The Ambivalent Hero: Book II

by ZeldaRubix

The story of Link and Zelda continues in book II. Will Link be redeemed? Will Zelda succumb to her vices? Find out in the concluding story of book I. This was originally uploaded in 2013. It will be re-edited later.

16. Chapter 16

Inspiration: A Beautiful Mind with Russel Crowe and Jennifer Conelly (there is this awesome scene where Russel Crowe's character is showing her the constellations by hand). "Pretty Wings" by Maxwell is the perfect break up song.~ZR~.

Author Note: The Dragon Gala is finished! Yay, sorry everyone, between 'Hyrule Warriors' and 'Super Smash Bros' for 3DS, I have been one busy gamer lol. Thank you for reading and please enjoy part two! ~ZR~.

Word Count: 24,450

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Chapter 16

The Dragon Gala: Part 2

~SSS~

Link's POV

The Auditorium Ground Floor: Lap I

"Since we are running short on time we decided to forego the other introductions of Prince Elbourne and the Hero of Twilight because everyone knows who they are! The other three dragon riders aren't that important, just know they're from Dragon Roost!" the master of ceremonies announced, then turned to look at us. "Sorry gentlemen, but if it's any consolation, your names are on all the programs!"

I raised a brow and didn't let it show, but I was disappointed that I was going to get the hoopla and fanfare the others had gotten. After hearing what the master of ceremonies had come up with for everyone else, I was interested in what he was going to come up with for me. I guess I would never know. The other riders who were considered 'unimportant' looked disappointed as well. That was a pretty rude statement, but I guess the race was running behind schedule, so the committee had to make concessions. The one rider who was showing a surprising amount of maturity about the whole ordeal was Elbourne. He didn't seem to care one way or the other, possibly because he had won so much in the past. Besides, in all honesty, what could be said about him that hasn't been said already? Undefeated gala champion? Master of the dracosaurian? Womanizer? Pimp? Illegitimate baby maker? All of the above applied.

However, there was also a groan of protest from the audience. The people even started getting vocal regarding it.

"Hey that isn't right!" a woman said from the upper tiered seats. "We want to hear about the other riders too!"

"Yeah!" another woman chimed. "Aren't we being jipped! Master Link and Prince Elbourne are the stars of this goddess forsaken race!"

To my surprise the woman was Uli. She could be rowdy when she wanted to be.

Please don't make anymore of a scene, I thought, wanting to channel Rusl to get her to calm down.

"Dear..." Rusl trailed.

Several others then joined in.

"It's not right!" a man said in the front row. "You can't expect people to pay good rupees and then short change them on the experience!"

"Why don't we take this to a vote?" someone else suggested.

"Yeah!" several others agreed in unison.

Now there was full fledged pandemonium in the ranks. However, even with the protesting the announcer went on unscathed.

"Now, now, now settle down ladies and gentlemen," he said, "let's try to be civil. I understand the want and the need for the introductions of the two stars, but seriously we wouldn't be able to say enough to do them justice."

The murmuring got a little louder for a moment, but when the audience saw they were taking on a lost cause, they all decided to quiet down. In the end, everyone just wanted to see the race. The introductions were just a bonus. The announcer had a slick smile plastered across his face when he saw the people concede. He then raised his arms in the air in preparation of his next announcement.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for," the master of ceremonies exclaimed, "riders get your marks!"

At hearing that, everyone moved forward, creating an equal linear horizontal line, and commanded their dragons to expand their wings.

After seeing everyone in place the announcer continued.

"Get set!" the master of ceremonies went on.

The riders then commanded all their dragons to arc their wings heavenward.

Once the wings were set in motion, the entire audience braced themselves for the blow back of eventual wind. The announcer even comically got under the podium he was speaking from and pretended to cower in fear.

"Go!" the master of ceremonies said finally, and off the dragons went.

Immediately from the onset I had a terrible feeling this was going to be a fiercely one sided race. As soon as the word sounded, Elbourne's massive dracosaurian flapped its wings and the wind current created from it alone was unbelievable. The other riders and I couldn't even get our dragons initiated because the force was so powerful. That one hundred and fifty feet wing span was no joke, and literally in a matter of seconds the dragon prince and his dragon were air born and taking off. I looked after him astonished. He really was a marvel in how he trained that dragon, however, I quickly shook my head and got back to reality when I realized the gaping lead he was forging without the rest of us.

Oh no you don't! I thought, quickly commanding Sarginto to take off.

The other riders didn't waste time either once the dragon prince was heavenward. They all took off after him, and the wind currents they and I created together equaled the massive current generated by just Elbourne's dracosaurian. That animal really was a sight to behold. I whistled a commanded and Sarginto took off as quickly as his great wings could carry us, and as soon as we left the ground, the whole audience cheered us on. All the dragons flew overhead of the auditorium and the fanfare that came after that made the exit even more grand. I couldn't help but smile at the exhilaration I felt. There was nothing in the world like flying atop a dragon. I looked down at the auditorium and saw Zelda looking up at me, she had an excited but concerned expression on her face. I couldn't blame her, Elbourne had proven with one simple stroke of his black dragon's wings who the better rider was. He had a massive lead already, and I was going to have to do some quick maneuvering to catch up. However, I wasn't conceding him the victor just yet. There was still a lot of air ahead of us so to speak. As I zoomed over head, I also caught Ilia, Rusl, Uli, Colin and the others looking up at me.

"You can do it Link!" Colin exclaimed. "Remember Ordonians do it best!"

His words of encouragement made me smile, but I was going to need more than sweet syntax to win this race. It was then I commanded Sarginto to accelerate and we took off faster. As it stood now, I was in dead last with the other riders slowly gaining on the dragon prince. However, even with the others making strides, Elbourne had an overwhelming lead. When we left the auditorium, we all turned left and flew over southern Hyrule. As if by instinct, all the dragons went low to barely being above the treetops. This afforded the people who were watching from the outside who couldn't get into the auditorium to have a spectacular view of the flying. I had to admit, I was impressed with how the dragons seemed to have their own innate personalities. It was almost like they enjoyed putting on a show because they knew people were watching them. The audience, which were thousands of people, didn't mind at all either. In fact, they all cheered as the dragons and their riders flew over head. I even had another fanfare team cheering me on on the outside. They were a small quintet of horn players from Castle Town.

"Go, go, go Master Link!" one of them called out when he stopped playing. "Do it for Hyrule!"

However, another neighboring rival who heard him decided to play up the theatrics.

"You're kidding yourself!" his friend chimed in. "Prince Elbourne has this race in the bag!"

Going farther over the field, a few little kids were laughing and screaming as we flew by.

"Mommy, mommy the dragon's going to eat me!" the child screamed.

Her brother was laughing at her.

"That's right you better run faster Lilian," he taunted, "because as soon as one of them catch you they are going to swallow you alive and digest you slowly!"

The poor little girl freaked out even more and that was when her mother quickly collected her and held her close.

"It's okay honey, dragons only eat children in the day time," she... soothed(?).

I couldn't believe my ears.

Did she really just tell her child that? I wondered, but then didn't pay it a second thought when we continued to zoom over the grasslands and arc up north towards Zora's Domain.

With the change in climate, I gained several spots by a quick reflex of whistles and sharp commands. Sarginto and I were now in fifth place, the Gerudo who had entered was right in front of me, and I had to admit that she was pretty darn good. Her technique was different from the other riders, as she was actually talking her commands to her dragon. I didn't know how she was able to train her dragon to do that, but it must have taken years of practice. The only disadvantage I saw to it was that it took longer to get the orders out, and going at the speed we were going, there was a chance that she may have had to say her commands several times to get them through.

As we continued on, all the dragons made their ascent up towards Zora's Domain summit, and waiting for us there were hundreds of Zoras all collected in the main pool. Even King Ralis was partaking in the festivities. He was right there cheering and flapping his fins right along with the rest of his people. When the dragons flew by, all the Zoras jumped out the water in recognition. It was a pretty extraordinary sight, and one I was sure no one would forget. King Ralis cheered when he saw me.

"Go get him Master Link!" he called to me.

I waved to him showing him that I heard his encouragement, but again I was going to need more than lip service to even catch up to Elbourne. Seriously, his lead was substantial, however, I wasn't going to focus on the negative, I was gaining on him. I passed the three eastern riders as we forked up into the cold icy mountains of Snowpeak. Here, the atmospheric conditions slowed each dragon down significantly, but the surroundings were more prejudicial towards species than anything else. For instance, I noticed that over the stretch of Zora's Domain the magisaurians were able to fly faster than the other species, sans the dracosaurian, because of their affinity for water. However, now that we were flying over Snowpeak, the dragons with the most advantage were the plasmosaurians. Even though all dragons hated the cold weather, the illumisaurians' creamy colored scales deflected ice better than the others. Even Elbourne's mighty dracosaurian was a little slowed down, though not by much. I was even able to gain several spots because of it and was sitting comfortably at a very distant second. The poor rider of the plasmosaurian suffered the most and was now in dead last. There was no way the fire type was going to sustain a working distance over Snowpeak's unrelenting atmosphere.

Soon, all of that went to the wayside as we forked east and flew over the Gerudo Desert. The Arbiter's Ground looked like a mausoleum for the dead at night, but considering all of the redeads that used to inhabit it, I wasn't surprised. The Gerudo rider seemed more in her element in the desert as she gained a couple of spots and was now right behind me. However, Elbourne was still in the lead, but now without the distortion of the clouds once over at Snowpeak, it was then that I got a better look at his skill set. He was using a mixture of hand signals and whistles to command his dragon. I was amazed at how fast he was orchestrating each command without any lag, but the real wonder was how responsive the black dragon was. It was almost as though the dracosaurian could anticipate what its master wanted before he even commanded it. I had a bond with my Sarginto, true, but it was nothing on the level of that. Elbourne was still well ahead of me, as we all arced and turned and headed back towards Dragon Roost for the Death Mountain overpass. This was going to be the most dangerous aspect of the race.

Death Mountain overpass was often called 'the dead man's overpass'. It was where the most riders were killed, and the sweltering heat from the fire pits could overtake a person's senses in one fell stroke if they didn't prepare for it. Thus, Zelda's kind gesture in letting me wear her grandfather's red tunic. As we got closer, the intensely hot liquefaction was becoming more and more visible. However, the irony in all this was that even though the riders suffered the most risk of death, the dragons became more sustainable. The powerful animals thrived in heat, especially the plasmosaurian and the dracosaurian. The plasmosaurian was obvious because of its innate fire type. The dracosaurian was less obvious but unsurprising because of its class. The rider on the red dragon was about to have a great advantage, because he could go from dead last to possibly third if he flew right. That was probably his plan from the beginning, but that stretch over Snowpeak was going to consistently slow him down. It was definitely going to be a balancing act.

The overpass was just ahead, however, there was something strange and almost enigmatic about it now. There was a concentrated vortex of wind at the area of the exit that led back to the auditorium. The interesting thing was that it wasn't there earlier before the race, or even when the horns sounded at the induction of the games. The phenomena had just recently made an appearance, which told me that something regarding the matter Bastion and I tried to warn their majesties about was taking place. Inadvertently, I slowed down to get a better look. The vortex had a strange helix formation and was not generating any force any place else. In a way, it looked like someone had plucked a cyclone from out of the sky and focused it in one generalized spot. How something like that was able to happen simply did not make sense. However, as I sat idly in the air studying the potential problem ahead of me, Elbourne surprisingly broke ranks and slowed down as well. In fact, he looked back at me and maneuvered his dragon to fly where I was now stationary. He stopped short of me even though he was going at a gliders pace now.

I raised a brow under my helmet.

What in the world is he doing? I wondered.

All the other riders zoomed past the dragon prince and made their way into the overpass. When I got closer, Elbourne raised his hand to signal for me to stop. He then raised his helmet and looked at me with a suspicious expression.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

I was surprised at hearing this, but didn't let it show.

"What are you talking about?" I called back.

He gave me an obvious stare.

"You know what I'm talking about!" he called back. "Why the hell are you slowing down? Keep up your goddamned speed you coward!"

I instantly realized what this was about. He thought I was slowing down on purpose to excuse myself from the race. However, he couldn't have been more wrong.

I groaned.

"It had nothing to do with me not wanting to keep up!" I replied. "There's something strange going on in the overpass your highness! Don't you see that wind?"

He rolled his eyes and didn't seem to care about what I was telling him.

"Are you making an excuse?" he demanded. "Are you still going on with this boogie man nonsense?"

I wasn't going to argue with him.

"Your highness-" I tried.

"Just keep up your speed!" he said, ignoring my warning. "You know damn well you're no match for me and you're trying to weasel your way out of this! I stopped to level the bloody playing field! Get your ass in gear and stay on course!"

The man was a complete idiot.

You have no idea what's about to happen here Elbourne, I thought, none whatsoever.

With that, the dragon prince placed his helmet back on and took off for the overpass. His take off was still powerful even in the air, so much so, that Sarginto and I got knocked back several feet. We immediately shook it off and followed after him into Death Mountain. When we arrived over the fire pits, the lava just gurgled and popped below us. Sarginto suddenly got a surge of energy from all the heat and zoomed forward. However, it was pale in comparison to what Elbourne's dracosaurian just experienced. The surge of energy was so great, that as soon as it entered back into the auditorium, the dragon roared and careened over the crowd with a speed I had to witness to believe.

"Sweet Hylia," I whispered stunned.

Elbourne immediately retrieved his first place standings with only a few flaps of his black dragon's wings. I was now back in last place and still heading through the overpass. I was studying the wind current in front of me, and the closer I got, the more apprehensive I felt. However, as I passed through the exit, the vortex seemed to get stronger. A gust of wind pushed me out, and I wasn't sure if my mind was playing tricks on me, but I could swear an apparition of a hand came out of nowhere to try and grab me. I had to look over my shoulder to make sure what I had just witnessed was real.

What the hell-? I wondered.

I then looked down to see if I could locate Bastion or Ashei. I saw Bastion first, and I wasn't sure if he saw what I saw, but he signaled for me to keep going. He mouthed 'there was nothing to be located at this time'. I wasn't so sure about that, but I reluctantly nodded and went on anyway. However, not before looking down and catching a glimpse of Zelda's face. She looked concerned, apparently seeing what I was seeing, but she knew at this point we were going to have to proceed quietly. With all these people now concentrated in one place, if a whiff of what was really going on here got out, then there would be abject mayhem in the auditorium. There was nothing I could do about that now, that was Xavier's call. I commanded Sarginto to flap his wings faster to catch up to the others, however, I wasn't going to kid myself. I was aware I was completely outmatched when compared to the dragon prince, but now my sole purpose for being in this race was to stop Vaati and the Rue Morgues. The only problem was, I wasn't sure when that was going to be.

There were four more laps to go.

And lap two had already begun.

~SSS~

Dragon Roost Mountainside: Lap II (Bastion's POV)

As Link and Elbourne zoomed overhead again in a not so tight struggle, I took note of a strange pattern of wind starting to give way from the inside of Death Mountain's alcove. Its sudden appearance was significant in that it was completely and totally centralized, only showing evidence of itself due to all the dragons venturing through there. There was definitely something amiss with that, and considering the imminent threat now upon everyone, I decided I needed to have a closer look. Ashei was on the other side of the auditorium also keeping an eye on anything out of the ordinary. I was certain she saw what I saw as well, however, she looked my way before she proceeded for instructions. I gave her a subtle head shake 'no' and signaled for her to stay put while I went on ahead to do the investigating. She hesitated at my gesture for a moment, but agreed to it anyway, knowing this wasn't a time to be stubborn.

I was grateful to her for that.

Afterwards, I made my way through the crowd mostly unnoticed, but I did catch the eye of Rusl and his fellow villager, that girl named Ilia. Rusl raised a brow and gave me a obvious look, knowing I wouldn't just leave if something wasn't going on. However, I cleared my throat, hoping he understood that I wanted him to stay put for now. If he got up with me that would only create more undue suspicion. His friend however wasn't so easy to deter. She looked at me with an open distrust, and there was a hint of worry in her eyes. After knowing the nature of her relationship with Link, I understood why. Even still, I think she knew this was out of her league. She didn't know what was going on, but she had sense enough to understand it would be foolish to get up and follow after me. She stayed put, and everyone else was enthralled in the race.

When I left the seating area, I headed through the tunnels in the mountainside. There were several junctions that led to led to the alcove in question. However, as I got closer, I had to stop short of the entrance to the overpass as the heat was too great. I had nothing to combat it, which told me this was probably why this area was chosen to work as a catalyst: keep the people out by means of a natural resource, fire. From what I could see when I looked through the opening that led to the stretch of the fire pits was an odd vortex of wind abstantiating from an unspecified area within the rocks. My stomach turned a little because this had the work of the metaphysical written all over it. I knew Vincent and Morgana had interceded in some way, and whatever they were planning was starting to manifest itself. I covered my eyes to provide me with some limited protection, and followed the wisps concentrated therein, hoping it would give me more of a clue as to where the source was coming from. What I gathered from what I saw was that the source of the apparent energy cell was outside of the mountain, but the currents gathered from it were being funneled into the mountain.

I raised a brow perplexed.

How is that possible? I wondered.

"They certainly made sure to be thorough," I muttered to myself about Vincent and Morgana.

Speaking of the two Rue Morgues, I was surprised when I saw them come out of hiding at the starting of the race. They blended pretty well with the crowd, but there was no denying who they both were. The fact that they decided to witness this event first hand told me they were confident in its success. However, possibly because they wanted to proceed on the side of caution, I also saw that they weren't altogether focused on the race. Vincent kept diverting his attention to the bottom of the auditorium as though something down there kept capturing his attention. I followed his line of sight to see what captured his attention and saw nothing but dirt covered in sawdust. Even still, something was making him look down there, something important, and I needed to find out what it was. Ironically, I was fortunate in that he stood up just now, covered his head so as not to be seen, and made his way through the crowd to venture off somewhere.

I moved out of his visual field and kept my eyes fixed on him. He headed out of the auditorium towards the underground mountainside.

Where in the world are you going? I wondered.

I wouldn't have to ponder over that for long, because in a minute decision I decided to follow him. There was nothing I could do at Death Mountain anyway, and following him was probably the best lead I was going to get. I still needed to find the location of this aperture Auru wrote about in his letter to Link, the Tuuli Stone. Maybe Vincent was on his way there to see if both keys were still in place. There was only one way for me to know for certain, and that was to follow him. Keeping matters expedient, I saw Elbourne in the distance leading and Link close behind him at second, I knew there wasn't much time. In fact, all the riders were well on their way to beginning the third lap. I hurried in covering my own head scuttling to catch up to Vincent. From my periphery, I saw Link look down at me from above. He signaled if he needed to deviate off course. I quickly shook my head and signaled him back, informing him to keep going. However, I had a feeling he wasn't going to listen to me for long. He was going to intervene soon enough.

Just wait for it Link, I thought, just wait for it.

The riders all zoomed through Death Mountain overpass, and the vortex picked up.

The third lap had begun.

~SSS~

Death Mountain Overpass: Lap III (Vincent's POV, finally in first person omniscient)

As the dragon prince and the peasant flew by, I knew I had no time to lose. My master was going to awaken soon, and I had to make sure he was presented with a proper greeting: the blood sacrifice of thousands. There were going to be no missteps. Unbeknownst to those idiots up in the skies, they were inadvertently accelerating the process of his resurrection by catalyzing the natural wind currents brought about by the crystalline moon. Those currents were then being transmitted to the Tuuli Stone where the two keys now resided. It was my job to make sure the transmitter I put in place weeks ago was still working properly. The cheering and clapping from the audience would act as an excellent diversion for me while I went to go check on it. However, before I got up, I did take note of a young female soldier from across the stadium who was staring at me. I would have seen it as more of a passing glance, but she was eyeing me a little longer than I would have liked. She obviously knew who I was, or was at least suspicious about my nature. Even still, I decided to forego the woman's watchful eye for the moment and not pay her any mind. However, I also was aware I needed to hurry and get below the stadium. Time was ticking away.

When I got up, Morgana looked over at me alarmed.

"Where are you going?" she whispered.

I covered my head in preparation to go.

"I need to make certain of a few things," I said, "I'll be back."

She didn't look too reassured with my utterance, and I was quite certain she didn't appreciate me leaving her alone like this, but considering the circumstances she didn't argue with me. She knew now wasn't the place for it. She simply nodded and gave me a half hearted go ahead.

"Be careful," she said, "it's almost time."

I nodded in return at her caution, then moved past her and made my way to the stone escalator past the barbecue pits and other vendors stationed near the main stairway leading to the barracks. It should have been easy for me to slip past security with everyone's attention diverted to the race. Morgana staying put while I scurried away was risky but necessary. I was certain she would have preferred to go with me, since a woman was generally above suspicion when it came to covert matters. However, the both of us leaving the stadium would have raised more eyebrows than not, and I wasn't going to send her out on a scavenger hunt looking for the pit where I set up the crystal transmitter. It would take too long and we didn't have that kind of leverage. I was aware there were still those who knew who she truly was, but it would be to their disadvantage if they said anything. If a nobleman exposed her, the man would run the risk of having his whole life exposed as well. I was sure many of these noblemen's wives wouldn't appreciate their husband's extracurricular activities at the Red Lantern District. They would do better to keep their mouths shut. If a guard tried to capture her under erroneous circumstances, especially with no evidence, they ran the risk of being disavowed. It wouldn't be worth it to them. If a peasant tried to come at her, which would be the least likely, the individual would suffer the worst kind of humiliation possible due to her status, and be arrested. Besides, with where we were sitting who would want to come up against a stampede of Hylians to get to her anyway? Also too, she wasn't standing out in any way, she was facing away from their majesties, and her hair was covered. She blended in just fine. The only persons who really took note of either one of us was that vile bastard Link, and that female soldier on the other side of the stadium.

With the decision made, I hurried down the stairway to the auditorium's lower level. However, I paused for a moment when I thought I heard a second pair of footsteps. I looked over my shoulder to see if I was being followed, but there was no one there. That still didn't mean the coast was clear. Even still, I proceeded on with caution knowing I couldn't delay. I made my way to the barracks and saw that the gate leading underground was closed.

I groaned in disappointment.

It looks like I'm going to have to do this the hard way, I thought.

I doubled back from my original position and headed in the opposite direction. For anyone else, it looked like the roadway I was now heading down led to a dead end. For me however that simply wasn't the case, I pushed on one of the igneous rocks sticking out to the right of the formation, and a medium sized hole appeared in the ground. It was large enough for a grown man to transport through, but inconspicuous enough not to be noticed. Before proceeding on, I looked over my shoulder again as a precaution. There was still saw no one there. For an event this large security sure was lackadaisical. I wasn't complaining, but I hadn't seen a guard or a soldier in the entire perimeter of this area. It was no matter, I shouldn't have been worried about that anyway. However, I did glance up and take note of the wind currents picking up speed around Death Mountain overpass. There was even a little cloud coverage forming above the mountains. That incident was promising because it was evidence that the transmitter was still working. If it was showing signs of working so well, then I could probably turn up the amplitude to expedite the process. There was no sense waiting if this could all be done faster.

I know you're as eager to come back master as I am ready for you to come back, I thought.

Without waiting any further, I went down the hole and made my way through the underground crypts of the city. The crypts were a dank dark place where many horrors took place right under the people's noses. Rituals and blood sacrifices were done under the guise of judiciary due process when they were merely for the enjoyment of the deviant few. I had to admit that I partook in some of those activities, but such sacrifices were necessary to bring about change to the land. The masters of the Triforce of Power often required their followers to show loyalty. The only way to show one was loyal to the darkness was to offer up a sacrifice of blood... innocent blood for that matter. I still remember my first kill. She was a young virgin girl ready to be married... she was so beautiful, right up until her last breath. Her family still couldn't find the remaining pieces of her body... but such was life when necessity appeased for it. The young maiden wasn't the only one. There were others. Many, many others. I had done so many I lost count. However, I at least had the good sense to show some restraint. Morgana on the other hand was a whole different story. She made it a practice to go after young maidens who were interested in the dragon prince. I've often warned her that her jealousy would be her undoing.

That woman can certainly be foolish when she wants to be, I thought.

Anyway, I made my way past the tiered catacombs towards a staircase leading to a lower level. However, again, I paused for a moment when I thought I heard a noise. I froze in step and looked around the room, I listened and waited. There wasn't a sound to be heard, but I kept still for a few moments longer. There was a faint tap somewhere in the background, but it sounded like it was coming another area of the vault as opposed to another person. Time was not only a factor now, but it was starting to become a vice, so when I was certain the coast was clear, I proceeded on down the stairs and then through another door. After several more maneuvers, I found myself in the room that housed the crystal transmitter. I moved a stone in front of it, hiding it, to the one side and hurried to get to work quickly. However, as I was toggling with the energy catalyst, the door to the room suddenly opened and in came a dark haired soldier. From the looks of his garb he was commander in Queen Zelda's military.

I looked at the man beyond stunned, but kept my cool on my exterior.

Damn it! I thought frustrated. I knew I should have been more careful.

The soldier looked me up and down and beyond me to the apparatus before he spoke.

"Now what do you suppose you're doing in here?" he asked me sarcastically.

I narrowed my eyes and didn't answer.

This was a problem.

This was a big problem.

If this man dislodged the transmitter out of place before my master was fully transmogrified, Vaati wouldn't come back at all. I couldn't let that happen. The answer to this soldier's question would be found out soon enough. I just needed to stall until then, but how? How was I going to do that when nothing really prevented him from overpowering me and destroying the crystal? As if in tandem with my thoughts, a whoosh and a sudden rush of energy pulsed through the vibrator a moment later. I turned and looked at the device, realizing it was getting closer than I thought.

That energy... I thought of the resonance trail.

I just had to stall this man a little longer.

It looks like the fourth lap just started.

~SSS~

The Lead Up to the Aperture of the Tuuli Stone: Lap IV (Ashei's POV)

If Bastion didn't think I saw him follow that bastard Vincent, he had another thing coming. I wasn't even certain if it was safe for him to proceed all by himself yet. However, given the nature of today's events, I was aware most cautions had to be cast to the wind. I also had to take into consideration that it would have looked a lot more suspicious if I had gone after Vincent instead of Bastion, given I was staring at him right before he got up from his seat. Even still, Bastion's departure was carrying on a lot longer than I would have liked, and the fact that he was now out of sight was none to reassuring. Anything could be happening to him and there would be no way of me knowing about it. I was aware that danger was part of our occupation, I accepted that. I couldn't accept not helping another comrade when they needed me, that bothered me. However, I tried not to let my attention get too diverted with that. Deviation was what Vincent and Morgana were banking on. I knew the primary objective of today was to stop Vaati. I had to focus on that.

I looked heavenward to check the status of the race: Link was still lagging behind Elbourne. Purposeful or not, it was then I came to the realization that that was simply how this race was going to go. The dragon prince was just way too experienced for Link, or anybody for that matter, to overtake him. He really was a magnificent dragon rider even though I would never admit it to him personally. However, the real problem regarding this situation was starting to manifest itself from the overpass at Death Mountain's door. There was a tunneling of wind, almost like a mini cyclone, substantiating itself right at the entrance. Every time the riders passed through, the current got a little stronger.

I looked on concerned.

What in Hylia's dear name is going on up there? I wondered.

I sighed, thinking I was going to have to go mobile soon. There was only so much I could do standing in one place. However, even with that thought in mind, I was keeping a tentative eye on Morgana. I knew that she and Vincent had separated for a reason. I was also aware of how she kept paying attention to that strange vortex of wind. By the looks of things, time was starting to run short, and Vaati was going to make his inevitable appearance soon. With all this clearly realized, I needed to figure out where those two keys were and try to dislodge them if I could. My best bet was to try and scour the mountainside for clues. I had already been keeping my eye on a faint ethereal light coming from a formation of rock higher into the mountains. With the festivities going on, it was easy to miss if it wasn't being looked for. With Link and Bastion both gone, I was going to have to work alone in finding that formation. Even still, I hesitated for just a second, looking Morgana's way to see if she was going to make a move. However, it seemed her purpose was to stay put for now, possibly as a diversion for her brother. Having to be satisfied with that, I made my way through the crowd to the stairs leading up to the mountainside.

Once I was more east up the mountainside, I looked overhead once again and saw the riders off in the distance. They were past Hyrule Field leading off to Zora's Domain. They would be circling back soon and I knew I needed to hurry. I wasted no time heading up into the mountainside past the onlookers and into some of the tunneling of Goron Mines. When I exited, I kept heading north, up the slope where I thought I saw a strange light, or a refractory resonance of some kind. Something was definitely going on up there that was out of the ordinary. When I continued up the path, I suddenly paused for a moment when I saw a man dressed in a cloak covering his head, hurrying up in the same direction I was headed. He was carrying a sheathed sword and a scroll of some kind. I couldn't put my finger on why, but there was definitely something familiar about him, especially in relation to his walk and manner. Who was he, and why was he going into the mountains alone?

I hesitated for only a few seconds more, and made a minute decision to follow after him. I was sure Bastion wouldn't approve if he knew, especially with me being pregnant now, but I had to take that chance for Hyrule's sake. If Vaati came back we would all be dead. I kept a steady distance behind the man and followed him closer to the light. The unease in my belly grew, and I knew it wasn't from morning sickness.

Where are you going? I wondered, having a terrible foreboding. What are you after?

I would find out soon enough.

~SSS~

The Protector's POV

The Protector hurried up the mountainside where the Tuuli Stone recess resided, hoping he wasn't too late to take out the two keys. However, when he came close to the rock formation, he was taken aback when he saw that the stone was now sealed over by a small force field. A force field obviously put into place by Vincent. There was no way for him to dislodge the apparatus now, which meant the Rue Morgues had somehow put the keys in right before the race started. They had to have because the Protector had been up at the aperture several times that day, and it had always been empty.

Now, the only way to be rid of Vaati was by using the weapon the four little heroes of the past used, The Four Sword. The only problem now was how was the Protector going to get the weapon to the hero since he was currently in mid-flight? He knew he had to get the sword to Link before the race ended. For all intensive purposes, no one was expecting him to be there in the capacity that he was, and if he tried to flag the hero down now and show his face with the weapon he had in tow, his cover with the brotherhood would be blown for good. However, he knew that his identity was a secondary concern considering the circumstances. The people's lives were way more important than his infiltration of an old arcane sect. If he had to show who he really was, then so be it. He wasn't going to watch thousands of people die due to his own personal devices. He already had enough explaining to do as it was, his name and associations would just be a few more. With all that taken into consideration the decision had been made.

I've got to get out of here and somehow signal for Link, he thought.

He then turned and headed back down the mountainside towards the main auditorium, but as he made his descent, he was suddenly stopped cold in his tracks when he came face to face with an individual he wasn't expecting to see. The young woman looked at him equally surprised, especially when she got a good look at his face. The female soldier stared at him stunned, then looked from his face to the sword he was carrying in his hands. She took a step back a little dumbfounded with what was going on. It probably would have been a shock to anybody.

She shook her head in minor disbelief.

"I don't understand..." she whispered, "what... what are you doing up here? What is going on?"

The Protector just stared back at the young woman, and knew there was no way getting around this. He was aware of how this looked and what this meant for him, but he also knew that this may have been the unspoken help he needed. She could definitely help him get to Master Link, she and the young master were very good friends after all. The Protector then unhooded himself and stroked a hand through his grey and black hair, sighing in both relief and frustration. He realized he had taught this young lady well... too well at times. The reason for that was simple: this young, capable, beautiful creature was his daughter. He looked her in the face and grinned.

"Hello Ashei," Auru said softly, "I'll explain everything later, right now we need to get to Link."

~SSS~

Back in the Auditorium: Zelda's POV

There was something definitely not right going on, and all I had to do was look over at Constance to be reassured of that fact. The dragon queen was seeing the same thing I was seeing in that wind vortex. It had grown from subtle to outright apparent in a matter of twenty minutes. At this point, it was pure lunacy not to try and evacuate the people. It was clear as to what was going on here, and it looked like only a matter of minutes before Vaati was resurrected.

This is madness, I thought.

I turned to the king, deciding to be silent no longer.

"My lord, we must get the people out of here," I said in slight alarm, "there's no telling how many casualties will be suffered if we delay any longer."

However, Xavier looked at me like I was crazy, ignored my words, and shook his head. "That's impossible," he replied, "there's too many people in one setting, and if we were to say anything now, there would be mayhem in the ranks. There's no way we can evacuate without causing a panic."

I looked at him dumbfounded. Then what was his course of action going to be? Silence?

"Sire, then you propose to do nothing?" I asked as more of a demand than anything.

Xavier made it obvious that he didn't care for my tone and gave me a look of warning. "Your majesty, I appreciate your concern and counsel," he said, "however, remember that you are not in Hyrule Castle, you are in Dragon Roost, and we have our own laws to govern the land."

I raised a brow at his apparent disrespect of my throne. He may have had some valid points, but Xavier would have never spoken to my father in such a fashion. It just showed me how great the chasm had gotten between our two nations. We pretended pleasantries and such, but there was a real under current of tension between Hyrule and Dragon Roost. Xavier also seemed to forget that the whole of Hyrule included Dragon Roost. A command from Hyrule's royal family superseded any rule brought about by the dragon masters. That had always been the problem with Dragon Roost. The Roostians were aware that for the most part the Hylians allowed them to act as their own working country. However, when it came down to simple geography Dragon Roost was still a province in the kingdom of Hyrule, and since Xavier had suddenly become ignorant to that fact, it was time I gave him a reeducation.

"And let me make it very clear to you my lord that if my people suffer injury from your neglect it will be considered an act of war," I replied.

He wasn't expecting that and looked at me shocked. "What?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You heard what I said," I replied, "I don't consider the lives of my people as just a little thing, nether should you. You were already warned by Master Link of the apparent menace ready to make his appearance, and you have done nothing in concessions to stop it. Now, you either order the evacuation of the people, or consider yourself at war with Hyrule, which is it going to be?"

Xavier looked beyond astonished at my words, but before he could answer, the dragon riders came through Death Mountain overpass once more and the wind picked up yet again, this time actuating even greater. The clouds that normally circled the summit were precipitating at a much faster rate, and thunder and lightning began to hiss and billow throughout the night sky. The sight was frightening to say the least, and some in the audience were starting to become uneasy. Then suddenly out of nowhere a glare of red light pulsed through the sky from a fire arrow.

I was taken aback at the sight.

That was odd.

Dear Hylia, I thought, help Link keep a steady hand.

However, before Link's dragon went through the overpass, I saw his illuminsaurian deviate from the course to the top of the mountainside. I looked on dumbfounded. I had never seen anything like it. What was he doing?

"What in the world is going on up there?" I whispered.

~SSS~

Auru's POV

"There's no time for me to explain right now," Auru said, "we need to get this sword to Master Link. At this rate Vaati will definitely come back and kill everyone here."

Ashei was still looking at her father shocked. There was still so many things she didn't understand.

"But father, why-" she tried.

Auru hurried off in mid-sentence, not waiting for her to answer him, and not having time to explain his obvious secrets to her. He immediately moved past her down the mountainside towards a precipice near another Death Mountain entrance. Ashei quickly shook her head, getting her senses back, and then followed after her father.

"Wait!" she called after him.

But there was no time.

"Take one of your fire arrows and shoot it towards the heavens!" he ordered. "Now!"

Ashei stopped and immediately did what her father instructed of her. She took an arrow, lit it, and shot it off into the sky. Before she had time to recoup, Auru tossed her the sheathed sword.

"Make sure Link gets this," he said.

Ashei caught the sword with one hand, but didn't let her father off the hook so easily.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

Auru hooded himself again and started back down the mountainside.

"We'll talk later," he called over his shoulder, "just make sure Link gets that sword."

He then hurried on to his next objective.

Ashei took two steps, wanting to stop him, but decided against it. There was nothing she could do regarding her father right now, and once his mind was made up, there was no stopping him. Instead, she composed herself and thought about what she had to do. She then raised her arms above her head and flailed them wildly, hoping to get Link's attention before he rode by.

Time was ticking away.

The fifth and final lap was about to start.

~SSS~

A Few Moments Earlier: Link's POV

Death Mountain was straight ahead, but I noticed the shot from Ashei's fire arrow from a mile away. Not hesitating, I flew faster towards her direction to see what was going on. I just hoped I'd get there in enough time.

Sweet Farore, I thought, am I too late?

~SSS~

Ashei's POV

As Link flew closer, I had to brace myself against a bedding of rock. The wind forces from his dragon were extremely great. He flew in low and the blue orbs of his illumisaurian were up close and personal. It was a fascinating, but frightening sight at the same time. Onlookers close to the perimeter both 'ooh'd' and screamed in fear before running away. I was sure they were wondering what the hell was going for Link to be leaving the race the way he was. When the hero was in a glider's position, he then raised his face shield and wasted no time in his questioning.

"What's going on?" he called to me from atop his dragon.

I raised my arm to protect my eyes.

"Here!" I called back, not bothering to answer, and tossing him the sword my father gave me. "You're going to need this! Vaati is going to appear at Death Mountain's door soon! Possibly before the end of the last lap! The only way to defeat him is with that sword!"

Link let go of one of the reigns and grabbed the sword with his free hand. He then quickly unsheathed it to look at it. However, before he took off a puzzled look came across his face.

"Where did you get this?" he called to me.

I shook my head against the force.

"There's no time to explain that now!" I called back. "Just use it! Trust me, it's what you need!"

After hearing that, Link didn't ask anymore questions. He didn't hesitate for an instant, and nodded at my cautionary words.

"Alright! Thank you for getting this to me!" he replied. "Now get out of here! It's dangerous!"

I nodded as best I could.

"Right!" I called back.

With that, Link ordered his dragon to fly up and back through the overpass. I watched him in anticipation, hoping our efforts weren't too late. Afterwards, I hurried back down the mountain, hoping to be useful in some other capacity.

The fifth and final lap had finally begun.

~SSS~

The Awakening of the Sleeping Menace, the Final Lap: Link's POV

After receiving the sword from Ashei, I hurried through Death Mountain overpass and saw that the wind vortex had become stronger. The power surge for my dragon was still the same from the fire pits, but this time as I exited I thought I saw a face through the wind currents. It wasn't a tangible face, but it was a visage of some kind nonetheless. It was one eyed, but it looked hooded. I gripped the weapon given to me tightly, not sure when I was going to have to use it. I didn't even know what this sword was, or what made it special in defeating Vaati, but if Ashei insisted it was something that was needed, then I wasn't going to argue with her. It had to have the property of casting off evil's bane like the Master Sword, maybe not in the same capacity, but its innateness must have been similar.

In the mean time, I no longer worried about keeping up appearances with the other riders at this point. I slowed my dragon down to an eventual stop, and got into a gliders formation high above the auditorium. There was no way I was going to defeat Elbourne. He clearly was the better rider than me, and at this junction I simply didn't care. There were other more important things to worry about. I needed to stay as close as possible to Death Mountain to stop this psychotic phantom when he eventually showed himself, and by the looks of things he was going to be appearing very soon. However, even with that being the case, I could see that my presence was starting to be missed amongst the other dragon riders. Several of the racers had scanned the area looking for me, which I found odd. I didn't understand why they were worried about what I was doing, when they should have been focused on trying to win the race. If what I was doing disqualified me, so be it. Even still, when they saw that I had lagged behind, hovering over the auditorium, they all stopped flying, circled around each other, and looked like they were taking an impromptu meeting in amongst themselves. It honestly looked ludicrous, but I was sure they were wondering what the hell I was doing as well. However, with Elbourne there, they shouldn't have been ignorant to the facts. That is, if he were man enough to tell them what was really going on.

I wagered that he wouldn't.

I grunted to myself.

"That idiot," I muttered.

Meanwhile, at the same time, it was obvious that my presence was alerting the audience as well. The whole stadium was staring up at me wondering why I broke ranks from the others and was now stationary in a glider's formation. It obviously didn't make sense, and it was obviously a question Morgana was not going to sit and wait around to have answered. She had been sitting quietly in the front row all this time, watching and possibly keeping an eye out for any missteps in her or her brother's plan. Now, she suddenly got up and headed for the stairwell adjacent to where she was sitting. I didn't see her brother with her, so it was quite possible that she went to go warn him. I would have swooped down and captured her if it didn't mean endangering so many other people in the process. I knew wherever she was going, she was up to no good. Even still, I let her be for now and scanned the crowd again. I saw Zelda and the other royals looking up at me mystified. Zelda's face was one of open concern and I wished she or Xavier would get these people out of here. Why were they waiting? They knew as well as I that something wasn't right here. There was no telling what was going to happen next.

Come on Zelda... I thought, you have the power, you're the Queen of Hyrule.

The tension in the air was growing, and finally the inevitable happened with the crowd beginning to murmur and whisper in amongst themselves. 'What was going on?' they were no doubt wondering. 'What is Master Link doing?' they were no doubt questioning, and given the circumstances, I didn't blame them. It was no surprise. I even looked over at my friends from Ordon to see how they were fairing, and they all had the same expressions as everyone else, they looked up at me puzzled. I wasn't going to lie, this was a very unorthodox situation, and being in the dark only made it that much more bizarre. However, it was about to become a lot more out of the ordinary with the next set of events. A dragon rider from the pack that was flying over Hyrule Field suddenly broke ranks from the meeting they were having and flew over to where I was. He was one of the three Dragon Roost riders. The chatter from the audience got louder when he made his appearance overhead. The rider stopped short of me, and lifted his helmet.

The intrigue from this situation was growing.

"Master Link, his highness has demanded to know what you are doing!" he called to me.

I nearly scoffed.

I should have known, I thought.

I looked past him to the dragon prince's massive dracosaurian in the distance. That fool knew why I was doing what I was doing.

"Tell his highness that he already knows what's going on here!" I called back.

The rider raised a brow.

"He insists that you get back in the race!" he called to me. "This is the last lap young master!"

I shook my head at the notion.

"Tell him I can't!" I replied.

The dragon rider shook his head this time.

"You know he won't accept that!" he called back.

I stayed put.

"I'm afraid that isn't my problem!" I replied boldly. "Prince Elbourne is well aware of what is going on here!"

The dragon rider scoffed.

"Are you serious?" he demanded. "Is that what you want me to tell him?"

I nodded, not in the mood for the prince's silly shenanigans. People's lives were at stake, saving them was more important than his silly pride.

"Yes!" I called back.

With that, the rider looked at me like I was crazy, but then headed back towards the other racers. Now the audience was even more intrigued. I watched as the rider flew to Elbourne's dracosaurian and apparently told him what I said. Afterwards, the dragon prince looked over his shoulder at me from the distance. I couldn't see anything but his outline on his dragon as he was a few miles away at this point. However, after speaking with his fellow Roostian, he then did something rather surprising by turning his animal around and heading back towards the auditorium. I felt my eyes widen in surprise, but didn't say anything in protest. Everyone else looked on stunned when Elbourne flew back to the stadium overhead. The dragon prince stopped short of me and lifted his helmet. The angry scowl on his face could be seen from a mile away.

"What the hell are you doing farm boy?" he demanded of me.

I didn't have time for this.

"You know what I'm doing!" I called back. "Look at what's going on!"

Elbourne was not interested in that.

"Get back in the race!" he exclaimed. "I mean it! You are not cowering out now!"

I narrowed my eyes at him him.

"This has nothing to do with cowering out!" I replied. "Stop being a damn fool!"

Elbourne groaned in anger.

"If you ruin my moment of glory, I swear I'll make you fodder for my Orthella!" he called out.

I had no idea what he was talking about.

Who the hell is Orthella? I wondered.

"Your highness-" I tried.

"If you value the people's lives here you will get your ass in gear and keep racing!" he warned suddenly.

I was taken aback at that statement.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded. "Elbourne this is madness!"

Elbourne didn't reply, instead he drew his dragon back several yards, and afterwards he leaned forward and whistled into the dracosaurian's ear. Afterwards, the dragon bucked its head back and took in a deep breath.

I felt my eyes widen in disbelief.

He isn't! I thought, about to witness the unbelievable. He wouldn't! He would cast fire over a live audience!

"No! What are you doing?" I screamed. "Zelda's down there you bastard!"

Elbourne's face remained unchanged.

"Get... back... in... the... race!" he warned again. "I'm not playing with you!"

I was beyond stunned and looked down at the audience and Zelda now watching us like hawks. Elbourne had just taken depravity to a whole new level by threatening the people the way he just did. He was willing to injure and possibly kill thousands of people just to win a race... just to make a point... what a piece of dragon shit. The woman he claimed to love and care for was down there, and he had no consideration for her well being at all. I was grateful the spectators couldn't hear what was going on, they would have been mortified at the prince's actions. He was truly a mad man and a selfish bastard. For myself, seeing the only way out of this situation was to participate in the race for now. I wasn't about to let all these people die prematurely because of pride. However, before I departed, I looked over my shoulder to Death Mountain's door.

The wind was getting stronger.

"It's only a matter of time," I whispered to myself.

Afterwards, I reluctantly got into formation with Elbourne watching. I never hated an individual before, but he was certainly coming close to it. I then flew out of the stadium towards the other riders. Elbourne followed after me, making sure I didn't lag behind this time.

When I approached, the Gerudo was looking at me like I was crazy.

"What's the matter with you?" she demanded. "Are you mad? Do you really want to be on the brunt of the prince's wrath? He's crazy! Never in any gala have I seen this happen!"

I was fully aware of that, but I wouldn't expect her to understand my intentions. Everything was being usurped by this madman.

"Forget it let's go!" I replied.

Elbourne was the last to get back, making sure I didn't deviate again. He looked over at me before he closed his helmet.

"When I beat you, I want to beat you fair and square!" he called. "Stay focused!"

It was official.

I hated the guy.

"On my count we take off again!" the dragon prince called out. "One... two... three, go!"

After the sounding the riders took off once again. I took off as well, but I looked over my shoulder not knowing what the hell was going greet us when we got back.

Just don't appear until I get back, I thought.

Hopefully, this wouldn't be Hyrule's final race.

~SSS~

Auru's POV

The older soldier hurried down the stairs on the other side of the stadium to the dead end walkway. After pushing on the igneous rock, the ground opened and he hurried into the catacombs to his next objective. He wasted no time maneuvering through the walkway towards a door on the other side. Once there, he opened it and was taken aback when he saw Bastion and Vincent both locked in conflict. Bastion had the upper hand, being stronger and younger, but Vincent was giving him a run for his rupee. He was certainly a lot more than he appeared. When Bastion looked up from the struggle he looked at Auru stunned.

"Master Auru!" he said. "What are you doing here?"

Auru wasted no time and quickly went to help him.

"The same as you," he replied, grabbing Vincent by the other arm, "we have to stop this damned transmitter before the race is over. Master Link already has The Four Sword to defeat Vaati."

Both men looked at him confused.

"What?" Bastion asked.

Vincent looked at Auru truly astonished that he knew that fact. "How in the world do you know about The Four Sword?" he demanded. "No one knows about The Four Sword. That knowledge is only privy to elite members of an old arcane sect." He stopped speaking for a moment when he realized what he had just said. "Unless you're..."

Auru grappled the former advisor under one arm and heaved him up against a limestone covered wall.

"Unless I'm whom Lord Vincent?" he whispered. "Unless I'm Protector Quadriennium, one of the Grand Masters of the Brotherhood of Hyrule? You mean unless I'm one of them?"

There was a brief silence between all three men after Auru's utterance. The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife.

Bastion's eyes widened and he swallowed hard, not expecting him to admit that so readily. "I... I knew it was you," he whispered, still stunned, "I don't know why, but I knew you were him. I guess it must have been your trust in me."

Now Vincent looked at Bastion confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded. "Are you part of the brotherhood too?"

Neither one of them answered him, enough had been said in those unfiltered moments. It was a dangerous thing they were doing revealing who they really were to a psychopath like Vincent. Auru decided it was time he got to the point of him coming here.

"How do we turn off this transmitter Vincent?" Auru demanded.

Vincent scoffed. "You actually think I'm going to tell you?" he taunted. "You're insane, and when my master comes back I'll be sure to save your corpse so he'll bathe in your blood."

Auru squeezed at the former counselor's throat. "Don't make me take measures that you could only imagine that you could live through," he warned.

Vincent didn't even appear threatened. "You do what you have to," he said, "I'm not telling you a thing!"

Auru grunted in frustration, then backhanded the vile bastard as hard as he could. It had more give than Auru intended, because Vincent was out cold after that. Bastion looked down at the man disappointed, he had been struggling with him for the past several minutes.

"That's all it took?" he said in disbelief.

Auru went over to the crystal. "Never mind him," he said, focusing on what was important, "we have to destroy this thing now!"

The older soldier then unsheathed his sword and began hacking as hard as he could with his blade, there was minimal effect. The energy was still pulsing through. Bastion then unsheathed his sword and went to help his commander. The two men took turns hacking and slashing away at the crystal with still minimal effects. However, after a few seconds they saw a subtle shift in the energy transference, it went from white to yellow.

"It think it's working!" Bastion said, and both men continued on.

Suddenly, there was a brief shaking of the ground, which halted both men momentarily. They both looked at the crystal to see if it pulsed any differently, but the energy voltage was generating at the same interval.

"We have to hurry," Auru said determined.

The two men continued their work, hoping the riders weren't nearing the finish line just yet.

We just need a little more time, Auru thought, just a little more time.

~SSS~

Link's POV

The riders flew swiftly over Gerudo Desert with Elbourne leading, and we were heading for the home stretch. It was then I saw from a distance a strange distortion starting to abstantiate in the heavens.

"Sweet goddesses!" I whispered to myself. "Is that Vaati?"

I wasn't going to wait around to find out, I suddenly doubled Sarginto's speed by whistling another command in his ear. The illumisaurian roared and abruptly took off at a sprinter's pace. The jolt was so substantial that I gained several spots from it and was right behind Elbourne. The dragon prince looked over his shoulder and raised his face mask in surprise at my sudden prominence, he even seemed pleased.

"Well, that's more like it!" he called to me. "If you had done this in the first place we wouldn't have had the quarrel!"

Thinking that I was trying to keep to compete with him, Elbourne then flew faster and careened towards Death Mountain like a spiral on his dracosaurian. However, he wasn't my concern, and I could care less if he won this race, so I ignored him and kept moving forward. The dragon prince was far ahead of me, when the wind shifted from hovering around Death Mountain to hovering over it. It then started transmogrifying from a baseless unit of force to a large personage of some kind. I flew faster, gaining on the dragon prince, but more importantly found myself getting closer to my goal. The stretch was right in front of us.

The force then formed a bodice outlined in white with no color. It looked like a transparent figurine in the heavens. I wasn't sure what everyone's reaction was to this, but I was sure panic had started to set in, and if I didn't hurry the massacre would happened at any moment. Elbourne's dracosaurian zoomed into Death Mountain overpass and exited with a tremendous surge of power. He was this year's victor, good for him, but the result of that made the transformation catalyze. I, on the other hand, went above the overpass towards the site of the transfiguration. Elbourne's pulse of energy alone made the bodice of wind go from transparent to translucent in a matter of seconds. There was suddenly a face with only one red eye showing and lavender skin much like those creatures that gave chase to me to induce the purges. The apparition was dressed in a long purple cloak along with a matching tunic and a red sash around what I assumed was his waist. I immediately unsheathed my sword and whistled in Sarginto's ear to go into attack mode at the sight. I wasn't going to wait for this creature to finish generating himself, I was going to put an end to this right now. My illumisaurian tilted his head low and locked his arms and legs close to his body causing him to fly faster. We darted straight for the apparition as the other riders went through the overpass to cross the finish line. The energy resurgence was then twenty fold when everyone else went through making the transfiguration now complete. The personage of Vaati went from translucent to opaque and now the sleeping menace was fully transmogrified.

"Go Sarginto!" I encouraged my dragon. "I need you to be swift like my Epona now!"

My illumisaurian headed straight for him, and in this situation it was 'do' or 'die'.

That last consequence wasn't an option for me.

I was a man that didn't settle for 'die'.

I was going to 'do'.

~SSS~

Bastion's POV

The crystal was nearly destroyed and with one last jolt of strength both Auru and I shattered the remains of the transmitter. The resulting effect made the room glow purple, red, and yellow as the refractory resonance rebounded then shifted from its central source in the transmitter to throughout the entirety of the room. I grabbed Auru and immediately went for cover as I wasn't sure how the erratic displacements was going to react in the enclosed space. There was nowhere really to go, but I protected my dear friend the best I could. It was only then that I looked over by chance and saw that the former advisor was gone. Apparently, he had faked passing out to wait for an opportunity like this to escape, and considering all that he now knew, he was more of a threat than ever. However, in the current circumstances, he was a low priority. I would have to deal with finding him and his sister later. I just hoped we broke the crystal in time for Link to stop Vaati. There was only one way to know for certain.

"We have to get out of here!" I said above the resonance. "We have to see what's going on above ground!"

Auru nodded in agreement and quickly wasted no time leading the way.

"Come on!" he called back.

We made our way out of the catacombs back to the main auditorium, and to our surprise everyone was still seated and watching above the stadium in pure and utter shock. I looked to the auditorium's floor and saw that Elbourne and the other riders were already passed the finish line, and they too were watching in amazement. Well, maybe not so much amazement on Elbourne's behalf, it was more like contempt for him. I really didn't understand that man. I couldn't believe even with him seeing with his own eyes what was going on that he was still prone to acting like an unreasonable bastard.

That man really has tyrannical ways about him, I thought, not being able to help myself, I hope the queen keeps her distance from him. He seems like a loose cannon.

Master Auru was not paying the prince or any other rider any mind. He was too busy trying to understand why the stadium was still at full capacity. Given the circumstances I could understand concern.

"What the hell is going on here?" Auru whispered. "Why hasn't their majesties evacuated anyone yet?"

That was a good question, and I was just thinking the same thing, but the spectacle in the heavens was offering one hell of a distraction. I wasn't sure if anyone in the audience thought this was real or not, because they were watching it like it was some kind of show. I mean seriously, I think they all thought it was part of the race. For now, it was keeping complete mayhem at bay, but I didn't know for how much longer. The scene was as follows: Link was mounted on his dragon with The Four Sword in tow, as he got closer he suddenly leaped off his animal towards a now fully realized Vaati. He only had one shot at defeating him and he needed to make this strike count. If he aimed straight for the chest or his eye he could take him out. However, that wasn't going to be an easy task considering Vaati was able to teleport. Although, there still was a glimmer of hope that we negated that. The magician's countenance was not yet complete. There were still currents of energy flowing to and fro through his body, which meant his power was not at its full potential. Master Auru and I managed to destroy the crystal before the complete conversion took place.

Back to what was going on, Link's sword connected and then there was suddenly a kaleidoscope of colors the exploded immediately after that. Everyone watched and waited with a held breath at Link's hopeful reappearance. The cloud of precipitates that followed after that made the tension quantify, and when he still didn't appear I began to worry. Where the hell was he?

I searched the heavens with a feeling of dread in my stomach.

"Come on Link," I whispered to myself, "come on."

~SSS~

Zelda's POV

I stood up after the inevitable encounter. When I saw that explosion, there was no keeping me in my seat. I had spectated idly long enough. I quickly scanned the skies searching for signs of life. The next several seconds were painstakingly long because he was still immersed in the cloud. However, a few moments later I was relieved and over joyed when I saw Link leave the cloud of color and fly safely away on his illumisaurian. His dragon managed to catch him after his attack. I then sat back down and covered my hand over my heart.

"Thank the goddess," I whispered to myself.

I looked over at Constance who was just as relieved as I. She seemed to have had the weight of her people's lives on her shoulders just like me. Xavier, on the other hand, wouldn't look my way and for good reason, he had been a complete and utter fool. If Link hadn't stopped Vaati the way he did just now most of the subjects of my and his kingdom would be dead. It would be in his best interest and the best interest of Dragon Roost to give Hyrule every endeavor it wanted. My and my councilmen were going to have a field day renegotiating this proposal. I was going to get everything asked for by Master Link plus concessions for Xavier's foolishness, but not concessions that would hurt his people. Xavier was going to pay for putting my people's lives at undue risk.

"I'm putting out for the immediate arrest of Vincent and Morgana Rue Morgue," I said quietly, then addressed the king directly, "and my lord, you and I will speak later, that isn't a request."

In the mean time, the master of ceremonies who had been hiding under his podium for the good majority of the last several minutes came from under it and stood up. He cleared his throat and straightened his clothes in preparation to speak.

"Uh... the winner of the race is Prince Elbourne!" he exclaimed. "That's no surprise there, but let's here it for Master Link and his aerial display at our-uh-fireworks show! Yeah, yeah our fireworks show!"

Unbeknownst to what was really going on, the audience erupted into a huge round of applause. I wasn't sure why or how everyone remained so calm throughout that whole ordeal, but I was certain they believed the master of ceremonies when he claimed it to be some add-on to the race. They couldn't have been more ignorant or fooled, but bless their hearts anyway. Soon after, Master Link flew low over the audience and everyone cheered at his efforts. When he looked my way his face shield was up and our eyes met. He smiled at me and uttered something I couldn't understand. I couldn't help but smile at him back. I was more in love with him than he could ever imagine, and I knew tonight I was going to tell him. I was going to tell him everything. He was a brave man with an honest heart, and he deserved it.

He deserved to know I wanted him to be my... my king.

All he would have to do is say yes.

I was bubbling with anticipation and didn't waste time any longer. I got up immediately and headed for Emiry Tower. I ran a hand over my braided hair hoping I looked presentable, but soon afterwards I no longer cared. I just needed to get to my destination.

I had two important engagements to keep.

~SSS~

Dragon Roost City Walls: Vincent's POV

I hurried out the gate to the carriage waiting to pick me up. I specifically told Morgana to keep this carriage in trust just in case thing went badly, and they did. I opened the door and my sister was waiting for me inside.

"Hurry!" she whispered taking my hand.

I had no problem listening to that. I scurried to get inside and sit down.

"Drink this," she offered, and handed me a red potion, she then looked me over, "what did you do? Get into a scuffle?"

I ignored her questions as I was too angry to answer them.

"Our master has been defeated by that vile gutter snipe Link," I growled. "You do realize this has set us back years, years!"

Morgana banged on the adjacent wall to send the carriage going.

"Yes I'm aware brother," she replied.

I ran my hands over my face in frustration.

"We'll never have an opportunity like this one again," I said, starting to lose hope.

Morgana raised a brow.

"I wouldn't be so certain of that," she said as she settled back in and looked at me.

I was slightly taken aback at her words.

I sat up.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Morgana fixed her cloak and got comfortable.

"I'm saying I think I've found an alternative for us," she replied, then added, "and I think I know how we can get a little revenge too."

I looked at her puzzled.

"Revenge?" I said cynically. "Revenge how?"

She leaned in closer and narrowed her icy green eyes at me.

"Before I divulge that, I need you to tell me everything you know about the Mirror of Twilight," she said, "everything."

~SSS~

Back at the Auditorium Floor: Link's POV

When Sarginto landed, I was immediately greeted by a stunned set of riders. Everyone looked at me shocked.

The Gerudo stepped forward first. She shook her head. "If I had any idea what was really going on-" she tried.

I stopped her by holding up my hand. She had nothing to do with this.

"Don't worry about it now, it's over now," I said. "The important thing is everyone is safe."

She looked at me surprised but then shook her head as if she were still in shock. Elbourne only a few feet away from me, locked eyes on me, but didn't say a word. He simply grunted and took off to the barracks adjacent to the auditorium. The three riders from Dragon Roost followed after him. No one said a word as he walked away.

The Gerudo raised a brow. "For someone who just won the race he certainly doesn't look happy," she commented.

I didn't reply because there was more to it than what met the eye, but I too didn't understand Elbourne's gripe. I told him about Vaati before all of this and now he was unhappy because I defeated the bastard and took away some of his glory from his win? What a spoiled child, and what a silly thought process, and to be honest, I didn't care. He was the last of my worries right now. After all that was said and done, I would welcome defeating Vaati two times over if it meant avoiding what I was going to have to do now. I looked over at Emiry Tower and wondered if Zelda was already there waiting for me. Probably not, the race had just ended. Even still, I wasted no time making my way over to the tower myself.

I had a promise to keep, and some confessions to make.

I just wish I knew how this was all going to turn out.

I would know soon enough by the end of the night.

~SSS~

Nearly An Hour Later, Emiry Tower: Zelda's POV

The fanfare from the crowd was echoing into the night sky and it looked like the Roostians and the Hylians were going to celebrating all evening long. Link was more right than any of us could have imagined. Vaati was so closed to resurrecting himself and taking over the land. It was a good thing he had enough sense to depart from the course to stop him. Once again, he had put his life on the line to save everyone else. There really wasn't a more noble man in all of Hyrule than Link.

I sighed at the thought of him.

I couldn't wait to see him again.

Then of course there was the champion of this race in Elbourne. Elbourne won, true, but not the way he wanted to, and I was sure he was going to want a rematch when the time came for it. Even still, he did pass the finish line first and a promise was a promise. I said I was going to spend the evening with the winner of the race, and that was that. However, I was glad I also made provision to get a message through to Link for him to come and see me whether he won the race or not. In all honesty, I couldn't wait to see my beloved hero once more. It just seemed like everything was keeping us apart.

I stared down at the city from the terrace overview. Dragon Roost was such a beautiful city, especially at night, and looking at it now one would never think it was once under siege. There was something so majestic about its halls being carved out of stone. However, that majesty was soon interrupted and suddenly a wind vortex whipped upward out of the blue. I had to take a few steps back so as not to be overcome by it. I covered my eyes momentarily, but then raised a brow when I saw who was causing the disturbance. It was Elbourne atop his illustrious dracosaurian, Orthella, but he wasn't alone. He had another rider with him, or visitor would have been the more appropriate term. The person with him was actually a young maiden.

My intrigue heightened.

What's this? I thought.

When Elbourne landed, he kept the dragon at the terrace's edge along with the young lady accompanying him.

"Wait here," he instructed, then made his way over to me.

From what I could tell from the distance I was standing at she was very pretty, with platinum black hair and green eyes. She was dressed simply in a white gown, and she looked ready for a night on the town. Elbourne had changed as well before coming to see me, wearing a black and white cape with a matching ruffled shirt and pants. It was obvious he had other plans, and that this visit with me was merely for appearances. I was fine with that, I wanted him to move on anyway, and with his win at the gala, I was sure he was more popular than ever with the ladies.

This is what you wanted Zelda, I thought.

He stopped short of me and bowed. It almost looked like a gesture of sarcasm. Even still, I bowed back as a courtesy.

"Good evening my lady," he greeted.

"Good evening," I greeted back, then looked past him and nodded towards his guest, "may I ask who your lovely friend is?"

He looked over his shoulder and waved at the pretty girl. She smiled and waved back from atop the dragon. She looked a little nervous. I was sure she wasn't anticipating anything like this.

"She's my guest for the night," he said with no qualms, "I've been meaning to reacquaint myself with her since I last saw her."

I grinned at him surprised, but shouldn't have been. He was the dragon prince after all.

"Well, bravo my good man," I said, "she's quite beautiful."

He stared into my eyes and returned my grin.

"That she is," he said, then added, "she looks a lot like you."

I felt my eyes widen slightly at his candor. I wasn't expecting a reply like that, but with her dark hair and light eyes, I could see where the similarity came.

"I... I see," I replied, then detracted a little bit, "is she a nice girl?"

He chuckled for some reason at the question.

"I certainly hope not," he half-joked, "with the way I'm feeling, I certainly don't want a nice girl tonight."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at his reply. He really was shameless when he wanted to be.

My grin widened.

"You really are incorrigible," I said, "but before you make her fall head over heels in love with you from your... dragon, you better make sure the young lady has a good time," I joked. "You wouldn't want your reputation squandered."

Elbourne laughed lightly again.

"You don't need to worry about that, my ladies always have a good time," he bragged, "even when they pretend not to."

I raised a brow, knowing that he was referencing me on our last dragon ride together, and much to my chagrin he was right. I did enjoy most of the evening, it was only the end of the night that left me a little disgruntled. However, I decided to let that slide, it wasn't worth letting the good vibrations go between us.

"I suppose you're right," I replied.

He gave me a brief once over, but then changed the subject.

"Anyway," he said, "I know you didn't wait up here to speak to me about that, and you probably weren't expecting me to be your champion for the evening, so I'll keep this brief."

I didn't let it show, but I found that a little hurtful. Just because he and I didn't see eye to eye all the time didn't mean that I wasn't rooting for Elbourne to do well, I would never want otherwise. Even still, I let that slide as well. I was used to his rather blunt manner by now.

I didn't reply, and he went on.

"Thank you for the congratulations and taking my request into consideration," he said mechanically, "and I hope you have a wonderful evening with the person you're truly anticipating seeing, Linux."

With that, he bowed again, turned, and headed back towards his dragon. I looked after him stunned. Was he serious? Was that all? Did he not have anything else to say? Was that really all he wanted out of the evening? I knew I told him to move forward, but I still wanted our friendship, and too me, our friendship allotted more than a few choice words. I took several steps forward to stop him.

"Elbourne wait," I called to him softly.

At my voice the prince halted in his tracks. Something told me he was expecting me to do that, he then turned to look at me.

He raised a brow.

"Yes my lady?" he inquired.

I looked past him again to his guest in the distance, and the young lady was looking at the both of us with open intrigue. She had probably heard everything, we weren't very far from her vantage point. The last thing I wanted was more rumors started, so I walked up to the prince, grabbed his hand, and pulled him away to the other side of the terrace so the young maiden wouldn't be in earshot of our conversation. Afterwards, when we were safely away, I lowered my voice and addressed him.

"Is... is that all you have to say to me?" I asked quietly.

Now, it was Elbourne's turn to be surprised. He narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion and shook his head.

"Excuse me?" he replied.

I rolled my eyes again, blushed, and groaned in mild frustration.

"Stop being silly," I said, "you know what I mean." I looked past him to his guest. "Am I that easy to cast aside? Am I not still your queen?""

At hearing that, he actually scoffed in mild disbelief, but then smiled and looked me over several times. He came a little closer.

"Are you serious?" he asked in a low voice.

I looked to the ground at his question.

"Don't get the wrong idea," I reassured, "I just find your expedient manner a little rude. I did this at your suggestion, and now you don't even want to spend time with me. Don't you think that's a little unkind? And don't you think you should admit you were wrong about Link?"

Elbourne took in an exaggerated breath and looked at me incredulously.

"Unbelievable," he said more to himself than to me, "the fickle fickle female returns," he added sarcastically, "first, I'll never admit anything about that presumptuous bastard Link, and second, seriously, what would you have me do my beloved? What did you expect?"

I knew I was being silly, but I expected more than this.

"I thought you would at least want to speak with me regarding your feelings related to the race," I said, "you just seem like you're in such a rush to get away from me. Is your sex life really that much more important than our friendship?'"

Elbourne chuckled at hearing that and completely ignored my last question.

"I figured you would want to spend the evening with your precious Link, so I decided to keep my time with you short," he said, and then looked me over again. "Unless... you've had a change of heart. I'll drop the young lady I have with me off, and I'll be all yours for the night. If you want, we can intertwine our friendship with my sex life, I leave that completely up to you."

I could tell he was only half joking at that request. I looked away from his gaze, not wanting to entertain such a notion, but I was making it seem like I was jealous.

"I wouldn't want you to do that," I replied.

Elbourne narrowed his eyes just then and raised a brow at my answer.

"Then stop trying to have your cake and eat it too," he whispered. "You told me you were in love with that peasant bastard, and that I should move on. Stop trying to have me make declarations of love to you when you have no intentions of doing the same. I'm tired of an unrequited love from you."

I looked at him shocked.

I wasn't expecting such a frank answer like that from him. There was definitely an undercurrent of venom and pain in his voice.

"I-" I tried.

"Good evening my lady," he interrupted.

With that, he turned once more and headed for his dragon. I just looked after him, he had every right to tell me those things. I was acting a little greedy when it came to him. He had a right to have a life outside of me, hell, I even encouraged it. However, while he was a few feet ahead, he then stopped and turned to look at me.

"Oh and by the way, the young maiden you're so enamored with," he said, "her name is Adlez."

I looked at him taken aback.

"Adlez?" I repeated.

He nodded and stared straight into my eyes.

"Think about that for a second," he said.

I didn't see any real purpose for the request, until the realization hit me.

I raised a brow and scoffed slightly.

That's my name spelled backwards, I thought.

I guess he was letting me know he was going to have his 'way' with me one way or another tonight. It's just too bad the young lady was a pawn in his game against me.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked anyway.

Elbourne seemed to get the reaction he was looking for and smirked.

"You know exactly what it has to do with Zelda," he replied, "I might accidentally slip and say your name when I'm making love to her."

I unintentionally blushed at his blunt talk, hoping the girl didn't hear him say that. There was no need for the comment.

"I-" I tried again.

"Goodnight my lady," he interrupted with a bow once more, "have fun, and since you are here and we're on the subject of substitutions, why not show your little boyfriend the stars. You know how beautiful they are from Emiry Tower."

I knew exactly what he was referencing, but I still didn't appreciate his apparent dig. Link was not a substitution and Elbourne knew that. His jealousy really knew no boundaries at times. Afterwards, I watched him walk away from me and mount his dragon. He then flew off without really waiting for the girl to get readjusted. The young maiden looked from the prince to me and blushed when she caught my eye. I wasn't sure what she heard, but I hoped for her sake she knew what she was getting herself into. It seemed every maiden wanted their turn with the great lover known as the dragon prince, and with Elbourne being so handsome and charismatic, he seemed more than willing to give it. I was sure he was an exceptional lover. The maiden wrapped her arms tight around Elbourne's waist and hugged herself close to him as they took off through the night sky. She gasped from the take off.

"Your highness be careful!" she said in a slightly panicked voice. "Ahhh!" she cried out as he flew faster.

Her worry reminded me a little of myself.

I sighed.

Just another conquest, I thought of the poor girl's plight.

I shook my head, thinking my relationship with Elbourne would never be normal. There would always be something that kept the both of us on our toes. In a way, he was right that we would always be bonded, or bound by our friendship. It was something I never wanted to lose, but it was also something that needed to be rectified. However, that was enough of contemplating the dragon prince. It was then I saw out of the corner of my eye Master Link waiting near the entrance with Master Bastion. I wondered if he saw or heard anything just now. However, honestly, it didn't matter, I was just so glad to see him, and if Elbourne was going to have one hell of an evening, why couldn't I? Why couldn't Link and I have our own dragon ride through the skies tonight? Maybe we would. I was so eager to see my hero that I quickly gestured for him to come over to me. He grinned at me from the distance and started making his way to me.

"I'm so glad he's here," I whispered to myself, then added, "we'll show Elbourne, we'll show everybody. We are going to make it."

That wasn't just lip service.

I really believed that.

Yes.

Link and I were going to make it.

~SSS~

Several Moments Earlier, Emiry Tower: Link's POV

It was interesting to note that everyone thought the appearance of Vaati was some kind of light spectacle. I guess in the end that was for the best. The situation would have been ten times worse if the people really knew what had taken place. Even still, I was glad the lunatic was gone, and I was glad Hyrule could get back to being a thriving country once again. However, without the threat diverting my attention, I now had to my face my own reality. A reality that included coming clean and making things right with the queen of Hyrule.

The queen of Hyrule...

I no longer felt I had the right to call her Zelda. That privilege should have been reserved for a man who loved her completely, and honestly, given my actions, I couldn't say I loved her with a complete heart. Seriously, my track record proved otherwise. I lied to her with a straight face on several different occasions, knowing the dire consequences for such and casting all caution to the wind. I used her friendship to suit my purposes in defying the nobles, knowing that without her I wouldn't have had one tenth of the influence I had now to get things done. I seduced her willingly, knowing she had feelings for me, knowing that she had fallen in love with me and was still in love with me. I had done all that, and at the end of it all I still betrayed her loyalty to me by being disloyal to her. Actions like that weren't love. Actions like that were ones of convenience. However... I did have to admit something. Even with me standing here now, watching her in the distance, a part of me still yearned to please her. I wasn't going to lie, a part of me wanted her very much. It wasn't going to be easy facing her tonight. There was something inside of me that would never completely let the queen go.

I don't even know where to begin, I thought.

I groaned to myself initially thinking I was alone, but from the corner of my eye, I saw Bastion walk up from the tower stairwell and stand near a pillar. His arms were folded across his chest and he was looking from me to the queen in the distance. I was certain there were many things he wanted to ask me. Things that included my complicated relationship with Zelda and my renewed reluctance to pursue such. I hadn't exactly been an open book with him these past few days, the threat of Vaati helped with that, but I knew it would only be a matter of time when this conversation would take place between us. He was my friend looking out for me, all he wanted was what was best for me. I was just waiting for the inevitable.

I took in a deep sigh and decided not to delay it.

I might as well get this over with, I thought.

"What are you doing here Bastion?" I asked, breaking the silence.

My friend raised a brow surprised at the question, but then characteristically chuckled and walked over to where I was standing. We both continued looking at the queen and now the dragon prince in the distance before he spoke up.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," he replied finally. "Didn't Elbourne technically win the race? By all rights and purposes you shouldn't be here."

I took in another deep sigh and shook my head. I really wasn't in a joking mood.

"Would you rather I won and everyone end up dead?" I asked dryly.

For some reason that made Bastion laugh.

"No," he said, "of course not. Besides, Elbourne was a formidable opponent. I don't think he would have lost otherwise anyway."

I shrugged, knowing that was more true of the dragon prince than I would ever admit openly. I simply couldn't stomach the man. He was a vile tyrant, and if Zelda knew that he put her and everyone's life at risk for a race, she probably wouldn't be so willing to see him tonight. I wasn't going to lie, I hated her friendship with him. I hated it because I didn't understand it. Zelda was a kind generous woman, Elbourne was a selfish self centered man. They were two polar opposites, and looking at their relationship from the outside looking in, it just didn't make sense. However, it wasn't my place to tell the queen who to keep company with, and even still, a win was a win. I didn't want to appear embittered.

"Well then, it is what it is," was all I said in reply.

Bastion merely nodded and got quiet again. There was a brief silence between us, but I knew he was here for a purpose. Bastion always had a purpose. I learned that about him over these past few weeks. Nothing was ever what it seemed with Bastion.

"You never answered my question," I said finally, "you might as well come clean now. What are you doing here?"

Bastion smirked, deciding not to beat around the bush, or pretend, any longer.

"What makes you think I didn't want to just enjoy the view from the tower?" he asked.

I shook my head again and grinned at his question.

"Because I know you," I replied, "come on now, out with it."

Bastion nodded, then raised his brows, seeing he was at an impasse.

"Very well," he said, "I have a feeling you're about to do something very stupid. I just wanted to talk some sense in you before you went through with it."

I almost chuckled in how he worded that. He was more right than he knew.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence my friend," I replied sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Bastion said, then studied me for a moment.

He looked back over at the queen then back to me. There was a look in his eyes, a very distinct look that told me he was going to lecture me. I wasn't in the mood for that right now. I wasn't in the mood for a great many things right now.

"Can I ask you a question that will probably get under your skin?" he inquired suddenly.

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Why are you so afraid of loving Zelda, Link?" he asked point blank after a few seconds, not bothering to wait for my answer. "What could you possibly think is going to happen that would be so terrible between the two of you? Marriage?"

I pursed my lips together and looked away at his inquiries.

I didn't reply.

"You have to know by now that she's very much in love with you," he went on. "When I was her escort here before going back to Hyrule, I could tell her fondness for you when she talked about you. She spoke about you with such conviction and admiration Link."

I cast my eyes to the ground and still didn't reply. I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.

Bastion saw the look on my face and raised a brow.

"Don't you think she deserves someone like you?" he asked suddenly. "Don't you think you deserve someone like her?"

I swallowed hard at the notion, but I already had everything in perspective. There could be no Zelda and me. The prospect of that future was long gone.

"I wish it were that easy Bastion," I replied finally.

Bastion scoffed slightly and shook his head.

"It can be if you let it," he said, "if you stop over analyzing it."

I shook my head this time.

"No it can't," I said with a hint of finality.

Bastion looked at me in mild disbelief and irritation.

"I don't understand, why not?" he asked.

I wouldn't expect him to understand. He wasn't the one who made his life into a complete mess, I did.

"I'm... I'm in love with Midna, Bastion," I confessed, "nothing is going to change that."

I saw my friend narrow his eyes at me from the corner of my eye. He groaned in frustration.

"Are you serious?" he demanded. "You're still on that? Are you mad?"

I took in another deep breath.

"Bastion-"

"Do you plan to tell Zelda this?" he demanded.

I looked over at my friend for a moment, and then back to the queen in the distance.

"Yes," I said honestly, "I've deceived her enough."

Bastion couldn't believe his ears.

"You're a fool!" he said through slightly gritted teeth. "Your Midna is gone. You need to move on. You're going to end up as a shell of your former self if you keep at this. You'll die a bitter old man!"

I couldn't deny him his feelings, but he couldn't deny me mine either. He had no right to tell me that what I felt for Midna was true or not.

"Midna is out there Bastion and I need to find her," I said.

I was making no sense to my friend, and given the way I was explaining myself, I couldn't blame him.

"Link-"

I had to put a stop to this, and the only way to do that was to tell him the truth.

The complete truth.

"There's more to it than meets the eye Bastion," I interrupted calmly, "I haven't told you everything."

He looked at me taken aback just then.

This obviously was a revelation to him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "What do you mean you haven't told me 'everything'? What's 'everything'?"

I paused for a second, took in a deep sigh, then went on when I had a moment of mental clarity.

"Do you remember when you and Ashei came to the village during the Pumpkin Festival?" I asked.

Bastion looked at me perplexed and nodded.

"Of course I do," he replied, "what does that have to do with anything?"

I looked to the ground again.

It has everything to do with everything, I thought.

My throat tightened.

"Well, you know how you and Ashei had news for me," I went on, "I... I received similar news that night from Ilia."

I paused after divulging that and stared at him for just a moment. I could tell from the sudden expression on his face that he knew where I was going with this.

He took a step back in minor shock.

"Wait a minute," he said, "are you saying she's...?"

I hesitated, but then nodded anyway.

"Yeah... Ilia's pregnant Bastion," I whispered in confirmation, "so even if I wanted to have a relationship with Zelda, I couldn't."

Bastion didn't reply right away and suddenly looked at me dumbfounded.

"Are you... are you going to tell the queen this?" he asked finally.

I still wasn't sure if I should reveal the Ilia matter, everything I was going to say was going to be hurtful enough. However, if her majesty saw me with Ilia around Castle Town, she was going to find out about it sooner or later.

"I don't know," I said.

Bastion quickly interjected after hearing that.

"I wouldn't if I were you," he said suddenly. "This is going to be devastating enough to the queen, the last thing you want to do is make her go into shock."

I hated that he put it that way, but he did have a point.

"She wouldn't go into shock," I replied anyway, "Zelda's a much stronger woman than that."

Bastion groaned.

"No one's doubting her strength," he said, "but think of it this way, what if you found out, out of nowhere, that the queen was pregnant with Prince Elbourne's child? How would that make you feel, especially when you weren't expecting it?"

I raised both eyebrows tentatively. When he put it that way I saw his point loud and clear.

"Okay," I said, "I get it, I won't tell her."

Bastion took in a deep sigh after that and then stepped back. In the distance, Prince Elbourne was walking away to what looked like his dragon resting near the landing's edge. There was a beautiful dark haired maiden waiting on top of it. It looked like Elbourne didn't waste anytime getting ready to celebrate. I looked back over at Zelda who didn't look happy or sad, but indifferent. I wondered what they talked about? The two of them seemed to have such a strong connection. Who knew, maybe Elbourne would turn out to be the king of Hyrule one day. That was obvious sarcasm on my part, but after everything that took place today, anything was possible.

Maybe that's simply my jealousy getting the best of me for a moment, I thought.

I found it a little ironic that I still felt jealous when it came to Zelda and Elbourne.

When the dragon prince finally flew away, Zelda looked over to where I was standing and saw me near the entrance. She smiled and gestured immediately for me to come to her, I smiled back and waved. It was then my heart began to pound much faster. Bastion just looked to the ground and shook his head in disappointment. He knew the repercussions weren't going to be good.

"You better get this over with," he whispered, "from the look on her face, she definitely has the wrong idea about the two of you."

I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath at his words. When I opened them, I nodded and started walking to where the queen of Hyrule was in the middle of the large terrace.

"Yeah..." was all I said in reply.

With that, Bastion stared after me for a moment longer before making his exit. I, on the other hand, got more and more nervous the closer I got to her majesty, and when I was standing right in front of her, I almost couldn't face her. She was smiling up at me with such a happy disposition. She looked so beautiful... so loyal... so perfect...

Zelda... I thought with a guilt I couldn't even begin to describe.

The queen came up to me and hugged me immediately. She didn't wasted any time showing me how she felt.

"Oh Link," she said softly.

I was reluctant at first, but I hugged her back. I squeezed her tight in my arms.

"I'm glad you're okay," I said sincere, "I was worried about you."

She smiled.

"I once again owe you a bid of thanks my good man," she said in her normal formal fashion, "you saved the kingdom yet again with your bravery, and from the bottom of my heart I thank you."

I looked down at her resting her head on my chest. I was afraid her natural fragrance would be overcome with my sweaty disposition. Even still, that didn't seem to be a concern of hers. I think she was just grateful that I was alright.

"It's nothing your majesty," I replied finally, "I would do anything for Hyrule."

She looked up at me just then.

"I know that," she said, "that's what makes men like you so rare."

I tried to smile back.

"That's very kind of you to say," I replied.

She reached up and caressed my cheek.

"It's the truth," she whispered to me lovingly.

I looked down and grinned.

"Zelda..." I trailed.

"I'm serious," she insisted, "you should have seen yourself as you flew through the air bobbing and weaving through those torrential winds! And then... then you held your sword up high and plunged that bloody bastard right in the chest! Sending him back to the oblivion he came from!"

Involuntarily I felt my face crumple and break into laughter with the way she described what happened. I had never seen her with such loose lips before.

"Well, I'm glad it was to your approval my lady," I replied.

Zelda humorously cleared her throat.

"It met my approval indeed my good man," Zelda said, staring into my eyes for a long time before needlessly fixing my collar. "Anyway, I have some good news," she went on, pressing on my pleats.

I raised a brow.

"Good news?" I repeated.

She nodded.

My eyes briefly searched her face.

"What's that my lady?" I asked.

She looked at me surprised, but then giggled sweetly and shook her head.

"What's with this 'my lady' nonsense?" she joked. "Oh Master Link, we toggle so much with titles, don't we? Well, from here on and out you must call me Zelda, and that's now been mandated no matter who's around."

I couldn't believe she was saying this to me.

I really was shocked.

I shook my head.

"I... I don't deserve such an honor," I said quietly.

Zelda raised a brow at my sudden semi-subdued manner.

"I should be saying that to you," she replied.

I closed my eyes again.

"My lady-" I tried.

She wasn't having any of that.

"It's Zelda my love," she interrupted, "Zelda."

I opened my eyes again and looked at her. Inadvertently, I raised my hand to caress her cheek, and that was when she noticed my struggled disposition. She knew something wasn't right with me. Her eyes searched my face concerned.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "Why do you seem so sad?"

I swallowed hard and took her hands in mine.

"I... I just have a lot on my mind," I said honestly.

Her face softened at my words.

"Indeed you do," she said, "but the news I was talking about should help ease your troubles a little bit. I put out an official warrant to have Vincent and Morgana arrested when found. They've fled Dragon Roost before the gala was over. They're still at large, so we're far from out of the clear, but that's one care you no longer need to concern yourself with. Everyone is looking for them. They will be brought to justice."

For what it was worth, that was a heavy burden now lifted off my shoulders. Vincent and Morgana had been a thorn in my and her majesty's side for months. It was good news that they were finally going to be brought up on charges. I took in another deep sigh, and involuntarily took the queen in another tight secure hug. She was surprised at my impulsiveness, but was definitely used to it by now.

"Thank the goddess," I whispered against her hair.

Zelda laughed lightly and hugged me back.

"Thank the goddess indeed," she replied, "we can't have those blowhards trying to wreak havoc again when everything is finally back to normal."

I nodded and stroked her hair.

"I couldn't agree more," I replied.

There was a brief silence between us after that. One where I knew Zelda was waiting for me to confess something else to her. Something I had promised to her weeks ago. Unfortunately, I had other news, and before I lost my will to do this, I needed to come clean. I needed to get this over with, however, before I spoke she broke the silence first.

"I... I want to show you something," she said, pulling herself from my reach and grabbing my hand.

I looked at her mildly intrigued.

"You want to show me something?" I repeated.

She smiled at me.

I gave her a brief once over.

"What's that?" I asked.

She squeezed my hand affectionately, and nodded towards the skyline.

"Just come here and I'll show you," she said.

I was puzzled with what she wanted to do, but followed her lead anyway. We walked over to the edge of the tower and looked up at the stars shining brightly in the sky.

"Did you know that if you concentrate hard enough you can manipulated the constellations in the heavens?" she inquired.

I looked at her with open cynicism.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "That's impossible."

Zelda shook her head and smiled at me.

"No, anything is possible," she whispered, then got behind me for some reason, "here, let me show you."

I looked over my shoulder at her.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

She giggled.

"Just relax," she said, "I thought you would be the first to jump at a new adventure."

That did nothing to ease my mind. My puzzlement never went away, and my intrigue only heightened when Zelda raised one of my arms and told me to point at the night sky.

"Pick any constellation," she said.

I wasn't as familiar with the constellations like she was, but I definitely knew of Ordana's constellation over southern Hyrule Field.

"Okay, I've got one," I replied.

Zelda placed her hand underneath my elbow.

"Good," she said, "are you ready?"

I nodded, wondering what was going to happen.

"As I'll ever be," I said.

Afterwards, she moved my arm slowly, and unbelievably, the stars in the distance began to shift with my pronation. It was like I moving them to and fro.

"Sweet Hylia!" I said stunned. "They're moving!"

Zelda laughed at my excitement.

"Indeed they are good sir," she replied, "would you like to try another?"

I nodded without thinking about it.

"This is incredible!" I said excited.

Zelda then turned my attention to what looked like Eldin's nebula, and again we traced the outline of the stars, and again the heavenly bodies began to shift and sway in the direction I manipulated it. I couldn't believe such a feat was practicable.

"How is this possible?" I couldn't help but ask.

When I asked that, Zelda released my arm and giggled once again. I turned around to look at her, and she clasped her hands together in front of her dress.

"It is marvelous, isn't it?" she asked.

I nodded, still wanting an answer to my question.

"It is, but how?" I inquired again.

Zelda looked around the commodious landing.

"Well... I have a confession to make," she said.

I furrowed my brow and looked at her intrigued.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Zelda smiled and bit her lower lip.

"You're not actually changing any of the stars in orbit," she confessed, "most people don't know that Emiry Tower is covered in stardust. That stardust creates an invisible haze over the tower and if you moved your fingers through it, it looks like you're moving the stars in the heavens."

I looked at the queen dumbfounded, never knowing something so magnificent could take place in Hyrule.

"Really?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Really," she replied.

I shook my head.

"Wow," was all I could say in reply, "you really do think of things on a much deeper level, don't you?"

Zelda blushed, then looked to the ground again.

"Well, I can't take all the credit," she said, "I was told this by one of my friends. He seems to have a particular love for this tower."

By the phrase of him being a 'he' it didn't take a genius to see that she was speaking about Elbourne. I raised a brow and grinned.

"Did... did the prince take you here often?" I just came out and asked.

Zelda looked up at me and studied my face for a moment. She was probably wondering if I really meant that question, or if I were saying it out of some sort of jealousy. It wasn't jealousy this time, but a real inquiry.

"Not as often as you'd think," she replied, then grinned to herself, "but only when we wanted to get away from our parents."

I smiled at the thought of Zelda being a little mischievous.

"I'll bet you were a little rascal when your parents weren't around," I commented.

Zelda looked at me surprised and blushed again.

"I don't know about that," she said, "but I had my moments."

I chuckled at her downplay.

"I'll bet you did," I said sarcastically.

Zelda was quiet for a moment, but then suddenly looked shy.

"I've missed you so much Link," she whispered all of a sudden, "you have know idea."

I felt my grin fade a little bit.

"Yes I do, because I've missed you too," I said honestly, "I've been thinking about you a lot lately."

She blushed again.

"I'm glad to hear that," she replied, then added, "I... I wanted to share this with you so that you'd know the view from the top doesn't have to be a lonely place." She looked at me just then. "If you two people stand together, they can do anything, especially if they love each other completely."

There was definitely more to her words than simple lip service. I knew she was telling me this because she wanted to groom me for the kingship. She wanted us to have a life together, a family perhaps, and all that came with it.

Two people standing together... loving each other completely... I repeated in my mind, that's just it Zelda... I can't give you what you want, because I don't have all that is required... I don't love you with a complete heart, and that isn't fair to you.

Zelda then came up to me and kissed me tenderly on the lips. I was hesitant to return it, but when I smelled her natural fragrance and saw how beautiful she looked in this stardust, I couldn't resist. I kissed her back, hoping she wouldn't want more than this... hoping a little affection would be enough. I held onto her around her tiny waist and squeezed her tight, letting myself forget my troubles for just a few moments... forgetting for just a second that what I was going to tell her was going to hurt her.

I wished I could give her what she truly wanted. I wished that I could have been everything that she truly needed... however, that was all just a dream now. Maybe it had always been a dream. It certainly felt like such in amongst all this stardust. I opened my eyes momentarily while I kissed her. Zelda looked so beautiful while she held onto me gently at my tunic, she was breathing softly as she opened her mouth in a loving manner. She looked so happy... she looked so in love with me... I found it hard to concentrate with her perfect facial expression so enraptured with what was happening between us. The more I looked at the queen, the more aware I became of what I had to do. I couldn't dawdle with this any longer. I had played with her feelings enough, and that was when I pulled away. I was sure that Zelda felt the departure was too premature, but I had to stop this. She even tried to resume it, however, I stopped her by holding her at her shoulders.

She looked at me surprised at my action.

"There's certainly no objections to that I hope," she whispered sweetly, "I was thinking we could finish what we started in the tower after the ball all those weeks ago."

Unfortunately, there were, and I knew it was time for me to come clean and be honest with her. It was only going to hurt her more if I prolonged it any further. However, I wasn't going to lie, that look on her face wasn't making this any easier. Even still, I shook my head just then of my reservations.

You have to do this, I told myself.

I took in a deep breath and squeezed her shoulders slightly.

"There are no objections Zelda, I just..." I didn't allow myself to finish and deferred to change the subject. I cleared my throat and segued. "The view from the top is beautiful Zelda... very beautiful to be quite honest with you," I began quietly, "but... but I'm a man that sees things from the ground up. I don't belong at the top."

Zelda looked at me surprised when she heard that, and the subtle grin on her face changed to a perplexed, off handed gaze. She apparently didn't appreciate the subliminal messaging I was giving.

"What are you talking about?" she asked suddenly.

I didn't know how else to put it but bluntly.

"I'm... I'm talking about the truth," I replied.

Zelda's expression never changed. In fact, her puzzlement only deepened.

"I don't believe that," she said with a mild defiance, "I'm aware that you see things differently, but that's why I trust you so much. You come with a different world view."

I found it hard to swallow when she said the word 'trust'. I let her go, stepped back for a moment, ran a hand through my blonde hair, and avoided her eyes. She saw my unsettled manner and it only slowly amplified her worry.

"Link..." she trailed, suddenly nervous, "what's wrong?"

I didn't reply right away and just looked at her.

What's right? I wondered.

I took in a deep sigh.

"I... I appreciate that," I replied finally, not answering her question immediately, "but I have something I promised to tell you a little while ago," I went on, deciding not to beat around the bush any longer. "Something I should have said to you a long time before now. Do you remember when we talked about that?"

At hearing that, Zelda looked a little relieved and suddenly looked down to the ground. She looked coy once again, and her cheeks blushed feverishly.

"Yes, of course I remember," she said, now not looking at me herself, "how could I forget?"

I nodded, paused, but then continued.

I had to keep going.

"I told you that it was important for two people to tell each other that they loved each other before the moment passed them by," I said.

Zelda glanced at me for a moment, giggled, then rolled her eyes playfully.

"I believe you're talking of a different situation young master," she corrected, "you are thinking of the previous instance in the throne room. The night you were in my chambers you promised that you would tell me who you were in love with."

I looked at her surprised at her keen memory. It seems I did get the circumstances a little muddled, but that only told me how much this meant to her. It was probably something she was looking forward to for a long time.

"That's right, isn't it?" I said more to myself than to her. "I did say I would tell you who the woman I was in love with was."

Zelda blushed more and started fidgeting with her hands.

"Indeed you did," she whispered, "that poor girl must have nearly died from suspense."

I hesitated again, and winced at hearing her say that, not wanting to do this to her. I was having second thoughts, but I immediately took in another deep breath and tried to find the resolve within myself.

Enough lies Link, I told myself, tell this woman the truth.

"I certainly hope not," I said, with a poor attempt at trying to lighten the mood.

Zelda then looked at me excited.

"Will you be out with it already?" she asked with a smile. "This is worse than torture."

I looked into that beautiful face and felt a numbness creep up inside me. It was only then I looked away and stared at the ground. This was getting harder and harder to do by the second.

I'm sorry Zelda... I thought.

I closed my eyes.

My throat tightened.

I could barely swallow.

"I'm..." I trailed, "I'm-I'm in love with... Midna, Zelda," I said finally.

I kept my eyes sealed shut and waited, but I was only met with silence. I waited a little longer, but was still met with silence. When the silence crept into minutes it was only then I had the courage to open my eyes and see what was going on. The queen of Hyrule had froze, and the smile on her face appeared catatonic for a moment. She didn't move, she didn't wince, she didn't shift, she didn't do anything, her expression literally stayed frozen. I almost thought she really couldn't move as concern was starting to replace the initial discomfort I felt. Her immobilization was absolute for a second, and her posture was statuesque. However, I was relieved when she finally moved, even if it only was to step back. Zelda's eyes searched my face in open disbelief and she looked at me stunned. I had no words of consolation for her.

"W-what?" she whispered finally.

I felt terrible, but I took a step forward anyway.

"I'm in love with Midna," I repeated.

Zelda's eyes widened.

"Midna?" she said.

I nodded.

"Yes," I said quietly.

She was thrown for a loop at my news.

"The twilight queen?" she inquired.

I nodded again and took another step forward. I paused for a moment as I tried to get my thoughts together to try and explain.

"I... I should have been honest with you from the beginning," I said, "I've always been in love with her."

Zelda found it hard to breathe in that moment after hearing that, and took another step back.

"What?" she whispered.

I didn't know how else to break this to her.

"It's true," I said.

Zelda took another step back, and looked like she had seen a poe.

"You've... always... been..." she said more to herself than to me.

She sounded like she was hyperventilating. I knew it was futile, but I wanted to help her.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She took several more steps back.

"You've... always... been... in love..." she said again to herself.

I walked towards her.

"Zelda, are you okay?" I asked again, trying to reach for her.

I grabbed her hand, but she quickly pulled herself from my grasp.

"I can't believe this!" she whispered to herself.

I tried reaching for her again.

"Please, let me just-" I tried.

"Stay back!" she interrupted in a broken voice suddenly.

I didn't listen right away.

"No, I want to make sure-" I tried.

"I said stay back!" she interrupted again, more forcefully this time. "I mean it Link!"

At her warning, I stopped my pursuit and raised my hands in surrender. I looked her over in the hopes of trying to make this easier for her, but I wasn't sure how I was going to do that now.

"Alright," I said, "I won't come any closer."

Afterwards, Zelda just stared at me. I was serious. That was all she did for several uncomfortable minutes. I couldn't look away immediately because I didn't feel I had a right to, but I really wanted to. I had no idea what she was thinking and that dark blue gaze was cutting into my core. Honestly, silence for that long was overwhelming, it was overwhelming and haunting because all it did was leave me with my thoughts. I already felt guilty. I already knew I was wrong. I already had anticipated the gravity of this scenario. However, I wasn't expecting this, and in all that time she was staring at me, she was fighting so hard to keep her tears at bay. Even still, it was turning out to be an action of futility, her eyes were pooling... her bottom lip was quivering... she was trying to appear strong... she was always thinking about the bigger picture. And I didn't know how long I could just stand there and watch her react this way without doing anything. This maddening silence had gone on long enough, one of us needed to say something, even if it were only harsh words.

I felt beyond guilty.

"Zelda-" I tried.

"Silence!" she interrupted me fiercely.

I looked away when she wiped the corners of her eyes. I hated having to listen to her sniffle, cry, and not be a comfort to her. She was already alone, and now I just made things worse. Who was she going to trust now? How was our relationship ever going to be the same? Would she even entrust the protection of Hyrule to me again? Would she ever trust me again?

"Why weren't you honest with me from the beginning?" she demanded in a low voice, it was like she was in tandem with my thoughts. "Why did you do all these things with me if they meant nothing to you?"

I shook my head.

"That's the thing Zelda," I answered, "I thought I was being honest, you do mean something to me. I care about you very deeply."

Zelda looked at me dumbfounded and scoffed.

"Don't give me that nonsense!" she snapped. "You just said you're in love with another woman!"

I had no rebuttal for that.

She shook her head as the tears started running down her cheeks now. She didn't care to wipe them away.

"I told you things I never told anyone Link!" she continued. "I trusted you when no one else did! I talked to you about my father! I put my best friend on the back saddle for you! You came to my chambers with all these promises, and I believed you! I let you... I let you..." She stopped herself when she couldn't finish.

The more she spoke the guiltier I felt.

I really didn't know what to say.

"I've been struggling with this ever since I got to know you more personally Zelda," I confessed. "No one knows more than I how much of an idiot I am. There was a time I thought I could love you the way I loved Midna, but it doesn't diminish the fact that I have feelings for you. I do care about you!"

I realized I wasn't helping myself. I was trying to reassure her of something that she didn't care to be reassured of. At this point, she didn't want my friendship, she wanted my love and I had betrayed that confidence in her.

Zelda looked at me with open annoyance.

"Is that suppose to be a consolation to me Master Link?" she demanded. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? The fact that you think you can love me like your precious twilight queen?"

I looked at her helplessly.

"Zelda-"

She shook her head.

"Don't call me that!" she interrupted angrily. "Don't you ever call me that again! You have no right!"

I cringed at her poignant words, and clamped my mouth shut. I couldn't challenge anything she said. She had a right to feel what she felt, and if she considered it now a disrespect for me to call her by her name, then I wasn't going to do so. I had disrespected her enough. There was another silence between us after that. One where I finally heard the sobs start to come. She had been holding back for a while, but I knew they were coming sooner or later. I couldn't look at her, her crying like that was almost worse than saying nothing at all.

I ran a hand through my hair again.

"Your majesty-" I tried.

"Why did you use me?" she interrupted in a broken voice. "Why did you do all those things with me just to hurt me this way? Why did you even bother to kiss me just now? It means nothing to you!"

I looked at her with so much regret. Now I could see her the way she always wanted me to see her. She was just a person wanting to be loved the way she loved in return. She was so vulnerable right now. She wasn't an ice queen the way some of the nobles purported cruelly in her court. In this moment, she just looked like a woman who wanted an honest answer from a a man. She wasn't pathetic. She wasn't without dignity. She wasn't without her duplicity that she always worried about. She was still majestic and beautiful. However, she was... Hylian. Just Hylian, and all she wanted was an answer.

I owed her that in the very least.

"I... I wanted to be your friend," I said, "I never thought of myself as using you, and it wasn't my intention to hurt you like this. All those moments with you, I meant them. You're very special to me, I'm not just saying that."

She shook her head at my words.

"But you're in love with the queen of twilight?" she said cynically. "You care for me, but you're in love with someone else?"

I knew I sounded disingenuous, but it was the truth.

"Yes," I said finally.

Zelda closed her eyes and shook her head again. She wrapped her arms around herself, and used one gloved hand to cover her face. Afterwards, she sobbed softly into her palm, and I couldn't have felt guiltier. I knew she didn't want me to come to her to comfort her, but there was no way I was just going to stand there and watch her cry in front of me any longer. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I couldn't stand to see a woman cry. It just wasn't in me to watch a woman cry. A moment later, I went up to her and took her in my arms in a tight secure hug.

Zelda looked at me shocked.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, pushing away from me instantly. "I told you not to come near me!"

I looked into her pink dimmed eyes and didn't care about the command.

"I know," I said quietly, "and I can't do that."

Zelda pushed away from me again, but I didn't let her go. She did it again, but I still didn't let her go. She kept fighting me, until she finally stopped struggling and realized I wasn't going to let her go. She reluctantly hugged me and sobbed into the front of my tunic. I held onto her tight and cradled her head.

"Shhhh," I cooed softly, "it's okay."

She grabbed on the red cloth of my tunic and buried her head against my breastbone.

"It's not okay, because he was right," she whispered in a broken voice,"he was right, he was right, he was right..."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but she seemed to be talking more to herself than to me.

"I'm sorry Zelda," I whispered against her hair.

She shook her head and finally pulled away from me. She wiped her eyes again and stepped back.

"No..." she said, "not as sorry as I am."

I didn't want things to end between us. I wanted to try and mend this mess in some way. I wanted her to know she could still count on me.

"Your majesty, I'm still loyal to you, I still want your friendship," I said, "you don't understand, I need you, you mean-"

She covered her ears at my words.

"Please..." she said quietly, "please just go."

I didn't know if I wanted to do that.

"I-" I tried again.

"I said go!" she interrupted. "You've made your point Master Link. You don't love me and you never did!"

Again, I looked at her helplessly, wishing I could take away her pain. I was going to say something else, but decided not to after seeing that look on her face. She didn't want to hear my words when she wanted something so different for us.

"Alright," I said finally,"I'll leave."

I stared at the queen for a moment longer, but then turned and headed back towards the entrance of the tower. I was hoping she would stop me, but she never did. Instead, before I left, I turned to see her staring after me. Her face looked stoic, but when she caught sight of me, she turned from looking at me. At this point there was nothing I could do to make things better. All I could do was leave.

The Dragon Gala was over.

Now, the rest of my life was about to begin.