Chapter 23
Final Battle Part I: Beat Down

The castle seemed to be in perfect order as Link entered. There was not one sign that a struggle had ever taken place. Link's spirits were raised as he continued at his steady pace, so far, so good. He had to stay focused, that was the only way he was going to stop Zen…For Zelda he would fight and for Zelda he would be victorious. Nothing could stop him. Well he thought nothing could stop him anyways…

Link may have had the running part down in the Pegasus Boots, but after what happened next, there was no way to be sure if he had the walking part down.

Seeing as how the Pegasus Boots had wings on the side, Link's thoughts had distracted him and the next thing he knew, he had tripped over one of those wings and gone crashing to the floor. To make things even better…he had an audience. Zen's creatures appeared right at this precise moment, poised to strike. Link quickly hopped up from his embarrassing fall and whipped out his sword in an attempt to look as if nothing had just happened.

The creatures gave vent to an infernal croaking sound and then lunged at him, claws outstretched and ready to rip him to shreds. Link was clearly outnumbered, about twenty or so to one. Although, he knew if he didn't beat these things, he wouldn't even have a chance of getting at Zen, he would fight this minor battle, and he would win. He had no idea where this new found confidence in himself had come from, but it was there and he was ready to make something out of it.

The Master Sword was a whirlwind of death as it ripped through the creature's fragile bodies, having exactly what they wanted to do to him done instead, to them. Using the boots that had caused him to trip for speed, Link charged through the masses and in no time at all, he was alone in a room littered with the dead bodies of the creatures. Well, almost alone that is…

He had somehow missed two of the creatures and now they crept up behind him as he relaxed and breathed a huge sigh of relief at how smoothly that battle had gone. One of them jumped up onto its comrade's head and then launched itself at Link, its claws pierced through the flesh on his back like a knife through butter. Link winced in pain and took it out with a quick backwards chop from his sword. He hurriedly dispatched the other one of its head in another chopping motion and then staggered away.

Vera just happened to choose that moment to come flying out of Link's hat.

"You're bleeding," Vera stated the obvious as she examined the fresh blood on Link's back. Luckily enough for him, the claws hadn't gotten in too deep or struck anything vital.

"Nah, really? I couldn't tell!" Link spat back bitterly.

"Geez, I was just sayin'…" she mumbled, cowering away.

Link stomped off, he had no idea where he was going, but he hoped he would eventually run into Zen. He had a vague idea where he'd be though…having such a twisted mind, Zen would probably be in the highest room surveying his handiwork from a balcony or window.

Link walked up stairs and down hallways, then up even more stairs and down even more hallways before he was wishing the castle wasn't so big. Vera followed after him, trailing several feet behind with her head downcast as if they were headed to an impending doom. Of course, that was a possibility…

"You're an idiot…" Vera mumbled after a long silence between the two.

"Oh really, and what do you hope to gain by calling me that?"

"You have the power of super speed yet you don't choose to use it, sounds real intelligent to me," Vera said sarcastically.

"I'm not in any hurry," Link stated bluntly in return. "Besides, if I'm going the right way, then where I'm lookin' for is just up ahead."

As if sensing his presence, the door at the far end of the hallway opened just before he had reached out to open it for himself. Link shrugged and walked on in. His suspicions were immediately aroused as the room appeared to be set up in the format of a battle arena, however, Zen was no where to be found…but Zelda was.

Oblivious to the blank look in her eyes, Link ignored all of the suspicious feelings trying to break in and ran to her, pulling her into his arms and into a kiss.

For Link this was a bliss and long awaited moment, pure happiness flooded through him as he embraced his loved one whom he had missed for so long… His joy was short-lived however, shattered by Zen's maniacal laughter emitted from behind him. Link pulled away and turned to face Zen. "And what do you find to be so funny?" Link spat.

"The princess no longer loves you, she loves me. In fact, come here my darling," Zen spoke with his mouth twisted in a smirk.

"She's not going--…" Link trailed off when Zelda walked right past him and straight towards Zen. That was when he caught a glimpse at the void look in her once bright and beautiful blue eyes, "What did you do to her?"

"I did nothing," Zen stated plainly, an obvious lie. "She no longer loves you and that's all there is to it."

Zelda nodded, "That's right," as she now stood alongside Zen, all signs of emotion were vacant from her voice as well as her eyes. In fact, her voice was quite harsh and grating.

Link was crestfallen, he knew Zen had played some part in making her like this, but…he had missed her for what felt like an eternity and worried for her too…yet here she was, her apparel telling the story…Zen had claimed her as his bride.

As if sensing his dismay, Zen spoke in a mocking tone, "Stupid boy, you never should have come here. Your life will be wasted needlessly…but no, you had to do what was right. Just remember that when I kill you, this was your doing and you never should have listened to my idiot mother."

Link didn't respond…

Vera had stayed back against the wall hoping above all hopes that she wouldn't be noticed. Maybe if she didn't have to get by Zen, she would have made her escape already…but since he was there, she didn't really have that option.

Zen had certainly noticed her though and he cast a devious smile her way, "Vera, my dearest friend…it's about time you got here."

"Link's ears pricked up at this, "What does he mean by calling you friend?" he asked Vera immediately following this.

Vera remained silent so Zen spoke for her, "This little sweetheart has been working for me the whole time."

"H-how can that be?" Link was stunned by this bit of information. It certainly didn't help things when Zen pulled Zelda close to him and gave her a light kiss on her forehead.

"It's true…" Vera said so softly that her words were barely heard. "My job was to meet you in the Moon Temple and get you here as fast as possible…because…" she stopped.

"Because I don't like to be kept waiting," Zen said with a grin. "Now why don't you tell him what your reward was and what you were doing in the Dead Lands in the first place?"

Vera's tiny eyes narrowed into a glare focused on Zen, but she explained these things anyway, "By helping Zen, he allowed me to escape death. That's right; I'm supposed to be dead. My goal was to get you here in one piece and as quickly as possible so he could--…"

"Kill you myself," Zen's spine-chilling laughter rang out with this statement. "And now that is all I have left to accomplish, but for good sportsmanship, I'll allow you to make one last pathetic attempt to stop me."

Link no longer felt like doing anything, Zelda was under Zen's control, and Vera was a traitor…what more could go wrong?

Vera flew up to Link, "I'm sorry Link…" she sobbed. "You really are a great guy. In the end I never wanted it to come to this…"

"Shut up you idiot, you've done your part. Now Link, I'm giving you a chance of attack, either take it or lose it."

Link had thought the love him and Zelda had shared was impenetrably strong. Yet here they were, Zen's power having fractured their bond. And Vera…he had put his trust in her. Although she had been able to agitate him so easily, he had actually made it to the point where he considered her a highly-valued friend, but now all that was down the drain whether she was sorry or not.

He didn't fully understand why he felt such sudden reluctance over this battle, especially since he had been so confident about it not too long ago. Sure there was the whole Zelda and Vera thing…but Hyrule had not betrayed him. That was it, he would fight for Hyrule…

Link held his sword ready and charged. He would make Zen regret allowing him the first move.

As Link charged, Zen spoke softly to Zelda, "Go stand off to the side my dear." She did as she was bidden like a mindless droid, out of danger from the upcoming battle.

Just as Link was about to plunge his blade into Zen's body, Zen waved his hand with a laugh and Link was sent soaring into the far wall behind him, hitting it and then sending rubble crashing down to the floor with him. Before Link could even utter a moan of pain, Zen waved his hand again and Link was lifted up and then slammed into the high ceiling above, his body dropped limply to the floor.

Link struggled futilely to stand, but found that he couldn't. He felt as if every bone in his body had been broken as pain echoed through every ounce of his being.

"You must understand, this is all a joke to me…you can not win!" Zen waved his hand yet again and Link was slammed into a different wall. Link fell back to earth and collapsed to the ground, his sword having long flown from his hand. Zen was giving him a serious beat down, enjoying every moment of it as the life was slowly battered from Link's body.

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I had every intention of working my butt off to get this updated sooner than today but that didn't happen…Friday night I went to my cousin's homecoming basketball game and then yesterday…I had a track meet…that literally lasted all day. We left my school at 6 in the morning…didn't get back home until 1 o'clock this morning… and it didn't help that it was a 2 hour drive. o.O Then I didn't wake up until almost noon today…heh…If it weren't for you awesome reviewer people, I probably would have procrastinated and not updated for a while longer…lol.

Don't forget to check out reviewer replies!
-blondie91

Disclaimer: Still don't own LOZ…and I still do own all that other stuff…Isn't that a shocker?