A Link to the Past
Chapter Forty Nine: A Hero's Choice
If there was anything that Link didn't want to do, it was hand over his two remaining crystals to Agahnim, not only because there would be no way for him to locate any of the trapped girls again without them, but also because Agahnim would likely kill the young man as soon as he got what he wanted. The wizard tried anyway, tossing a fire ball or two in his direction, as well as a few other spells that made the ground shake and wind blow fiercely, but it was actually the outcropping of rock between them that kept Link safe. The rocks were too thick to be destroyed, not in the time that was left before the Turtle Rock cavern collapsed, and no matter how Agahnim changed his position, he just couldn't get a clear shot.
"You don't have time for this, boy." The wizard said as more debris and rocks began to fall. "I can escape even at the last possible second, and even if you keep those crystals from me, then nothing can stop Ganondorf from entering Hyrule, so I win anyway."
"Then you don't really need them, do you?!" The young man replied, his foot slipping for a second on loose gravel. "Why does it matter if they fall then?!"
This time when Agahnim tossed a fire ball it exploded above Link's head upon impact with a large rock that would have surely hit him, instead just raining down stinging pebbles that almost made him lose his grip. As for his question, the wizard simply replied that Ganondorf still wanted the young man alive in spite of all the trouble he caused, with the crystals simply being a way to speed up the grand plan of things. It made no difference to Agahnim whether or not the captured girls spent eternity buried under red-hot magma, and if Link got buried down there with them, well… then the warthog creature would just have to accept that his favorite little pink bunny rabbit got himself killed while causing trouble in the Dark World.
It was becoming clear that if he did nothing, Agahnim would simply wait until it was impossible the young man to escape before vanishing away, but he couldn't just hand over the last two crystals… could he? The whole cavern was shaking, with bigger rocks breaking away from the high ceiling, with the bubbling magma down below reacting to each boulder that splashed its way in, now risen up to cover the bottom most levels in the former dungeon… and still rising. The heat was unbearable, the rocks Link was clinging to getting so warm that they were starting to burn his fingers, while so much sweat was dripping down from his forehead that the young man's vision was constantly getting blurred… his throat so dry that speaking or even coughing hurt.
On top of all that, each time Link tried to climb up the wizard tossed another fire ball, forcing him to drop back down to that same position… what was he going to do? All of the mystical items won during the quest for the Master Sword were useless right now, as was the blue blade itself, but getting himself and the crystals buried in magma wouldn't stop Ganondorf from reaching Hyrule… but aside from saving himself, giving Agahnim the crystals didn't seem to help much, either… although it did mean that maybe there was a chance of getting them back… somehow. Damn it, if Ganondorf wasn't stopped, then all of Hyrule and the entire world were doomed to become another Dark World, so there was no other option.
Partially hating himself for doing so, the young man took the crystals out of his pocket and tossed them up onto the ledge where the wizard was still standing. Briefly considering making a move against him while Agahnim was bending down to pick them up, Link decided to play it safe while calling on the power of the glove once again. Instead of using the pulse of strength to attack the wizard, the young man flung himself up onto the ledge, but away so that when he landed, Link was able to roll behind another outcropping of rocks near where the mouth statues used to be. Agahnim saw where he ended up, but instead of pursuing him, the wizard finished picking up the crystals, gave a mock salute, and then vanished.
The cavern was collapsing heavily now, with dust being kicked up by the falling debris, and the constant crashing making it impossible to hear anything else as the young man began to desperately climb up the next section of the cavern. His shield was starting to dent from deflecting the smaller rocks, but now so much of the ceiling was gone that the orange sky of the Dark World was visible… and then the walls below that started to cave in as well. Without all the twisting tunnels of Turtle Rock, the way out was pretty straight forward, with the exit tunnel visible even from where he was, but now even the surfaces that Link was climbing on were starting to crack and crumble, like the whole cavern was about to simply slide down into itself.
Using the glove for all it was worth, the young man leapt up from section to section, having to dive out of the way and slide back down a little when a large piece of the remaining ceiling fell right into his path before rolling down like a wagon wheel. Struggling to make up for the lost progress, Link's arms and legs felt like they were made of jelly by the time he was able to leap one last time and pull himself into the exit tunnel, so exhausted from the effort that even walking was impossible now. Crawling on his hands and knees while even the exit tunnel and its torches cracked around him, this whole thing felt like one of those dreams where you're being chased but you can't move fast enough… but the double doors were up ahead… he could see them.
The temperature was dropping, and a soft breeze could be felt coming in through the open passageway, driving him to keep moving as the walls collapsed around him and the doors got closer… and closer… and closer. Finally there was no more tunnel, the ground outside so much cooler than within Turtle Rock that for a moment it felt like he was crawling across ice and snow, and then it sounded like the whole world exploded when everything that remained of the former dungeon behind him all collapsed down into the bubbling magma at the same time, shaking the whole mountain range. When the smoke cleared and the noise stopped, all that was left was a large crater that was about halfway filled in with rocks and debris… no sign of the magma, though.
All right, no time to stop, the young man thought while struggling to start getting up, he had to find Agahnim and somehow get those crystals back before… before his thoughts were brought to a screeching halt when a boot suddenly filled his vision. Everything blurred for a second, Link's ears ringing as he felt himself sliding to a stop, and his vision almost refocused before his mind was able to realize that he had been kicked in the face. Now something was pulling on his arm… no, pulling on his shield and trying to remove it. He tried to stop it from happening, but was unsuccessful, and hearing a loud resounding CLANG when the removed shield was brought across the young man's head.
"An idiot like you doesn't deserve to carry a wizard's tool." Agahnim said, taking the freezing rod out of its hiding place and putting it up his own sleeve. "Now you wait there while I finish the spell."
Spell? What spell? Being fatigued plus that last blow to the head made it hard for the young man to sit up or focus his vision, but… but the wizard was doing something with the crystals, they were… they were floating there while blue and orange light was coming out of Agahnim's hands. This lasted for a couple of minutes, and then the lights stopped, the crystals fell to the ground, and something sort of like thunder, but hundreds of small claps, resounded across the sky before everything fell silent again. Gathering up the crystals a moment later and putting them into one of the pockets in his robe, the wizard walked over to Link just as he was getting to his hands and knees and grabbed his wrist, twisting the young man's arm while pressing a knee into his back to restrain him.
"I don't know what I was thinking, leaving you armed in the swamp." Agahnim said, taking the Master Sword and tossing it on the ground with the shield. "Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again, and… and what is this?"
Crying out as his arm was twisted even more painfully, the young man started to panic when he felt another pulling sensation, this time on the glove that had bonded itself to his hand. Kicking and struggling, but unable to accomplish anything in that position, Link only received another punch to the face for his trouble before the glove started to be removed. It took a lot of effort, and for a minute there it felt like his hand was going to get ripped off, but eventually with some magical persuasion the whole thing was removed, the mystical artifact tossed over the edge of the nearest cliff while Agahnim laughed that this explained a lot.
"Only hours remain before the gateway at Hyrule Palace opens completely." The wizard explained, letting him go as he stood up. "Ganondorf wants you there at his little moment of triumph, or else I'd just kill you right now, but its not like you have any choice since that's your only way home now."
The spell Agahnim had been casting was the opposite of the kind he had used to break the seven wisemen's seal, this one meant to slam shut all of the cracks between worlds forever, with the exception of the big one. His aim was to trap everyone in the Dark World inside after he and the warthog creature stepped through, sealing them in forever along with Link if Ganondorf for some reason decided not to kill him… not likely. Now the wizard was picking up his shield and Master Sword, wrapping the blue blade within his robe so that he didn't have to actually touch it, but then pressed his foot down on Link's hand when he was again trying to get up.
"I'll just take these with me." He said as the young man cried out. "You have a choice now; present yourself to Ganondorf at the great pyramid for a hopeless battle like your idiot grandfather… or hide here in the Dark World for the rest of your life, saving yourself at the cost of everything like your coward of an uncle. Choose quickly, boy."
With that, Agahnim vanished along with Link's weapons, leaving him alone to finally catch his breath next to the still smoldering ruins of Turtle Rock. Rolling over onto his side, the young man could see the great pyramid, the palace where he had first arrived into the Dark World, off in the distance, but there was no choice. Everyone was counting on him, Maple, Princess Zelda, everyone… and there was no way he was going to run and hide, no matter how powerful his enemies were. It was time to face Ganondorf, and either save Hyrule, or die trying.