Chapter 43: The Kingdom

The last thing she remembered was seeing Arian's boyish and confused expression. Aura now laid in bed. Her head hurt. She tried to put a hand to her brow but found them to be bound tightly with rope. A lonely candle lit the room where she was bound and tied to the bedpost. She sighed, feeling more downcast than panicked. Aura hated waking up without knowing what had happened.

After another deep breath, she sat up and concentrated, trying to remember the past just like she had done the last time she had woken up in such a state. This time came with more luck than she had in Gerudo valley months ago. Aura remembered Damien, Naomi, Link, Amy, and Arian although she wondered why his expression was the last thing on her mind. She became worried. The hurt confusion in his narrowed eyes indicated betrayal, and possibly pain.

A sword shined in the candlelight. The blade was a blood red diamond with hilt of silver. Aura shuddered. The pain in her head increased as the memories rushed back. All of them returned. Her own heritage, the pain of what Arian had done, then the joy of becoming his friend, and finally what she had done. She remembered Naomi and couldn't imagine the pain that one of her now closest friends must feel.

She began to sob and thrashed against her bindings but they remained strong. Aura sat up against the backboard and curled her knees to her chest as she heaved stuttered breaths between tears. The door burst open and Damien ran to her. Without a word or even a question he sat at Aura's side and put an arm around her to hold her tight.

"What have I done?" Aura sobbed out. She wiped her tears on his sleeve.

"Exactly what you remember, but it wasn't your fault. The sword was cursed."

"But my father. He gave it to me." Aura looked back at the sword with teary eyes. Her bound hands were gripping Damien's tunic. "Where is he? Where is Arian? Is he—" A sob broke through her last words just as Naomi appeared at the door. The same expression of patient suffering had been on her face since the incident. She crossed the room and sat on the bed at Aura's feet. Naomi placed a comforting hand on her knee and one could see that she wished to console her as well, but her own sorrows were too overwhelming. Aura grabbed Naomi's hand and held it close.

"Naomi, I'm so sorry." She cried. Naomi wiped a tear from her friend's eye but more streamed down Aura's face behind it.

"Damien, Aura… Naomi." Link appeared in the door behind them, calling each of them in a more delicate tone than he normally would use. Naomi quickly reacted and pulled a dagger from her satchel to free Aura from the rope bindings before turning to greet Link with a delicate nod and then left, going down the stairs. Link looked to Damien for answers as Aura had begun crying again.

"She hasn't spoken since… well, Arian… he's been stabbed."

"By me, it's all my fault!" Aura interjected. Damien gripped her tighter.

"It wasn't just you. It was the sword. It was Devoren." Damien explained as Link caught sight of the blood diamond blade. "Only Devoren would have known where this sword was, and only he would know how to curse it so as to turn pain to irrational hate."

"But Arian, he's not dead yet. Is he?" Link asked the pertinent question. Damien shook his head.

"Not yet, but the red potion didn't work. Tatl's with him now, trying to sustain his life while he sleeps, but nothing Naomi's doing is working."

Naomi had gone downstairs to make tea, only as something to do. She often wouldn't even drink her concoctions but instead just let the leaves steep for the smell, which left many small cups of tea just sitting about the place. Amy was downstairs. She Jabono and the skull kid had just arrived and were gathering around the wooden table just as Naomi entered the room. She paid them little attention, save for a short and forced smile to welcome Amy back.

Jabono, though tired and worn from all that had happened earlier in the day, noticed the melancholic stupor that currently haunted the girl and whispered his question to Amy.

"Is she alright? She was… a little happier when I saw her last."

"Yeah… No…" Amy whispered back, her eyes locked on her friend. "The boy… Arian… She and him were—in love."

"In love…" Jabono repeated in a mixture of astonishment and revelation. "I knew I recognized that look of despair… My daughter had looked the same way after she lost Orick…"

"He's not gone yet. He's not. He can't be." Amy snapped at him with a painful uncertainty. Tears started to come to her eyes. Damien and Link were on the stairs, hearing enough to contribute to the conversation.

"He will be, if we don't find out what Devoren did." Damien called sternly just as he stepped onto the bottom floor. His eyes suddenly caught Jabono sitting weakly in a chair. The skull kid shook next to him. "What are they doing here?"

"Devoren was going to kill them. We couldn't just watch them die." Amy defended. Link entered after Damien. He was shocked by the amount of emotion in her voice and felt the need to stand by her side. While he meant to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, he decided against it and therefore just passed her an awkward smile when she looked questioningly towards him.

"Dad." Aura came to the bottom of the stairs and ran to her father. "I'm glad you're safe."

"I'm so very glad you are too. I was worried I had let Devoren send you to your death. His plan had been to set you against each other, and after what happened, I am surprised to see you alive. A true testament to your friends."

"I would never let anything happen to her." Damien said with stone conviction, leaving Aura astounded and speechless. "Now you have to tell us what Devoren did to the blade."

"I don't… I don't know… He told me the blade would be able to destroy the beast with just a breaking of the skin, but I don't know what he did."

"Can you not remember anything?" Damien pushed.

"No… All I can recall is that when he pulled it from the Forest Temple, it was a crystal clear diamond, but once he touched the blade, it became the red it is now. That's all I know."

Malon interrupted their conversation as she frantically ran down the stairs.

"Tatl is calling. She doesn't know how much longer she can keep Arian alive and he's not waking up." A moment of silence struck the room. A loud crack of broken ceramic brought everyone's attention to Naomi. She hadn't moved, but had dropped the cup of tea. She was crying, sobbing in the most peculiar and painful way they had yet seen. Naomi breathed quietly in shallow breaths. No moaning, no wailing, just wide eyes staring at nothing with tears constantly streaming.

No one knew what to do. There was nothing anyone could think to do to help Arian, but no one wanted to go upstairs and watch him die, but no one wanted him to die alone. Naomi clutched her stomach and began to collapse. Amy jumped from her seat to help her, but another arm was already waiting to stabilize her. The old man from the forest had mysteriously appeared and had crept unseen to Naomi's side.

"Now, now dear." He consoled. "Come, take me to him. There's not much time." No one questioned his sudden appearance. All were relieved someone had a course of action. They all followed as Naomi and the old man walked to the stairs.

They entered the near dead silence of Arian's room where he lay completely still. His chest barely moved but his heart was still beating. Tatl faltered as they entered. Her fairy light flickered, showing her exhaustion. Navi and Kyra quickly flew to her aid.

"Where is the blade?" The old man asked. Damien fetched the diamond sword, unquestioningly presenting him with the cautiously wrapped blade. The old man undid the bindings and wiped his hand across the blade. Silver blood dripped over the red diamond, washing out the color like dirt. He took its former wrappings and wiped it clean, leaving the crystal clear diamond and silver hilt glowing in the candlelight.

"Where is his wound?" The old man asked Naomi. Naomi quickly pulled down the covers on the bed and undid Arian's bandages to reveal the black and rotting gash across his stomach. It appeared worse than when Naomi had stitched it and cleansed it with her usual protocol.

She gasped and fell to the floor beside his bed, grabbing his hand and letting the tears fall freely.

"Devoren's blood is the poison, and mine is the antidote." The old man explained as he allowed for more of his silver blood to coat the blade. He placed it across the grotesque wound to create a reaction that Arian clearly felt. The sizzling of the toxins beneath his skin caused all to flinch. Arian began to writhe, clutching Naomi's hand. The old man kept the blade close before twisting it and reopening the wound and administering the rest of the antidote. Arian screamed and Naomi gasped. She began calling his name, the first words she had uttered since he had fallen.

"The wound will heal now. He can be tended to." The old man wiped the blade again as Aura ran to the cupboard where they had gathered more of the red potion.

"Here, Naomi." Aura handed her the potion, which Naomi poured into Arian's open mouth and then upon the open and bleeding wound. The blood boiled away, leaving nothing but healthy skin underneath while Arian coughed red potion out of his lungs. His breathing steadied and he was able to hoarsely speak.

"That was awful." He laid back down on the bed. He looked to see Naomi's tear stained face. "Naomi…" He sat up and pulled her onto the bed to hold her.

"Devoren will pay dearly for this." Naomi said after she sniffed and wiped away her tears.

"I thought he would have something to do with this." Arian smiled at Aura who had timidly picked up the now empty jar of red potion while anxiously staring. He knew it was unlike her to be timid and therefore took her uncharacteristic anxiety as an apology. He smiled his forgiveness.

"I'm glad you're okay." Aura told him.

"I'm glad you are too. The last thing I remembered was seeing Naomi's right hook."

"Same here." Aura laughed.

"I'm happy too." Amy sat on his other side and gave him a hug. Dune, who had been standing in the doorway with Malon, started openly sobbing. His wails caught everyone else's attention and he hid his eyes on a reluctant Malon's shoulder.

"I'll take… I'll take care of him." She mouthed to the group before tending to Dune. "Come now, Dune. Let's get you a kerchief or something…" Now only the old man and the original group remained inside. The door closed behind them and the old man spoke.

"You had to survive, to complete the quest." He started. "Of the four that bound Devoren, there was one of fire, one of water, one of the light and one of shadow. The spirit of Farore holds the key and Din the door whilst Nyru protects the four."

"Um… What? …" Naomi was the first to ask.

"Things that rhyme are easier to remember." The old man explained. "But I do believe that it is time you heard the whole story."

"A long time ago, just after the goddesses departed from this land, leaving the triforce in their wake, the Hylians came to life. It is one thing to live, and an entirely different thing to know you're alive. It was many hundreds of years before the living Hylians developed consciousness, thought and emotions. These three things were gifts of the most ancient of beings: The spirit of Good and the spirit of Evil. These spirits battled for attention, one for love the other for obsession. After the spirit of Evil gathered enough followers, he presented himself in Hylian form to lead his people."

"There was a great war, but the spirit of Good could not bring itself to destroy anything His children had created, especially not the creations of His three lovely goddesses. Therefore, he instead blessed the sages of that time with special abilities that would allow them to bind the now physical being of Evil. The original spirit sage created the door using the force of power, the original sage of the forest held the key with the force of courage, and the sages of water, fire, shadow and light were to use their powers and the wisdom of the seventh sage to create his bindings. Unfortunately, the sages were among the human races, being from Hyrule, Draconia, Nynamar, or Minirith, and were therefore susceptible to evil's temptations. The spirit sage fell to the spirit of Evil's call, hoping to increase his own power. Therefore the four sages that created the bindings, waiting for the door to be closed, sacrificed themselves to finish the deed. The forest sage too was destroyed, but all remain today in another form. The four that bound passed on their magic in stones. One stone to each of their respective races, and those stones or the powers once within them are all now gathered again in this room."

The four on the bed each instinctively passed a hand across the stones or remnants they held: Arian the dark stone on his neck, Aura the yellow stones on her swords, Naomi the stone of her Nynian staff and Amy looked upon the markings left on her arms from the red stone of her homeland.

"But, the sages. Don't the stones belong to them?" Link asked.

"They would, if they were the descendents of the original sages. The magic in the stones would only react to one of their own blood, which is why the current sages are prepared to lend you their power, to add to the power of old so that you can once again bind Devoren."

"Only this time hopefully you won't be killed." Another voice entered from the door. It was Nabooru, the young queen of the Gerudos and current sage of the Spirit Temple.

"They won't be. I will be certain of it." Zelda also entered, Impa at her side. Zelda looked to Arian and smiled. "Leon sends you his love. I told him to finish his business at the castle before visiting you, as I had been assured of your safety from a feathered friend." She glanced out the window at the owl perched atop the barn. A great shadow passed over him.

"Come now. We must prepare. I'm not the only one to arrive today." Nabooru said, beckoning for Link and his friends.

"By this afternoon our army will have tripled in size." Impa explained as they exited the ranch house to meet the crowded mess that waited. Malon and Dune had met with it earlier and were currently trying to sort it out. Gorons, Zoras, deku scrubs and Gerudos all amassed in the fields, joining the already present army. Dragons flew overhead, waiting to be signaled to land. The kingdom had united.

A/N:

We're back! Sorry again for the delays but check out what I did using the url below! It's a music video. I was the producer, assistant director, editor, and also appear in the background of various locations! I play the drums :) haha

.com/watch?v=4ysx7Px18s8

I know it's shameless promotion but I just want everyone to know that when Amy and Amy disappear for a while it's because we have become swallowed whole by ridiculous projects like art and architecture or small productions. We never want to give up writing though as it is something we truly enjoy and we're so glad we have readers who enjoy our material. Thank you all :)

*Especially you Wolfdemon2010! ^_^