Ok, so this chapter actually kinda wrote itself, thank goodness. Plus, its packed full of everyone's favorite nut, Cia! Yay! She seriously made this chapter so much fun for me to write, for reasons you'll see in a bit. Now, mind you, this chapter is LONG, but that's cause there's so much I had to pack into it. Now, since I answered most of the reviews through PMs (which is my new practice for this story at least), but I will still reply to guest reviews here, so fear not!
Onox2: That would be funny, and totally awesome on Zelda's part! Actually, I do have something kinda similar to that planned for the Temple of Souls so... we'll have to wait and see... ;D
SkywardOcarina: You mean the sages? Yeah, I'm considering it, definitely for Saria and Nabooru. And hey, who's to say that OoT Impa might not pop up as well? And yeah, I was worrying about Saria having to leave the forest, but you are right about the whole end credits thing, which always had me confused, but whatever. If I do put Saria in though, you can believe that she'll be using the Deku Rod, since its just so fitting! Groose will most likely be in here, but well, Demise might make things complicated. Darbus is an interesting suggestion, and I really have considered Ashei though!
Sigma73: All good suggestions, though for reasons I can't disclose yet, putting in the Hero's Shade would make things really confusing later on... And yes, Mahandla is in this chapter, and I think that putting in all the throwbacks from LoZ would have been great too (anything would be better than having to fight the Imprisoned. Geeze!)
Guest: Ah yes, well... putting the Hero's Shade in would make things SUPER confusing considering who he actually is so... uh, yeah...
ShadowRouge: She does have some trust issues, and of course she's never played OoT! That would be breaking the fourth wall lol :D
Ok, well that's all the guest reviews! Now onto the chapter!
Chapter 8: Sorceress of the Valley
Unlike Sheik and Impa, Link and Lana cooperated much better in capturing the west ruins keep in a timely manner. Working side by side, the hero and the white sorceress cleared the way through the bokoblins in their path, both of them completely engrossed in the adrenaline of battle. Both of them were fairly fast-paced fighters, and Link's skill with a blade and Lana's prowess of magic were certainly unprecedented and advanced, which was why the two of them were able to conquer the west keep in a matter of minutes, hardly running into any trouble at all.
"Alright!" Lana said cheerfully as soon as they had taken out the last monster inside of the keep. "The west keep is ours! Great work everyone!"
"Looks like Sheik and Impa are just finishing up in the east," Proxi reported to Link after having just flown above the battlefield to get a better vantage point. However, before the hero could translate what the fairy had said to the sorceress, she offered up a response instead.
"Then we should go meet up with them and attack the ruins directly," Lana said, closing her book of sorcery before she prepared to move on ahead, before she noticed the look of confusion that both Link and Proxi were giving her. "What?" she asked innocently, though there was a coy grin on her face.
"You can understand fairies too?" the hero asked her, thinking that he was unique in this ability after what Proxi had told him when they first met.
"Of course!" the white sorceress said with a giggle. "Just one of the many perks of being a sorceress! And believe me, I already know all about how you can, Link. After all, the ability to communicate with fairies is one of the many things that makes the Spirit of the Hero so special…" She gave a small, somewhat wistful sigh before turning to her chipper manner once more. "Now, come on! We don't have any time to waste! We gotta defeat Cia as soon as possible!"
The hero simply nodded in agreement with this as the two carried onwards, plowing through the surrounding bokoblins with ease. The Hylian troops that had gone with them followed in their wake, making sure that no monsters were heading towards their allied base, lest they lose their footing against the enemy altogether.
The path to the entry of the ruins was relatively short, but it quickly became even clearer that Cia was watching the Hylian troops' every move as she cast some of her dark magic out from the top of the ruins. Not wanting to be interrupted by the advancing soldiers just yet, the black witch conjured up a series of dark, twisting, thorny vines, sprouting up tall and thick at the main entry of the ruins. Link and Lana were only a few feet away when the vines sprung up, immediately impairing their only path ahead.
"The entrance to the ruins is blocked by all these weird vines!" Proxi exclaimed to the pair, stating the obvious. "It looks like we're stuck…"
"Not for long," the hero said with determination as he rushed forward towards the dark, wriggling plants, heavily swiping his sword across them. However, it did little to cut them down, barely even leaving much of a dent in them at all as they continued to stand in place, just as stubborn as ever.
Link let out a sight of frustration as he continued to hack away at the vines brutally, with Lana soon joining in by casting a few spells at them, though their efforts were ultimately fruitless. After several minutes of watching their poor attempts however, Cia apparently began to grow bored as she let out an uninterested yawn that echoed throughout the valley like the rest of her statements. "Oh, come on!" she said in exasperation. "Is that really the best you can do? I expected so much more, especially from you, Link…"
Upon hearing these mocking words, the hero could no longer contain his anger towards the black witch, who merely seemed to be toying with all of them and preventing them from finally putting an end to the violent war that had already claimed many lives. "If you want me so badly, then why don't you come down here and face me instead of just blocking our path with these stupid vines!?" Link shouted challengingly back at Cia, knowing that she would hear him. However, in response to his boldness, the black witch simply laughed with aroused pleasure, his words only lighting her burning desire for him all the more.
"Um, Link?" Lana cut in as the hero let out a growl of frustration at his foe not taking him seriously. "I think we have a problem…" Temporarily placing his aggravation towards Cia aside for the moment, Link turned around from the vines to see what Lana was referring to. A group of enemy captains, specifically, armored soldiers known as darknuts, had come up behind the two of them while they were preoccupied with trying to get rid of the vines. There were about four of them, a rather daunting amount considering darknuts were not the easiest foes to bring down, especially considering the fact that the hero and the white sorceress were outnumbered by them, as well as all of the surrounding bokoblins that had joined them.
With only a mutual nod, Link and Lana sprung into action against their foes, both of them taking on two at once. The white sorceress made use of her electrifying barrier magic for both offense and defense, pushing the walls of magic into the darknuts to repel them and damage them. At the same time, the hero moved swiftly and precisely, using his shield to block every attack he didn't dodge before countering with fast, intentional stabs and swipes. However, the darknuts were strong, even for two skilled fighters such as the two of them. Almost at the exact same moment, both Link and Lana sustained an injury from the respective darknuts that they had not been paying mind to. In trying to protect her chest from a hit, the sorceress had one landed across her arm, eliciting a cry of pain from her as it began to bleed, while the hero took a heavy blow to his unarmored right shoulder, the darknut's sword cutting in deep. With no time to heal or recover from their respective injuries, Link and Lana stood back to back in a face-off against the enemies, their breathing heavy as they tried to figure out a way to cut them down all at once. That is, until someone else did that for them.
The darknuts before Lana suddenly fell to the ground in a crumpled heap from a burst of light emitted from behind them, accompanied by a melody known as the Prelude of Light. Likewise, the two darknuts facing Link also collapsed in defeat as a large, heavy blade cut through their middle, downing them almost instantly.
The hero and the white sorceress couldn't help but smile gratefully at the two Sheikah women who had come to their rescue at just the right moment. "It looked like you two needed some help…" Impa mused with a confident smile, sheathing her giant blade.
"We had things under control," Link said with a hint of sarcastic joking in his tone, trying to forget about his earlier frustration over Cia.
"Oh, really?" the Sheikah guardian asked, playing along with him as she looked at the blood pouring down from his wounded shoulder with raised eyebrows. "Then what's that?"
"Oh, you mean this?" the hero asked, still clearly joking as he tried to avoid cringing in pain from the damage done to his shoulder blade. So instead, he simply grinned and shook his head, as if it didn't concern him at all. "Just a scratch."
Impa rolled her eyes at his roughish, playful ways, though it was hard for her to suppress her amused grin, glad that he could take the pain of an injury like this much better than some of her other soldiers. Likewise, Lana giggled a bit at the hero's humorous behavior as she healed up her own arm a bit before working on his shoulder as best as she could. Even Sheik let out a brief chuckle of levity from underneath her face coverings.
"So," Impa said a moment later with renewed seriousness. "What's the situation?"
"The front's blocked," Lana informed her and Sheik with a frown. "We need to find another way into the ruins… If I remember correctly, there should be another entrance in the east, but there's a gorge separating us from it…"
"How are we going to get across then?" Sheik asked as they all turned to look towards the east, which of course, was littered with monsters just like the rest of the valley.
"I think I can come up with something…" the white sorceress said with a sly grin as she prepared to move onward. "Now, come on! Let's get going!"
"What are you all planning…?" Cia's voice suddenly cut through to them, as she had made sure to overhear their conversation. "Well, whatever it may be, you can be certain I'll have a counter strategy!"
Upon hearing the black witch tease them once more, the hero cast a glare towards the top of the ruins, but his anger was quickly calmed by the white sorceress placing a hand on his uninjured shoulder, since she hadn't been able to heal the other one fully, and gave him a small, reassuring smile to calm him down. She certainly understood his frustration; after all, Cia was just prolonging this battle for as long as possible, but for what reason, Lana couldn't figure out.
And yet all the same, the group set out towards the east, cutting a swath through Cia's hordes with gusto and fervor. However, the black witch was quick to mock their efforts once more, her smooth laugh echoing across the valley for all to hear. "Why do you insist on making me wait?" she asked playfully, though there was a hint of true impatience in her tone. "Don't you know I'm awfully bored sitting up here all by my lonesome… Perhaps I'll just have to come knocking at your base to give you a little more… motivation…"
Link, Lana, Impa and Sheik all stopped in their tracks upon hearing this, already guessing that Cia had a plan to attack the allied base. "We can't let her get out base!" the white sorceress exclaimed worriedly, knowing that letting their base fall would be the same as welcoming defeat itself. "We have to do something to protect it!"
"I'll take care of the enemies advancing from the east," Sheik volunteered, knowing that they would descend from the ruins in that direction towards the southern base. "Use that time to get across the gorge."
"Why go that far…?" Impa muttered to herself, giving another suspicious glance to the Sheikah warrior as she wondered why she would offer to fight on the other side of the battlefield at a moment like this.
"I'm coming with you," Link said to Sheik, not wanting to see her get hurt again after what happened in Faron Woods.
The Sheikah warrior merely shook her head, already poising her harp to fight. "No," she said succinctly. "I'll go alone."
Upon hearing this, the Sheikah guardian's cautious gaze turned to an all-out glare. Perhaps she had been wrong in giving Sheik the benefit of the doubt earlier; perhaps, by splitting off from the rest of the group, the Sheikah warrior planned on betraying them still. "In that case, I'll hold the center," Impa said unassumingly, not wanting to tip anyone, not even Link or Lana off to her suspicions. She did, however, want to keep a close eye on Sheik, just in case she was right about her after all.
"Then we'll head towards the gorge," Lana said with resolve. "And we'll all meet up again at the summit so we can face Cia together!"
Everyone nodded in agreement with this plan as they split up, Sheik and Impa taking their separate paths as Link and Lana continued on together. After knocking out a few more monsters, the hero and the sorceress finally made it to the gorge, which was both far too wide and too deep to cross by any conventional means. And yet, Lana didn't let this fact daunt her as she held her book of sorcery out in front of her, letting it rise magically from her hands until it was floating above her head. Link watched with wonder as the white sorceress's book glowed a soft blue color, before, with a small shout, she threw her tome into the gap altogether, much to the hero's shock.
However, Lana only smiled confidently as her book rose up by itself a blue, shimmering magical bridge somehow being formed by it. The bridge filled over the gorge securely, connecting the two land masses and forming a path to the eastern ruins entrance.
"Wow," Link said in awe as him and Lana stepped out onto the surprisingly sturdy bridge, the white sorceress reclaiming her tome as they did so. "Impressive…"
"Thanks," Lana said with a small, bashful blush, brushing a stray lock of blue hair behind her ear. She did her best to hide the fact that any compliment from the hero warmed her heart, but it was hard considering he was right beside her.
Upon finally making it into the only open entryway to the ruins, the pair was once again met with a disheartening sight. Apparently, the vines that Cia had set in place at the main entrance were not the only ones. The wriggling plants still blocked off much of the ruins from the inside, barring their progress still.
"There's vines everywhere!" Proxi exclaimed to Link and Lana after having gone high for reconnaissance once more. "They're even blocking the path to the summit!"
"We need to deal with these things once and for all," the hero said in annoyance as he took down a few stray bokoblins nearby. "Otherwise, we'll get nowhere."
"If I heard correctly, there's some sort of item in the ruins that might be able to help," the white sorceress said, glancing around the ruins. "We have to find it!"
With this new mission in mind, the pair set off in the only direction that they could, to the west. The walkways of the ruins were surprisingly free of monsters, even though the two of them were getting quite close to the black witch herself, who had gone strangely quiet for some reason. However, the keeps that composed the ruins were packed full of monsters, making the task of capturing them all the more difficult. And yet, Link and Lana, as well as the Hylian soldiers following after them, somehow managed to capture one of the inner keeps all the same, even though it took quite a fair bit of work and fighting. With the monsters cleared out of the keep, the item that they had been looking for appeared as if by providence: a simple, yet sturdy wooden boomerang.
"Hey!" Proxi chimed as Link claimed the boomerang. "With that thing, I'd bet anything that we'll finally be able to cut down those vines, no problem!"
"It's worth a shot," the hero said as the white sorceress nodded in agreement, before the two of them rushed towards the summit path once more. And sure enough, it did the trick, knocking down the vines barring the ruins summit, the residual effect cutting down the rest of the vines throughout the valley as well. However, before they could finally make their approach on the summit and the black witch herself, they both failed to notice the group of monsters that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind them until it was too late.
Lana let out a sharp gasp as a sudden burst of pain exploded across her exposed back, blood already pouring from the heavy gash that she had just received from a darknut right behind her. As the sorceress collapsed to her knees in agony, Link was quick to leap between her and the captain, instantly running his blade through its armored chest with enough force to strike it down almost instantly. Upon seeing their leader fall, the resurgent bokoblins retreated, lest they meet a similar fate, leaving the hero to tend to the wounded sorceress. Quickly, Link kneeled down beside Lana, noticing that the cut ran long and thick down her back, completely incapacitating her as she lowered her head, her breathing short and trembling with pain.
"L-Link…" the white sorceress said between agonized gasps of breath. "You… you n-need to go f-fight Cia…"
"But what about you?" the hero asked with immense concern for her poor condition.
"I… I'll be f-fine…" Lana said, cringing from the warm pain flowing down her back. "I-Impa and Sheik s-should be here… s-soon anyway…. N-now go… end t-this war… once a-and for all…"
"Are you sure?" Link asked worriedly, fearing that she would get attacked while he was gone and that she would be unable to defend herself.
"Y-yes…" the white sorceress said, sitting down upon her knees as she held her hand towards her back, already starting to work her healing magic upon it. She gave him a small, reassuring smile, her heart warmed by the fact that he was showing so much concern for her, but even so, she knew what had to be done, even despite her own injuries.
Though hesitant to leave Lana behind, the hero also understood this, knowing that if they did not strike against the black witch now, they might not have the chance later. However, before Link left, he made sure to ask Proxi to stay behind with the white sorceress and alert him at the first sign of trouble, which the fairy dutifully agreed to. And, after casting one more concerned glance at his wounded ally, the hero rushed up the steps to the summit, to where the black witch certainly stood in wait.
The first thing that Link noticed upon entering the summit keep was not the fact that it was filled to the brim with many different types of monsters, which was to be expected after all. Instead, what caught his eye even more was the large circular portal towards the back of the keep, from which an immense amount of dark magic was pouring forth, creating more and more monsters with each passing second. No doubt, this was the Gate of Souls that Lana had spoken of, and the woman standing before it with her back turned to the hero, summoning the monsters forth from the gate, could be none other than Cia herself.
At first, it seemed as though the black witch had not noticed Link as he arrived, and even more bewildering was the fact that none of the monsters within the keep were making so much as a single move to attack him at all. However, no less than a moment later, a sudden flash of golden light emitted from the back of Cia's hand, something that she clearly noticed as she lowered her lifted hands, halting her magic for a moment to examine the glow.
"Oh?" she mused to herself, a dark grin spreading across her face as she realized that the object of her affections had finally come to her. With a small laugh, the black witch finally turned to face the hero, who already had his sword drawn and ready to fight her, even as the two of them stared each other down.
Cia's physical appearance had been far from what Link had been expecting based on Lana's description of her. He had thought that the woman who once bore the title "Observer of Time" would be a bit more chaste in her dress, but it was clear that the black witch's intention was to show off as much of her body as possible. And indeed, she was quite beautiful, with a tall, shapely, pronounced figure and warm, caramel skin. Her face, however, was obscured behind a mask that bore semblance to a bird in some ways, its nose curving over Cia's own. From underneath her concealing mask, some of her short white locks of hair peeked out, though most of it was covered by her violet and gold headdress. Tufts of red feathers peeked out from the metal bracer upon her right shoulder along with a strip of lavender fabric that furled out onto her back, and on that arm, her purple sleeve ran long past her hand. Her left arm was bare aside from the copious amounts of golden decorations she wore upon it, including a heavy bracelet around her wrist. Her chest armor, if it could even be called that since there was so little there, ran very low, curving around her breasts and rejoining below her navel. Aside from being showy in her chest area, the near-entirety of her left leg was uncovered save for a golden bracelet around it, revealing the twisted red marks she bore running down her leg down to her gold and violet boots. Her other leg was entirely covered, and from her golden array of belts came the back half of a long skirt that splayed out behind her. Overall, her entire appearance would be enough to distract any man by simply looking at her, but the hero had fortunately never been swayed by such shallow showings of a woman's body and now was certainly not the time to let himself be taken in by such things.
"Ah..." Cia said with a lustful smile as she took Link's appearance in, her pink lips curling into an even more seductive smile. "Link… the great hero… At last you've come to see me… Stand still for a moment, and let me get a good look at you…" With another small chuckle, the black witch began to step towards the hero, her hidden eyes practically burning with desire for him. All the while, Link kept a focused glare on his foe, keeping his guard up no matter what, just in case she decided to launch some sort of sneak attack on him.
"I do apologize for the rather… uncouth attempts made on your life by my foolish little cohorts, Volga and Wizzro…" the black witch went on, savoring each step she got closer to him. "They were only supposed to capture you and bring you to me. After all, the last thing I want is to see you dead, my dear, beloved hero…"
Upon hearing her disturbing words, Link tightened his grip on his sword, especially as Cia got closer to him. "Why do you want me so badly anyway?" he asked her, his voice nowhere near as bold as he wanted it to be. "And if you do capture me, what are you going to do then?"
"Both very good questions, my dear…" the black witch said as she began to circle him, eyeing him as if he were her prey. "That's what I like about you spirit bearers: you always want to get right to the point." Cia paused for a moment when she made her way completely behind him, knowing that he was watching her out of the corner of his eye, but nonetheless, he was unable to do anything as she quickly reach her hand out towards him, placing her fingertips upon the back of his neck ever so slightly and using her magic to paralyze him where he stood. The hero panicked upon realizing that he couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried, knowing that he was now completely at the mercy of the black witch and whatever untoward things she planned on doing to him.
Lana let out a sigh of relief when she finally caught sight of Impa and Sheik approaching her. She was just about finished healing her back, even though she knew that it would still most likely ache for a while, but it would have to do for now. Slowly, the white sorceress attempted to stand, but she found that she was still in too much pain to do that at the moment, something that both Sheikah women realized as they rushed to her aid.
"Are you alright?" Impa asked as she lent a hand to help Lana up.
"Yeah," the white sorceress said, cringing with pain as she fully stood, still relying on the Sheikah guardian for support for a moment or two.
"Where's Link?" Sheik asked, glancing around and noticing that the hero was nowhere in sight.
"He went to face Cia," Lana replied, nodding towards the ruins keep at the top of the nearby stairs.
"Alone?" the Sheikah warriors asked with concern, unhidable worry filling her ruby eyes. She understood just how dangerous it could possibly be to send anyone into the den of their main foe alone, but Sheik began to fear for Link's safety and wellbeing in going head to head with Cia on his own. "I have to help him."
"Don't you mean we have to help him?" Impa asked suspiciously, very much on edge at the possibility that Sheik was about to turn them all over to Cia, especially Link.
However, the Sheikah warrior did not offer up a response as she simply went on ahead, hoping that she could make it to the hero's side before it was too late.
Satisfied that Link wouldn't put up a resistance to her, Cia moved in closer to him, her eyes running up and down his form with obvious lust. "Mm…." she mused softly as she committed everything about him to memory. "Very nice… Tall, strong, incredibly handsome… As usual…" The black witch let out a sultry laugh as she came to stand right in front of the hero, leaning into his face as he tried to avert the haunting glow that the slitted eyes of her mask gave off. "Ah…" she said with a yearning sigh, taking him by the chin and forcing him to meet her gaze. "Those eyes… Just as beautifully blue as they were in your past lives… So pure… So courageous… So… irresistible…" Knowing that Link wouldn't be able to do anything to stop her, Cia leaned in even closer, sensually pushing herself up against his body until her hands were pressed against his chest and her breath was caressing his neck. Even though he was paralyzed, she could still feel him tremble against her touch, as well as feel his heart pounding in his chest at her incredible closeness to her, his fear thrilling her more and more with each passing second.
"Yes…" Cia whispered as she closed her eyes and smiled contentedly, gently brushing her lips against his neck in soft, carnal kisses as the hero kept his eyes tightly shut so he wouldn't have to see, even though he could still feel the sensation that made his skin crawl. He had never felt more violated in his entire life, and yet, as much as he wanted to break free from her hold, he was absolutely powerless to. "Oh…" the black witch let out a heavy sigh as she moved her lips to his cheek, giving it a long, drawn out kiss. "My love…" she whispered softly, her voice seeming to tremble itself even despite her former confidence. "My hero…" Her hands began to move down the hero's chest slowly, her own heart swelling as he felt his muscles tense as she got lower and lower. "My Link…" Her voice was barely audible as her hands finally got to the point that they were far too low for his comfort, and even though Link was utterly restricted, he was not about to consent to what she seemed to want to do.
"S-stop!" he finally exclaimed nervously, his breathing tense as he did everything in his power to pull himself away from her, even if he still couldn't. And yet, much to his surprise, Cia complied for some reason, her hands moving from their uncomfortable position to the sides of his face instead.
"And still so innocent I see…" she said with a coy, playful laugh, knowing that she had gotten the better of him. "But all the same, I suppose there will be time for such things later…" At long last, the black witch finally let him go, breaking her spell upon him as she turned and walked away from him slowly, her hips deliberately sashaying all the while. "After all…" she said with a hint of darkness in her tone as she took her place before the Gate of Souls once more. "First things first…"
Looking to her still-glowing hand once more, Cia held out her palm as Link took up his defensive position once more, refusing to let her trap him like that again. However, he could only look on in confusion as a small golden triangle appeared floating above her hand, its aura shining brightly amidst the darkness filling the keep.
"The Triforce is resonating so powerfully with you here, Link…" the black witch said with greed in her tone rather than lust. "Just as I knew it would…"
The hero glared sharply at his foe, but before he could say anything, another voice finally interrupted them. "Link!" Sheik exclaimed, rushing towards him as fast as she could. She came to stop at his side, looking him over to make sure that he was unharmed, which, for the most part, he was. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Link said with a nod, masking well the disturbing experience he had just been through thanks to the black with. "I am."
However, less than a second after the Sheikah warrior entered into the keep, Cia's constant grin finally faded as she held her golden triangle, the Triforce of Power, out even more as its glow brightened almost two fold, the power radiating from it increasing dramatically. "Two…" she murmured to herself, clenching the piece of the golden power into her fist as her grin returned. "Oh, I see… And here I was thinking that I would have to go on a hunt for the last piece, but it turns out that you two have brought them both to me at once… That's certainly welcome news… Unfortunately, the ritual is not yet complete, so I'm afraid I'll have to keep you all at bay for just a little while longer…"
With another dark laugh, Cia quickly spun around to face the Gate of Souls once more, not even giving Link or Sheik, as well as Lana and Impa, who had just arrived at the entryway of the keep themselves, any time to react. An immense amount of dark energy began to pour forth from the gate as the black witch held up her hands up towards it, the Triforce of Power sparkling brightly upon the back of her hand. "Come forth, servant!" she commanded firmly, beckoning forth a new monster from the gate. "Come and send these wretched fools to their graves!"
As Cia spoke, the resounding quake centered in the middle of the valley began to rumble violently, prompting the group of warriors to quickly look over in that direction. From their high vantage point upon the summit, they were able to clearly see what manner of beast the black witch had called to the battlefield.
Four long, thorny plant-like stalks ripped forth from the dry earth, each one of them bearing a large head with a vicious, sharp-toothed maw, somewhat similar in appearance to a Deku Baba only much more dangerous. The stalks and heads were rooted to a thickly covered bulb, which did not root it to the ground, allowing it to move around slowly. The entire beast was covered in what appeared to be some sort of a metallic hide, making it difficult for the Hylian troops already working to attack it to do any sort of damage. The plant let out a deafening screech as it held one of its four heads high, launching a large, explosive seed in the direction of the allied base, which was only a few meters south of its position.
"It's a Manhandla!" Lana exclaimed with a gasp, informing the rest of the group about this new monster. "It's launching an attack on our base! We have to do something about it!"
Before anyone could say anything else however, they all heard Cia's wicked laughter coming from behind them, and yet, as they spun around to face her once more, they found that she had completely vanished.
"She got away!" Impa said with a scowl of aggravation.
"We'll deal with her later," Link said, already leading the way back down to the middle of the valley with his sword brandished. "Right now, we need to take that thing out!"
Without another moment's waste, everyone followed after the hero, rushing down towards Manhandla as it continued to rage around violently, spitting seeds at the allied base every few seconds. The creature's attack patterns were erratic, but certainly deadly as quickly spun around like a whirlwind, knocking every soldier in its path down and wounding, if not killing them all indefinitely. However, upon noticing the four warriors approach it, it quickly joined its four heads together before spitting a barrage of small seeds at them, quite a few of them making direct hits and causing minor burns upon contact. And yet, this certainly didn't stop any of them as they tried everything in their power to land a hit upon Manhandla, whose armored skin protected it from any and all harm. And yet, as soon as its seed attack was finished, its armor apparently seemed to briefly dissipate for a moment, revealing its organic green flesh before metal covered it once more, something that gave Proxi an idea the moment she saw it.
"Hey, Link!" the fairy said, flying in close to the hero as he fought. "Wait until that monster has exposed itself, right after it attacks, and then hit it with your boomerang! Maybe that will stun it enough for us to attack it!"
Link nodded in agreement with this advice and put it to good use as Manhandla held its four heads together, this time in a line, in preparation to lash out once more. Not missing a single beat, the hero swung the boomerang he had retrieved earlier and sure enough, it struck each of the heads in a quick succession. However, instead of the heads simply collapsing to the ground, they did something that was even more fortunate for the Hylian troops, they recoiled altogether and caused the shielding around its bulb to fall, revealing its internal weak point.
At once, all of the nearby soldiers, as well as Link, Lana, Sheik and Impa converged on the monster, knowing that they had a perfect opportunity to damage it. They attacked its weak point brutally, knowing from experience that they would only have a short amount of time do to so before it recovered.
When Manhandla finally did recover, it did so by spinning quickly, its heads righting themselves as it recovered its weak point and knocked all of its attackers away from it roughly. However, before the Hylian troops could attempt to strike it again, the entire beast suddenly plunged down into the rocky earth that it had come from, leaving not so much as a trace behind.
"That monster is still alive!" Proxi said, still able to sense Manhandla's presence somewhere in the battlefield. "I think it just fled underground for now, but it will be back!"
The fairy could not have spoken any more truthfully, for but a moment after she said this, about five Manhandla stalks, all independent of their base bulb, appeared in various portions of the battlefield, all of them spitting seeds towards the allied base at once with the hopes of damaging it. The Hylian troops all over the valley took note of this as they all rushed towards the nearest stalk without hesitation, all of them working to cut down the armorless plants.
"Keep calm!" Lana urged before the group of four split off to take down the stalks themselves. "If we hit the right stalk, the main body should pop out so we can end this!"
"What is this, hide-and-seek?" Impa asked in exaggeration, her giant blade already poised to attack as she cut down one of the stalks that had appeared only a few feet away from their location. "Fine! If we must, then we must!"
The group split up once more, each one heading to attack a different Manhandla stalk along with the rest of the soldiers. Sheik was the first to tear her respective stalk down, tearing through its thorny flesh with her kunais, only to see that it did little to bring the full creature back to the surface.
"This one wasn't it!" she exclaimed as loudly as she could so that her allies could hear her.
At the same time, Impa cut her blade through the head of another stalk, likewise seeing no results as it collapsed to the ground. "Neither was this one!"
Link ran his sword through yet another stalk, knowing that their numbers were running thin, especially as this one shriveled up and merely died like the rest of them. "Looks like there's only one left!" he called, and at that very moment, all three of them turned to see Lana take down the last Manhandla stalk with a burst of magic, the full body of the beast ripping forth from the earth almost immediately afterwards.
"Found it!" the white sorceress exclaimed with a bright grin. "It won't escape this time! We've got it right where we want it!"
After this juncture, the second half of the battle played out much like the first. Manhandla stuck to its old tactics once more, and the troops made sure to stay clear of it as it spun around or spread a field of poison around itself. Watching its moves carefully, Link tossed the boomerang towards it after its heads became vulnerable after another seed attack, and sure enough, the bulb peeled itself away once more. With its weak point open, the warriors all attacked it relentlessly, pounding away at it until Manhandla's heads shriveled up and the plant beast finally withered in defeat. The Hylian troops let out a triumphant cheer at their victory, but Link, Lana, Impa and Sheik knew that there was still an even bigger foe that had to be faced.
"Hurry!" Lana called to her allies as they began to rush back to the summit. "We have to get back to Cia immediately!"
Since the battlefield was now clear of the black witch's forces, returning to the summit keep was easy and quick. However, upon making it back to the lair of their foe, the four of them found that Cia was still nowhere in sight. The only thing there was the Gate of Souls, still swirling with darkness just as it had before.
The four of them didn't exchange any words or plans, just in case their enemy was watching them from nearby, which she certainly was. Instead, they all exchanged a resolved glance as they turned to look ahead to the Gate of Souls, knowing that if they were to close it, then it would finally stem the tide of monsters that had been viciously attacking Hyrule for weeks now.
Link was the first one to take a step towards the gate, however, the very moment he set his foot down, a sudden circle of darkness spread out upon the ground surrounding the group. Lana let out a gasp upon seeing this and quickly flipped high out of its path, already knowing that this was Cia's doing, but the hero and the two Sheikah women had not been as quick. As the white sorceress landed on the ground behind the circle, she watched with wide, worried eyes as dark energy flowed out from it, enveloping the trio as it somehow froze their feet in place, incapacitating them from escaping it.
"W-what is this?!" Impa demanded, trying to move as much as Link and Sheik were, but failing.
"Link, look!" Proxi called out to the hero as she flittered beside him. "Your hand!"
Already feeling the burst of warmth upon the back of his hand, Link lifted it to see the mark of the Triforce of Courage glowing brightly upon it, even moreso than it had the first time he had seen it weeks ago in Hyrule Field. However, the hero wasn't the only one to experience this phenomenon, as he glanced over and saw another piece of the Triforce, this time the lower left triangle, shimmering on the back of Sheik's hand. The Sheikah warrior's eyes were unreadable as she looked upon it, but both Impa and Link looked at her with absolute confusion and shock, especially the Sheikah guardian, whose mind was racing for an answer as to how Sheik had even obtained it.
"Sheik!" Lana exclaimed, having also noticed the two glowing Triforce marks on the backs of their bearers hands, though she didn't understand why they were reacting this much. "That's-"
However, before the white sorceress could finish, both the hero and the Sheikah warrior let out a unified cry of pain, both of them cringing from the sudden internal agony they were feeling, no doubt an effect of the dark magic circle they were trapped in. Impa did not feel such a sensation, but both Link and Sheik certainly did as the two of them doubled over, gasping in sharp pain as they felt as if something had reached inside of them and was savagely searching for something. And, no more than a moment after it had begun, the pain climaxed for both of them as this force drew something from deep within them both. The pieces of the Triforce on the backs of their hands flashed brightly until, with one more anguished pull, the Triforce of Courage was torn from Link and the third piece of the Triforce, the Triforce of Wisdom, was ripped away from Sheik. Though they were still stuck in place by the magic circle, the hero and the Sheikah warrior almost collapsed to the ground, both of them still immensely weakened and pained from the dark magic's effect on them as the lost pieces of the golden relic drifted away from them, and towards the one who had stolen them instead.
Cia let out a malicious laugh as she stepped forward from the Gate of Time, having reappeared to claim her prize. A thick dark aura surrounded her now as the two pieces of the Triforce glided over to her, joining their companion on the back of her hand and giving the black witch the complete Triforce.
"How nice of you to bring me the Triforce of Wisdom as well as the Triforce of Courage!" Cia said with another triumphant chuckle. "You don't know how happy this makes me… Especially since you were the one to bring them to me, my dear hero…" The black witch gave Link a flirtatious smile, but the hero remained on his guard as she stepped closer to all of them slowly, her footsteps echoing throughout the keep as tension began to mount. The magic circle finally dissipated and, since Link and Sheik had recovered enough, they both joined Impa in taking up an offensive stance against Cia, while Lana hesitated in doing so as she watched the black witch, whom she had once been so close to, with both dread and concern.
The black witch came to a stop as she held her hands, allowing the three unconnected pieces of the Triforce to hover over them as she looked at them with greed and delight. "Now, I finally have all three pieces…" she said as the ominous aura around her darkened even more. "How wonderful…"
With her dark smirk still apparent, Cia held her hands out as the Triforce levitated from her palms and joined together into its formal shape right above her. "Behold…" she said as her voice shook with excitement, her gaze locked solely on the hero as she knew that if what she was about to do didn't impress him than nothing would. "The majesty of the Triforce!"
The golden relic shined brightly as its power was put to use, something that the white sorceress immediately recognized as she looked towards the hero, fearing that the black witch intended to use its might to capture him or worse. "No!" Lana exclaimed fearfully as they all stared up at Cia and the Triforce in awe and dread. "Link! Run!" Before the hero could even protest, the white sorceress was quick to gasp him by the hand tightly, knowing that she had to lead him to safety before the black witch could get to him and subject him to her lustful desires.
As the ground started to shake violently, both Impa and Sheik also joined Link and Lana as they fled from the summit, knowing that Cia now wielded was too much for any of them to stand against right now. And so, instead, they simply retreated along with the rest of the Hylian troops, knowing that it was the only safe option they had right now.
All the while, the black witch continued to summon the power of the Triforce to act upon her wicked intentions. And, her already sinister grin deepened even more when she heard the telltale voice speaking to her from inside of her heart, giving her instructions on what to do now that the golden power was in her grasp. "Cia…" the dark voice whispered to her, though it seemed louder now than it ever had before. "The time to call forth the fragments of my spirit is NOW." The deep voice laughed wickedly in time with the black witch, whose excitement was uncontainable as she kept her hands aloft, still in completely command of the Triforce.
"Yes…" Cia answered, the eyes of her mask glowing a bright orange in response to the darkness in her heart. "I can feel them seeking me out… I shall reunite them once more…" Her wicked chuckle growing ever louder and wilder, the black witch thrust her hands up into the air, darkness pouring from the Gate of Souls behind her in excessive amounts as she let out a powerful shout. Power overwhelmed her, filling every fiber of her being, but Cia treasured the exhilarating feeling, having never known such immense strength before as she watched with triumph as both her magic and the might of the Triforce did their work.
Not pausing for a single second, Link, Lana, Sheik and Impa continued to hurry away from Cia and the summit, though they could all feel the intense amount of dark energy that was overtaking the land. None of them had any idea what the black witch was exactly doing now that the power of the Triforce was in her grasp, but they all knew that whatever her plans were, they certainly couldn't be good.
However, as a strong explosion of darkness emitted from behind them, none of them could help but stop in their tracks and finally turn around to see what was happening. All of them gasped in complete shock upon seeing the funnel of darkness swirling up from the summit, spiraling up even into the pitch black clouds covering the heavens all over the land. And, from this tunnel, a sudden shockwave began to plow out from the center of it, quickly spreading its course over the entire kingdom and rippling the ground and everything in it in its wake.
Lana's violet eyes widened upon seeing this wave getting closer and closer to their position with each passing second as it raced across Hyrule at a frightening speed. "Everyone!" she called to her allies as she turned around to face them. "Gather around me! Quick!"
Link, Sheik and Impa didn't hesitate to listen to her as they stepped closer to the white sorceress, who was quick to toss her tome of sorcery high up into the air, a blue glow emitting from it as Lana leaped gracefully up to catch it. As she did so, her hand sparkling with magical energy as she landed, casting a sturdy force field around the group the moment as touched the ground, just as the dark wave converged over them.
And it was at that moment, that absolute chaos erupted.
From within the safety of the energy field, the hero, the white sorceress, and the two Sheikahs watched with absolute awe as the world shifted and twisted all around them. Time and nature itself seemed to collapse as the dark energy changed everything it touched, making everything hazy and burred for what seemed like ages. That is, until it's intended effects upon the kingdom could finally be seen.
From the darkened skies above, a large island began to sink down from one of the portals that the energy wave had created. However, this land mass, which seemed to bear a large town upon it, was not surrounded by water, but rather suspended within the sky itself. The ground directly below it, which was to the north west of Hyrule Castle, was completely reformed as the shockwave spread over it, changing from the grassy plains it had once been into a deep, spiraling pit surrounded by a lush forest, an ancient temple standing directly before it.
The outer forests near Faron Woods, to the south of the Valley of Seers, lost its natural lushness as a rock mountain range engulfed it, topping off in a central mountain surrounded by a circular cloud of smoke. To the east of this, a large lake appeared out of once dry land, a treacherous temple buried deep underneath of it.
The fields southwest of the castle were suddenly engulfed in shadows as the land transformed, coloring the blue skies above the golden colors of Twilight. A long stone bridge formed over a vast chasm that had been impassable for many years, and a small village rose up as well. Just to the north of this, a gateway to an entirely different world, one that was eternally drenched in Twilight, appeared out of nowhere, much like the rest of the changes that had just shaken up the kingdom entirely.
All the group of four could do as they looked out across the transformed Hyrule was stare in shock at the signs of eras long gone by, somehow restored and returned to the kingdom just as they were when they had been present. Somehow, Cia had cause time itself to converge, uniting both past and present all at once.
"Gate of Souls…" the dark voice called out from the black witch, who still remained at the summit, feeling the immense aftereffects of pouring out so much energy at once. "Hear my voice… And open! At last, my spirit will be freed!"
With an huge amount of dark magic still swirling around her and through her body, Cia, who was not entirely in control of her own actions at the moment, held her hands high into the air, forming an orb of evil energy before quickly letting it loose across the land. The orb shot high into the air, splitting in three and skyrocketing into the other eras that she had summoned using the Triforce.
One piece of the orb sped through the halls of the Water Temple, lying in the depths of Lake Hylia in the era of the Hero of Time, before bursting inside of its central chamber, creating another Gate of Souls. Likewise, another gate was formed within the throne room of the Palace of Twilight, which stood within the Twilight Realm split off from Hyrule. The last Gate of Souls formed within right before the legendary Gate of Time within the Sealed Temple of the long forgotten era of the goddess Hylia.
The residual darkness that poured from all of these gates immediately stirred up the evil lying in wait within the three stone coffins that rested before them while all manner of monsters were summoned to guard them in every era. As this was happening, the chains barring the split pieces of the spirit of evil were broken, finally freeing the malevolent force that had been kept at bay for generations. With all of the eras joined together, nothing was keeping the fragments of the evil spirit from racing from their former prisons and meeting together directly above the black witch within a matter of moments.
The dark force inside of Cia swelled with evil excitement as the three pieces of the wicked spirit circled above the black witch's head as she held her hands up, before they all converged and struck her, making her their new host. Cia let out a brief cry of pain and doubled over at this, clutching her chest as the intense power their possessed poured through her body, but her agony was very brief as she began to recover, breathing heavily as she listened to the voice speaking solely to her, no longer a mere whisper as it had been before as it spoke to every single fiber of her being.
"Excellent work, child…" the evil presence said with a dark, triumphant chuckle, knowing it was one step closer to its ultimate revival. "Three fragments of my spirit have been returned… The only piece that remains is the one trapped by the Master Sword, and once it is free, you will certainly have your hero you desire so…"
Cia joined the voice in a dark, sinister laugh as she lifted her head, flames of darkness surrounding her form as the eyes of her mask began to glow ominously once more. "Yes…" she whispered, her body tingling with excitement as she remembered just how close she had been to claiming the hero as her own. And, now that she wielded such power, he was perhaps the only thing that she lacked, but she knew that he could not evade her forever. Even if he did not love her yet, she would destroy everything that kept him from her, and she would make him her own once and for all. "He will be mine and mine alone…" she said distantly, her heavy lust blinding her from the hidden evil intent of her supposed benefactor. "No matter what I have to do…"
Yay! All the eras have been joined together! Also Cia! Yay! I hope I didn't lay it on too thick with her trying seduce Link and all, but I have to say that was actually my favorite part of the chapter to write! Haha! What can I say? I ship it! Anyway, you all better believe that this isn't the last we're gonna see of Cia, since I have big plans for one of my favorite HW characters! But, for next time, we're gonna have a bit of a break chapter before everyone splits off and whatnot, with relatively little fighting and mostly character development and a chance for our heroes to breathe. Anyway, I'd just like to say before I go that I loved hearing all of your suggestions for characters from the different games, and while I'm sorry to say that I can't put EVERYONE you guys suggested in here, I have planned a few guest appearances out, so keep you eyes open for them! But for now, I'd like to ask you guys another question, as I think will become my new tradition with this story, since you all are such responsive reviews: Who is your favorite character to play as in Hyrule Warriros and why? My personal favorites include Sheik (she's so fast), Twili Midna (Incredibly powerful!), and Link (because he's my bae). So, feel free to let me know in the REVIEWS! Until next time!