... 4 AM... I am INSANE.

But that's what I get for playing Okami until 2:30 AM and then deciding to finish this chapter. D: I gotta say, though. I'm loving that game, crazy and nonsensical as it is. I think Waka is rivaling Vaati on my favorite video game pretty boys list. D:

The last three words had tremendous impact on the duo; however, Zelda suffered the most from it. Not from grief, she could not grieve for a man whom she had never met, but from the other implications that it brought on. If she was the only living heir, then that meant a whole kingdom would be her responsibility. She knew nothing of politics or courtly manners and matters, add to the fact that she was a witch she was sure she would never make a good impression on the people.

Perhaps sensing the insecurity within her, Eugen said, "Now is not the time to worry about succession." Glancing at the guards, he chose his words carefully. "There are other things we need to take care of first. Come." He paused for a moment, then glanced at Zelda. "Keep your hat's brim low."

Anya and Eugen turned on their heels and went ahead. The two clumsily followed. Zelda fumbled with her hat, trying to keep it over her eyes yet at the same time trying to find her way. She blushed madly when Link took her hand to guide her.

"That's fine, right?" he asked, hoping he wasn't getting ahead of himself.

Zelda, her hat's wide brim shadowing her face to hide her ever reddening face, just nodded. "Um, yes…"

They walked for a while more until they reached a doorway that link didn't think they would be heading for. Eugen took a breath and then resumed his normal stupid look. His eerie smile wasn't being forced at all. The Sheikah looked back to them and said brightly, "Since the king has just passed and there is no heir, an emergency meeting of the provinces was called. The goal is to finally choose a successor, but the plan is to finally reveal the dirty truth!"

Anya said nothing but her face held a sadistic smile. Looking at both the adults smiling so nastily, it occurred to Link that two would actually probably be very good together.

Eugen continued, "Anya will make the accusation, and I'll back it up."

"But how?" Zelda asked. There was more than one question in that.

"We won't say anything about you just yet," Eugen said. "But to put everything simply, more than one dirty truth will come out."

"We still want to keep you close," Anya put in, not sounding at all like she wanted them close. "You'll come in with us, but you won't say a word. Is that understood."

Link grudgingly nodded and Zelda mumbled a soft "yes".

Without saying another word, the doors opened with seemingly no one opening them. The province holders walked in, the two adolescents following closely behind. They were not the first to enter, nor were they the last. Carolus and Damodara, the Goron, and Dragmire had yet to arrive. Anya and Eugen took their normal seats and Link and Zelda stood in between them, trying to ignore the eyes that lingered on them. Odran especially was eyeing Link with an expression of confusion and slight irritation.

Damodara and Carolus entered soon after they arrived. They still had to wait a bit before Dragmire entered, though. But Zelda could sense him, even when he hadn't entered the room yet. His presence was that terrifying. His magic was raw power… But then again, he was the holder of the Triforce of Power. It was to be expected… but she never thought it would be so heavy of a presence. It was so heavy she wasn't able to pay much attention to what was being said. It was formalities, she was sure, but she was more intent on just trying to see what this man looked like.

She chanced a peek from under the brim of her hat and then quickly lowered her gaze again. He was very obviously Gerudo… but after meeting Nabooru, she knew that being Gerudo didn't automatically make a person evil. But from that one look at him… she shuddered a bit. He was evil. He was truly, truly evil. In fact, she remembered something Vega called him that summarized this man perfectly: Mr. Evil Incarnate.

The witch was drawn into the conversation when she heard Anya speak.

"I must apologize the council. I have not been completely honest in everything I've said."

There was a murmur going about the room. Link noted that Dragmire gave her a questioning glance. The woman ignored it. Instead, she went on. "It has to do with Quinn's death."

"Now, now, dear Anya, I know you still grieve for him but we all know he was murdered." Carolus said, horse-like face looking at her with pity.

The Province Holder of Eldin shot the man a nasty look. "I never said he wasn't murdered. The identity of the murderer is what I lied about."

"Don't say anymore, Anya." Dragmire said firmly.

Just as she ignored his questioning look from before, she ignored the statement. "There were only two people present when Quinn died. I came in when the killing blow had just been struck… by Ganondorf Dragmire."

There was complete and utter silence.

Dragmire was the first to break it. "A bold accusation, Anya, and completely false. It's, as Carolus has said, that you still grieve for him. It's obviously warped you memory."

"No, I think her memory's quite clear." Eugen said cheerfully. All eyes now went to the blond man. Dragmire now glared in his direction. "Investigation has shown that no one entered the castle at the time of Quinn's death – not even an assassin."

"And how would you know that?" Jerrick of Ordana asked gruffly.

Eugen's smile broadened. "I haven't been truthful with you all either. What is the truth is that I have two occupations… Province holder is my second. My first and foremost job, however, is Sheikah Captain 6: District 4, the Borderlands." As he finished, three shadows in the room solidified and took the shapes of humans. And they were humans. They were Sheikah. Eugen continued, "My underlings here will gladly vouch that everything that Anya has said is correct. They'll also confirm Quinn's last writings, which hold Lord Dragmire in suspicion of being king of the Gerudo, suspicion of the king's illness… and subsequently, his death not yet an hour ago."

The silence felt like it lasted for eternity. Ganondorf Dragmire, the king's advisor and friend for six years, had cursed the king and killed him? It was the thought process of those who hadn't known of the treachery beforehand.

The silence really only lasted about half a second before all hell broke loose. Odran, being nearest to Dragmire, was the first to act. He unsheathed his sword and went straight for the Gerudo. But Dragmire had already thought two steps ahead. Before Odran's sword was even fully unsheathed, the whole room went black. Not even the Sheikah in the room could see through it, only the caster of the spell.

So the Gerudo king wasted no time escaping, resisting the urge to completely obliterate everyone in the room. He was angry when things weren't going as planned. He was absolutely furious now that everything was going down the drain. If there was one thing he had never counted on, it was Eugen being a Sheikah. Curse words echoed within his brain. If Eugen and the other Sheikah already knew as much as they did, what else did they know? And now that he thought of it, Zant hadn't shown his ugly face in quite some time. Briefly, he considered killing the Twili right then and there, but figured that they already got what information they needed out of him and killed him promptly. As much as he wished to be sure, though, now was not the time. At the moment, his only chance was the star. He needed to get to the star and move it somewhere else…

Eugen was quick to realize that Dragmire would make such a move. "Anya, watch the kids!" Not giving her time to object, he left the room quickly. Being near-blind already, the black cloud wasn't an issue for him.

Anya, in the meantime, didn't want to watch the kids! Nor could she really given the state of the room. But she wasn't about to about to defy anything he said. The only problem was that she had no idea where the two were. She called their names, hoping she got them right. But with the commotion going on with confused politicians and representatives, she wasn't sure the two heard her.

Someone, a woman it sounded like, screamed something in some foreign language. Anya did recognize some of it as components of a magical spell and found out what it did only seconds later. The blackness had lifted and everyone was staring at the one who did it. Zelda was standing on top of the table, arms spread out and breathing heavily. She looked around, suddenly feeling very embarrassed.

"She… she looks just like…" Jerrick sputtered. Carolus just nodded blankly.

Link had jumped up on the table and grabbed one of Zelda's arms. She stumbled, trying to keep up with his run as he went across the table while snapping, "Hurry up!"

Anya cursed and followed suit, ignoring the sudden questions from the others in the room.

Zelda had managed to keep up with Link's pace, and eventually he let go of her. He seemed intent on going somewhere, but she had no idea where so she asked him.

"The dungeons!"

"Why there?" She asked.

"That's where they're at! We get to the dungeon, beat down Dragmire and save Vega and Hyrule!"

She frowned and resisted the urge to just stop him and say what was on her mind. So instead she just continued to run while saying what was on her mind. "That isn't a good plan."

"I'm making it up as we go!" Link said. "If you come up with anything better, not that you would, let me know!"

As much as she wished she could've come up with something better, she couldn't. So they kept on their way, Anya joining them not much later and telling them off. She wasn't, however, making any attempt to stop them. She knew that wherever they were going, Dragmire would probably be there and if he was there…

Ganon made it to the dungeons without any delays. He was grateful to whatever deity allowed it, for it certainly wasn't any of the goddesses, not even his own patron goddess. His prisoner was exactly where he had left it, not that it could've gone anywhere. But it looked up at him, almost pleased at his troubled look.

"Well, someone seems a bit brassed off. Things not going your way?" Vega asked pleasantly.

If looks could kill, the Gerudo's gaze would've surely killed the star in half a second. He was halfway to getting to it when something wizzed past him. He recognized the dash of yellow as Eugen's blond mop. The Sheikah had tried to use his superior speed to make a slash at him, but Dragmire didn't let him. He grabbed the smaller man's knife arm and squeezed. It snapped like a twig, causing Eugen to squeal like the child he so appeared to be. Smirking, Ganon then proceeded to throw the blond across the room. The Sheikah slammed into the wall hard enough for a crack to form and dust to fall from the ceiling. Eugen fell with a thunk and stopped moving.

Vega watched the whole situation in horror. He didn't know much about Eugen, save that he was a very good Sheikah. And if a very good Sheikah was taken down in less than fifteen seconds by this one man.

"That's the look I like to see." Ganon said satisfactorily as he focused his attention back on the star. Not moving from his current spot, the chains of the star came off but his body was still immobile. Dragmire still had him tied with magical bonds.

"Dragmire!"

The Gerudo King almost jumped. He glanced back to see a blond boy and a blond girl coming down the stairs with Anya following them. The boy was the one who had spoken, and he seemed ready for a fight. He had his sword out… and for some reason, it unnerved him. He didn't let it show.

"Let Vega go!" he cried out.

Ganon glanced from bond to silvertop. "Is that its name?" He asked, not really caring for the answer. "I can't do that. It still needs to do something for me, and you had all best stay out of my way or suffer the same fate as Quinn…" He gestured towards Eugen when he added, "And the Sheikah."

That caught all three of them off guard; they all looked towards the fallen Sheikah. Dragmire took that chance to stamp on the switch to the trapdoor beneath him, disappearing deeper into the dungeons with star following closely behind. He didn't care that the silvertop had cried out. Let them follow if they dared…

Link and Anya had went immediately to the trap door upon seeing Ganon disappear through it. They both cursed and considered follwing until Zelda shrieked.

"What is it?!" Link asked frantically with sword held out.

"He's alive!" Zelda squealed. She had stayed to check on Eugen. Upon turning him onto his back, she saw that not only was he alive, he was still conscious. And crying.

"It… it hurts…" Eugen squeaked.

The page and the woman went back to where Zelda was, looking over Eugen. Link knelt down and double checked the Sheikah. He grimaced.

"It's bad… he may not make it… and if he does he probably won't be able to use the arm." He said.

"It hurts…" Eugen squeaked again.

They all looked at him pityingly, but Anya was the first to say, "We still need to go after Dragmire."

"But we can't just leave him alone!" Zelda protested.

"It's either that or that or let him get away!" Anya shot back.

"Or," Link interrupted, "One of us can stay here."

"And who do you suppose that should be?" The older woman snapped. Both teenagers looked at her.

She refused to have it but before she could voice her objections, Zelda spoke up. "It's not your destiny. It's ours."

That silenced Anya, but she was still pursing her lips for something to say.

"My uncle needs you right now. Or do you really want Dragmire to get away with killing someone else?"

And that was what finally got Anya to grudgingly nod. He was right… "Fine then… Go."

Giving her one last look of concern, they stood and went down the trap door. Anya just sat near the crying Eugen, watching him become more pitiable with each passing moment. Something inside of her objecting to seeing it. She didn't like to see him like this… Nobody would've. Eugen, who was normally always smiling no matter what the occasion, was crying and looking more like a child than ever.

She considered leaving to get help, but when she made a move to get up, Eugen cried out even more. "Don't leave! I… I don't wanna be alone!"

"You could die." She told him.

"But… I don't wanna be alone…" He whimpered. "Please stay, Anya… please…"

She frowned, but sat back down. "Just don't die. A crying face looks strange on you. I'd like to see your creepy smile once more."

Pfft, I seriously cringe at the thought of Eugen acting like that. It's not out of character, but to see him vulnerable... weird. Also, just so you all know, Anya doesn't really think anything of Eugen beyond strange ally.

We'll be checking in on Nabooru next chapter.