Chapter 22
The Stargate
They had not gotten far before twilight surrounded them. Stephen shook with fear as they passed into it. He had seen it in the game, but to pass through it in real-life was a whole new experience. He shuddered as it swirled around him. Zelda led them deeper and deeper into it, until they finally reached the lake just as the first hints of the sun came over the mountains. As the light broadened, Zelda let out a gasp of shock. The whole lake had dried up! She put a hand to her forehead and grew pale. A tear slid down her cheek as her hand covered her quivering mouth.
"We're too late! Jacen's been here!" she said in panic.
"Well, we'll just have to get to the Zoras and try to undo whatever it is that he did, won't we?" Aragorn chuckled as he patter her on the shoulder.
Zelda gave a small nod, as they all got off their horses and began their walk across the dried up lakebed until they reached the secret entrance to Zora's Domain. But to their amazement it was frozen over.
"How are we supposed to get in? it must be all covered in ice!" Zelda panicked.
But Midna gave a small smile.
"I may know a way in." she laughed.
"Ah, I think I know what you mean, Twilight Princess!" Stephen smiled.
"What are you two talking about?" Gandalf asked as he walked over to them.
"Remember your journey up Death Mountain?" Stephen said slyly.
Gandalf's eyes gleamed in triumph.
"Of course, I would never have thought of it! It's crazy, but it just might work!" he laughed.
Everybody else was still trying to figure out what the three were going on about.
"Would you quit speaking in riddles, Gandalf, and tell us the plan!" Aragorn chuckled.
"Well, Midna is going to warp a lava rock from Death Mountain to the center of Zora's Domain. If what we assumed is true, it will be all cover in ice, and when the rock crashes down, all the ice will melt and the lake will be filled with water once again." He finished with a smile.
Aragorn chuckled.
"Ah, of course; deceptively simple!" he laughed again.
"Ready, Midna?" Gandalf asked.
"I was born ready, Master." She said with a gleam of her one visible eye as she disappeared in a puff of twilight.
The fellowship was left at the edge of the dried up Lake Hylia waiting for her return. She returned one second later with a smile.
"It is as you have guessed Zora's Domain is completely frozen over! Come, I will teleport all of you." She said as she made a gesture with her hand and they all disappeared into a portal of twilight.
Moments later, the fellowship reappeared in what had once been the Zora Throne Room, but now it was all covered in ice. Aragorn bent down to examine the ice and was startled to see hundreds of Zoras frozen in place beneath his feet!
"This is not good; not good at all! All the Zoras are frozen!" he exclaimed.
Princess Zelda put a hand over her heart in terror.
"No, not the Zoras; Jacen is worse than Ganondorf!" she wept.
Ganondorf chuckled.
"Well, it seems I have been outdone by a mere Jedi." He said.
"He's a Sith, Ganondorf." Zelda whispered as a tear ran down her cheek.
"Midna, commence with the plan. It is the only way to save the Zoras." Zelda commanded.
"Yes, your highness; I am on my way." Midna bowed.
"May the Force be with you, my fellow princess." Zelda whispered as Midna warped.
As the fellowship waited for the lava rock to show up, Zelda glimpsed hordes of twilight creatures and their pesky bugs!
"Oh my, they've invaded! Come on, let's wipe them all out before they escape down the river when the ice thaws!" she ordered.
So everybody drew their weapons and started to wipe the twilight beings out for good. Within seconds they had all been eliminated.
"Great job everyone; let's hope Midna is on her way!" Zelda smiled.
But before they could celebrate a ghost appeared! It was none other than the Zora Queen, Ruto, who was one of the 7 sages!
"Greetings, Jedi! You have my thanks for driving out those who murdered me!" she said.
Zelda put a hand to her chest.
"I'm sorry, your highness, but did you just say that these twilight monsters 'murdered' you? Why would they do that?!" she gasped.
"Because I went against the self-proclaimed 'king' of Hyrule, Lord Caedus." Ruto said as a tear slid down her cheek.
Everybody gasped in shock.
"Jacen is indeed Lord of the Sith; he has given himself a Sith name! Luke will not be pleased; not at all! This is not good. Ruto, I am very sorry it had to come to this. Rest assured, we are doing all we can to stop this madness!" Zelda said as she regained her breath.
"Thank you, Princess. As I was saying, I went against Caedus and he sent his most loathsome monsters to kill me and then freeze all the Zoras, as you can see." She said as she pointed below them.
Zelda nodded and told the ghost that they were working on solution to the ice this very moment when there was a flash of twilight and a huge lava encrusted boulder crashed through the portal and right into the ice! As it impacted the ice, it caused it to all melt at once in a shower of steam. Unprepared, the fellowship was swept down the river that seemed like it was an ocean full of monstrous waves. Hours later, they finally came to a stop in the middle of Lake Hylia and were pleasantly surprised to see Zora surrounding them with Midna floating overhead.
"It's the Princess! She's alive, I don't believe it!" one of the Zora exclaimed.
Zelda blushed. "What's to believe, but the Force itself?" she chuckled.
The Zora looked perplexed. "Huh, what's the Force? Do you mean the Triforce, milady?" he asked as he cocked his head to one side.
Zelda laughed again. "My apologies, young Zora. I forgot that only a select few have knowledge of the Force. I'll explain later; but now I must collect the last remaining Spiritual Stone, the Sapphire of the Zoras." She explained.
All the Zoras looked at each other in fear and uncertainty.
"We are sorry to inform you that Queen Ruto was murdered, your highness. The location of the sacred gem is unknown at present, but we will offer our assistance in finding it." He bowed his head.
The fellowship looked worried. If no one knew where the gem was, it could only mean that Jacen had taken it!
"This is not good, if Caedus has it, we're all doomed for sure!" Zelda panicked.
"We must trust in the Force that he doesn't have it, Princess." Aragorn whispered in her ear.
She nodded and swam for the shore with the rest behind her. Once everybody was on land once again, Zelda cleared her throat for attention. But before she could utter a word, Link showed up with Anakin Skywalker. The pair approached the company by the lake.
"Hey, sis! Good news, Caedus doesn't have the stone! It's at the bottom of the lake!" Link whispered in her ear.
Zelda smiled. "Of course, only Ruto would have thought of that! Midna, go and look for it at once!" she ordered.
Midna gave Zelda a mock salute and dived straight into the lake. The fellowship waited for what seemed like ages before Midna finally popped out of the water with the Sapphire in her hand!
"Yahoo, you found it! We have all three now!" Stephen cheered.
"It shouldn't have been that easy, and plus we haven't dispelled the Twilight in this province yet, either! Something's not right, not right at all. Midna, let me see that stone!" Zelda ordered as she held out her hand.
Midna dropped the stone in her hand and Zelda examined it carefully.
"Hmm, it seems like the right one. But, normally we wouldn't have found it until we drove out the Twilight and defeated the Temple Boss in the Province. Wait, that's it! It's a trap! Be wary, Caedus could be anywhere with his forces!" Zelda whispered the last part so not to be overheard by the enemy.
All of a sudden there was a sound of thunder as a lightning bold struck the ground behind Zelda. The princess yelped in shock as she turned around.
"Very good, Princess; you are turning into quite the Jedi. I am sorry, but that will have to end. I can't have you foiling all my plans, can I? It ends here and now, Zelda. Hand over the Spiritual Stones and come peacefully and no one gets hurt, UNDERSTAND?" Caedus smirked as he held out his right hand for the stones.
"Contact Master Skywalker immediately." She whispered out of the corner of her mouth, but Caedus heard the whisper.
"That's it; hand over your comlinks, NOW! I can't have Luke know that I have all his precious Jedi." He roared as he ordered his stormtroopers to confiscate the comlinks as well as the stones.
As the Stormtroopers were walking toward the fellowship there was a mysterious sound behind them. It sounded eerily familiar to Stephen, however. It sounded like a Stargate dialing! He slowly turned his head to see if he was correct. As his eyes came in sight of what our heroes called 'portals', his jaw dropped. It was a Stargate!
"Great Scott; it's a real Stargate! I don't believe it!" he whispered in shock.
"What is it? That's just an ordinary portal, but what's it doing?" Zelda asked in shock.
"That's no ordinary portal, your highness, it's a Stargate!" Stephen answered still watching it dial an address.
"What in Hyrule is a Stargate?" Zelda asked in confusion.
"It's a gate where you can travel to different planets, and sometimes even galaxies with gates at the other end. Right now, it is dialing this planet from somewhere off-world. I just hope it's Luke. But what puzzles me, is how you guys managed to operate it without knowing what it is." He said as he scratched his head.
"Oh, that's simple! We just use the Force to open them!" Aragorn explained.
"Of course!" Stephen breathed in understanding.
"Unscheduled Off-world Activation, back up!" Stephen shouted for all to hear.
"Um, Stephen, what are you shouting about?" Zelda asked clearly thinking the teen had lost it.
"You'll see in a second, it is so cool what happens!" he whispered.
Zelda led the group back a few paces as the gate finished the dialing sequence. All of a sudden the gate was filled with a water-like substance and a huge jet burst out of the gate and then a moment later back in. Everybody waited in tense silence. Finally after what seemed like a lifetime, a man in a hooded cloak walked out of the gate. As the figure removed his hood, another cloaked figure ran out of the gate followed by a smaller cloaked figure leading four short figures in cloaks, which were followed by an elderly man in a brown cloak who looked with fascination at the gate.
The first figure was none other than Grand Master Skywalker! The others were: Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker, her son, Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker, and the Halflings, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took, and Rosie Cotton! The old man of course was the Wizard, Radagast the Brown!
Lord Caedus looked at the group coming out of the gate with a smirk.
"Well, if it isn't the Jedi and their precious little Hobbits!" he laughed.
Luke had a sad look on his face as he walked towards the Sith Lord with his wife at his side.
"Jacen, I am shocked. This can't be you!" he said with a grim face.
"Well it is, Uncle Luke. Face the facts; I have willingly embraced the Dark Side like Grandfather Vader before me. I am all powerful. You will never stop me!" he grinned as his eyes gleamed red in malice.
Mara laughed at this. "Only a Sith deals in absolutes, Jacen. And, we Skywalkers are experts in dealing with the sith! We will do what we must." She smiled as she and Luke ignited their blades.
Zelda and the others were about to do the same when Luke motioned for them to go through the gate.
"Where do you want us to go?" Zelda questioned through the Force.
Luke just sent a picture of besieged stone castle and images of elves, dwarfs, and men fighting for their lives against orcs, Uruks, and stormtroopers.
"Where does he want us to go?' Zelda said in confusion.
"To Helm's Deep, of course!" Aragorn said with a gleam in his eye.
"Where is that?" Zelda questioned still not getting it.
"It's in my home world, Middle Earth. There must be a great battle going on there. We are needed there more than ever. Come, we just make haste!" Aragorn beckoned as he hastily waved his hand to dial the gate.
As Stephen looked, he saw a DHD emerge from the ground and dial Middle Earth on the Stargate. It was astounding! A few moments later, the Fellowship followed by the Zoras, Radagast, Ben, and the Hobbits ran through the gate for Middle Earth leaving Luke and Mara fighting Lord Caedus and surrounded by legions of stormtroopers. They had to trust in the Force that Luke and Mara would prevail.
END of PART V: TWILIGHT PRINCESS