"Hello, Wizzro." the Prince said with a smile, turning to face Link and Elgon as they readied themselves.
The two warriors looked to each other as the Prince and his new ally stood still, seemingly uninterested in attacking as of yet.
"You know, moral corruption is seen as an acquired trait, but as for I...well...I believe it's genetic." Erris said with a smile as the strange Wizard like creature hovered at his side. "You're friend Markus...the original, he only tended to loosen his morals within the confines of a potentially very profitable business deal, I'm guessing...am I correct Hero?" the Prince asked with a smile.
"We're done talking!" Link yelled as he and Elgon charged forward, blades at the ready, only to be met by a telekinetic shockwave that sent them back to their original positions. Link attempted to run forward again only to have Elgon grab his shoulder before he could make his first step.
"Let's let him talk, wait for him to drop his guard." Elgon said quietly as he locked eyes with Link.
"Listen to the Light Sage, Hero! I could fall off my guard at any moment, though, if you were to charge me I could still easily intercept you with any of the variety of my magic abilities I'm capable of...or I could have Wizzro here stop you! Ah, Magic! An unfair advantage? Yes! But is life fair? No!" the Prince exclaimed with a laugh. "Anyway, back to what I was saying, the ring Wizzro was contained in didn't actually belong to Mr. Markus, you see, I had Wizzro follow you, in his ring form of course, so as not to be noticed...that tends to happen with small objects, and as you entered the Curiosity Shop, he did too, inserting himself into the display case you found him in. You see, Mr. Markus sold you a ring he knew nothing about, had never noticed before, and for all he knew could have been an evil spirit in disguise...which it happened to be, moral corruption, indeed, yes?! All I wanted Wizzro to do was to insert himself into the best position in which to spy on those in the Castle, and he would've done just that if you hadn't scrawled that warding spell into the box Markus put him in. In the end though, it all turned out well because you brought him to me as an ally in battle...my mother's favorite creation." Erris said, nodding to the entity.
"What's your point?!" Elgon demanded as the Prince looked on.
"Just putting out an example, all humans are capable of corruption, including the Kings we hold in such high regard...such as King Daltus Nohansen Hyrule, this land's most recent monarch...I remember that day, that day when the King dragged me downstairs, promised to let me keep my Kingdom if I'd do one simple thing...and you were there Light Sage...you helped him."
"We know what happened to you!" Link cut in, his patience lost, "We were able to extract it from your uncle, he told us about the Demon that was sealed in you, and to be blunt, I don't care to hear the story again!" Link yelled, Erris's stalling fanning his rage.
"What you don't know, is that it was Minister Kain Tonbridge who performed the ritual! My sabotage of the Golem was done in order to exact vengeance on him, you being present was just an added bonus, Hero, the fact you lived may not suit me very well, but in the long run, your continued existence shall be of no consequence!"
With a roar Link charged forward, his Triforce of Courage glowing a bright gold, it's aura swelling up around him, Erris let loose a telekinetic burst but the power of the Goddesses allowed Link to push through it as if it were a light breeze, with the stunned look on the Prince's face communicating his surprise. Link reached him and jumped, bringing down his sword on top of Erris's crimson blade.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to call on your Triforce's power." Erris said through gritted teeth, pushing Link's sword back with his.
Elgon ran forward, blade at the ready when he was suddenly hit from the side, the strange Dark Wizard being responsible for the strike.
Link turned back, thinking of aiding his former teacher before he decided Elgon was capable of defending himself, Link being especially sure of that due to Elgon having been revealed as the Light Sage.
Link held his sword up, intercepting Erris's blade, while he deflected the other with his Hylian Shield, he spun out of the way as Erris charged, swords held in an x shape. Link ran back in, fading back as Erris swung his swords outwards out of the x shape, with Link performing a downwards strike, followed by a horizontal slash to the right, all parried by Erris, Erris jumped back, with Link starting forward at him, Erris leapt at the Hero, jumping into the air, holding his blades side by side. Link darted out of the way as Erris came down, landing on one knee, Link threw himself back at the Prince, his shoulder slamming into the Prince's as he got back to his feet. Link regained his balance as Erris made contact with the ground, Link ran forward, positioning himself to make the final blow when Erris extended his hand, releasing a bolt of electricity in Link's direction, Link dodged the bolt, feeling the hair on his neck raise as it narrowly missed him, in front of him Erris was back on his feet, Link shot forward, holding the White Sword back, and as soon as he was in range, performed a spin attack. Erris raised one of his blades to stop the strike, only to have it knocked away from him, Link's blade continued, slicing through the armor over Erris's upper arm before stopping. Link regained his footing, and to his surprise, Erris had survived the spin attack with only a cut underneath the area of his armor Link cut through.
Erris looked at his arm, the fresh wound dripping blood, "I have to admit, I'm surprised, no one has harmed me in such a way in well..quite a while." the Prince said with a smile, looking up, to his surprise he found the Hero dashing towards the Great Deku Tree.
Link knew had bought himself some time, how much, he didn't know, but he had to try. He reached the base of the Great Deku Tree and without wasting time he began to climb towards the blade that was embedded in the forest deity. It was large, about the size of a man, and just as wide, it was a dark gray color, with one serrated edge, the glowing orb in it's hilt slowly pulling the Great Deku Tree's life force into itself. As Link climbed towards it, he noted that the Great Deku Tree made no noise, a sign of it's closeness to death. Finally within arms reach, Link grabbed a tighter hold with his right hand before reaching with his left, only to have a bolt of lightning barely miss him. Link turned his head as far back as it would go, seeing the Prince had recovered. Link used all the strength he had to pull himself up to the sword, grabbing a firm hold of it's hilt. The Prince sent another blast of electricity at Link, the Hero deflecting it with his shield.
"Come back down and face me, Hero!" Erris yelled, seemingly having lost his temper.
Link swayed back and forth, his right arm growing tired as he hung from the blade embedded in the tree, he deflected every blast Erris sent his way, the leather strap that fastened his shield to his arm keeping him safe from the electrical currents that flowed through the shield with every strike, Link had begun to notice a burning sensation as the lightning bolts were heating his shield close to it's melting point. Link began kicking his legs forward, attempting to build up enough force to pull the blade loose, soon enough though, he was distracted by Erris readying another electrical blast, Link called on his Triforce of Courage, feeling the power of the Goddesses begin to flow through him, he focused the energies into his blade, the Prince fired the attack, with Link using his sword to deflect it back at him.
Can't harm me with my own element, Hero!" Erris called, his mocking smile returning.
Link looked around desperately, the sword didn't seem as if it were going to budge, the Great Deku Tree's life energies still flowing into it.
"It's okay, Link."
Link turned, looking into the Great Deku Tree's massive eye, "You...you can speak...I thought you were..." Link began, his hope restored.
"You must stop him..." the Forest Deity said, his voice growing quieter.
Link felt determination shoot through him, during the Mythical Age Ganondorf had killed the Great Deku Tree, with Link not having been able to do a thing to prevent it. "I won't fail you this time!" Link shouted as he repelled down the Great Deku Tree's trunk. Reaching the bottom, Link brought his shield back up, readying his blade. "Why are you doing this? What do you need the Great Deku Tree's life force for?!" Link questioned the Prince, his anger showing through.
"My father's actions brought ruin to our land, we have our own Forest Deity, called the Great Maku Tree...I fear it is dying...I must revitalize it...to save my land."
"If you got rid of that demon bound inside of you, your land might return to it's former glory, trust me, the presence of powerful demons only destroys the land around them, when I killed Demise, the Lanayru desert began to flourish again, becoming the beautiful area of Hyrule it is now, and during my time in Termina, when I defeated Majora the waters returned to normal, the long winter ended, and the dead in Ikana finally moved on." Link felt his anger beginning to diminish, his inner Hero emerging, stirred by Erris's noble intentions, even if he went about them the wrong way. "We can help you Erris, Hyrule is rich with magical energy, we can help you heal your land, your people, and the Great Maku Tree, we can help you rid yourself of Mahlik." Link said, using the Demon Lord's name for the first time.
The Prince's expression hardened as he regarded Link, "Even if you did help us, that would just drive my people out of my land and into yours, all you and your Princess want is to finish what her father started, you want to make my land just another part of Hyrule! I won't let you take my land! I won't let you take my power!" Erris screamed, another voice emerging underneath his. The Prince's eyes adopted the pale blue glow they had during his assault on the Great Hall as the Prince descended further into his rage.
"Erris! Don't let him take hold! I know it wasn't you that attacked Zelda! Mahlik is twisting your mind!" Link yelled, trying to get through to Erris.
"I'm in control! Everything I've done, I have done of my own will!" Erris yelled, harsh winds beginning to whip through the meadow. "You and I are opposites, bound to clash! I am the Lord of Fear, and you the spirit of Courage, but Courage breeds arrogance, you think you've killed Demise, but he lives, you think you've killed Majora, but he lives! You can never kill a Druthilidi, I will not fall to you! Courage will be eclipsed by fear!" Erris yelled, the voice of Mahlik slowly drowning out Erris's.
Link tensed up, he was almost sure that Erris. or rather Mahlik was lying, but he coudn't help but recall Demise's last words, he had wondered in the past if Demise was possibly reborn as Ganondorf, but found the notion too disturbing to press any further, the fact Majora could still be a threat made Link feel...afraid. Link wasn't accustomed to fear, it seemed to be something he never felt, but now he was finding it hard to push away, his legs grew weak and he fell to his knees, visions of Zelda meeting her untimely fate in various ways filled his head, he thought of Kallil, Oreck, his mother, Nika, and the Audrik, all dying in terrible ways, the visions refused to leave him no matter how hard he tried force them away. Link clutched at his head, closing his eyes tightly as a vision of a jealous Oreck driving a sword through Zelda took hold, he tried to focus himself, opening his eyes to see Erris standing over him, his eyes glowing a pale blue, a red aura surrounding him. Link noted his Triforce was burning, it's glow more intense than he'd ever seen.
"Fear, it's a funny thing, it snakes it's way in when you least expect, it can be inspired by anything from vermin of some sort, to the death of the one's you hold dear, but you, you don't much seem to feel fear, no doubt that damned thing on your hand is responsible for that, so I decided to show you how it feels when terror takes hold." Erris said, looking down at Link.
Link stared up at Erris, something about him was causing his piece of the Triforce to have an exceedingly adverse reaction, the demon inside of him was more than likely the cause, but he felt as though something else was at work here, a force he hadn't yet encountered.
Erris stared down at Link, "When Mahlik was first bound inside my body, I wasn't able to find sleep for days, he'd be screaming inside my head, attempting to rip his way out...I have the scars to prove it, but after years I managed to reach him, come to an agreement of sorts, you see, we understood each other, I no longer remember Mahlik as the massive demon restrained in my father's thrown room, but as my land's salvation, he has given me the power to take what I need to restore Labrynna, he has given me a greater gift than I could have ever imagined, a gift crafted by Demise himself, a gift that is the antithesis of yours." Erris said, a smile forming on his face.
Link, using his Triforce of Courage had pushed the fear he never knew he had away, but soon found it creeping back as he watched Erris, he didn't believe what he saw as it first begin to form, hoping his eyes were betraying him, a chill ran through his body as a line ran diagonally up the back of his hand, reaching it's point, then continuing back down the other side, forming a horizontal line at the bottom, as soon as the triangle formed, more lines appeared inside, dividing it into three smaller triangles. The three triangles began to glow a bright red, the bottom right triangle glowing brighter than the others.
"What...what is this?!" Link yelled, staring in disbelief, his mind refusing to believe what he was seeing.
"I'm not surprised you don't recognize it, it was before your time, Hero, being created when Druthilidi and Gods waged war over our world, for every action there's a reaction, and the Triforce, being an action of the Goddesses, caused Demise to create it's "reaction" if you will, the Anteforce, being composed of Fear, which I hold, Rage, which Demise holds, and Chaos, which Majora holds, unfortunately the Anteforce can only be active when at least two of it's bearers live at the same time...hopefully that doesn't spoil the surprise for you." Erris said with a smile.
Link stood up, he called on his Triforce of Courage, the Golden aura expanded across his body, his eyes beginning to glow the same color. "Whether you have that abomination or not, I will defeat you, and I will destroy it!" Link yelled, the Hero's spirit inside of him breaking Erris's hold.
Erris spread out his arms, his Anteforce of Fear glowing a bright red, consuming his body in a crimson aura, the pale blue of his eyes fading, the red of the Anteforce replacing it.
Link and Erris locked eyes, their auras clashing, the opposing power's struggle shook and cracked the ground around them, the Power of the Goddesses engaging that of the Demon Lord's for the first time in millennia.
oOo
Elgon dove out of the way of a reptilian hand made of shadow, the Dark Wizard, continuing it's assault, throwing a purple bolt of lightning at the warrior. Elgon faded to the right, avoiding it.
Elgon had been distracted since before the fight began, he hand't planned for Link to know his true identity yet, he having known for years, it was during his tenure in the Hylian Military his powers first manifested, showing themselves when he faced a Garo Warrior for the first time.
The Dark Wizard charged him, letting loose a high pitched scream. Elgon raised his sword, deflecting a ball of shadow energy. He worked his way closer, deflecting and dodging the strange being's various attacks, thinking it was time for his own. Elgon clenched his left hand, feeling a familiar warmth growing inside of it, the Wizard threw a darkness infused bolt of electricity his way, with Elgon leaping out of the way, shooting a bolt of light at the unsuspecting entity. The bolt of light made contact, setting the being's robe aflame for a moment, the Dark Wizard crying out in pain, with it's concentration lost, Elgon rushed in, delivering four quick slashes before jumping back, right as the being attempted to retaliate with a swipe of it's arm, temporarily enlarged through magic.
"I didn't know you had the power of light! That's not fair!" the Dark Wizard frantically screamed at Elgon.
"What? Your Master didn't tell you, or were you just not paying attention?" Elgon asked with a laugh.
The Dark Wizard screamed in anger, flying at the seasoned warrior, Elgon being ready, dodged another magically generated shadow hand, next intercepting a ball of darkness with his sword, he then spun around the Wizard, extending his blade as he did so, slashing the robed figure across it's side. It turned quickly, shooting a purple lightning bolt at Elgon, he swished his hand upward, creating a light barrier, the lightning bolt dissipating upon contact with it. Elgon retracted the barrier into his hand, commanding the energy to form into a ball. As he deflected attacks with his sword, he restructured the energy from it's stable form as a barrier, to it's unstable form as raw light energy. He ran forward, stepping out of the path of a black fireball, he threw the ball of light energy, with the Dark Wizard avoiding it.
"Missed me!" it screamed.
As it began to cackle, Elgon decided to cut it's celebration short, he extended his hand, calling the ball of light back towards him, he smiled as the sphere crashed into the Dark Wizard's back, exploding in a burst of light, knocking him forward. With one large stride Elgon was upon the entity, swiftly he readied his blade, and stabbed it through the being's hood.
The Dark Wizard screamed and floated backwards, purple energy and black puffs of smoke seeping from the Dark Wizard's wounds.
Elgon started forward, but came to a halt as the ground began to shake, he turned his attention to the other side of the meadow, and to his alarm saw two enormous auras of red and gold emanating from the Prince and Link. Even from afar Elgon could sense the massive magical energies being released.
As the Wizard recovered, Elgon began running circles around it, every now and then swiping his sword against the ground. It wasn't long before the being regained it's composure and began firing off magical attacks at him, with Elgon dodging all of them.
"What is this? Do you MOCK ME?!" the Wizard roared, firing a blast of dark energy at the man.
"You're lucky I'm not going to after you let me do this." Elgon answered as he dropped to one knee. He called upon his power of Light, placing his hand on one of the sigils he had drawn while circling the Dark Wizard, the light energy spread across the ground, activating other lines and sigils Elgon had quickly sketched. A large beam of light shot upward as lines spread across the ground, connecting the sigils.
"I will not be intimidated by this trickery!" the being screamed as it raced towards Elgon, only to be thrown back as a light barrier appeared in it's path.
"It's a containment spell, I actually had a hard time believing you'd stay in one place long enough for me to prepare and cast it." Elgon said, a smirk emerging on his face.
"Release me, human!" it screamed, as it raced around the construct, meeting a light barrier no matter which direction it went in.
Elgon began to walk way, extending his hand upwards, causing a blue cone to materialize over the Dark Wizard's magically created prison, Elgon complimenting himself on casting an effective silence spell before running to Link's aid, readying himself for the battle to come.
oOo
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you have any questions make sure to ask!
Alsoooo, sorry about how long I took to get this Chapter out! I've been busy with a new job and not to mention when I finally began to write this my brother knocked a clock off the wall and I had to spend a good half hour helping him fix it...it's the little things in life that make it so enjoyable...
GerudoSpirit: I'm glad you liked my inclusion of Cia and Wizzro, I already had Volga involved so I just thought, "What the hell! Let's get the whole cast in there too!". I am so happy you picked up on the ring detail! I wrote it in as a way to foreshadow Wizzro's inclusion in the story, I feared no one would understand it until the reveal itself, high fives for you! I felt like I'd led you all on long enough with the mystery of what King Daltus did to young Erris that messed him up so bad, so yeah, Demon Lord sealed inside of him, that'll do it. As for Audrik and Lemuria, I'm glad you enjoyed that pairing! I'm also glad you thought that about Link's words to Zelda, I've always been more of an action writer, with little to no talent for the romantic side of things, I'll take this as a sign that I'm evolving writing wise! Thank you for the kind words and the review!
Drazol: Here's more! I hope you enjoyed it! I'm really glad you like my story so far! Thank you!
Lady Kiridia: Missed you while you were away! It's good to hear from you again! Sorry for the information overload, I thought the pace of the story was beginning to slow, so I decided to throw in something to pick it up a little! And no, liking Erris is not wrong of you, I'm actually really glad you like the Prince, the challenge with OC's is getting people to actually believe they could exist in the universe your story is set in, and accept them as part of that universe. I wanted to give Link a youthful enemy, who was kind of his opposite, yet very similar to him, I kind of picture Erris as dark mirror of Link, like what Link could have been had he been corrupted, but that's a whole tangent I'm going to spare you from for now! Thanks for the review!
In case any of you were wondering, what Erris meant when he called Wizzro his "mother's favorite creation"; in this story, Wizzro was created by Cia while she dwelled alone in the Valley of Seers, partially for a friend, but also for protection, and a general for her army of the dead. When she left her son (for reasons I'll go into later), she still wanted him to be protected, so she left Wizzro with Erris to keep him safe.
Shout out to The Gamer189, Hellman76, and Nightfademusic for favoriting and following my story and I, thank you!
I hope you enjoyed the read! Until next time!
Best of luck!
-Prometheus17