Zant's War – Part 7
-Elder's Story-
In the beginning of Hyrule were three Goddesses, sisters all. They came to a world filled with chaos and Twilight. Together they purged the twilight away, but the world was left lifeless and without order.
Farore, the ever child-like one, created the firstborn, the Fae, to mold the world. The Fae with Farore molded the world into an ordered earth filled with life. Seeking to further her imagination, Farore created a number of races to populate it.
Din, the passionate fiery one, attempted to do the same. She was not a maker as Farore was, as she lacked the imagination of her younger sibling but she still made the effort. Her firstborn were the Goron. The Goron's way of molding the world was crude in comparison to the subtle Fae, and the Goron were ugly. Farore laughed, and her Fae playfully mocked the creation of Din.
Angry and insulted, Din created the dragons. The Fae were immune to elements, but knowing that fire was not a true element, she gave the lizards fire from her hand. The dragons made the Fae flee.
To sate the fire and mold the seas, Farore made the Zora.
To burn the seas, Din made the sun.
To hide from the sun, Farore made the forests.
Their quarrels resulted in war between their servants, and in the chaos starting to erupt, twilight was seeping back into the mortal realm. Seeing this, Naryu stepped in. She bound all races made by her siblings to a law. With the moon she made time they would know, she set the sun on its axis, and to mediate between the races just as she had to mediate between her sisters, she made man.
The war was averted, and time passed. To keep the tension low, they left the world, acting instead through chosen champions, and marked them with triangles. At times the champions were chosen through tests and trials, as they left relics to seek out who's beliefs and states of minds resonated with them. At times the champions resonated with the goddesses good sides. They sought power, freedom, wisdom, strength of will and love. And at times they resonated darkly. Where strength gave way to tyranny, freedom gave way to anarchy, and wisdom gave way to fanaticism.
Then one generation was met with catastrophe. The goddess's chose their champions, but whereas the power was meant for good, the champions fought amongst themselves. The champion of Naryu used his wisdom to make a great kingdom, but it brought war against the champion of Din. As the two champions clashed with armies and kingdoms, the people suffered, demons roamed as Twilight spilled into the land, and the champion of Farore arose with a rebellion.
No one knows who struck the final blow, but in one day the champion of Naryu, the king of Hyrule, died, the champion of Farore, the rebel named Hero, disappeared, and the champion of Din, the Demon of Hyrule, also disappeared. Between the invaders, the defenders, the demons, and the rebels, war ravaged the land, and with all three of their respective leaders gone, Hyrule collapsed on itself. The champions became known as the Spirit of the King, the Spirit of the Rebel or Hero (depending on one's view), and the Spirit of the Demon.
Since then, the demons disappeared into legend. Hyrule collapsed into a thousand small nations comprised of hundreds of cities and villages. Until one fateful king, King Shorlin of Qin, saw the potential of past legends. He wondered to himself, if the three champions at war could destroy a nation… what could they do together? So the King went to great expense to track down the three bloodlines and bring them together in Qin.
Whether or not his faith would hold fruit is yet to be seen.
-Kanyou, Capital of Qin-
Elder finished his story. He sat back and watched as the three processed the information. Zelda already knew much of it, and while Ganon was familiar with parts of it, it was lacking. Link had never heard of any of it.
"Whoa…" Link whispered.
"That is one way to put it." Zelda acknowledged.
"So… this birthmark makes me some kind of badass or something?" Link looked at his hand in awe.
Elder answered, "It means you are destined for greatness. Whether it is great good, great evil, or great waste of potential is up to you. But the Goddesses have their eyes on you."
Link and Zelda discussed the matter, but Ganon was quiet. He gazed at his hand with his brows furrowed. It troubled him, what he heard. It was nothing like what his mother's taught him. They had taught him of oppression and injustice dealt to their peoples, but nothing as far back as the Elder spoke.
And the demons…
Was there a connection between the Dragmire, the demons, the Twilight, and others things Elder mentioned? He had thought the Dragmire to worship Din, but his fellow Dragmire said they had turned 'back' to demons. To turn back to demons implies they once worked with demons.
The demons that plagued Hyrule.
The war with Hyrule.
The Spirit of the Demon.
If King Shorlin had brought the bloodline of the Spirit of the Demon to Qin…
Ganondorf closed his eyes and sighed. "I see."
"Does this trouble you?" Zelda asked.
Ganon narrowed his eyes in thought. He rose from his chair and looked into the Fae Grove. "Deeply. For the Twilight and demons to be connected is known to me, but I have recently come to learn the Dragmire have a connection to demons I did not know of. I use shadow, fire, and some twilight power. I was raised to use Din fire and Twilight. But demons? I heard the reason for the persecution against my people was because they turned to demons… and they had once before."
Ganondorf looked at his palm as he clenched and relaxed his fist. He felt so much anger boiled inside. It was something he learned to control, but he felt there was something here he was still missing. Was he angry because of the death of his people? Was he angry because his clan had worshipped demons? Was he simply angry because it was his upbringing?
Elder took Link's shoulder and said, "Link, there is a power resting inside you. Something deep and powerful. Once you figure out how to use it, you will be a step closer to your destiny."
"My destiny… what would that be?" Link gulped.
"What you choose for it to be."
"A lot of help that is…" He said sarcastically. "Didn't you say you would help us train?"
"I didn't say I would help you train. The others learned to use their power in their own way… the journey you take to learn yours is what will shape it to be what it will become."
Zelda watched Ganon. The man was deep in thought, and so far as Link went… he wasn't the brightest. Zelda had understood, grasped, and welcomed the knowledge provided by the Fae… but the black man seemed unsettled and Link would need time. "Elder Fae. Thank you for the lesson, but I think it is enough for now. There is much for us to consider and meditate on."
The three parted and went their own way. Ganon found a balcony and meditated under the sun, considering all he had learned in recent times.
He recognized that his would-be cousin, and the Elder Fae, were not lying to him. Yet he still felt something was not right. Perhaps it was he who was not right, in resisting what he had learned. Perhaps he needed to hear it from someone who was a Dragmire and was old enough to be involved, or perhaps someone who knew their past.
Because try as he might, he did not know where to cast his anger. Should the Dragmire's fate be on Qin's hands, or did they bring it upon themselves? Should he continue to ignore the past, or should he recognize the need to act? And in what way should he act? Was there anything to fix? Was there anyone to bring retribution to?
Ganondorf was a man of action being forced to be passive. The best he could do was put his impulses in the back of his mind.
Zelda was settled in herself already with what she knew, and attended to business around the palace as normal. The immediate arrangement was to return life to normal with the return of holiday that had been ignored in the chaos. So Zelda sat at her desk and reviewed an endless stream of letters, statements, statistics, and notifications with a few requests sprinkled in. The only thing that unnerved Zelda was how widely her servant was smiling. For a concubine and servant Sarah was generally a happy girl, and was completely normal in every way. But there was something unnerving about just how widely she was smiling. To make it even worse the girl was getting bouncy and looked like she was going to explode in fits and giggles. It was making her very hard for Zelda to focus on her work.
Sarah toppled over Andim's pole, making the hawkling squawk angrily and fly to another perch. Zelda eyed the servant as her smile turned apologetic. While Zelda liked seeing her in a good mood, it was annoying when she was trying to focus, and so she couldn't keep all of the ice from her gaze.
"What is it?" Zelda questioned. She put down her quill and focused on the girl that was proving impossible to ignore. "It is good to see you happy, but I have yet to see your happiness so… bright. What is it that you are desperately wanting to say or do? Surely you have something to say."
"Not at all, just… I'm happy because you are."
"Come again?" Zelda asked.
"Those two back there… they are the first people I have seen you open up to. I mean…" Sarah searched for the words. "You respect your servants in ways other masters do not, as you acknowledge them. You allow me to comfort you in your private space and private times. You are open to opinion and thought in court. You enjoy dialogue and philosophy and… just talk that is smart and teaching. But despite it there is a constant feeling of detachment. You keep everyone in their place, and perhaps I may be close, but that is because it is my job to be. You haven't opened to me, trusted me, or simply liked me, because you wanted to from the start… and perhaps you do not fully trust me either. But today I saw you simply… normal." Sarah laughed. "And I'm happy for you. I didn't think you trusted anyone enough to truly be a friend."
"Friend." Zelda repeated the word. She blushed at the praising and empathetic joy her servant proclaimed. "Perhaps we are drawn together… and perhaps I can call Link a fair-weather friend. For the chieftain, I would call him an ally. But even so that is because we have very differing ideas of friends."
"What do you mean?"
"To me, a true friend is someone you can trust with your thoughts and feelings. Someone you can cry with or laugh with. Someone who you can expose your naked back to without the slightest sense they will stab you in it." Zelda said. "Someone who will never fail you."
"That's right."
"Then I have none. At most, I might still have one."
Sarah frowned. "What?"
"They are with me because it benefits them. Link wants a soldier's career. Lord Dragmire is a king in his own right, and as such MUST choose his people over me. The Elder Fae wishes to help me, but he is also a king with responsibility to his people. Ryo gave me lessons, but is using me as a puppet. Abhdan has great interest in my learning as a good teacher would, but serves Ryo first and foremost. General Ouki is chaotically unreliable and reliable at once, making him difficult to figure out. I wish to believe he would choose to serve me over all others, as his gesture of support and loyalty would convey, but he is whimsical in the extreme. Impa… Dear Impa who brought me here, and has been by my side. She left me behind to tend to her clan as Shadowmaster. I hold no grudge or malice towards her, but it shows where her responsibility lies. So long as she is Shadowmaster her responsibility is divided in regards to me just as much as all the others."
Sarah's joy fell as Zelda spoke. It was honest, and in that she appreciated it, but the coldness of it chilled her. She grew sad.
Zelda turned her sharpness on Sarah. "And you… You are right to say I do not fully trust you, though you see more sides of me than most others."
"That's harsh…"
"That's reality. You do not serve me, Sarah, though I wish you did. You serve the Royal Harem. And you know who runs it?"
Sarah nodded. She knew. Zelda had conveyed her relationship with that person before. Zelda was right… it was impossible for her to truly trust the servant so long as she served the Royal Harem.
Sarah's eyes welled with tears until they poured down. Seeing Sarah's tears, Zelda stepped back from the bluntness she was used to having and briefly hugged the girl. "Do not take it personally, Sarah. I like you. You are a good person. What I trust is that whatever you choose, it is for goodness. It is not the same as choosing me. It is the same for everyone I know. They have choices they must make, and it is to their people, their family, and their loved ones that they choose. They may even choose to help the princess… but they do so by choosing the kingdom of Qin… I am Heir Apparent to them, not Zelda. To them I am a symbol, not a person… I am sorry if my belief hurts you, I do not mean to injure."
"I am not hurt, princess. Just sad." Sarah sniffled. "It sounds so… lonely."
Zelda looked down, considering the word. In the end, she shrugged. "I have never recalled being lonely."
"And that is what hurts the most."
Zelda looked sharply at the servant, but Sarah did not seem to wish to say any more. The statement was short and sweet, but cut through Zelda deeply into areas she was uncomfortable with. Her first reflex was defensive anger, but she quickly cut it off. It was said in love for her own good…
Seeing the icy glare return, Sarah bowed and left Zelda alone to work. Zelda watched the girl leave. She sighed in resignation. It was a conversation Zelda had not wished to have, but it was for the girl's own good.
"She is better off not getting attached. My hands are covered in blood as it is, and that is not to stop any time soon… I'm not as good as she thinks I am."
Link also meditated in his own way, but rather than sit alone or work, he wandered the streets. He saw life in the capital and let his mind blanking. Being from a merchant plantation, he was amazed by the glamor of everything sold, and how people dressed, but he also recognized that this was partially illusion. The silk looked delicate and noble, but it was grown by worms who ate berries. The people wore makeup, but it was to cover something up. People were dirty and worked, and others were clean and didn't.
What was his role in all this? He always said he was destined for greatness (much to the annoyance of most of his village), but to have it stated by someone who knew things… It made it something a touch more real. As a war orphan, he was left with the message that his parent was a great general. As a boy, soon to be a teen, he trained and was filled with so much energy and resolve he didn't always know what to do with it. (When he wasn't training or working, he was usually doing something stupid, like most boys.)
"Pft… Like I need a talking fly to tell me I have a destiny. I already know that." Link smirked despite the butterflies in his stomach.
As he walked, he bumped into some cloaked men. He made an effort to apologize, but he stopped mid-word when he saw the blood-stained weapons hidden beneath.
"Watch it, brat." A gruff one shoved the boy aside.
"Wait. Look at his sword." Their leader said. He didn't look as ugly and gruff as the others, but had a dangerous beauty to him. The kind of man who could woo women one minute and throw them away the next.
Seeing the shock in Link's eyes, he knew the boy was alerted, and with a blade that fancy, the boy either was a thief, or had connections… Namely in the palace. They couldn't take the chance. He reached out as quick as a snake and put a gentle hand on Link's shoulder. Link tried to pull back, but the man's grip was firm. "Let's go for a walk."
"No, no. I'm good." Link chuckled nervously. His eyes avoided the man's sharp gaze as he looked for an exit, but he was surrounded. "I've already walked. I was actually just thinking of sitting down. Besides, I don't know you."
"Then let's go sit." The man smiled. "I'm Kei Ki. Now you know me."
"Hey, that rhymes!" A man said.
"Shut it."
They took his sword and shoved him between them. In their midst with tight hands on him, Link found himself walking through the capital back alleys, far out of sight of the main streets… and the soldiers that patrolled them. Link gulped. Was his supposed destiny to die in the crevice of society?
He could imagine Midna shaking her head in shame, and the whole world laughing at the son of a general rotting in trash heaps amongst the rats.
Link resisted and tried to get away, but the men held him tight with his arms behind his back. Try as he might, he was a boy. A strong boy for one his age, but still a boy.
To his surprise, they did not kill him. Even the men were surprised by this, whispering among each other why Kei Ki didn't just turn around and behead the boy as he had so many others. They figured there was a purpose behind it, or maybe Kei Ki was trying to find just the right place to do it. Link didn't much like either option.
The alley opened up to reveal they were approaching the temple from the back side. The men climbed atop each other to get over the wall. Link saw his chance and tried to dash away, but Kei Ki was already on him, literally throwing him to the ground and sitting on him. Link bit his ankle and received dizzying punches to the face in turn.
"Someone throw me their cloak! The boy is a fighter." Kei Ki laughed.
Kei Ki rained punches down on Link until the boy stopped resisting. Link wanted to continue, but he felt his brain churning with each blow. He could barely see straight. With his eyes spinning, he felt Kei Ki lift him and wrap him. A moment or two and he was wrapped in a cloak and tied in someone's belt.
"Why is it always sacks!" Link exclaimed.
He was picked up and thrown over some man's shoulder. The group entered the temple from a backdoor. The temple was quiet and seemingly empty as the group walked. It was not a day nor hour of worship, but Link thought he would have seen at least some priest.
They walked up flights of stairs towards a tower in the temple, opened a door that had its lock broken, and they found the priests. Gagged. Link's eyes widened. Two of them were bleeding horribly and the rest were bruised. Link was tossed onto them.
In front of the priests were a group of people wrapped in ribbons of cloth from head to toe. Over their chests were emblems of eyes, but the red eyes were painted over in black. They possessed a number of weapons ranging from short scythes, to short swords, to knives, to bows. The man leading them had a helmet with four masks, one on each side, and two scythes on his back. The man with the four-masked helmet loomed over the priests, and judging from how the priests looked fearfully back…
They were screwed.
"~A boy?~" The four-masked man wondered. He seemed to… sing it. Or he was whimsical in his speech. Link couldn't say, other than the fact he sounded weird.
"Check the emblem on the hilt of his blade. He has a sword from the palace. The last thing we need is them catching wind of us before its time." Kei Ki replied.
"And you didn't think to kill him!" The helmet spun on the man's head to an angry face.
"Bodies tend to get noticed. As an assassin, you yourself know this."
'Assassin?!' Link gulped. What kind of crap was he in!? Who were they assassinating? Wait… If they were wary of a boy from the palace… then… oh no. He needed to tell Zelda! But how? He was tied up, surrounded, and yelling wouldn't get him anywhere. Wait! He had some kind divine power right?! Or at the very least… the mark of power. Maybe he could do something with it!
Having no idea how, Link closed his eyes and focused his thought into his hand. He pictured his thoughts as a bird being sent to Zelda. Or Ganondorf. Or the Fae guy. Or whoever could read his thoughts!
Meanwhile, the assassin loomed over them. His helmet shifted around continuously, not stopping on any one face. "Tell me… High Priest. Who paid you to declare Zelda the heir?" The assassin asked.
"I-I don't know what you are talking about." The High Priest said.
"Wrong!" The man smacked the priest. Blood splattered across the floor. "You cannot tell me you were not paid! The records pan out. You received a very generous donation just before the girl arrived. A few days later, some girl from Zhao shows up in the arms of the traitorous Shadowmaster, you declare her heir, the true king is dethroned, and civil war plagues the land. Who paid you!?"
"We receive donations from the palace, the nobles, and all of Qin regularly! We are paid as well as any major faction in Qin! Running a church across Qin is not cheap!"
"Do you take me for an insane fool!?" The bat-shit crazy man with the spinning helmet yelled.
"Uh…"
"Do you take me for a liar?!" The helmet snapped into place on an angry face. The assassin pulled out a scythe blade, picked up the high priest, and held the blade to his throat. "You are a crooked priest and a liar! Not me! You're the liar! You are involved in a plot against Qin, and have been so from the very beginning! Now who paid you!"
"I-I don't-"
"Ryo!" Another priest yelled fearfully.
Everyone went quiet. The High Priest, the assassin, the other priest's whimpering also stopped. Even Kei Ki stopped whispering and muttering with others in the background to look at the priest who spoke.
The assassin turned his head completely to the one that spoke, almost defying the way his spine sat on his shoulders in doing so, cut the scythe across the High Priest's neck, and whispered, "Ryo paid you all?" Link felt a chill go down his spine.
The High Priest fell to the ground gagging on his blood, and the other priests yelled fearfully and begged as they backed away. The assassin turned the rest of his body to align with his head and he stepped up to the priest that spoke. The helmet on his head started to spin.
"Ryo paid you." The assassin said.
The priest nodded.
"Impa brought her here in secret."
The priest nodded again.
"And you declared the child… as the heir."
Once again, the priest nodded.
"Based. On. What? Did you have a vision? Did the Goddesses come down and tell you? Did Chancellor Ryo pay you?"
The priest looked with terror at the dead High Priest. He whimpered, "O-only he knew. He demanded to be a-alone. Wh-when he came out. He sa-said that girl was…" The priest hesitated as the assassin lifted the blood-covered scythe. "… king."
The assassin's head snapped into place on sad. "I understand now… We have to kill the princess. We have to kill Shadowmaster Impa. And we have to kill Chancellor Ryo. He has Reida's father, the governor, in his pocket… and Reida has King Kyou's ear… By Kyou! how deeply Ryo's web goes!"
Kei Ki snorted, "Kill the princess and Chancellor Ryo? That will set the country in chaos. Why not just kill the entire Qin hierarchy while we're at it?" He added sarcastically.
"I like where your mind is going! But let's do this one step at a time! We may have to kill King Kyou as well if Lady Reida goes near him again!" The assassin said cheerfully. "But first!"
The assassin kicked the priest in the stomach, grabbed his hair, and shoved his face into the ground. He produced a knife from his vest, placed it under the man's neck, and plunged it in. The priest gurgled on his own blood and fought against him, but the assassin had a firm grip on his hair. The priest gagged and thrashed, but with his life literally spilling out of his throat there was only so much he could do before collapsing face-first into a pool of his own blood.
The assassin stood and wiped the knife on the priest's white clothes. He sheathed it. With a snap of his fingers, the assassin walked out the door followed by his followers.
"What of the others?" Kei Ki asked.
"~Kill them.~" The masked man sang.
Kan Ki sighed and scratched at the mess of hair on his head. "Weirdo. Go on, I will take care of them. You know the plan." He waved off with his hands.
With a nod, every bandit and rebel left the room except for two others who, judging from their familiarity with Kei Ki, were his lieutenants. The lieutenants lunged into the mass of priests, and forced them all to bow with their heads down in a line. Link, still rolled up in a sack of robes, was thrown among them.
'Shitshitshitshitshitshit!' Link hissed in his head. Why wasn't his power working?! Shouldn't he be able to get a message to the others? Or pull out fire like Ganon? Or shoot exploding arrows like Zelda?
Kei Ki pulled out a blade and in one swipe beheaded the first priest.
But what could Link do? So far as he knew, nothing! Nada! Zilch!
Another priest fell without a head.
All Link had done up to this point was be a participant in a battle at the palace… and know people. Midna had done great things in a short time. Zelda had taken a nation and stood and looked kings in the eyes. Ganon was already a lesser king and probably had a number of accomplishments in his name. What was Link to all that?
A third priest lost his head.
Link boasted a lot. He was the son of a great general… bah, he was a fool. It was a statement he used to explain his dreams of becoming great, but for all of his dreams what did he do? Nothing!
Fueled by anger, Link threw his head forward. Whether by luck or providence, his thick skull collided with one of the lieutenant's crotch standing just in front of him. The man squealed, grabbed himself, and fell to his knees. The other's laughed at the humiliating display, and Kei Ki stopped momentarily to see the grown man cry about how his grandbabies were aborted before they had a chance.
"Wait…" Kei Ki said. "Where's the brat?"
Link was missing and the door was open.
Growling, Kei Ki threw open the door with a crash and bolted out. It didn't take long to find Link, but seeing Link crawling on the ground like a worm on steroids left him momentarily bewildered. He couldn't help cackling in laughter.
"You're fast for a boy tied up in a bag," Kei Ki complimented him.
Kan grabbed Link by the feet and lifted him off the ground upside. Link wriggled and struggled and swung back and forth. With his hands tied within the sack, he could only aim to do damage with his head.
"You have any idea how many times I've been stuffed in a sack!? I'm a sack-master!" Link exclaimed. "Now fight me properly you shitter!"
"Why would I do that?" Kei Ki questioned, still holding Link. Next moment Link's head collided with his kneecap, and he fell to his knees as they buckled. Link, unfortunately, fell on his head. "Oh, you're a feisty one! As you wish!" Kei Ki took his sword, pinned Link to the ground, and cut into him. Link gasped.
The sack unraveled.
Link looked at himself and patted himself down looking for blood. He didn't find any. The man had cut only the ropes holding him together. Kei Ki stood and dropped a second sword by Link.
"You want to die on your feet. So pick it up." Kan declared. "Or I'll cut your head off right here and now. I don't have a problem killing a boy."
Link gulped. He took the sword, a bit bigger than he was used to, and stood to his feet. He barely had time to steady his stance before Kei Ki was swiping at him with a quick thrust. Link narrowly deflected it. He felt the sting of blood on his cheek as it whisked by his head.
The sharp pain sharpened his mind. This was real. This wasn't a joke. This wasn't a spar. This wasn't war where he might have backup. This was survival at its core, with him being completely alone.
Link swiped back at the much taller man. To his fear, the man easily deflected and lunged forward. He shoved his knee in Link's face followed by the hilt of his sword. Link rolled on the ground briefly before rising from his knees. He felt blood trickle down his face. Already there was blood over his eyes, but he kept his sharp vision on the man without flinching.
Kei Ki merely smirked. It angered Link how the man was thoroughly enjoying himself toying with him.
"I like the look in your eye," Kei Ki said. "That's the look of a man who has seen death, and is willing to kill…"
Kei swiped his sword playfully. Link blocked them, but then the man wasn't really trying to kill him at the moment. Every blow made Link take a step back and brace against him.
"I heard it said once…" Kei Ki reminisced. "That the worst thing a man can learn is how easy it is to kill. I understand what he means… knowledge like that takes away innocence. I, though, think of it as freeing. Got a problem? Just kill it. Want money? Kill someone. Face it. Killing is an artform! It has finesse and beauty in its craft!"
Link blocked another heavy blow, but the impact still hit his head. He was thrown side-ways into the railing. The world spun before his eyes. He couldn't make out Kei Ki anymore. Kei Ki punched him in the face. Link's grip on his sword loosened and fell over the railing.
"Beheading people is just another way of killing, but people put fame to it because of its finesse as opposed to plain murder! I murder just as much as anyone else and I'm famous just because I do it differently!"
Kei Ki punched Link in the other side of the face, grabbed his collar, and threw him over the railing. Link though, unable to see properly anymore, reacted to touch and grabbed the man's wrist tightly. He dangled over the open air. Kei Ki, still being entertained, grabbed Link by the hair and lifted him up. Link yelled in pain as his hair was being pulled at the root, but he refused to let go. Kei Ki spun and threw Link into the wall. Link hit his head and most of his spine in the impact against solid stone, and fell to the ground numb. Kei Ki let go.
To Kei Ki's surprise, Link lunged forward and with what remained of his strength, bit down on Kei's leg. Unfortunately for him, Kei wore heavy leather. Kei chuckled and kicked the boy back into the wall. Link collapsed against it, defeated. He no longer had the strength to move. His body was battered and numb, and his head spun and ached from constantly being knocked into stone.
"We're not so different… you and I. We have both killed." Kei Ki mused.
"No…" Link muttered. "We are nothing alike. I fought in war. You're just a murderer."
"And you don't think war can be murder? You don't think I can bring my art to war?"
Link didn't respond.
"War and murder are the same. Both are equally ugly and equally beautiful. There is strategy and finesse to war. Why else would there be glory in it?"
"Shut it." Link whispered. "You act like you know so much… why don't you prove it? Oh, wait. You can't. You're a shitter scum-face murderer. Yeah… its ugly. It leaves villages destroyed and people dead… but there is NOTHING beautiful or glorious about it…"
Link glared at him through his blurry, blood-stained vision as blood poured over his eyes. He had lost Midna to war, and he had seen the villages burned to the ground in the all-encompassing thing called war. The devastation to the capital that echoed all through Qin was no small thing. Once he had made statements in ignorance that who sat on the throne didn't matter to peasants, but he couldn't have been further from the truth. A strong, stable throne brought security to a nation. So even though Link may seek war, it was not for glory. Not anymore. He felt the call to war because it was the blood that flowed through his veins, and it was what kept the throne stable and safe…
Kei Ki looked back down at Link, an unreadable expression on his face as he searched out Link's eyes.
The man's lieutenants left the side-room, their weapons coated in blood. One of them, a scrawny woman covered in jewelry and tattoos said, "It is done. The priests are dead. Hehehe. Looks like the boy put up a cute little fight."
She stood by Kei Ki and looked down at Link. "Done having fun? Shall I finish him?"
As Kei Ki did not respond immediately, she brought up her sword and swiped at Link's head. He flinched, and blinked to find the sword stopped short of his head. Kei Ki had thrust his arm out to stop her hand.
"Kei Ki?" The woman questioned.
Kei Ki's eyes never left Link's own, his expression unreadable. "Boy. I accept your challenge."
"Huh?" Everyone asked in various levels of surprise.
"You're right. War is ugly. But it is also the greatest painting canvas I could ever ask for! So I will show you beauty of death! I shall bring my art to war!"
Link and the lieutenants looked at him in equal surprise and bewilderment as he made his firm statement. Kei Ki sheathed his sword, turned, and left. "Come. We have a nutcase to deal with."
The lieutenants followed after him. Link stared as they left. He could not believe his senses. He was beaten up, exhausted, and try as he might to come to his senses, the world was spinning before his eyes. Add that to the fact that the bastard who beat him up, and executed the priests, left him alive based on a challenge of some sort to which Link didn't grasp, and he was just all around confused. It felt like a dream, but he knew from how much pain he was in that this was real. Painfully real.
He whispered, "Wha-what just happened? Oh, Din! Is this how everyone feels with me?!"
A second or two passed.
"THE PRINCESS!" His eyes widened. The palace was in danger! Spurred on, he found new energy and used it to get up. It was a poor decision. The world spun harder and he collapsed. This was a million times worse than the time he snuck a bottle of sake. He didn't have the strength to lift himself up. He groaned, "Urgh… One minute. Maybe two…"
