AN: I do not own any characters from Zelda, aside from those of my own creation.

Bulbafreak9000: Wrong. This is not connected to Ganon … although there will be mention of him in the story, this bad dude is NOT Ganon. Be sure to remember that.

Loks: Thank you, I will keep the zelink stuff going. You will be surprised when you hear who the bad guy is … there are tons of surprises and more and more romance, adventure and action to come. Enjoy this new chapter

Some say the World Will End: Everyone does

Chapter two: Going Under pt 1

"You really must stop coming here with bad news," jokes Zelda softly, dabbing at Link's cut and bleeding lip with a rag. They sit on the same couch they had the previous day. Link has been forcibly laid down on her lap after much protestation, and she is now tending to his still painful wounds. Link grins, but quickly falters as the cut widens and stings harshly.

"Well excuse me for going after a murderer," the hero replies, and winces again as the princess presses a finger to his chest where the cut from the dark skinned elf's sword had scraped over. He now wears his blood stained, torn up green tunic again, but Zelda does not seem to mind much. "He was our only chance to find out what the hell is going on, and I let him get away."

"Oh for Nayru's Love, Link, you didn't let him do anything! He escaped you because he was skilled," persists Zelda, opening up the tear in the tunic to inspect the nasty wound further. "I am curious, however … a dark skinned elf. I have heard neither in law nor legend of an elf being dark skinned, aside from the gerudo, of course. However, the only man that was born of the gerudo was Ganondorf himself … it makes no sense, unless he somehow conceived a child."

Link's mind zooms into overdrive at those words. Ganondorf … a father? He knows of course, that his great foe is trapped in the evil realm, but the thought of another dark offspring causing more distress for Hyrule is unthinkable … and naturally his mind immediately begins making connections between the dark elf being Ganondorf's son, and if he were behind all that has been happening for the two days Link has been in Hyrule.

"If that is true, we will have to reconsider a great many things," says Link, forcing back a snarl of pain as Zelda presses a rag to the cut on his chest. "Such as the fact that if the elf was indeed Ganondorf's child, he must have a mother."

He saw Zelda's expression become that of inquiry. "A gerudo," she states. Link nods.

"Naturally," he says. "However I never thought Ganondorf had sex appeal myself; he might have raped any gerudo before he left to dominate Hyrule."

Zelda nods, then withdraws the bloody rag, and dips it in a bucket of steaming water beside the couch. Link looks at it reproachfully, before continuing.

"This possible offspring of Ganondorf," he says, "must have some unknown motives that are connected with the men who tried to kill me on the night I returned, the holes in the ground, the slaughtering of Lon Lon Ranch's horses, and Princess Ruto's disappearance. But what those motives are, I cannot place …"

"I have a thought," Zelda interjects, withdrawing the rag and swiftly slapping its scalding surface onto the wound, so that Link has to bite his tongue as hard as he can to keep from screaming as the hotness cauterizes the wound. "It is very far fetched, and I have no reasoning behind it, but perhaps there is some way that he could be thinking of reviving Ganondorf."

These words catch Link's attention, even through the searing pain. He gasps out "well, if he is, we must find out what he is doing to revive him, and if he is working as a boss, or as a servant to some greater evil."

"Ganondorf was always a leader sort of being," says Zelda calmly, pressing the rag harder, but hardly noticing as Link's tongue begins to bleed from biting it. "He was king of the gerudo before he left, and he set out to rule Hyrule, which he did for a short time in a nonexistent future. And if I am not mistaken, he enjoyed that time that he ruled … of course, not as much as he would have had we both been dead."

"So you think that he is working alone?"

"Not precisely alone. What would you call those men who hunted you?"

"I mean, as his own boss."

"I find it unlikely that there is someone commanding him, yes."

The princess withdraws the rag, and Link lets his mouth open. He pants furiously, suddenly feeling very warm. His lips are dotted with flecks of blood from his tongue.

"Damn it, Link!" laughs Zelda. "I try to help you with one wound and then you go ahead and hurt yourself more!"

Link waves her away and sits up, laying back against the couch, examining his dirty clothing. As he does, his mind slowly drifts back to their previous discussion.

"I don't think he can pull it off himself," he says. "Either someone commands him, or he is working with someone else as a partner."

"Well if he is, and he has everything planned, what significance does the attack on the castle last night signify?" inquires Zelda, rubbing his shoulders to ease his obvious tension.

"That I don't know," Link replies. "All of this is very confusing … which is why I'm going to visit Zora's Domain today."

"No!" protests Zelda at once, drawing him close to her. "You are not leaving here alone again! I don't want you to get hurt more than you already are!"

"Zelda … love," Link whispers softly, without meaning to utter the last part, but not really noticing, "it is my job to help Hyrule … my destiny. It is what I must do. And if I am to receive a few bangs on the way, then so be it. I must consult with King Zora. You must understand …"

"I understand," she replies sadly, still wishing he would not leave again. "I just wish I could help rather than just sit in the castle all day and get f––"

"Don't you dare say it," grins Link. "I won't let you say that word, because you know it isn't true."

Zelda smiles in spite of herself, and hugs him tightly. As she does so, her feelings for him flourish in her chest, and she opens her mouth, almost hesitantly––

The door bangs open. "Princess Zelda!" shouts Roosta, stumbling into the room, bits of torn paper floating about his form.

Zelda draws away from Link quickly, and stares angrily at Roosta, wishing more than anything to deal him a good punch. "Yes?"

"Information you have requested on the numerous pot marks across Hyr––"

"The dug up holes," interjects Link unenthusiastically. Roosta fumbles with a few sheets of paper, but nods foolishly. Link is also feeling a bit resentful for Roosta's intrusion upon him and Zelda's private interactions. "Yes, what is the news?"

"They have increased in size. They are now five feet wide."

Zelda and Link stare blankly at him.

"That all?"

"Um … err … that is … well, yes. That is all."

Link considers this news as best as he can, but does not see how to make anything of it. He simply nods, and thanks Roosta for the information. The chief knight hurries out of the room, still snatching desperately at the shreds of paper around him.

"Well … anyway …" says Link, getting up, "I best be off for Zora's Domain. I shall return in a few hours, if nothing is to go amiss. And I am sure," he says quickly, catching the look of worry on her face, "that it will not."

Zelda jumps up and gives him one last hug, whispering "be careful," softly in his ear. He smiles slightly, then breaks the hug, waves goodbye, and is out the door.

Deep in the dark, blank room, surrounded by carved stone, a single, solitary figure is huddled in a corner, bound and gagged, sobbing quietly to herself. The roughly chiseled rock around her scrapes painfully across her back, creating painful, bloody fissures, but she has no way to move from her spot, she can hardly wiggle. Tears stream from her bright blue eyes and down her smooth, blue skin.

A door opens, and dim light spills into the room like wildfire creeping across dried wood. In walks an elf with very dark, almost black skin. His glowing, purple eyes he fixes on the struggling zora, a sick grin on his face.

"Stop your struggling," he commands her. "It will do you no good."

But the zora only thrashes harder, crying louder, muffled behind the rag stuffed in her mouth. Growing angry, the dark skinned elf strides over to her and strikes her across the face with the back of his hand. She cries out in pain around the cloth, and topples over onto her side. Smiling darkly, the elf pulls the cloth out of her mouth, and sets it down beside him, kneeling to down to eye level with her. As she is pulled back into a sitting position, she says quietly, through heavy sobs, "Neam."

The elf's smile fades. "You, one as unworthy as yourself, should not speak such a name, for the reactions of such a dire decision could have reparations and harder beating than you could possibly imagine. How did you know my name!"

He says all of this very fast, he seems to have a quick tongue. The zora forcibly stops crying, and replies "I am a sage, Neam. I know many things that you would obviously prefer me not to. And the reparations for you kidnapping me shall be more dire than anything that you, you slime sucking filth, could ever imagine. You just wait … they will have your head for this."

"Oh?" laughs the dark skinned elf heartlessly, a cold laugh that echoes across the surrounding walls chillingly. It manages to raise goosebumps on her arms. "Who do you speak of? Who will have my head? The other sages? Their thinking is far too muddled at the moment with the return of a certain "Hero of Time" to realize just where you are. Don't you even begin to think that you have any superiority whatsoever above us. In just a few days, Hyrule itself will be in our grasp, and you, along with your entire race, and your sage friends, will be dead … princess Ruto."

He mutters the last phrase mockingly, as if to point out to her how easy it was for them to kidnap a princess of the zora. She glares back at him, her eyes searching his.

"You believe me to be an utterly helpless zora woman, do you not?" she snarls at him. "There are not many secrets that you can keep from me. I know of your plans! I know what you intend to do to Hyrule. I know your means of doing it, as well, I know that the Hero of Time is out searching for you, I know he almost caught you last night … and I know that you are the son of Ganondorf Dragmire, the King of Evil."

The last words she utters dry and drags it out with apparent distaste and enunciation, almost spitting them out. Neam's eyes grow wide and full of rage, and before Ruto even realizes it, a flurry of fists are flying down to meet her head. Pain bursts to life everywhere, and she is out cold before she can think of what is happening, four or five huge bruises rising on her beautiful face.

The dark skinned elf gets to his feet, staring pitilessly down at the zora.

"Filth," he mutters, then stalks out of the room, slamming the door behind him, so that it echoes through the underground.

Zora's Domain is a place of solitude for all outsiders who visited there. To some it seemed to be the only place of peace and total happiness, for it is a well known fact that the zora are the most peaceful race in all of greater Hyrule. When Link enters through the now dried waterfall from playing Zelda's Lullaby for it, he sees a rather normal sight––all the zora happily swimming, talking, walking around the many connecting ledges and archways, and diving into the vast pool of clear water below them. He has always enjoyed Zora's Domain, and can't help but––despite the current situation with all of the mystery swirling about Hyrule, smile at these peaceful creatures, carefree, it seemed.

He makes his way past clusters of chatting zora, who wave friendly hello's to him as he passes, but as soon as he is past, they duck down low and talk seriously. This behavior naturally catches Link's attention, and he dodges behind a stone wall that leads down closer to the water, listening closely to a nearby group of zora who are talking in low voices, despite their surroundings, and the fact that they did not know about the elf listening in to them.

"––He isn't so sure, really. Haven't heard much, have I?"

"Nobody really has."

And again, this sort of talk catches Link's immediate attention. He listens harder.

"It's been what, two weeks?" questions one.

"Bah, longer than that … or at least it seems like that."

"The King's trying to keep it hushed up, even from us, but it's obviously not working. It's pretty easy to tell she isn't here. She's been in every public conference, and if she just stops showing up, we aren't going to miss it, are we?"

Link has a very shrewd idea as to what they are discussing. Hearing enough, he hurries off, toward the long staircase leading up to the small chamber where King Zora always sat. It takes him a few minutes to navigate the tight, compact walkways, but when he finally reaches the staircase and ascends it, sure enough, the King sits on his watery throne, in front of the pathway leading to Lord Jabu Jabu.

"Link of Hylia City," booms the King. "What do you desire this day inside my great domain?"

Link is slightly surprised that the King is not more surprised than he is showing, since he has been gone for over seven years, but hides his surprise, and gets right down to business, not beating around the bush.

"I have heard news that your daughter, Princess Ruto has gone missing. I presumed that she has been kidnapped by an unknown source, although I have some rather interesting links that I discovered as soon as I arrived in Hyrule two days previous––"

"I do not know what you speak of, and if you make up such accusations about my daughter, then I shall have you hunted down by my own soldiers. And if you do not leave Zora's Domain right this instant, that exact scenario will be down upon you faster than you could ever imagine!" snarls the King, his voice echoing around the cavern. Link takes a shocked step backward; not expecting to hear the King talking in such a menacing tone … to him it is unnatural. But the overweight zora is very serious, and his glare pierces through Link's soul. He feels it is best not to demand answers when the King is this angry, and simply takes off running down the long flight of stairs, and through the domain, until he is out on Zora River, with Epona.

"I don't understand," he mutters to himself. The zora King has always been a friend and ally, and has always accepted help from Link whenever it is offered … so why has he just now threatened him and kicked him out of the Zora Domain? He does not have an answer, even for himself, and simply hurries out of the grassy area over the rushing river on Epona's back, his mind churning and boiling with possible reasons for this sudden change in character.

More clusters of dug up magical holes are there to greet him when he gallops back out onto Hyrule Field. He approaches one of them, slightly set off from the others, about thirty yards from the walls of Hylia City. Leaping off of Epona's back, he instructs her with his mind to go to Hylia City, he will walk back himself. Kneeling down as she takes off, spraying dirt up everywhere with her powerful hind legs, he examines the hole with a practiced gaze, and tries to reach down and touch the dirt.

An invisible barrier prevents his hand from coming near it. He withdraws it cautiously, hoping it isn't some dark magic trick that could curse him if touched … but when nothing happens, he reaches down again. The barrier stops his fingers again. Frustrated, he pounds on it, but sees no sign of resistance. It is simply invisible, impossible to see just where or what it is.

A yell erupts to Link's right, and his sword flips into his hand. He points it threateningly in that direction before he even looks, and when his head does turn, he simply sees Roosta, clad in the Hylian Guards bright plate armor, hurrying toward him, his helm under his right arm, sword at his side.

"Link!" he croons, but not happily. He is running fast toward him, a look of worry on his sweaty face. Link sets his sword back under his shield and stares shrewdly at the knight, wondering what he is doing out on Hyrule Field all by himself. He puts the question to him as soon as he arrives close enough to him.

"I could ask you the same thing," he retorts back smoothly.

Link grins appreciatively. Snappy talk is not something usually seen from Roosta, and now that it is put forth to him, he finds this side more entertaining. "I was looking at this hole. It's one of the thousands that has appeared all over Hyrule, remember? You gave Zelda and I reports of them just this morning."

"Aah, yes, yes. Hey, those wouldn't happen to be friends of yours, would they?" inquires Roosta with a collected air, not at all worried anymore. Link quickly forgets why he has stopped out on Hyrule Field, and says quickly "who do you mean?"

Roosta points a finger over Link's shoulder.

The elf whirls around, fearing the worst.

And his fears are confirmed. The dark cloaked men from two nights ago when he arrived on Hylia Lake are sprinting toward him and Roosta, their weapons out and at the ready.

"Oh shit," murmurs Link. The knight shoots a look of question to Link, completely mystified.

Link knows that both he and Roosta are no match for all of those men with just swords and magic. Desperately, he draws out his sword and drives it hard against the hole. The barrier stops the sword point, and it skates off, driving into the soft soil around it. He shouts out a stream of mixed curses, wrenching it savagely from the ground, peppering both he and Roosta in wet dirt.

"Who are those men?" cries Roosta, looking at them as they rapidly close the ground between them, the looks of menace stretching their faces evident. "What do they want?"

"They want us fucking dead!" screams Link angrily, "and that's what we're gonna be if we don't get past this barrier!"

"What barrier?" shouts Roosta wildly. Link ignores him. He fires a look at the dark cloaked men rushing toward them, and sees them no more than fifty yards away, rapidly getting closer. Standing up to his full height, drawing on his last resort powers of magic, he shouts out two, profound words from the ancient language. Bright yellow fire leaps from Link's right palm, the one not clutching his sword, and strikes against the barrier. A shattering noise clears the air around them. Roosta's eyes are wide with fear. The men are twenty feet away. Link punches down through the now destroyed barrier, and into the loose soil, which also breaks apart, revealing a blank dark hole stretching down into the earth, sucking in the air around them hungrily.

"IN!" commands Link, and he grabs Roosta by the neck, flinging him headfirst down the hole. The men are ten feet away, yelling out savage war cries. Link takes one last glance at them, before shouting out five more ancient words, and diving down the hole after the screaming form of Roosta … and behind him, the hole reseals itself with a similar barrier … the light cuts, and he is enclosed in darkness.

Moments later, he crashes down on a hot, squirming body. A trembling voice whispers to him, twisted in pain from the fall, "where the bloody hell are we?"

"Dunno," answers Link worriedly. "But you'd better pray to every goddess and god that you know that it's safe."