Chapter 50: Going back
Link and the Seven Sages were disturbed at the fact that they were facing dark versions of themselves, each bearing the ominous dark gray to black colors all over the hair, skin, body and clothes, with the only thing being colored were those piercing, crimson red eyes.
"This is far enough, kid. You've done well in penetrating the outer section of the fort, but this is what they say, end of the line." Dark Link said, approaching Link, who in turn approached him.
"For you, yes." Link said, once more battle-hardened.
"Please, your condition is wavering to say the least. I'm surprised you can even STAND with all those wounds. Just hold still right there, I'll be nice enough to make it quick and painless." Dark Link said, still approaching.
Surprisingly, Link stood indeed still, leaving the good and evil Sages in wonder what he was doing. Dark Link also found it odd that Link was actually listening and just stood there, silent and not afraid.
'Why is he not cowering in fear? Doesn't he fear death?' Dark Link wondered as he raised his blade, but remaining weary of Link's movements.
Link on the other hand was indeed sweating, but ignored the pain as he continued to watch Dark Link.
'That's it… come closer, you twit; I'll show you!' Link thought with focus.
"Link? What in Hyrule do you think you're doing?" Saria said, only to receive no answer.
Soon enough, Dark Link stood in front of Link himself, the two staring in each other's eyes, studying each other. A sudden wave of deadly silence fell in the room, enough to make a heart beat itself out of control in anticipation or aggravation…
"A brave kid you are, showing no fear in the face of death… I shall remember this…" Dark Link said, raising his blade…
…only for the group to hear the sound of steel meeting flash… and seeing Dark Link in sudden pain!
The entire group watched as Link pulled his Golden Master Sword from Dark Link's body, before kicking him backwards, sending him backwards on the ground. Link didn't stop however as he charged onward, jumping in the air before thrusting his sword down to perform the ending blow… only for Dark Link to roll out of the way, making Link miss his target, but allowing Link to regain focus as Dark Link had difficulties with getting up… only to hear him chuckling darkly.
"H… heh, heh, heh… you certainly got me good, kid. I didn't expect you to pull something like this off… possibly the best shot you had against me." Dark Link said, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Hmph. I should have known; Ganondorf and Majora must have had something to do with this." Link said.
"They had indeed, they created me and the counterparts of your friends…" Dark Link said.
"That I know, the Stalfos Commander told us this." Link said.
"I see," Dark Link said, drawing his own sword and shield, "this is going to be an interesting fight after all."
"I take it you want this fight to be just between you and me, huh?"
"Exactly; my friends would like to go one on one with their counterparts… your friends."
"I have to give you this; you do know how to play fair in this."
"Of course, why else would I go after the others if my only target is you?"
"I don't know, perhaps using them as a leverage to lure me out?" Link replied sarcastically.
"Oh please, don't give me that crap; with how you have been able to stay together, it's hard to find you without any of your buddies around."
"Hm. You got me there."
"Now, are we done talking?"
"As for me, yes. Let's do this then." Link said, getting in his battle stance, while the Sages got ready to fight as well.
The fight begun less than a second later, with each of the heroes moving to attack their dark counterparts. With almost each of the group, the fight as an actual sword fight individually, the only exception being Darunia, whom was engaging his Dark self in an all-out fist fight. At first, the fight seemed to go equally, with metal going against metal, scraping noises all over, but this was partially a ruse on part of the heroes… this was proven as Link was at first going his usual routine to see if this Dark Link still fought the same, which he so far did, which brought a smirk to Link's face.
"What are you smirking at, boy? You caught me by surprise with that one sneaky move, but truly you can't beat me now…" Dark Link said.
Link merely responded by first thrusting his shield forward, clocking Dark Link full in the face to daze him.
"I've learned some new stuff." Link retorted as he rolled around Dark Link to get behind him and delivering a Back Slash against him, causing Dark Link to grunt in pain as it struck him.
In retaliation, Dark Link moved in to strike back, but Link used his shield to block and his own sword to parry the strikes with the grace of a well-trained knight, making use of his full body to avoid as many strikes as possible and using his shield as a weapon, at a few occasions even striking his dark self with the hilt of his Sword.
Zelda was fighting with a similar grace, although adding a bit of the Sheikah fighting style fitting for children as her attendant Impa had been teaching her some form of self-defense in secret, as well as the knowledge she had obtained during her time when she was disguised as Sheik in the Future That Almost Was. This, in combination with the moves she learned in the Swordsman's School, allowed the princess to maintain a bit of leverage against her dark self, making use of her agility to avoid incoming swings, while using the momentum in her attempts to land in blows of her own. Saria was in the meantime studying her own dark self, deciding not to resort to her Sage powers just yet.
"I do have something to tell you…" Dark Saria then said as she and Saria were parrying each other's strikes.
"And what would that be?" Saria asked, narrowing her eyes.
"You remember Sakon the thief?"
"Yes, that prancing fool… what about him?"
"Well, I made sure you won't be bothered by him anymore…"
"What? You mean that…?!"
"Yes, I killed him. Consider it a 'favor' of some sort."
"A favor?"
"Yes, since the one who will end your miserable life will be ME! Not such a prancing idiot!" Dark Saria said, intending to strike down the stunned Saria, only for the Forest Sage to recover and block the incoming strike with her shield.
In retaliation, Saria moved in to stab at her dark self, only to have that blocked by her dark self's shield, creating a stalemate.
Nabooru was having it quite tough against her dark self, whose smirk that was plastered on her face would make one believe she could devour the Gerudo leader's soul at any given time. Nabooru wasn't stupid however and remained focused, yet she wasn't exactly half-hardened in her moves… almost timid even. But with the way Nabooru had narrowed her eyes made it apparent that she was trying to feel her dark self out, as if trying to find a pattern between her attacks. She decided to hold off on the use of her Sword Spark skill, deciding to use it as a last resort and in case she was sure her counterpart didn't have that particular skill. Ruto on her turn was keeping a close watch on her dark self, who was circling around her in an attempt to find an opening, while Ruto kept a close watch on her. She could understand why Link and Zelda both have gone more on the offensive; they had faced their dark selves before and knew what they were capable of. But since she had never fought someone like that, she was much more cautious and test if what Link had remembered in previous encounters of his dark self also applied to her in terms of moves, repetition and specific openings or weaknesses she could exploit in this battle.
Impa was also being very careful, seeing as her dark self seemed to exploit the shadows a lot more than Impa did, the darker areas making her practically invisible. Hence Impa was moving closer into the illuminated center of the room, while using her Shadow clones as a plan of her own, intending to lure her dark self out in the open, illuminated area and strike her from behind using the clones. Rauru on the other hand seemed to be in quite a struggle himself, finding his own magic attacks cancelled out by Dark Rauru, even though neither of them was having the advantage at this time. Darunia however was getting tired of his dark self and promptly charged at him, with Dark Darunia returning the same gesture, resulting in the two Gorons getting embroiled in a rapid-fire fisticuffs contest, where the furiously attempted to pound the other's skull in, yet finding themselves meeting the opponent's fist halfway, leading to nothing. Whenever Dark Darunia managed to clock Darunia in the face with a strike that broke through his defenses, Darunia recovered quickly and delivered a punch in the face back at his dark self, resulting in a similar stalemate.
Both Link and Dark Link showed signs of frustration as neither of them had the advantage, but Link seemed more focused despite sporting some fresh new wounds here and there, while Dark Link was having difficulties with standing straight due to the injury Link gave him while delivering the Mortal Blow.
"Why won't you die?!" Dark Link snarled.
"Because destiny has chosen me as one of those who will bring salvation to Hyrule and Termina. I intend to fulfill that destiny by defeating Ganondorf and Majora!" Link retorted.
"Like hell you will! Ganondorf and Majora will gladly kill you again! There's no way you will have a chance against them now!" Dark Link said, kicking Link away, getting ready to rush at him to end the fight.
Link however recovered, and got ready as he promptly discarded his shield for the time being, gripping his sword with two hands!
"Oh yeah?! We'll see about that!" Link said, as he rushed straight towards Dark Link, who was already charging at him, sword held back as he was now faster due to not carrying the shield with him.
At the same time, Dark Saria caught Saria in a vine-trap, almost similar to the one she used on Sakon, but she soon found her own movements restrained due to Saria deploying a vine trap of her own, pulling her arms to the side which released the Forest Sage herself. Darunia managed to clock Dark Darunia to the far side of the room in his own fiery rage and Zelda managed to gain the upper hand on her own Dark self once again, using her own magic blasts to counter and prevent Dark Zelda from re-igniting the Dead Man's Volley routine once more. The group then saw Dark Link and Link charging at each other, with the Sages blinking at seeing Link having dropped his shield, charging at his dark self head on. Both Dark Link and Link raised their weapons as they came closer and swung towards the other, with the distinct sound of flesh being penetrated by steel being heard in the area, seeing Dark Link and Link right opposite each other in a locked position. All they could see was a smirk on Dark Link's face… and a weary look on Link's face… seeing blood trickling down his face due to a fresh cut in the cheek.
Suddenly a gasp of agony resonated in the area… but Link was keeping his focused expression… this was soon followed by the clatter of a sword landing on the ground… it was Dark Link's! Now the group could see, after moving positions, that Link managed to plunge his sword straight into Dark Link's chest, causing the latter one to gasp out in pain, blood trickling down the edges of his mouth, blinking in utter shock.
"B… but how?!" Dark Link asked, as Link pulled his sword out of his enemy.
Link didn't answer as he promptly kicked Dark Link to the ground, before jumping at him again, sword pointed below… this time using the Ending Blow successfully to defeat him. Dark Link gave a last agonizing howl as he was being stabbed, before laying still. Link himself waited for a few seconds more, before pulling his Golden Master Sword out of him, twirling it around before sheathing it. Seeing this, Dark Saria rushed at him in an attempt to strike at him, only for one of Saria's vines to wrap around her neck in an attempt to intercept her, but then…
*SNAP*
Instantly Dark Saria was sent to the ground, not moving an inch as she eventually came to a stop, her neck broken, making Link and Saria herself blink at this. Dark Zelda was then unceremoniously zapped to death by one of Zelda's more powerful spells, similar to the one she used to bind Ganon in the Future That Almost Was, but now in a more offensive fashion. Ruto managed to avoid her dark self's last attack, before knocking her back against a pillar… right into a torch! Dark Ruto screamed in agony as she was being burned by the torch, before falling to the ground, her movements ceasing. Nabooru on her turn managed to slice the throat of her Dark self before using a Spirit Ball she made to knock her to the far side of the wall, while Darunia delivered a massive power punch against Dark Darunia to send him head-first against the ceiling, crushing his skull in the process. Like with Zelda, Rauru zapped his dark counterpart to death, while Impa used her own shadow to trap her dark self before slicing her across the chest, neck and legs, severing the tendons inside before stabbing her blade in the neck to cut Dark Impa's jugular vein, ending her as well, finally ending this fight.
Link looked down upon the corpse of his dark self with a look that spoke a totally different language than the expected victory one. It was as if Link felt he had overcome his own dark demons of the past in a way, considering the way Dark Link had fought was similar to how he had fought before his own initial demise and resurrection… and yet Link wondered what the point was of this kind of battle. Sure he knew that he had to face his fears, but why did it have to manifest itself in an exact copy of himself, like it did in the Water Temple? What was Ganondorf and/or Majora even planning with these dark copies? Why did it feel the need to pull such an atrocious action like that? Why was it created in the first place? With these questions in hand, Link solemnly returned to the others, feeling a bit empty inside. Fortunately, the Sages understood the raging conflict within the young hero, with Zelda ironically thinking along the same lines as Link on this part. But their peace was short-lived as the cackle of a single Stalfos resonated through the area. Looking around, the group spotted the skeletal warrior coming from above in the center of the room. Link fired a Bomb Arrow at it, only to find the Stalfos being guarded by a Barrier Wizrobe. Zelda moved to shoot the Wizrobe, only to find out that it was being protected by ANOTHER Barrier Wizrobe in turn!
"Okay, now I am really pissed at these guys!" Link said, jumping at one of the Wizrobes to attack it, only for it to vanish at the last moment, making Link miss its target.
Fortunately, Saria managed to make him appear again along with the other one, allowing Link to take down the Barrier Wizrobe that was unprotected, before Zelda took down the second one whom now lost its protective shield. This now left only the Stalfos, which was taken out by Darunia himself. Finally, the group were confronted by a group of Mad Scrubs which appeared at locations between the pillars in the room, but they were taken out with a single strike each or by reflecting the Deku Nuts back at them, after which the room was finally void of enemy troops, the entrance gate into the area re-opening to the lava room, but the gate that released the onslaught of enemies was closed and appeared to be sealed shut. Relieved, the group finally sat down on the floor, with Ruto handing Link's shield back to him, which he accepted with a smile, now having the time and the chance to nurse each other's wounds. Navi, Tatl and Tael appeared with the group to provide assistance in this.
"Oh man, if this keeps up, we'll still be too vulnerable against our hated enemies." Ruto said after a minute.
"Yeah, but I feel confident that we will make it, somehow." Impa said, nodding.
Link winced a little as Zelda helped with the cut in his cheek, bandaging it.
"We should look for a Fairy's Fountain or otherwise Red Potion or both… we'll need them more than ever." Zelda said.
Link nodded.
"Indeed. I'm already quite worn out as it is, it was literally one battle after the other." He said.
"But we will continue on, right?" Nabooru asked.
"Of course; we've come too far to retreat now. This would only work in Ganondorf and Majora's advantage if we did, so we have to press on with our assault and finally defeat them once and for all. That way we all have had our revenge in a way and we can finally lead Hyrule to an era of peace and prosperity." Link said.
"You took the words right out of my mouth." Zelda said, hugging Link gently.
Link smiled and returned it, before giving a similar hug to both Saria and Ruto, making the two girls smile and blush at the same time. Oddly enough, Zelda was genuinely smiling along the way, knowing how much Link cares about all of his friends after all…
"So, where do we have to go? The gate where the enemies came from is closed and it doesn't look like there is a switch around that will open it to let us through…" Saria then said after a few minutes, her arm in a makeshift sling to let it rest for a bit.
"There are gratings at a part of the wall and on parts of the ceiling. Obviously this requires the use of our Clawshots to progress. It may take us back to the entrance room even…" Link said.
Zelda and the others looked up, seeing what Link was talking about. There were indeed patches on the ceiling with gratings on them, as if forming a small path or something to a room at a higher floor on the side of where the entrance was.
"Well, at least it gives us a new room to explore once we've rested up." Zelda said, with Impa sitting close to her.
"Indeed." Impa said, sighing as her Shadow Clones stood guard at the entrance area, just in case.
"Are you alright, Ruto? You're shivering all over…" Link said in genuine concern.
"I… I'm fine… it's… it's just the thought of not making it in the end…" She said.
"Of course we will make it, just remain calm and focused. And even if we would fall, we'll make sure that the enemies will have their victory taste as bitter as defeat." Nabooru said, determined to make it.
Link then grabbed his Ocarina, looking at it for a moment, before sighing. Then he began to play the Song of Healing on it, only to blink for a moment when he heard Zelda playing the same song in perfect synchronization and harmony with him, in effect doubling the Song's power to soothe the regrets of troubled souls. This had the desired effect of calming Ruto down, but not just her… it was calming in fact everyone of the group and also seemed to have a positive effect on their spirits, as if re-strengthening their vigor and backing up the reasons for going on.
After about two minutes, both Link and Zelda quit playing, smiling as they too felt relieved at the whole state of affairs, now feeling somewhat revitalized, despite their injuries.
"That was… beautiful…" Saria said, smiling as she hugged both Link and Zelda.
Link and Zelda both smiled at this, returning the hug and allowing Ruto to join in. Impa smiled at the scene, getting up slowly.
"Well, I think it's time for us to go. Let's take it easy and not strain ourselves too much, or otherwise we'd worsen our injuries." She said.
The others nodded, moving slowly towards the area of where the closed gate was, before moving to the left. Stopping at the corner there, Link looked up as he saw the grating on the wall, before using his Clawshot to grab the wall and drag himself to it, climbing a bit higher on it before using the Double Clawshots to make his way over the grating pads on the ceiling to reach the open room on the far side of the room, the room having an eerie red glow to it as it led into the lava room. Defeating a single Mad Scrub along the way, Link used the gratings on the ceiling in the lava room to cross this one as well, entering another room on a high level where he defeated another Mad Scrub before waiting for the others, who were fortunately not too far behind him.
Proceeding again on their way, the group eventually re-entered the Entrance Room from a higher point, this time ambushed by a single Aeralfos who tried to stop them, only to be reeled in like a fish by Nabooru using her Clawshot and decapitated by Impa, the corpse of the Aeralfos disintegrating within a matter of seconds. This also exposed a Hookshot target into a room the group had not seen before or otherwise missed it due to the intense combat they had been involved in when first entering the room.
"What's in there?" Saria asked.
Link responded by using his Hookshot to latch onto the target, pulling himself in the room, after which he looked around.
"What luck, guys and girls! I found a Fairy's Fountain here!" He said, waiting for the others.
He didn't have to wait long as the others came into the room one by one, just to prevent being in each other's way while using the Hookshot to pull themselves up into the room. To their delight, they saw that Link was very much right, allowing the group to seize the opportunity and get properly healed by them, which they did without hesitation, as well as it allowed Navi, Tatl and Tael some additional conversations with their fellows. With that over with, the group removed whatever bandages were left, being completely revitalized as a whole. With this now accomplished, the group took a sip of the water for some additional nourishment, before moving back into the main Entrance Room.
"So, where do we go now?" Impa asked.
"I can see a grating at the opposite side of this part of the room to our left, spanning across a lower ceiling area. Perhaps we need to use that to cross towards a platform at the far side of the room itself?" Zelda asked.
"Sounds feasible to me. With the Clawshots we should be able to latch onto it, but watch out for the steam jets that are up against the wall." Link said, hopping down before he moved to the grating, using the Clawshot to latch onto it and from there moving his way as if he was climbing upside down on a vine towards the far side of the room. Once there, he waited again for the others, before the group entered another corridor, which went in a 'Z'-pattern of first going to the right and then to the left, leading into a room where platforms were raising and lowering constantly like unstoppable elevators. Thankfully, there were no enemies or other hazards around this time, but the group did have to make their way up using those platforms and the wooden gratings on the wall and the ceiling. Once more, the Clawshot proved its worthiness by allowing the group to reach those very gratings, which eventually brought the group into another corridor that was right on the upper level of the room where they had fought the large amount of soldiers and their Dark selves before. Entering the corridor to the right, they could see the final remains of their dark counterparts disintegrating on the floor.
"Why is this still going on? They should have been disintegrated into nothingness by now…" Saria said.
"Remember that these clones were made from the blood we spilled in our battles. Obviously Ganondorf and Majora have made this into a punishment for them akin to how Phantom Ganon was sent into the void between dimensions in the Future That Almost Was…" Link replied.
No sooner had he said this, when a dark portal suddenly appeared on the ground, which dragged the bodies of Dark Link and the other Dark Counterparts into it, before sealing itself once more. The group all watched this occurring, blinking at the whole thing.
"I believe you just called it." Zelda said.
"I'd agree." Link said, before the group proceeded onward, seeing a single jail room which had a Goron in it.
Opening the cell, Darunia smiled as the Goron bowed to him in respect and granted him with another Powder Keg.
"Where are you from by the way?" Darunia asked.
"I'm from the Goron Village in Snowhead, I was one of the people who were captured during the Invasion of Termina." The Goron said, before he left off, moving to find his home once more.
"They sure have the right, twisted minds to capture all these people…" Ruto said.
"I'll say." Impa said.
"If this is their stronghold and they have taken prisoners to here, it is likely we may also come up against brainwashed people around whom want to kill us, so let's proceed with caution." Nabooru said as the group returned from the corridor to the larger room, which had crates stacked against the opposite wall and a wooden barrier blocking the path to a staircase to the right on the far side of the area. After Darunia blew the barrier itself to bits, the group proceeded to the staircase, using the Clawshot to reach another Wooden Grating which took them over a stone wall into a larger part of the room itself on the higher floor, finally allowing them to proceed further in the tower, now entering the inner section of it…