Chapter Twelve: The Final Battle Part I
Title: LoZ: The Time Keeper
Chapter: 12
Author: Hikari no Vikki
Genre: Romance
Parings: Link x Zelda / OC x Shadow
Disclaimer: I wonder how you write 'I don't own this' in Japanese...
Description: Previously known as Divine Impurity. Following the events of Ocarina of Time, a girl with a legacy she knows nothing about joins the fight against Ganon. She falls in love with the Hero's shadow, and finds herself caught up in a war that seems impossible to win.
Author's Notes-
Final battle time! Yes! Sorry I have to break it up like this but it would be so long if I kept it in one chapter. You'll see why. ;) Enjoy!
When Victoria awoke the next morning, she saw that Shadow was still with her, his hands tied behind his head at the base of his neck, his eyes wide and his thoughts racing.
"I thought we agreed not to brush our thoughts against one another?" He said with a wry smile. She shrugged. "Perhaps I should take that back. It's so very hard not to, you know." Victoria used the sleeve of her nightgown to wipe the rest of the sleep from her eyes. "So, today's the day, huh?" Shadow nodded. "Yes. But, I can't help but feel so… purposeless. I don't know why, either. It's strange." Victoria thought for a moment. Try as she might, she couldn't think of an answer.
As she dressed in her parents' bathroom, slipping into her freshly clean Sheikah garb, her thoughts began to stir.
She felt uneasy as well, if not for the same reasons as Shadow did. As she wrapped her hands in the traditional bandages and bound her hair into a ponytail, she began to realize exactly why they felt this way. "This was supposed to be Link's fight. But now it's ours, too. We have a piece in all of it, now." Her hands gripped the sink as she spoke her thoughts aloud. "Ganon killed my mother, and before that, Shadow's parents. He raised him, even. That has to be why." Her eyebrows pinched together as she stared at the upper left corner of the sink with fierce concentration.
Shadow knocked on the door and slipped his head in. "Beg your pardon, but what has to be why?" She looked up sharply, and then back at him. "Um, I meant why we feel so uneasy. If Ganon hadn't deliberately got himself involved in our lives, this would be Link's fight and Link's fight alone. But he did, and so we have a stake in this." She turned back to the mirror.
"But, if we feel this way, I wonder how Link is holding up?"
When they were fully dressed, they walked out to find Link cooking Cucco eggs on the stove, the pan sizzling. "How do you like your eggs?" he asked cheerily. Shadow was speechless, but Victoria managed to stop gaping like a fish fast enough to spurt out, "Scrambled. The both of us." Link nodded and went back to work. They went to sit at the table in the parlor until Link came in with three plates, two scrambled, and his still whole.
"Stop looking at me like that!" he said as they stared at him in disbelief, "I was gonna go stir-crazy if I didn't do something!" Now that, Victoria could buy. "I guess I can see that. So to the castle, then?" Link shook his head. "No, something's compelling me to head for the Temple first. We'll go there."
After they ate, that's where they went.
Victoria could feel the power in the steps as she ran upwards, an ancient powerful force much like the spirit of the well but was much more good and wise. And as she passed through the doors, she felt the familiar lingering magic of her mother, remnants of the magic that kept her heart and soul bound in the Sacred Realm for seven years.
Link led the trio, his footsteps slow and echoing; and Victoria followed with Shadow at her side. When they reached the center of the stone pedestal, Victoria caught Sheik's aura quicker than any of the others and turned around. Noticing her moment, so did Link and Shadow. When he saw Sheik standing there with his arms folded, Link gently pushed through to see him.
"Sheik?" he called. "I've been waiting for you, Link," Sheik said softly, his one visible eye gloomy and downcast. Victoria, confused, set to digging deeper for the truth of the imbalance of his energies. "Link, the Hero of Time…" he continued, "You have over come many hardships and awakened six Sages, and now you have a final challenge; a showdown with Ganondorf, the King of Evil."
The single ruby orb flashed up to meet with Link's eyes. Sheik uncrossed his arms and Victoria's eyes widened as a particular thought occurred to her. He was still leaning against the entranceway, but kept speaking to Link. "Before that, however, I have things I want to tell only to you." Shadow frowned.
"Do we have to leave?" The Sheikah shook his head. "No. You need to hear this too. Please listen." Victoria's eyes came back into focus just a little. "We're listening." Sheik nodded and continued. "Another unknown legend of the triforce passed by the shadow folk, the Sheikah, is that if one were to seek the sacred golden triangle, the resting place is the Sacred Realm. The Sacred Realm is a mirror that reflects what is in the heart."
Victoria closed her eyes and dug deep in her memory. She'd heard this story before, from her father. When she was little he'd tell her all kinds of stories and show her how to fight… so he was teaching her to be a proper Sheikah after all.
Now Sheik walked forward a little, folding his arms again.
"If the heart one of who enters it is an evil heart; the Realm will become full of evil. If pure, the Realm will become paradise. The Triforce, the sacred triangle, is a balance that weighs the three forces: Power, Wisdom, and Courage. If the heart of the one who holds the sacred triangle had all three forces in balance, that one will gain the True Force to govern all."
"And if one with a heart without balance touches it, they will separate." Victoria said softly, "Am I correct?" Sheik, who seemed off balance for the first time, nodded, and regained his composure. "And so the one thing that person most believes in will stay with them, and the other two will separate, residing in two others chosen by destiny. If one seeks to gather them all, they must seek out these two, for they will be marked by the Triforce on the back of their hands."
Sheik nodded. "I see you know your history." He cleared his throat. "But seven years ago, Ganondorf, the King of Thieves, used the door you opened in the Temple of Time and entered the Sacred Realm. But, when he laid his hands on the Triforce, the legend came true."
"And this is good or bad?" Victoria growled. "Shadow! Be more polite!" He backed off, holding up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "I get it, I get it!"
Victoria could almost see Sheik's light, bitter smile as she turned back to look at him. "The Triforce separated into three parts, and only the Triforce of Power remained in Ganondorf's hands. The strength of the Triforce of Power enabled him to become a mighty, evil king, but his dark ambitions were not satisfied."
Shadow nodded. "He wanted the whole thing from the beginning. But he needed to pull the plug on the foretold Hero that would come to defend it, so he attacked the village a seer said the Hero was to be born in and got me instead." Sheik scoffed. "Really? I suppose that would fit.
"So to gain complete mastery of the world, at least our world if not worlds beyond ours, Ganondorf started looking for those chosen by destiny." Shadow sighed and folded his arms, looking at the ground. "That must've been about the time he discovered he had been raising his downfall instead of the Hero he'd been looking for from roughly ten years before."
Sheik's invisible smile widened, and was no longer bitter.
"Yes, but the Deceiver was always foretold to be a close relative of the Hero. For you see, the one who wields the Triforce of Courage is you, Link!"
Link took a step back. He didn't gasp, but it was like he couldn't believe it. "Wait a minute, the Deceiver?" Shadow asked skeptically, "What do you mean by that?" Sheik's single visible eye closed. "The Deceiver was to be the protector of the Hero in case he was unable to defend himself. Those that sought to cause him harm before he had a chance to prove himself would see the Deceiver and go for him instead. You, Shadow, are the Deceiver. But once Ganondorf realized he'd gotten you instead, your title changed. You became the Protector, as you were always meant to be, but I am terribly sorry it had to come to this."
Shadow blinked, immensely baffled. "And you said the Hero and the Protector were closely related?" Sheik opened his eye. "Yes. Though as of how closely… I cannot say. But the last one, the Triforce of Wisdom, resides in the seventh sage, destined to be the leader of them all."
Suddenly, a light began the shine from Sheik, and Victoria could feel the moon energy overflow the enigma that was Sheik. "Sheik… Sheik is nothing but a false consciousness, a disguise… why did I not see this before?" It was hardly more than a whisper, so neither Link nor Shadow heard. All they could see was the transformation and the bright insignia of the Triforce of Wisdom glowing on the right hand of the figure before them.
Then the light flashed dramatically and they covered their eyes to avoid being blinded. When it disappeared, Link and Shadow gasped, and Victoria stepped forward, her gaze transfixed.
"You…" was all she said.
"It is I, the Princess of Hyrule. Zelda." Victoria was startled, but it was a quiet realization. "Zelda, do you… do you know?" Zelda's calm blue eyes met her wide intense stare. "Know? Know what? I know all I need to know." Victoria sighed. "I suppose I'll tell you later. Now is not the time for such confessions." Zelda nodded. "A wise decision.
"I apologize for meeting you in disguise, but it was necessary to hide from the King of Evil. Please forgive me…" Victoria nodded. "We understand. I forgive you." Shadow did the same. "And I." Link was silent, with his face pinched together as he tried to sort out everything, but he nodded sharply so that she knew he'd forgiven her.
She walked closer to Link, brushing past Victoria and standing in front of Link. He looked up from his feet and into her eyes, and Victoria could only watch as the scene unfolded. "On that day seven years ago, Hyrule Castle was attacked. I saw you as I was escaping from the castle with my attendant, Impa. I thought…" here she broke down a little as she attempted to keep her composure, "I thought I should entrust the Ocarina to you… I thought that would be our best chance…" She bowed her head and bit her lip, biting back tears. And Link, in a sudden act he couldn't control, put his arms around her, bringing her close, her hands pressed against his chest. Her head rested on his right shoulder.
Once she could speak, she drew back a little, still in his embrace, and did so.
"As long as you held the Ocarina in your possession, I thought Ganondorf could never enter the Sacred Realm. But, something I never expected happened." Link laughed shakily. "But Zelda, we were kids… what was there to expect?" She gave a short, bitter laugh. "Exactly. After you opened the Door of Time, the Master Sword sealed you away in the Sacred Realm.
"Your spirit remained in the Sacred Realm… and then the Triforce fell into Ganondorf's hands. He went on to invade the Sacred Realm… Ganondorf had become the Evil King, and the Sacred Realm became a world of evil. What's left of it is what we have managed to save and keep alive all this time. All of this is an unfortunate coincidence."
Victoria felt the need to disagree. "No. I believe this path was fate, if not destiny. Your paths were always meant to run along this course, mine only happened upon it. What has happened here was meant to be. It would be a shame to reverse it." She didn't even voice her worries about her own fate.
Zelda finally broke off from Link's embrace. Link suddenly felt cold, as if Zelda had taken all of the warmth he had. "Perhaps, perhaps not." She sighed and looked into Link's eyes once more. "I passed myself off as a Sheikah boy and hoped that you would return. I waited for seven long years…" But then, the miraculous happened; she smiled.
"But now you're back!" she cried, grasping the shoulders of a surprised Link. "Now the dark age ruled by Ganondorf the Evil King will end!" She un-grasped his shoulders and looked back at Shadow and Victoria respectively. "The six Sages will open the sealed door and lure Ganondorf back into the Sacred Realm. I will then seal the door to the Sacred Realm from this world."
Victoria seemed edgy. "But that sounds like a temporary fix. Even the Door of Time can't keep him in… he'll find a way out." Zelda shook her head. "No, that won't happen. Once the Evil King is sealed, he'll vanish!" Victoria was still unconvinced. Zelda turned back to Link.
"Link… in order to do this, I need your courage again. Please protect me while I do my part. And here is a weapon given only to the chosen ones… the sacred Arrow of Light!"
She held up her hands dramatically, light bursting forth from an unknown source. In an instant, there was a second flash, and the magic of the light arrows flowed through Link's veins. "Thank you," he said softly, his eyes betraying what he truly wanted to say. She smiled, but that smile was short lived; a rumbling came out of nowhere that none of the heroes could interpret as a good thing.
"That rumbling… it can't be?" Zelda gasped. Suddenly a pink crystal formed around the Princess, and she banged on the glass from the inside. Link, in a panic, did the same to the outside but somehow he knew it was no use, and who was causing it.
"Princess Zelda, you foolish traitor," boomed Ganondorf's voice, "I commend you for avoiding my pursuit for seven long years. But you let your guard down. I knew you would appear if I let this kid wander around!" Link snarled. "Kid? Just who do you think you are?" Ganondorf ignored him. Zelda was knocked unconscious by an invisible power and his attentions were turned back to her. Victoria and Shadow were powerless to do anything.
"My only mistake was to underestimate the power of this kid… no, the power of the Triforce of Courage! Now that I have the Triforce of Wisdom, once I have Courage, I can truly be ruler of the world!" There was a great cackling and then he spoke again as the crystal floated higher and began to disappear. "If you want to rescue Zelda, come to my castle!"
And then the world fell silent.
"Link?" Victoria asked, hesitant. Link's head snapped up, his eyes blazing. But strangely enough they were not blazing with anger. It was passion that burned with icy hot flames in his blue orbs.
"Come on, let's go. Now." The two nodded. They wouldn't miss it for the world.
.oOo.
Shadow stood once again at the foot of Ganon's Castle, the wind kicking up the dust around his feet. But this time it was different.
There actually seemed to be daylight filtering through the clouds behind him, the sun's light breaking through to darkness of the looming citadel before them. It curled around their heels, spurring the trio on with its warmth, whispering good, sweet things with its rays.
"The light is beginning to prevail," Victoria observed, "It's a good sign."
Shadow looked over the wide gap between where they were standing to the crumbling steps of the castle. "Good sign or not, we need a way over there. If I remember correctly, there used to be a rainbow bridge here before I left, but Ganondorf must've destroyed sometime after."
Link looked up at the sky. "Can we get a little help down here, huh?" There was some girlish laughter, and Nabooru's voice boomed out of nowhere. "Sure, kid! We'll help ya!" There was a crash from somewhere. "Uh, sorry guys, we gotta do this real quick. Rauru's being a pain." Shadow raised an eyebrow while Link and Victoria sniggered. There was an even louder crash, and Rauru's voice boomed, "Forgive us for the technical difficulties. Now, I'm assuming you can hear me?"
"Yeah, loud and clear," barked Shadow skeptically.
"We six will repair the bridge that used to be here so you three can enter the castle." Shadow nodded. "Gotcha."
"Oh, and the castle's keep is being guarded by six elemental barriers. Bring down those six barriers and save Princess Zelda!" Shadow shook his head. "Sounds like Ganondorf's done some renovations. I wonder where he put the servants… deeper underground?" Victoria shook his shoulder, pointing to the glowing strip of light. "Look!"
Rainbow colored balls of light began raining down from the sky and began to solidify the bridge, and the rainbow bridge became one once more! "Now that takes style," he said, smiling. Victoria flicked him in between the eyes, to which he recoiled and rubbed his nose. "Ouch!"
"Come on, let's go already!" Link called, already running across the bridge. "Hey," Shadow exclaimed, "wait for us!" Victoria laughed, sprinting off, "Us? Don't you mean you?" Shadow ran, calling after them. "But you have to watch out for the-"
BOOM.
He winced. "Beamos statues."
He entered to find a soot covered Link and a very surprised looking Victoria. Link pointed to Victoria, some soot shaking off onto the carpet. "Her fault." Her right hand was crackling with magic, which she hid behind her back. "Uh, oops?" Shadow shook his head. "We don't have time for 'oops' remember?" She nodded, looking sheepish. "Yeah, yeah…"
Link dusted himself off as best he could and they entered the next area.
"Wow," Shadow whistled, "he did some renovations all right." He scratched his head. "It's so completely different… how, in the world?" While Shadow was debating with himself how he could've rearranged the inside of the castle so completely and quickly in a matter of days, Victoria surveyed the room.
"Six doors, three of us, so two doors per person? I can take Shadow and Fire, What are you capable of taking?" Link shrugged. "I'm taking Forest, first. I'll decide next if I come out alive." Shadow looked over at the two of them. "I'll take Spirit and Water." Victoria shrugged. "Looks like you're stuck with Light."
Link looked over the room. "Let's get going then… oh, wait!" He took out the light arrow magic and gave three arrows to each of them. "Something tells me you'll be needing these. Good luck."
Shadow dove off for the Spirit Room while Link dove for the Forest. Victoria made a beeline for the Shadow Room and quickly found herself in the middle of a seemingly floating platform. "This room… it's made like the Shadow Temple, right?" she asked herself. "So a Sheikah should be able to do this easy!"
She started looking over the room for any hidden steps in the darkness, but they were father onward. "Damn. I guess I could jump across, but then I have a chance of falling…" Something brown caught the corner of her eye and when she realized what it was, she smiled. "A torch! That must be the key!" She aimed her stiff fingers towards the torch, gathering enough magical energy to shoot a blast of fire magic that caught the wood and revealed the steps she needed.
She slashed through the green bubble floating around, and soaked herself in Like Like goo. "Ugh, now I know how those guys felt. This is positively disgusting!" She shook it off with a quick spell and searched for the next clue. She found the next torch way off to her left, but managed a good shot, jumping across to the second large platform. She spotted a switch down some invisible stairs, so she jumped on it and heard a THUMP! back on the platform. When she climbed up, there was a huge chest, which she opened.
"The Golden Gauntlets… Link will be wanting these…"
She looked up at the door. "Now if I can just get over there…" The door wasn't unlocked yet, though. "That switch over there?" There was a rusty switch that could only be pressed in with the Megaton Hammer.
"But I don't have it with me…" Then she looked at the gauntlets. "Hmm. I wonder…" She slipped them on – a perfect fit – and walked briskly along the narrow invisible pathway. "I hope this works," she said to herself. And then she punched in the switch, the gears somehow making a clicking sound and the door opening. She smiled. "I love magic."
The platform was close enough that she could high jump safely to the last platform. When she entered the door, though, she hadn't expected to see a ball suspended in a purple glowing case. "Uh… wow. What do we do here?" Then she remembered the arrows Link had given her.
"That's what we have to do… okay." She fit the arrow into its notch, and let it fly. The ball engulfed the purple case in a flash of light, and Impa appeared, floating and shining brightly.
"The Shadow Barrier is disabled! Please save the Princess!"
And in a flash of purple light she was back at the beginning of the Shadow Room's door. "Whoa. Are they all like that?"
"Okay, that's it, I officially declare those spike traps menaces to everyone!" "Namely you, though." Shadow pouted, growling. "And being transported like that… that was disorienting. Hey, love, you all right?" She blinked. "Uh, yeah. Why?" Link shook his head. "Find anything I might need? Because I can't move the thing in front of the Light Room with my Silver Gauntlets."
"Oh! Here." She handed him the Golden Gauntlets. "But I have a feeling I'll need them when I go into the Fire Room so I want them back. After that you can have them though."
He nodded. "So what did you do in there?" She shrugged. "Jumped around, slashed a Green Bubble into oblivion, and got soaked in Like Like goo. Now I know what it feels like to you guys; it's disgusting!" Shadow laughed. "I feel you, love, I really do." She shook her head. They heard a loud crash from the other side of the room, but it had only been Link pulling the big stone out of the ground and hurtling it towards the barrier.
"Here you go." She blinked. "Wow, that was fast. Shadow, you don't mind me borrowing your Longshot do you?" He shook his head. "Whatever you need, love. Just bring it back in one piece, all right?" He winked.
And so he headed for the Water Room, and Link went into the Light Room. The only room left now was the Fire Room.
"Ah, feels perfect. A little muggy, but just like the volcano."
She looked over the room, which was long, red, and full of lava. "Okay, a little bit of lava jumping couldn't hurt, huh?" She got down on her hands and knees and slowly reached out to test the red liquid, but her hand just passed right through it. "What?" She swiped her hand through it again, and studied it. Then she stood up. "It's… a spell of some sort. Has to be. That's not real lava. So… why is it so hot? Hmm."
She looked across the room, spotting the silver rupees around the area. "Guess I have to retrieve those. Well, they're not getting collected with me standing here." She ran forward with and spotted a rupee on a platform to her left with a spinning line of fire. She smiled. "I'm looking forward to that one."
She looked to her right where, on a brown platform, sitting in plain sight, was a rupee. She simply reached over and snatched it. "Are they all so easy?" Then she strolled around the platform to the rupee with the spinning fire. She deposited it quickly and realigned herself with the main path soon after. Walking forward she noticed the other rupees were a bit too far out of her reach, but she also spotted a rather large stone column.
"I wonder…" She slipped on the Golden Gauntlets and grit her teeth, digging in for her elvish strength. It turned out, however, that she didn't need it, and she chucked the column clear across the room into the nonexistent lava. She turned around and puzzled over it for a moment before turning back around to see she'd uncovered a silver rupee.
"I guess those extra senses kinda pay off…" She slipped off the gauntlets and ran to collect the last rupees. She high jumped across the platforms over to a silver rupee and a Torch Slug, which she quickly blasted with a rather weak ice attack, but killed it anyway.
"Haaa," she sighed, "I need to get better at using other attacks. My fire attacks won't do much if I keep on like this…" She collected the rupee and jumped across the part of the column that stuck out of the 'lava' and onto the last and final rupee. But then there was a rumbling sound from beneath and she found it was the platform; sinking.
"Damn!" She looked quickly around for anything she could use to escape, and she saw the edge of the column just in time. Before the platform disappeared under her feet, she hung onto it, clinging for dear life.
"I hate these platforms," she muttered, pushing herself back up.
She quickly ran to the nearest platform to the door and shot the Longshot to safety, glad to be out of the strange room.
And then she realized she was in another room similar to the one from before with a ball cover in a casing. She twirled her bow around before notching in the arrow and shooting it towards the ball, which grew larger and burst in a shower of light. Then Darunia appeared to her.
"The Fire Barrier is dispelled! Hurry up, Little Sister!" He winked at her before disappearing and sending her back to the entrance,
"Wow," she said, shaking her head to regain balance, "that's still really disorienting." Then she looked up and saw the beams of light beginning to fade and the barrier disappear. "Yes! We've done it!"
She ran over to where Shadow and Link were standing. "I had to be pretty inventive the last part of the room; I didn't have a mirror or any fire arrows. So I just used the extra light arrow and shot it. Apparently I got lucky." Link blanched. "Sorry. I should've known about the mirror." Shadow patted him on the back, smiling apologetically. "It's okay. You couldn't have known about the fire arrow, though." Link gave in and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Victoria looked down into the darkness. She briefly wondered if they were really ready for this, but pushed the thought aside before she went too far down that road. "Well, come on, let's go!"
Link and Shadow nodded. "Right!"
So they did.
The first room was nothing but bats, fire bats to be precise, but Victoria chose that moment to practice her ice spells, and shot of five of them in quick succession. She nodded in triumph as they all fell to the ground, shattering into tiny bits of blue-black smoke.
"Yes! I am getting better!" Shadow smiled. "On your own?" She nodded excitedly as they proceeded forward.
Link stepped backwards as two Lizafols dropped from the ceiling in the next room. "Hmm," Victoria observed, "seems like he really doesn't want visitors." Shadow looked up at the ceiling. "What I want to know is how they got up there in the first place."
"Hey!" Link snapped, "Keep fighting, less jabbering!" Shadow straightened up stiffly and mock saluted him. "Yes, sir!" Victoria whacked him on the back of his head and proceeded to fire off more ice spells and an occasional thunder spell for good measure. Shadow managed to kill off the weaker of the two, and Link finished the remaining one sometime right after. They exited the room and paused when they heard a strange sound that made Shadow's spine crawl.
"It's his organ… he must be… playing it while he's waiting."
Shadow's eyes looked far-off and distant. "Shadow?" Victoria whispered, grasping his right arm and shaking him gently, "We have to keep moving." He blinked, and they instantly came back into focus. He looked to her and nodded. "Right."
The next room had a chest surrounded in a pillar of fire, which was hot even to Victoria's touch. "Must be a really powerful charm otherwise, hey, look out!"
Two Stalfos dropped down from the ceiling and began fighting them. One had caught Victoria off guard, and cornered her, but Shadow slashed through it, killing it, and brought her close. "Don't do that again…" he whispered to her. She nodded, pulling back. "I'll try."
Link destroyed the other one quickly with little trouble.
"It's a big key chest," Link said softly, "Victoria, why don't you take it? I think you should." Shadow raised an eyebrow. "What, you don't trust yourself?" Link shook his head. "No, that's not it. I just feel she should have it for some reason." She shrugged,
"Well, for whatever reason, I've got it so let's move on."
The trio exited the door and climbed several more steps to the next room.
"The music, it's getting louder," Shadow observed. "I know," Victoria answered, "we must be getting close."
In the next room there were two Iron Knuckles standing in the middle of the room, but they weren't moving. "I'm gonna scout ahead, okay?" Victoria said, running beyond them and headed for the door, once she got to it, some bars appeared behind her, and the Iron Knuckles came to life!
"No!" she cried, clinging to the bars. "Shadow!"
He called to her. "You go on! We'll catch up, I promise!" Reluctant to leave but knowing she had to make sure the rest of the way was clear, she ran ahead.
She ran up several stairs, through many, many doors, and up a giant, seemingly endless stairway, up to the final door. The music was loudest here, so she knew Ganondorf was on the other side. Something compelled her to press forward, and she would never know what exactly had made her go, why she didn't wait, but she pressed her hands against the door, and entered.
The room was huge.
The music was hauntingly beautiful. She wanted to speak, to get his attention, but something caught in her throat and made speech impossible. She walked a couple steps, the echoes making him twitch. He stopped playing. When he turned around to meet her eyes, she didn't flinch or gasp.
She studied the man, with his beady hawk eyes, his wild, receding, orange-red hair, and broad, well-built frame, and she wondered. How had her mother stood up to this man? Granted, he hadn't been so formidable then; just a thief and a killer – hardly something worth cowering at, especially when she had been so powerful at the time.
And he studied her right back.
He studied her wide, curious eyes, the blood red pools that were the sign of the Sheikah. How much she looked like the sorceress that had cursed Shadow so very many years ago. The one he'd killed.
"You…" she finally spoke, "You killed my mother."
He laughed, a short, loud bark. "You can't be the sorceress's kid from seven years ago can you?" He smirked. "If you are you've grown up into a pretty little thing. Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" She sneered. "I saw you as you were chasing the Princess that night, do you remember?" His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Really? The Princess…"
After some thought, a memory came to him. "No way you were that runt that kid hero was protecting? That was you? Ha! You've grown up some, child, but soon, that won't matter. Unless… you'd like to stand by my side and be my pet? I'd treat you well if you obey me properly, you know, not unlike the little ingrate you're with now."
Her growl turned into a sneer. "Why you! Shadow's not an ingrate! You're just mad that the kid you kidnapped eighteen years ago wasn't the one you wanted!"
Here Ganondorf stood up and shot a wave of darkness towards her, crippling her and sending her backwards. "Silence, pet! You really should've learned to obey your elders like I told you to!" She got up, shaking off the darkness. "Really? So you do remember!" She jumped forward, summoning her staff and blasting him with fire. Most of it he sent away with a break shield, which threw her back, though she managed to land on her feet. The rest barely even damaged him.
"What? At point-blank range you should have been obliterated!"
Ganondorf laughed again, this time long and hard. When he stopped he looked down at her. "Really, now? You underestimate me, girl!" Suddenly, the door behind them opened and a familiar figure stepped through. Victoria whipped around to her right, most of her body still facing Ganondorf.
"Shadow?"
.oOo.
He'd just defeated the black Iron Knuckle when the bars opened again. Shadow made a bolt for them, but stopped.
"Link!" Link looked back, still battling his own Iron Knuckle. "No, you go! Victoria might need you! I'm almost done, now go!"
Shadow didn't hesitate.
Shadow ran and ran up the same steps and doorways, and the never-ending staircase. The one thing he realized before arriving at the final door was that there hadn't been any music the whole time. None.
That was a bad sign.
So he entered.
.oOo.
"Shadow?"
Shadow stood at the entranceway looking around the room in wonder and fear. When he heard his name being called, his head snapped up, and he saw Victoria standing exactly in the middle between where he and Ganondorf were standing.
She was wielding her staff in her right hand, and her bow and arrows were strapped to her back, some of the arrows scattered across the room.
"Victoria…" he whispered softly. He seemed a little out of place.
"Well, well," Ganondorf said, sneering, "so the prodigal son returns. Have you come to apologize for your failures and join me?" Shadow finally returned to reality and his anger snapped. "Son? I'm not your son! I'm just the kid whose parents you murdered and the raised as your own because you thought you were raising the Hero!"
Ganondorf smiled evilly, but did not move, even though Shadow did. Shadow moved to Victoria's side and stayed there, Victoria turned to watch him with an expression half of fear for him, and half skepticism.
"That is true, I did murder your parents, but they were pompous nobles anyhow; you would've been pampered beyond your wildest dreams… in my eyes; I did you a favor, boy!" He was now grinning wickedly, a touch of insanity lingering in his wild eyes. "Nobility?" Shadow asked no one in particular, "My blood is… noble?" Ganondorf huffed.
"Not anymore. Raising you has made you a right and proper warrior. You know, that friend of yours that you travel with, the Hero? He's nobility too. I should've killed that bitch that got away when I had the chance… otherwise I would've gotten you both. What a score that would've been!"
Shadow paused, looking down on the ground with a possible realization.
"Was she… my mother? The one that got away?" Ganondorf laughed, another short bark. "Don't make me laugh; goddesses, no! But, what does it matter? I'm about to kill you anyway…"
Shadow growled. "Not if I have a say in it!"
Ganondorf grinned. "Which, you don't. Observe." A pink crystal appeared, the very same crystal Zelda was held in. It rose above them, poised high against the ceiling. "You have no power here, boy!" He sent a wave of corrupted darkness towards Victoria, which Shadow jumped in front of, holding it back as much as possible with his own brand of shadows.
"I do… so… have power," he croaked, blood beginning to fall from his nose, the shaking and jerking and the strain of keeping up the stream of energy was just too much and then: he snapped.
The power exploded and rendered him almost unconscious, blood still dripping from his nostrils. Victoria knelt down beside him to check if he was still alive, and upon finding that he was, looked up, growling. "You monster!" Ganondorf laughed. "Why, thank you young lady. That's what I am after all."
She snarled. "No… you're not a monster, Ganondorf," she said as she stood up, "you're just a scared, purposeless puppet of destiny that needs to wake up and smell his defeat already!" She clenched her right fist in a motion of finality. "Because we're just the welcome wagon! The real fight hasn't even started!" Ganondorf looked shocked for a moment, but then closed his eyes.
"Girl… that was a very moving speech. But…"
He looked up, his eyes open again. "…if what you say is true, then I don't need you here, nagging and fighting with your purposeless magic." He practically spat out the word.
"You've outlived my interest in you, girl. Time to join your mother, love."
He raised his right arm and summoned a great ball of darkness. Victoria stepped back. "No…" she said, shaking her head, taking another step back.
"No!"
Without another word, Ganondorf shot off a wave off power, and the ball of darkness hit her square in the chest, her world going black.
I'm so sorry, this just seemed the perfect time to put in an ending and it's already up to 20 pages in Word, so, yeah. Don't you worry, I'm too worked up to stop now! I'll even try to update before Saturday, how's that?
Let me know if there's anything that confuses you or that I need to explain, okies?