A/N: This is currently the most violent chapter in the story (so far, though I don't think any will get as violent).

**Remember, Cody is from an alternate Earth where the Legend of Zelda series does not exist!**

This is very, very important to remember, otherwise some of what Cody says or thinks will not make sense.

Chapter 5: The Agony of Destiny

Cody:

You would think that a deserted temple would not be all that hard to get through. You would also think that if it was hard to get through, the person who is making you explore it would at least tell you if there was anything you need to look out for.

The next corridor had a pit in the middle. In the middle of this pit was a column with a switch. At the end of the corridor I could see the stairs, but they were blocked by metal bars. I stepped up to the edge of the pit and looked down. I could not see the bottom.

I immediately broke out in a cold sweat. You see, I am not all that great with heights. I can deal with it if there are railings, but put me next to a long drop off without anything to keep me from going over the edge, and I start to panic.

The pit was not all that wide; I could make the jump pretty easily. The problem was that I kept imagining missing. Curse me and my active imagination!

I took a deep breath, started bouncing on my feet in anticipation (because we all know that bouncing on your feet is essential), and leapt to the switch. I landed on the switch, and heard the gate start to rise. Without losing momentum, I immediately leapt from the column to the other side. I continued running until I made it past the gate (it still had not raised all the way).

Before I stepped into the next corridor, I sat down on the steps, putting my head in my hands. Why am I here? I am not heroic. I cannot be the Hero of Dimensions. Just one small pit and I nearly start hyperventilating. Hell, I cannot even stand up to two bullies at school, and I am supposed to save some country that I have never even heard of?

I sighed. I wish Rauru had come with me. If I had been thinking straight, I would have made him understand that there was no way that I could ever be a hero.

But…

I stood back up and faced the next corridor. If I had any kind of trait that could be considered in any way heroic, it would be my sheer stubbornness. I marched into the next corridor.

I flopped down on the ground, exhausted.

It had taken me a few hours. In hindsight, the puzzles were not all that hard, but unlike the many videogames I liked to play, one little screw up and it would have been game over for me. There would be no second chances. There were several sliding puzzles involving large moving blocks (may I remind everyone that I am not all that strong), and a few that had more (gulp) pits. There was even one with a swinging blade. I had to time that one perfectly, and it still came uncomfortably close…

But now I was finally at what was (hopefully) the final room. There was a large stone door in front of me. On it was a strange carving. It was a large circle, with another smaller one inside. Inside the smaller circle was the same triangular symbol that was on the platform I had been on at the start of the temple (first chance I get, I'm going to ask somebody to tell me what it is actually called). The inner circle was surrounded by seven other symbols. They reminded me of the ones on the first platform, but they looked different (and the platform had six, not seven).

I examined the door, but could not see any way to open it. It had no handles and there were no switches that I could see. Frustrated, I dug out the ocarina that Rauru gave me and started fiddling with it. I remembered him saying that it would be useful on my journey, though that was kind of hard to imagine…

I proceeded to smack my head with my palm. Rauru had told me that the Song of Dimensions could open doors in the temple. I had not used the song yet, so it stood to reason that I would need it now (otherwise, why would Rauru bother to teach it to me). I put the ocarina to my lips, and started playing.

Just as I had suspected earlier, the song came to me as if I had known it my entire life. With a loud grinding sound, the door split open along an invisible seam, and slowly opened. The room beyond was, strangely, not as well lit as the rest of the temple. The only source of light was a spotlight that showed from some unknown source in the ceiling. Resting in the light was a sword.

"I guess I'm almost finished," I said as I started to walk into the room.

As I stepped over the threshold, Rauru's voice suddenly boomed out, "Wait! Something's not right! I can feel an evi…"

The door slammed shut, cutting Rauru off. I spun around, but I could not even see where the door used to be, it was so dark. Feeling a sense of dread, I turned around and started walking slowly toward the sword. The floor around the sword was raised up, and the sword itself was in a pedestal in the middle of the platform. As I got closer, I could tell that the same symbol that was carved into the platform that was on the door.

I probably would have thought the sword looked pretty cool, under different circumstances. The blade was straight but thinned near the hilt. The hilt itself was green, like the ocarina I had, and looked like it had wings. There was a yellow gem where the hilt met the blade. It was hard to tell at this distance, but the same symbol that was on the floor looked to be etched into the blade, right before the blade started to thin.

I was right up next to the sword. I stared at it for a few minutes, my heart beating faster than I ever felt it beat. With a trembling hand, I reached for the sword…

Bright green flames burst up from around the sword. I yanked my hand back, stumbling backwards and falling down (again…). I continued to back away backwards across the floor, until I heard a heavy thump behind me.

I froze. Now my heart was beating faster than it ever has before. I slowly turned my head to look over my shoulder. Standing behind me was a large hulking creature, hidden in shadow. It was slowly straightening up, and as it did, the lighting got bright enough that I could finally see the thing behind me.

It looked like a cross between a dinosaur and a giant lizard. It stood on two legs and was about eight feet tall. It had four arms, each of which was holding a sword.

I was back on my feet instantly, backing away from the creature. The lizard thing seemed to smirk at me (can lizards smirk?), and tossed a weapon at me. It was not tossed hard, but I still scrambled out of the way to avoid getting sliced. The lizard thing seemed disappointed.

"You are supposed to be an all powerful warrior," it said with a honking voice that strongly reminded me of Donald Duck, "but you are weak. Pick that sword up and provide me with a worthy challenge."

What kind of challenge can a high school kid, who never held a sword before, provide to a giant lizard who was wielding three swords? Trembling, I picked up the sword he tossed me and held it out in what I hoped was some form of defensive stance. This caused the lizard to laugh, "This battle will be short."

He immediately advanced on me, his swords swinging. I was barely able to deflect the attacks, but he was forcing me to lose ground. By the heat at my back, I knew that he was trying to force me into the fire. Seeing what I thought was an opening, I immediately tried to slash at his side…

I have no idea what happened. I was lying on the ground on the other side of the room, several slashes across my body. I stared numbly at the lizard, who what grinning broadly at me. He was advancing on me again, twirling all three of his swords. I noticed that the farther he got away from the sword in the pedestal, the more the flames died down. I briefly thought about making a break for the sword, but knew that a different weapon was not going to magically make me a better fighter.

I stood my ground, and moved the sword to my right hand while I raised my left arm up. I tried to will a shield to life, knowing that it might be my only hope…

But as it was when I first tried it, the shield did not come. The lizard swung the blade down, and though the bracer blocked the attack, it did not block the two other swords that approached from both sides. I backed away again, blood dripping down my sides, soaking my clothes. The lizard started honking, and I knew that he was laughing at me.

He could kill me any time he wanted. He knew it, and I knew it. He was just toying with me…

He wanted me to suffer…

He wanted to have a good time while killing me…

Something inside me snapped. With a scream of rage, I charged at the lizard, wildly swinging my sword. He was briefly surprised at my sudden change in attitude, but soon was cackling in delight as he blocked all of my swings. He was blocking me with such ease. I knew that he was still toying with me, and this made me even angrier. Abandoning all pretense of defense, I went straight for his unarmed hand.

I must have surprised him, leaving myself open like that. He did not even have a chance to block me…

His hand was sent flying from his body.

He stared in shock at the bloody stump where his hand used to be. I was in shock too. All the anger I had just a moment ago faded and was quickly filled with self-revulsion. I know that he was a monster bent on killing me, but I had no idea that I was capable of doing something like that.

He recovered before I did, and with a loud roar, he swung all three swords, leaving gashes in my chest. I doubled over, pain streaking through my body. Then, he kicked me. He kicked me so hard that I was sent flying, my sword flying from my hands. I landed in a heap beside the sword I was supposed to get (the fire must have died down when the lizard went to the edge of the room).

I had always heard that a person's life flashes before their eyes whenever they are about to die, and apparently I was no exception. I could see things from my childhood. I could see my parents and friends. I saw Katie. Hell, I even saw the jerks who tripped me. It was hard to believe that it happened just a few hours ago…

I reached up and grabbed the sword that was in the pedestal to help myself to my feet…

Several things happened.

I noticed as I pulled myself to my feet that the lizard on the other side of the chamber had a look of pure horror on his face. As I was coming to my feet, I could feel the pain fading. When I glanced at my chest, I noticed that my wounds had closed up, leaving angry red marks. I could feel energy travelling up the sword and into my body, making me feel stronger, lighter on my feet…

With a loud honking roar, the lizard started to charge me. Instinctively, I rolled away from the sword as the green flames roared to life once again. I grabbed the sword which had clattered near me and rolled to my feet. The lizard was already upon me, slashing furiously. He obviously was done playing with me.

As we fought, I realized that the sword did not just heal me. I suddenly knew how to fight this beast. Even though his slashes were much better placed, I was able to block and parry them all. In addition to the sword, I used the bracers to block many of the blows. Initially, I had found it hard to use both the sword and the bracers at the same time. Now, I was doing it as if I had been trained to do it my whole life.

The sounds of clashing metal echoed throughout the room. The energy I had after I had touched the sword was fading from the exertion of battle. But I could tell that the lizard was also tiring, thanks to the new knowledge that I had about combat. I pushed myself a little harder, and found an opening.

One of his blades clattered to the floor as another of his hands flew away. Now only his two upper arms remained.

His onslaught increased in speed. However, I noticed that he was getting sloppy. It was possibly due to the amount of pain that he was no doubt in. It was not long before I took out his left hand.

He was frantically backing away. Big mistake…

His other hand was soon gone. I slowly advanced on him, the tables now completely turned on this creature. The only thought in my head was that I wanted him to suffer the way he was making me suffer. The lizard glared at me defiantly as he abruptly stood his ground. I paused, waiting to see what he would do.

"I will not allow you to live," he said with a snarl.

He took a deep breath…

And unleashed a steady torrent of fire at me.

Instinctively, I raised my left arm, and a red shield erupted from the bracer. The shield covered the entire front of my body. The fire parted on either side of the shield, but I noticed that the shield was starting to show cracks. I pushed forward through the fire, making my way towards my enemy. The shield was going to fail any second now, and with no sign of the fire letting up, I knew that I would not be able to get the final blow in without getting burned into a crisp…

Then a word popped into my head, and I knew what I had to do.

With the cracks nearly reaching the edge of the shield, I concentrated on the word that was in my head…

Overload…

The shield exploded outward from the bracer in a spectacular fashion. The energy field that was generated pushed the fire away and washed over the lizard. The lizard screamed in agony as red lightning raced over his body.

I did not give him a chance to recover…

I pushed off the ground, jumping higher than I ever had before… and sliced my sword through the lizard's neck.

Time seemed to slow as I landed on the ground. I could hear the body behind me collapse to the ground with a thump. I could also hear something hit the ground near me with a sickening smack. Everything that I did came to me in a rush. My sword fell to the ground with a clatter as I collapsed to the ground. I landed on my knees and put my head in my hands. I felt numb. I could not believe I was capable of doing such things. I had wanted to hurt him, make him suffer…

Am I really a hero?

It took a monumental effort, but I shook off the depressing thoughts and wearily pulled myself to my feet. I turned and looked at the weapon I had been sent to obtain. I wanted to run away, never to look upon it again, but I knew that I had nowhere to go. Nor did I have any idea how to get home. I had to play along for now and hope that I will get my chance.

I took one step towards the blade, then another. It felt like it took hours to reach the sword, but it probably only took a few seconds. I was standing over the blade. I took a deep breath then grasped the handle. I could feel the energy surge through me once again, strengthening me. With a slight tug, I pulled the sword free of the pedestal.

All of a sudden, green light filled the room. The light got brighter and brighter, until everything in my vision went white.