VOLUME III: Healing My Song

)) Chapter 8: Beneath The Mask ((

Outside of the Stone Tower, Termina, 5:37am, Second Day

Ikana Valley had always been a theatre of a battle, but now both sides had fallen into sheer chaos, all due to their petty conflict having drawn far too important entities who had decided to pull their strings. Igos du Ikana was the first to discover how the Garo Leader was actually a monster from the Netherworld, and to pay the price for it. And soon, across all the valley, cursed since ancient times by arcane forces, such news would have spread and sorrow would have fallen over Ikana.

And yet, disarray was to spread further because... very few things could invoke as much surprise as a giant floating Moldorm crashing through a window of the impenetrable stronghold such as the Stone Tower. The only one who had not stopped incessantly babbling for a second was actually the Skyloftian youth known as Ankoku Yami, who had gone into a non sequitur babble aloud as he did his best to cling on one of the segments the armored worm's body with a hand while carrying the unconscious trickster imp known as Fang Boy. On a second thought, he was not sure about how he had ended up in such commitment in the first place, so he was simply looking at Dodo, who looked at his owned in rather funny way.

"I know, I know, Dodo" – Ankoku said in a nervous frenzy, uselessly trying to hold up his anxiety – "don't worry, everything is going fine, I swear… I swear. I have a plan which shall save the both of us"

Taking a deep sigh, the youth moved Fang Boy to his shoulder and took an hold tried to explain what he planned: "This Moldorm… is luckily for the both of us, a lesser problem. The Giants are likely to get rid of this as soon as it reaches their sight… so worry not, the only thing we have to do is to get down as soon as it reaches Ikana and deliver this imp to Ikanan justice… and we get out of Termina, okay? So we can find a healer… I…"

As the monster straightened itself parallel to the ground, Ankoku got on his knees and handed the unconscious body to his steed, who made it hang on its beak, while taking the Moon Steel from the spirit. As he was about to relax, Ankoku glimpsed with his eyes a few charging Poes yelling their king's name. With a yelp, he barely dodged out the ghosts, by rolling at the sides in utter surprise and disbelief. Weirdly enough, none of them went after the Loftwing: all of them were all focused on the Child of Hylia's, something which was somewhat irking him, but expressed no outward concern.

'At least' – he mused in a weak attempt to cheer himself up – 'now there isn't anything which might get any worse'

As soon as he thought such, a deep and grainy voice boomed from behind him, followed by the Poes, now slowly fading at a gesture of their ruler's hand, calling up for his name: "Well, well… what a pest you are"

As the Hylian turned, his eyes widened in surprise at seeing such a large and massive masked demon coming up behind him, especially due to how he had linked the name Jalhalla to that almost childlike corrupted version of the Hero of Legend the Skyloftian idolized so much. Instead, now there was a fifteen feet all monster whose glowing eyes behind that grotesque mask, hurling giant fireballs at the Skyloftian. Luckily for him, the natural armor of the Moldorm seemed resistant to fire, not getting any lasting injuries from the globes of flames as they died out instead of engulfing it

"Still around, uh?" – The Poe continued waving his lantern, creating a quick stream of fireballs, his voice slowly growled – "ooh, I can't say I like that"

Barring the Skyfloftian wielding the moon-shaped slab of metal of the sight of sunrise by creating a dusty spherical cloud as a makeshift barrier, Jalhalla created a larger blast of fire sadistically asking Ankoku: "So why don't you give up? You know… Surrender!"

"It's over, it's over" – Ankoku yelped in answer trying to dodge every blows, but alas, part of his cheeks getting superficially burnt – "I just want to get away. It's over, Fang Boy is done for here. His next stop will be Ikana's jail"

He was sincere: Ankoku had nothing against Jalhalla, not being aware of what he had done to Igos, and he was utterly surprised at how that monster seemed to be fixated on him, outright ignoring Dodo and Fang Boy. Before he could try to figure out what was the Garo Leader's intentions were, he was hit by the lantern and sent rolling along the body of the Moldorm and was about to be smashed, hadn't he ducked in time.

"You mock me, you fight me" – the monster roared in rage trying to burn him sending him fireballs – "I don't know which is worse…"

As he was about to continue to try and kill the Hylian, the flying worm rose and charged with its jaws open, but to no use, as, being a Poe, Jalhalla was intangible and any attack phased through him.

Aria too was upset about this: the Poe King even lacked a shadow to manipulate, so she could not affect him with any magic… Of course, both her and Ankoku had though to strategize.

If the Poe King is unaffected by any of the blow we can deliver… how come is he attacking me?, the young man pondered as he kept dodging in confusion, getting close to the barrier of smoke and coughing a bit due to the cinder hindering his nostrils. As he looked down at what he had in his hands, he figured out the truth: it was the Moon Steel, of course.

Ankoku had been blinded twice by the light reflected by the Ikanian heirloom, which had made him realize that object was somehow able to concentrate light and he remembered a thing about the undead: they all held a glaring weakness when it came to be exposed to the sun. At this, all of sudden, he had a somewhat effective, if not somewhat risky, idea, which might have turned the situation once more at his side.

First of all, the theory: Ankoku took the Moon Steel and waved it before the Poe King who, enraged, swung his lantern as if planning to crush the young man with it, proving that, indeed, he had feared that weapon for some reason, and had gone so far to completely Dodo who had been running far from him, trying to get to safety by reaching the head of the giant insect. Instead, Dodo's master finally took out the Deku Stick he had been carrying all along and, wielding it with a hand and the Moon Steel with the other, rushed at the Poe ruler, who seemed to be in a frenzy at getting that destructive against Ankoku, clearly boasting how he was intangible to any attack.

"Ooh, yes, now you are going to see what it really means to scare" – he roared in triumph as he kept creating a higher steams of fireballs and swinging the lantern to crush Ankoku – "cause I am a Ghostly Ikanan future King, although I don't rule fair…"

As he was speaking, Ankoku had already swung his Deku stick against one of the fireballs, setting it ablaze. With the now flaming weapon, the young man headed with all the speed he could gather towards the smoke walls and with a swing cut through it. A few rays of light shone through the broken smoke barrier, rays of hopes to Ankoku and of punishment to the Poe King.

Still riding the giant Moldorm hidden in her shadow form, Aria smirked at the sight, seeing the Child of Hylia's taking the Moon Steel and diverging the light of sunrise against the monster. The now concentrated blast of light hit the monster, making a burning sound as the transparent beast roared at the blow, his skin and hue turning darker and more solid. It took all but a few seconds, but finally the Poe King was completely brought upon the tangible world, much to his horror. Taken by surprise, he had also lost his power to float and was about to crash down to the ground.

"You have been bad and tall… This makes all the more worthwhile to see a giant fall", Ankoku stated tiredly, coughing out the smoke generated by both Jalhalla's fire balls and the magical smoke barrier… not to say that, being an amateur Knight-in-Training with modest results Yet, ghost or not, monsters are always tough to be defeat, and indeed in a sprint of strength, Jalhalla managed to grab the Moldorm and tried to pull it down through sheer weight. As Ankoku was having trouble standing up with this, Dodo finally rushed in a fit of courage and picked him up by the collar of his jacket, making them both run away from the monster.

"Talk talk talk, but I tell you" – the Poe King answered managing to stand upon the worm, his words punctuated by steps making the poor beast tremble in strain – "this giant is going nowhere. You might think you are a hero, man…. But I think you are not!"

With one more swing, Ankoku and Dodo were practically about to be hit, had the blow landed successfully, would have knocked the both of them off. But the impossible happened. The blow had been blocked in mid-air by a giant hand.

A female voice echoed serious and booming, along with Ankoku's shadow rising forming a shadowy silhouette of a woman with glowing orange-colored marking which could remember the Skyloftian of the few sighting he had of Sheikah make up and symbols

"What do you think of him now, Jalhalla?", Aria asked in her truest form as her height reached the over the completely taken by surprise Poe King, while both the young boy and his Loftwing stared amazed at what they were seeing.

"Indeed, you are going nowhere" – The giant shadow said, creating dozens of tendrils which went immediately after Jalhalla, knocking his lantern away with a single swing and restraining the hand holding it against his vain efforts to pry it free– "you? Ikanan King? That will be a day"

While still unable to lift that giant bulk up, more and more shadows were engulfing the weakened Poe King, making him roar in rage. The Skyloftian looked at her worried, but rationalized they seemed to be on the same side, so he answered her with a polite nod and lifted the Moon Steel once more against the Garo Leader trying to keep him solid.

This time the Guardian of Termina did not tell anything to the monster who had dared to bring Termina to an iron first for so long: all he had to do was to succumb to the wrath of her shadows, as her energy quickly swallowed his body.

It was over, the smoke itself had faded away in the wind as the Dark Interloper had been finally defeated, a blow which every Poe in Termina felt… and, alas, there was no room for revenge

Looking in horror and fearing he had been accomplices of murder, turned his eyes at the glowing orbs shadowy silhouette, which curled up into a cheerful expression as the shadow acted as if they spit up a large white form, which was Jalhalla's mask.

Picking it up, she finally spoke once more to the Skyloftian getting to a progressively smaller size, understanding why the young man looked distressed: "Don't worry, he is not dead, I just trapped his soul in his own mask"

Now with her height being a bit shorter than Ankoku, Aria gave him the mask, making him feel how much it was pulsating and almost… alive. It made the Skyloftian feel uneasy… but he rationalized that for an amoral ruler like that, such was the rightful punishment. With a deep sigh, he turned at the shadow, wondering if I were her the responsible of the weird happenings around him, a thing she seemed to understand, as she was jokingly giggling.

"Who… who are you?", the Skyloftian could not help but ask her while handing back Jalhalla's mask, as she took even the Garo Hood as well: was the one who had made it, after all.

"Aria, I am just a little girl" – the guardian of Termina giggled further – "but I can tell you a few more things. Let us meet as soon as you can to the Clock Tower and I will explain you everything, even how to get back to your world, Sky Child. You have a few things to do, you know it"

As the lesser Goddess finished the sentence, both she and the young boy looked at the Moon Steel and understood and with a nod, Ankoku spoke silently his agreement to the deal. With a smile Aria, who had made the Twinmold lower so the young man and the steed could jump down with no harm. Aria quickly then conjured a magic and with a slow fade, she, the Moldorm, Fang Boy had disappeared, leaving the Skyloftian and his Loftwing alone on the ground of the Ikanian Valley.

Outside of the Stone Tower, Termina, 6:02am, Second Day

Not minding the shadow which loomed for a second above him, thinking it was still Aria's doing, the young man quickly rushed towards where he saw a few grey-skinned people, deducing they were Ikanans, with Keeta looking over at the situation with grievance.

"Captain Keeta, Sir!", the youth yelled attempting to sound like a soldier out his modest training from the Knight Academy. Disturbed by his voice, the other soldiers quickly turned at the short boy, and one was ready to tell him off, but luckily for Ankoku, the grey-skinned giant stopped them and, recognizing him, looked at how he was holding the heirloom in amazement.

They both had to tell each other a lot of things. But the presence of the corpse of the King, an half burnt skeleton, had the youth shut silent and Keeta's honor forbid him to talk. Exchanging a bow, the young man silently gave the Moon Steel and the Grapple Hook back to the giant, trying to whisper at him how he had been helped by the mysterious Goddess of Shadows, while his interlocutor solemnly accepted them and with one more bow returned to the other Ikanans who were still looking in grief and horror at their deceased King… and then… the impossible. As the skeleton was shown his family's heirloom, he quickly stood up, fully revealing himself.

While now what used to his firmly muscled body was gone, but still what was left looked somehow imposing and towering, his eyes which were miraculously intact still fierce and proud, his tattered clothing flowing in the wind with the left-over mane of his crimson colored hair.

"AT LAST, VICTORY BELONGS TO IKANA AGAIN", he roared in triumph taking the slab of steel with him and raising his sword, waiting for all his soldiers to imitate him. He was somewhat confused at the silence around him, all of them staring at him in agape shock: one of them had even fainted. And not even Keeta was cheering.

"What on Termina, Ikanans? Why this expressions? Soldiers, aren't you… ", Igos asked, only to look at his arm and remained puzzled at what he was seeing. For a second, he was even scared, but of course, a king like him would have never shown traces of doubt before his army. Still, again for a small while, he pondered how such was possible and what kind of excuse he could make up. Incredibly, he got an idea.

Therefore, with all his bride, he roared: "Soldiers, behold, look at how nothing can stop Ikanans. Not even death. We shall not die not even when killed. JOY. Victory is ours once more "

Although he was reprimanding himself for the cheesiness of his line, the soldiers looked surprised, but, recognizing that he doubtlessly was their ruler, rolled along and cheered with him. Indeed, they had somehow won once more against the Garo even at the darkest of times.

Silently reminding himself to thank the Giants and all the other guardians, the Ikanan skeleton turned at Keeta and said: "Captain… tell me, who was the brave warrior who helped us with retrieving our greatest treasure?"

The officer, doing his best to ignore how his king had somehow turned into an undead, bowed before him and quickly answered: "Although aided by the Guardians, the one brave youth who helped us to free the Moon Steel is …"

With a wave, the grey giant was about to wave to Ankoku but discovered to his surprise that he seemed to have disappeared. Exchanging glances, the Ikanians looked over and realized the young man had gone away.

"I guess I will properly thank him if he ever comes back" - Igos mused to his most trusted soldier, who hesitantly nodded, then he quickly turned at all his soldiers– "Well, my brave ones, let's rejoice, for we shall celebrate our victory now with an exquisite feast. I hope you all vegetarians, because the idea of eating some roasted chicken and ripping off chunks of meat off their bones is not compelling me right now"

Again, the small army celebrated at their king speech and quickly obliged, wishing to return home after what they feared could have been the worst day of Ikana but some twist of fate had thankfully prevented. Only Keeta, of all of them, was somewhat doubtful of what had happened, wondering whoever could have been planning such scenario and for whatever. Finally, he decided to shrug off his thoughts to return his focus to his mysteriously still alive King and wondered how come Ankoku had left, at first considering he had done so out of some duty or moral principle.

He was a bit … surprised, when, leaning his hear over the direction, could just hear the verses of a scared Loftwing and Ankoku's voice yelling: "Come on, Dodo, don't be afraid, it's just a skeleton, I have it as well. Please, quiet. I swear we are coming back Termina. Dodo? Dodoooo…"

Clock Tower, Termina, 7:35am, Second Day

Having finally tamed Dodo once more, Ankoku finally decided to do what he had promised Aria and reached the building at the center of Clock Town with a relatively quick pace, a bit excited he was about to finally return to his world, having grown too… weirded out and puzzled by Termina to fully appreciate it under his state of stress. He had still an incoming Wing Ceremony he wished to attend to, after all. He still needed to heal Dodo and get his scarf back, though. With a sigh, he entered inside the tower and looked around hearing a weird song on a piano. He was amazed to find a hidden room where, as both he and Dodo saw in wondered, there was a wall from where there were hanging a lot of masks, and a girl, whose silhouette reminded Ankoku of Aria's shadow form and made him realize it was her, was placing the Garo hood there.

Hearing his steps, the lesser Goddess turned at the youth and with a smile gave him a cheerful wave, which Ankoku reciprocated with a polite bow, but raised his head at Aria's giggling.

"It's nothing" - she said and sat down near a giant organ which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere – "Well, little rabbit, finally we meet each other. Thanks again for the help in Ikana. Those Garo had been irking me for a while… now the situation should fix itself… out of that horrible stone tower"

That last part had been said with some fear from her voice, but she did not elaborate, for a human was not bound to know that there are far greater horrors in the Stone Tower Temple, far worse than the one he had sighted. Therefore, she quickly switched back to her more cheerful mood and smiled at the confused youth about to speak.

"Excuse me, lady Aria, I am thankful for having saved my life against the dangers of the Stone Tower… and I am glad you are done with everything, you were great in returning there and imprison back the giant masked insect in that mysterious world prison", he answered in awe before the Guardian, who looked somewhat uneasy at this. All of sudden a door next to her opened and the poor Moldorm chirped in pain, as it had been shoved in a room it barely fit despite being coiled over and over on itself.

Petting it, Aria laughed nervously and said with a sweatdrop: "I will put it back… I swear… don't tell the Giants about this"

"Okay... I shall not - Ankoku answered rubbing the back of his head and nodded - by Her Grace, indeed. I got there in a rush to the point I forgot to bring Tingle his bagpack back"

"Oh don't worry about that scary map maker - Aria answered with a pat while making the bag slide off his shoulders - He could not be talking to you even if he wanted to: I spoke to a Giant and told me that he has been beaten up by his wife and a Gerudo called Renàle... long funny story"

As she laughed, Ankoku, sweatdropping back along with Dodo, nodded, deciding not to interrupt the young-looking girl with any question as she further spoke: "Now now... I think you should see what I am going to show you right now. It might be… interesting to you"

With a snap of her fingers, she uncovered another area of the room, revealing a familiar figure to the both of them, still looking unconscious, but was twitching as if it were about to wake up.

"Fang Boy?", Ankoku yelled in surprise, both him and Dodo almost freaking out and wondering how to attack him, only to have his forearm grabbed by Aria, who pleasantly smiled at him.

"No, no harm at him, he is just a Skull Kid" – she chirped happily turning at the imp, now almost conscious, and asking him – "hello there, who are you?"

The mysterious figure got on his knees and rubbed his forehead confused, as if he had awaken from a deep slumber: "Uh? Me? Kitoran Jarreth..."

Realizing he had just outed the name to a stranger, the pink haired imp stood up and sad, still half asleep: "Who are you? And where are we?"

As Aria spared him a glance aside, Ankoku was observing incredulous what had been his nemesis back that night, now acting more like a confused and innocent person, almost childlike in its movement. He did think for a moment it was a trick, but he was acting far to differently and also there was a weird particular in this Fang Boy: he did not have his blue flaming aura.

How in the world… the physical resemblance is stunning, yet he acts nothing like that fiendish trickster. Was that him, or…?

He was not able to continue his thought as a few things were starting to click: among them, the feather which seemed to belong to a giant bird and that shadow he had glimpsed as Aria had faded away previously in the Ikana valley.

He could barely start to comprehend what it meant: he had dealt with a far cleverer puppet master than he thought...

Core of the Stone Tower, Termina, 7:40am, Second Day

The Garo commander had been looking to the giant purple feathered monstrous bird which had appeared only a little while ago, as around the tower every Poe was acting in grief and rage to their King's defeat, only a figure seemed to remain smug enough, first taking a form of a flame, then slowly changing shape into a more humanoid, feminine outlook, her crimson eyes staring at the lantern from where a weak cyan colored flicker of flame was struggling.

With a gesture, she ordered the Garo Commander to advance, which he obediently did.

"Now now, little Garo, report immediately that the flame of sorrow has been lit but needs further alimentation, the other phases of the plan have to go to motions" - she ordered as the priest came over, to which she continued – "and get rid of those mask. That ritual brings nothing but trouble."

The Commander nodded at her commands and with a bow further asked: "What about the fall of the Poe King, mistress?"

With a grin, she quickly answered with an hint of a sardonic laughter coming from her sultry voice, her long blue colored fingers petting the soft plumage of her pet, the Helmaroc Queen: "Jalhalla was a Poe who did not know any better. His defeat has done nothing but convince the Poe to further pledge allegiance to us. After all, my plan was cardinal to his victory. His to mine… irrelevant. No need to inform the others now"

Glancing at the voluptuous blue skinned red haired figure clad in purple, staring at the one eye which was not covered by her bangs, the general nodded and further obliged with a solemn greeting: "As your will commands, Dark Interloper Veran"

DISCLAIMER:

The history of Zelda, Skyloft, Hyrule and Termina, alongside its characters and setting, just like its spin-offs are (c) Nintendo

Aria is (c) LuvIsAThing

Renàle is (c) NexarkXIII

The Moon Steel and Kitoran is (c) Kitoma Foxx. Although Fang Boy, his Skull Kid form, is my invention, he can use it whenever he sees fit

Ankoku Yami and the story are all (c) Xantospoc

Thanks you all for having read this fic, read and review please. See ya for the next chapter :)