for Hyrule, and for this world. By defeating the Forger of Power, you have saved us all from the great cataclysm, and the threat of monsters from the Dark World has been forever quelled. For that, there can only be one reward fitting enough. Link… I would like to offer you my daughter's hand in marriage, and my throne after I have gone on." Link stiffened up and stared at Zelda.

"What? I thought we talked about this!"

"Believe me, I tried." Zelda replied telepathically. "But he just wouldn't listen. Kings get like that sometimes. You'll have to tell him yourself… there's no way around it."

"Your majesty… your offer is more than I could have ever asked for." Link replied formally after a moment more of thought. "But I'm afraid that for the moment… I must decline." The spectators gasped and began muttering to themselves in astonishment. "Myself and the princess have agreed on this… my task is not yet completed. The Forger is defeated… but we fear he shall return someday. Hyrule must be ready for this threat." King Lucas nodded sadly.

"Your point has merit, Hero… what do you plan to do?"

"I will travel overseas, and visit other kingdoms." Link answered. "Many other lands in this world have ties to Hyrule… ties that must be strengthened. When the Forger returns next, he will be free of the Sacred Realm… and so Hyrule must be ready to respond instantly the moment he threatens it. Hyrule, and those allied with her. Holodrum… Labrynna… Termina… and other kingdoms. Many of them are settled by people whose descendants once lived in Hyrule. They will listen to me. And also, I will search for other legends… other artifacts and mysteries with power to stand up to Ganon. But never fear, your majesty… I will return, someday. And then… if the offer still stands… then, I will be only too glad to accept." King Lucas glanced at his daughter, who nodded firmly.

"It will, Hero. As long as I still breath. Go, then… do what you have to for the kingdom. We will be waiting for you." They embraced formally, then turned and raised their arms to the crowd, who cheered enthusiastically. At that point, somebody in the back-Link had a pretty good idea who-broke out the fireworks and other party implements, and the formal scene turned into a bash, slowly moving back towards Kakariko.

"Well, then." Link sighed as he looked around. The Knights had remained, although some of them had looked tempted to join the festivities, as had the sages… most of them. "Hey… where's Agahnim?"

"He's… leaving Hyrule." Jean, his daughter, replied quietly. "He didn't want us to tell you until after this ceremony, but he decided to after you brought him back to life… I think he still blames himself for everything that happened. I'm really far too young to be taking the position of the forest descendant, but we couldn't talk him out of it… not even a command from King Lucas worked."

"Oh, you'll do just fine." Sahasrala chuckled. "It's maybe a five-year head start on your friends… ten at the most."

"Speak for yourself, you old fogey." Albert grumped. "I'm planning on holding onto my second shot at life for as long as I can."

"Then how come I saw you face down in an ale keg the very night you came back?" Aginah muttered.

"Oh, like THAT's bad for you." Albert argued.

"Enough, friends." Quincy laughed. "We're all alive again, Hyrule is safe… let's enjoy the rest of our lives in peace, eh?"

"Yes, well…" King Lucas glanced back towards the castle. "On that note… now that the citizens are gone, there is one more matter that needs to be taken care of."

"Yeah… we should probably get that over with." Link sighed. "Let's go."

"Okay, okay, here's a new one." The tall, thin, scarecrow-like man in the prison cell grinned, brushing back a shock of flaming red hair. "A Knight of Hyrule, Volvagia and Lord Jabu-Jabu walk into a bar…"

"ENOUGH, Blind." A short, stout man with close-cropped black hair groaned, polishing his glasses. "Stop. Please. Your jokes were painful when you first started them. At this point, my brain's trying to climb out my ear and make a break for it."

"Like you're a comedy genius, Vitreous." Blind muttered, leaning in a corner.

"Come on, you two." A woman with hair the same color as Blind's hanging down around her head in loose locks sighed. "Stop bickering."

"Actually, I like his jokes, Arrghus." A fourth inmate, a beautiful Gerudo woman, smirked. "It's not like we've got anything else to do here."

"Why thank you, Mothula my dear! If that's the case, forget the one I was winding up to, I've got an extra-raunchy special just for you!" Blind's eyes glittered. "Ever heard the one about the nun and the traveling cucco salesman?"

"They're coming." The cell's final occupant, a lanky man even taller than Blind, spoke for the first time in hours from his position at the cell's door. Like Vitreous and Arrghus, he was wearing glasses, and his hair was a long mane of icy blue.

"Eh?" Blind scrambled over to him, and the others followed suit. "Well damn me, Kholdstare, you're right. Looks like we're finally getting paroled, fellas! And we didn't even have to bribe anybody!"

"All right, you psychopaths, away from the door." Link commanded, and the twenty Knights behind him and Zelda nodded. Grumbling, the former Eyes of Ganon complied, and the Hero of Time opened it.

"I still don't like this." Zelda muttered. "I wouldn't trust a single one of these creeps further than they could throw themselves."

"That would be interesting to watch." Blind commented.

"We made a deal." Link reminded the princess. "Everybody we care about came back. This was the price. We've set up safeguards. It'll be fine. Okay, go ahead and open the other one now." The Knights opened another cell and brought out the surviving denizens of the Dark World; those who had not taken part in the battle before Ganon's Tower, but had hidden away until the end. "All right, you idiots. You probably don't recognize these five, but…"

"Oh, I'm sure they do." Kholdstare disagreed, smiling unpleasantly. The prisoners shrank back, and Blind grinned.

"Hey, remember the time me and Mothula played a game of toss-the-civilian-on-fire in the middle of town square? Ha! Good times, huh?" The prisoners blanched.

"I think they've figured it out now." Zelda remarked to nobody in particular.

"Yeah." Link sighed. "Anyways, these five goons are in charge of you now. Let's go, all of you, up to the surface." The Eyes strolled along happily, Blind humming a little tune as he did, and the other prisoners followed somewhat more reluctantly. Escorted by the Knights, they were taken out of Hyrule Castle, where the remaining forces of the kingdom joined them and took them to the southern border of the kingdom. Once they had reached it, Link called a halt.

"So… what now?" Vitreous inquired. "We're free to go? Just like that?"

"To a degree." Zelda nodded. "You're on your own now… as long as you stay away from here. Go wherever you wish, but never return to Hyrule. We'll all be keeping an eye out for you, pardon the term, and if you ever come back…"

"We get the picture." Arrghus nodded. "It's better than we hoped for."

"Well, just don't get TOO comfortable… WE'll be keeping an eye on you two." From a nearby tree, two Hylians clad in black dropped down. One was male, one female; they both had pale skin, and even paler hair, snow-white. On their faces were matching pairs of sunglasses.

"Hey hey! Guys! Good to see you again!" Blind crowed. "I was hoping I'd get the chance to see what you really looked like! Not bad!" The other Eyes looked blank for a moment, and then Mothula smiled.

"Don't tell me… Handy and Neosquid?"

"Got it in one, babe." The male nodded. "And with brand-new ranks and positions to boot. We're the heads of the CHS… Covert Hyrule Squad. All us former Rag members plus some local stooges called the Bronze Hands are now going to be the kingdom's secret service… and foremost among our tasks is keeping tabs on YOU clowns. So don't get TOO out of hand."

"Yeah, yeah, be careful, Eyes of Zelda are everywhere, we got it." Blind rolled his eyes. "Anything else, or can we get kicked out of the kingdom already?"

"Actually… one more thing." Link smiled evilly. "I don't suppose you could do me a favor and tell me which of these two is which? They still won't spill…" Handy and Neosquid jumped.

"HEY! That's… that's… that's cheating!" The female of the pair protested. "Don't think we're going to pay you off for that!"

"Like you're EVER going to pay up on those bets." Link made a rude noise. "I didn't even place any. Well?"

"Heh…" Kholdstare slowly smiled. "The male is Neosquid… the female, Handy."

"We'll get you for that, Kohldstare." Neosquid threatened. "Don't think we won't."

"You'll have to catch us first!" Blind crowed. "Come on, you maniacs! Look out, Labrynna! HA HA HA!" Cheering, the mob charged off to the south. "Okay, first thing we need to do is find a boat. Now, we don't have any cash, so who knows their way around a dock under cover of night?" The meaningless chatter continued until they were far away from Hyrule, and the eyes of their pursuers.

"All right, they're gone. It'll have to be now… you'll want to get clear of us while you can, before they start keeping tabs." Vitreous decided.

"Yeah." Mothula agreed.

"You're sure you won't reconsider, babe?" Blind glanced at the Gerudo warrior. "We're gonna be having a blast… do you really need him?"

"…Yeah. Yeah, I do." Mothula nodded slowly. "Sorry, fellas… but that's the way it has to be. You're all free of him… you're right to want to never get involved again. But for me… this is what I am now. It's what I have to be."

"…Okay." Blind slowly nodded. "Then… just gimme a buss for the road, huh?" He grabbed Mothula in a sloppy smooch before she could protest, then jumped away before she could go for the sword at her waist. "Just for my time! We'll lead 'em off from yas! Now get going!"

"And hey… good luck." Arrghus smiled, and her brothers did as well. Waving, Mothula left her friends and set off to the west. Once she was clear of them, she paused.

"All right. Come on out. I know you're there, whoever you are… and that you're not the Hero, or the Sage, or one of their little spies. Let's see your face." After a moment, the man who had been following her ever since she had left Hyrule stepped out from behind a tree, and her eyes widened. "You?"

"Yes…" Agahnim the wizard smiled sadly. "Me."

"But…" Mothula blinked, confused. "What are you doing? You're free of my master now… you have a life in Hyrule. Duties. A daughter. Right?"

"…Not really. Not any more." Agahnim sighed. "Ever since… I came back to life… I felt different. More violent, more callous… and with an urge in my head to follow my master. He stayed inside me too long… he corrupted me. If I remained in Hyrule, sooner or later… I'd cause a disaster. So instead… I leave it behind, and come with you. For the same reason you left the others." His eyes began glowing. "To find those who can bring back Lord Ganon… and serve them in any way possible."

"…I see." Mothula slowly nodded. "You realize… the ones we search for do not take kindly to failure, and they have no care for whatever previous rank we might have held. Chances are we'll be rank and file…maybe a step or two above, but nowhere near the Eyes of Ganon."

"Does it matter?" Agahnim shrugged. "We serve him. That is all."

"…Yeah." Mothula nodded. "All right then… it'll go quicker with somebody else along, I suppose. It'll take a while… I honestly have no idea where they are. But sooner or later, we'll find the ones who can bring him back… we'll find Koume and Kotake. And Lord Ganon shall return to us."

"It's a nice sunset today." Link observed from his position atop Hyrule Castle's roof. Zelda, sitting next to him, nodded in agreement.

"Yeah… not as pretty as the ones in the Sacred Realm now, but that's not exactly a fair comparison."

"Yeah." Link nodded. "What are we going to do about that place, anyways?"

"Seal it up and forget it is my vote." Zelda decided after a moment's thought. "We can brick the actual entrance up, then collapse those tunnels behind the Temple of Time… Sanctuary… whatever. Then nobody will ever be able to bother it again."

"Good call in our book, your highness… that place has seen enough trouble." A voice behind them concurred. Link and Zelda didn't stir as Handy and Neosquid sat down next to them. "Hope you don't mind… just wanted to stop by for a moment."

"It's fine." Link assured them.

"Cool… hm. That IS a nice sunset." The two maniacs looked at the sky for a moment, then shrugged. "Hell with it." For the first time Link could remember, they voluntarily doffed their dark-tinted glasses, revealing eyes as red as blood.

"Heh… you knew an ancestor of mine well, I think you said once." Zelda remembered. "Pretty cryptic… I never would have guessed the two of you were Sheikah."

"Nobody else does, either… that's why we wear the damn things." Neosquid shrugged. "It just makes things easier… it's a pain when everybody's always expecting you to go around mysteriously appearing out of nowhere, offering advice and then vanishing in flashes of light. I wish I knew who set that stereotype so I could have you send me back in time and kick them in the head."

"…Aheh." Zelda chuckled a bit nervously. "That… would be a bit much even for me, I think."

"It was just a thought." Handy chuckled. "Anyways, yeah, we worked for the royal family back then too. Not in as much of a capacity as we are now, though… seriously, this gig is a psycho nut's dream. WE'RE the black ops cover-uppers now. WE have the power. It's awesome." She paused. "We're thinking of setting up an HQ… calling it Area 92 or something. What do you think?"

"Hey, whatever you guys figure will work." Link shrugged. "You're the experts."

"Excellent." Neosquid steepled his hands. "Now we just need to get our hands on some black helicopters… I don't know what a helicopter IS, but some crazy purple bat we've recruited for R&D assures us we'll need them." Link's eye twitched.

"Well, uh… good luck with that."

"Right!" Neosquid grinned. "So, I'm guessing you two want to be alone now, huh? Ah, I remember when we were like that… you remember those days, partner?"

"Oh, yes." Handy nodded solemnly. "Then you grew tentacles and suddenly the appeal vanished. I don't know what the hell the freaks who published those sick comics Blind liked were thinking."

"No comment." Zelda stated firmly.

"Yeah, I suppose that's not exactly what you'd want to be thinking about right now." Neosquid conceded. "All right, we'll leave you kids in peace… come on partner, let's go see what Bronze Roger's blown up NOW." Putting their shades back on, they vanished as quietly as they had come.

"They didn't even throw a Deku Nut down." Link complained. "You'll have to give them pointers."

"Shush. If they find out I'm the one to blame for the stereotypes, they might start an opposing political party or something." Zelda hushed him. Link blinked.

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"From THEM?" Zelda shuddered. "Imagine what the flyers would be like." Link led his mind wander, than smacked himself in the face.

"Point. Ugh. VERY good point. Never mind." They both fell silent, looking out over the kingdom together, as the sun finished setting and gave way to night.

"So." Zelda spoke at last, once the last of the daylight was gone. "When are you… you know… leaving?"

"In a while." Link shrugged. "A season or two… two would be better, I think. Three, maybe… or maybe a year. Idunno… we'll figure it out. Not for a while, though… after everything that's gone on in the past month, I DEFINITELY need some down time."

"Yes, it was rather exciting, wasn't it…" Zelda agreed. "So you'll just be relaxing until then?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find some things to do with my time." Link replied, deliberately keeping his tone casual. "I'll have to get Uncle Al used to the solo bachelor life again… Neosquid and Handy could probably use some help setting up their CHS, too… and of course, I'll have to drop by the castle all the time to bug you."

"I won't mind." Zelda promised, then paused for a moment before continuing. "Link… do we have to do this? Do you have to go… so far away? For so long?"

"I do…" Link nodded reluctantly. "And we both know it. Hyrule has to be ready. In our previous incarnations, even after we banished Ganon we spent the rest of our lives preparing for his return. We have to do the same here. I don't think he'll be brought back to life that quickly… not in our current lifetimes. But he will return, some day, and we'll be reborn to fight him once more. We have a duty… damn it." He bowed his head. "I… wanted to say yes."

"You…" Zelda looked puzzled for a moment, then blinked. "You mean… when my father asked…"

"Yeah." Link kept his head lowered. "Even though I knew what we had to do… what we had planned… I still wanted to tell him yes, to forget the duties… to be with you. I wanted to so much… and I couldn't. I'm sorry, Zelda."

"…It's okay." Placing a hand under his chin, she forced him to look up and see her face, smiling. "It'll be fine. Time doesn't mean all that much to us… Ganondorf was right about one thing. We're different from other people. He was… you and me are, too. We can wait."

"…Yeah." Link smiled as well. "We can."

"Just… come back to me." The Princess stared into his eyes. "Promise me… after you leave… that one of these days, you'll come back and stay with me. If you promise me that… then I'll be able to bear it."

"I promise." The Hero of Time vowed. "I'll come back. Wait for me, Zelda… I'll always come back to you. After this journey, and after every one… now, and forever. Nothing will ever keep us apart."

And in the moonlight, the Hero and Sage of Time embraced and kissed each other.

Author's Note

"Well, it looks like we're finally over and done with." Sahasrala sighed, closing the door of the Sanctuary and turning to look at his compatriots. "Morris? How's the checklist look?"

"Mm… wrapup of dangling plot threads, check… brief finales for important secondary characters, check…" The descendant of the Sage of Shadow winced. "Ominous foreshadowing-poor Agahnim getting stuck with that-check… final romantic scene, check. Looks like it's done, all right."

"About time too." Aginah grumbled. "I'm an old man, I can't do this any more. I need a week's vacation on Yoshi Island."

"I'm not even going to ask where that is." Jean, the newest member of the circle, sighed. "You old men are weird, you know."

"That's what old men are like." Tom shrugged. "You'll get used to it. Well, if we're done then we might as well-"

"Hold it." Albert slammed the door open, face like a thundercloud. "We're not finished here yet. One more thing to do just came in the mail."

"What?" Tom grabbed the checklist from Morris. "Everything on here is finished. What more does he want from us? Making the moon fall?"

"Don't give him ideas." Albert groaned, tossing a few letters to Sahasrala. "Take a look at who those are from."

"Hm… Spekkio, End of Time… Horzat, Planet Magani… Deis, City of Wisdon… oh, this isn't good."

"Now what do those names all have in common… it'll come to me, give me a moment…" Quincy's eyes widened. "Oh. AW, NO."

"Afraid so." Albert flopped down on a pew. "He'll be coming by any moment now, and WE get to deal with him. Those guys sent us warnings." Jean stared at the grim-faced old men.

"What the HELL are you guys talking about?" She demanded. "WHO's coming by?"

"Who do you THINK?" Aginah growled. "The head man. The big cheese… limburger, by the way. You-know-who." Jean looked like she would start cursing, but then it dawned on her.

"You mean-"

"Hey." The door opened, and a man walked through. With his black tunic, pale skin and shades he looked much like Handy and Neosquid, save for a long mane of indigo hair. "Sorry I'm late. Some idiot Helmarok made a u-turn straight into my face above Holodrum."

"You blew him up, didn't you?" Sahasrala demanded. "That's just GREAT. We NEEDED that guy. But we're just old farts, what do we know? Go ahead and ruin the future games, we don't care!"

"Hey, old guys kick ass." The strange man shrugged, sitting on a pew. "Now if I could just convince my editor of that. And no, I didn't blow up the Helmarok King. I just spiked him into the ocean. Birds can swim, right?"

"Somehow, the realization that I am meeting the man behind the scenes does not give me faith in higher powers." Quincy intoned sardonically.

"Quiet or I'll go back and give you even fewer lines." The weird man growled, then pulled out a piece of paper. "All right, enough screwing around. Let's get this show on the road, I've got a meeting in Corneria in an hour."

Thank Yous And Legalities

"What is that?" Jean demanded, staring up at the bolded words. "Did you do that? Get rid of it! Do you have any idea what'll happen if Father Brian sees THAT?"

"It's okay, I already wrote him a conversation with Bronze Roger over a missing candlestick that'll keep him occupied for a good half hour." The strange man shrugged. "Anyways. Let's see here… oh yes, gotta get this out first. I don't THINK anybody's having a self-insertion aneurysm right now, but on the off chance that somebody is, the Author's Note doesn't count in my book, okay?"

"Which book would this be, mm?" Morris inquired mildly, then grunted as seven hardcover tomes appeared in his arms, the last one missing a back cover and sprouting pages continuously.

"That enough for you?" The weird man glanced back to his paper. "Okay, now I gotta put this in. Zelda, all of their games and characters, and everything related, are THEIR copyright, and I make no claim to them. I'm just doing this for kicks. However, this novelization IS mine, and all of my own characters such as Handy and Neosquid are mine as well. Try to put this up somewhere else under your name or use my characters, and you'll have a certain judge of California who just happens to be my father ramming a gavel so far up your-"

"EASY, kid." Albert cut him off. "PG-13, remember?"

"Oh… yeah." The strange man coughed. "Sorry. I doubt it'll happen anyways, it never has so far, but I've seen it happen to other people, so I gotta put that down clear. Anyways, now that that's out of the way, let's get some thank-yous going! First and foremost, to Super Editor, my little brother DS, for keeping me mostly typo-and-plothole-free."

"About time you mentioned me, you hack." Another bizarre man, this one wearing a grey cloak, climbed in the window. Looking up at the bolded words, he sighed. "You misspelled that. Here, I'll fix it so that nobody notices." He waved a hand.

"Two of them now!" Aginah exploded. "Damn it, that's it! Come here, you!" He charged at the grey-cloaked man, who yelped and dived back out the window he had entered by.

"Okay…" The first weird man rolled his eyes. "Moving on… next to my old buddy and mentor, Erico; I don't talk with him as often as I'd like, but he's still a good pal who I owe for getting me into this business. I'll catch up to you one of these days, bardman. After him come the other four pals on the internet I've known for five plus years. To the Ethereal Ferret, Mister Chimpo, Lark and Chibi Schala, thanks for putting up with my rambling."

"Is that demon wearing a sombrero?" Jean demanded, looking at a picture on the page that the weird man was holding.

"Yeah. If you ever meet him, watch out. It bites. And finally, the sorta-kinda-almost good folks at Snipe Hunt, formerly Hazard Labs, a website I hang out on. It's no good posting a link, but if you're curious hit the 'homepage' in my profile. It's worth checking out." The strange man glanced up at the bolded text overhead. "Right, next section…"

Letters I Get!

"Stop that." Sahasrala swatted at the bolded text with a cane ineffectively.

"Quit your griping, this is usually a pretty short section." The weird man muttered. "As you can probably tell, this is where I try and answer any questions posed in reviews that haven't already been explained adequately in the story proper. And I LIKE reviews… and e-mails, for that matter. Makes me feel good knowing that people like what I do. Anyways… first off, C. Shannon asked if the trick on Vitreous with the Somaria Blocks actually works." He coughed. "Well, um… I'm afraid not. You can't have more than one block on the screen at once in the actual game, see. I think here, more than any of my previous works, I fudged around the edges with what Link could do with his items and abilities. But it all worked out in the end as far as I can tell, so it should be fine. The only other real thing of note in this section is that several people caught the mention of Project Nightmare. Those who guessed that it was a setup for Link's Awakening were right. I've decided that if I can, I will indeed write sequels to my non-Mega Man Novelizations in time. So all you Metroid and Breath Of Fire fans, just wait… they'll be along. Sorry Chrono Trigger lovers, my opinion on THAT remains unchanged… although if you're a fan of Square in general you might get something else soon to keep you happy. We'll see. Okay, that's it for that section…"

"If you mess with that stuff again, I'm clipping you one." Albert threatened.

"Easy, colonel. It's for the last time." The strange man glanced at the bolded text.

"Well, all right." Albert muttered as it changed. "But you better get rid of it soon."

Pointless Blather And The Future

"Well, how do I put this…" The weird man thought for a moment. "While I was working on this one, I've been thinking… my ultimate goal, after I've written all the novelizations I want to, is to eventually put out my own original material and get that published. In order to do that, of course, I'll have to get my skill level up to a certain point… something I think I'm making definite progress towards. I seem to be growing in popularity, I think. Logic tells me I should expand on that… I've been considering getting a website set up for a while now, if for no other reason than to put my stories up in their "true" form, minus tampering from upload system… most noticeably, removal of scene breaks. I know it's happening, and there's nothing I know of that can stop it. I'm sorry, it's out of my hands. Oh well. We'll just have to see what the future holds. Speaking of which, those who've been following me for a while now have probably already guessed what's next. That's right fellas, it's Mega Man 6. What can I say, the pattern works. After that… well, like I mentioned above, think Square. And then maybe someday we'll get to those other sequels. Until then, I think it's time I stopped badgering my characters… well, Nintendo's really, but the point stands." A chorus of approval came from the Sage descendants. "All right, fine. I'll get out of here." He turned to walk out of the door.

"And take this with you!" Jean wrenched the bold text out of the air and hurled it out the door after him, smiling and closing the door as she heard a muffled grunt of pain.

"Agahnim's daughter seems to have potential." Sahasrala observed.

"I heard that!" The strange man's voice bellowed. "See if you get any parts in Link's Awakening, then! Bah!" The sound of a teleportation was heard, and then there was silence in the Temple of Time.

Magus523, April 13 2006