AN: Uh oh… I have no idea how long it's been since I last updated. I hope it wasn't too long. I got a little obsessed with a video game and just didn't feel like writing. It's nice and long though, to make up for it.

As the three swords descended, Link and Naito dove forward at the same time. The each slid between the legs of a darknut, and rolled to their feet behind them. They spun quickly at the same time as the darknuts, and Link stepped forward. He parried an attack with his shield and stabbed toward the darknut's shoulder. His blade pierced a weak part of the armour just under the shoulder blade, and the darknut roared in anger. It kicked him with an iron boot, knocking him onto his back. It followed up with a quick downward stab, but Link rolled to the side, and then back the other way as it stabbed again.

Naito saw this in the corner of his eye and jumped at the darknut. He flipped over its head with a downward slash that removed its helmet, and then landed beside Link, who was just getting up. The other two darknuts were coming in from the side, so they darted past the staggering one that Naito had hit before they were surrounded.

Link eyed the helmet that had fallen from the darknut Naito hit. He gauged its size, and then dodged past a darknut to grab it.

"Distract them!" He shouted at Naito.

Naito nodded, and drew his bow. He fired an ice arrow at one of the darknuts' legs, then stepped forward and ducked under a slash before hitting it with his sword and stepped back. He hit another from behind as it walked toward Link, and then launched a fire arrow at the third. They were all advancing on him now, trying to back him against the fire wall.

"You better have one hell of a plan!" Naito yelled at Link, who was putting on his iron boots.

"Just dive toward the centre of the ring when I yell!" Link called, drawing a bomb.

Naito nodded, stopping as he reached the edge. He fired two ice arrows, creating a small wall to hold off the darknuts. They hacked it down easily, and one of them stepped within swinging range.

"Naito, now!" Link yelled, and Naito dove between two of them, using his small size to his advantage. He rolled toward the centre and spun to look at Link.

Link was holding the open bottom of the helmet against one of the darknuts' back, and just standing there. Naito opened his mouth to say something when there was a loud BOOM, and Link's arms buckled. Jets of flame burst out the eyeholes of the helmet, and the darknut hurled forward into the flame wall. Its armour melted away as it laid sprawled half in and half out of the ring. It gave one final roar before laying still and sliding off the edge of the platform, its armour now mostly melted.

"What the hell was that!?" Naito yelled in surprise.

"Bomb in the helmet. The full force of the explosion hit him because it had nowhere else to go." Link explained. "Almost broke my arm, too." He added as an afterthought, before drawing his sword again and facing the other two.

Naito stepped beside him, and they waited as the darknuts closed in. Link stepped forward to meet them as Naito drew his bow. Link parried a swing with his shield and smashed its face with his sword, sending it staggering back. He spun with the momentum of his swing and stepped toward the second, thrusting his sword forward. It parried his blade and tried to kick him, but Link back flipped before quickly jumping forward and bringing his sword down viciously. It split the helmet in two, and it fell apart in two pieces.

The other was sneaking up behind him, but Naito put an arrow right into one of the eyeholes on its helmet. It staggered back with a yell, wrenching the arrow free. Link then drop kicked it in the chest and it stumbled back into the flaming wall. The straps around its back holding its armour on were incinerated instantly, and as it stepped forward from the flames its armour fell off.

The armour-less one darted forward with newfound speed, and took a swing at Naito. Naito dropped to his knees with one hand on the floor to dodge it and then darted forward, stabbing up with his sword. It pierced the Darknut's stomach on an upward angle, and the Darknut dropped its sword. Naito wrenched his blade back out and then kicked the darknut, sending it staggering back into the wall of fire. It was engulfed with flame, and let out a single, inhuman cry of rage before lying still, at the edge of the platform.

Meanwhile, Link was dueling with the one which still had armour. They traded a few swipes before Link tried to surprise it with a spin attack. The ring of blue energy glanced across the darknut's armour and caused it to stagger back slightly. Link reared his arm back and thrust his sword forward with all his strength, but the darknut recovered in time and was able to parry this to the side, throwing Link off balance. Link threw himself backwards to avoid the follow-up attack and landed clumsily on his back.

The darknut stepped forward and Link kicked viciously upwards, connecting with its wrist. Its arm jerked up and its sword flew up and out of the ring, landing with a clang on the ground beneath the platform. Link

hopped to his feet and slammed his shield into the darknut's head, sending it reeling. He spun and kicked it in the back, sending it staggering forward through the fire and fell off the platform with a cry. Link twirled his sword and sheathed it.

He turned to see Naito standing at the other side of the platform, inspecting his hand casually.

"You know, if it wasn't too much trouble, you could have helped me with that last one." Link said.

"I'd already sheathed my sword with flourish. If I'd drawn it again, I would have looked stupid." He replied smoothly.

"Right, wouldn't want that." Link said sarcastically. As he said it, the ring of fire vanished. He suddenly remembered why he was down here, and the faint smile on his face vanished instantly.

He gestured for Naito to follow him, and took off toward the stairs. He heard Naito's small feet pattering behind him, keeping up fairly well. They hurried up the stairs, and began jogging toward the back door. Link remembered seeing a dark castle beyond a large barrier out there. They ran across the white bridge, and the barrier once more materialized in front of them as they drew close.

The slowed to a stop in front of it, and stood for a second, staring at it. Link spoke up, saying, "Draw your sword. There is a lot of magic in this barrier, so we're going to focus all of our energy into the Master Sword. Understand?"

Naito nodded, drawing the sword with his left hand. He lifted it up, and Link out his right hand on the hilt above Naito's. They raised the sword together, feeling the energy flowing down their arms and into the sword. The faint aura of light around the blade intensified, and the two heroes brought the blade down simultaneously. It cut through the barrier cleanly and smoothly, leaving a trail of white light. The area around the slash began to solidify, and it spread quickly. Within ten seconds, the entire barrier was completely opaque. Suddenly, with no warning, it shattered, raining pieces of what looked like dark glass down both sides of the bridge. The silence after the shattering barrier was almost painful, and after a moment of solemn silence, Naito and Link began walking forward again.

After the bridge, they followed a trail up a small, grassy hill, and then crossed a brown bridge and approached the looming, dark castle.

"Here we are. It's finally time to end this." Naito said.

"Yes; but don't underestimate Ganondorf. I believe he's gained power since I defeated him… and I had Zelda's help. We… we don't know if Tetra will be able to help us here." Link replied.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful. How are we even going to get to him? Won't he pull out all the stops now? We barely took out those three darknuts." Naito asked.

"I don't think we'll find anything harder than that. I feel like… like there might be something he wants to tell me. I'm not sure about anything to be honest, but I can tell there's something different about him. He seems less vicious. I thought he'd go into a rage when he met me in the Forsaken Fortress, but he spoke calmly, almost sadly. I think it might be… I think it might be because I'm the only other person from our time, and deep down inside he feels as attached to Hyrule as I do. I'm not saying he won't try to kill us; don't let your guard down. All I'm saying is that I'm not really sure what to expect." Link explained slowly.

Naito nodded solemnly. "Well… I think it's time we found out." he said, and without another word the two opened the door to the castle.

After a short hallway, they came into a giant entrance hall. The walls were smooth, dark stone, with statues of grotesque creatures lining the walls. It was otherwise completely empty.

They walked forward, towards the door at the other side. Halfway through the room, a dark shape rose from the ground in front of them. They stopped short, drawing their weapons as it revealed itself to be Phantom Ganon.

It laughed quietly, and then said. "Put away those swords; I'm not here to fight you. Lord Ganon wishes for me to inform you that he awaits your arrival in the castle's highest tower. Do not keep him waiting." With that said, it vanished back into the ground. Link and Naito sheathe their swords.

"I guess you were right." Naito commented.

Link nodded, and they quickly headed through the door and deeper into the castle. They navigated many eerily empty corridors and several flights of stairs before they found the castle's keep. It was nothing more than a series of circular rooms with a spiral staircase along the wall the whole way up. It was very wide for a tower; Link guessed the diameter was around thirty feet or so. They headed up the stairs with Link in the lead and Naito following close on his heels, identical looks of determination on their faces.

The tower was incredibly tall; they passed countless empty, seemingly useless rooms before the staircase ended. They stepped into the final room, and there, in the middle, was Ganon himself. He was standing behind a small bed where Zelda (Tetra?) lay motionless. He was peering at Link and Naito with a distant look in his eyes.

"I'm very impressed that both of you were able to make it to my castle. I'd thought that barrier I put up to be invincible. But you know what? I don't think I ever truly doubted that you'd find a way. Because I know you Link; I know you better than you know yourself. I also know that you won't kill me… because you need my help to bring Hyrule back." Ganondorf said.

Link stared back, his expression unchanging. But he felt a hint of doubt in his heart.

"Yes… we both want the same thing here, don't we? Let's bring Hyrule back together… wouldn't you like to visit the Kokiri Forest once more? How about Lake Hylia? We could rebuild Kakariko village; we could rebuild Hyrule! Think about it… by stopping me, you would be killing Hyrule!"

"Don't listen to him! He's lying!" Naito yelled.

Link stood there, his calm face now troubled, his fists clenched by his sides. He was biting his lip so hard that he drew blood. He seemed not to notice. He took a tentative step toward Ganondorf, and then shook his head viciously.

"No! Hyrule's already dead. The land is an empty shell now… there would be no meaning in bringing it back. The people on the islands have their own lives now… we are the ones that don't belong. If you can't accept that… you will have to die!" Link yelled the last part, drawing his sword.

"You say that now…" Ganon said, and with a wave of his arm, the bed and Zelda vanished. Ganon then hurled a ball of dark energy at Naito, who collapsed, unconscious. "… but I have a feeling you won't be able to resist." He finished, and from inside his cloak he drew a small round object.

He placed it on the floor, and Link realized what it was with a gasp. His throat constricted, and he had trouble drawing a breath. On the floor was the ocarina given to him by Saria when he left the forest to begin his journey; the Fairy Ocarina. He had thought it to be lost when he drew the Master Sword for the first time, as it had vanished from his equipment. Ganon had had it the whole time.

Ganon laughed, and touched a single finger to the ocarina. Purple energy flowed from his finger to the ocarina, which began to float at shoulder height from the ground, surrounded by an ominous purple aura. Ganon slowly floated into the air, up to the extremely high ceiling before vanishing. Link barely noticed this; he had eyes only for the last symbol of his childhood.

"Link… you weren't really thinking about abandoning Hyrule, were you?"

Link spun around to see Impa walking toward him. "Impa?… no, impossible. It's an illusion." He said out loud.

"Link… as much as I hate to say it, you must help Ganondorf this time." Another voice said. It was Nabooru. And was the room getting darker, or was it just his imagination?

"Never!" Link shouted.

"Please Link… bring Hyrule back. I died because the goddesses didn't trust you'd be able to stop Ganon… do you think that's fair?" Malon said, approaching him from the far side of the room. The room was definitely darker now, and yet he could see everyone fine.

"I…" Link didn't know what he meant to say, but it didn't matter. He was interrupted by Darunia.

"Trust me, my brother; Ganondorf is right this time. You must aid him."

"None of this is real! Go away!" Link yelled at them all, backing toward a wall.

"Not real? Are you so blind you cannot even tell what is real anymore?" Rauru said condescendingly.

"We're trying to help you. Don't you trust us? We're your friends!" Malon yelled.

"Bring us back…" Nabooru said.

"Yes… it is your fault we died. If you revive Hyrule, you will be atoning for your sins." Impa stated.

"No… no. This isn't real! You wouldn't say this… you'd never trust Ganondorf. None of you would. Get out of my way!" Link yelled, raising his sword again.

"Stop!" Nabooru shouted, but Link ignored her. He began walking toward the ocarina, still floating there in an evil glow.

"In order to seek a new future… I must first let go of the past." Link said without even meaning to. It felt as though someone else were speaking through him. He continued toward the ocarina. His friends… no the illusions… tried to get in his way, but before he touched them they backed away. He finally reached the ocarina, and raised his sword up over his head.

"Link… don't. Please don't destroy my ocarina." Suddenly Saria was standing in front of him, behind the ocarina. Link hesitated, feeling doubt welling up inside of him once again.

"Link… you wouldn't destroy it, would you? I gave that to you as a symbol of our friendship."

"No… no! You're not Saria. You're an illusion, just like everyone else here. Ganondorf… you'll have to try a little harder. Now get THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Link screamed in rage, bringing his sword down with all his strength. Saria's face twisted with rage as his sword struck the ocarina, and then she vanished, along with the other illusions in the room. The ocarina fell to the ground in two pieces; the dark aura was gone. The room brightened almost instantly, and all noise ceased.

Link bent over and picked up the two halves slowly. "I'm sorry Saria… I had no choice." He said as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

He shook himself back to reality as he noticed Naito lying on the ground behind him. With the pieces still clutched in his hand, he walked over and shook him. Naito slowly opened his eyes, and looked up at Link.

"Ow." He said, slowly sitting up.

"Come on; we have to follow him. I think he want to the roof." Link said.

"Gotcha. Hey, what's that in your hand?" Naito asked, gesturing at the Ocarina shards.

"Nothing. Just a keepsake from a close friend. Now let's go; it's not over yet."

AN: This has got to be the longest yet. Anyway, let me know what you thought. That whole thing at the end, I'm not sure if that was a good idea or if it was boring, so let me know.