GUYS, I AM SO SORRY! T.T I have no excuse for the ridiculous length of time it's taken for me to upload this (other than the usual 'college/university is time-consuming' waffle - my chosen uni course is VERY intensive though haha), and I feel HORRIBLE about it...

If there's anyone still around I apologise PROFUSELY, I really am so, so sorry! I've left it so long that I was actually putting off uploading this chapter (I've had it mostly written for a good few months...) just because I was so mortified about the wait, and was really nervous about posting it... but I decided I had to bite the bullet! Because as I said, I don't intend on stopping this fic (at least without giving everyone good warning of it)!

There's a very brief summary of chapters 1-4 (all key info included) at the start of chapter five, and here's a brief summary of chapter 5:

'The bad weather forced the heroes to change strategy, only a select few being sent to the castle instead of the whole group (this included SS Link, Groose, Zelda, Midna, Pit, Palutena, Kirby, Sonic, Metaknight and the Loftwings). The others wait behind, awaiting instructions. On their way they encounter the trapped Epona, who, despite having no injuries, is covered in blood. In her saddle bag they find a sheet of paper indicating the Villains know that a Triforce of Power is in Skyloft. The word 'Demise' is also written on the back...'

So here's the next chapter, sorry if it's terrible, I just really wanted to get this chapter out ASAP! T.T

Warnings: Fairly heavy violence/injuries.

NOTE: I've actually updated the rating to "M" just because I was worried about the content not being T - fairly certain its not going by the age rating descriptions lol. Sorry for the inconvenience.

If there's still anyone around please review! I got a few more reviews in my absence and they were what ultimately motivated me to stop being a scaredy-cat and just upload this! Thank you for any new reviews/followers recently as well!

Everything was white. There were no walls, no ceiling, no floor; just an empty expanse of space.

Link found himself standing in the middle of the vast area, alone. He felt he should be anxious in such a place, but instead he was completely at ease. He glanced around, his confusion growing. Was this a dream? No… perhaps something similar, but it felt…odd.

"Who are you?"

A voice suddenly echoed from behind him. He turned around quickly, startled. His gaze was met by a man standing only a few feet away from him. Where had he come from? Surely Link should have seen or heard him approaching in such a place.

The man started walking forward. He had blonde, messy hair and piercing blue eyes. He was older than link, maybe in his mid-twenties, and he was wearing a green tunic much like Link's own. A red cloak was draped around his shoulders, which were both covered in gold pauldrons. He paused a moment and looked directly into Link's eyes. He was intimidating.

Suddenly, he took a step back. "Ah," he sighed, "never mind. I know who you are. Hylia kept her word." He stood silently for a few moments, looking Link up and down.

"Who…who are you?" Link asked hesitantly.

The man's head jerked up to look Link in the eyes once more.

"If you… don't mind me asking," he added hastily.

A small smile crept onto the man's face. "Link," he said simply.

So he was another Link.

"You probably already guessed that though," he continued, "so I'll assume your question meant which Link am I? To which I'll answer, the first. Hylia's first 'chosen hero.'" He said the last words with a hint of sarcasm.

A low rumble resonated around the area.

The first hero looked up before looking at Link again. "I assume the world is in turmoil once again…" he said, sounding unsurprised, "That is why we have been brought together."

Link nodded in response.

"Why is it we are incapable of keeping peace?" the first hero sighed, irritation clear from his tone. He started to walk forward. "People will never learn, they care not for the land they live on but only for the contents of their pockets, their houses. Evil will always remain in a world like that, and while that evil remains, there will be a use for Hylia's heroes." The hero stopped in front of Link. He leaned down so their eyes were level.

Link looked sheepishly at him. He knew he wasn't being blamed, but he couldn't help feel guilty at the heroes' words.

The older Link suddenly jabbed him in the chest with a finger, his expression turning very grim. "Do not let go of this," he said sternly, "The spirit that you hold here. It is of grave importance."

Link was about to ask what he meant when another loud rumble caused them both to look up.

The hero straightened up. He looked back at Link and his expression suddenly softened. He didn't look quite as threatening. He placed a hand on Link's head. "I am sorry that you have been dragged into this conflict. Please keep the land of Hyrule safe…"

Link awoke abruptly, swinging himself into an upright position. His breathing came in sharp gasps, and there was a dull ache in his chest that was no match for the searing pain at the back of his head. Ghirahim had hit him harder than he had initially thought.

He placed his right hand on the wall to steady himself as he gingerly got to his feet. An abrupt roll of thunder from above had him instinctively look up, his eyes only meeting the stone ceiling of his dungeon cell.

Spirit… he thought, wracking his brains for some sort of answer to the first heroes' warning. He soon stopped his pondering, as all he had accomplished was causing the throbbing in his head to increase in severity. Maybe he should just take it easy for now.

Something moved in the corner of his eye. He swiftly turned his gaze to a cell on the other side of the corridor. Carefully, he walked over to the right hand corner of his own cell, getting a better look at the one diagonally across from it. It was so dark he could barely see anything, but something had definitely moved. Maybe he wasn't the only one down here.

He stared for a few minutes until he saw a shadowy figure shift on the ground. There was definitely someone there. Or maybe something.

Link didn't ponder on that thought for too long. He stood still for a moment, wondering what to do. He ultimately decided to try and talk to this individual. It's not like he had anything better to do in there anyway, except for wait until someone turned up to no doubt interrogate him again. Or worse.

Link pushed that thought to the side also. It wasn't like him to be so negative.

He cautiously made his way over to his cell's bars and peered hesitantly across the hall.

"Hello?" he whispered tentatively.

The figure shifted slightly.

"Are…you okay?" he continued, squinting to get a better look in the darkness of the prison. He waited patiently for a reply.

After what seemed like an eternity, the person shifted again and a hoarse, woman's voice emanated through the air. "…Link?"

Link's eyes widened. This person knew him. The voice sounded familiar… He stood quietly for a moment, brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to place it.

It was no good. He was drawing a blank and his headache was only getting worse. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Who-?"

Link was cut short by a something suddenly clasping over his mouth from behind. He stumbled backwards into the creature behind him, who then grabbed his left wrist. Pain shot up his arm from the injury his hand had sustained in the first assault on the castle. He yelled, but the sound was muffled by the white gloved hand.

"Now, now, I think that's enough conversation, don't you?" Ghirahim sighed, as he dragged Link further away from the bars.

Link struggled, but all that earned him was a tighter grip on his wrist. He was suddenly very aware of the Demon Lords breath at the back of his neck. He shuddered.

Ghirahim leaned in closer to Link's ear. "I think it's time we had some fun…" he hissed.

It had suddenly become very dark. Unnaturally so.

Zelda had lit one of Link's arrows with magic and was holding it out in front of her like a torch, tilting it slightly towards the ground so she could see where she was stepping. The rest of the soldiers followed in single file.

Epona walked behind them all, occasionally stopping to investigate a plant or animal that crossed their path. She had calmed down considerably since her run-in with the wire, most likely content in the thought that she was bringing help to her Master.

The storm had become so intense that the loftwings couldn't even get 5 metres past the tree tops without getting buffeted back down into the forest. They were forced to continue on foot, throwing most of their plans into disarray.

The forest was quiet. No one had said a word since they found the message in Epona's saddle bag - they simply marched on in silence.

Link felt sick. Not only did they have more villains to deal with than they had originally thought, but the other Link was still stuck in the castle with them. Injured too, going by the evidence Epona had brought back. To top it all off, the sense of foreboding Link had felt when he awoke from the nightmare that morning hadn't left him. In fact, it was getting worse with each step he took closer to the castle. He absentmindedly rubbed his chest, where a dull ache had begun once again. Despite not being able to pinpoint exactly what was troubling him, he knew for certain that the other Link was in serious danger. He wasn't sure how he knew - call it a sixth sense.

"Ehh, hello?" A voice from his right questioned.

"Huh? What?" Link muttered stupidly, as he stopped abruptly.

Pit crashed into his back. "Careful!" he exclaimed.

"Are you… all right?" the voice to the right continued.

Link turned to look at the little blue hedgehog, who was frowning at him.

"Eh, yeah, fine…" Link said, waving a hand at Sonic as he started walking on again.

"You don't look it," pointed out Groose, who had suddenly appeared on his left.

"Neither do you, if you don't mind me saying," Link responded, a weak attempt at a smirk on his face, "and since when do you care about my wellbeing?"

Groose gave Link a playful punch on the shoulder. Unfortunately, he was unaware of his own strength and ended up pushing Link a considerable distance. "If I don't get you back to Zelda safely she'll kill me."

"Oh so that's what you're worried about," smiled Link, giving him a small jab in the ribs.

They continued on in silence for a few more metres. Kirby had decided to hitch a ride on Link's loftwing, who was considerably well behaved considering there was a little pink blob hopping up and down on its back.

"We should be there soon," Zelda suddenly called out from up ahead.

Link stiffened, fists clenched as he walked on. His loftwing, obviously sensing his unease, gently nuzzled the side of his face with its beak.

Link raised a hand to stroke it in appreciation. The creature always had had a rather calming presence. With new found energy, Link continued on towards their destination.

Ghirahim's teleportation had left Link feeling extremely dizzy. They stood outside the room he had hidden in earlier that day; the place the villains seemed to have claimed as their base of operations.

Ghirahim moved his hand away from Link's mouth and instead clasped his jaw, allowing the hero to breathe more efficiently. "Can't have you passing out now, can we?" he said, his tone mimicking that of which you'd use to speak to a child.

Link took a few breaths to steady himself before the door swung open and he was shoved into the room. A slam and a click from behind confirmed that he was now locked in a room full of people who wanted nothing more than to see him dead.

He frowned as he looked around, the dim lighting from a few scattered lanterns making it difficult to make out faces. His eyes soon adjusted and he was clearly able to see the eight people surrounding him. Link's heart sank. There was no way he could take them all on at once, even if he did have a weapon to defend himself.

At that moment he noticed the Master Sword resting on the table, the flames from the lamps bouncing off the reflective surface of the blade. If only he could somehow find a way to grab it… Even if having it in his possession didn't make a difference to his chance of survival, he'd still feel better with the familiar hilt clasped in his hand.

A soft shuffling directed his attention upwards.

Demise stood at the top of the circular table. His eyes met Link's but he didn't respond to his presence in any other way. The Demon King was huge. At least twice the height of Link, his head almost touching the top of the low ceiling. He looked even more imposing than he had from the closet, if that was possible.

Link quickly looked away from Demise before his growing sense of unease had a chance to show on his face.

To the right of the Demon King stood King Dedede, Hades and Bowser. Dr. Eggman was sitting at the back of the room typing away on some technical device, seemingly unaware that the hero had even entered the room. To the left of Demise were Ghirahim, Dark Pit and Dark Link. Dark Pit scowled slightly at Link, as if irritated his previous generosity had been wasted. However, it was the sight of Link's own doppelganger that drew his attention the most.

Dark Link had his arms folded in front of him, his red eyes boring into Link's own, a disgusted look on his face. He took a few steps toward Link, who clenched his fists but stood his ground.

Ghirahim thrust a hand out in front of Dark Link, halting his advances. "You can mess with him to your heart's content later," said the Demon Lord sternly, "but we have more pressing matters to attend to now. Can't have you killing him before we complete the tasks."

Link couldn't help but notice that Ghirahim had used the plural. What exactly did they want?

Before he could ponder it anymore, the Demon Lord vanished, and a split second later Link felt something smash into the back of his legs, forcing him to his knees. He grunted as they made contact with the ground beneath him. Ghirahim snatched up both of Link's wrists and held them behind the heroes back with one of his hands, the other held Link's jaw forcing him to look up at Demise, who was now quickly approaching him.

Link scowled at the Demon King, for no reason other than it made him feel slightly better about the situation. Whatever they had planned, he wasn't going down without a fight.

Demise stopped in front of him. He looked down at the hero momentarily, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

"Spirit first," he boomed, his voice bouncing off the walls, "It may take more than one attempt."

"Yes, Master," Ghirahim replied, delight evident from his tone. He tightened his grip on Link's wrists.

Link pulled away from him slightly in protest, glaring behind him. A hand on his chest soon directed his attention back to Demise.

The spirit that you hold here. It is of grave importance.

The first hero's words echoed in Link's mind. Everything began to click. Memories from childhood stories about the first hero came flooding back. Hylia had promised to let the heroic spirit live on in future heroes. For it to be passed on from hero to hero, as long as the land of Hyrule was in need of one.

Break the spirit, break the cycle.

Horror struck Link as he realised what was to come. He pulled away from Demise with every ounce of energy he had left; but it wasn't enough. Ghirahim tightened his hold once again, chuckling softly at Link's rising panic.

Link desperately sought a solution, but it was in vain. Time was up.

Demise's hand glowed with magic.

Link collapsed. He curled up on the ground, his right hand clutched his chest where an odd pain had suddenly taken hold. He felt like someone had struck him with a fist and run him through with a blade simultaneously.

"Hey!" Pit yelled, running towards him, "you okay?"

A soft grunt was all Link managed to utter in response. Heavy footsteps shook the ground as the rest of the group ran to him. He heard them muttering frantically amongst themselves, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

After a couple of moments the pain began to recede gradually. Link loosened his grip on his shirt and began breathing more slowly. He opened his eyes to see Zelda's face hovering above his own.

He carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position, feeling Zelda's hand on his back to support him.

"What is it?" Midna asked anxiously, her eyes glowing slightly in the dark of the forest.

"We have to… hurry…" Link panted, still trying to catch his breath, "Link… something's wrong…"

Zelda looked down at Link's hand, still rested on his upper body.

Midna knelt down beside Link, and placed a hand over his. He flinched slightly at her touch. She was freezing.

"Did you feel discomfort here?" she asked quickly.

Link nodded.

Midna's expression didn't change at all as she looked up at Zelda. Link couldn't help but feel like they were having some sort of silent conversation. That, and that they knew more than they were letting on about the whole situation they had found themselves in.

"No…" Zelda whispered, "It can't be…"

"What? What is it?" Link questioned, his panic rising.

"Sonic!" Zelda called, "scout on ahead and make sure the path is clear all the way up to the castle. We're running the rest of the way."

"On it!" replied Sonic, as he completely vanished from sight, the only evidence he moved at all being the rustling undergrowth ahead.

Zelda turned to Link, her expression an equal measure of worry and urgency. "We think they're trying to break the heroes' spirit cycle."

Link lay on the floor, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Ghirahim had let him go as soon as Demise had finished his attempt at 'breaking the spirit'. He lay for a few seconds before he desperately attempted to push himself up. His energy reserves were dangerously low, and he only managed to lift himself up a few inches before he fell back to the cold floor. His chest still ached as if someone had hit him repeatedly in the same spot, over and over. This was not going well.

"Did it work?" asked Dark Pit, hesitantly.

"No," stated Demise, as he walked back towards the table.

Ghirahim took a few steps forward so his feet were in Link's line of sight. "It appears we may have to try break it the old fashioned way," he said, too cheerfully for Link's liking.

"Yes… I will leave that task to you. Do not fail me," Demise threatened in response.

Ghirahim gave a low bow. "Yes, Master."

"Dark Link!" roared Demise.

Dark Link jumped on the spot, his expression apprehensive. "Yes?"

"Since you are so eager, I'll leave the next part to you." Demise sat down on his chair at the end of the table and stretched out slightly.

Dark Link hesitated for a moment before a smile spread across his face. "Fine by me."

Link looked to side to see Dark Link approaching keenly.

Ghirahim took a step back to give him room. "Try not to make a mess, hmm?" the Demon Lord suggested.

"Shut it," muttered the doppelganger, as he roughly grasped Link's left shoulder and dragged him a few feet forward so he was lying on a metal grate.

Link managed to push himself up onto his hands and knees, ignoring the various aches and pains. He looked warily down between the iron bars. It was pitch black. Nothing could be seen. It looked like one of those bottomless pits from various myths and legends. Whatever it was, it couldn't be a good thing.

"Hurry it up now, some of us have places to be!" Hades chirped, seemingly in very good spirits. The God of the Underworld had been rather quiet up until this point. Link wasn't as intimidated by him as some of the others in the room, which he found odd since he was fairly certain a God was a lot more powerful than anyone else there.

"Yes, okay!" sighed Dark Link, not happy about being rushed.

Link didn't even realise anything had happened. He saw a crimson liquid trickle through the cracks over the pit, pooling a little on the flat metal bands of the grid. It was then Link noticed the glint of the blade that had been run through him.

Dark Link bent down to Link's face, his hand still on the hilt of the sword. "Sorry," he snarled, clearly not 'sorry' at all. He roughly pulled the weapon out of Link's stomach.

Link cried out in agony as he fell to the ground once more, arms wrapped around his midsection. He watched through one squinted eye as his blood flowed into the abyss beneath. The room grew dimmer as he felt his consciousness begin to slip away.

There was a loud grumble from below.

It all happened so fast it was hard to register. Link was flung to the side, narrowly missing Ghirahim as he hit the wall. The grate had been thrown open. Silence followed.

Everyone stood quietly in anticipation, Link's gasping the only sound audible. He watched as a hand came over the edge of the hole in the ground, followed by a second one. A being a little shorter than Demise pulled itself up into the room. It stood at the edge of the crater, breathing heavily until it made its way toward Link. It stopped in front of him.

Link looked up to see the shadow looking down at him, its golden eyes cutting through the darkness.

"Thank you for your generous offering for my sake, hero. What will the princess think when she realises how much you have failed her?"

The voice was unmistakable.

Ganondorf.

Link tried desperately to remain awake but everything was getting darker and darker, clear words becoming constant buzzing, the overwhelming metallic smell of blood the only thing not fading. He was faintly aware of someone harshly throwing him over their shoulder. He quickly stifled a gasp, not wanting to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing the distress he was in.

The next few moments were a blur. He had come to the conclusion it was Ghirahim who had picked him up since it was only a few seconds before he was unforgivingly thrown to the ground in his cell. The anguish he felt continued to worsen until he started to wish unconsciousness would take him. He started to shiver as an icy wave washed over him.

Just when he thought he was finally blacking out, he noticed a small pink creature rush past his face. A fairy.

It landed on Link's stomach and the pain immediately began to lessen. Link felt his body relax as the fairy quickly healed his injury.

"That's quite enough," Ghirahim indicated, as he grabbed the fairy by the wings and pulled it away from Link, "we just need to keep him alive, nothing more."

Link almost reached out to grab the fairy back, very aware that the wound he had sustained was still bleeding out. Instead, he lay hopelessly on the floor, wondering how on earth he was going to get out of this mess.

Ghirahim sighed. "It's a shame my Master wants you and the princess alive for the Triforce ceremony… Letting one of your kind live is something likely to backfire." Something slipped into the Demon Lords tone on his last sentence. Regret? "Poor hero… if it was up to me you'd most certainly be dead by now. Unfortunately, my Master isn't so giving."

Link tilted his head slightly so he was looking into the Demon Lords eyes. He mustered all of the hate he possibly could into his glare.

The Demon Lord chuckled. "Seems you still have some fight. Though I'd expect nothing less. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some very important business to attend to."

And with that he was gone, leaving Link to wonder what this 'business' was.

And there we go! I apologise again for the delay... sorry also for any typos or weird grammar, it's late over here and I haven't written in a while... ^^"

Also, the whole 'blood resurrection' thing was from Zelda II, in case anyone was wondering where that came from lol.

Please leave a review if you'd like! It motivates me to keep writing!