Rage.
Pure, unbridled rage.
Not like before when I was fighting Moroth. That was hot, disgruntled, frustrated anger.
This was ice cold, determined, focused, and potent.
This was the knowledge that this man, this creature that had hurt Zelda was going to pay.
I knew my back should hurt, but if it did, I didn't notice. The Sword glowed behind me, as alluring as it had been before. I grabbed it and pulled.
'Why?' the sword asked.
Zelda. He hurt my Zelda, and he was going to die for it.
And I was going to kill him.
The Master Sword ignited in my hand and slid from the stone pedestal with a pure ringing noise. The blade flashed as a pure white aura spread from the hilt to the tip of the blade. And I felt whole, as if I had been living with half a soul and suddenly was joined with my other half. Fight with me, I told the blade.
'Yes.'
With a loud yell, I slashed the Master Sword at Moroth and a brilliant arcing beam shot from the blade. Moroth reacted quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid taking some of the divine power. It caught him across the shoulders and I saw him wince in pain. I didn't give him a moment to recover. I flew at him, a tornado of steel and power. I knew immediately our roles were reversed from our fight earlier. He wasn't holding me off anymore, I was crushing him. I rapidly scored a number of hits on his arms, legs, and torso. The wounds smoked as his flesh burned from my blade.
"How can you do this? You couldn't draw the sword, I saw it! And there's no way you were holding back earlier. How are you this powerful?!" Moroth roared desperately attacking me. I casually deflected his stabbing sword and plunged my own blade into his thigh. Again, he cringed in pain and I heard his flesh sizzle. I pulled the Master Sword from his leg, immediately making him fall to his knee. I looked down at him, cold fury still coursing through my body.
"You don't need to know. I'm not one to boast to my enemies. You don't deserve to know. You just get to die." I swung my sword at his head, but he ducked to the side just in time. I cut off his arm instead. He screamed in pain, and though I didn't land the finishing blow, getting such a reaction from someone so apathetic and emotionless was its own reward. He stumbled away as best he could, desperate to get away from me.
"Fine, hero boy. You take today. But know that Ruin comes for you. He hates Hyrule and the Goddesses, but he hates you most of all. He's going to take everything from you, more than you thought you could lose, and then he'll kill you. I just hope I'm there to see it." With a loud boom, Moroth was enveloped in a pillar of darkness. When it faded, the man was nowhere to be seen.
I immediately felt exhaustion. All my aches returned, and I almost fell to the ground myself. But I couldn't yet. I had to check on Zelda.
I dropped to my knees next to her, eyes roaming her sweaty and pale body as the High Priestess and Theresa tried to help her. Her shirt had been pulled up to expose the wound and the knife had been removed from her stomach, revealing that the wound wasn't that deep and hadn't hit anything vital. However, foul black lines streamed from it, stretching up her chest and down her side. I could already see it appearing on the skin above her shirt and moving quickly.
"What is it? What do we do?" I asked frantically. I could see her getting worse by the second.
"It's a type of dark magic, a poison that is festering in her. Only powerful light magic can remove it, but I don't have the strength," Imani said, trying to slow the poison with her magic. Theresa was holding the bleeding wound, keeping as much blood from escaping as possible, but it was still pumping out. Zelda twitched a few times, and I thought she was waking up, but the twitches got worse until she was convulsing in Imani's lap. Her eyelids fluttered madly, and I could see her green eyes were dilated as the poison took hold. I heard her faintly whisper my name.
"Is there anything we can do?" I shouted desperately. I refused to lose her. Maz Koshia suddenly spoke up.
"The Master Sword is known as the Blade of Evil's Bane; dark magic cannot prevail against it. The poison is black magic, so it is possible that the sword could repel it. But if it's already in her veins, I don't know if even that will work." He was clearly unsure, but it was all I needed to hear. I immediately brought the sword to rest against the encroaching tendrils and they immediately stopped their advance. But a moment later, Zelda screamed in agony weakly clutching at the skin near the sword. Imani quickly sensed what was wrong.
"The poison is being repelled by the Blade, but it refuses to come out of her body. It's burrowing deeper in to circumvent the sword's aura." I hurriedly pulled the sword away from Zelda, fortunately making her stop screaming. She was still thrashing in pain though.
"I don't know if there's anything else we can do," the Sheikah Monk said quietly. I looked up to him, dreading his words. "If the poison won't be purged by the Master Sword, I'm afraid we are helpless." My gaze dropped back down to Zelda, who's spasming had settled down, but the tendrils of dark magic had not. They were creeping up her neck and spreading down her arms. Her lips moved shakily, and I dropped my ear to hear what she was saying.
"L…in…k….pl…ease…" My heart contorted in my chest and I decided to try the single thing I could think of. I pushed Theresa's hands away from the wound, which was now completely surrounded by black crisscrossing lines. I picked up the Sword again and pointed it at the wound. Theresa gasped in surprise and tried to stop me, but I was determined. As slowly and gently as I could, I lowered the tip of the blade into the bleeding gash in her abdomen.
Immediately, white light streamed from the wound and Zelda gasped. The darkness under her skin writhed and squirmed before being overtaken by the white of the Blade of Evil's Bane. The power coursed through her body, burning out every trace of the foul poison. Once I was sure the shadows had been expelled, I slid the sword out of the bleeding gash as gently as I could. Zelda relaxed as the tension left her body. Theresa immediately covered the wound again, which wasn't bleeding nearly as badly as it had been before. To my immense relief, Zelda slowly opened her eyes enough to see me.
"Link," she said, voice no longer strained and gasping. I fell apart at her soft whisper of my name. The Master Sword clattered to the ground at my side as I embraced Zelda as fiercely and gently as I could.
"Thank the Goddesses you're alive," I said breathlessly. "I don't know what I'd do without you." I felt her own weak arms come up to wrap around me, but they fell away when I pulled myself from her shoulder and pressed my lips to hers.
She was sweaty, weak, and trembling slightly from the poison. I was bruised, aching, and sore in every way I could think.
It was the best kiss of my life.
And then I passed out.
I woke up later and my body immediately screamed in pain at me. My back hurt, my shoulders hurt, my stomach felt like it had been hit with an anvil (which might not have been far from the truth), and above all, there was a very warm something pressed against my side. Everything begged me to go back to sleep, but I forced my eyes open all the same.
I was in a small, bare room, filled with a small dresser, a desk, one chair, and the small bed I was currently laying on. The walls were empty of any personal touches and the whole room had an air of being unused. I briefly tried to sit up, but my back spasmed erratically and I was forced to stay where I was with a low groan of pain. The warm mass at my side pulled away and I saw a face appear at the side of my vision. I managed to turn my head enough to see that it was Zelda, looking tired and relieved.
"You finally woke up," she said quietly. "You were asleep for almost three hours." I just stared at her silently, all too aware of what had happened right before I collapsed. It was clear from how she didn't make eye contact that she remembered too.
"Are you okay?" I asked when I found my voice again. "You're not going to almost die on me again, are you?" I tried to inject some humor into the conversation, mostly because I just didn't know what to say.
"I will be. Whatever you did with the Master Sword to get the poison out help heal the wound a little too, so I just have to be careful about how I move." She was wearing a light pink tank top that was thin enough that I could see the press of the wad of bandages against it.
"Where is the Master Sword?" I asked quickly, ashamed I had forgotten about the sword. Zelda pointed to the desk, where I could just make out the purple hilt and cross guard. I could also see a purple and gold sheath covering the blade. I relaxed again. "Good, I don't think it would appreciate being left on the Temple floor," I said with a laugh, before wincing as my stomach cramped slightly. "Why are you in here? I wouldn't think the High Priestess would let you be in here with me." Zelda scoffed.
"She wasn't a fan of the idea, but I wouldn't take no for an answer." Her voice dropped to a whisper and she finally locked her glittering green eyes with mine. "I didn't want you to be left alone."
My heart surged with warmth for the girl laying on the other half of the bed. She was injured and clearly tired, but she refused to leave for my sake. I slowly managed to raise my hand to her cheek and brushed the skin there lightly. She leaned into my touch ever so slightly, closing her eyes in the process.
"Did….did you mean what you said earlier?" she asked hesitantly. I cast my mind back to my words before I collapsed. 'I don't know what I'd do without you.' At the very thought, the internal struggle I had been having over her suddenly disappeared itself. I gulped slightly and slowly nodded my head.
"You've…become so important to me. More than anyone else," I said cautiously, not wanting to misspeak. "I can't imagine being on this quest without you. I can barely think of being without you because it hurts so much. I would do anything to protect you, anything to make you happy." I stopped talking for a moment as I committed to my next words. "You are everything good in this world for me. Zelda, I l-" I was cut off as Zelda slowly pressed her lips to mine, tensing as our lips made contact.
It was just as indescribable as the first time. However, this time I had the benefit of not being out of my mind with worry and on the verge of collapse. Granted, I still hurt, but Zelda's touch pulled the pain away in an instant. My hand went from her cheek to the back of her head, tangling in her loose hair and pulling her closer. We kissed gently for a minute before Zelda pressed herself closer to me. We both gasped and winced as our injured torsos pressed against each other. Zelda pulled away from me and we stared at each other. Zelda laughed softly, looking to the side, and brushed a loose strand of platinum blonde hair behind her ear, cheeks tinted pink. I stayed where I was, partly to avoid aggravating my wounds, but largely because I was entranced by her beauty.
"I'm glad. That you meant what you said." Zelda spoke quietly, still looking away from me. Her jaw clenched before she turned to look at me dead on. "I wouldn't be able to do this without you. I'm terrified, but I you give me the strength to continue. And…I love you too." She was blushing furiously at this point. I pushed myself upright as well as I could and wrapped my arms around her.
"I'll always be here for you." She leaned into my hug and gently snaked her arms around me until we were holding each other softly. We sat like that, content in each other's arms until my back started twinging at me, forcing me to pull away and lay back down. Zelda smiled, looking down on me.
"Still tired?" she asked, to which I nodded, my eyelids already drooping shut. She made a move to stand up, but I grabbed her wrist.
"Stay with me?" The question came out sounding much more pleading than I would have liked, but Zelda smiled and lowered herself down beside me, tucking herself into my side and letting me drop an arm around her.
"I'm never going to leave you Link," she whispered, pressing a light kiss onto my cheek. I fell asleep the same way I woke up, with Zelda curled up next to me.
I woke up the next morning to sun pouring through a window behind the bed and Zelda pushing herself upright. I felt much better than I had the night before. It really was amazing what a few hours of sleep could do.
Just as I was standing up out of bed, Zelda came back, freshly showered and dressed. I realized I was naked from the waist up and my entire chest was wrapped in bandages. Peeling some of them away, I found my skin was covered in fading bruises. "How bad were these last night?" I asked Zelda, who came over to help remove the bandages and take a look.
"To be honest, you looked bluer than a Zora. These are much better though. I'm amazed you didn't break a rib. You took quite the kick to the chest," she said, trailing her fingers over my bruises once all the bandages were removed before flushing again and quickly pulling her hand away. I found it rather cute.
"I don't mind, you know. As long as I'm free to return the favor, of course," I said jokingly. Some emotion flashed through Zelda's face briefly before she rolled her eyes and threw a clean light blue shirt at my head.
"Just get dressed. You might want to take a shower if you can manage it. There's a bathroom down the hall on the left that you can use. Just don't take too long. I think Maz and Imani want to talk to us." I nodded and left to get myself cleaned up.
Half an hour later, I was sitting in the large dining room in the abbey next to the Temple of Time, scarfing down whatever the priestesses or monks had made for us to eat. Turns out almost dying, getting very injured, and almost having a heart attack makes you pretty hungry. Zelda's food was playing a similar disappearing trick, but a bit slower, probably from the intense scrutiny Elder Maz Koshia and High Priestess Imani were examining us with. I would have been more embarrassed if I hadn't been so damn hungry.
"Are you both feeling recovered this morning?" Maz asked once we had started to slow down. I nodded, continuing to scarf down fruit. Zelda, to her credit, stopped eating long enough to answer.
"Yes, we're both much better, thank you. Your hospitality is much appreciated." Maz just smiled.
"Tossing the Hero and Hylia out on the streets after they saved our lives would be poor thanks, I think. We were only doing our duty," he said, looking fondly at us.
"Indeed," Imani said, speaking up for the first time since we started eating. "However, I would encourage you to remember that this is a house of worship, meditation, and rest. I can understand your desire to remain close to each other, but please remember that this is not a very…private building." Zelda and I looked at each other, not missing the point of Imani's lecture.
"Now, now, Imani," Maz said with a hint of amusement. "They're both adults, both in law and spirit. They are free to make their own choices. Besides, it is often said that the Hero and the Goddess' very souls are bound to each other and they often find solace with each other. I know you don't approve, but theirs is a bond forged across time itself. Besides," a sly smile appeared on his lips, "I do so enjoy young love." I was horribly embarrassed but managed to avoid making eye contact with anyone by stuffing my face with another piece of toast.
Looking for something else to talk about, my eyes landed on the Master Sword, which was leaning on the chair next to me. "So now that we have the Master Sword, what are we supposed to do next? I mean, we were attacked. Do we know where they are? What's next?" I was hoping the two actual adults in the room would have an idea as to what we were supposed to do, but they looked at me with rather bleak expressions.
"I'm sorry to say Link, but we've done what we could," Maz said. "We completed your training and ensured you were able to obtain the Master Sword, but beyond that, we have no idea what is coming. The only thing we know is the exact nature of the threat, which you know as well from that man that attacked us. The rebirth of Demise is truly terrifying, but we don't know how to proceed." To say I was disheartened was an understatement.
Suddenly, Zelda's phone buzzed in her pocket. Pulling it out, she peered at the screen for a moment before holding it up to her ear and answering. After a moment, she put the phone on the table and hit the speaker phone button.
"Okay, you're good. Link's here, along with Elder Maz and the High Priestess," she said, quickly followed by Hunter's voice coming through the phone.
"Ah, hello Elder and Priestess. I hope the day finds you well. Thank you for informing me about the altercation at the Temple last night," he said with a respectful tone in his voice. Maz nodded before answering.
"Of course, Guardian Forester. I thought it pertinent that you knew. Now, I take it there's an important reason behind your call."
"Indeed. Link, Zelda, you remember the Gerudo man that was visiting the castle? Something happened. The news isn't very helpful, and I'm still waiting on Sheikah confirmation, but word is that Dragmire disappeared. Again, I'm not sure on the circumstances, but this doesn't sound good. Elder, have you heard anything?"
At that moment, a figure dressed in dark garb dropped from the ceiling, pressed a piece of paper into Maz's hand, and quickly left the room. Zelda and I looked to where the character had disappeared, but the other two acted as if the interruption was normal. Maz read the paper in his hand before it ignited and burnt to ash.
"I've just been informed of the event, Guardian, it is as you have said. Our Sheikah in the castle last saw Dragmire leaving the castle grounds through a service entrance late last night but lost him soon after. However, they did report that he had been seen skulking around the princess' chambers some time before he disappeared. The princess, however, is safe. I must go to deal with the aftermath of all of this, but first. Link, Zelda, I would advise you to go to the castle and meet with Impa and the princess. Perhaps they can shine some light on the situation. I have little doubt that this Gerudo man is involved in all of this, though I am unsure how." The monk elder dropped into a moment of thought before speaking again. "I will inform Impa of your arrival later today and have her meet with you. I wish you both the blessings of the Goddesses and good luck." With a short nod, the older man left the room.
Imani also stood up, still looking vaguely pissed from what Maz had said. "It would be best if you were on your way as quickly as possible, provided you feel well enough to travel. I won't pretend to know much about what is going on, but I do know from our oldest texts that Demise was near indestructible. If it is him you are facing, I ask that you please be careful. You are likely our only chance at stopping him. I wish you luck." With a short bow, she left, leaving me and Zelda to finish our food and be on our way.
Shortly after, we were making our way through the main hall of the Temple, walking along the edges to avoid drawing attention. Which wasn't helped by the fact that Zelda had somehow convinced me to wear my full hero garb, including the Master Sword. Okay, she actually did it by asking really nicely, but that wasn't the point. We briefly saw the High Priestess near the altar and nodded our goodbyes to her. She bowed slightly and made the traditional sign of blessing towards us, clearly wishing us well on our quest.
We were also stopped by the acolyte from the night before, Theresa. She was cleaning one of the altars for the lesser deities when she saw us and hurried over. She practically fell over herself as she dropped into a deep bow in front of us.
"Are you two alright? I helped tend your wounds, you were both heavily wounded." I found it somewhat endearing how concerned she was for us, despite being practically petrified by our presence.
"We're both fine," I said quickly, not liking all the bowing. It didn't help with our plan to stay unnoticed either. "I'm a quick healer and Zelda just oozes healing magic, which basically takes care of her. Would you please stand up?" She slowly straightened, seemingly expecting us to lash out at her or something.
"I do hope you've recovered sufficiently as well. You went through something terrifying, it's okay to not bounce back immediately." Zelda put her hand on Theresa's shoulder as she spoke. It didn't really help the girl's already frazzled nerves, but to her credit, she didn't jump away. Not too much at least.
"I'm fine, your Grace, thank you for your consideration," Theresa was quick to say, bending into another bow. Zelda looked slightly annoyed and dropped her hand from the other girl's shoulder. "You've only strengthened my faith and devotion to the Goddesses and yourself, your Grace. To see both of your power and bravery is inspiring." She briefly looked up at both of us, even managing to make eye contact. She blushed when she looked at me, before dropping her head again. "I wish you both luck on your journey and ask that you call on me should you ever need anything. Anything at all. It would be my joy to serve you."
"Yes, thank you, we certainly will. For now, we should be going. Goodbye Theresa." Zelda spoke quickly and grabbed me by the arm, practically dragging me away. I barely had time to wave to Theresa before we moved out of sight of her.
"That was kind of rude," I said to Zelda, who still had her arm around mine and was walking quickly towards the entrance. She sighed exasperatedly.
"I just thought we should be on our way. We need to get to the Castle as quickly as possible, especially if we have a meeting with the princess," she huffed. She also muttered something under her breath, something about 'knowing what's not hers,' but I didn't quite catch it and Zelda didn't elaborate.
"I think they'd make an exception for us," I said with a laugh. "Plus, you're technically a princess too, and a reincarnated goddess to boot. So really, they should be making a meeting with us." Zelda's stoic façade cracked and broke as her laugh rang out through the quiet atmosphere outside the temple. She quickly stifled it, but not before I remembered how much I loved her laugh. I would have to make sure she did it more often.
"True enough," she said, still laughing slightly and clearly in significantly better spirits as I pulled out the Master Cycle, nestled the Master Sword into a convenient slot on its side that fit the legendary sword perfectly, and climbed onto the bike. Zelda climbed on behind me, hugging her body what felt like closer to me than normal, and we sped away back towards Hyrule City.
"At least now I get you all to myself again," I heard Zelda say behind me as we roared off. It immediately became apparent to me that this drive was going to be just a little torturous. And not just because I was going to be making the same trip that I had already done three times. And it was going to be even worse if Zelda kept nestling her face into the bits of my hair that was sticking out of the bottom of my helmet.
She was going to pay for that when I could finally kiss her again.
And we're back. I'm very (kind of) sorry to leave you all with that cliffhanger last chapter, but it was totally worth it. For story reasons. Obviously. Not because I enjoy your suffering and angry reviews. Obviously. But hey, payoff. Zelda's not dead, not this time at least, Link has the Master Sword now and is a total fucking badass and is very protective of Zelda, and the kiss finally happened. Guys, I DID IT. IT TOOK, LIKE, SEVEN MONTHS, BUT I DID IT. And actually, if you count from when I really started this story, you can probably add another year or so to it. Also, fun note for those who care, my word document for this story reports that I've passed 120 pages and over 72,000 words. You know what the best news about that is? We're not remotely close to being done! That's right there's so much more story to come. What the hell have I signed up for?!
Let's see than, how do reviews sound? Good? Good. Garion, awesome to see a new name here. Glad you like the story so far, and I hope you continue to do so! I thought of the idea of the Sword rejecting Link ages ago and knew I had to incorporate it somehow, so I hope it all seemed legit, both in the last chapter and this one. Moroth is literally a name I made up. I do that sometimes, and it usually works out. Funny you mention it being close to morose because I wanted him to be kind of emotionless, which is pretty much what morose means. So yes, obviously I did that on purpose. *ahem*bullshit*ahem* Nightwing, nope, not yet. But now they have, so that'll be fun going forward. It's sir, thank you very much. Turns out she wasn't dead at all, you just assumed she was. So hah, expectation subversion. Or not, since you called her coming back. Hmmm... I'll get back to you on that. Foopuff, I know, I'm an evil bastard. I hope you've recovered sufficiently. The Mario reference was too easy, I had to do it. Oliver is referencing Jojo's, because, in case you didn't notice, I really like the show. And because I can. You shot the control panel for the vault door, therefore foiling my escape. I should have known than to cross someone wielding a potato gun though. Truly fearsome weapons. Twilit Lord, glad to surprise you, I used a lot of things I had been saving for that. If you do go grave robbing, make sure to wear thick clothes and not to do it while it's raining. Not that I have experience with that. Ultimate, I take great pleasure in being incomprehensible, so thank you. Ai Star, yeah he does. Safe to say he doesn't hold the Goddesses in the highest regard.
So that's reviews. I will say, I can't help but notice the severe lack of seals here. So I either killed Sand Seal with that last chapter (likely), or they didn't see the new chapter get posted. Now I know what you're thinking. 'Oh my gosh, that's horrible. How could I ever prevent that from happening to me?' Good news reader, there's a hand thing called 'following the story.' It lets you show your appreciation for the story if you don't feel like reviewing (for some unthinkable reason), and it has the added bonus of notifying you when a new chapter drops. So you never have to stay in suspense and lie awake at night wondering. Just wondering. Instead you would know. Just imagine that and make the right choice.
Next chapter should be a bit of fun. Meeting with Princess Felia, more Zelink stuff (because I can now. So why not!), and overall a more chill chapter. Not sure when it'll be out, but be sure to review to say how much you want it. And also how happy you are that Zelda and Link finally stopped being stupid. Because oh man, the kissing scenes I can come up with. Remember the pool scene where they definitely didn't kiss and you all wanted them too? Yeah, that happened. And who's to say it won't happen again? Might have a slightly different ending and tone though. You never know.
Unfortunately, I have no promises on how soon the next chapter will be out. It'll be out when it's ready, a la Cyberpunk 2077. Gosh that game looks good. But I work retail and Black Friday is a thing, plus college, so it might be a bit. Sorry if that's the case, but know that I love you all and will be back! See you then!
~Aro