Chapter 22: Clear Skies

Hunt for the Abducted Students Arc

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.

Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.

"The Forgotten City" - Final Fantasy VII OST. Scene 1 (First Half).

"Moments of Peace" - Dynasty Warriors V OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).

"Beedle's Shop" - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker OST. Scene 2 (First Half).

"Warm Supper" - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).


Having just barely survived the onslaught of the incredibly powerful group of mercenaries by the name of the 'Templars of the Weeping Stars' in their abrupt conquering of Kaiohdrahl, Link at last recovers from his earlier grievous injury with the Templars' commander – Velkarez Grigovich himself. Seemingly a former Stralanavian colonel of some renown and now charismatic mercenary commander, his well-chosen gambit of launching an offensive on the ill-prepared city of Tiverpool and Kaiohdrahl itself paid off in droves; it is brutal and without warning, an offensive manoeuvre that leaves the poor people of Tiverpool City and its castle to the sword.

In their mutually-travelling directions in order to reach Kaiohdrahl for the next national championship martial arts tournament, the heroes travel separately from the sociable Link's raven-haired rival; last surviving member of the Van Garrick clan and recently-crowned Hylian champion himself, Raynard Van Garrick and his mentor Scaverin. In his elusive and bizarre quest, Scaverin hopes to attain some form of 'torment', as he volunteers to be taken prisoner by these horrific men of the Templars.

Normally not a sane request of any man but in Scaverin's strange and near-insane machinations, one can only wonder.

As the heroes approach Kaiohdrahl, however, they soon become embroiled fairly quickly within the troubles the city begins to suffer under; a fact reflected by the screaming citizens that flee in terror as a result of the Templars' sudden and savage assault. Naturally opting to assist the people, Hyrule's former Hero of Time puts down as many men as he can before he is at last confronted with the orchestrator of the assault; the commander himself, Velkarez Grigovich. He offers the blonde boy a single one-on-one duel with each other as a way to appease not only the living citizens within but the disgruntled heroes themselves.

Link, of course, accepts.

Although he fights valiantly Link is put to the spear, he grossly underestimates the incredible power that Velkarez possesses and pays the price for it; death. As he lays in a bloody broken heap the seemingly honourable Velkarez himself offers the rest of the hero's party with a choice; to leave with no soldiers in pursuit of their own forces. In great spite to his offer, however, the angered companions of their fallen friend opt instead to pursue Velkarez's military force on their way to Tiverpool Castle, joined by the hanger-on behind them, Raynard himself.

In reaching Tiverpool Castle Impa and the rest of the party soon discover just how powerful Velkarez and his commanding forces are; in the short time they decided to leave to avenge Link's death, the Templars and their commander had already managed to quickly overwhelm and conquer the fort with frightening speed and ease.

A horrifying sight indeed but it is one that the group all swallow down harshly, like a hardened pill with no water.

As they approach and begin to clash with the ever-confident Velkarez himself, he agrees to indulge the group of heroes and even chooses to take them all on at once; an astonishing sight that he proves fairly quickly by not only near-killing Barkner and Alwyn, but by torturing the hardy Impa, Vassia and Sheik. Raynard, thankfully however, manages to intercept just in time; a small but rising twig of morale for the watching group that has them cheering for their fallen blonde's rival.

Raynard hits Velkarez with nearly everything he has and, as half-expected, the man appears to be injured but also shrugs it off; a shocking sight indeed. He further goads the spiky-haired mercenary by insulting his only companion, the deceased Link and draws his blood to a boil; the last of the Van Garricks activates the forbidden art of his mentor's magic and undoes what remains of his current limitations, all in an effort to kill the troublesome Templars' commander.

Although Raynard's attempt is bold and even gallant at that, it inevitably also too fails in its hard-won effort; Velkarez puts down the angry youth as he has done with the rest of Aurelia's warriors before turning on the only remaining person conscious.

Sheik.

Knowing of her connection to Hyrule's princess, having seen her in his original advance through Tiverpool City, Velkarez hopes to extract information from her and begins the torture methods he utilised on her attendant Impa. His efforts are firm and ruthless, all in his desire and hunger for Hyrule's and the Sainted Three's legacy; the holy Triforce itself. Unfortunately for him, however, the safeguards built up by the royal family of Hyrule for decades manage to activate and prevent him from delving too deep in the young girl's mind; a fact that ires and angers the man to the point of willing to torture her physically.

Thankfully, before he can manage to do just that, another shocking revelation occurs; the ever-grinning Link himself re-appears, inexplicably restored and revitalised once again. He rescues the shocked Sheik and reveals to her that he is given a second chance, not by her, but by the mysterious godlike figure he once met in his time-travelling pilgrimage through Termina.

The Sorcerer of the Divine Divide himself.

The elusive and enigmatic shadowed man undoes any remaining holds on the blonde boy's potential in an effort to increase his power but warns him that, in his eventual rematch with Velkarez, he cannot hope to rely on it to beat the man.

Velkarez, in all of his many years as a military commander, is just far too strong.

The Sorcerer also warns him that, though one last option exists in the use of the Fierce Deity's Mask, it is also a trap; should he continue to rely on the Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai and the godlike power of the Fierce Deity, he will step ever closer into the shadow of what he will eventually become.

'Akuma', Bringer of Misery.

Having already been warned by the Last Garo and Aki Kitamura of Rockvale Temple in Termina that he walks this path, Link knows that the key to this destiny lies in the shadow he already clashes with, his second side; the demonic will himself, Kage Narumono. An existence that Sheik in Link's original timeline once referred to as 'Dark Link', Kage is essentially a maddened persona gone insane by the incredible storybook strength of the Shinzui; the divine-like chaotic Aegir that exists within the holy Triforce of Courage.

In great spite to all of these warnings, however, Link at last opts to rely on the Fierce Deity's unchallenged power; a choice not taken lightly. Once Velkarez eventually ups his own limits and forces Link up against a wall, the young Hylian eventually drops the use of his Goron and Zoran Masks before relying on the Shinzui one last time.

The difference is like night and day; although Link himself struggled greatly to even keep up with Velkarez, the Fierce Deity instead completely eclipses Velkarez. A fact that sets the former Stralanavian colonel's eventual defeat into motion; he sends his whole force after the godlike entity and eventually falls to his sword and to the trademark and telltale technique of the Shinzui itself. The 'Rikudo Osatsu'.

Translated to modern Hylian as 'Exorcism of the Six Realms'.

Link, under the persona of the Fierce Deity, savagely and mercilessly beats the wide-eyed Velkarez so badly he essentially manages to extract his soul and damns it for all time; a horrifying sight that the watching Sheik only manages to catch glimpses of, as the Shinzui itself blocks off all viewers of its enviable techniques.

His choice and free will once thankfully regained and Kaiohdrahl now pulled out from under the presence of the tyrannical warlord, Link pulls off the Fierce Deity's Mask and uses the hard-earned time he afforded the city and continent by rescuing his companions and any remaining prisoners held by the horrific men of the Templars.

Raynard, meanwhile as he recovers, returns to his original mission in rescuing his near-insane mentor...


Scene 1

"Argh, be more careful..."

"S-Sorry, Scaverin-sensei..."

Raynard winced on in growing doubt and hesitancy as he helped his mentor up off his feet; having managed to slip away fairly undetected in the ensuing chaos up above, the young mercenary turned his attention once more to the original task he was set forth on.

To rescue his strangely-motivated mentor.

"Happy now...?" The youth murmured out, half-shocked at the man's near lack of intelligence. "Why the hell would you do something like this?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand...," Scaverin growled back from his horrific injuries as he pulled himself up to his knees, gasping on in effort as he did. "I have seen hell... and re-emerged from it... alive," he finished out, this time in a hard-eyed whisper, turning his wide-eyed glare skyward in a brief frown before re-facing the youth on his right. "Domination and, at last Torment... are now complete."

Sure enough as Raynard briefly examined the man, he found a kind of gaunt look in the former bishop's cheeks to match the horrific marks all around his robe-tore body, complimenting the distant look in his eye.

He's not lying, he thought.

It's that look that soldiers have.

"The thousand yard stare."

"All that's left... is Enlightenment, Judgement and Divinity...," Scaverin spoke again, his deep baritone interrupting the youth mid-rumination; Raynard blinked out of his thoughts and re-rose his tree-shaded eyes to face the man with, curious and all. "This was difficult... beyond difficult even... but the rest...," the former bishop continued on, his hazel-shaded eyes shutting as he shook his bald head in a slow and deliberate deep-faced frown. "The rest will be a true test of faith... not in someone else... but in myself."

Raynard listened on, his brow furrowing in curiosity.

"How did things go up there?" The man sighed on out as he re-rose his bald head up to face the boy with. "Were you met with any real resistance? I imagine the Templars' and their commander were eventually overpowered."

"Eventually," Raynard scoffed back, leaning his slim form down on one of the seats behind him, resting his black-armoured arm across his raised-up knee. "But it wasn't me that did it."

Similarly inquisitive, Scaverin swung his nosy head in the boy's direction as if to press him to elaborate as he pulled himself back up to his near-ruined feet.

"It was... Link," Raynard answered at last, not without some form of resentment. His frown twitched into an annoyed scowl as he rose up his arms to fold them, chestnut-brown eyes lowering as if in some form of disappointment. "But...," he began again, his brow furrowing as if in doubtfulness. "It... wasn't him... like..."

Scaverin rose an eyebrow of his own as he listened respectfully and genuinely curiously.

"Velkarez called him...," the young mercenary began again, re-rising up his black-haired head to face his mentor with. "'Akuma'."

The former holy man, shocked down to his core, could only widen his hazel eyes in response; he held back a similarly startled gasp, seemingly recognising the name. Raynard rose up one of his own eyebrows to prod the knowledgeable man.

"W-What?" He asked. "You... know what it means?"

"It's... a name from the old testament of the Historia," Scaverin spoke, his eyes narrowing in recollection. "'Akuma'... is said to be some form of a yōkai; an otherworldly near-mindless beast that preys on settlements, cities and even continents," he began, his glare fixated. "It's written in those scriptures that when 'Akuma' finally surfaces, the end to Aurelia and the rest of the world is nigh." the once-devout bishop claimed, drawing a surprised look from the listening Raynard.

"Is... is all that true...?" The shocked mercenary whispered out.

Scaverin scoffed back, nodding his head upward as if insulted. "Hardly," he quipped back. "I left the Hylianis Militaris Ordinis because of my issues with my dwindling faith... but to hear this now..."

The frowning-faced Raynard's look softened a little when he realised he had essentially hit the man squarely in his profession.

"So... it was him then? This... Oni you witnessed?" Scaverin spoke again in a hard-eyed frown, eyebrow rising up mid-sentence. "Your little blonde rival?"

"Y-Yeah," Raynard nodded in confirmation. "Saw him with my own eyes. It... kinda looked like him... if he was older and wore different stuff."

The listening Scaverin chortled on, amused as he shook his head and folded his torn-robed arms. "Look how the table's been set out for us...," he smirked, eyes briefly shut as he did. "We meet our goals with little to no resistance... and yet this happens."

Raynard lowered his eyes, unsure on what exactly to respond with.

"'Oni' Link, eh...?" Scaverin spoke out in quiet-eyed grin, re-opening his eyes as he re-faced the front. "Destiny certainly is interesting this time around... if only the great Ganondorf could have seen this outcome..." He ended in another chortle, drawing a half-interested frown from the listening Raynard.

"We'd better get you out of here quickly," the young mercenary claimed, hopping off the seat he sat on in a light grunt of effort as he did. "I don't wanna have to explain you to Link and his cronies."

Feeling somewhat insulted, Scaverin's smirk very quickly dropped from his expression to give way to a furrow-faced frown; a look of light injury that surprised the standoffish young mercenary. "Hmph...," he began, half-annoyed as he marched on behind him. "Better we leave soon anyway... we have a lot of ground to cover if we hope to reach Stralanavia for my next phase."

Raynard, surprised, swung his wide-eyed frown back on his mentor behind him. "S-Stralanavia? So soon?"

Scaverin rose up another eyebrow down at the ebony-haired youth inquisitively. "What's wrong?" He pressed before suddenly realising the boy's intentions. He rolled his eyes and sighed briefly through his nose as he did. "Ah... this 'Prima World Tour' experiment of yours..."

Raynard turned his own half-annoyed frown away from the man's, twitching on in silence as he did.

"Well... a deal's a deal I suppose...," the former bishop sighed out a second time, re-folding his arms before he turned back to face the black-haired boy. "Very well. I don't imagine it will take all that long anyway."

Finding an odd kind of smile spreading on his face, Raynard nodded back. "Thanks Scaverin-sensei."

"Hmph," the older man huffed back before marching forward past the youth, headed for the stairs. "Just don't take too long!" He threw over his tore-robed shoulder as he ascended the dungeon's stone staircase.

Raynard's smile slowly dissolved into a saddened and half-disappointed frown; he held back an inward sigh before lowering his eyes and shaking his head.

You expected this, he thought.

He's no replacement for a father so stop acting like it.

As the stony-faced youth followed his mentor faithfully on behind him, he couldn't help but grow envy once more for his polar opposite's group of companions; the blonde-haired Hero of Time and his rival himself. He gave out one final sigh through his nose as he ascended up the last stair.

"I guess the grass is always greener on the other side."


SHHHIIIING...

The sound of the Fierce Deity's Mask echoed on out as it fell from the shut-eyed Link's face; he slowly re-opened his eyes and, as vision returned to him, swung his disappointed frown down on the ghost-like eyed gaze of the eerie-looking mask staring back up at him.

It felt like it really was a real person, staring back at him in knowing superiority.

Almost as if it knew what was going to happen and had great pleasure in taking advantage.

When he heard the sound of rubble lightly turning over he widened his eyes and darted his head and body 'round, senses all going on high alert again only to sigh out lightly through his nose in a disappointed-faced frown when he found the worried-eyed Sheik staring back at him. His frown soon upturned into the well-to-do-smile she remembered him for and he nodded back at her.

"It's me Zel; it's okay," he merely answered her with. She watched him carefully, as if a scared animal having witnessed a particularly brutal mauling and, when she didn't show any signs of moving, he sighed and rolled his eyes in his light-faced grin before re-eyeing her. "It's me." The youth insisted again, this time in a light chuckle.

At last she reacted; her white scarf, having been blown away in the savage battle that preceded them, failed to block the lip-quivering she gave to him as she ran forward to crash directly into him.

"I missed you so much..."

Link couldn't help but laugh ever in his well-natured grin as he felt her grip at his ever-green Kokiri tunic tightly; a grip that saw him surprised at the level of physical strength she hid.

"I-I mean I know you were only gone a f-few hours, but..."

He nodded understandingly, his patient smile ever-returning to him as he lightly rubbed at her shaking back, perhaps in some attempt to calm her nerves.

"I n-never thought I'd...," she began again, blubbering her sentences out as she shook on in his grip. Eventually however she rose up her teary-eyed scowl to face him and glared up at him. "Don't ever do that again!"

Feeling mischief in the air, Link's smile soon snuck back into an amused smirk, his left eyebrow rising up as he did. "Yes, mistress," he joked back; an oddly familiar and comforting word for the pair of childhood friends. She couldn't help but laugh in response to his childish jibe, a kind of relieved tone in her soprano as if she had been holding it back and for a long while at that. "Come on," he added, this time ever in his mischievous if well-meaning grin. "Let's go wake up the guys."

It didn't take long to pull everyone up from their previous unconscious defeats; a gesture that, though the likes of Barkner and Alwyn were happy enough for, Vassia and Impa responded as always in their usual standoffish way. All that changed, however, when they noticed the one waking them up was their fallen blonde companion.

At first it was genuine shock, surprise and relief and, for some, all at once; a near-annoying experience for the young Hylian but one he endured for the sake of his friends. As all the questions inevitably took root within their minds, however, Link knew all too well that he would have little choice other than to at last reveal not only the curtains behind their fight but the events behind them as well.

"You actually... met with the Sorcerer himself...?!" Impa hissed out, brow furrowing back at the straw-haired youth incredulously. Link chuckled half-nervously, rubbing the back of his green-hat head as he did.

"Y-Yeah...," he answered sheepishly. "I mean, it wasn't the first time and all, but..."

"He's lying."

The sound of Vassia's insulting and all-knowing soprano made the listening young Hylian swing his half-annoyed look 'round on her before quipping up one of his smirks back at her, almost as if to challenge her in silence.

"The Sorcerer of the Divine Divide is just a story... a fable in the history books!" The Palashian princess smirked similarly back at him as she shrugged on as if in indifference. "How can we possibly believe any of what you're-"

"Because I have proof."

The brash young violet-haired girl could only blink back at him, surprised, drawing similar unsure looks from the rest of the watching group. The grin on Link's only widened as he edged a confident left thumb to his chest, almost as if to pull attention to himself.

"I'm proof!" He reminded her with. "If it wasn't for Mr. Sorcerer guy I'd still be gone!"

"He ain't wrong there..." Barkner murmured out in a light nod, eyebrow risen up as he briefly exchanged a frown with the likewise uncertain Alwyn next to him.

"You... said you met with the Sorcerer once before..."

Link swung his newly-gained frown and blink back on his Sheikah mentor; she furrowed her brow again as she lightly tilted her silver-shaded head, as if to prod him to continue.

"Where was that...?"

He blinked a second time before turning his oceanic-eyed gaze skyward a second, as if in thought, and then eventually re-faced her. "Termina," he answered with. "If... if it wasn't for Zel... I probably would have died out there." The blonde added, turning his frown on the surprised-faced Sheik next to him.

"What do you...?"

"When she gave me... this...," he began again, reaching back into his inventory to pull out the beautiful-blue Ocarina of Time itself, drawing out surprised looks not only from the watching Alwyn and Barkner but also the shocked Vassia. "She saved my life." He chuckled on as he watched down at the beautifully-cut instrument in his possession.

"What do you mean?"

Link's frown returned and, as he leant the Ocarina of Time over to place back in the surprised Sheik's grip, he re-faced the similar-expressed Sheikah to answer her. "You remember that falling moon and all?"

Impa nodded. "Yes..."

"Well there was no way feasible that I could have stopped it within three days," he added, lowering his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head again nervously. "Even if I worked without rest it'd be near impossible... so I thought if I just had more time to work with then..."

"It was the power of the Ocarina then?" Alwyn ventured to ask from behind the Sheikah, his slim blue arms ever folded.

"Not quite," Link chortled back, his smile returning to face as he re-opened his mouth to speak further. "When I played the Song of Time... I woke up talkin' to Mr. Sorcerer guy and, it was him that turned back time for me."

"You time-travelled again...," the listening Sheik whispered out, drawing a half-surprised frown from the youth as he swung his look on her. She couldn't help but chuckle again, halfway entertained. "Of course you did." She laughed quietly on out, drawing another confident smirk from the youth.

"So... that's why it seemed only like three days since you were gone to the rest of us...," Alwyn nodded along in his hard-boiled frown. "It makes sense..."

"Yo if anyone else told me this story though...," Barkner added, turning Goron head back to laugh. "I wouldn't believe it!"

"I don't believe it anyway!" Vassia smirked on, raven-black eyes briefly shut as she did. As the cheer, very slowly began to once again fill the group's atmosphere, even the listening Impa and Alwyn found themselves growing a small smile, grateful for the change and chance given to them all.

"We should be grateful," the lightly-smiling Impa spoke up. "The Sorcerer decided to give you a second chance... I don't think I've ever heard of this phenomenon happening before."

As the woman's contralto finished on out, Link near jumped out of his skin when he felt a group of slim smooth fingers slip into his own; he blinked down to his right and, sure enough, the half-smiling Sheik had lowered her left bandaged hand into his own. He expelled some air through his nose in display as amusement, a light smirk on his face before he blinked and turned his eyes 'round the area.

"Yo... where's Malon and Ray?"

Suddenly realising they were missing two members, the rest of the listening group turned and swerved their heads 'round in likewise search.

"Malon came here with Raynard, against my orders at that, but...," Impa shook her silvery-haired head, ruby-red eyes narrowing as she spoke. "I don't see them anywhere around here."

"Maybe they went down into the dungeons?" Sheik spoke up knowingly, drawing surprised looks from the listeners. "Velkarez almost certainly had prisoners travelling with him; I think they may have gone down to free them."

"I better go thank that dumb nimrod for helpin' us then huh?" Link batted back his mischievous grin, pulling out another amused giggle from the listening Sheik and an unamused rolling-eyed frown from the folded-armed Vassia.

"All right... then let's stay together and head for Tiverpool Castle's dungeons," Impa responded, going back into leader mode as she re-eyed each member. "Come on, stay close."

2

Even having gone down through the largely well-kept dungeons, most likely due to the missing Kaiohdrahl's royal family as opposed to their recent new owners, the group of heroes were shocked by the amount of people they kept imprisoned within; three in total. Two women and a relatively young man, all residing in separate cells of course. While Impa and the girls decided to deal with the mysterious young women Alwyn, Barkner and Link opted to assist the bizarre man opposite from their cell only to be perplexed the moment they stepped through the cell.

He was, indeed, a rather peculiar man; perhaps in choice as opposed to being imprisoned without clothes, he seemingly chose to sit in his cell half-naked, a pair of blue-shaded shorts remaining on his legs only. His form was fairly skinny, little muscle and meat on his bones, and his head and hair were even stranger still; a dark-brown of a bowl-like shape. He swung his beady-eyed frown 'round and Link had to stomach back a snort of laughter when he saw the huge nose that was attached to his body.

Don't be rude, he thought.

Remember all those lessons from Saria.

"OHHHHH!"

Even the watching Barkner's sociable face blanched at the man's oddly loud greeting and, as the strange nameless man about-turned in his hunched low seating, an odd kind of yellow-shaded fruit sat in his lap.

"You saved me, didn't you all?!" He called out, eyes briefly scanning each man staring back down at him. "Thaaaaank you!"

While the listening Alwyn and Barkner merely exchanged their doubtful and awkward zig-zag-like frowns with each other in respectful silence, the watching Link's own frown flashed in and out of itself in obvious held-back laughter; a reaction he repressed with great effort.

"So um...," Barkner began unsurely, eyebrow rising upward as he briefly eyed the yellow fruit in the odd man's possession. "What's your name?"

"It's Beedle!" The man smiled this time as he reached up with one of his skinny hands to shake with. Link's grin, as always, never left him while he took the man's offer.

"Link." He introduced himself with, his voice near breaking from the amusement he took from within.

"Alwyn." The firmly-frowning form of Alwyn responded, ever business-like.

"Um... Barkner..." The Goron muttered out, pulling his own rocky-bodied hand back and briefly rubbing it on his rock-like skin.

"So uh... what's the deal with the fruit?" Link ventured on to ask the odd man, his grin ever bold on his face as he nodded down in the man's sitting lap. The newly-introduced Beedle blinked once before lowering his head. He regained his bold-faced smile as he reached down to pick the oddly-shaped fruit up, a pear, before presenting it directly in the adventurers' faces.

"It's a Hyoi Pear!" He concisely claimed. "I found it growing nearby in some of Clearwater Beaches' palm trees! I've been thinking of starting up a merchant stall or even a business-on-the-go and selling them to people all over Aurelia!"

Link exchanged his eyebrow-risen smirk with the disapproving look on Alwyn's frowning face and the doubtful head-shake that Barkner gave him.

They know what I'm thinking, the blonde rascal thought to himself.

"Is um...," he began again, his grin threatening to split the sides of his face as he turned to re-face the man. "Is there a reason the pear has a face Beedle?"

Beedle blinked back at him, almost as if it were a revelation to him, before turning the recently-named Hyoi Pear 'round to get a good look at it. Sure enough, it wore a horrifying face of three holes; two for eyes, seemingly, and one more larger one in the centre for its near-screaming mouth.

All in all it reminded Link of the Mirror Shield's oddly eerie-looking face inscribed on it that he obtained from his travels in Termina.

"O-Oh! U-Uh...," Beedle began again, a sweat drop forming on his forehead as his beady-black eyes briefly bowing down, as if in sudden guilt. "N-No reason!" He answered guiltily. "I found it that way!"

The look that the greatly-entertained Link received from the warning shot in Alwyn's eye held back the extreme bout of laughter that wanted so badly to be released; an odd kind of knowing that, in great spite to his age he should not be aware of, as opposed to his actual mental age.

It was something that made the listening Barkner shocked, purely at how much the listening Link truly knew.

"Is this him...?"

The three men and the youth, all surprised by the sudden interjection, swivelled their similarly startled looks 'round only to find two women staring back at them, both led in by the ever-frowning Impa. They wore mere rags across their body and carried similar shaded hair; a dark-green that only differed in length. The ever-wise Sheikah nodded back down at them, as if to confirm the nameless woman's question.

With very little warning, the dark-green haired woman leapt forward and shut her eyes as she drew her slim arms 'round the wide-eyed Link's small Kokiri tunic form. His earlier entertained smirk turned to a somewhat annoyed and flustered zig-zag-like frown, his cheeks growing red in the sudden and abrupt contact with her. The watching Vassia, ever in her childish attitude, ground her teeth together silently as she clenched her fists as the far maturer Zelda and even Malon exchanged simple head-shaking smiles with one another, as if to understand the situation for what it was.

"Thank you..."

Her whisper, so thankful and so urgent, made his embarrassment drop in favour of sheer curiosity to match the blonde-haired eyebrow and rose up alongside it. He opened up his own mouth to respond to her in a query of his own, curious on her gratefulness.

"Thank you for saving me and my daughter from that tyrant..."

Oh, he thought.

She means Velkarez, don't she.

Duh.

His embarrassment returned but this time a slightly different form; the youth used his right hand to mildly scratch the back of his head as he turned his head from hers, frowning on as he did.

"D-Don't worry about it..."

Although he spoke in a similarly and expectantly embarrassed stutter, the sensation of his no-doubt amused companions' gazes felt hot and irritating.

I want this to end, the embarrassed young boy thought to himself.

"Their names are Petrova and Selivanova, both of relation to one another," Impa introduced the pair with, ever in her firmly-faced frown as she re-folded her arms in the cell door's frame, leaning her body back against it. "I believe you both came from... Stralanavia was it?"

Although the frowning Selivanova herself stood at a light distance from the young men and the blonde youth, the older of the two and ostensibly the elder sister or mother had thrown caution to the wind in a gamble of trust of with the group. She pulled her head from his shoulder and cast him an appreciative smile, eliciting a surprised blink from the boy.

"We're essentially prisoners that Velkarez took with us on his maddened campaign when he left his home country of Stralanavia," the dark-green haired woman began as she nodded on in her words. "He treated us like animals," the newly-introduced Petrova spoke, this time in a whispering frown that made the listening Link wince. "My daughter and I were mere but livestock to him and his grim ambitions..."

"I-I mean it's okay now, right?" Link chuckled out uncomfortably back at her, unsure on how to handle the odd situation. "You and Seliva-whatever can go back to your lives now."

Realising his social faux-pas, the listening Malon shut her eyes and slapped a calloused hand across her forehead, drawing a similar quiet-voiced sigh from the frowning Impa. Barkner held back a snort of amusement as Alwyn rose up an eyebrow, pulling forward a likewise entertained giggle from the watching and similarly rude Vassia.

"Honestly Link, you can be so damn rude." The disapproving Malon shot out with, folding her slim arms as she did at him. Unusually feeling rather vulnerable and on display, the former Hero of Time couldn't help but wince again as he turned his eyes from the young mother in front of him. The quiet, and thus far silent Selivanova herself, let out a small smile of amusement of her own as she watched on.

"S-Sorry..."

"Pay it no mind," the smiling Petrova responded with in a shake of her dirty-haired head. "You could call us names and I still wouldn't care; you saved our very lives. We owe you that much."

"I mean...," Link batted back, shrugging in response as his grin slowly re-formed on his youthful countenance. His ego being stroked, he found his cheer and pride ever-returning to him. "What can I say; it wasn't that hard... for me."

The listening Barkner threw his rocky-bodied head back and exclaimed out in uproarious laughter, his arms similarly folded to most of the people in the room.

"In any case...," the ever-frowning Impa cut into the conversation with, quickly drawing the group's attention. "I've suggested that Petrova and Selivanova both stay with us until they make a decision on what to do," the wise Sheikah put forward, pulling understanding nods from most of the listeners. "We're all staying in Tiverpool City's branch of the Sorcerer's Superstation," she explained briefly. "I'll make sure to get word ahead to the staff there about our added numbers and we should be good to go from there."

"That's very kind of you Impa," Zelda smiled up at her attendant, ever thankful as she bowed on up at the frowning-faced Sheikah. "Thank you."

"No, it should be us thanking all of you," the similarly-expressed Petrova began, ever in her thick Stralanavian accent as she stood to her feet and turned to face the frowning Sheikah. "You all put yourself in peril just to reach us, let alone even consider defying the Templars," she began again, her grateful smile carrying her on as she rose up her weary hand, presumably to be shaken. "Thank you all...," she stated, turning her grateful-eyed gaze 'round on each member of the group as the ever business-like Impa requited and shook her hand in her own. "Thank you all so much."

"I'm just glad we were able to be there to help," Alwyn spoke up in his stoic if, eager enough baritone, frowning on from his identically folded-armed position. "The Templars were a formidable force to begin with... but with Velkarez at the helm?" The experienced former soldier began, eyebrows briefly risen up. "Some in Aurelia would say they were unconquerable."

"I wouldn't say that!"

The group, surprised by the high-toned intruder's voice, could only swing their heads 'round in similar-eyed shock only to find the owner as the recently-introduced Beedle himself; he stared up at the group of relatively diverse people in his sociable if, awkward smile, before re-opening his mouth to continue.

"Teamwork makes the dream work!" He exclaimed out excitably, a rather childish-like quality to his personality that made some watch him oddly and others smile back in light patience.

"Um... Beedle..."

The frowning-faced Link's sudden query made the listening man blink back at him before re-opening his mouth to reply.

"OHHHHH?!"

Ignoring the obnoxiously loud fashion in which the man had so childishly responded in, Link's frown twitched as his brow furrowed back down him. "How the hell did you even get imprisoned down here anyway?" He pressed the older man curiously. "Get on the wrong side of the Templars?"

"As a matter of fact, I did!" Beedle chuckled half-nervously, rubbing the back of his afro-like head as he did. "I tried selling them my wares as a fledgeling merchant but... alas...," he sniffed out, lowering his head. "It wasn't to be..."

Link's frown curled up at the ends in a downward angles, his oceanic eyes slowly wandering from his new companion's awkwardly.

"But thanks to you and your friends I live again!" The man called out again, cannoning his stringy arms up to the sky in abrupt and sudden excitement to match the newly-gained grin on his face. "Praise be to the Sainted Three!"

"Y-Yeah..." Link merely muttered out, eyes briefly wandering away from the excitable man below, drawing amused chuckles and chortles from some in the group.

"I suppose we'll be bringing along your new friend then?" Impa questioned quizzically, a silver-shaded eyebrow rising ever upward as a fairly subtle side of her mouth shot up in amusement. "He can stay with you boys; that sounds fair to me."

The listening Vassia and even Zelda both let out their respectively-amused snickers and quiet-faced smiles, tickled on as the young Hylian boy re-opened his mouth to speak in sarcastic protest.

"Oh joy." Link rudely moaned out, leaning his head to the side as his tenor lowered into a near comical level of baritone that mirrored his old adult one, his eyes half-closing in a tired-eyed firm-faced frown. His expression soon relented however when the annoyed Malon knocked him over the head with one of her calloused hands, pulling out a humorous grunt from him as he inevitably ran up his own hands to grasp at the back of his recently-wounded area.

"Don't be rude."


It didn't take long for Tiverpool's royal family and Kaiohdrahl's main city officials themselves to begin rebuilding the city, even after the sudden and brutal invasion that Velkarez and the Templars' had wrought upon it; in great spite to its abrupt and fierce onslaught, many buildings and other such places were largely in great condition especially considering the expectedly ruthless result of the horrific attack.

In having rescued the Tiverpool royal family themselves, the liberated clan passed their grateful blessings on to the group of adventurers, even offering to knight each of those that fought in the heart-wrenching battle; an offer that, of course, was politely refused. The grateful king and queen themselves, Alabaster Ventus and Ophelia Wynna, opted instead to allow them free rooms for them in the castle should they need it. When refused once again however, having been informed of their own rooms having been booked in the nearby 'Sorcerer's Superstation', opened their door up instead to the similarly appreciative Petrova and Selivanova; a long overdue apology for their mistreatment and imprisonment within the dungeons, even if against the royal family's will itself.

When returning to the Sorcerer's Superstation, Link and his companions discover very quickly that their bill had been paid for by the royal family themselves and so quickly too; a shocking revelation indeed that left them little to no choice other than to turn back to Tiverpool Castle.

"That's a dirty trick..."

"Link!"

The listening young Hylian rolled his eyes in response as Malon's perhaps inevitably annoyed soprano snapped at him from his left side behind him; he lay rather lazily across one of the lounge's many lavish sofas in a horizontal fashion, absent-mindedly picking at his teeth in having just finished a feast organised by the indebted castle and their patrons.

"It is though!" He called over his green tunic shoulder, drawing an entertained smile and chuckle from the listening king and queen sat not far from them. "I never did like castles..."

"What he means to say...," Impa spoke up from her spot resting her back up against the roaring fire beside her, her ruby-red eyes briefly narrowing down at the blonde-haired boy in disapproval before soon re-rising to face the aristocrats. "Is that your generosity is well-appreciated, your highnesses."

"My, such formality!" King Alabaster smiled on, displaying the light dark-brown goatee he wore with such regality, matching his well-kept long straight head of hair. "Aurelia's capital must be doing rather well with such attendants as yourself, lady Impa."

A fairly quiet snort from the frowning-faced Link echoed out from below the blinking Sheikah and she turned her red-eyed gaze down to glare her eyes in his direction; in response, he double-took his widening oceanic-eyed gaze of his own before shaking his head vehemently and grinning widely suddenly in a rather humorous if, worried look in his zig-zag-like smile.

The exchange brought a few of the younger watching members of the group a small laugh or two.

"We mean what we say though," Queen Ophelia began in her own light-faced smile, brushing a lock of her hot-pink hair behind her ear as she did. "We wish there was some other way to repay you all; Velkarez and the Templars were not just a Kaiohdrahl problem but an Aurelian one. It was only inevitable that he'd turn his attention to our own nation and in such a weakened state; we can't help but feel it was intentional and tactical."

"I can most definitely assure you it probably was," the normally quiet Alwyn spoke up from a wall he hung his folded-armed form on, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as he re-opened his mouth to continue. "The man had only been operating for a few years but word of his exploits got as far down as our own country, in Zora's Domain," the former soldier claimed. "His charisma was something else; people just took to him."

"In the end though he was nothing more than a clown! Hardly a match for us, was he darling?"

Link blinked his half-lidden eyes when he felt a presence approach to his right; he turned his straw-haired head 'round only to find the ever-smirking form of Vassia hanging over him, hands joined at her back. The young Hylian's half-closed frown twitched from a single snort in response before he re-faced the ceiling above him, hanging his left over his right as he rested his calloused hands under his green-hat head.

"For me maybe."

His quiet-voiced low-toned reply managed to not only enrage the listening Vassia into clenching her fists, but also brought an abrupt and sudden bout of laughter via the watching Barkner sitting far across from the pair of children. As the rest of the listeners responded in their own ways – Malon in her rolling-eyed frown, Impa in her half-amused smile and Alwyn in his subtle-faced grin – Link caught the similarly amused Zelda shaking her blonde-haired head at him, having returned to her earlier outfit. She opened up her mouth, as if to speak to him, and seemed to speak mere silence at him and he squinted his eyes at her to read her lips.

'Too cruel'.

Although he personally enjoyed burning the easily-angered violet-haired Palashian princess, he found his inward cheer dashed just a little by his close companion's light chiding.

Maybe she's right, he thought.

"Sure felt good though."

"My lieges!"

Interrupting the youth's half-smug thoughts came the voice of what sounded to be an intruder; Link craned his neck in a humorous upside-down motion to search for the source of the intruder's voice, only to grunt in embarrassed surprise when his blonde-haired head ended up directly in the smugly-smirking Malon's lap. In a maddened rush, he scrambled himself upward and swung his legs 'round to sit back up straight before swiftly dropping his figure and form, as if ashamed in committing a terrible deed. Malon, seemingly satisfied in the reaction she received, merely widened her smirk as she sat directly on his right, watching him intently.

"Haa... I apologise your highnesses..."

The intruder's voice, so surprising a second time, managed to make the frowning Link swing his curiosity up to eye the man only to find what seemed to be a white-armoured soldier kneeling down before the sitting king and queen themselves, head held lowly in reverence.

"But we only just received word!" He exclaimed out, re-rising up his head to re-face the king and queen.

King Alabaster blinked curiously and, exchanging an unsure look with his queen, could only turn back 'round to eye his loyal soldier once more.

"Received word on wh-?"

CLINK-CLINK-CLINK

The sound of armour, and a heavy set at that, echoed out beyond the opening hallway behind the lounge; the final clue to their next seeming guest. A knight stepped through the open hallway into the lounge, seemingly after the private before her, rather surprisingly a woman; she wore a similar-shaded set of white-armoured plate across her body to display her service to her country, her long light-brown hair pulled up into a sensible ponytail that dangled down her armoured back.

Her ebony-eyed gaze double-took in the watching groups' silent stare and she blinked once before soon realising her mistake and bowed forward respectfully.

"Ah... I apologise...," the nameless knight began politely, bowing as she did, her armoured left arm clinking up as she rose it to rest horizontally across the air. "I didn't realise you have company with you, your highnesses."

"Yes, welcome, welcome Shanaari," King Alabaster smiled on from his seat, ever the sociable one. "Ophelia and I were just entertaining our new guests!" He claimed, gesturing toward the watching group. "It was they whom managed to chase out the rest of the Templars."

"It was... really?" The newly-introduced Shanaari murmured out in response, double-taking again and this time toward her king.

Kaiohdrahl's king and queen both gave her a positive nod in reply, a smile dotted 'round their faces to confirm their claim and Shanaari swung her brown-haired head back to face the group. She shut her night-black eyes and knelt down forward, rising up her horizontally-held left arm as she did as if in some form of respect and duty.

"Thank you all, sincerely...," she began gratefully, drawing embarrassed looks from the listening Barkner and Zelda. "The Templars of the Weeping Stars were a formidable force indeed," she spoke again, re-rising her head to eye the watching group in her knelt state. "I failed this kingdom the moment I left."

"Please... don't blame yourself Shanaari," the similarly smiling Ophelia shook her hot-pink haired head over at the kneeling knight. "You did what you thought was best... and I imagine you've done very well to get us the information we've been seeking."

"Ah!"

Realising she was prompted for it, Shanaari swerved 'round to face her two commanders-in-chief before similarly kneeling before them. The ever-smiling Alabaster merely shook his head at her and gestured for the relatively young woman to rise to her feet. She nodded in response and, almost as if it were merely another order, she soon stood to her armoured feet and the watching soldier behind her at last was given space and time to leave them.

"Indeed... I have returned bearing little, if, helpful information," the frowning-faced knight began firmly, brow furrowing as she spoke. "It is just as you had hypothesised your highness... the people disappearing seem to all be within the vicinity of the Clearwater Institute."

The listening Alabaster's smile soon dissolved, and this time into a hardened frown as he narrowed his dark-brown eyes in response to the young woman's words, nodding along to prompt her to continue as he placed his hands to rest on his well-dressed thighs.

"Unfortunately, however, no-one is willing to speak with me on the mater," she further elaborated on, shaking her pony-tailed head in disappointment as she did. "The headmistress was fairly forthcoming but, when she allowed me to speak with her students, I received very little information for my trouble."

"I see...," the listening Alabaster frowned back, nodding along as he briefly lowered his eyes in response. "Did anyone say anything about what's been-?"

"The only thing I was able to correctly deduce was that there's clearly some kind of organisation behind all of this." Shanaari claimed, eyes narrowing in some form of suspicion as she spoke.

"Are you certain of this...?" Ophelia posed forward as she leaned her hot-pink haired head out from her beside her husband's side, similarly curious. "What is your proof?"

"There is simply no other explanation, your highness," Shanaari responded with, turning her softened frown on the older woman. "No single man or woman could have possibly kidnapped this many people so quickly."

"Who's to say it's a kidnapping situation?"

The group, surprised by the sudden suggestion, swung their heads 'round to find the ever-sociable Barkner leaning on the lounge's wall across from Link, rocky-skinned arms folded as he cast the Kaiohdrahl rulers and their knight a well-meaning smile.

"Could be anything! A freak accident that keeps happening... fiends appearing all over... some kind of weird unconnected event...," he put forward in his smile before soon realising his mistake in interrupting them. "Oh s-sorry." He chuckled out apologetically, eyes shut as he unfolded his large arms to rub one at the back of his head.

"It's quite all right," Alabaster smiled similarly in response, shaking his brown-haired head amiably. "We don't stand on ceremony here."

"In that case..."

To accompany the youth's ever flamboyantly-used words, the sound of his boots crunching against the lovely-cut floor below him lightly echoed out to match, revealing their owner as the ever-grinning Link. He placed a single slim hand across his hip and leant his blonde-haired head to the side at the three as he cast the trio a morale-infused grin, re-opening his mouth to speak the words that which would eventually become the watching Impa's bane.

"I guess we gon' just have-ta help ya out again then, huh?"