Chusai awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of pounding on her door. She yelled a few words of acknowledgement and pulled on a nightdress, then yanked open the door. Looking blearily into the face of Taisa, one of the lower guards, she demanded, "What is it that needs my attention at this hour?"
Taisa's normally stoic face was drawn and gaunt. "Chusai…they've taken my father for interrogation," she said in a strained voice. "I don't understand. I'd heard that Zelda had found the one bearing the Third Piece, but he wouldn't know anything about it…"
Rubbing the grit out of her eyes, Chusai attempted to figure out what was going on. "Your father was arrested for discussing rumors?"
"That's what it seems like…"
Chusai muttered a sulfurous oath. "Give me a few moments to get dressed," she instructed Taisa. Exchanging her nightdress for her uniform, she was about to run out the door when a thought came to her. She spent a few extra minutes brushing her hair and trying to hide the circles under her eyes, an uneasy feeling telling her she would need to look as professional and intimidating as possible. She also attached the battered – but well-made – sword she had used in her battle with Ganondorf to her belt.
She threw open the door. "Dalin, do you know where-" she abruptly stopped as she caught sight of a Gerudo woman standing in the young guard's place. "Where's Dalin?" she demanded.
The Gerudo woman gave her a half-interested glance. "You mean the Hylian I replaced? He was sent for duty in the western district."
Unnerved, Chusai pressed on. "Where are the interrogation subjects taken?"
The woman looked at her with surprise. "You don't know? I was told they're brought to someplace called the Shadow Temple."
"We have a Shadow Temple?" Taisa gave Chusai a bewildered look as they walked quickly through the halls.
Chusai nodded. "It's not really a temple at all…it's a mass grave."
"A mass grave? From what? One of the wars?"
Her eyes flicking back and forth along the corridors, Chusai asked, "Did you ever learn anything about Landor the Insane?"
"Just the old stories…"
"There's a lot of Hylian history only the Royal Family and their highest-level servants know. Maybe three hundred years ago, Landor the Insane was cursed by a witch, and believed he could hear the voices of the gods. He became convinced that the rest of Hyrule was plotting against him, and had hundreds of imaginary enemies thrown into torture chambers that he built for the purpose of rooting out these conspirators. He died suddenly…clutched his chest and fell dead. After that, a council of sages appointed the next King, and the Temple of Shadows was established as a mass grave for all those who had died within. No one wanted to enter that cursed place." She scowled. "I can see Ganondorf apparently wants to use it for its original purpose."
"But where is it?" Taisa demanded as they ran down a flight of stairs and into one of the side courtyards.
"In the royal crypt."
Taisa grimaced. "I was afraid you'd say something like that."
They ran through the cemetery gates, and crossed through the ivy-covered entrance to the royals' graves. The first section had been set aside for generals, ambassadors, and other that were not part of the royal family but had contributed significantly to the nation. The second section was reserved for high-level servants, advisors, and bodyguards. Chusai slowed as she passed the Ordana family plot, briefly wondering if she would have the honor of resting peacefully with her family, or if her body would simply be thrown out with the trash when it was no longer serviceable to her current ruler.
They ran through the third and final section, where the past leaders of Hyrule lay. At the end, a large double angel with folded wings had been pushed aside to reveal a small passageway, and a goblin guard stood at the entrance.
"Stand aside," Chusai ordered when he simply stood, uninterested in their arrival.
He stared at them with his piggy little eyes. "No one's to pass through here unless they've orders from the great Ganondorf."
Chusai's eyes narrowed into little slits. "Do you know who I am?"
"Yes, Lieutenant. You're his bodyguard, Chusai Ordana."
"And don't you think the bodyguard of the 'great' Ganondorf should be able to go where he goes?"
"He's not with you, Lieutenant."
"Why does that matter? If, as his bodyguard, I perceive some threat to his person, isn't it best if I investigate it myself? Or must I bring him with me? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose?"
Both Chusai and Taisa could almost hear the gears creaking inside his head. "Er…no…but I'm supposed to have direct orders…and there's no threats to him in there…"
Chusai gripped the hilt of her sword. "Perhaps I should ask him directly first, as you need to seem proof…I can tell him that you won't let me pass…"
Shaking his head vigorously, the goblin jumped aside. "No, no, that won't be necessary, Lieutenant. Go ahead in. Here's a lantern."
Chusai took the lantern and walked in guardedly, afraid of what she might see within. Taisa followed closely behind, bumping into her a few times as she stopped in the dark. The first thing they came across as they rounded the corner was a set of cells, crammed with people, sitting in their own filth. As Chusai lifted the shaking lantern, she could see some sitting down, resigned to their fate, whereas others called to her in a desperate attempt to get her attention. She could not determine if some, lying on the ground, were alive at all. The air was thick with the smell of illness and old wounds never healed.
"Chusai!" a familiar voice called from the left. She turned to see Mallindo, an old friend of her dead father's.
She ran up to the bars. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Same thing as everyone else," he said grimly. "That usurper king has gone off just like Landor…if he wasn't already off to begin with." He leaned in closer. "He's convinced that the keeper of the Third Piece is wandering around somewhere, and it seems he's imprisoned half of Hyrule to find out where it is."
"I'm looking for Taisa's father. I don't see or hear him anywhere in here."
Mallindo's face became even more grave, if that were possible. "He was taken down that corridor three hours ago. Just follow the screams."
"All right, let's go," she said to Taisa, who emitted a little gasp of despair and fear. "I'll come back for you!" she called over her shoulder to Mallindo.
"Hurry!" he cried to her back.
Chusai and Taisa scurried as quickly as they could through the dim corridors, the lantern providing just enough light to prevent them from bumping into walls. As they ran it threw light upon flashes of the macabre scene; piles of skulls neatly stacked in one corner, broken instruments tossed aside here and there, Remember the Citadel written on the wall in old blood. Taisa slipped and fell on what she thought was water; when she raised the hand she'd used to catch herself they saw it was shiny red.
They followed voices for several minutes, then realized with horror that there was more than one person screaming, and it was coming from different directions. Chusai gritted her teeth, hissing through them every time they uncovered some new atrocity, and Taisa held the sleeve of her tunic in a death grip.
Goblin guards stood at the doors where the screaming was the loudest. Chusai questioned each one and was referred on to another. After the fifth door, she yelped as Taisa dug her nails into her arm. "I think that's him," Taisa said in a trembling voice, pointing to the door in front of them. Chusai marched up to the guard and demanded entry.
"Well, all right, Lieutenant," he said with a crooked smile, "but I don't think you'll like it…"
Chusai braced herself for what she was about to see, but nothing could prepare her for the shock. They had entered an enormous room, filled with at least twenty people not counting the goblins, strapped or chained to things Chusai could not have ever dreamed of existing. Taisa cried out and ran to the nearest one, a gray-haired man hanging from the ceiling, his back a crisscross of bloody welts. As she ran to him, a goblin standing behind with a whip in his hand raised it to punish the intruder.
He staggered as it caught on something behind him, and whirled around in surprise to see Chusai standing with its end wrapped around her clenched hand, blood dripping from her cut palm. With a sharp pull she wrenched it from his hand and tossed it to the ground. In a snarl complete with bared teeth, she ordered in a voice that carried throughout the room, "Release these people at once!"
The goblins stopped what they were doing, but didn't move. The one whose whip Chusai had snatched away gave her a bow and an oily smile. "Beg pardon, Lieutenant, but we've orders from the great Ganondorf to determine what these people know about the bearer of the Triforce of Courage."
Something snapped in the back of Chusai's mind. She snorted like a wild boar and ripped her sword from its scabbard with her bleeding hand, holding the point steady a hair from the goblin's face, right between his eyes. "Idiot. Are you implying that the 'great' Ganondorf can be brought down by one person?"
The goblins looked at each other in puzzlement, unsure how to answer this question. The one with the sword between his eyes said slowly, "It's one person with the final piece of the Triforce, Lieutenant. It holds great power that protects the Chosen Hero, that the great Dark Lord wants for himself…"
"I am familiar with the mythology of my own country," Chusai spoke in sharp syllables, her tone a study in mockery. "Release them, you fools. There is no Chosen Hero. He does not exist. You are torturing these people for the whereabouts of a non-entity, and I will not permit it."
"But the great Ganondorf…"
Chusai gave the goblin a look of supreme indifference. "You must have misheard him. Do you doubt the power of your own leader?" The mob of goblins shook their collective heads. "Then release them at once!"
Reluctantly, they complied. "I will inform the great Ganondorf about this," the lead goblin told Chusai.
"Fine. I take full responsibility," she replied, hoping he could not hear the tremble in her voice.
Taisa fell over herself in thanks as she led her limping father over to Chusai. "I knew you had some influence over the usurper king, but I had no idea it was this strong."
"I don't," Chusai muttered between clenched teeth.
Taisa blanched. "What?"
"Just shut up and do as I say." She looked warily around as the goblins crowded around the little knot of gathering prisoners, clearly suspicious. "Just follow me out of this place. Don't look back, don't go after any of the other prisoners, I'll try to come back and rescue them later."
Trembling, Taisa whispered, "But if you're disobeying his orders…what'll happen to you?"
"You need to think of yourself right now, as well as your father and these others. I want you to get out of Hyrule completely, do you hear me? It's not safe anywhere in the country anymore."
Tears filled her eyes. "Chusai…"
The last prisoner had been released. Keeping her sword held tight in her hand, Chusai jerked her head toward the door and began leading the group out. With her other hand she held the lantern in front of her, focusing on the path ahead and trying not to think.
As she neared the exit, she walked through the area of holding cells. Mallindo called out to her. "Chusai! Thank the gods you've returned. Get us out of here, will you?"
Chusai heard ominous grumbles behind her, the suspicious goblins eyeing the little group, waiting for her to try something. Cursing herself, Chusai forced her gaze toward the exit and gripped her sword harder, willing herself not to tremble.
"Chusai, where are you going? Chusai, come back! Chusai! Chusaiiiii!"
Chusai gave the prisoners what little first aid she could, then bade them all leave within the hour, or face returning to the Shadow Temple. As Taisa led them out through one of the secret passages blocked to Chusai and Zelda, Chusai watched the sky lighten with streaks of red and orange and knew it was too late to return to bed. Not that she would have been able to sleep anyway.
She took up her position as always next to the throne, wishing she'd had the time to wish the Princess good-bye. She was too tired and too overwhelmed to feel very nervous, even when she saw her doom walk in the door and seat himself upon the throne.
She gritted her teeth. Fine. So he's up to his little mind games again, is he? Well, I don't care. What's done is done.
For three hours she stood, knowing that he must realize what had transpired, that one of the pig-headed goblins must have ratted her out. Perhaps he thought she would get her hopes up, just so he could smash them down again? She bared her teeth like an animal at the thought.
Finally, he stood and nodded at her. "Chusai, I wish to take a walk. Will you join me?" It was a rhetorical question.
They walked through the halls; Ganondorf casually, waiting for the right time to say what was on his mind; Chusai tensely, waiting for the axe to fall. "It seems I have made a slight mistake," he said finally.
Chusai said nothing, but waited for him to continue.
"Yes, I'll explain that in a minute. But first of all I want to tell you that I know that the Chosen Hero does not exist."
She stopped and turned to him. "My Lord…?"
He nodded with an air of one who has known the truth of a hoax before it could even be put into play. "You see, the Chosen Hero is more of a figurehead, or code. There is a very loose, disorganized rebellion in the works, and the fable of the Chosen Hero, drawn from the mythology of the Triforce, is at the center of it. It is used to draw new recruits and bring them to believe that my rule can be brought down. The myth in itself is not so dangerous…it's the actions that it brings about. Chosen Hero or no, there's an underground force at work, and you know that I can't allow that to continue."
Chusai stared at his calm, serene face in disbelief. "So you are doing these things to them, even though you know there is no base for their hopes?"
He turned away. "I know that my methods bother you, Chusai. I made a mistake in not being more explicit to the guards in terms of who could enter and who could not." He turned back to her and smiled. "But there's no need to worry now. I have sealed the so-called Shadow Temple with magic, so you won't be able to enter, even if you feel yourself tempted to do so."
Chusai stood rooted to the spot as the memory of Mallindo's words echoed through her mind, knowing she would never hear his voice again.
That night, the moon shone down upon a lone shadow slashing with her sword in frustration in the overgrown hedges, cursing her own helplessness to the skies above.