Chapter 20: Radiant Light; a King's Lamentations
Ruins of the Forgotten Ones Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "Puzzling Truth" - Fire Emblem IX: Path of Radiance OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Cell's Theme" - Dragonball: Final Bout OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
"Stalemate!" - Dragonball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).
"The Forgotten City" - Final Fantasy 7 OST. Scene 2.
The 'Dark Interlopers'.
At long last the knowledgeable Tatl and curious Link begin to make connections; having known of the mysterious and elusive clan of people from his adventures throughout his home country of Hyrule, Tatl connects the disturbing similarities between their 'Fused Shadow' in Hyrule's Shadow Temple and this new creation.
Majora's Mask.
Said to have a comparable style of Aegir and Quintessence to that of the Fused Shadow itself, Majora's Mask carries with it the same kind of hopelessness and horror that Link himself personally remembers from his stint through Kakariko's Shadow Temple; an endeavour he does not enjoy reminiscing. Having finally entered and successfully infiltrated Ikana's dead castle itself however the two heroes soon begin to make connections within their odd construction and buildings surrounding it and Stone Tower.
A similarly disquieting quality that shares with the construction of the Fused Shadow and Majora's Mask themselves.
With the information that Tatl and Link both exchange on their currently-held knowledge of the 'Dark Interlopers' and the 'Forgotten Ones' they at last make the connection; they are both one and the same. Both the Interlopers and the Forgotten Ones were tribes of former Hylians that turned on the Sainted Three and were thus expelled for their blasphemous actions of murder, perversion of Aegir and other such obscenities; the similarities are just too close to be coincidental.
It is with this newly-gained knowledge that Link and Tatl at last confront the original of Ikana's royal family and, coincidentally, the only remaining presence left in the country; king Igos Du Ikana and his loyal vassals, Wren and Alphonse. Three accomplished swordsmen in their own right, the skeletal Ikanian men stand between Link and the last known link to the Dark Interlopers themselves; Stone Tower.
With bits and pieces thrown to them by the elusive knowledge that Igos himself possesses, the two heroes at last confront Ikana's final obstruction; the surviving royal family itself. Only with the light guiding his Gilded Sword will Link come out on top to save the rest of the doomed country.
Only with radiant light.
Scene 1
"Link here they come!"
With very little time to react, the young Hylian merely widened his cerulean-blue eyes before back-dashing to safety as the two soldiers leapt in deft jumping strikes. The ground coughed up stone, rock and carpet into the air in their wake as the frowning youth landed and skid backward to safety, eyes boring holes into his new paired opponents; the king's lackeys themselves. Somehow sensing his very silent ruminations, Tatl spoke again.
"They seem to have general skills similar to that of 'Stalfos'; remember them?"
The firmly-frowning-faced Link nodded in response. "Yeah." He answered vocally, reaching back for the Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield. They both let out strong ringing echoes as he did.
SHHHHHING
"You should be able to defeat them rather easily but don't underestimate them," the wise guardian fairy stated, watching the pair of skeletal soldiers step 'round to surround the heroes. "They'll have received training that no other Stalfos has."
"Hmph...," Link huffed out simply, the left side of his face twitching in his hardened frown as he did. "One, two... it doesn't matter how many of you there are."
WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK
Opting to interrupt the youth mid-speech, the thinner of the two Stalfos-like swordsmen opted to toss his round iron shield hurtling toward his position. Oddly enough, the shield seemingly and somehow passed through Link's standing and armed form; something that didn't dissuade the stocky-built skeleton. As his comrade-in-arm's shield crashed heavily into the ground beneath the youth's standing form he roared with effort as he came down charging from the air in a double-handed stabbing assault.
It was only when he at last began to make contact, however, that Wren's reddened demonic-like eyes widened in alarm; as his royal broadsword too passed through his much younger enemy's body he began to realise his evasive tactic.
"Kill him Wren!"
Although his thinner compatriot spurred him on, Wren's sword found no more foe than his companion's shield did; as Alphonse rushed forward to assist his comrade the former Kokiri's body began to shimmer.
A signature of the after-image technique.
Re-appearing high above the pair of skeletal swordsmen Link widened his eyes and, with both small hands powering his fire-charged Gilded Sword, he rapidly descended downward on the pair with full malicious intent.
KERASH-FRRRRR-SMASH
In a pair of elongated roars and screeches befitting their forms, both Wren and Alphonse were savagely rent asunder from the terrible blow of fire and wrath; charged up by the blazing-hot Quintessence of heat it saw the scorched pair of swordsmen's very bones scattered and burnt, strewn across the already-ruined battlefield.
"Damn...," Tatl winced out, a similar cringe to her expression and tone of voice. "They ain't happy no more."
"You're tellin' me," Link batted back over his shoulder in a cheeky-winking grin. "Now all that's left..." He began again, losing his grin in favour of the hardened frown he walked in with as he swung his cerulean-eyed gaze up to match the watching king's.
Igos Du Ikana watched him carefully for a second before his skull-like smile somehow upturned into a knowing-voiced chuckle. The young Hero of Time could only scrunch one of his oceanic eyes in scrutinisation and curiosity.
There must be something I'm missing, he thought.
SWISH
"Link!"
The youth barely managed to avoid the sudden oncoming assault; a fact reflected by the abrupt nature of the duck he adopted to avoid the horizontal slice.
Unfortunately, however, his lucky green hat was not so lucky.
As he successfully managed to dodge the sneaky-toed aggression, the sound of sword slicing through cotton taunted him from overhead.
He repaid his taller enemy by rising up in a dragon-like punching assault with his shield-hand, spinning as he did.
SMASH
Alphonse, this time, was the swordsman that bore the brunt of Link's savage and weaponless counter-attack; something that saw him grunting as he dropped back down to the ground and recovered in a deft flip, pushing up off the ground from his weightless form.
Now at last given some room to breathe Link reached up with his sword-hand to pull down his ruined green hat, allowing his neatly-kept ponytail of long blonde hair to drop down to his back, resting at around his shoulder-blades in height. The former Kokiri held up the emerald-shaded cap he once wore proudly and stared over at it dejectedly.
"Saria's gonna kill me..." He muttered out, his eyes turning limpid as if to reflect his humorously casual frustration.
It was only when the second swordsman behind him however begun to move again that he widened his eyes and moved in response.
SWISH-FWIP
Although the young Hylian managed to expertly avoid the incoming second Stalfos' sneaking strike, his lucky green hat did not; in the maelstrom of assault the hat in his left-handed grip was cut apart into small green-shaded pieces of fabric and cotton. Link's cerulean-eyed gaze widened a second time but this time in abject horror; a reaction in kind that won the amusement of the watching two Stalfos-like swordsmen.
As the thin-framed Alphonse nudged the walking and recovering Wren's form, the two shared a respectively high-pitched and deep-toned laugh that managed to make their watching king crack a small grin.
"Oh Link, I'm sorry..."
Even as Tatl whispered her condolences in his small and pointed ear, Link's shocked frown very quickly shifted into an annoyed brow-furrowed glare; he rose up his right thumb and forefinger. Just as he had done so many times before in his journey he clicked his fingers noisily and a spark of flame ignited upon his thumb.
CLICK
FRRRR...
The laughing bodyguards dropped their laughs in favour of frowns, reddened hell-like eyes widened in surprise before they soon narrowed them in scrutinisation, as if waiting to see what their much younger enemy would do.
"Let there be..."
He clicked his thumb and forefinger together a second time and, this time, fired off the flame he carried into two, as if they were projectiles with it. As it flew up toward one of the tattered and ruined curtains to their top-left, the eyes of the skeletal swordsmen widened in similar horror and concern. Link's hardened glaring-faced frown soon switched to the familiar confident-expressed grin he was so well-known for as the two projectiles made blazing contact.
"Light!"
SHIIIING...
In a pair of incredibly dazzling mixture of fireworks and abrupt light, the curtains that blocked the throne room's sunlight eventually burned away to reveal it shining down upon them. In response, seemingly angered, Igos Du Ikana himself rose up from his seat to growl over at the grinning young Hylian. Even as the light shone down on the group of warriors, the sudden contact that the standing Wren made with it caused him to yelp out in surprise before back-dashing to safety away from it.
"Oh! Of course!" Tatl exclaimed out, eyes widened beneath her small bulbous form. "What else would be their weakness?!"
Although he had already realised his enemy's personal shortcomings he kept his grinning-eyed smirk on the glaring-faced Igos', unwilling to move away from it in defiance; a display of rebellion that did not sit well with him. He re-narrowed his eyes forward and sat back down in his throne before rising up one of his hands. In spite of the fact he had no flesh with which to do so, he snapped his bony fingers together loudly and the group reacted.
SNAP
Link's grin lowered a little and his cerulean-sky eyes darted to his right when he caught movement and, sure enough, the two skeletal swordsmen shot forward in what appeared to be another offensive charge, this time seemingly attacking together. He remained unresponsive however, even as they drew close; it was only when the narrow-eyed Alphonse leapt toward him, shield raised up, that he reacted.
Link shot up the Mirror Shield's moaning-faced surface roughly against Alphonse's exposed lower legs; in response, the Stalfos-like swordsman widened his eyes and stumbled in his advance, even going so far as to lose his offensive entirely into a clumsy fall forward. Now remaining with merely one adversary to deal with, the grinning-faced Link used the back of Alphonse's skull to leap up off of in his own advance; something that wide-eyed Wren hadn't counted for and it showed as his air-dash appeared to be unchanged in its trajectory.
As his large form passed by the wide-eyed Wren grunted in pain as the grinning-faced Link slammed his boot straight across the skeleton's face, sending him spiralling and spinning into the air. Even as he landed however, Link's grin remained as steadfast as the kneeling posture he obtained, skidding into what seemed to be one of the large patches of light scattered 'round about. Alphonse, eyes widened, could only turn his skull 'round in shock as his recovering comrade was struck by their enemy's mirrored light; an assault made of pure sunlight reflected off of the young Hylian's Mirror Shield.
SHIIIIIING...
FISSSSSSSSSS...
As the light at last made full contact with Wren's skeletal body, it was proven to be fatal as he turned alight in a beautiful display of light and what sounded like electricity. As it buzzed and hissed away, a bright multi-coloured light that coated Wren's form lit the throne room even further up; an act that saw a myriad of reactions all from the satisfied-expressed Link and the horrified Alphonse.
Igos, however, merely glared in his stony-faced-silence.
"WREEEEEEEN!"
Now bereft completely of his otherworldly companion Alphonse dashed forward, all subtlety gone. Although the watching Tatl widened her eyes the slow-standing Link's grin didn't change very much; not even as his skeletal foe approached. It was only when he went for his eventual and predictable thrusting assault that the young Hero of Time reacted.
CRK
Relying sheerly on educated guesswork and the use of his Gilded Sword, Link stepped backward to his lower right and managed to guard impact the incoming assault; essentially a parry that sent the wide-eyed Alphonse stumbling forward a few steps, gasping as he did. At last realising her partner's savvy combat course of action, Tatl breathed out a sigh of relief as she watched him inevitably counter-attack the wide-eyed Alphonse's exposed back with a savage rend of the Gilded Sword.
SQUELCH
In a screech bent on agony Alphonse went down like a sack of potatoes, dropping to the ground in a similarly simple shut-eyed scrunching-faced scowl.
"Hmph..."
The grinning-eyed Link soon lost his expression in favour to a lightly-surprised frown as he swung his blonde-haired head 'round to his left, his pony-tailed hair swishing noisily with his form. Sure enough as he cast his sky-eyed gaze 'round back to the source of the voice, he found the firmly-frowning form of his foe Igos rising up from his throne.
"Wren... Alphonse... eternity is relentless...," Igos began, his deepened bass-like voice echoing out across the similarly deep hall of the combatants. "Now... you can at last... finally rest...," he spoke, lowering his skull head and shutting his eyes as he rose up his open-palmed hands to rest across his face. "You there... 'Hero of Time'."
Link remained unchanged, his Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield hanging on his small arms as he leaned his similarly small form to the side in his hardened glare. Just as before, he opted to remain silent, as if in respect.
VRRRRRRUNG...
The sound of Ikana's king's steel, a unique one, echoed out much differently even to Link's own; a fact reflected as it materialised into his open-palmed grip. His hell-shaded eyes re-opened to glare back at the watching Link before he opened his scowling-faced skull-like mouth.
"Show me that light of yours...," he began lowly before slowly lowering his huge broadsword and royal shield. "A light not seen in Ikana for over a thousand years!"
"Link!"
The blonde's eyes narrowed as they snapped almost immediately to his sharp-right; movement caused him to back-dash to his rear in safety but not before the suddenly-reappearing form of Igos clashed with his own.
CLAAAANG
Their swords, made of comparatively powerful gold and silver, resonated with a heightened force that made the walls themselves tremble in fright. As the narrow-eyed Link skid backward in recovery, eyes focused on his new opponent, he kept his hardened frown upon his face.
"Don't worry Tatl," he threw over his shoulder in a low-voiced murmur. "I won't lose this."
As he similarly recovered from his earlier assault, the seemingly eternally-scowling Igos spun his huge broadsword around his right hand expertly as if it were a mere small-sword; an incredible feat considering its oversized form.
"Not that I don't believe you, but..."
Tatl's words were lost to the young Hylian for as the similar-eyed Igos advanced slowly forward, the pair were engaged in war once again; he rose up his Gilded Sword to meet the silent-voiced king's overhead, stepping forward and under the strike expertly as he did so. As they passed one another their swords made a second clash rooted in their superior footwork that saw the watching ghosts marvelled in magnificence.
CLANG-CLANGCLANG-CLANG
In a series of defensive parries, Link managed to push back the wide-eyed Ikanian, sending him stumbling back. As he did however he grunted as he lunged forward in a deft and abrupt horizontal slash, attempting to catch the formerly-living man off guard.
Unfortunately for him, however, the former king's movement was too pristine; even stumbling as he was he managed to find his footing just long enough to back-dash to safety.
Link's frown twitched as he very quickly realised his opponent's huge gap in skill.
He's holding back, he thought.
A lot.
But how much exactly?
As Igos stepped in a second advance he narrowed his hell-like eyes as he sent his large broadsword thrusting forward. Link stepped to his right in evasion to easily avoid the incoming assault, eyes narrowing firmly back at the formerly-living man. Igos, however, followed up his earlier assault by twisting the broadsword he carried into a wide sweeping motion perhaps in an attempt to catch the already-committed action his younger opponent took.
WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK
In response the narrow-eyed Hylian suddenly swerved his head and body out of the rusted steel's way, before acrobatically manoeuvring himself into a series of super-fast side-flips that saw him recovering safely enough a few yards away. It was only when he shot straw-haired head back up in his recovery however that he widened his cerulean-shaded eyes in his realisation that his opponent had moved.
"Link behind you!"
WHOOOOOOOSH...
The sound of what seemed to be a massive blizzard behind the pair made the wide-eyed Tatl fly away from it almost instinctively. Link, however, opted to do nothing; in simply standing still he seemingly chose to take the incoming assault.
"LINK!"
He turned his head up to face her and flashed her a grin and, just as the king's horrid breath-like attack connected with his form, his body shimmered; a signature of the after-image technique.
Tatl couldn't help but roll her eyes as she breathed a sigh of relief, the boy's need for dramatisation working at her shortly-held nerves.
Just as she expected, the narrow-eyed Hero of Time re-appeared suddenly directly above the similarly-surprised Ikanian king, Gilded Sword held down with both arms to attack with.
"AURRRGH...!"
In a bellowing scream of renting agony Igos was sent stumbling a few steps forward from the brutal fire-coated assault, weaponised arms reaching down to the ground for some form of stability. Pressing his luck further Link kept the ever-present grin plastered upon his face as he stepped forward to slam his boot into Igos' exposed back.
CRACK
"Argh!"
Having suffered enough, the Ikanian king used his shield-arm to swing 'round and grapple the youth's exposed leg. He widened his eyes in surprise naturally.
"Uh oh."
A hardened low bellow escaped the skeleton's skull, bouncing across the throne room's walls as he yanked the youth's light form 'round his own in a great display of otherworldly strength, eliciting a wide-eyed exclaiming yell as his defenceless form continually circled his enemy's.
SMASH-KERASSSSH
His cerulean-blue eyes widened in a mixture of sudden physical agony, as well as legitimate surprise, as Igos at last finished his technique; by savagely throwing the boy overhead via his leg he slammed the youth against carpeted ground beneath him, easily eating through the surface and spitting up rocks, boulders and all kinds of wreckage in the ruthless exchange. Surprised again by Igos' level of physical strength, especially considering his lack of flesh and muscles, Link coughed out what appeared to be blood from the sheer ricochet his body suffered against the ground beneath him.
At last he reacted however; his shocked frown took an annoyed scowling turn as he used his only remaining free foot to swing horizontally and powerfully across in a savage roundhouse kick.
SLAM
"Grngh...!"
Surprised by the sudden assault Igos was forced stumbling back a few safe steps away from his younger enemy, giving the former Kokiri time to side-roll and scramble to his feet in recovery.
"He's stronger than I thought...," the youth murmured out, utilising his sword-arm to wipe away at the trickle of blood that poked through at the side of his mouth. "I can see why he was king... he'd put Daphnes to shame." He commented on, a light grin rising up in place of the blood that once tarnished his young complexion.
"Link wake up! He's moving again!"
Sure enough, just as Tatl said, the former Ikanian king turned his towering form back over to face him before growling as he set his feet and arms apart, skeletal fingers clenched into fists. Link watched him curiously, eyebrow rising up curiously in an attempt to work out his next offensive strategy.
Oddly enough, the king's skeletal arms rose up to his head and begun to fiddle around with it, almost as if he were trying to remove it.
"What's he...?"
CHUKK
In what sounded like a sickening click of some kind, Igos' very skull itself was successfully removed from the rest of his body and began to hover slowly toward the youth in pursuit.
Link's oceanic-eyed gaze widened in an unhealthy mixture of shock and disbelief.
"Oh hell no."
"Move!"
He didn't need telling twice.
Link back-dashed in an attempt to create space between the pair and found his enemy's torso growing translucent. His eyes widened again in sheer shock.
"How-?!" He stammered out, half-turning to eye his companion before realising he had to keep an eye on the floating head chasing him. "How is he-?"
"I don't know! Just stay out of his way!"
Easier said than done, he countered back silently.
Even as he continually back-dashed away in an attempt to create yet more space between himself and his new floating foe, he soon found the Stalfos' king's head somehow gaining speed on him.
"How's it doing that?!"
"Believe me, I wish I knew...," Link muttered over his shoulder, barely facing the little guardian fairy for fear of losing his enemy's position. "Just keep an eye on his body for me!"
"O-Okay!"
SWIPE-GRRRROWL
In a single hesitant but fierce-enough diagonal strike, Link managed to keep the Ikanian king's head at bay for a good while longer, back-dashing away to safety as he did. At the corner of his eye he felt the stomping translucent form of his skeletal adversary advancing quickly on him. Feeling his space growing short fairly quickly behind him, the youth soon turned his air-dashing to his lower right and very quickly into a corner.
This isn't good, he thought.
He's planning this.
I have to do something before he traps me like this and ends me.
With that thought driving him on the boy narrowed his eyes forward before tossing forward the Gilded Sword with little warning. Tatl gasped as she watched the mass of silver and gold whizz by her, directly crashing into Igos' floating head's pathway and sending him inevitably plummeting back down to the ground.
He followed his new morale-raising tactic by giving immediate pursuit; as he leapt through the air to grapple at his embedded weapon's hilt, they both found themselves dropping to the ground and skidding forward savagely and ruthlessly in an agonising end to Igos' pursuit. But not before the growling form of his see-through torso towered over them, sizeable broadsword in hand.
CLAAAAAAANG-KATAAAAAANG
The sound of his weapon colliding brutally with the fierce silver of Link's Mirror Shield echoed out as loudly and boldly as the hardened scowl present on the boy's face; turning his blonde-haired head 'round he similarly swung the wide-eyed Igos' head, still stuck to his own weapon, and somehow successfully attached it back onto Igos' full body.
"Woah!"
Even the watching Tatl didn't have long to fully appreciate the quick-thinking talents of her partner however for he followed his feat of strength with one of athleticism; as he swung his sword horizontally through the air he smashed his boots across Igos' wide-eyed face and body, now solid and physical once again.
SLAM-SLAM
"Gurgh...!"
Not one to be outdone however, Ikana's angered king tossed his broadsword at his enemy's recovering animation; a final last-ditch effort with which to win the altercation.
"L-Link!"
But even as the young Hylian skid backward in recovery he savagely slammed his Gilded Sword down in a diagonal slice as the broadsword rapidly approached him, before swinging up his Mirror Shield as his small green form came into range of one of the throne room's rays of light.
CLAAAANG
DRANG-DRANG-DRANG...
SHIIIING...
In one single defensive motion Link not only managed to swat away his enemy's tricky assault but finish the confrontation entirely; by landing within the enviable ray of light closest to his earlier position he swung up the Mirror Shield to cast its light's judgement upon his still-recovering foe.
Just as with his formerly-living soldiers, it ended him.
FISSSSSSSSSS...
"Gurgh-urgh..."
In one lasting growl of agony, Igos Du Ikana breathed his otherworldly last; a sentiment echoed by his earlier men, Wren and Alphonse. At last able to rest somewhat, Link lightly shook both his ringing and aching arms as if to bring the blood-flow back through to them.
"I'll give 'em one thing...," he began lowly sighing as he spoke, seemingly to the wide-eyed Tatl. "These guys sure know how to fence."
The hovering guardian fairy resisted the urge to laugh.
–
2
VWOOOOM...
The sound of Alphonse's scrawny-looking skull rose up from the ground itself somehow, now caked in what appeared to be a purple-shaded aura of Aegir. Although Link's senses initially tensed up at the possibility of another engagement he soon realised what Alphonse's Aegir aura signified and settled himself down fairly quickly, chuckling a little as he rose up his Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield to rest upon his back as always.
SMACK
Alphonse let out a pained grunt as the growling Wren smashed his bigger skull hovering into the wide-eyed Alphonse's own, sending him back reeling a few yards. He returned and in full anger of course.
"You're blocking me! Get the hell out of my way!" Wren insisted, a similarly angry tone to his deep bass. "I can still get him!"
"B-Blocking you?!" Alphonse exclaimed out, his comparatively high-pitched tenor bouncing off the walls of the throne room. "The reason he even beat us is because you were so feeble! Don't blame this on me!"
The sounds of Wren's large skull cracking its teeth around quickly stopped in reaction to his comrade's words and he swung his head over to glare at the skinnier man.
"What did you just call me?"
Perhaps seeing this as a potential challenge, Alphonse of course put on a grin and opened his mouth.
"Feeble!" He exclaimed giddily. "Feeble, feeble, feeble, feeble, feeeeeeeeble!"
"GRAGH!"
SMACK
Again the poor Alphonse was struck as the angered Wren smashed his large skull against his comrade's.
"Shut up, already!" He exclaimed out bitterly. "Rrrgh...! Don't you dare look at me like that!" He warned. "I was once called the best swordsman in all of Ika-"
"The best swordsman in all of Ikana?!" Alphonse interrupted him with a boisterous laugh; one that carried all the way to the back of the room. "You?! Feeeeeble!"
"... Draw your weapon."
A new look of anger shone in the man's eyes; something that Alphonse noted.
"Huh?" He quipped, rising up an eyebrow in curiosity.
"I'm telling you to draw your sword you idiot!" Wren roared heatedly, the purple shade around his head soon swivelling to a red one as if to signify his rapidly-growing rage.
Rather amusingly, Alphonse dropped the grin on his face, as if completely baffled by his companion's demand.
"... How...?"
Perhaps expectantly as well he erupted into full-blown derisive laughter, pulling his scraggly skull back as he did.
"RRRRGH...!"
"Will you stop?!"
The sound of a new bass tone of voice echoing out, so demanding and so authoritative, managed to take the pair of formerly-living swordsmen off guard. The frowning Link swung his blonde-haired head up to find their king floating high above them, an annoyed look in his hardened red-shaded eye.
"What fools!" He exclaimed out again. "Haven't you both begun to understand?"
Wren and Alphonse exchanged a very quick look, guilt-ridden and all, before eventually turning their heads back to face their king with.
"The kingdom is ruined... and look at us. Look at all of us!" Igos called out, his voice laden with a sense of regret that the listening Link managed to catch. "Don't you feel shame? Aren't you decent enough to?"
Just as before, the two vassals could barely face one another before avoiding their eyesight with their lord and leader.
Igos growled in a head-shaking, shut-eyed frown before re-opening his mouth to continue. "Leave us."
FRRRR...
Just like magic, the forms of the floating Wren and Alphonse very quickly dissolved into blue fire, seemingly ascending to the after-life.
"You there... Hero of Time."
The frowning Link swung his cerulean-eyed gaze back 'round to face the floating king's ghost-like head.
"I can safely say... that I was impressed," the former man spoke, his large teeth very slowly curling into what seemed to be a smile. "The Wheel of Fate was right about you..."
Link's oceanic eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed in response. "'Wheel of Fate'...?"
"Earlier I spoke of regret and doubt laden at my heart over my actions...," Ikana's former king claimed. Link raised another eyebrow upward, indicating him to continue. "It may have been the Întuneric Visători that began this country's downfall... but it was I who listened to them," Igos explained briefly, a hardened frown adorning his wizened complexion. "At the time I believed them to be a wondrous society far ahead of our own with only the best in mind for Ikana... how could I not?"
"The... 'Întuneric Visători'...?" Tatl murmured out in repeating, eyes narrowing behind her small bulbous form. "I don't know that language... it's like a bastardised form of Ancient Hylian..."
"It is," Igos nodded. "I believe in your modern Hylian it translates to; 'Dark Dreamers'."
Link's brow furrowed a second time as he listened silently.
That's fitting, he thought.
"They were a group of men and women that seemed to surface as if from no-where," Igos continued. "They had technology far outstripping our own, intelligent beyond means and could even seem to predict the future," he explained briefly, a hardened frown upon his skull-like ghost. "It was... Norogumi Arashima that acted as this country's downfall."
Link narrowed his eyes once more as he listened, the name ringing through his ears a second time after having heard it in their original encounter.
"He was a friendly agent of these... 'Dark Dreamers' and, with them guiding his actions, fed just enough information to our enemies and their allies to ensure their rise to power," the wise king continued on. "These were men and women that had no idea with which the powers they were playing god with...," he shook his skeletal head in a shut-eyed firm frown. "You've seen it... out there in that dead and ruined canyon."
Link turned his head 'round to the throne room's exit door, as if to look on as Igos spoke.
He was right, he thought.
It wasn't hard to see how far the country had fallen.
"Ikana was once a grand empire...," Igos lamented on lowly, a kind of melancholic tone in his deep bass. "A millennia ago I would have scoffed at the notion of my beautiful land being referred to as a 'canyon'..."
Although he wanted to say something in apology, Link could only wince in reply; a kind of saddened look upon his face as his heart went out genuinely to the much older deceased man.
"Believing in your companions and embracing that belief by forgiving such failures...," Igos began again. "These feelings... have vanished from our hearts."
"You've given me a lot of information," Link at last broke his silence to speak; a kind of respectful frown adorned upon his young complexion. He smiled as he finished his sentence. "Thanks."
"You... who bring light to the darkness," the king started once more. "I am king to this dead land; Igos Du Ikana," he at last introduced himself with. "Perhaps you might just be what this dormant land needs..."
Link rose a curious straw-haired eyebrow as he listened.
"The information you seek lies in the Forgotten Ones' last known residence," Igos claimed, hellish-red eyes narrowing. "Stone Tower."
"Stone Tower..." Link parroted out in a narrow-eyed murmur.
I've heard that name before, he thought.
"They called it; 'Rockvale'," Ikana's king continued on, a hardened frown upon his face. "Make no mistake, Hero of Time...," he warned, his bass growing ever lower. "Superstitions or not... it is a cursed place..."
"I'll... keep that in mind."
"The doors of Rockvale must be slammed shut if Ikana is to know the beautiful rays of light once more," Igos claimed. "But Stone Tower is an impenetrable fortress, even now. Hundreds of my soldiers would not even be able to make a dent in its powerful doors... and so..."
In his small speech he lifted his ghost-like form higher up as if ready himself.
"I grant to you a soldier with no heart," he began in his hardened-eyed glare. "One who will not falter in the Forgotten Ones' darkness... a melody that will save you in the horrors that they offer."
Almost as if expectant in the man's words, Link merely frowned as he reached back behind his resting weapons to pull out his princess' last gift to him
The Ocarina of Time.