Chapter 3: Too Late
Hero, Sora, Donald, and Goofy made their way into the castle courtyard, Hero looked around, the silence was very...disturbing.
"That blast must have taken out most of the Heartless in the area, we should move on before too many more come to replace them." He told the other two coldly.
He walked forwards, heading for the courtyard wall, the heavy iron door that had been thrown into it had caused rubble to form a kind of climbable path, but before he reached it, someone appeared In front of them, a black cloaked figure, blocking their path.
"Organization XIII!" Sora yelled, stepping towards the figure.
Hero suddenly charged at the mysterious figure, empowered by his ancient magic, his body engulfed in Dins Fire as he lashed out with his Heartless sword. The black-cloaked figure easily caught the sword and twisted it sharply, spinning Hero around, who then landed on his back, groaning.
No sooner than did Hero touch the ground when Sora swung the Keyblade at the shrouded man, who casually leaped up to the ledge above them.
"Now, now, kiddies" he said, his voice, cold and filled with anger and hatred "We haven't even been properly introduced yet" he lifted his hood, revealing his face, caught in a perpetual sneer, and his black hair, oiled back, and yet, his face was oddly familiar "My name is Xheor."
Sora looked up at him, understanding dawning on his face "You're-"
Suddenly, Hero was in the air, flying towards the man, "My Nobody!" he screamed.
Suddenly, he was engulfed in a blue light as he began to punch and kick Xheor, who had not expected this change in tactics, Nayrus love was close around Hero, amplifying the damage done by each punch and kick, most of which landed on Xheors face and stomach, until Hero suddenly dropped to the ground, placing his hands on the ground, he pushed away, landing a kick with both his feet, he struck Xheor in the stomach, launching him into the air towards a higher part of the path where he landed with a dull thud.
Sora and the others had climbed up to where Hero was during the 'fight' he had with Xheor, Sora walked up to him asking "Do you think he's finished?"
As if in response, Xheor leaped from where he had landed, hovering in the air, he summoned a large fire-ball, throwing it at the party.
Hero looked positively bored as it approached "Heh, this won't-"
He broke off, his face in genuine shock, as Sora leaped towards the incoming projectile, against protests from Donald and Goofy, as Sora drew nearer to it, he prepared to strike it with the Keyblade.
"Kid!" Hero screamed at him. He'll never counter something like that.
Xheor was quite confident in his attack "He has used too much power already, He will not survive," As he spoke, he closed his eyes, and savoured his victory, only to feel an immense heat wave, he opened his eyes a second before it hit "How?-" was all he managed to say before he let out a blood-curdling scream of pain.
Xheor fell from the sky, looking thoroughly worse for wear, as he rose defiantly, glaring at them from his left eye, the right one burnt, along with most of his face, and his dark cloak was mainly burned off, showing his scorched limbs and torso.
"I underestimated you, Hero of-guh!" he grunted at the pain, and then lifted his arms to the air, his hands clutching at something unseen "But you won't survive this next attack."
And then something completely unexpected happened.
"It is done Xaldin" the armored man in the center of a runic circle of blood directed to a cloaked man, his hood raised.
"Then it is time for your Triforce, as we discussed earlier."
"And then, the blade, correct?"
"Correct".
Princess Zelda walked into Castle Town with Rusl as an escort, his blade drawn, he watched every shadow for a threat to the princess, but his eyes did not rest long on the square, where great destruction had been wreaked. Zelda's eyes however, could not be drawn away from the horrid sight that was the town square.
The buildings closest to the castle had been completely decimated, rubble was strewn about, and had impacted the other structures, collapsing many of them, and none of the townsfolk were to be seen.
"The Heartless didn't do this," Zelda whispered.
Rusl turned to her, worry creasing his face "Then who Princess?"
Her face was pale as she sensed that all-too familiar, yet twisted aura about the destruction "It was that bastard Hero," the name was spoken with more hatred than when she had utterred the title.
Rusl merely paused in reflection and, taking one last look around he said, "Come Princess, lets go back to Telma's."
Zelda merely nodded in consent, and they walked back, the knowledge of what Hero did weighing on them heavily.
"But you won't survive this next attack."
At his words, a giant orb of pulsating blue energy spread from his hands, power dwarfing even that of Hero's, as Xheor rose into the air, ready to drop it on them at the right time.
"Shit!" the ancient hero yelled aloud. I don't have enough energy to block anything of this magnitude, and Farore's Wind won't work with all this strange energy about.
The orb had just reached it's critical point, and Xheor was about to let it fall.
"Goodbye, false hero!" He exclaimed, a fierce madness in his eyes.
Sora, looking up at Xheor, pointed just behind him "Look."
Hero looked where he was pointing, and his eyes widened in pure shock, only whispering a single word "Shadow"
Suddenly, the energy in Xheors hands stopped building, and began to dissipate, as the man plummeted to the ground, bleeding death-white blood from a wound going right through his chest.
"Have you really grown that weak, brother?" Spoke a man, floating in the air where Xheor was just before. "There was a time when a simple nothing wouldn't even cause you to break a sweat."
Sora looked closer, and the figure, standing on nothingness, was a silver-haired Link, dressed in black.
"Damn you Shadow!" Hero bellowed up at the figure "Why can't you just stay dead?!"
"Now, now, now, brother" The man known as 'Shadow' said comfortingly, as he glided down "I just saved your life you know brother."
"I'm not your brother, Shadow," Hero told him flatly as he alighted upon the ground.
"Enough with the 'shadow' now, brother, I told you the name I chose the last time you interfered," the last word spoken with disdain, possibly even disgust.
"Fine then, Vincent, but I don't suppose you would be too keen on helping me retrieve the Master Sword, would you?"
Vincents face turned dark, as he glared menacingly, crimson eyes near-glowing with anger.
Sora looked at him inquisitively, asking "What's wrong?"
His only response was to thrust his palm forward into Hero's chest, flinging him backwards, before closing the gap between them in an instant, clutching his throat, and slamming Hero into the ground, breaking the stone around where he impacted.
Sora rushed over to them screaming "What are you doing!?" Vincent ignored him merely yelling at the oddly shocked Hero.
"You absolute fool!" he then paused to punch Hero in the jaw with all his strength, "It's already too late, don't you see?"
Hero kicked him off, launching him about fifty feet in the air, then quickly following, having apparently recovered from earlier, grabbing Vincent by the collar and flinging him down into the courtyard, then instantly materializing above him, kicking him into a deep crater formed by the same impact.
Sora jumped down beside Hero, now kneeling beside a groaning Vincent as he sat up, sparing a look of pure venom for the smug Hero.
Sora then knelt down beside him, curious about what he had said.
"What is too late Vincent?" he asked the man as he collected his thoughts.
Donald and Goofy then joined them to hear what Vincent had to say, but before he could reply, they all turned their heads to the Castle as a high-pitched screeching came from the highest part of the main tower, where the throne-room lay. A look of pure fear lay upon Vincents face as he watched an ominous pale glow come from that same room, he suddenly cried out running for the Castle just as a pillar of white light emerged from the top of the tower.
"Hurry, we don't have much time!"
Hero suddenly took after him, screaming, "Get back here and tell me what's going on!"
Sora ran after them, but just as he caught up to them, they began to sprint up the Castles wall, Sora stood gaping, as he wondered how he was going to accomplish that feat himself.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy burst out, just then arriving where Sora had stopped.
Donald looked at Sora, and then Vincent and Hero, they nearly to the top, and then back to Sora, who then nodded in understanding.
Ganondorf stood in the ring of blood, the Master Sword in his hands, poised above the innermost point of the circle of runes making up the Portal, as Xaldin had called it, though Ganondorf cared not what it's name was.
As long as it serves my purpose, that is enough.
The King of Evil thrust the Blade of Time, as it had been called, into the Portal, and a twisted light filled the chamber.
Hero and Vincent alighted on the balcony outside the throne-room,pausing in shock as a gold-glowing Sora landed between them, his voice resonating with the power and wisdom contained within his Master Form.
"I thought you said we didn't have any time to spare."
Vincent started, and nodded running towards the source of the light, quickly joined by Sora and Hero.
Approaching the doorway, they saw Ganondorf entering the Portal, they picked up their pace to get there faster, but no sooner than they were through the door did a black-cloaked man pounce down upon them, striking them with some strange white magic, Hero and Vincent dodged, by suddenly speeding ahead into the portal no more than a second after Ganondorf entered, but Sora was hit straight on, and was seperated from Donald and Goofy, both of which, were flung outside, Sora however, was blasted straight up, striking the high vaulted ceiling hard, as everything around him was slowly fading in and out of existence, darker, more manevelant things falling into their place.
Sora fell into the portal, and dissappeared, leaving the twisting hall, and falling into an apparent nothingness.
Sora was surrounded by white light, a clear path somehow laid out before him, when suddenly he emerged on the other side, only to see Hero, Master Sword in hand, apparently locked in combat with a huge shadow, Sora, however, could only glance at it before Hero spotted him and charged over, his fist ready to strike.
"I thought I told you to leave!" he screamed before crying out, blood flying from a wound in his back, he then struck forward with his palm, pushing a confused Sora back through the Portal.
Sora was once more in the white light path, screaming out soundlessly towards Hero, when suddenly a blazing green light approached him from no-where, pushing him away from the path, and suddenly Sora's head was filled with strange visions.
A young boy in green, drawing a shining blade, the Master Sword.
Suddenly white light, as momentary visions of men and boys, each holding that same Blade of Evils Bane.
They all struggled forwards, none understanding their destiny, as each tried to defeat that evil man.
That man known as...Ganondorf.
"Can you see the man with the evil eyes?"
"We may have to 'interfere' this time," said a mans voice.
"No, we're not like him," replied an identical voice.
"We have finished our duty," interjected another.
"You all know why we put our blade down," agreed another.
"That doesn't mean we will just sit back and do nothing while one of our own is in danger!" the first man screamed angrily.
"You might as well ask them for help, you'll get the same response" said yet another man, his voice colder than the others.
"I don't recall you being one of us," the first told this newcomer with disdain "And if they were the only thing capable of preventing the worlds destruction I wouldn't even consider asking them"
"Fine by me if you don't, but unless your comrades change their minds, they will be the only thing preventing not only the worlds destruction, but the extinguishment of the goddesses lives."
The firsts anger was fierce, and he showed it, "That's blasphemy and you know it!"
"You know there's no chance of saving my soul," he said with regret, "I'm entitled to speak my mind, besides, I wouldn't even care if they died, they damned me just for existing."
"You deserved every bit of damnation you received"
The man just laughed coldly and humorlessly, "And what of you? Unlike your fellows, who seem to have left, rather than be even near me, you are actually socializing with me."
"We're just talking."
"Then why is it that I don't even upset you, when they disgust you?"
"You're not the same!" he yelled defensively.
"Oh but we are, you just refuse to see it, because that would make you a hypocrite, and a traitor."
"You will regret saying that."
"I regret existence," he said before letting his presence slip away, leaving the first man to think on his words.