Let's see...

Oh yeah, it was about to get real.

Chapter 20

The Emerald God of Death: Stalicus

Link took a few precautionary steps back, as this... thing was really, really creeping him out.

"This thing's really freaking me out," Link said as he backed away, Stalicus taking slow steps towards him.

"Why do you fear, child...? There is no need to be afraid... Soon, there will be nothing to be afraid of... There will be only death... Only nothingness..." Stalicus said as he continued his approached.

"Back off!" Link said as he backed away, shouldering his sword and raising his shield. This was really starting to get to him...

Oddly enough, he heard Marze say something along the lines of 'spooky scary skeletons, send shivers down your spine.' As much as he didn't understand it, Marze was right; Stalicus was sending shivers down his spine, as he was quite a 'spooky scary skeleton.'

"Shut up, Marze..." Link said as he continued to back away from Stalicus. He could just feel how strong he was by his footsteps alone.

"I grow tired of your inability to make the first move..." Stalicus said as he raised his scythe. "It seems... I must be the first to strike..."

Link gritted his teeth as the huge scythe came by, nearly blowing the shield clean from his hand. Even though he knew his shield was fine, he didn't know if his arm was; Stalicus hit extremely hard.

The worst part, however, was when he noticed that the crystal skeleton behind Stalicus was shadowing his movements and swung its own arm at Link, back-hand slapping him away. Hitting the wall, Link fell to the ground and rose to his knees, his vision going hazy for a few moments before correcting.

"That hit way too hard..." Link said as he sheathed his sword, grabbing his shield with two hands. He could block Stalicus' blows, but the skeleton's were too much for him. He knew he had to dodge those.

Bracing himself, he charged in at Stalicus, blocking the scythe strike and dodging the skeleton before ramming his shield into Stalicus' torso, pushing him back a bit before landing and grabbing his sword, taking a swing at his ankles and cutting through his armor. As Stalicus regained his balance, as did his crystal skeleton, he went to grab Link by his cloak, lifting him to eye level.

"I can still see it... The fear in your eyes... Let me ease that fear, child..."

Stalicus then tossed Link into the air before swinging downward with the same hand, the skeleton smashing him into the ground. Hitting the ground hard, Link rose back to his feet after a moment, holding his shoulder in pain after dropping his shield.

"Goddesses damn it..." Link said as he tried to move his arm, finding that it refused to listen to him and merely hung limply. "I'm gonna need some red potion..."

Dodging back from a few of Stalicus' blows, Link reached into his pouch and pulled from its depths a red potion, drinking half before flexing his arm and finding that he could move it again. Satisfied, he raised his shield once more, and rested his hand on his sword's handle, remembering what he saw, namely that the skeleton mimicked every single movement that Stalicus made, even being staggered.

"Let's get this party started," Link said as he ran in, watching Stalicus' movements carefully, seeing when he rose his scythe. Planting his feet and bracing himself, Link rammed his shield into his scythe right as it came close, staggering him and the skeleton. Link took this chance to finally deal some real damage to Stalicus, hitting a few times with his greatsword in order to try and get rid of one of his legs, as unlike the Master of Blades, his armor wasn't nigh-impenetrable, and unlike the King of Shadows, he needed his legs to move. Swinging with all his might, Link finally removed a leg from the Emerald God, the bones clacking to the ground away from them both. Even one of the giant skeleton's legs fell away.

Link saw that Stalicus was about to regain his balance and backed away, sheathing his sword again and raising his shield in anticipation of Stalicus' next move, which was actually to stumble and fall and... start laughing?

"You're much more intelligent than you lead yourself to be, boy... But I fear that you..."

At this time, Stalicus rose back to his remaining leg, using his emerald-edged scythe to prop himself up, his skeleton doing the same with its own fallen leg.

"I fear that you will never see the light of day again... Such is the curse of this Emerald Grave..."

Link merely held his ground, holding his shield proudly before him in order to protect himself.

I can't let her down... I need to do this for my sister. I will to do this for Ryla! I WILL SAVE HER!

Replacing his shield with the Ruby Greatsword, Link charged in towards Stalicus, dodging past both the scythe and skeletal leg in order to bring his sword up and slash through the armor and torso of Stalicus, revealing a large, emerald heart in his chest cavity, and it was still beating.

"What in Hylia's name?" Link said as he dodged back, holding his sword high in case he needed it, which he felt he would very soon.

Staggered, Stalicus caught his balance with his scythe, the crystal skeleton doing the same with its severed leg.

"So... You've found the core of my being... My Emerald Heard... It has beat for decades, even centuries... But one day, it beat harder... Faster... Stronger... It became a flawless organ, the perfect vessel for my spirit... This is the very center of the God of Death, Stalicus... You are the first mortal to see it... But you may well be the last... For you shall not escape..."

"Say what you will, I will claim your prize, and I will defeat you," Link said, holding his sword forward. "I'll gain the power of the Emerald Grave, and I will save my sister."

Stalicus merely laughed, a disturbing and ominous cackle as he mimed grabbing something, his mountainous shadow grabbing him and placing him in its chest cavity through the ribs that had fallen when Link revealed the Emerald Heart.

"The best of luck to you... Though I fear it won't be enough..."

Link was surprised as the skeleton reattached its leg, Stalicus laughing.

"So it can just put itself back together..." Link said and though. "But how many pieces can be fixed?"

Charging in and dodging the colossal beast's stomps and arm slams, he ran up and slashed at one of its ankles. To his satisfaction, he ripped clean through it and sent the individual bones flying. However, they quickly rolled back to their original place and reformed its massive foot.

"That wont work," Link said right before he was kicked away by the God of Death, slamming into a wall and rolling back down, his sword blown from his hands.

"The Ruby Greatsword..." Stalicus muttered as he looked to Link's blade. "It has been years since I have last seen it... Pray tell... Does it retain its edge...?"

Stalicus reached down and grabbed Link's sword, the red blade being bathed in a flame of pure emerald. If Link weren't coughing up blood, he'd probably think the scene before him was mildly entertaining; a 50 ft skeleton wielding a 6 ft sword is rather comical.

Standing back up and finishing the second half of the red potion he had opened earlier, he finally reached into his pouch and grabbed the Channel Orb, letting it drop to the floor next to him.

"Let's go," he said as he started swinging the weapon above his head, Stalicus laughing.

"Even the King of Shadows' Channel Orb... It will be a pleasure to take your life, boy..."

Link merely narrowed his eyes and starting swing the Channel Orb faster, waiting for Stalicus to get close in order to slam the weapon into his left shin, absolutely shattering the bone and knocking Stalicus over, allowing Link to draw his Antares Edge and rush towards the Emerald God, stabbing several times at his exposed form, or more specifically, his heart, cracking it a small amount. Feeling Stalicus stir, Link sheathed his sword and dashed off of him as he stood, pulling back his Channel Orb, ready to take on the God of Death. Apparently, whenever he was faced with a time where he thought about his sister, it drove him harder than anything else would, and at this point, he had enough adrenaline in his veins to let him do anything.

Stalicus regained his balance, turning back to Link and raising his sword, swinging at him. Link dodged, the sword instead striking the stone next to him, sliding through it as if it weren't even there. His attention was drawn to it, as it crumbled and faded away, almost as if it were decaying.

"My name is Stalicus, the Emerald God of Death... This means that my every strike... Holds the power to rot and decay... If I draw even a drop of your blood... Then you will die, rotting to nothing but bones..."

"Then I just won't get hit!" Link shouted as he ran in, dodging past his own sword as is swung past him, jumping up and throwing his sword into Stalicus' chest and piercing his heart, knocking him back. Quickly equipping his Greed Ax, Link dodged back, as he started swinging wildly with the Ruby Greatsword, Link blocking some hits with his ax, the blade starting to burn with a sick green light. Before long, the entire edge was green, allowing Link to counter one of Stalcus' blows with a heavy attack of his own, knocking him back. Link was also staggered for a moment, but he recovered faster, charging in an executing a spin attack mid-air onto the pommel of his sword, driving it through his Emerald Heart and shattering it, green blood gushing from its crystalline depths.

Landing, he heard Stalicus fall behind him, Link raising his ax triumphantly as his form was bathed in emerald, and then golden flames.

Pocketing his ax and retrieving his swords, Link waited for his next Starlight Coin, as he knew that he was going to get one. Monsters aren't as strong as that without possessing one, no way.

Eventually, the emerald flames subsided, revealing Stalicus' spirit, much like with the Master of Blades and the King of Shadows.

"I'm quite impressed, boy," Stalicus, or rather, Dolan, said. "Not only did you manage to beat my two bodyguards, but me too. But really, I have to thank you. In my last days, I was consumed by greed, and sold my soul to the Devil. He ended up tricking me, making me the eternal guardian of the Emerald Grave. Apparently, the destruction of my physical form has broken the curse he placed upon me. So thank you, boy. No, thank you, young knight. You have freed me from an eternity of pain."

Link just nodded, as he saw the Starlight Coin had fromed, and now floated in the air between the two of them.

"Ah, I see. That is what you had come here for. Well, go ahead, take it. You've earned it. All I ask is that you be careful in your adventures. I hear voices... They taunt me. I fear that you will meet even greater challenges in time. Luck to you, young knight. I fear you will need it."

And with that, Dolan's spirit burnt out, Link being free to claim his Starlight Coin. Placing it in his pouch, he sighed and sat down, Marze popping out of his hood.

"Well, that was quite the battle, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah..." Link said, falling onto his back. "Goddesses, I'm sore..."

"You should get some rest, especially after a bout like that," Marze suggested, taking to the air. "Maybe at Hyrule Castle Town so that you can copy down the locations from the Resistance's map."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan," Link said as he rose to his feet, stretching his back out and hearing several loud cracks. "Goddesses, I need some sleep..."

And with that, Link started making his way out of the Emerald Grave. However, he remembered something.

"Wait, weren't I supposed to be 'as rich as a god' now?"

Link reached down to his wallet, and found that it was loaded with red, blue, and green rupees, meaning Dolan came through.

"Nice," he said as he closed it and returned it to its place on his belt, heading out of the Emerald Grave.

OOO

"And we're back, finally!"

Having ridden all the way from northern Lanayru to Central Hyrule, he was obviously tired, and made his way over to the Twilit Tavern, flopping down onto a chair.

"Hey, Link," Elvira said as she came by, cleaning a glass. "How'd everything go?"

Link offered a thumbs-up, dropping it down onto the table, along with his head.

"Tired, huh?" she asked, setting down the glass down under the counter. "Not many good inns in Castle Town. I guess you can use my spare room. There's a door in the back near where my friends meet. Head in there, and it's the bed closest to the door."

"Goddesses bless you," Link said as he rose from the chair, his body feeling as if it weighed several tons. The way he flopped onto the bed made it sound like he was that heavy, for that matter. He remembered, however, that he had to remove his armor however, and quickly did so, Marze getting his clothes piled up for a bed of his own, under the bed in case Elvira walked in.

"Well, that's a day. Goodnight, Marze," Link said as he closed his eyes, already asleep.

"Goodnight, young knight," Marze said, recalling Dolan's title for the bounty hunter. A fitting title, really. After all, being 17 and possessing the skills he has... In fact, he may be better of than the knights. In terms of abilities, that is.

It didn't take much longer for Marze to fall asleep, but as soon as he did, a figure slipped into the room, and it was holding something.

"Welcome to the big leagues, kid," a feminine voice said as the figure laid a letter on the nightstand next to Link, leaving shortly after.

OOO

"Hey, wake up, you've got a letter or something."

"Link, having slept in until at least 3 the next day, was woken by Marze. Yawning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, seeing Marze holding a letter with his name on it.

"What's this?" he asked, grabbing the letter.

"It was here when I woke up," Marze explained as Link opened the letter, reading its contents.

Link

I know you don't know who I am, so I'll cut to the chase. I'm the current owner of the Gerudo Variety Market. Rumor has it that you've been pretty busy. Death Mountain, Faron Woods, etc. Even heading all the way out to the Emerald Grove of all places! But anyway, this here is a formal invitation for you to meet me at my store today. And try to hurry up, I'm not entirely fond of waiting.

-S.R.

Link put the letter back into the envelope, getting out of bed. Stretching, he sighed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"S.R... Goddesses, he sounds pushy. He owns the Gerudo Variety Market though, so it may be something worthwhile. All right, Marze, let's get going. And get off my clothes, I kinda need those," he said as he grabbed his armor, donning it as Elvira walked into the room.

"Oh-! S-Sorry, is this a bad time?" she stuttered, closing the door behind her.

"It's quite all right," Link said. "I have my clothes on, so unless you consider armor naked, you won't be seeing anything."

Elvira slowly opened the door, and seeing that Link wasn't in fact naked, and as such walked in.

"Sorry to bother you, but I need to get ready for work. And that involves changing."

Link blinked for a moment before his face lit up, quickly putting on the rest of his clothes, minus his mask, merely putting that in his pouch.

"S-So sorry!" he shouted, grabbing his gear and strapping it on, Marze having hidden in his hood.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she said rolling her eyes. "And close the door behind you. I don't need anyone watching while I change."

Link nodded and closed the door behind him, sighing as he walked to the door.

"Goddesses, my face is burning," he said as he exited the tavern. "It's not everyday a woman tells you that she needs to change right at that moment in the same room you're standing."

"Hylians are weird," Marze said, rolling his eyes.

"That's all you ever say," Link said, grabbing his letter from his pouch. "Well, I guess I might as well check this out..."

Pocketing the letter, he made his way to the secret entrance of the Gerudo Variety Market, passing through the corridor that led to its entrance. What he noticed, is that this time, there were two armed soldiers, Gerudo of course, guarding the door with spears.

"Halt! Who wishes to enter?" one of the guards asked.

"Uh, I got a letter telling me to come here," Link said, grabbing his letter, one of the guards taking it from him.

"...That's the seal. All right, you may enter. Though I do not see why a voe like you was allowed to enter, it seems I must let you. Be wary, however; one slip up, and you'll find yourself making a very close friend with the tip of my spear."

"Ok?" Link almost asked as he walked in, the sounds of spears clanging together as the door closed.

"Sav'otta, Hylian Voe!" called a male voice. Link looked closely, seeing that at the back of the room was a tanned man with orange-red hair, piercing gold eyes, and strange armor on, though to be honest, Link didn't really think it was too much of an armor. On his left shoulder was a gold-rimmed two-layered crimson spaulder with a crimson undersleeve that was tucked into the standard Gerudo gauntlet, meaning a beige fabric with orange and aquamarine markings on it, though it had a golden brace over it to provide extra defense, his right arm possessing the same gauntlet and a sleeve of tattoos spelling something out in the Gerudo alphabet, as well as a golden band wrapped around his right bicep. The spaulder was held on by a golden strap that wrapped around his chest that was connected to a crimson sash to hold weapons on his back or near his waist, though Link saw no such items on his person. His pants were crimson like his undersleeve and had rather strange patterns on them, as well as him plates on his left and right hips, each bearing the Gerudo symbols upon them. The pants themselves were tucked into golden greaves with strange cloth-covered shoes with leather straps upon them. Link saw that around his neck was a golden choker that was heavily decorated, and he wore a sort of gold circlet that resembled a crown with a topaz set in the center, as well as topaz earrings. He even possessed a crimson cape with the Gerudo pattern sewn into it with golden rimming, though it was held around his shoulders with a sort of wolf pelt that was gray in color. (1)

To either side of the man were two more guards, both armed with ornamented greatswords, and both looked like they knew how to use them. They gave Iris a run for her money in terms of sheer fear-inducement...

"Yes, welcome!" he called again, seeming very happy. "I see you've found my lovely little store, and I trust you're interested in what you see?"

Link took this opportunity to inspect the wares this man had to offer, namely Gerudo weapons like last time. However, there were a few odd things that had caught his eye, but he turned back to the man in question.

"Who are you?" Link asked, one of the guards lifting her sword up and stabbing the tip into the ground.

"You will speak to the King with utmost respect, Hylian Voe!"

"King?" Link asked as the man waved off the guard, smiling.

"Now, now, Varina, no need to be so harsh on him. Hylians, especially voe, do not know our customs. And to answer what I'll assume to be a question, allow me to introduce myself. I am Shaagos Ramil, current King of the Gerudo."

Oh boy, new characters! Yeah, this is another one of Reclusive Dork's characters, Shaagos, the King of the Gerudo! And don't worry folks, no evil Gerudo kings this time. And while I'm at it...

(1) He wears a special version of Breath of the Wild's Desert Voe Armor with Gerudo gauntlets, built in sand boots, and a cape with a wolf pelt around the collar.

So anywho, that's another chapter! Took me long enough...

OniHelix out!