Chapter 20
Into the Legend
Gandalf led the company down the mountain, while Aragorn was comforting the princess. After a long day's journey, they finally reached Kakariko once again. As they prepared camp, Zelda remained by herself in tears. Gandalf walked over to her.
"It was a sacrifice that had to be made; even now the twilight over this region is dissipating. Your brother shall be with us, always. He is in the Force now." He said.
Zelda nodded as she wiped away a tear.
"I know, Master Gandalf. My brother made a noble stand today. I will do my best to take his place and become a Jedi." She said with a small smile.
Gandalf laughed.
"Good, what was next on Link's agenda?' he asked but gave a sharp intake of breath when he saw a bright blue luminescent being appear out of the woods.
It was none other than Link! Everybody came running over with smiles, with the exception of Ganondorf, who was snickering in a dark corner.
"They're all fools, I tell you, fools!" He ranted.
"Colin, you are to be the new Hero of Hyrule." Link said with a smile as he placed both his hands over Colin's.
Colin looked shocked.
"I can't be the new hero, I'm not as courageous as you!" he sputtered.
"I think not, all the evidence points to the contrary, young hero." Link replied.
"What evidence?" Colin asked in suspicion.
Link ordered him to show his right hand. Colin did as ordered and nearly fainted when he saw the Triforce of Courage shining brightly on the back of it!
"Well, bless my beard; he is indeed the chosen Hero. That certainly explains his shocking display of the Force earlier." Gandalf laughed as he scratched his beard.
All of a sudden there was a brilliant flash of light in the sky and a terrific yell of surprise. Moments later, a strangely clad teenager fell by Gandalf's feet. The wizard bent down to see if the teen was okay, and to his surprise the teen opened his eyes, only to close them again and open them wide with a wide mouth.
"Olorin?! Great Scott! I've landed myself in my story! Oh, no! I'm in my story, that's a paradox! The story can't go on!" the teen rambled.
Gandalf gently shook the teen by the shoulders.
"It's alright son, you're safe with us; we are Jedi, servers of Peace." He said with a smile.
"Olorin, I know all about you guys. You are all in what we teens of the 21st century like to call a 'fan-fic.' I took all of you guys from all your different stories and made my own story. Well, that was until I got ripped from my reality into this one!" the teen said with a shudder.
"I need to contact Grand Master Skywalker at once! This could only be Jacen and Lumiya's doing! Of all my wildest dreams, I never thought he would stoop to this!" the teen ordered.
Aragorn rolled his eyes and activated the holonet. A few moments later, Luke's image appeared, and the teen grew all giddy with excitement.
"It's actually Luke Skywalker! I can't believe I'm actually meeting him!" the teen said as he jumped up and down.
Luke raised an eyebrow at Aragorn. Aragorn gave Luke a reassuring smile.
"Luke we have some bad news, some good news, and some slightly unnerving news. Which do you want first?" Aragorn chuckled.
"Where's Link? I wish to speak with him first." Luke replied
"Well, that's kind of the bad news. He joined the Force and let Jacen kill him, like Old Ben Kenobi did on the 1st Death Star when he confronted Vader." Aragorn explained.
Luke took a huge intake of breath in shock.
"Jacen killed Link?! He truly has become a Sith, then. What's the good news?" Luke said finally.
Aragorn gave Link an imperceptible nod. Link stepped forward into the holo to Luke's sheer amazement.
"Greetings Master Skywalker. I was successful in my mission. I have joined the Force like your father before you, and your two previous masters, Obi-wan Kenobi and Yoda. I am the good news! Sorry about my sacrifice and all, but the Force told me it was my destiny, and all. You know how that goes, right?" Link chuckled.
Luke nodded and raised his eyes to the young teen with wide eyes and filled with excitement.
"I guess you're the slightly unnerving news, Who are you, and what are you doing in the company of my fellow Jedi?" Luke asked.
The teen bowed deeply before the holo.
"Grand Master Skywalker, you might not believe this, but, I am the author of this story." The teen replied.
Luke burst into laughter.
"Right, and I'm a Sith Lord!" Luke laughed some more.
The teen just blinked.
"I am being utterly serious here farm-boy! You must listen to me, before it's too late!" the teen begged.
Luke grew calm once more.
"I will listen to this tale of yours, go on." He instructed.
The teen nodded.
"My name is Stephen Sheridan; I come from the 21st century of Earth. I am an author of what many people in my time would call fan fiction. All of you: Jedi, Wizard, Hero, Princess, King, Hobbit, Elf, and all the other creatures from Hyrule, Middle Earth, Narnia, and the Jedi galaxies you have befriended were drawn together by me alone. I chose to write a story about all of these worlds combined. I was just about to write the next chapter when I was snatched out of my bedroom and thrown into the space-time continuum and landed at Olorin's feet. I can only surmise it was Jacen who discovered my presence and caused this to happen. It looks like I am stuck here for the time being, and this could be highly dangerous for all of you, since now there is no author to this story, except for a conniving pair of Sith." Stephen finished.
Luke stroked his chin.
"This is bad. This is worse than I could have ever imagined. Jacen must be stopped." Luke said.
All of a sudden Stephen paled.
"What is it?" Luke asked in concern.
"Uh, it's nothing, really. Is Mara with you?" the teen asked nervously.
"Stephen, what about Mara?" Luke demanded.
"Well, um, in my reality, there is a series of 'Star Wars' books out called Legacy of the Force. In the series, Jacen becomes a Sith Lord, just like your Jacen. Towards the middle of the series, he has to make a sacrifice of a loved one close to him to fully become a Sith." Stephen paused not ready to go on.
"He kills Mara doesn't he?" Luke said in terror.
Stephen nodded his head.
"Yeah, he was originally going to kill Han and Leia…" the teen explained.
"He was going to kill his own parents?! He truly has embraced the Dark Side!" Luke yelped.
"Well, that was the Jacen in the books written in my reality. I based your Jacen off of him, so I'm not too positive if he is willing to kill Mara, or Han and Leia. Although he was willing to kill a friend and a Jedi Master…" Stephen continued.
Luke ran a hand through his hair and suddenly looked very tired. This was completely out of character for the Jedi Grand Master. He hadn't felt this much Dark Side energy since the Rebellion.
"Stephen, how much do you know of this Lumiya?" Luke suddenly asked.
"Well, she was trained by Vader, and shortly after tried to discredit you from the Rebellion, but you shot her down in a dogfight when you used the Force to find the enemy. Years later you had various encounters with her, but she hasn't shown up for a while until 40 years after the Battle of Yavin. Now she is trying to trick Jacen into thinking he can restore peace to the Galaxy by becoming a Sith Lord. Oh, and she told him Vergere was a Sith, not sure if that was a lie, or what. But that is all from my reality, not yours." Stephen explained.
Luke ran a hand through his hair as he took it all in.
"So, in your 'reality' we are all just 'fictional' characters?" Luke asked in clarification.
The young teen nodded, and suddenly let out a gasp of shock when he spotted Ganondorf. After a moment the teen regained his composure and smiled as he walked over to the chained man.
"I have long waited this moment! Face to face with the so-called Dark Lord Ganondorf! Ooh, I am so afraid! What're you going to do, kill me with a fireball? Save me!" the teen laughed in Dragmire's face as the man sneered.
"Boy, do you know who 'I' am?!" Ganondorf cackled.
"Yeah, sure I do. You were once a powerful Dark Lord who planned to take over Hyrule time immemorial, only to be defeated by the Hero of Hyrule and Zelda. Now, you're just a sniveling prisoner to the Jedi." Stephen said with a shrug as he began to turn back to the others.
Just as the teen was about to continue his discussion with Luke, there was a brilliant flash of red light. The teen gulped as he turned around, knowing full well what he was about to see. To all the others' shock Ganondorf was hovering in the air over his chains and had Colin in a crystal. The teen couldn't hold it in any longer and was on the ground in laughter.
"Why does it always have to be a crystal?" Stephen managed as he stopped laughing.
Ganondorf hovered over to the boy as his eyes gleamed red. He roughly grabbed the teen by the collar of his shirt and drew his face to the teens'.
"I'm not afraid of you, pig-faced loser! I know your destiny! It's always the same, time after time!" the teen grinned.
Zelda was eying the teen with fear in her eyes. Link put his hand over hers.
"It's going to be all right, Zel. There is something special about this teen. He may not be strong in the Force like us, Jedi; but the Force has a plan for him, whether for good or evil." Link said as he smiled at Olorin.
Gandalf nodded as he thought of the long adventure of the Fellowship and the subsequent War of the Ring. All of a sudden there was a terrific explosion. All of the company looked up to see Colin hovering in the air behind Ganondorf, who was attempting to choke Stephen and was unaware of Colin's escape, the boy gave Link a wink as he slowly landed on the ground.
"What did you call me?!" Ganondorf demanded.
The teen just chuckled.
"You hear me, need I further insult you? Oh, and it looks like your prisoner escaped." Stephen snickered.
Ganondorf was still looking for a comeback and at first missed the last part.
"Well you're a- What? ESCAPED?! That's not possible!" He screeched in rage as he flew down to the ground forgetting the author for the moment. Stephen floated down to the ground and landed in a small mound of hay with Gandalf's use of the Force. He got up, dusted himself off, and nodded his thanks at the wizard.
Ganondorf was standing on the ground now, with all of the Jedi Masters moving towards him at a speed he was far too uncomfortable with. He was backing up now with his hands raised in surrender, while sweat was pouring down his sickly green face in propulsion.
"Look it, Jedi, can't we all get along?" he tried with a forced laugh.
"I suppose so… NOT!!!!!!" Zelda laughed as she drew close with her lightsaber glowing slivers from his neck.
"Zelda, we've had tea together, remember?" Ganondorf tried.
"Yeah, when I was imprisoned in a tower, you jerk! You're not fooling anyone! I should have killed you ages ago!" Zelda laughed as she tickled the hairs on his neck with her violet beam.
Ganondorf was kneeling before the Princess now, begging for his life.
"Well, in all my years, I never thought I see this sight! Ganondorf begging Zelda for his life! Never in a million years did I dream this would happen! Who's the tough one now, Ganny?!" Stephen laughed.
Link motioned for the teen to stop. Stephen nodded his apologies. Zelda let out a low, inaudible to all but her brother, sigh as she shut down her blade.
"Ganondorf, I thought you said you weren't our enemy." She said simply.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Link whispered suddenly, causing all eyes to be on him.
"What is it Link? Did the Force tell you that?" Zelda said as she walked over to him.
"I believe the Force is telling us to trust Ganondorf, however dastardly he seems." Link replied thoughtfully.
Gandalf nodded in understanding. It seemed to him, like Ganondorf was the lesser of many evils, and had to be trusted until the Sith were driven out of Hyrule. He dug in his pouch for his long wooden pipe of old and some Old Toby and began to produce some of his legendary smoke rings. The old wizard began to pace and mutter under his breath.
"What do you advise Master Strider?" Zelda asked her companion.
Aragorn stroked his beard for a while before answering.
"I advise we trust Ganondorf," he began as Ganondorf smiled that evil smile of his.
"For now, at least." Aragorn quickly finished with a glare in Ganondorf's direction.
Ganondorf got up with a chuckle. It was about time these fools put their trust in him.
"Ha! You are all fools! I shall now destroy you all! Wahahaha!" he laughed.
All the Jedi ignited their lightsabers and simply looked at him.
"Oh, what I meant to say was that I will gladly offer my services to your company." He chuckled nervously as the Jedi shut their beams off.
The Dark Lord sighed with relief. That was a close one.
"Sorry about that. I am still getting used to being on the….the…..um…." he stopped not being able to get the words out.
All the travelers chuckled.
"I think, what Ganondorf is trying to say is, is that he is still getting used to being on the 'good' side." Stephen said with a long laugh.
Zelda walked over to Ganondorf with a smile.
"Well, I'm glad you are making the effort. Maybe, if you handed over your Triforce of power to one of us…" she started to suggest, but was hurtled through the air before she could finish.
"I knew it! You never trusted me! All you want is the Triforce of Power! You will never get it from me! Over my dead body! Never, I tell you; never!" Ganondorf roared with rage.
Gandalf shook his head. This was going to be a long day. He walked over to Ganondorf and hit him in the face a few times with his staff.
"Are you mad? What in Hyrule is wrong with you? We want him to be our ally, not our mortal enemy!" Zelda cried out in disbelief as she got up from her long fall.
"I had to stop the madness." Gandalf explained as Zelda rolled her eyes.
"Right, and I'm Master Yoda." She muttered under her breath as she walked back towards Ganondorf.
Gandalf inhaled sharply after hearing the smart-alec remark.
"Would you stop being paranoid, Ganondorf?! We need all the help we can get! Alright? For crying out loud, at the rate this is going, we will still be here bickering 50 ages from now! So just shut it, if you don't have anything at least remotely respectful or helpful to say, got it?" Zelda barked at the Dark Lord as he cringed and nodded.
Zelda nodded curtly and spun on her heel and marched back to the others. She shook her head in exhaustion. This quest was a lot of work for a princess, especially one training to be a Jedi.
"Sorry about that guys, guess I just couldn't handle all the stress and all." She smiled.
Link walked over and gave her a hug.
"You did well, sis. You will be a Jedi, yet." He said with a smile as he handed her the Kokiri Emerald and the Goron Ruby to everybody's amazement.
Link then turned to Colin with a small smile.
"Colin, the Master Sword is hidden now. You will need it before the end, trust me. In order to find it once more you will have to go to the forest where the Kokiri live. Here is all my equipment and weapons I have collected along the years. You are now the Hero of Hyrule. The fate of the galaxy rests on your shoulders. The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all. Be wary, stay strong; and may the Force be with you all. Farewell." Link said with a small smile as he vanished once again.
Everyone looked to Zelda. The princess gulped. Well, she truly was the leader of the fellowship now. Since Link had given her the first two of the three spiritual stones, she assumed he wanted her to find the last one; the Zora Sapphire. She hoped she was right.
"Well, that was a shocker." She laughed.
"Yeah, it sure was! Not even I expected that one!" Stephen chuckled.
"I guess you are to join our fellowship until you find a way back home then." Zelda smiled.
"Sweet, this is getting better and better!" the teen said in excitement.
Luke suddenly cleared his throat. The fellowship all turned around.
"Master Skywalker, I am so sorry! I totally forgot you were still here in all the confusion! Please forgive us." Zelda apologized as she bowed her head.
Luke chuckled.
"It's alright, Zelda. Where are you taking the fellowship from here? Did Link advise anything?" he asked.
"Well, he gave me the Kokiri Emerald; which we had collected at the Forest Temple. But, he also gave me the Ruby of the Gorons. I have no idea where he got it. So I assume he wants me to travel to the Lanayru Province and cleanse it of the Twilight and collect the Sapphire of the Zoras afterward. May we proceed, Master?" She asked.
Luke nodded.
"Your guess is as good as mine. May the Force be with you! Oh, and Zelda? Once you have the Sapphire, I want you all to join me in Middle earth." Luke ordered.
"But, Master, We need to drive the Sith out from Hyrule!" Zelda replied.
"That can wait. I'm afraid you all have to leave Hyrule after your quest. The future is clouded with Dark Clouds, and I don't want to lose any more Jedi to Jacen. So, please honor my request, understood?" Luke said.
"Yes, Master Skywalker." Zelda said with a tear.
"Hey, call me Luke." Luke said with a smile as the holo disappeared.
The fellowship all chuckled. They now numbered eight in all.