A/N: This is the first LoZ fic I ever wrote seriously. It actually was started about three years ago and has been finished on and off after having survived through three hiatuses and a serious consideration of scrapping. But I decided to give it another chance, and am actually quite pleased with the results. Rated PG-13 for violence and Link's surprisingly dirty mouth; warnings include angst, sadness, violence, Link/Zelda pairing (no citrus), and alternate realities. The timeline I'm basing things on is a quasi-alternate-reality of my own creation: I base most if not all of my Zelda fanfiction on the idea that all the deeds done and chronicled in the Zelda games (with the exception of the Wind Waker for obvious reasons) were the deeds of one brave young lad chosen by Destiny and the three Goddesses as the Hero of Time, the Legendary Hero. Oh. And I don't own Linky (more's the pity) or Zelda or any of the game's other characters. They are copyrighted to Miyamoto Shigeru-san and Nintendo, the lucky bastards. I own, however, sole copyright of each and every one of my original characters. Steal them and I will hunt you down and break your elbows. Remember: A vague threat is no one's friend.
-Act I-
A Twist of Fate
5
The first thing he did was light the torches inside the entrance.
The second thing he did as draw the Master Sword from its sheath. Arming himself, Link stepped through the first doorway, and was immediately locked in by the iron bars that slid down over the door with a loud thud. Two Stalfos warriors leapt out of the floor and came straight for Link. He swore, and started wishing he'd been able to find Navi, his pint-sized companion fairy since childhood, but strangely enough, she was nowhere to be found, and with the princess' urgent letter, there hadn't really been time to look. He gritted his teeth and homed in on one of the hideously grinning skeletal warriors, raising the Mirror Shield barely in time to deflect a blow that could have decapitated him.
The Stalfos leapt back and then forward, but link was ready. He swept the Master Sword out in a broad arch that relieved the first ghoulish creature of its legs. The conglomeration of bones and rusted bits of armor tumbled to the floor in a garish heap.
The other Stalfos laughed once, a soulless sound, full of an unearthly hunger, and leapt for Link. The Shield once again came up to deflect the blow, but the rusted sword of his opponent glanced off and nicked Link's shoulder, drawing blood.
Link ignored it, and dispatched the second Stalfos with barely more difficulty than he had the first. The bars on the door raised up and away, and Link progressed into the next room, where two Lizalfos waited for him. Barking their unintelligible war cry, the first came darting up to Link, slashing a deep cut in his leg before he could get the shield up to protect himself. He gritted his teeth and eradicated the first scaly assailant, then making short work of the second, but not before receiving another cut, this time to his left arm. Link ignored it, did the best he could to staunch the flow of blood and continued on his way. After detonating a bomb in front of a Beamos statue, Link was rewarded by a small treasure chest dropping from the ceiling. As he moved over to open it, something struck him in the back, burning. He whirled around, blade flashing, to knock a Keese bat from the air.
"Damn bats," he muttered sourly, grimacing from the burn. Seeing two more of the flaming Keese, he set an arrow to his bow, aimed, and took both out with one shot. Opening the chest, he retrieved the small silver key that was inside, walked over to the far side of the room, and unlocked the door. Stepping through, he heard an awful roar. Link looked down, and saw the small holes in the floor, and cursed. There was a second roar, and a large head with glowing protrusions at its brow came forth, opening a mouth with many needle-sharp teeth.
Pulling itself free from the hole in the large platform (that suddenly seemed not all too large to Link), the great lava dragon, Volvagia, let out another earsplitting roar along with a blast of nuclear-hot flame, and buried itself in another hole after soaring around the suddenly all-too-small room. Link sighed, drew forth the Megaton Hammer, and went to work. When the subterranean lizard raised its head to sear him, Link ran forward, ignoring the whipping sting of the lash-like strings of fire on the dragon's brow, he swung the Hammer as hard as he could to land a solid blow on the creature's nose. It reared up, bellowing not in rage now, but in intense pain. It sank back into the hole from whence it sprung, reappearing to soar out of the hole in a fit of blinded rage.
Link dashed to the edge of the platform, where he carefully climbed off the top, clinging bat-like to the side as he waited for the angry beast to stop seeking its target. With a roar of denied hunger, the dragon soared around the room, and upon finding its target apparently gone, swung down and around into another hole. Link hauled himself back up, and pulled forth the Megaton once more, bashing the creature's nose the second its head came up out of the ground. It reared back, whipping Link's legs with its long, fiery ears, and sank once more into the lava. When it emerged next, it flew up near the ceiling, giving a great cry that dislodged several stones form the roof. They crashed to the ground, and Link bit back a curse as one slammed into his back. He dropped to the ground and covered his head with the Mirror Shield, and waited for the crashing to subside. It eventually did, and with his ears ringing, Link got back to work. The process of the big reptile's destruction was repeated until finally it crashed to the ground to move no more. Breathing hard, Link put away the Megaton Hammer and started to limp to the room's exit. Before he could, a large, ornate chest in blue and gold appeared in a flash of golden light. He heaved it open and pulled the Boss Key from inside, walking away.
Two rooms later, past three Armos, two more Beamos, five Keese, and another Lizalfos, Link found the large, ornate door that he knew Ganondorf waited behind.
He put the Boss Key in the lock, twisted the ruby-set key, and discarded the open lock. He stepped into the dimly lit but large room, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Welcome, Hero of Time," Ganondorf's sneering voice floated out of the dim, "and enjoy your stay."
Link took another step into the chamber, and was promptly slammed into the ground as something large, blunt, and unseen crashed into his back. He got up, brushed the dust from his tunic, and sighed. It was definitely going to be a long day. "Are you that much of a coward?" Link asked, simply, but insinuating much more than one could tell from his words.
The insult got the attention of his nemesis rather quickly. Ganondorf flashed into being, and smiled at Link.
It wasn't pretty.
Link just glared at him and the tip of the Master Sword came up, slowly and deliberately calm.
Ganondorf just walked around Link in a calm, smug circle. "So…you came after all…the Triforce of Courage must spur you on stronger than I thought. It will do you no good, boy. Hyrule is still mine."
"You'll go through me first," Link growled, and suddenly he leapt at Ganondorf, sword held high. Ganondorf sidestepped the deadly thrust easily, and lashed out with a foot instead, sending the Hero of Time flying across the chamber to hit the wall with a sickening thud. He felt something in his right arm snap, and cursed his rash movements as he pulled himself up off the ground. Ganondorf laughed mockingly.
"You're out of practice, boy," he said, and thrust his open hand forward, catapulting a beam of pure darkness right at Link's head. Link dove forward and rolled across the stone floor as the beam created a smoking crater in the wall where his head had been, the Master Sword whistling as it carved a wide, deadly arc through the air and right across Ganondorf's midsection. The King of Evil gasped as the cold steel raked a deep gash across his stomach.
He swung a fist as Link once more, but the Hylian moved deftly out of the way. He sat one of the deadly Arrows of Light to his bow, took aim, and shot it directly at Ganondorf. The evil sorcerer bellowed in pain as the glowing projectile sank into his chest, sinking to his knees as he grasped at the arrow's feathered shaft, which he yanked gruesomely out of his dead-black armor. Link smiled grimly as he took another swing at the dark lord. "Who's out of practice?" he snarled as the Master Sword bit into Ganondorf's flesh a second time.
Ganondorf was not to be done in so easily, however, for as Link backed away, the villain thrust a fist into the Hero of Time's stomach, and Link went down gasping for air. Ganondorf stood, towering over the young hero, smiling evilly. He balled his fists together, and even as Link tried to pull himself up off the ground, Ganondorf brought his hands sharply down in a blow that sent Link sprawling onto his face against the cold, hard stone floor. He didn't move for a moment, just lay there, trying to clear the stars from his vision.
Get up, Hero of Time, a voice said to him from within the darkness. He cannot defeat thee if thou art courageous!
Rauru's encouragement came not a moment too soon. Buoyed up by the confidence placed in him by the Sage of Light, indeed, all of the Sages, Link grunted as he pushed himself up off the ground, retrieved the Master Sword from where it had fallen, and turned to face Ganondorf once more, his face set in a grim resolve. "Back for more, boy?" the foul conqueror asked snidely.
"Come and get me," Link retorted.
Ganondorf leapt for Link's throat, but the valiant lad swept the rush aside with the Mirror Shield, and his leg shot out. He booted Ganondorf in the rear, sending the Gerudo flying to land in an undignified heap on the far side of the room.
Ganondorf stood up and turned to face Link, wiping away a trickle of blood from his lower lip, split in the fall. "You're cocky, boy," he growled menacingly.
"And you're overconfident," Link snapped back. "Where does that leave us?"
Ganondorf then made a fatal error. He raised both his hands in the air, dark energy swirling around his fingertips. Link's eyes widened in shock for a moment, then he realized what he had to do. Drawing one of the Light Arrows from his quiver, he aimed it directly for the black heart of Ganondorf Dragmire.
He let go.
With deadly accuracy, the glowing golden missile whistled through the air, striking its target with perfect accuracy as it pierced the black armor.
Ganondorf's eyes widened, and one hand went to where the second arrow's feathered end protruded from his chest. He stared at it in surprise, not really realizing right away what it meant.
Then, as the shock faded, Ganondorf fell to the ground, muttering curses at the man who had just killed him. Link, who had resheathed the Master Sword in his mad dash to shoot the Arrow of Light, unsheathed it and walked slowly over to the fallen Gerudo, with the sword held tightly in his left hand. The mark of the Triforce of Courage started to glow with a fierce, burning golden light as he stepped closer to his enemy, as did the Triforce of Power's crest on Ganondorf's hand.
"You know," Link observed in a detached sort of way as Ganondorf lay bleeding on the stonework, "I don't think you'd expect that I'd be the type of person who'd stab a man in the back." He shook his head. "But in your case? I think I'll make an exception."
And with an uncharacteristic roar of rage, he reversed the hilt of the Master Sword, bringing it down sharply into the back of Ganondorf, King of Evil.
The villain let out a long, rattling sigh, and then ceased to move.
Even in death, however, Link couldn't help but notice the strange look of triumph on his enemy's face.
That thought passed quickly from his mind as another, more powerful one took its place, taking precedence over all his pain. Zelda…
He cleaned his blade on the fallen conqueror's tunic, sheathed it, and reslung the Mirror Shield over his back. Turning somewhat gingerly, Link limped through the door on the far side of the room, to enter a dimly lit hallway. Even compared to Ganondorf's chamber, the hallway was badly lit, and Link had to work his way along, using only the wall as a guide. Eventually, the corridor started to lighten, and Link was able to remove his hand from the wall, which was damp from the Goddesses only knew what, and move silently through.
Voices echoed down to his ears.
A woman weeping, and a man laughing, a sound full of mocking derision.
The woman's was chillingly familiar.
Link rounded a corner, and saw a sight that nearly made his heart stop.
The same lieutenant that had delivered the princess' frantic letter was now standing outside Zelda's cell, laughing evilly in a tone that made Link's blood boil. He came up on them, and the laughter died away as the traitorous soldier saw who stood in the hallway with him.
"You?" he cried, voice somewhat choked. "Wh-you're supposed to be dead!"
Link smiled grimly. "Forget it," he snapped, drawing his sword slowly as he advanced on the traitor.
"Where is Lord Ganondorf?" the felon had the nerve to ask next.
Link just looked at him derisively for a moment before answering. "Dead," he said shortly. "I sent him back to hell."
"No!" he cried.
"Yes," Link said calmly. "Care to join him?"
With that, the murderous man leapt at Link, uttering a shrill cry as he drew his sword. He slashed downward, striking a lucky blow across Link's leg. This only strengthened the Hylian's resolve, and before long, the Hero of Time had the turncoat backed into a corner. "Why?" Link grated through clenched teeth, the Master Sword at the defector's throat.
"You've had the Triforce of Courage in your grasp for so long," he rasped, "if only you'd use it! You could have the whole world in the palm of your hand! Why won't you use it? You could have been truly great! Why?"
Link sighed, and sheathed his sword. "If you have to ask," he said sadly, "then you'll never really know. Power is nothing without the Courage to do what is right and the Wisdom to know what right is," he said, repeating a phrase taught to him by Rauru a few years before.
And with those words, he turned his back on the deserter.
It turned out to be a near-fatal mistake, for it was only a shouted warning from Zelda that Link saved his own life. As she cried out, Link drew his sword and whirled, all in one fluid motion, to send the traitor to hell on the heels of his master as Link ran him through. He sighed, shaking his head sadly. "Damned fool," he muttered.
After that, there was silence for a moment, while Link struggled to catch his breath. "Stand back," he warned, and the princess stepped to the far corner of her cell. Link took the Master Sword by the blade, and swung the hilt as hard as he could into the heavy iron lock that held the door to the princess' chamber closed, and the lock fell to the floor with a loud, echoing crash. Link opened the door and staggered into the cell as he felt his head start to swim. He stared blearily at her. "Hi," he said weakly. His vision blurred, and he sank to his knees as his weariness and battered state finally caught up with him.
Zelda took a joyful step forward, but when she saw the condition of her savior, she gasped, and a hand flew to her mouth as her eyes grew wide in horror.
"No…" she whispered even as he started to fall.
Bruised, battered, burnt, and bleeding, he collapsed backward, but she was there. Zelda cradled Link's head tenderly in her lap, tears coming to her eyes. "Are you all right?" she asked quickly.
He grasped to her hand, fighting to stay conscious. "I will be once I know you're safe," he said weakly.
"Forget it," she retorted. "I'm not leaving here without you."
"Don't, Princess," he muttered. "If you're out of danger, I don't matter."
"But-I can't leave you here-I won't!" she cried hysterically, her sobs wracking her slender frame.
"You have to," he said, coughing hoarsely. "I won't let you stay. You're in danger every moment that you linger. You have people to worry about…your father's going out of his mind…"
"But-what about you?"
"I don't matter. I've only ever had one purpose…that's to keep you safe and out of danger…"
"You mean-that's the only reason you came?"
Even in his condition, Link still sensed the possible disappointment in her voice. So he decided that there was only one way he could make her leave. "It is my duty, Princess, you know that. Now go on," he said, "make sure your people don't have to mourn their princess."
She stood, stung by the coolness of his declaration. Just his duty, she thought sourly. She couldn't have known that it hurt him just as bad to have to say it. She took one last chance, throwing the words at him. "They'll mourn you, you idiot!" she cried, tears streaming freely down her face.
"Nonsense," he whispered. "I'm just a…I don't matter, Princess. Go home, and I'll know I've done my duty. Please be safe."
She stared at him brokenly as he slipped away. "Fine," she sobbed, "your duty is done, Hero of Time," she cried, bitter from his words.
There was a low, menacing laugh, and Ganondorf's voice floated down out of the foreboding darkness. "Thus, even in my phantom's demise, I triumph! Look long and hard at your Hero of Time for this moment, Princess, for you will never see him again!"
With another bout of horrid, frightening laughter, a frigid gust of wind sprang up, and all the torches in the dungeon went out. The terrified princess stood stock-still for a moment, not daring even to breathe. "Link?" she asked timidly of the darkness, but there was no reply. The torches sprang to life without warning, and Zelda jumped. She looked around the chamber, but the only other person in the room was the soldier who Link had run through.
The Hero of Time was gone.
Vanished completely.
Zelda was alone.
She took one last, desperate look around the chamber, and then she fled.
-Act I-
A Twist of Fate
5
The first thing he did was light the torches inside the entrance.
The second thing he did as draw the Master Sword from its sheath. Arming himself, Link stepped through the first doorway, and was immediately locked in by the iron bars that slid down over the door with a loud thud. Two Stalfos warriors leapt out of the floor and came straight for Link. He swore, and started wishing he'd been able to find Navi, his pint-sized companion fairy since childhood, but strangely enough, she was nowhere to be found, and with the princess' urgent letter, there hadn't really been time to look. He gritted his teeth and homed in on one of the hideously grinning skeletal warriors, raising the Mirror Shield barely in time to deflect a blow that could have decapitated him.
The Stalfos leapt back and then forward, but link was ready. He swept the Master Sword out in a broad arch that relieved the first ghoulish creature of its legs. The conglomeration of bones and rusted bits of armor tumbled to the floor in a garish heap.
The other Stalfos laughed once, a soulless sound, full of an unearthly hunger, and leapt for Link. The Shield once again came up to deflect the blow, but the rusted sword of his opponent glanced off and nicked Link's shoulder, drawing blood.
Link ignored it, and dispatched the second Stalfos with barely more difficulty than he had the first. The bars on the door raised up and away, and Link progressed into the next room, where two Lizalfos waited for him. Barking their unintelligible war cry, the first came darting up to Link, slashing a deep cut in his leg before he could get the shield up to protect himself. He gritted his teeth and eradicated the first scaly assailant, then making short work of the second, but not before receiving another cut, this time to his left arm. Link ignored it, did the best he could to staunch the flow of blood and continued on his way. After detonating a bomb in front of a Beamos statue, Link was rewarded by a small treasure chest dropping from the ceiling. As he moved over to open it, something struck him in the back, burning. He whirled around, blade flashing, to knock a Keese bat from the air.
"Damn bats," he muttered sourly, grimacing from the burn. Seeing two more of the flaming Keese, he set an arrow to his bow, aimed, and took both out with one shot. Opening the chest, he retrieved the small silver key that was inside, walked over to the far side of the room, and unlocked the door. Stepping through, he heard an awful roar. Link looked down, and saw the small holes in the floor, and cursed. There was a second roar, and a large head with glowing protrusions at its brow came forth, opening a mouth with many needle-sharp teeth.
Pulling itself free from the hole in the large platform (that suddenly seemed not all too large to Link), the great lava dragon, Volvagia, let out another earsplitting roar along with a blast of nuclear-hot flame, and buried itself in another hole after soaring around the suddenly all-too-small room. Link sighed, drew forth the Megaton Hammer, and went to work. When the subterranean lizard raised its head to sear him, Link ran forward, ignoring the whipping sting of the lash-like strings of fire on the dragon's brow, he swung the Hammer as hard as he could to land a solid blow on the creature's nose. It reared up, bellowing not in rage now, but in intense pain. It sank back into the hole from whence it sprung, reappearing to soar out of the hole in a fit of blinded rage.
Link dashed to the edge of the platform, where he carefully climbed off the top, clinging bat-like to the side as he waited for the angry beast to stop seeking its target. With a roar of denied hunger, the dragon soared around the room, and upon finding its target apparently gone, swung down and around into another hole. Link hauled himself back up, and pulled forth the Megaton once more, bashing the creature's nose the second its head came up out of the ground. It reared back, whipping Link's legs with its long, fiery ears, and sank once more into the lava. When it emerged next, it flew up near the ceiling, giving a great cry that dislodged several stones form the roof. They crashed to the ground, and Link bit back a curse as one slammed into his back. He dropped to the ground and covered his head with the Mirror Shield, and waited for the crashing to subside. It eventually did, and with his ears ringing, Link got back to work. The process of the big reptile's destruction was repeated until finally it crashed to the ground to move no more. Breathing hard, Link put away the Megaton Hammer and started to limp to the room's exit. Before he could, a large, ornate chest in blue and gold appeared in a flash of golden light. He heaved it open and pulled the Boss Key from inside, walking away.
Two rooms later, past three Armos, two more Beamos, five Keese, and another Lizalfos, Link found the large, ornate door that he knew Ganondorf waited behind.
He put the Boss Key in the lock, twisted the ruby-set key, and discarded the open lock. He stepped into the dimly lit but large room, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Welcome, Hero of Time," Ganondorf's sneering voice floated out of the dim, "and enjoy your stay."
Link took another step into the chamber, and was promptly slammed into the ground as something large, blunt, and unseen crashed into his back. He got up, brushed the dust from his tunic, and sighed. It was definitely going to be a long day. "Are you that much of a coward?" Link asked, simply, but insinuating much more than one could tell from his words.
The insult got the attention of his nemesis rather quickly. Ganondorf flashed into being, and smiled at Link.
It wasn't pretty.
Link just glared at him and the tip of the Master Sword came up, slowly and deliberately calm.
Ganondorf just walked around Link in a calm, smug circle. "So…you came after all…the Triforce of Courage must spur you on stronger than I thought. It will do you no good, boy. Hyrule is still mine."
"You'll go through me first," Link growled, and suddenly he leapt at Ganondorf, sword held high. Ganondorf sidestepped the deadly thrust easily, and lashed out with a foot instead, sending the Hero of Time flying across the chamber to hit the wall with a sickening thud. He felt something in his right arm snap, and cursed his rash movements as he pulled himself up off the ground. Ganondorf laughed mockingly.
"You're out of practice, boy," he said, and thrust his open hand forward, catapulting a beam of pure darkness right at Link's head. Link dove forward and rolled across the stone floor as the beam created a smoking crater in the wall where his head had been, the Master Sword whistling as it carved a wide, deadly arc through the air and right across Ganondorf's midsection. The King of Evil gasped as the cold steel raked a deep gash across his stomach.
He swung a fist as Link once more, but the Hylian moved deftly out of the way. He sat one of the deadly Arrows of Light to his bow, took aim, and shot it directly at Ganondorf. The evil sorcerer bellowed in pain as the glowing projectile sank into his chest, sinking to his knees as he grasped at the arrow's feathered shaft, which he yanked gruesomely out of his dead-black armor. Link smiled grimly as he took another swing at the dark lord. "Who's out of practice?" he snarled as the Master Sword bit into Ganondorf's flesh a second time.
Ganondorf was not to be done in so easily, however, for as Link backed away, the villain thrust a fist into the Hero of Time's stomach, and Link went down gasping for air. Ganondorf stood, towering over the young hero, smiling evilly. He balled his fists together, and even as Link tried to pull himself up off the ground, Ganondorf brought his hands sharply down in a blow that sent Link sprawling onto his face against the cold, hard stone floor. He didn't move for a moment, just lay there, trying to clear the stars from his vision.
Get up, Hero of Time, a voice said to him from within the darkness. He cannot defeat thee if thou art courageous!
Rauru's encouragement came not a moment too soon. Buoyed up by the confidence placed in him by the Sage of Light, indeed, all of the Sages, Link grunted as he pushed himself up off the ground, retrieved the Master Sword from where it had fallen, and turned to face Ganondorf once more, his face set in a grim resolve. "Back for more, boy?" the foul conqueror asked snidely.
"Come and get me," Link retorted.
Ganondorf leapt for Link's throat, but the valiant lad swept the rush aside with the Mirror Shield, and his leg shot out. He booted Ganondorf in the rear, sending the Gerudo flying to land in an undignified heap on the far side of the room.
Ganondorf stood up and turned to face Link, wiping away a trickle of blood from his lower lip, split in the fall. "You're cocky, boy," he growled menacingly.
"And you're overconfident," Link snapped back. "Where does that leave us?"
Ganondorf then made a fatal error. He raised both his hands in the air, dark energy swirling around his fingertips. Link's eyes widened in shock for a moment, then he realized what he had to do. Drawing one of the Light Arrows from his quiver, he aimed it directly for the black heart of Ganondorf Dragmire.
He let go.
With deadly accuracy, the glowing golden missile whistled through the air, striking its target with perfect accuracy as it pierced the black armor.
Ganondorf's eyes widened, and one hand went to where the second arrow's feathered end protruded from his chest. He stared at it in surprise, not really realizing right away what it meant.
Then, as the shock faded, Ganondorf fell to the ground, muttering curses at the man who had just killed him. Link, who had resheathed the Master Sword in his mad dash to shoot the Arrow of Light, unsheathed it and walked slowly over to the fallen Gerudo, with the sword held tightly in his left hand. The mark of the Triforce of Courage started to glow with a fierce, burning golden light as he stepped closer to his enemy, as did the Triforce of Power's crest on Ganondorf's hand.
"You know," Link observed in a detached sort of way as Ganondorf lay bleeding on the stonework, "I don't think you'd expect that I'd be the type of person who'd stab a man in the back." He shook his head. "But in your case? I think I'll make an exception."
And with an uncharacteristic roar of rage, he reversed the hilt of the Master Sword, bringing it down sharply into the back of Ganondorf, King of Evil.
The villain let out a long, rattling sigh, and then ceased to move.
Even in death, however, Link couldn't help but notice the strange look of triumph on his enemy's face.
That thought passed quickly from his mind as another, more powerful one took its place, taking precedence over all his pain. Zelda…
He cleaned his blade on the fallen conqueror's tunic, sheathed it, and reslung the Mirror Shield over his back. Turning somewhat gingerly, Link limped through the door on the far side of the room, to enter a dimly lit hallway. Even compared to Ganondorf's chamber, the hallway was badly lit, and Link had to work his way along, using only the wall as a guide. Eventually, the corridor started to lighten, and Link was able to remove his hand from the wall, which was damp from the Goddesses only knew what, and move silently through.
Voices echoed down to his ears.
A woman weeping, and a man laughing, a sound full of mocking derision.
The woman's was chillingly familiar.
Link rounded a corner, and saw a sight that nearly made his heart stop.
The same lieutenant that had delivered the princess' frantic letter was now standing outside Zelda's cell, laughing evilly in a tone that made Link's blood boil. He came up on them, and the laughter died away as the traitorous soldier saw who stood in the hallway with him.
"You?" he cried, voice somewhat choked. "Wh-you're supposed to be dead!"
Link smiled grimly. "Forget it," he snapped, drawing his sword slowly as he advanced on the traitor.
"Where is Lord Ganondorf?" the felon had the nerve to ask next.
Link just looked at him derisively for a moment before answering. "Dead," he said shortly. "I sent him back to hell."
"No!" he cried.
"Yes," Link said calmly. "Care to join him?"
With that, the murderous man leapt at Link, uttering a shrill cry as he drew his sword. He slashed downward, striking a lucky blow across Link's leg. This only strengthened the Hylian's resolve, and before long, the Hero of Time had the turncoat backed into a corner. "Why?" Link grated through clenched teeth, the Master Sword at the defector's throat.
"You've had the Triforce of Courage in your grasp for so long," he rasped, "if only you'd use it! You could have the whole world in the palm of your hand! Why won't you use it? You could have been truly great! Why?"
Link sighed, and sheathed his sword. "If you have to ask," he said sadly, "then you'll never really know. Power is nothing without the Courage to do what is right and the Wisdom to know what right is," he said, repeating a phrase taught to him by Rauru a few years before.
And with those words, he turned his back on the deserter.
It turned out to be a near-fatal mistake, for it was only a shouted warning from Zelda that Link saved his own life. As she cried out, Link drew his sword and whirled, all in one fluid motion, to send the traitor to hell on the heels of his master as Link ran him through. He sighed, shaking his head sadly. "Damned fool," he muttered.
After that, there was silence for a moment, while Link struggled to catch his breath. "Stand back," he warned, and the princess stepped to the far corner of her cell. Link took the Master Sword by the blade, and swung the hilt as hard as he could into the heavy iron lock that held the door to the princess' chamber closed, and the lock fell to the floor with a loud, echoing crash. Link opened the door and staggered into the cell as he felt his head start to swim. He stared blearily at her. "Hi," he said weakly. His vision blurred, and he sank to his knees as his weariness and battered state finally caught up with him.
Zelda took a joyful step forward, but when she saw the condition of her savior, she gasped, and a hand flew to her mouth as her eyes grew wide in horror.
"No…" she whispered even as he started to fall.
Bruised, battered, burnt, and bleeding, he collapsed backward, but she was there. Zelda cradled Link's head tenderly in her lap, tears coming to her eyes. "Are you all right?" she asked quickly.
He grasped to her hand, fighting to stay conscious. "I will be once I know you're safe," he said weakly.
"Forget it," she retorted. "I'm not leaving here without you."
"Don't, Princess," he muttered. "If you're out of danger, I don't matter."
"But-I can't leave you here-I won't!" she cried hysterically, her sobs wracking her slender frame.
"You have to," he said, coughing hoarsely. "I won't let you stay. You're in danger every moment that you linger. You have people to worry about…your father's going out of his mind…"
"But-what about you?"
"I don't matter. I've only ever had one purpose…that's to keep you safe and out of danger…"
"You mean-that's the only reason you came?"
Even in his condition, Link still sensed the possible disappointment in her voice. So he decided that there was only one way he could make her leave. "It is my duty, Princess, you know that. Now go on," he said, "make sure your people don't have to mourn their princess."
She stood, stung by the coolness of his declaration. Just his duty, she thought sourly. She couldn't have known that it hurt him just as bad to have to say it. She took one last chance, throwing the words at him. "They'll mourn you, you idiot!" she cried, tears streaming freely down her face.
"Nonsense," he whispered. "I'm just a…I don't matter, Princess. Go home, and I'll know I've done my duty. Please be safe."
She stared at him brokenly as he slipped away. "Fine," she sobbed, "your duty is done, Hero of Time," she cried, bitter from his words.
There was a low, menacing laugh, and Ganondorf's voice floated down out of the foreboding darkness. "Thus, even in my phantom's demise, I triumph! Look long and hard at your Hero of Time for this moment, Princess, for you will never see him again!"
With another bout of horrid, frightening laughter, a frigid gust of wind sprang up, and all the torches in the dungeon went out. The terrified princess stood stock-still for a moment, not daring even to breathe. "Link?" she asked timidly of the darkness, but there was no reply. The torches sprang to life without warning, and Zelda jumped. She looked around the chamber, but the only other person in the room was the soldier who Link had run through.
The Hero of Time was gone.
Vanished completely.
Zelda was alone.
She took one last, desperate look around the chamber, and then she fled.