Chapter 7: Escalations and Explanations

Note: Some parts of this chapter may not make sense or may seem inconsistent if you have not read the revised version of chapter 6.

The lonesome creak of the library door resounded through the dusty room. A cool draft swept through the open door, stirring past the ancient books and rustling their pages. Zelda always felt intimidated by the ancient library, and only her intense love of books could motivate her to forego this groundless fear. But today she entered for a different purpose. Her searching eyes scanned the towering shelves as she passed through the lonely aisles, her footsteps echoing loudly on the stone floor. In the center of the massive library she found him, sitting at a polished wooden table surrounded by open books. The sage of light was currently absorbed in a rather large and dusty old tome, his brow furrowed in apprehension.

"Rauru?"

"…hmm? Oh, Zelda. I was hoping to see you. I have to tell you…"

Zelda sat in the chair beside him, eyeing the half a dozen books sprawled around the table.

"What did you find?"

The old man sighed, slumping down against the table, his eyes weighted with every one of the hundreds of years he had lived.

"What do you know about dimensional evolution?"

Zelda snapped into student mode as she blankly recited, "In the beginning, there were countless thousands upon thousands of dimensions, each different in their own way. Over time, certain of these dimensions proved to be unstable due to the conditions within them, and they ultimately destroyed themselves. The dimensions that remain today are those whose unique combination of variables allow them to be stable, so that they endured through the centuries. If this can be compared to the evolution of beast and plant, we might say that the dimensions have evolved to be what they are today."

Rauru nodded. "And how about Dimensional conductivity?"

"If the dimensions may be classified according to how they react to magic, one might say that there are those who are non-conducive, those that are moderately conducive, and in still disputed theory there is also the classification that some are ultra-conducive. Our world is moderately conducive; magic exists here unhampered but unmagnified by the dimensional air. We will use our world as a basis of comparison as it is what we are used to. There are dimensions that are considered less conducive, as using a set amount of magical energy there will do less work than using the same amount in our world. Also, there are dimensions which are more conducive, in which using a set amount of magical energy there will do more work then using the same amount in our world. One might say the effects of magic is magnified in these dimensions. In terms of general classification, those dimensions which are non-conducive cannot support magic at all, so great is the amount of energy required to do even the smallest work. Other dimensions are moderately conducive, like ours. There are some that claim there must also be dimensions which are ultra conducive, in which magic is magnified to epic proportions, but such claims have not been proven."

A smile graced the old man's features, "you have been taught well."

"Impa was a very demanding tutor."

Rauru nodded.

"But what does all this have to do with anything?" Zelda asked.

"Zelda…have you noticed the way our magic seems to be greatly amplified in this other world?"

Zelda nodded. "Normally Naryru's love protects the caster from harm, but does not act as an actual barrier. When Link cast it earlier, the spell was so strong that the attacking stalfos were thrown back simply by touching it."

Rauru nodded as well. "And a single light arrow was able to destroy the Phantom Ganon's horse. Zelda…I think this dimension may be the first actual example of an Ultra conducive."

"What? But this world doesn't even have magic of its own."

"And that's the reason why it is still here."

"…I'm sorry, but I do not follow you."

"This is why I have been looking into dimensional evolution as well. I think perhaps the reason why no one has ever found a dimension that was ultra conducive was because such dimensions don't have magic of their own."

"That seems a little too convenient, old friend."

"It would seem so to me as well, if I had not found the works of a little known, obscure scholar which was so terribly dry it was nearly impossible to understand, thus the reason for his obscurity. But what he claims makes sense."

Rauru leaned forward intently, his eyes drilling into those of the princess. "Think, Zelda. Wherever magic exists, it exists in all its forms. And some of these forms by nature oppose each other. Light and shadow, water and fire, spirit and forest…so in any world, these opposing forces of magic are constantly battling against each other, some forces more prominently than others. In an ultra conducive dimension, the powers of magic would be amplified to extreme proportions. The clashing powers of magic would grow so great, so powerful…that they would destroy the ultra conducive dimensions."

"Unstable…"

"There isn't a doubt in my mind that this other dimension is ultra conducive, or at least close to it. It explains why the medallions are growing astronomically in power. The medallions were designed to both give and take power into the world in an endless cycle. But in this, this ultra conducive world, the power they give becomes magnified, disrupts the elements of the world, and is reabsorbed by the medallions many times more powerful then it was before. I have been watching them closely, Zelda. And even with my senses dulled by the void and the great distance between us, I can tell their powers are growing dangerously fast. I can tell that Ganondorf is summoning his minions with such little amounts of energy it is laughable. I can tell that, even though Link doesn't realize it himself, the magic he used took a very small amount of energy, even though the spells turned out to be much more powerful than they should have been. Zelda…we have to finish this quickly. This dimension survived evolution because it did not have magic of its own."

"But now that we've brought magic into it…"

"…It is only a matter of time before the escalating forces of magic rip it apart."

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Jack and Link walked back to the group in somber silence. Jack was still trying to make sense of the things he had just seen and heard. That girl…she'd turned into a monster…and all because of the medallion inside her. Was Link going to turn into a monster as well? He hoped not. They would be in big trouble if he did…

"…Link?" the Hylian flinched, as if he'd been startled out of deep thought. Jack was sorry to have disturbed him, but he wanted answers.

"…the people with the medallions…are they…are they all going to go berserk like that?"

Link smiled sadly. "Not exactly. …the forest medallion had a variety of forces influencing it which the others do not have. This place…the very aura of this city is so strongly anti-forest that it is no surprise the forest medallion broke first. Plus, it was exposed to Phantom Ganon, a creature of very unstable, dark magical energy whose very presence no doubt accelerated its change. The others will not change so quickly nor so violently, but yes…the end result shall be the same. They will turn into monsters."

"…even you?"

Link didn't answer.

"Jack! Link! Come quick! Something's wrong with Julie!" Jack's head shot up. Dr. Rivers was running towards them, gesturing madly for them to follow. They took off in a run, racing back towards the alleyway where they had left her. Jack's heart was pounding in his chest. So intent was his panic that he hardly noticed how far ahead of the others he was. He skidded to a stop at the entrance of the alleyway. There Julie crouched, her eyes wide as she stared at something she had cradled in her arm.

"Julie? Julie, what's wrong?" he demanded, kneeling beside her.

"My hand…holy crap my hand…"

She raised her right arm, which she had been cradling with her left, and Jack's eyes widened in horror. The skin had turned dark violet, so dark it was nearly black, and the texture of it appeared leathery. Also her nails had not only turned red, but had grown at least an inch.

"Jack…" she whispered, her voice hoarse and scared, "what's happening to me?"

Link and Dr. Rivers finally arrived at the alleyway. Link took one look at Julie's hand and his mouth set in a grim line, the strange light returning to his eyes.

"It's the shadow medallion."

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"Forgive me, master, for I have failed you…"

"Again."

"…again"

Phantom Ganon kneeled before his master, his eyes fixed firmly on the floor. It was all he could do to keep from trembling as he listened to his master's heavy footsteps pace irritably in front of him, the only sound in the entire room.

"I-it was the boy, master. His powers have grown astronomically! With only one hit from his magic arrow, my horse was utterly destroyed. He even managed to reach into my very being and pull out the-"

"I do not need to hear your excuses." Ganon cut him off shortly, tugging idly at the collar of his cape. He stopped his pacing to glare down at his trembling doppelganger. "I saw everything that took place. And I must say, I am disappointed in you. Why did you come running back to me so soon? You would have had a perfect opportunity to capture Link and his little friend shortly after the human containing the forest medallion turned into a monster. But no, you turned tail and fled at the first sign of danger!"

"But master, I-!"

"Shut up!" he snapped, again yanking at his collar. He'd been doing that a lot since Phantom Ganon had reported back. "You're lucky I even gave you this second chance, and you blew it! Why, if it weren't for the fact that your already being in the void made it so much easier to bring you here, I'd not have brought you at all!"

Phantom Ganon cringed as his master continued raging, resuming pacing once again. The master was particularly irritable today. He had had very bad timing to screw up like this now.

Suddenly Ganondorf stopped, wrenching at his collar yet again. Then with a roar of frustration he undid the clasps holding the cape to his neck and ripped off his shoulder plates. He threw the armor to the floor and stood there panting, his eyes narrowed. Phantom Ganon blinked in surprise, staring up at his master with bewilderment.

"…master?"

Ganondorf did not answer him, but his breathing seemed to be picking up as he continued to stand there.

"…are you alright, master?"

"Of course I'm alright!" Ganondorf snapped. "Now go find that damn forest wench, and don't you dare come back to me until you have her! I don't care what kind of horrible monster she's become, you bring her back here, do you hear me?"

"Y-yes master!" Phantom Ganon squeaked, grateful for the second chance. He wasted no time in fleeing from the room, before his angry master could change his mind.

Ganondorf hardly noticed him go. Now he was fiddling with his heavy gauntlets. Normally he didn't even notice his armor, since he was so used to it, but today it felt unbearably cumbersome and constricting. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to get the stuff off. He ripped the gauntlets from his hands, tore off his breastplate, kicked off his boots and stripped off every piece of armor until he was left with nothing but his pants. There…that's better…

The two stalfos guards who had been in the room with him stared uncertainly at their master, confused by his uncharacteristic behavior. They watched him stand there with his eyes closed, surrounded by his discarded armor, his chest heaving with his heavy breathing, and couldn't help but feel worried.

"Master? Is something wrong?"

Ganondorf shook his head. "I'm fine!" he snapped again. "I just…" he glanced at the wall, his eyes strangely fearful. "I need some air." and with that he strode to the door leading to the roof and kicked it open, storming from view. The door fell shut with a heavy clang, and the stalfos warriors exchanged glances.

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"Oh come on, Julie, it can't be that bad!"

"We don't have all day, you know."

"Come on out, Ms. Kelsey, we promise we won't laugh…"

With much cajoling, Julie finally emerged from behind the makeshift curtain in the alleyway. Link's Zora tunic was a tad too big for her, the strange mesh fabric draping off her shoulders and hanging down past her knees. In the game, the Zora tunic had been just a recolor of the Kokiri tunic. In real life, it was quite different. The material was black and stretchy, like spandex, and was dotted all over with glistening blue Zora scales. She was also wearing a spare pair of Link's boots, which were at least three sizes too big. Julie looked ruefully down at herself. She wasn't exactly a skinny, delicate girl, but she certainly looked like one in Link's oversized clothing.

"I look ridiculous. I'm practically swimming in this tunic!"

"Hey, it's better than running around in that hospital gown." Jack pointed out.

"Is that what you call that thing?" Link looked down at the puddle of gray fabric on the ground. "Strangest article of clothing I've ever seen. Why wear something so impractical?"

"It's so the doctor can examine your body easier, without you having to take all your clothing off."

Link stared at her. "...what is a doctor and why would he be examining your body?"

Julie planted her hands on her hips. "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't have any doctors in Hyrule!"

Dr. Rivers raised an eyebrow and turned to Link. "Surely your people have some sort of healers? Medicine men? Herbalists?"

"Uh...there are potion makers...they kind of heal people. And the great fairies are known to restore heroes who have been wounded in battle. So a doctor is kind of like that?"

Dr. Rivers made an odd expression. Apparently being compared to a fairy, even a great one, did not sit well with him.

Link turned back to Julie. "Anyway, I wouldn't worry about the tunic. It just need time to get used to you."

"…used…to me…?"

Suddenly there was a funny "schoop" sound, and the tunic suddenly shrunk until it fit her perfectly. Julie blinked in surprise, her mouth falling open slightly. Link smiled at her bewilderment.

"It was originally too big for me too, but it's magical. It adjusts to the size and shape of whoever wears it. Well...as long as the person isn't too much bigger or smaller than its original size."

"Wow. Cool. Too bad the boots didn't change, though…"

Link was silent a moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"You know…I could give you the hover boots. They're also magical, and will change to fit you, but the downside is-"

"No traction."

"Right."

Julie looked down speculatively at her legs drowning in Link's giant boots.

"…give me the d-mn hover boots."

Author's note: Argh…yeah, I know I haven't updated in like…forever…well you see, end of school year crunch time plus junior year in high school equals no time left for sleeping or relaxing, much less fanfiction writing. Yeah…I had four huge projects all due in the same week, and juggling four projects at the same time as you know can be quite a stressful hassle. But now they're all done, so I can write again! yay!