I make no claims to the Legend of Zelda.

At the dawn of the fifth day, Link was the one who set out. The hunted had become the hunter.

He had no trouble finding Itac's location, since his army's camp approached the whole of Castle Town in size. But what it lacked in inconspicuousness it made up for in defensive power. Even Link would be hard pressed to take on an army all by himself. And for someone who had never had to sneak through a camp of armed warriors before it would be a problem.

Link was not that someone. He donned one of his many masks of power. This one was wholly unremarkable, and conferred the same status on its wearer. Even someone looking straight at Link saw nothing more than a rock or another soldier or something else that made their eyes glaze over and pass on. Thus it was that he walked in full view of the entire army and passed unnoticed straight into Itac's luxurious tent.

Here he found the Emperor himself. Itac trembled and held a dagger curvy like the ocean wave, sharpened so finely it could wound the very air and poisoned with venom that could melt through solid rock. The Emperor was convinced that he would need it, despite all his guards.

He was wrong. Not because there was nothing to fear, of course. It was because the dagger would not and could not protect him. He found this out when one of the hookahs suddenly knocked the dagger from his hands. And he saw then that it was not a hookah at all, but a boy with a very sharp sword in his hand.

"Oh, you think you've won, don't you?" he screamed. "Well, it's not over yet!"

And then Itac drew a medallion from his neck, snapping the delicate golden chain. And with great force he dashed it against a stone bench. As it shattered, the talisman released a blue-red mist that soon enclosed his body.

Itac grew then. He grew and grew and grew and didn't stop until he was so large that he was wearing his very tent as a hat. He towered over Link and really over all of Hyrule save for the Gorons' mountain which still had a height advantage.

"Do your worst, hero! My empire will last forever! Prepare to die!"

Link donned a mask.

In the process of becoming a hero, Link had to balance his courage, wisdom, and power. Since the courage he'd started in was nigh-unlimited, that took a lot of hard work. He was required to learn wisdom through happiness and tragedy, through understanding the very nature of time and how the smallest of actions at the right moment could mean the difference between happiness and death. As for power…

The battle ended in ten seconds. That was precisely how long it took for beams of raw magical force emanating from Link's sword to bring down the giant Emperor. For all of Itac's tricks, Link wore the face of a god. Just like his henchmen, the Emperor was far out of his league.

For another ten seconds Link and the army performed an impromptu staredown. Everywhere Link's eyes fell, hundreds of soldiers froze and looked down. For the most part they didn't know what to do. The Emperor was gone and his killer seemed unstoppable.

And then two things happened:

First, the giant Emperor's body began to disintegrate into red powder.

And second, the fallen tent was billowed upward by smoke. So much smoke that it almost replaced the fallen Emperor in the sky. And it resolved into two figures, one gold-and-silver, the other silver-and-gold.

Many of those present raised their weapons. The men of the army raised their crossbows and halberds, feeling impotent. Link the Fierce Deity raised his sword, feeling like he could resolve the situation if need be.

"We will not harm you," promised Parad.

"You will not harm us," declared Dux.

That seemed like good news to everyone present. After a few seconds of informal glance exchanging one of the soldiers stepped forward. The fancy uniform showed him to be some sort of an officer – perhaps a captain and perhaps a general. It didn't matter – all that mattered was that he was a leader and he was taking on the mantle of leadership now.

"What happened here?" he asked.

"The Emperor is dead. The Empire is finished."

"The Hero is triumphant. Hyrule lives on."

"Did you engineer this?"

"We merely answered the questions we were asked."

"We orchestrated the entirety of the events in question."

"What do we do now?"

"You can fight the hero of Hyrule and die."

"You may march home and arrive too late to do anything."

"The Empire is doomed then?"

"Definitely."

"Certainly."

The officer turned to his men.

"All right, boys. You heard them. Let's go home and try to remember how to farm on the way. I seem to remember spades being involved, yeah?"

And thus the army began its long march home. Some of the lazier soldiers were beginning to shed their armor. Some of the more industrious ones were picking it up, knowing that Empire or no Empire, a well-made piece of armor would always be in demand. A few of the truly clever ones were plotting to return here once the night fell to plunder whatever was left of Itac's tent. There was a decent chance that some of the lesser magical trinkets still functioned and even if not, there would surely be gold and jewels to gather.

But for the moment the only ones left in the field were Link and the oracles. The latter found themselves feeling very uncomfortable under the former's gaze.

"We are not sorry for what we did."

"But we do apologize."

The gaze continued.

"Well…goodbye."

"Good luck."

And then there was only Link. He would watch the sunset later that day, in the company of good friends. But that would not be until later. For the moment Link was going to get first pick of the plunder. He could always use more magic items.