It's done! Sorry for the long wait, I got a pretty bad writer's block for a while and finally managed to complete this one. Chapter 28 is going to be a little bit late too, same thing is happening. I'll get it done ASAP, but no promises on a date yet. Anyway, read and review, comment and criticize, (without flaming), and if there's any grammar or spelling mistakes, let me know. Enjoy regardless!

-Jack Knights

Dagg stood, his manacled hands rubbing painfully against his restraints. They were etched with sigls and seals, containing any surges of magic he might have had left in him. After he'd nearly singed off on of the witch's hair, they conjured them up and kept him in chains. And now, as he walked down the dark and dreary halls of the Citadel, they clanged together, breaking through the silence.

He'd been summoned to the King's chambers, and although they let him go on his own, unguarded, he didn't run. Dagg knew he should have tried to escape, to make things as difficult as possible for them, but he no longer had the courage or strength to disobey anyone. Besides that, he was afraid of being tortured again; the Twinrova sisters had always struck a spark of fear in him, and now he was weary of their punishments.

As he shuffled along, his bare feet brushing through the plush red velvet of the carpets, he studied the halls, observing picture frames and suits of wicked looking armour as he went. Most of the frames were filled with dark colours, creating a swirl of blackness that made him shiver. Others beheld Ganondorf, standing on the corpses of his enemies, the Monarchs of Hyrule past. Once or twice, he'd sworn the suits of armour had moved, and he rushed on.

Eventually he reached the throne room, the doors to which were closed, their immense structure guarded by two humans who barely moved at all. Dagg knew that if he tried anything out of line, they would cut him down immediately and without warning or remorse. As he approached them, they eyed him through their helms without moving their heads. As if by some silent cue, the doors opened of their own accord, swinging inward slowly.

The throne room had high ceilings, which arched amazingly towards the heaven. The architecture was dark, full of demonic sculptures and effigies of various kinds. Dagg stepped forward, his shoe-less feet slapping noisily against the cold, black marble floor in the gloomy silence. The air was cold and yet stifling and he tried not to shiver as he approached the throne. Ganondorf's seat was a horror to behold, a high-backed marble edifice of a chair. It was full of wicked curves and points and the emblem was a pair of crossed tridents, a real skull resting between them.

"How fortunate that you could join us," Ganondorf's dark voice rang through the chamber. He saw that the King was indeed with company. A tall, skinny man with long, jet-black hair and dark suit stood to his left; Carlisle, the Bane of the Sheikah, a title he whole-heartedly encouraged. Hovering above Ganondorf's throne were the Twinrova witches, flying on a pair of broomsticks. The figure to Ganondorf's right, however was a person Dagg did not recognize.

"We said, our Lord, didn't we? That we'd have him ready for your ceremony," gaggled the witches. Ceremony? Dagg wondered as he glared at them. What does he have planned for me?

"Yes, indeed you did," Ganondorf said without smiling. "You shall be rewarded, as usual."

"We thank you," they said reverently, disappearing into the shadows as they bowed low. Dagg instantly felt at ease now that they had gone.

"No doubt you wonder what it is I need you for," Ganondorf said, rising. He walked the short distance to Dagg and stared down at him. "All will be reveal in due time. But for now," he signaled the mysterious person behind him, "you will remain at my side, as an aid."

The mysterious person, he couldn't even tell their gender, so indistinguishable was their body, which was mostly hidden by layers upon layers of dark materials, stood in front of Dagg, hands outstretched. When he didn't move, they grabbed his manacles and held them in his hands. The metal grew hot, almost unbearably so, then it disappeared in a flash. Dagg nodded his head in subservience at the magician, rubbing his wrists.

"Take him to his living quarters and make sure he is attended to properly. Wash away the grime of his imprisonment and garb him finely," Ganondorf said to the same mysterious person, dismissing them. "Once he is presentable, bring him to me. We have things to discuss, you and I."

I should have done something, Sheik thought miserably to himself as he jogged along a road less traveled, headed South toward Saria. Link, at least, should've known where I was heading. He deserved that much, so that he come to me in time. Now he'll never reach the Resistance. He reached the crest in a hill and decided to rest for a while, his back to the sun so he wouldn't be blinded. He reached inside his bag for a piece of bread and ate thoughtfully.

"Man... I wish Dagg was here," he muttered. But he never showed. It's not like him, to just get up and disappear without letting me know. "I guess we're all learning to accept disappointment," he mused as he sipped from a canteen.

Oh well, I can't worry myself overly. If he's gotten himself into trouble, he'll have to find his own way out, he convinced himself, standing. Dagg's a big boy, he can take care of himself.

"As for myself..." he announced out loud, mostly so he could hear the sound of a voice, even if it was his own. I've gotten myself into something I could've never foreseen. He dug a hand down his shirt, drawing out a silver chain. On the end of it was a dark shard of metal. It glowed faintly, even in the bright afternoon sun.

I'll figure out what I should do once I reach Saria, he declared, shouldering his pack as he stood, trotting down the hillside.

They had been traveling through the Main Dome for a few hours, trying to find their way to the entrance. Unfortunately, Trex had a bad memory; the last time she'd been out of Sector Seven was years ago. Kaz had never left the sector after her parents died and Link couldn't tell right from left in the busy streets. He and Jaz were constantly bickering, nagging each other when they'd taken a wrong turn or went down the wrong street.

"There's the entrance!" Link said excitedly, spotting the massive doors over the buildings to their left.

"Finally," Jaz said, rubbing her neck. "It's about time. After that last turn I was sure we were lost."

"Oh, like your directions were any better," he said, annoyed. "Trying to lead us with the sun's trajectory? The door is North-Northeast, not Southwest."

"Be quiet, you two," Trex announced suddenly, raising a hand. Link's reply to Jaz's comment died on his lips and his brows drew together in confusion. "There's trouble up ahead," she muttered, looking around a corner. Link and Jaz peered around her, trying to see what she'd perceived as trouble. Link hurriedly backed up once he saw what she referred to.

"What are they doing here?" he hissed, glancing at the two men in black at the entrance. They were dressed similarly to the men that had broken into Trex's shop five days ago. Dammit, I thought we had at least a day before they'd try anything!

"What do we do?" Jaz asked quietly, looking from Trex to Link and back again.

"We need a distraction," Trex muttered, narrowing her eyes as she thought.

"Oh no, I'm not going to make a fool of myself in front of all these people," Jaz insisted, shaking her head. Link began to protest, but Trex shot him a look.

"I'll do it," she said, handing her bags to Link. "You two try and go around them, through that alley and up again; I'll see what kind of a commotion I can cause."

"Should be easy for you, creating a ruckus," Jaz said, grinning. "What with all the stunts you've pulled."

"It's one thing to do so when incredibly intoxicated and another acting it out when not," she said sternly. She turned away from them and drew in a deep breath. She walked back a bit, rounding a corner, mingling with the commuters as they marched down the street. Link and Jaz backed up into the shadows of a tall building, watching her. Trex suddenly began swerving, swooning as if she was drunk. Suddenly, she snatched a woman's purse, making sure she got noticed.

With a speed Link wouldn't have accredited the middle aged woman of reaching, she ran toward the center of the square, the woman shouting 'Thief!" as she ran. Several people in the crowd turned around to see what was happening. A theft didn't usually happen in their neighbourhood, and certainly nothing as loud and dramatic as this. It was exciting to them, being caught in the midst of it all. Trex jumped over a stall, over the railing and into the fountain, swinging the purse above her head and whooping crazily.

"Let's go," Link said, and they walked briskly down the back-road, getting glimpses of the action as they went. Several soldiers parted the crowds, heading towards the fountain. Trex spotted them and began climbing the monument, spewing profanities as she went. Link noticed the men in black from before were trying to scan the crowd, onto their ruse. One of them spotted them and Link froze, Jaz at his side, staring at the man. He shouted to his comrade and they began making their way through the crowd towards them.

"Run!" Link shouted, grabbing Jaz and dashing away from the scene.

When she reached the top of the fountain, Trex saw them running, and sighed. Those idiots, they're going the wrong way! She shook her head, sitting cross legged on the top of a globe. I put my neck out there for them and they can't even follow a simple set of directions. Then she spied the two men darting after them, gaining quickly. She frowned, cursing colourfully. A shot rang out from below and she peered down at the soldiers assembled below her. They had a modified rifle and were trying to knock her out with a charged shot.

"You've been a wonderful audience!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, arms outstretched. The crowd, even the soldiers suddenly went quiet, surprised by her sudden outburst. "But the show's over. Maybe one day soon I'll perform for you again," she added with a bow, throwing the purse into the air. All eyes in the crowd followed it as it sailed through the air.

"Until next time!" I hope these work...if not, it's been fun, she thought grimly as she threw herself off the fountain. A few people screamed as she fell and soon the whole crowd took it up, watching the suicidal woman. Several feet before she hit the ground, Trex pushed a button in the panel on her shoes. Flames burst from the soles, and she locked her legs under her, pointed down, trying to stabilize herself. Trex nearly touched the ground before she pressed another button, and she fell off, the rocket boots taking her over a building and out of sight.

The crowd was silenced by her display and the soldiers stared in awe with the rest of the people as the crazy thief disappeared. Anyone who had read the paper that night would be talking about the flying acrobat who'd broken through the doldrum rut of their lives with her crazy antics.

"They're gaining," Jaz shouted, looking over her shoulder as she ran. Link, despite carrying two packs, seemed to be having no trouble keeping up his fast pace. Her foot caught on a loose cobblestone and she fell forward, crashing onto the pavement. Link was instantly at her side, trying to help her up. He took her bag from her and slung it over his shoulder, then offered her his hand.

"Can you stand?" he asked, glancing around.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, taking his hand and getting to her feet. "Come on, let's get going before those guys show up."

"Too late for that, girly," came a voice from behind them. They turned around and saw the two men from before, standing on a roof top not far from them. Link glanced over his shoulder, seeing another man blocking their exit walking towards them as the men from the roof dropped down and began closing in.

"Nowhere for you to run now, my pretty," said a voice he recognized. Link stared hard at the man Sheik had called Carlisle, feeling his hatred for the man flare. "Fear makes you look so innocent, doll."

"You'll leave her out of this!" Link shouted, throwing down the bags as Jaz put a hand on his forearm.

"No they won't," she said, speaking up. "Because I'm going to fight back."

"Think you'll take revenge on me, poppet?" Carlisle scoffed, genuinely surprised. "Well alright then, you can try. If anything happens to you though, it's on your head, alright?" he added, sounding like he was reprimanding a child. Link drew his stolen sword and Jaz reached behind her, drawing out a foot long pole made of iron.

"You're going to take me on with that?" he said incredulously. "That thing won't be able to—"

His sentence was cut off when Jaz whipped it forward, the iron rod lengthening into a staff as it struck Carlisle in the face, sending his sprawling. Link nodded at her, and she at him; he ducked on instinct as she swung her sectioned staff around her, hitting one man in black and forcing the others back. When it made it's second revolution, Link dashed out from under it, thrusting his sword forward into the nearest ambusher. It sunk into his stomach, ripping through him and going out his back. The man gasped and when Link withdrew his sword from the dead man's midsection, he was surprised to see that there was no blood on it. Before the man could turn to dusk, Link jumped at the downed man, plunging the sword into his chest as Jaz impaled the last man on the tip of her staff.

Carlisle was doubled over, rubbing his aching jaw. He stood, spitting out a wad of blood, and a tooth to boot, and grimaced at the two of them. "You two will pay for that," he said, advancing on Jaz. She swung her weapon wide, but he was anticipating it. He ducked under it and sprang forward, sword in hand as he dove towards Jaz. Before he could stab her, Link parried the blow, knocking the man's sword to the ground. He kicked Carlisle in the chest and he staggered back a few paces, glaring at them angrily.

"Fine then," he said bitterly. "Dodge this!" he shouted, throwing several darts at them. Link rolled out of the way, but Jaz remained standing. For a split second he thought she'd be hit, but then she swept her staff, half spinning it as it crossed in front of her. Metal against metal chimed as she deflected the darts calmly and with deadly precision. She lifted her head and looked at Carlisle; Link noticed that she'd gone under her self induced trance and he found it frightening.

"How could you... You deflected every on of my darts!" disbelief mixing with fear in his voice. Jaz darted after him as he tried to escape, gripping him by the throat. She withdrew the dagger from his belt and stabbed him in the heart. Shock traveled across his face. "What... what the hell are you?" he shouted at her in pain as she twisted the dagger in his chest.

"Your death," she muttered, squeezing his neck. His body exploded into sand, yet her arm remained raised grasping at the air. Jaz fell to her knees, her eyes closing as she lost consciousness. Link caught her before she hit the ground, placing her arm across his shoulders, helping her stand as Trex appeared over the rooftops, swerving wildly as she tried to maneuver the rocket boot. "What happened to her?"

"She went into a trance and killed a man with her bare hands," Link said, passing Jaz to Trex, going to retrieve the bags. "I thought she was supposed to remain passive when that happened?"

"So did I," Trex said worriedly, looking at Jaz as she panted heavily.

"What happened?" she asked once she caught her breath. Link and Trex looked at each other, unsure of what to say. "Where'd that rapist get to?"

"I thought I killed him," Link said, looking at the piles of dust. "But I doubt that was the last we saw of them."

Something has changed in her, he remarked as they got their things together and headed for the entrance. Jaz, what are you?