A/N: I have now switched back to Chris' point of view, "I" now refers to Chris to avoid any confusion.
Chapter 39
I yawned and stretched in the mid-afternoon sunlight staring at the ever approaching Castle Town. "I find it odd we've not run into one creature, shadow beast... not even a single moblin to bother us." I grumbled feeling slightly disappointed.
"Ganon is probably hording them all in the castle to defend himself from you when you come." Midna said winking at me.
"Though I doubt that, I will still thank you for the compliment my dear." I said smiling at her.
"Blah you two are so sappy it's sickening." Lana said and I glanced back at her.
"At least I'm not strolling along holding her hand like some people." I said and chuckled as she tore her hand out of Link's, her face turning bright red as she did. "All joking aside we really do need to be serious about this, after all Ganon has my old body, I never realized it's full potential but the thick armor I had made me nearly invincible in comparison to my new body."
"But you can heal yourself in your new body." Aidan said and I turned to him now.
"Yes true, but dark magic had healing effects on my old body, which can now use said magic as Ganon had some... though this magic of his feels different, I don't think he's using his own. Whether he knows that or not I can't tell." I said cracking my knuckles as we crossed the bridge out of Hyrule field and neared the entrance to the town. I stopped at the gate for a moment and following suit everyone else did too, I turned to face them. "Be careful there's no telling what kind of beasts and traps Ganon might have waiting here for us..." I paused and noticed Midna had barely heard what I said as she stared at a single spot on the ground, "...Tell you what guys, you go on ahead I'd like to have a word with Midna." Midna looked up at me as the others began to walk through the slightly open gate. Link passed by and Lana looked at me as she did as well, "You be careful." I said and Link looked back and nodded at me knowing I was telling him to keep a watchful eye on her as well.
"Chris?" Midna started and took a couple steps toward me.
"I believe there was something on your mind you wanted to tell me?" I said not moving an inch.
"I- Yes, there was." she paused for a moment and I closed my eyes waiting patiently. I opened them again as she began to speak but her voice was so hushed I couldn't hear a word.
"I'm sorry but I wasn't aware you swallowed a mouse." I said and she blushed. "Midna don't be scared, we're married after all, you can tell me anything."
Midna looked up at me and after another moment nodded with a smile, "Chris... I'm pregnant."
I nearly choked on the air, "Say wha-" I stared thinking for a moment she was pulling my leg but the serious look on her face told me otherwise. "So... again... I- When did this happen?" I stuttered for a moment then let the question slip out before actually thinking about it myself.
"Well I'm pretty sure it was a while before I was turned into an imp, and honestly I didn't know until just a few days ago but-"
"Wait 'a while before?' How long is a while, cause to my knowledge the only time that it could have happened was the day you turned into an imp or... oh...... so, you'd already be over a month or so along now?" I blinked realizing the night we had both been completely out of it had led to this conversation.
"Probably almost two if my sense of time isn't off, but a lot has happened and I lose track of time." Midna said and smiled at me as I began to feel incredibly sweaty and hot. "Chris... are you okay, it's not like we don't already have kids you know?" she said and I shook my head.
"No, I-I know but, it's just... before I was kinda gone, you know? And I didn't even know you were pregnant last time and now that I'm here this time it just feels..." I looked down at my hands unable to find a word for how I was feeling.
"I think I understand how you feel, after all I wasn't there for most of Aidan and Lana's lives either, shortly after they became adults Ganon took control of my mind right up until you came back." she said moving forward and putting her hand on my shoulder.
I took a deep breath, "So then... I assume since Twili are pretty well human your birth cycle isn't much different then ours?" I said and she stared for a second.
"Well... I don't really know how theirs is but-"
"I- Forget I asked, I'd rather not know the details for now." I shook my head. "Come to think of it, if you... did I... you know... 'get the job done' on our wedding night?" I asked and she blinked then her eyes shot open.
"Oh you mean... well from what I can remember... counting the days... it's likely, yes." I sighed.
"So what I'm some kinda freakin' super-fertile-"
"Father!" came Lana's voice and I turned around quickly.
"Coming," I turned back to Midna, "Well, you take it easy okay Midna, and thank you for telling me, it gives me all the more reason to defend you with my life."
"Don't you go dying on me, I want us both to be around for this child." she said and I couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, I promise you I won't give up until this child is guaranteed a safe and happy future." I said as we began walking into town.
"With two happy parents right?" Midna insisted and I nodded. We entered the town and Lana came running up to us.
"Finally, you gotta come see this!" she said and motioned for us to follow as she ran off. I ran at a decent pace keeping close to Midna as we followed Lana. We came to a halt in the town square and I looked around and saw what Lana had wanted us to see right away.
"There's nothing here." Midna said sounding puzzled.
"Exactly... nothing. That's a bit odd, I would have expected... I dunno, people, guards, even a shadow beast or two but nothing?" I said looking around some more, it looked the perfect time for a tumbleweed to blow by had there been any wind. We proceeded silently toward the castle gates which were to my surprise deserted and wide open. Proceeding through the gates to the front door we found the courtyard empty and the front door unlocked. Inside it seemed as quiet and deserted as the town had been. Suddenly Lilith let out a scream and we all looked at her to see her pointing toward the middle of the room. Following her pointing finger we all gazed into the middle of the room where a large pool of blood was with a large numbed of drag marks nearby that quickly turned into a single slightly broken trail. "Someones hurt... and losing quite a bit of blood." I said walking over to the blood pool and touching it with one of my exposed finger tips. I gasped, "It's still warm... whoever got hurt was just here not too long ago." I stood and followed the trail to a wall where a small pool was again before the trail lead straight to the wall. "Zelda are there secret passages in this place?" I said turning to her she shrugged.
"I wouldn't know, I know the castle well but I've never found nor gone searching for any secret passageways." she said and I turned back to the wall.
"Well it looks like someone wants us to find this one..." I said noticing a nearby torch had blood stains on it's base. I grabbed the base and tried to turn it but it did not so I pulled down with a loud clackthe torch snapped downwards and the wall slid open. "Let's move, even if it is a trap I'm sure we'll find a way past." I said noticing Midna's concerned look. We rushed into the passage, the wall snapped shut as I took my first step onto a staircase inside, unfazed I continued up the staircase. the blood trail seemed rather consistent until it suddenly slowed and stopped but the stairs continued. Up and around the stairs continued to spiral as we climbed up until we came to a solid wall, I quickly noted some indents and used them like a ladder to climb up and shove up a stone in the roof that looked freshly moved. I clambered out and helped Midna behind me out of the hole. After everyone had exited the passage we looked around and realized the passage had lead directly to the top of the castle, to the place Link fought Ganon previously. "I think... Ganon wants to fight." I said noticing that still not a single trap or monster had gotten in our way. We proceeded up the small staircase into the large throne room where, once leaving the now slightly clouded sky's light, we found it much easier to see inside.
Across the room the statue of the three goddesses had been completely broken and a small sense of déjà vu swept over me as I saw Ganondorf sitting on the throne. However there were three notable differences between then and now. First, the statue had been less broken previously. Second, Ganon had a large black claw for a right hand rather then holding his glowing sword. Third, and I now realized why there had been a blood trail leading us to the stairs as I noticed my previous speedy foe Miki laying there a large hole in her left arm. Her eyes were shut but I could faintly see her breathing across the room. I held up my arms to tell the others to stop then proceeded about ten steps ahead, "I knew you were a monster Ganondorf but hurting your own ally to provide you enemy a direct route to you... I think you may have just lost your mind when you took my body." I said and he laughed in his usual arrogant manner.
"I admit, I underestimated you before now, but I trained my powers, and once I take back the power I lent this worm I will be unstoppable." he said extending the claws on his right hand to lift Miki from the ground. "However, I feel I owe you some suffering, you put that cursed lock on your clone so it could not harm Midna, so I was forced to endure her for nearly a century."
"You know I'm shocked your still alive, that body is human and should have died off at least a decade ago." I said and he laughed slightly again.
"Your powers were much greater then you thought, the more power I unlocked the less I seemed to age until it just stopped when I managed to enslave your precious wife." Ganon was now holding Miki around the neck with his left hand and suddenly drove his right into her stomach and her body vanished entirely. "But enough talk, I do believe you had planned to come here and defeat me had you not?" I drew a needle and it changed into a sword just in time for me to hold it up before I felt something club me in the side of the head. I dropped the sword as I flew to the side and rolled and tumbled into a nearby pillar. I pushed myself into a sitting position to see Ganon standing only about a foot away from where I had been. "Ha, it appears you are now the one who underestimates me." he laughed hard and closed his eyes as he threw his head back. Without a second thought I drew another needle and changed it into a large throwing star that I hurled at Ganon. Without missing a beat he grabbed it, spun and threw it straight back at me. I stood there and the sharp star bounced off me as though I were made of a material ten times harder.
"Did you really think my own weapons could hurt me?" I laughed this time.
"I suspected not," he said and I noticed he had picked up my sword that had fallen a few moments earlier, "but what about your family?" He threw the sword and it flew straight toward Lana, I focused hard and the sword suddenly changed shape just before hitting the stunned Lana how fell over as a pillow puffed against her face. "Very impressive." Ganon's voice was behind me now. I wheeled around and went to draw another needle but something hit me in the ribs as I moved and I slid a few feet before falling to one knee. "Is this all you have to offer?"
I pushed myself back to a standing position. I gotta keep it cool and focus, I thought and took a deep breath as I felt my power suddenly increase, I ran my fingers through my hair which had once again changed into it's electrified, soft, icy state. My light magic had amplified as well healing my wounds as I changed. "I feel safe saying your not using you full power yet either?" I said in a questioning tone.
"You would be correct, but I will not need my full power to dispose of you and your pathetic friends." he cackled and suddenly a ball of twilight magic slammed into the side of his head. "Arg- what the hell?" he growled and turned to see Lana's hand smoking. "I'll-"
"-Get yourself killed if you don't pay attention." I changed his sentence as I shot a blast of ice at his feet and he nearly tripped as he tried to lunge for my daughter. To my surprise he let out a loud yell and my ice exploded into steam.
"I've got more magic then you did, and I'm stronger and faster then you ever could have been." he laughed and lunged for me now, I barely ducked as his fist smashed into the pillar behind me. I heard a sound like something slicing flesh near me and looked up to see Link had moved forward and attacked Ganon who let out an angry grunt as he smacked the hero back.
"Link!" I heard Lana cry and the entire group ended up moving after her in order to keep her safe. I looked at Ganon who was smirking evily and he suddenly lifted his hand, a large ball of dark energy forming in his hand.
"Not this time!" I yelled and smashed the ground with both hands, a large number of crystals shot out from the ground, crisscrossing and finally all smashing into one another about ten feet off the ground. The ball of dark energy flew from Ganon's hand and smashed into the crystal but to his shock it vanished as it hit, and the crystals all glowed brighter then before. Enraged he hurled more dark magic at it along with a few fireballs that it simply absorbed as well. "You're just feeding them." I said and brought forth more power, I felt the strange sensation of my tail returning and the improved sight my strange eyes granted. I saw Ganon's movements much easier now and ducked, tripping him up with my tail as he moved to strike me. I landed an uppercut to his gut as he fell but I received it back in kind as he spun in mid-air bringing his foot to my face. We proceeded trading blow for blow, block after block for what felt like ages until my arms and legs ached like they never had before.
"Pathetic, I'm barely breaking a sweat and your worn down to your last legs," Ganon scoffed at me.
"If I'm so pathetic why haven't you killed me yet?" I laughed and he growled and slammed his fist into my face, into the same eye he had cut all those years ago. I flew backwards but spun in the air and landed, hunched over as my feet had been much closer to the ground then when I had left it. Ganon's blow to my scarred eye had triggered the third seal. I felt an immense wave of power rush through me and rushed forward, now beyond Ganon's visible spectrum of speed I slammed my foot down on him, then proceeded to lift him by one leg and throw him at the wall. To my surprise there was a dark flash and he recovered in mid-air and simply planted both feet on the wall before rolling off it and landing on both feet. I summoned forth a large boulder of ice and hurled it at him but he smashed it with a single well placed fist. I didn't like where this was heading and thought of one plan. I made another ice boulder and threw Ganon completely off his rhythm when I hurled it at the ceiling, it smashed through and I quickly found it had begun to rain. Ganon opened his mouth to speak but a huge bolt of lighting striking the floor cut him off and I drew my lightning pike from the ground. To my surprise Ganon was still smiling and without warning he called forth a fireball in his hand and from it drew a long spear. Not wasting a moment I rushed forward and slammed down hard on him but he pushed me back and lunged back, I blocked the blow and pushed him back. We both moved now at the same time matching each strike, our weapons seemed to simply deflect off one another again and again.
Suddenly Ganon caught me by surprise tripping me with something he suddenly leapt up onto my slightly larger chest and pointed his spear at my face. "Enough boy, you've lost." To my surprise several balls of Twili magic suddenly collided with Ganon from several angles. I looked in the two that had not been from the crystal shield I formed. In our fight Ganon and I had not seen Lana and Midna slip out and around to blast at Ganon form a better angle. "Annoying pests!" he growled hopping down he hurled a ball of dark magic at Midna and a fire ball at Lana. Who do I help.... Lana, or Midna... Daughter or wife? Acting out on impulse I shot a crystal towards Midna that hit the ground in front of her and expanded rapidly just in time to block the ball of dark magic. To my relief Lana put up a shield of ice and the fireball rammed into it and disappeared. Unfortunately in my panic I lost track of Ganon who, to my continued shock, was now in two places at once. One stood before Aidan and Lilith just outside my crystal barrier and the second had pinned Lana against a pillar.
Without a second thought I moved toward Lana yelling to Aidan as I did, "Aidan defend Lilith and get back into the barrier!" I lunged forward as Ganon suddenly vanished from in front of me along with Lana. I turned and saw Lana sitting on the throne and Ganon's hand raised to her. He laughed maniacally as two claws extended and pierced Lana's arm and shoulder. "Bastard!" I yelled and hurled my lightning pike at him. He grabbed hold of it, shuddering slightly as it electrocuted him. I quickly dashed over and picked up the injured Lana and ran back toward the barrier, picking up Midna as I went by. I slid to a halt and let Midna inside and handed her our daughter.
"Your love for your family is utterly disgusting!" I heard Ganon's voice behind me and turned to see him flying toward me his clawed hand drawn back, it was the second Ganon as he did not have my lightning pike in his hands.
"Father, no!" Aidan yelled and before I could react he had put himself between me and Ganon's attack just as he had struck forth, four claws had extended, three had pierced Aidan. Ganon withdrew his claws and rushed back toward the throne and his other self. Aidan dropped the blade I had made for him with one of my needles and fell to his knees.
"Aidan!" Lilith yelled from inside the barrier, I held up a hand to prevent her from leaving and quickly scooped up my son and handed him to her. Ganon had pierced his chest in two places and the third had stabbed through his hip. I wheeled back around and to my surprise I found my lightning pike mere feet from me. No time to think I suddenly felt a sharp pain through my chest and flew back bouncing off my crystal barrier I yelled out as the pike stuck into my chest. I gasped for breath and yanked the pike out of my chest as the two Ganons came running forward. One leapt up and tried to punch me square in the face, to his surprise I crumbled as he made contact, shattering into thousands of pieces. Not giving him time to react I snapped my fingers and the previous crystal clone's pieces detonated and the clone of Ganon morphed into a shadow that moved down to the ground and scurried over to follow Ganon.
"So... you can bring your shadow to life?" I coughed in my deep raspy voice that came along with this strange form.
"In a way yes... but it would appear you're done... and once I'm finished with you, I'll simply wait for your little barrier to vanish and then I'll destroy your pathetic excuse for a family!" he yelled and at this I felt a flame go alight in my heart. I felt my whole body throb and watched as Ganon's jaw dropped slightly and I noticed he grew smaller yet in comparison to my perspective. I looked down to see I had changed yet again, I had become larger yet and despite the fact my lightning pike had disappeared I did not care for my scales were now a pure shining white, and I was moving about on four legs. Ganon's jaw had dropped because I had now taken the form of a dragon, wings and all. This room though large seemed to constrict my space slightly, there was no doubt in my mind I could move about but I would by no means be able to spread my wings and take flight.
"Ganon!" I roared my voice bellowed out through the halls as did a mighty roar and I realized I could no longer speak outside telepathy. I lunged forward and pinned Ganon to the ground with a mighty smash of my foot, the power was overwhelming. I felt my foot being pushed back up and I withdrew inhaling deeply. I exhaled a breath of mixed lightning and ice, Ganon's body twitched as the sparks hit him but he stiffened every second under the cold ice until it seemed he had frozen solid. I spun round and lashed him hard with my tail sending him flying into the wall at the far end of the room. I moved in close to the crystal barrier and peered between the gaps. "Midna is everything alright in there?" I asked my mouth unmoving as I did so.
"I... uh... you... d-dragon." she stammered, I growled loudly to snap her back to her senses and she shook her head. "Ah, sorry... you gotta admit that was quite startling though... anyways, Lana and Aidan are injured pretty badly, they need a doctor, or a Twili who's properly trained with healing magic."
"Is Basha-?" I started but Midna shook her head.
"She's skilled but not completely trained, these wounds are very severe." I growled again and turned to where I had smashed Ganon into the wall. I rushed toward it, feeling rather awkward but I imagined it looked something like a large lizard charging angrily at it's prey. I came to an abrupt halt at the wall and found the small pile of rubble where Ganon had fallen was clear of the man. I heard a few heavy metal steps and turned to see a Ganon covered in my jet black armor, lunge at me. I had no time to move and felt his claw sink into my neck. I roared out and suddenly felt my power draining away until I soon found myself in my normal humanoid form again.
I felt weak but drew forth a needle and changed it into a pike none the less. Ganon wrenched the weapon from my hands and tossed it aside as it changed back into it's original state. I moved to slam my fist into his face but felt his large claw clasp around my head and begin to squeeze. I shouted out in pain, grabbing at the claws trying desperately to pry them off my skull. "Yes, your suffering is enjoyable... perhaps, yes I know how to make you suffer more!" he yelled and threw me towards my crystal barrier. My back slammed into it and I coughed something up into my mouth as it did. I pushed myself to my feet and spit out a large glob of blood. I found myself panting for breath and leaning against the crystal for support. As Ganon slowly walked towards me I noticed the crystal I had slammed into had cracked.
"M-Midna..." I coughed and heard her shuffle over and spoke up before she could. "I want you to have Lilith help you... teleport everyone out of here, somewhere safe... it doesn't matter where... just out of here you got that?"
"Chris, I'm not leaving you!" Midna yelled and I turned to look her straight in the eye.
"Midna, I have a plan, but I need the place clear, and if this works we'll have the mirror and we can return to the Twilight to get proper healing for Aidan and Lana so please... just do this, for me." I said and saw Midna's eyes begin to water. "I made you a promise didn't I? I won't die here, not today!" I saw Midna smile and nod before moving over to the others. "I'm going to take down the barrier, the second I do I want you to teleport out got it Midna?" I heard a small noise that sounded like a yes and put my hands against the crystal I had cracked. "One... two," I heard Ganon's metal footsteps not too far from my location now, "...three!" I yelled and the barrier sunk back into the ground except the final crystal which seemed to sink into me. I saw the small black squares of Midna's teleportation and saw everyone had dematerialized, I spun around and fired off a bombardment of crystals and not to my surprise at all Ganon vanished from the spot, I heard heavy metal land behind me and a fist flying rapidly through the air. My defensive ability automatically triggered now that I had the full power of my crystals back and I ended up several feet away as a crystal clone shattered in my place, I shot several large crystals at Ganon who dodged quickly again. He broke another clone and this time I focused hard and summoned forth a small horde of crystal clones that rushed Ganon, he smashed them all, small shards littering the floor like broken glass as he did. I fired another swarm of small crystals but Ganon did not move, they all simply ricocheted off his armor, save for a single crystal that stuck dead in the middle of the breast plate.
"Well boy..." Ganon chuckled, "...are you done with your cheap tricks?"
I smirked and couldn't help but laugh lightly, nearly coughing as I was beginning to feel drained, "You really do need the triforce of wisdom Ganon, or haven't you noticed, look around." I said gesturing to the floor and I saw him take note that the entire thing, from one end to the other had a layer of crystals on it. "Oh, and..." I paused putting my fingers together, "...even you won't be able to move out of the blast radius faster then the instant I snap my fingers... as I made sure to make each little shard explode as violently as I could." I saw a small smirk cross his face.
"Do you take me for a fool? Your bluffing!" he laughed heartily but as I joined in he stopped.
"I don't bluff Ganon, I've planned this out well, you see I have just enough power left for a single crystal clone replacement, and when I use that... I move instantly anywhere within a ten thousand foot radius, I've just never needed to move so far." I saw a genuine look of worry and anger cross Ganon's face for the first time since I had entered the room. "So... this is it then Ganon." I snapped my fingers and felt my whole body shudder as I suddenly found myself in Hyrule Field as the castle which could be seen from my current position exploded violently. I stared having another flash back of the last time the castle had exploded. "Heh, strange being the cause rather then the bystander." I chuckled and fell down to one knee panting. "Well looks like I'll be keeping my promise to Midna." I said trying to stand but my knees were quite weak.
"I care to disagree!" came a voice I had instantly recognised as the man I should have just killed as I felt a hand clasp around my neck. I gasped for breath and choked as his grip tightened and then loosened as he seemed to notice how weak I truly was. There a single shining spot on the black armor, right where a single crystal had stuck. "I know, since you won't be alive much longer... let's go see your wife and kids shall we?" I coughed and in one final effort to stop him I connected my right foot with Ganon's face as hard as I could. "You know boy, you shouldn't push yourself, but... since your still trying so hard, why don't I show you what your body has granted me." he cackled and I gasped as he tossed me aside and he took a familiar yet different form. It looked quite similar to his large beast form that had been so overpowering that Midna had had to use her giant hair-hand along with Link's wolf form to flip him as I remembered. But it seemed different, less pig-like, it was bipedal, sleeker, and certainly more vicious. Large spikes protruded randomly from this new form and to my relief as he picked me up by one leg with his right hand no spikes came out of the palms of his hands, nor the inside of his fingers, unlike the back of his hand which had several spikes the size of my head. Ganon seemed to scan the horizon and suddenly we were off, I felt my body shaking as he ran, flailing about like a helpless rag-doll I was suddenly tossed aside, flopping about some more I landed on my side to see Aidan and Link now standing to face this mighty beast as I barely managed to push myself up onto one knee.
Aidan looked wobbly and I noticed Lana leaning against a rock with one hand raised, swirling energy all around her raised hand, I couldn't help but feel slightly proud of their resolve. I tried to stand but fell back to one knee and saw Zelda and Adonia looking at me in a concerned manner now, and they rushed to my side. "Midna, he's too strong, you can't fight him." I coughed as Zelda looked for wounds but I brushed her off telling her that I was simply drained of energy.
"No, I'll stand my ground, and fight, as you would to my very last breath!" she cried and fired a huge mass of Twili magic at the beast who stood there and took it as though it were simply an annoyance. A spike shot out from the beast's skin and hurtled right toward Midna, I stood to move forward but fell on my face as my knees were still wobbly. I heard a loud howl of pain and Midna scream and I looked up to see Aidan standing in front of his mother, arms outstretched in case he had misjudged the spikes trajectory but it was clear he hadn't as it had gone through his back, which he had been forced to turn to the monster in order to get to his mother in time, and the spike was now half protruding out of Aidan's chest. "Aidan!" Midna screamed and moved forward grabbing either side of his face as he fell to his knees, "Aidan, sweety you're going to be alright." she said but even at my distance I could see the glazed look in his eyes and felt my own eyes sting with tears. I found a small reserve of strength and pushed myself to my feet still shaky.
"You bastard!" I heard Lilith scream and heard several shots of magic fired off, I turned to see the first three hit and the beast twitch, seeming agitated it roared and swung it's arm at the fourth which to my shock deflected right towards Link who had dropped his guard in the sudden chaos.
"Link, look sharp you idiot!" I yelled and heard quick footsteps followed by a loud bang. The magic ball had found a mark but to my horror it had not been Link, but instead my daughter, whom had rushed forward to defend him. "No, Lana!" I yelled and limped forward and fell down onto both knees, there was a dark scorch mark on Lana's neck that still smoked from the magic's blow. Lana's eyes had the same blank glazed stare that had befallen Aidan. I heard Link yell out angrily and draw his sword up, charging the beast.
"Link no!" Zelda called out to him but the beast simply swatted him back like a mosquito. He rolled and got to his feet an angry scowl on his face. "Link, we have to lend Chris our power, it's the only way." Zelda said and Link looked at me.
"Zelda, are you kidding, I'm broken, battered and bruised, even the power of the triforce at this point could not help me defeat what Ganon has become."
"You have to try Chris!" Midna yelled still weeping between the eerily still bodies of our children.
"I'll try, if your willing to let me..." I said looking to Zelda who nodded. I turned to Adonia who did the same and then to Link who looked me in the eyes then glanced over to Lana's still smoking corpse.
"You kick his ass twice as hard for me." Link growled and I let out a small laugh and nodded.
"I'll make sure to dedicate at least one good blow to you." I coughed and Link moved up next to me. Zelda put her hand on my right shoulder, Adonia's hand pressed against my spine just below my neck and Link put his hand onto my left shoulder. There was a glow that emanated from all three of them and into me and suddenly all three of them collapsed and I rose to my feet feeling like I could run ten marathons. I saw a spike flying towards Midna and was about to yell out when someone cut me off.
"Look out!" came a familiar female voice and something small moved in front of the spike which promptly reflected back into the ground. Kris had arrived, Basha hid behind the rock Lana had propped herself against previously and was putting down Kris' old body and moving to drag Adonia, Link and Zelda behind the rock as I turned to face the mighty beast.
"Chris, can't you release the seals on your power again?" Midna asked moving closer to me.
"No, unless something I had been planning worked but it could cause me more harm if I try it, but-"
"Then you're not trying it." Midna cut me off with certainty in her voice.
"Then I'll have to rely on the triforce to beat this guy, I feel stronger smarter and braver then ever before... Kris, please watch over Midna for now... Midna get behind that rock with the others, please." I said and she nodded and went with the small cat as they dashed behind the rock which Basha had now dragged Adonia, Aidan, Lana, Link and Zelda. I ran forward, feeling dwarfed by the gargantuan creature that was Ganon and suddenly his fist shot forth and I managed to catch it, as if I had predicted the move. I held it back, barely and pushed back slightly before leaping up and running straight up it's arm. I went straight for the face but his other arm came hurtling down at me, I was forced to jump back and to my surprise his arm actually came down with enough force to lop his own arm right off. I fell to the ground and watched as a strange black ooze shot forth from the severed arm and connected to the stump that was left and pulled the arm back up to re-connect. I got up and dodged the second fist and barely spun out of the way as a black ball of dark magic exploded and knocked my feet out form under me. I attempted to stand once again but felt a great pressure fall onto me and it quickly became apparent from the foul smell I had been stepped on, my head barely visible between two of the large claws on the beast's feet. I felt the pressure increase, more and more by the second, the triforce of power had increased my durability as well but there was still limits. I yelled out in pain as I felt bones beginning to crack and suddenly I heard a huge BANGand looking up I saw Ganon's angry face clouded in smoke, a large amount of which was coming from behind his long right ear. His foot suddenly lifted from me and I shot up to my feet, wincing slightly at my cracked ribs, and saw Midna standing exactly where the blast had come from. Her hand still swirling with Twilight magic, she fired a second blast that landed directly between Ganon's eyes and he roared.
"Insolent worm, your magic is merely an annoyance, as is your very life!" he yelled in a voice that sounded as though the blast had snapped him from a blood-thirsty rage and into a vengeful one. It now dawned on me Midna was at least a hundred yards from the rock, and Kris. Kris looked shocked that Midna had not been near when she had formed a defensive shield in between them and Ganon.
"Midna, move, get out of there!" I yelled dashing forward as I saw several large black claws shooting forth toward Midna who was now frozen in fear. "Dammit!" I yelled and smashed my fist to the ground a wall of crystal shot up, just high enough to cover Midna but my powers were still weak from my over-exertion and to my horror the first claw to reach the wall shattered it and went straight through. I heard nothing but several more claws shattered the wall in more places and went through. I ran harder and nicked the edge of the wall chipping away a large chunk as I went around and my jaw dropped. Midna was standing there mouth agape, blood seeping form the edges of her mouth and it was clear why. The claws once through the wall had swirled around the first, all piercing Midna right through the centre of her chest, right through her heart. "M-Midna... no," I felt tears well up in my eyes as the claws all withdrew quite suddenly, jerking Midna forward and she fell over like a rag-doll. I rushed forward and slid to my knees by her side. "Midna no... are you..." I paused as she opened her mouth. I lifted her head ever so slightly from the ground as she tried to speak.
"I..." she seemed to lose her voice as her eyes started to grow hazy and I could only see her mouth the next words slowly and it was clear. With her last breath she had tried to say, 'I love you' I shook my head, several tears leaving my face as I did.
"No... Midna... I promised you I wouldn't die... that didn't mean you could go and do it!" I yelled lifting her blank face toward my own but there was no response, no movement. I gripped her limp shoulders tightly in my hands and I felt my eye twitch in anger. "I swear to you Midna, I'll end this... once and for all!" I yelled picking her up and taking her over to the rock where Basha, Lilith and Kris had froze in shock.
"Oh my god Chris, I'm so sorry she ran off when we were checking to make sure Link, Adonia and Zelda were okay." Kris said and oddly I saw tears in her cat eyes. I shook my head and looked down at Midna.
"It's not your fault, Midna was brave, and she saw me losing, she acted out on her love for me, and it cost her her life." I growled and put her gently down. "Kris... I figured something out... it could kill me if it's too much power, if it does however it will definitely take out Ganon as it does kill me... I hope... if that happens, I want you to restore my powers back into the triforce holders." I said and Kris opened her mouth to protest but I held up my hand. "Without Midna, I feel this risk can be taken... without her... I have no reason to fear death." I said and turned to see Ganon smirking evilly, it may have been the natural face of the beast and I had not noticed because it did not seem to change ever but I could tell Ganon was enjoying all of this.
"So boy, ready to admit defeat yet?" his deep voie rumbled through the air.
"Are you joking?! Do you mean that?! Cause if so... your dumber then you look. You gave me this scar, you trapped me in an alternate dimension for years, enslaved my wife, imprisoned my children and turned them all on me, and just when we were all getting to know each other well... you killed them... every... last... one... as long as there is one breath left in this body I will... I swear it, I will destroy you." I yelled and felt my power swell significantly.
"Huh... your hair... but you can't break your seals yet, I thought-" Ganon seemed taken aback.
"Right, I couldn't unless I had succeeded in my experiment, turns out... I guess it worked, how fully we'll have to see." I said and felt my tail spring forth and my vision improve. Ganon watched, it seemed he was either confident in his strength or too shocked to strike me but I felt myself grow larger and my power increase further and a second time again I grew to dragon proportions and let out a mighty roar.
"I drained your power once, I'll do it again!" he roared and lunged forward.
"Think again." I hissed and there was a bright flash as my plan took root. I found myself back to human proportions, Ganon blinked and looked down and began cackling madly.
"You failed! Your a mere human again, now I'd say it's time I finished this." he growled and I smirked.
"Wrong, it's time I finished this." I said and Ganon's fist came at me, I moved to the side quickly and in an instant moved quickly up onto his shoulder. "This," I said drawing his attention to me, "is from Link!" I smashed my foot right in between his eyes and moved quickly to his other shoulder as he clutched his face. "And this, is from Adonia!" I growled and jabbed my hand into his neck. He roared out in pain and tried swatting me, I moved once again. "And this if from Zelda!" I slammed a fist into his gut and landed on the ground as he stumbled back in pain. "Now..." I moved quickly up to his foot. "This is for killing my son!" I yelled and smashed his ankle hard and heard a crack, he keeled over and I moved quickly away as he landed on his hands and knees. "This..." I started, leaping into the air and delivering a flying kick to his right elbow bending it the complete wrong way, "...is for killing my daughter!"
"You will not be able to kill me fool." he said and I saw his ankle already starting to heal.
"There are fates worse then death." I growled and moved quickly behind him where his tail lie limp. "But... this... this is for killing my wife, and her unborn child!" I yelled and grasped his tail. With a mighty heave I pulled him off his knees, spun him but once and hurled him high into the air. I brought forth a ball of the brightest light magic I had ever called and quickly drew from it a sword. I pulled forth the large two-handed ice axe and hurled it with my left hand toward the soaring Ganon who went stiff, frozen solid. I spun and flung the sword, it sailed straight and pierced Ganon's chest and glowed brightly as he began to fall. "Now feel all my pain you pile of-" I cut myself off as I yelled the insult and slammed my fist into the ground, huge spikes of ice and crystal shot up out of the ground loudly and pierced the beast as several large bolts of lightning struck him. I panted for breath as my light sword fell beside me with a clang and Ganon slumped to the ground mere feet from where I knelt, he was human again and looked as through he had narrowly escaped an encounter with a wood chipper. He coughed and tried pushing himself up but could not, slumping to the ground with a loud groan.
"Well go on then, finish me off." he said and coughed again.
"I told you, there are fates worse then death, I say... you should experience one before you have the pleasure of dying." I said and picked up Ganon's limp body with one hand. "Now if you don't mind..." I said and stared into and through Ganon's enraged eyes and felt all my power return to me. I let out a relieved sigh and released Ganon who slumped to the ground again.
"W-what did you do to me?" he said and clearly was struggling to even move.
"I simply took back what's mine, that body was a copy but you stole my power, I took back what bits were mine and left everything that was Ganon in that shell you call a body." I said and saw his left hand tremble, lift about an inch and then fall. "Pretty sad really, you spent all those years developing my power and forgot completely about yourself. You became a shadow in your own body."
"What no, that's impossible the dark magic was mine... I..."
"You misunderstood, I had dark magic as well, you mistook it for your own and forgot all your own powers along with your true ambition to rule Hyrule. My only ambitions in life were to find love, and find strength." I said and a look of realization washed over Ganon's face. "Enjoy your shell in your last moments, after I return the triforce to it's rightful holders I'm sure they won't mind killing you." I said walking calmly back towards the rock ignoring Ganon's shouts of anger and claims of future vengeance.
"That was amazing Chris!" I noticed Kris was now back in her body and picked up the cat that had been her, which now looked very confused. I had guessed from the look on their faces they did not overhear me yelling of vengeance for my unborn child.
"Cute cat, maybe make a nice pet for a nice pair like you." I said handing it to Basha who blushed slightly. I walked over to Link and touched the back of his left hand, the triforce lit up and he roused from what had appeared to be a restful sleep and gawked at me as I roused Adonia and Zelda. They shared similar expressions but tears streamed down Zelda's face.
"You have such strong love for your family... I am sorry our power was-" Zelda said sniffling.
"Don't Zelda, I know you felt a lot of my emotions, and saw a lot of my memories through that, but..." I looked over at my family's still bodies and felt an immense rage build up in me again. "I need you three to decide how to dispose of Ganon, he cannot move, he is a withered shell of a man. Please go, I need... I need a moment." I said walking over to Midna's body I grabbed her hand which despite my own immunity to feeling cold felt as cold as a freezing wind in my own hands. I had hid my thoughts well for the most part from Adonia, Link and Zelda. I had hid the fact that Midna had been pregnant, I had hid many of the original hideous thoughts of how to avenge them against Ganon and most of all I hid the fact that I was going to try and use my power to save Midna, even if I didn't have it any more because of the stunt I pulled in Kakariko, I intended to try. I got to my feet and my hand began to glow.
"Chris, don't..." I heard Kris' voice call form behind me.
"Why shouldn't I, she deserves life more then I-"
"It won't bring her back, I failed to mention this, but because as you surely know Twili's magic is on the darker side of it all, light magic can be fatal and that's all your revival spell is." Kris said and walked off leaving me to fall to my knees and barely hold back sobbing as tears streamed down my face.
"It's not fair... I should have been the one to die!" I yelled and slammed my fist into the ground and heard a sound like an orb bouncing behind me. I looked back to see the ball of pure twilight I had pulled from Midna. Twili's magic is darker... but needs some light to form it... that's it!I grabbed the orb and pulled Lana and Aidan closer to Midna. I looked over at the others who were all staring down at Ganon's unmoving angry, thrashing body. "I know you'll probably think me stupid for trying something like this Midna, but if it works... if it works I'll have broken my promise to you yet again." I have to try though... I knew I would, no matter if it doesn't work or not... as long as I try, I can happily sacrifice my soul for her.I held up the ball of twilight and focused hard, my right hand glowed brighter then before and as one last tear streamed down my face I forced the light magic out through the ball of Twilight, it crumbled into nothingness as my light magic stole it away and my soul left my body, the boost in power from the secondary source caused a bright flash as my soul passed through Aidan, Midna and finally Lana before the light vanished and my soul pulled back into my body. I stumbled my vision blurred and I fell over backward in a heap. My soul came back... but the cost of reviving someone is still my life, regardless how short a time my soul leaves my body.
I found myself looking down at my own corpse, after awaking Midna had checked her now healed wound. She had spotted me, grabbed hold of me and shook me, and once she realized I was gone started sobbing. This strange spirit world I found myself lingering in seemed to have no audio of the living, my children held their mother trying to comfort her as the others all ran over, due to the fact I'm sure that Midna had been shouting at my empty body. "So now I'm forced to watch my wife mourn me? This world is cruel indeed." I looked away and now noticed a large dark figure standing behind me. "Eep."
"Do not worry, Chris I believe your name was?" said the figure as I looked up to see it's face. I realized it was a Twili and probably several feet taller then me, his hair looked to be the same colour as Midna's and his eye were a deep purple surrounded by the usual faded yellow that all Twili had.
"Uh..." I found my throat feeling dry and at a loss for words, "Y-yes... I am Chris, and who-" I stopped dead as I noticed a pendant around his neck and pointed with my mouth agape.
"It is rude to point." he said and I dropped my hand but was forced to shake my head to remove the shock.
"Forgive me, but if I were to hazard a guess would you be Midna's father?" I said and after a moment he gave a slow nod. The pendant looked exactly the same as the one Midna had given to me, I couldn't help but be intimidated slightly at this man's height though. "Hm your much taller then I imagined."
"No matter, I came here to speak with my daughter but I find you... what happened?" he growled.
"I sacrificed myself to revive your daughter and grandchildren." I said looking him right in the eye but still feeling a twinge of fear at his towering height. It was no help his robes were dark as night and what little of the lines on his body could be seen were a deep blood red.
"Those are not my grandchildren, their blood is tainted, it-"
"Excuse me? In case you didn't know those are my children, if you intend to call them 'tainted' you'd best be ready to either defend yourself or leave." I said and he did not move. "I don't care what any of your kind think, I love Midna and my children and if you would label my children as 'tainted' your no better then that scum ball Ganon. So, if you would kindly get the hell out of here."
"You are quite brave, to speak to me in such a way... I am intrigued however, at how and why you would choose to save my daughter and those-... my... grandchildren... sacrificing yourself in the process." he said putting his hands into opposite sleeves as he stopped himself from calling Aidan and Lana tainted again.
"How... well I used an ability of mine that I thought for a moment I used up when I cleansed my wound, but apparently it only stops me from using it if I actually revive someone dead. As for why... I can't believe you would have to ask, if you had just watched your wife and Midna murdered before your eyes, wouldn't you, if you could, save them even at the cost of your own life?" Midna's father looked away from me and the others now. I noticed my body had been picked up and they were moving toward Ganon. "Well, I certainly thought that when Basha told us that you banished her that it was an innocent mistake and you could not have been as bad as she said... clearly Midna did not get much from you besides your hair colour." I said and turned to follow the small group heading towards Ganon. I looked back to see that Midna's father hadn't moved and was still staring off into the distance as I came up beside Ganon who appeared to still be yelling about vengeance to the sky. Suddenly Midna, who had let Aidan carry me, moved forward and began yelling something back at Ganon, who looked utterly stunned for a moment then his expression changed and he did exactly what looked like laughing until Midna blasted off a few balls of Twili magic on his face and he appeared to be coughing as the smoke cleared from around his face. He said something, I was terrible at reading lips save for a few words, none of which came out of his mouth. Midna's eyes filled with tears and she fell to her knees as Ganon laughed once again. Suddenly Link stepped forward drew the master sword and I winced as he brought it down right into Ganon's forehead. He appeared to scream out in pain but after a moment I couldn't tell if he was still screaming or if his jaw had locked open.
"Is that the man who had killed my daughter?" came Midna's father's voice from behind me.
"Yes, he's filth... I'm glad Link finished him off." I growled and turned to face him. He still refused to look towards me or his daughter. "So, there must be some reason I've met you here right now, after all, the being I absorbed is meant to preserve natural order, so if I was not meant to meet you here and now, then I would have just woken up in a new body with no memory of all this somewhere."
He continued glaring at some invisible object off to his left and away from his daughter whom was still on her knees weeping. "Well then, perhaps there is a reason we have met, but what it is I'm not sure." he said and there was a shaky tone in his voice giving away the fact he was clearly lying.
"Don't lie, you know why don't you?" I growled and his glance moved down to a spot on the ground.
"I do... but even if there is a chance I could bind your soul to your body I do not trust you any more then I did the day I helped you unlock your new powers here!" he said and looked straight at me now.
The look on his face now told me he had just blurted that out without putting it through his 'don't say that out loud' filter. "So... that beast I met when I first returned to the Twilight... the one that messed with my memory, that was you?"
"I... yes, I hoped that if you forgot my daughter and everything you did with her she would grow to hate you in time and you would do the same... there were times I thought it had worked-"
"It didn't though, you can see it now can't you? Your daughter loves me, and I love her back, nothing you do can change that."
"I realize that boy!"
"Don't call me boy!"
"I will-"
"I wouldn't take the help of a bitter old man like you even if you could help me, from what I can see you don't even care how your daughter and grandchildren feel!"
"That's preposterous!"
"Is it?!" I yelled and without a second thought I grabbed his arm and pulled him in front of Midna who had barely managed to get up and was moving forward slowly now. I jumped up onto his back as Midna stopped and fell to her knees again and he mirrored this due to my sudden weight on his back. I grabbed his head and pointed it so he could see the tears streaming down Midna's face. "See that, I... I made her cry... and there's nothing I can do to fix it this time..." I hopped off his back and we moved aside as Lana and Lilith helped Midna up and helped support her as they headed for Castle Town. "Now your telling me you can bind my soul to my body, and I'm telling you if you choose not to, just think of your daughter, I have made her cry before... I hated myself for it, but I always made it right... but only you can do that this time, I leave this decision to you..." I left my mouth hanging open wanting to say more but no words came and I walked off following my empty body still. It turns out my crystals simply damaged the throne room and the floor below it and I watched as everyone helped clean up the rubble so it could actually be rebuilt, all except Midna who was still clutching my corpse and crying. I sighed and watched her, "Your going to dry up like a raisin if you keep crying like that." I said, trying to lighten my own mood a bit but wishing as a spirit I could cry as well.
"Then perhaps we should fix this problem too." came a voice from behind me and I turned astonished to see Midna's father standing over me. It wasn't the simple fact he was here now that shocked me, it was the fact he was smiling.
"You realzied the only way your daughter would be happy is with me then?" I said and he shrugged.
"Well I think she'd find happiness again, but it looked distant..." he paused and his smile grew and he actually laughed lightly. I wasn't sure why but I joined in. "This is the only way I know, and if in death I can do something to make my daughter happy once I will gladly do it. But Chris, you had better take care of her, don't hurt her and keep watch over her, this spell I'm about to use will bind your soul to your body on that condition and when Midna dies, for whatever reason my soul will release and you will die." I nodded.
"You should keep in mind in several years part of me will be leaving this world." I said and he shrugged.
"I will stay with the you that remains here, I care not if it is only part of you as long as my daughter is happy." he said and I smiled at him. "Now then, it's time to put you back... I should mention the process may not affect you, or it may make you feel slightly nauseated." he grabbed my shoulder and I felt my whole spirit lurch and felt as though I was going to be sick as everything suddenly went black.