Chapter 5: That's Not Good
Julie was afraid. More afraid than she'd ever been in her entire life. And she had good reason to be afraid. Here stood perhaps the most powerful man in all Hyrule, and she had something he wanted. Not to mention there was a pack of bloodthirsty stalfos looming behind them, two of which were holding Jack at sword point. This was bad. This was very, very bad. She recognized now the look in Ganondorf's eye…the look of a cat toying with a mouse. But suddenly the evil gleam faded into a dull confusion. His brow furrowed, his eyes wandering idly in the manner of one who is in deep thought. Eventually his smile returned, the gleam in his eye reappearing.
"Well…" he said, "it seems our old friend has arrived."
He spoke over Julie's shoulder, addressing the stalfos behind her. Julie turned her head to see them exchanging glances with each other; some grinning evilly, some narrowing their eyes, and some even looking fearful.
"It would be rude not to go and greet him."
Ganondorf continued, and at these words the stalfos readied their swords and shields and plodded off down the hallway. The two stalfos restraining Jack looked at each other, then turned inquiringly to their master. He nodded to them, and they dropped Jack unceremoniously to the floor and hurried to join their fellows. Julie watched them go, a single eyebrow raised in inquiry. What the hell are they doing now?
The sound of Ganondorf's approaching footsteps broke into her thoughts and induced her to turn back around. He was dreadfully close now, his immense form towering over her as he folded his arms and looked down his nose condescendingly. Julie felt very, very small as she craned her neck to look up at him.
"You've got guts, kid, I will give you that. But it takes more than guts to stop someone like me."
He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and lifted her into the air until they were almost nose-to-nose. He snatched the pillowcase out of her hands and sneered at her.
"Consider yourself lucky that I owe you a favor, or else you would not be getting off so light."
And with that he simply dropped her, stepped around her, and strode calmly down the hall in the same direction the stalfos had come. Julie took a moment to come to her senses, then turned and shouted after him,
"What do you mean, a favor?"
He stopped at the end of the hallway and grinned over his shoulder at her, but did not answer.
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Link skidded to a stop when he first heard it. The sound of a dozen skeletal feet rapping against the cool tile floor echoed through the hall, and Link's eyes narrowed as he realized what was coming.
"Navi?"
The guardian fairy zipped out of his hat obediently.
"Get ready. Here comes the welcoming committee."
Seconds later, the group of stalfos rounded the corner and roared as they caught sight of him, breaking into a run and raising their weapons to strike. Link calmly reached into his item sack and withdrew a small blue crystal. He murmured something under his breath and crushed the crystal in his hand, throwing the powder over his head with a cry of "Amo Nayrae!"
A column of aqua-colored light erupted around him, and a rotating blue shield the shape of the crystal materialized around him. The stalfos in front ran into the shield head on, screamed in pain as they crashed into the magical barrier, and flew backwards a good ten feet, knocking over several of the monsters behind them. Link smirked and snapped his fingers with a mutter of "dispello", and the barrier disappeared.
"Well that's a cute trick. Did Zelda teach you that one, Link?"
Link reflexively sneered as he recognized the sound of Ganondorf's booming voice. He looked up to see the gerudo warlord himself striding confidently through the mob of his disjointed minions. Link swallowed uneasily. He hadn't expected to face the evil king so early. Zelda had told him not to confront Ganondorf until he had all the medallions, but what choice did he have? Suddenly, a voice rang in his head. A delicate, feminine voice which he recognized immediately.
…Link? Link, can you hear me?
…Zelda? Is that you?
Yes, Link. We sages have been watching you from the sacred realm, and I am using my psychic powers to communicate with you. Listen to me, Link. You have to recover the medallions before you fight him! The Triforce of power will prevent him from dying no matter how fatal a wound you deliver to him- just as it did when you fought him in the tower. The only way to defeat him is for us sages to seal him in the evil realm, and for that we need-
The medallions. I get it. But where are they?
I don't know, Link. I can't sense them through the void. If I were there in person, I might be able to, but the other sages won't let me come…
Link gritted his teeth and glared up at the approaching Ganondorf.
I'll bet he can sense them…
"Where are the medallions!" he snapped.
Ganondorf tut-tutted, crossing his arms and shaking his head as he shifted his weight to one leg.
"Oh, the young people these days…no respect, no respect at all."
"Where are the medallions!" Link asked again, louder.
"He's got them!" someone shouted. Link blinked and looked in the direction of the voice. A young woman stood at the end of the corridor, pointing with one tremulous finger towards evil's king. Beside her stood two men, one looking the same age as her, the other looking to be middle-aged. The entire trio looked tired and disheveled, and they wore some of the oddest clothing he had seen yet in this strange world. The girl wore only a slip of green-speckled gray cloth, the older man was wearing some kind of white robe over his shirt and pants, and the younger man wore baggy beige pants with an outrageous number of pockets and some kind of thick baggy shirt with a hood. Ganondorf frowned over his shoulder at them, but said nothing.
Oh great. That's just great. I need the medallions to beat him, but I need to beat him to get the medallions. Well doesn't this just beat all.
Wait, Link. Don't give up hope. There just might be a way…if you can get close enough…Listen, Link. If all the medallion shards come together, the medallions will reform. Once they're back in one piece, their sentience will return. It is a defense mechanism of the medallions to flee when they sense danger, into the bodies of their sages. Since the sages aren't here, they'll probably enter the bodies of people who most resemble their sages, but they won't stray too far from each other.
So what you're saying is, if I get close enough, the medallions will reform and get away?
Yes, Link. You'll have to round them all up again, and I don't know how the medallions will react to being inside humans, but it's our best bet.
Link nodded, readied his sword and prepared to charge Ganondorf.
So I've only got to get close to him, right?
The stalfos had regrouped by now, and they grouped protectively around their master as they saw Link prepare to charge. Ganondorf rolled his eyes and waved them aside.
"I will handle this. I have a score to settle with this kid."
He snapped his fingers and his sword appeared in his hand.
"This time, I'll not be so easy on you."
Link grunted but made no reply. They circled each other, the stalfos backing away to give them room. Ganondorf's trained eyes noticed the nearly imperceptible tensing in Link's leg muscles, and raised his sword to block just as Link charged him. Their blades locked together with a clang, each holding their own and neither giving an inch. But while Link held his sword with both hands, Ganondorf was only using one.
"I told you I would not be easy on you…" Ganon murmured, bringing his other hand around to grip the hilt of his blade, "and I intend to hold to that." And thus he began using the power of both arms to strain against Link's blade. Link began losing ground quickly, and yet he smiled. He had noticed the strange glow coming from the pouch tied to Ganondorf's belt.
"This time," he murmured, "it will not matter."
He had barely finished speaking when the medallion shards burst out of the two contender's item pouches. Ganon was startled by this, and his grip on his sword loosened enough for Link to knock it out of his hands. Link held the master sword to Ganon's throat as the shards spiraled around each other, the pieces coming together to form the six medallions. They hovered there for a moment, shimmering with the colors of their elements, then there was a large flash of light as they zipped off to find their sages.
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Jack rubbed his eyes. He'd been momentarily blinded by that little light show, but after a few seconds his vision started to return. He heard two thumps and opened his dazzled eyes to see both the stranger and Ganon collapse heavily to the floor. They seemed to have been knocked unconscious. He heard a cry of surprise from behind him, and turned just in time to see Julie collapse. Fortunately he managed to catch her before she hit the floor. She, too, was now unconscious, though he had no idea why. A great deal of surprised grunting and shouting came from the direction of the stalfos as they scrambled around their master, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.
Hurry! You have to get Link out of there, before they kill him!
A feminine voice suddenly shouted in his head. Jack froze, blinking heavily, and wondered if he was going crazy. First characters from his favorite video game appear out of nowhere, and then he hears voices in his head? But wait…Link? He didn't remember seeing Link anywhere…unless…He craned his neck around to look at the stranger lying on the ground opposite Ganondorf. Holy crap! It is him! All thoughts of insanity passed from his mind as a sense of urgency filled him.
"Hold her!" He absently shoved Julie into Dr. Rivers' arms and ran to aid the unconscious hero. His eyes flitted over the area as he tried to think of a way to get to him. Fortunately, the stalfos were too panicked and confused to remember about Link, and they were busy tending to their master. Jack frowned. He didn't have a chair to beat the stalfos aside with…how would he force his way through that crowd? Surely they'd notice him immediately…And that's when his eyes caught sight of Ganondorf's discarded sword.
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Meanwhile, not far away, Alex Silva glanced anxiously at the clock. Well…time to lock up…I hope I'll be safe walking home. Hopefully those skeleton things that were on the news were just part of an elaborate hoax… She shooed the remaining customers, a few old ladies engrossed in a scintillating conversation about bonsai trees, out the door, counted the cash register down, and locked the door to the florist shop behind her. With a sigh she swung her purse over her shoulder and started walking, trying to think of a way home that didn't involve crossing nearby Main street. She had gone less than five feet when something slammed into her back, knocking her viciously to the ground. A flash of green light blocked her vision, and then everything faded to darkness as she lost consciousness.
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Naida Delaney sung softly to herself as she snapped open the shampoo bottle, the scent of lavender and flowers wafting lazily up from the bottle. Most people would have gotten out of the shower when the power went out, but she found it quite relaxing, showering in the dark. A little dangerous, perhaps, but…hey, according to netscape, showering with your eyes closed improved brain function somehow. And what was the difference between closing your eyes and shutting off the lights? A circular object smacking her square between the shoulder blades rudely interrupted her thoughts, sending her sprawling into the cool tile wall. Her vision swam as her legs buckled beneath her, then her world was engulfed in a wave of blue light.
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Eric Eld peeked carefully around the corner of the building, eyeing the dinofols lurking around the wrecked police cars warily. Today was supposed to be his day off, but when he saw the news report on TV about the skeletons, he decided to go down and investigate. His fists clenched in anger as he watched the lizard men prowling the ruins of the police barricade. A lot of his buddies had died out there. It took a lot of self control for him not to run out and start shooting the damn lizards when he recognized the various bodies lying around on the ground. He lay back against the wall, gritting his teeth as he thought things over. Bullets obviously hadn't helped the other officers fight these monsters, and giving away his position would only get him killed. A sudden, crushing pain in his shoulder made him cry out and fall to the ground. He was unable to notice the dinofols turning in his direction as his vision clouded in a bur of red light.
A/N: Finally, chapter five is out! Phew…yesh…I've had a really full schedule lately. But now that it's spring break, I can get some work done! Yay! And yeah…I don't know if you really can take a shower when the power's out, but I'd already decided to have Naida in the shower when I realized I'd had the power go out in the last chapter. Oh well.
By the way, here's a little history about where all the names in this chapter came from. I like to go to a site called behindthename(dot)com for a lot of my character names. It's really cool. Gives you the history and meaning behind it and everything.
Alex: from greek "alexin" meaning "to defend, help"
Silva: Spanish/Portugese "silva", meaning forest. Behind the name doesn't mention it, but "Silva" means forest in latin, too.
Naida: Ultimately greek, derived from the word "naiad" meaning "water nymph"
Delaney: This one's irish, derived from the word dubh for "dark or black", and the name of the river Slaine (Slaney).
Eric: derived from Norse "ei", meaning "ever", and "rikr", meaning "ruler"
Eld: From the old Norseeldr, modern Swedish eld, meaning "fire".
And while we're at it…
Amo Nayrae: I'm only a latin one student, but if I translated this correctly it should read "Love of Nayru" in latin.
Dispello: "Dispel"
And they weren't in the chapter, but…
Ignis Dinae: "Fire of Din"
Ventus Farorae: "Wind of Farore"
Also…
Julianne: feminine form of Julian, which is derived from Roman Julius, which apparently came from the greek "iolus" meaning "downy-bearded". o.O Yeah…you can tell I didn't choose this name for its meaning.
Kelsey: apparently derived from "Cenel", meaning "brave". Yeah, I don't see the connection either.
Jack: derived from Jackin, a medieval pet form of John, which ultimately comes from the Hebrew "Yochanan" meaning "Yahweh is gracious". I actually named this character after the skeleton from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I love that movie!
Ward: derived from an old English occupation "Weard", meaning "guard" or "watchmen".