A/n: Hey, thank you all for reading, and thank you for your concerns about my exam grades. I did well, the only ones I had to take were my AP classes (both math, I hate math). My sister is also doing much, much better if anyone was concerned.

On to business. I'm hopefully going to be faster at writing now that I've found I can write during school hours. A lot of my classes have a lot of down time, or study time that I've found I don't need, my test scores would prove that. So I've been printing off the last paragraph and hand-writing it during classes. It really helps.

Also, the next chapter should be up very soon, because I was actually going to have it be a part of this chapter, but this chapter began getting much too long (over 14 pages to be exact). So I found a good spot to break it which will make it much easier to read. Then I will finish the next one, well, thank you all so much for your reviews. We're really glad to hear you think it still has originality, we do try.

Chapter 28: Together by Default

A light wind blew over Termina Fields, lightly caressing the two travelers, Aura and Damien. They rode astride a dark horse with a harness bearing the recognizable symbol of Romani Ranch. Aura held onto Damien who had insisted on steering the beast. Tatl, the little yellow fairy, hung above them.

"It was quite nice of those girls to let us borrow the horse." Aura said, making light conversation to ease the length of the journey. "Unlike those bigots, The Doorma- I mean, the Gorman brothers.. Whatever they call themselves…" Damien simply nodded, not really quite listening to her words. Aura smirked slightly.

"Yeah, I thought that one brother, Donald, was it? I thought he was pretty hot."

"That's good." Damien murmured, squinting his eyes to see which direction to go next. Aura continued to ramble stupidly.

"Yeah, you know, I wonder what it would be like if I married him? Aura Gorman? It has a nice ring to it." She couldn't help but let out a little chuckle, "Although, he probably has to beat those ladies off with a stick."

Damien said nothing. Aura paused, thinking of something else to say.

"You know, I heard that if you pass gas and burp at the same time, it creates a black hole in time."

There was silence. Aura snorted audibly, looking around them. There were many of those bomb-raccoon things running around. She thought she had heard somebody call them 'bummachews' or something.

"I think that I'm going to take one of those raccoon thingies with bombs on their tails, and make it my pet. I'll name it Damien jr. How does that sound? You'll be his godfather. It'll be amazing! You two will bond so easily!" She chortled, "You'll go to my and Donald's wedding, and you'll bring those lovely cakes that Anju made, and you'll even have balloons for us!" Aura was about to continue, but she realized that Damien was, in fact, listening to her; and she was now quite certain that he had probably been listening the whole time. He looked at her strangely, one dark eyebrow raised high above the other.

"If I fart and burp right now, will the black hole swallow you up?" Aura grinned cheekily, hiding the slight blush on her tanned skin.

"Not if Donald has anything to say about it." Damien allowed himself to smirk a little.

"I don't know. He didn't seem too keen on being interrupted while he was clipping his toe nails."

"Aw, he was just playing hard to get. I'm sure you've known girls like that." Aura said cheerfully. She grunted in surprise when she felt their horse speed up due to Damien spurring it, and then again as it proceeded to jump over a rather tall fence. She clutched to Damien instinctively, a little bit of adrenaline rushing through her veins.

"You can… let… go… now…" Damien choked out, crushed by Aura's hold around his waist. She eased her grip immediately, laughing embarrassedly. Both he and she were surprised by Aura's strength. They fell into silence as their horse trotted around the area. It was dusty and dry, and both of them immediately noticed that the air seemed slightly warmer.

"Great." Damien muttered, wiping sweat off of his brow, "The sun is beating down on us and the dust is sticking to my sweat!"

"Wow, you make Donald look like a Deku; there's nothing more attractive than a dusty, sweaty man with an irritable disposition."

"Hey," Damien snapped, glancing behind him. "I'm not that dusty yet…" Aura smirked once more at his comment as he pulled the horse up to a rock wall.

"We'll have to climb from here." He said, looking to some vines growing over the ledge. "We used to have a ladder here, but I don't think the wood would have lasted for a century… much less a few decades." He tied the horse to a metal post that happened to be nearby, leftover from an old fence, and then he turned to help her off the horse. Aura rolled her eyes and dismounted on the other side. Damien brushed this off with a wry grin and the two commenced in climbing up to Ikana Canyon.

Both were certainly nice and sweaty after a long climb in the hot sun, followed by a long hike up a shallow incline. They were relieved to find the river at the top of the hill. Damien glanced at Aura and decided to make a joke.

"I'd better go wash off. Based on what you said earlier, I'm scared you might jump me now."

"You could only hope." She said confidently and also went to wash in the river. After washing his hot face, he glanced back at Aura. She also washed her face and then scooped more water into her palms to wash off her shoulders and neck. Her darkened skin brought out some small freckles around her nose, giving character to her round face. She was adorably beautiful, but also noticeably independent with a clever and rough look to her dark eyes.

Aura suddenly noticed he was staring at her.

"Now I'm afraid you might jump me… do you find sweaty, smelly, and manly women attractive?" Aura said in a complete joke, but Damien nearly thought it was serious, breaking her gaze and running off on a tangent.

"Not at all. We're together by default, I mean, Arian ran after Naomi, of course, and Amy had to get Link that Ocarina, and she jumps at any chance she can to make his life miserable."

"But never boring…" She added on, in agreement with his statement while defending her friend. Damien continued on.

"So me taking you with me means that nothing absolutely nothing, is occurring between us." He waited for her reply. Aura stood casually and came to pat him on the shoulder.

"Except for some light conversation with a side of sarcasm." She ended, walking towards the staircase they had exited when leaving the old man's house. "Say, I wonder if that weird guy is back up there… or those mummies…" She sighed. "Or maybe some candy… that'd be nice… why isn't it ever candy?"

Damien chuckled lightly as he stepped near her, ending his thought.

"But seriously, there is nothing between us."

"I know."

Damien was caught off guard by her succinct but casual response. One hundred years ago, he was the type that had to beat the women off with a stick, like Donald, but now he feared he must be getting rusty, or… unattractive. He couldn't possibly believe that Aura really didn't have any emotion for him, despite the fact he stated it continuously. There was certainly disappointment by her quick and unemotional agreement.

"Yeah…" Damien continued with an awkward laugh. Aura was ahead of him, going up the staircase. "That was a ridiculous thought, something between us."

Aura secretly rolled her eyes.

"Mm hmm," Aura nodded, "I would laugh, but I'm quite winded right now." Damien still couldn't believe it, she must be really good at sarcasm, or hiding her feelings he thought. Now, he must know.

"Of course, certain feelings can only be natural." Damien started, trying to catch up to her. Aura started to become irritated.

"Like passing gas…" Aura muttered in an attempt to lessen her irritation, but Damien failed to hear her and continued with his thought.

"After all, we're only human… and the opposite sex… traveling together to places unknown."

"I thought you knew this place." Aura glared at him while continuing to walk. She quickened her pace, hoping to get to their destination faster.

"Well I do, but this place is still unknown to you, is it not?" Damien asked proudly. Aura sighed.

"Yes… yes it is…"

Damien swallowed his next remark referring to her obviously being madly in love with him and tried to remember his old home.

"Well, the castle was brilliant when I lived there. It was incredibly beautiful and colorful with thousands of people roaming about. But, I haven't seen it since I last walked this place, 1000 years ago. I did pass by here on my way to Clocktown, but I traveled during night and in a hurry to catch up with that genius 'Hero of Time' of yours." Aura nodded, a little befuddled at his sarcastic comment towards Link, but then, this was Damien, so she shrugged it off. Tatl, however, was still caught on his comments of the castle.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same place?" Tatl squeaked, relieving Aura by distracting Damien. She could see the end of the stairs and grinned, not hearing Damien's last surprised statement that was cut off when they reached the top of the giant staircase.

Aura vaguely remembered Ikana Canyon from their last venture there, and recollected that most of the place was in ruins, granted she hadn't seen very much of it since the mummies had trapped them in the music box for the majority of their visit. However, there didn't appear to be much more to see. Large gates concealed most of the ancient palace that towered before them. The stone building that peeked above the eroding wall appeared as the dusty remains of a once grand kingdom.

Aura's companion was now silent. She glanced at him momentarily, a hint of sympathy fell upon her expression as she came to understand that the home he remembered no longer existed.

"Much has happened in 1000 years." She said softly. Damien didn't acknowledge her statement. He merely began trudging toward his wrecked city. His slow haul became a jog, and then a run as his thoughts raced with his heart; it couldn't be, how could it be, how could it have happened, and most importantly, when? He reached the large gates and stared up at the lock. A flash of memory pulled him from the present and drove him to the moment he had first said goodbye to his home. The gate had been sealed then, just as it was now, and the elders had taken him into the caves where they sealed Devoren and turned him to stone.

He abruptly came back to the present, after recalling how the gate had opened, and he awkwardly, but swiftly reached for his sword. Damien pulled forth the blade, allowing it to gleam in the sunlight. A reflection of the beam shined on the stone wall, alighting a hidden jewel in the center that blossomed with light amid the stone. The doors creaked open.

"Come on." Damien said as he swallowed a knot in the back of his throat. Aura followed obediently and silently until they reached the entrance to the palace itself.

"Damien, do you know what the root looks like? The one we're here looking for?" It was an important bit of information that Aura had nearly forgotten to ask, and she regretted not asking it in their long journey there, for she hated to bring back their business in the midst of Damien's emotional turmoil, but he seemed relieved by the change of topic.

He nodded, coming back into the present as Tatl twirled around his head.

"Yeah, I remember it used to grow in the throne room, or at least they always had some in there. It was very sweet smelling." He lowered his head and headed into the palace. His painful glance swept across a deep, but narrow trench that went under the ramp leading into the castle. This trench had once held water from the well, bringing life to the castle grounds, but now it was dried. With the absence of the life-giving water, it seemed that the rest of the castle had died as well.

Aura resisted the urge to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. She had never been in such a situation, but figured that the quicker they completed their mission, the faster Damien could leave this place she knew would haunt his dreams.

She quickened her pace and they both entered into the main room of the palace. This is when Aura froze, withdrawing her swords upon the sight of more gibdos, or creatures similar in appearance, but they were certainly not similar in manner. Instead of dragging themselves about in their horrific walk, or seeking out prey, these creatures were… dancing? Aura glanced at Damien, he too was horrified, but not in the way she was.

"They must have been the entertainers. The castle was always filled with dancers and people eager to amuse." Damien almost cracked a smile, but a tear was held back as he stared at what was once one of his people.

"Come on, it doesn't seem like they will harm us." Aura said, replacing her swords and taking Damien by the arm. She tugged lightly, then let go as she stepped ahead of him. Damien closed his eyes and looked to the floor before following behind his companion.

The grand doors had already been opened so the two were able to walk right into the throne room. When the second door rolled away, Damien stepped past Aura, walking into the chamber holding the empty throne. A thousand memories flooded his mind of how that place used to be so alive, but now it was empty and despairing.

"Where were the flowers?" Aura asked in a whisper. She didn't know why her voice got so low, but it felt right. Damien walked towards the throne and looked to either side.

"They used to keep them in pots on these iron fences." He said despairingly, looking from one side to the other at the empty fences. Aura nodded with a sigh.

"I suppose they don't keep them there anymore." She said while crossing her arms. Damien didn't say a word. He merely slumped onto one of the steps leading up to the throne. His head dropped toward his knees.

A voice belonging to neither Aura nor Tatl answered his actions.

"The young Damien, alive and well? How Ironic." It was a high and weasely voice that Damien instantly recognized.

"Snake?!" He jumped from his seat. Aura's face was pale as she faced something behind him. Damien turned to face his old acquaintance, Snake, or what was left of him. Snake was a mere floating head, a scrawny skeletal head that still wore the helmet he had fallen in.

Damien cocked his head to the side, staring at the thing. Snake laughed, another gruff voice joined his high bellows. Damien turned around to see yet another of his old companions.

"Heffler…" He said with a higher pitch as he fell to the ground, causing another uproar of laughter between the two skulls. Tatl piped in.

"Hey guys, remember me? What are you two still doing here, I thought my old companion had saved you?" The little fairy flew around the two heads, completely unafraid. Aura tried to crack a smile as well, but the whole situation still made her nervous.

Snake and Heffler did recognize the little fairy and gasped upon her association with Damien. They calmed themselves and the heads lowered themselves to Aura's level.

"Yes, yes he did… but that was from what the masked one had done to us. He had caused our souls to be restless and bicker between ourselves. So much so that we had forgotten why we were still here." Heffler replied. Damien looked from one to the other.

"Why are you still here, and what brought you here, like this?" He asked, slowly getting off the floor. There was a stirring of light upon the throne, the head of the king himself appeared, hovering over his ancient chair.

"A war, shortly after you were sealed as the guardian." The king responded. "A war between us and the Garo of Stone Tower, it was a petty feud that resulted in the end of us both."

Damien nodded sadly.

"I remember them… they were all about honor and dignity, so much so that it seemed as mere pride."

The king nodded a reply, "It was, and it clashed with our own pride, which started the whole petty feud." he added, speaking with Tatl. Damien stared at his feet a moment.

"Had I been here, would that have made a difference?" He asked sadly. Snake and Heffler broke his moment with more laughter.

"You Damien? You would have only added to the petty bickering had you been here to enchant our women." Snake laughed. Heffler turned to Snake.

"You mean your woman, who never really liked you in the first place. My Pauline never strayed." Heffler scoffed. Snake growled.

"What are you talking about? Pauline was all over Damien just like every other woman of the court! Thank the giants we got rid of him when we did!" It slipped out of Snake's mouth. Damien's jaw dropped.

"What?" He growled, no longer affected by the fact he was speaking to the dead. The king jumped in.

"That was not the only reason we chose Damien!" He shouted to his soldiers. The two heads quivered. The king looked back to Damien whose expression of betrayal demanded an explanation.

"To be quite frank, dear Damien, the Hylian king and I did not expect the creature to escape." He admitted. Damien cocked his head to the side. "We placed you there merely as a safeguard. Just in case, but we knew that if the creature ever did escape, all the people of that time would need the history of that evil. We had faith in the growth of our peoples to be able to destroy whatever evil came, so long as they had the knowledge of it."

"But not and faith in me…" Damien said slowly.

"You were expendable at the time. A vote rang through from all the guards that it should be you, but now is not the time to dwell on that." The king replied. Damien's expression hardened into sheer anger, but he was silent and continued to listen to his king.

"The same pride that drove us to attempt to be rid of you was also our undoing. We have suffered greatly for it, and now I apologize to you…" The heads of the three bowed. Damien seemed unmoved.

"My companion and I have come here looking for the Ikana flower. The root of that plant is crucial to getting us back to Hyrule where we are going to organize an attack on the creature of evil." Damien said, his voice was now nearly a shout and his expression unchanging. The king nodded.

"When the Garos first attacked, they drained the well, the one that once brought life not only to the city beyond these walls, but also to the flower which you seek." The king explained. He too held a tone of dignity, but he did not react to Damien's disregard of his authority. "Go into the well, and you may find it still growing there, for it was not the sun or the earth that helped it grow, there was something hidden within the well that gave that plant life." Damien turned abruptly to leave, now with the given information, but the king had not finished.

"One more thing, Damien." The retreating soldier turned coldly. He cocked his eyebrow to show he acknowledged the king. "We remain here still, waiting for you. It is not of our own power, but of the one that defies this darkness that creeps over the lands. We had to remain as the living dead until we delivered this to you. What lies inside the well is a gift from the power of good, it is a weapon with which you can weaken evil incarnate. This is the only way you will be able to lock him away once more, and this time, for good. We were informed of it after we had sealed it and you away, by the being. This being seemed to know that the creature would escape from its holdings. We, however, in our pride did not believe that our work could be undone." The king explained. "The one in green did once come here and he has our ancient shield that reflects light into darkness, but the weapon we speak of lies above it, shining light from within itself. Retrieve the sword Sol Reprisal. It ought to reveal itself when you enter, for it will recognize the rite we had placed upon you when you were chosen as the guardian."

Damien nodded curtly, his expression softening a fraction. The intense anger he felt inside had died a little, but it was mostly replaced by shame of his past. His pride had been just as severe as the kingdom from which he came, and he had only cared about trivial things. Now he realized his mission and his duty; not for his own sake, but for thousands of others. Aura had remained silent the whole time, and she realized that none of the floating heads had acknowledged or even noticed her presence. It occurred to her that perhaps women back then had much less of a role in society.

"Goodbye, Damien." The King said as the two of them quickly made their way out of the throne room. Just before the doors closed, they could hear Snake and Heffler's low murmuring voices.

"Just like him to bring a woman along!" Snake's high-pitched voice cut in,

"After a thousand years, no less!"

"How does he do it?"

Damien quickened his pace, slightly embarrassed while Aura held back an awkward laugh.

"Wow, I didn't even think they saw you, Aura!" Tatl's exceptionally loud voice, which seemed even louder due to the awkward silence, cut in. "Haha, and they probably though you were his lover! Why of all th-"

"THANK YOU, Tatl" Aura butted in sharply. Turning to Damien deliberately, she continued. "Where did they say that root was again?" Damien looked at her, still feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

"Uh, the well." He muttered. He said nothing else and left her trailing behind his rapid pace.

A/n: Aura and Damien's adventure will continue in the next chapter, The Well! I hope that those of you who haven't played Majora's mask are not thrown off, we're trying to write it so that it comes off as a story that only has a few inside jokes on that game (we also hope that there aren't too many spoilers, if any at all). Well, please R&R, your comments are inspiring and very much appreciated.