Welcome to the beginning of the finale to Wind of Time. You can thank Xkarz for granting the reviews needed for me to continue this thing. This chapter will be a little longer than the others, because, in addition to the battle against Twinrova, you get to find out who Sheik really is (Although any of you who have played Ocarina of Time will already know). Now then, on with the show!

Chapter 13

The True Identity of the Sheikah Survivor

The Gerudo witches had their backs to us, but had heard our footsteps as we entered. The one on the left to face us, and I saw she has a blue crystal adorned on her forehead.

"It seems that we have visitors, Koume." The blue witch said to her sister, who I saw was wearing a red crystal. She turned at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Well, well, well. It was very rude of them to intrude in our temple, Kotake." This red witch stated. Kotake and Koume, huh? Aren't those Japanese fungi? Eh, whatever. These two obvious mean business. Link drew his sword, ready for the imminent battle. I entered a battle-ready stance, hoping I could somehow aid in battle against these witches.

They laughed at our eagerness, and I cocked an eyebrow at this.

"I think we let our little friend take care of these two, am I right, Koume?" Kotake asked her sibling. Koume nodded at her, and they flew apart to reveal an Iron Knuckle sitting on the throne behind them. It rose up, ready for battle, summoning a large ax that it could cut either of us to shreds. I could not help but notice that there was something… off about it. It was certainly different from the one we fought to retrieve the Mirror Shield.

It slowly made it's way towards us, and I could not suppress the felling that this would be really hard to defeat. Link lunged at the thing with his sword ready, but it deflected the blow with that huge ax. I took to opportunity to charge at it and deliver an ax kick to the head. It was caught off guard, and the full force of the blow made a small dent in the helmet. I quickly swung my other leg around, kicking the helmet off of the armor.

However, instead of seeing an empty space where the head should be, there was actually a head under there. A Gerudo woman had been inside that suit! The rest of the armor fell off her body, and she collapsed to her knees on the floor. Link and I stared at her in shock, the former recognizing her from his brief trip to his childhood. Nabooru, leader of the Gerudo. I could not believe those witches could be so cruel as to brainwash one of their own. It seemed obvious that she had been rebelling against the tyrant, unwilling to follow Gerudo law, and accept the evil Ganondorf as her king.

Kotake and Koume soon returned, and redid the spell that had placed Nabooru under their control, sending her away in a flash of light. A door at the back of the room opened, and the pair of witches fled through it. Link and I followed, intent to bring jugement upon their evil hearts. In this room, there was a large central platform risen from the floor, with four smaller platforms placed around it. From opposite ends of these platforms, from strange markings that had appeared on top of the platforms, rose Kotake, Sorceress of Ice, and Koume, Sorceress of Fire. They started the battle fairly simply. One would cast some spell of their element, which Link would reflect to the other using his polished shield. This was ridiculously easy. All I did was dodge their magic, using my superior speed to completely negate their attacks.

They soon caught on that this was not a battle they were going to win, and prepared something I could not bet would be good. Like always, this feeling was correct. They soon merged into a larger, stronger, (though admittingly sexier) witch. Twinrova was ready for battle.

This powerful witch would float from platform to platform, firing a spell from one of her wands. Link absorbed the spells into his shield, ready to let out a powerful counterattack at the third spell of the same attribute. It scarred me that this witch could be born from the fusion of two siblings, but I shoved the thought aside. As soon as the counter measure hit her, she fell to the platform, and I quickly did a homing attack on her, as the Hylian Hero soon landed a hit with his sword. This went on for a long time, but with my speed, I easily dodged any attack she threw at me. I felt a surge of contempt as Twinrova came down a second time, and the two of us launched another barrage of hits on the stunned witch. We kept this barrage up, and soon, the combined witch went down for the count.

She defused, and Kotake and Koume emerged in the center of the large platform, claiming to be ready to get serious. However, they never get the chance to, as Link and I had inadvertently killed both of them, and after some brief argument regarding their age, they both rose to the afterlife in a pillar of light. I felt twinge of guilt at killing those witches, but they probably had it coming. After all, there is no harm in performing actions that karma would have done anyway.

With the pen of justice, I had ended their book. The rest of mine is still unwritten. (A/N: Cookies to the one who can correctly guess which song this paragraph references. You must give both the title and the author to receive any credit.)

Within the Chamber of the Sages, Nabooru was waiting, freed from the control of those witches, and awakened as the Sage of Spirit. Upon a cheerful conversation, she added her power to Link's using the Spirit Medallion, and rewarded me with the white Chaos Emerald. Rauru contacted us soon after, and informed the two of us about someone waiting for us at the Temple of Time. When we returned to the entrance to the Spirit Temple, Link immediately played the Prelude of Light, and the two of us were instantly warped to the Temple of Time.

When we arrived there, the spirits of my friends were already there, waiting around for me to return with Link. I had explained the entire situation to Silver (I didn't trust the others since they couldn't understand me as fluently as the albino would), so he had told the others what was destined to happen. I looked around the temple, looking for whoever might be the one who Rauru had wanted us to speak with before the final confrontation.

"I have been waiting for both of you to arrive." said a voice form behind. Who should I see standing in the entrance of this temple, but Sheik. He looked as if he had finally reached the moment where he would let something intense off his chest.

"I see that both of you have succeeded in awakening the last of the sages." I chuckled slightly at his remark, but could not help but wonder where he was going with this. "To aid you two in the final battle, allow me to reveal a hidden legend of the Triforce, past down by the Sheikah tribe." This would be interesting, if there was not so much at stake. I listened to what the Sheikah had to say, hoping some good would come out of this. Silver hovered over to my side, eager to hear this legend of Hyrule's sacred relic.

Like the gems of life that originate in Sonic's home, the Triforce is a relic that judges the heart of whoever touches it. However, unlike the gems, which judge the holder based on purity, the Triforce judges it's holder for virtue, and is a scale that balances the three key virtues; Power, Wisdom, and Courage. If someone who has all three of these virtues in perfect balance makes a wish upon the Triforce, then they shall gain the True Force to govern all. If the virtues are not in balance, then the Triforce shall split into three parts; the Triforces of Power, Wisdom, and Courage, with holder keeping the Triforce representing the virtue that person most believes in, with the other two resting with those chosen by destiny.

"When Ganondorf invaded the Sacred Realm, and stole the Triforce, he gained his wish to rule the land. However, the legend had come true, and the Triforce was split into three parts, with Ganondorf keeping the Triforce of Power. With it, he was able to take control of Hyrule, while at the same time, spreading the threat of his tyranny to other dimensions." I looked away slightly when Sheik said that last part. I knew he was talking about the Chaos Emeralds getting dragged here, and me following them soon after. Because of him.

I finally chipped into the conversation. "But it still isn't enough for him, is it?" I asked. "He wants to find the remaining two pieces, and tighten his grip on the land, possibly even spread his control to my world."

"Correct." Sheik responded. "He has searched for the ones chosen by destiny to hold the remaining two Triforces. They will be easily noticed, for they bear the mark on the back of their hands. The holder of the Triforce of Courage… is you, Link." Link did not even flinch when Sheik said this. He held his left hand in front of him, and I noticed a mark that was exactly like the one I saw one Ganondorf's hand, the main difference being that the triangle on the lower right was a deeper color, instead of the one on top. I guessed that this was the strange power I felt when Link touched me back in the Water Temple.

"Well, what about the last one? The Triforce of Wisdom. Who has that one?" The psychic liberator asked. Sheik gave no instance of surprise when the guy's voice sounded, so I immediately decided that maybe Sheik is able to see him.

"The Triforce of Wisdom is in the hands of the Seventh Sage, leader of them all."

I suddenly remembered the moment when I first met Sheik in the Kakariko Graveyard. When he placed the translation spell, I felt his immense wisdom in his touch. And when the shadow beast escaped from the Well, I had seen something glow on the back of his right hand. It all fit together now. Sheik had to have the Triforce of Wisdom.

But that would mean… he's actually…

As if sensing my thoughts, he raised his right hand, clearly displaying the mark of the Triforce of Wisdom, the Triangle to the lower left being darkened. The mark glowed with a blinding light, and when the light faded, Sheik was gone. In his place stood a beautiful Hylian maiden, wearing a ceremonial pink dress, with elbow-length white gloves, flowing blonde hair, and Triforce earrings dangling from her pointed ears. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue, and her skin was a lot paler then Sheik's had been. I was amazed at the powerful magic that had allowed her to change her skin and eye color, and pass herself off as a Sheikah. I had never even suspected who the guy really was, the disguise was so perfect. Link instantly recognized the woman standing before us.

"Princess Zelda…"

She smiled at the name. It appeared that Link had hit it right on the nose. "I'm sorry for approaching you in disguise. It was necessary to hide myself from Ganondorf." The princess seemed depressed about her actions, but I understood the danger she would have been in if she hadn't taken them. "That night, seven years ago, when I gave you the ocarina, I had thought that doing so would completely prevent Ganondorf from reaching the Sacred Realm. But I was young. I could not have forseen the consequences of having you draw the Master Sword. Ganondorf was able to bypass the defenses of the Sacred Realm, and your spirit was sealed in the Temple of Light for seven years. All this happened because of me."

I was sure Link blamed himself for this crisis as much as Zelda was blaming herself, though for an entirely different reason. Zelda was holding blame because she was supposed to eventually become ruler of Hyrule, and her actions had ultimately lead her people to an age of Tyranny and Suffering. Link probably decided that if he had not drawn the sword from the pedestal, none of this would have happened. It was his fault as much as it was Zelda's. But now, they have the chance to set things right. If the hated tyrant can be brought down, here and now, everything will be alright.

"You can't just stand here blaming yourself for this mess." I stated to her. "Now is the time to set things right! This is our chance to defeat this tyrant, and bring this land to an age of prosperity." Both Link and Zelda looked at me, and smiled at my determination. As a final gift to the hero, she granted Link arrows imbued with the power of Light. These will be the only thing capable of penetrating Ganondorf's defenses. He will need them for the battle ahead.

Just then, the temple began shaking, and a sinister scent lurked in the air around us. This was bad. At that moment, Zelda was captured in a crystal cage, generated of dark magic.

"I knew I would eventually find you, your highness." Ganondorf's voice sounded from an unknown source. "This kid has done more damage to my army then I can bear. I severely underestimated him. No, what I underestimated was the Triforce of Courage, and this blue rat he travels with."

"HEDGEHOG, I'm a hedgehog, you tyrant!" I corrected him.

"Rat, hedgehog, what difference does it make?" the Gerudo king asked evilly. "If you want to see the princess again, then come to my castle, where we will settle this once and for all." He began laughing evilly, and the captured princess vanished into the evil essence, her crystal prison gleaming in the setting sun.

Don't you just love cliffhangers? Now, review the chapter, if you want to see how this ends.