Chapter 14: Garo's Mask.
Zak sat motionless with his elbows on the table and his hands over steepled in front of his mouth while Romani relayed the message of the purple tunic wearing man to him. She studied his expressionless face for any sort of clue as to the man's true identity. His blank eyes gave nothing away.
"See," he replied, "This news was worth waiting until you were properly healed. You're so impatient sometimes, Romani."
She sighed, "It's been a week, and I've been dying to tell you that. So who's that guy, anyway?"
"He's someone I am acquainted with, that's all," Zak replied coldly.
Romani pursed her lips, "You're so secretive about your past. Would it really kill you to talk about where you came from?" Zak slammed his hand onto the tabletop, frightening Romani. He stormed out of the ranch house without another word. She trembled, despite the temperature of the room. After a few moments, she peeked out to make sure he was still there. Zak somehow ascended to the barn's roof, staring eastward. A shadow fell across the ranch, stretching over the barn. Romani looked out of the window towards the sky. No clouds were in the sky. He continued to stare towards the source of the shadow. Instinctively, she grabbed her weapons, but she didn't leave the house.
Zak jumped down from the barn and slipped inside. A while later he emerged with his spear, Deku stick, both swords, shield, and hookshot all equipped. He whistled loudly, and a horse galloped through the ranch, coming to a stop next to him. Romani's eyes widened. The horse was jet black with white patches, and had a saddle over a blanket covered with images of crying eyes. He threw his leg over it and galloped away. Romani waited until he was gone before stepping out of the ranch house. As she headed to the barn, an ear-splitting whistling noise tore through the air, causing her to fall to her knees in pain. Cremia, who had been milking one of the cows in the field, fell down in agony as well.
"What's going on?!" Romani shouted, her voice drowned out by the loud whistle. Cremia retreated into the house, and she headed into the barn.
Zak rode as fast as he could, the loud whistle forcing him to grit his teeth. He squinted against the sheer volume of it, suppressing the urge to vomit as he headed towards Ikana Canyon. The whistle grew louder as he rode the horse to the canyon wall. He hopped down, and the horse departed on its own accord. Zak aimed his hookshot up at the dead tree and made his way up the wall.
After a while of walking, the whistle vibrating in his skull, Zak found himself at the small river rushing past below him. He held up his hookshot and fired it up at the tree. Once he tugged it a few times to make sure it was secure, he scaled the rockface leading to the top. Once on the top, Zak shielded his ears. The whistle was deafening. He ran towards the Castle of Ikana and managed to barely slip inside the blown-out hole in the side of the wall before vomiting onto the ground. Zak wiped his mouth and headed further inside.
The courtyard was completely empty. Unsurprised, Zak headed into the main door of the castle, unimpeded, until he reached the throne room. Once his foot crossed the threshold of the throne room, the whistle stopped.
"Zak," a familiar voice called out, "It was foolish of you to come alone."
"Shut up!" Zak snarled, "Don't take that tone with me." Once his eyes adjusted, he spotted the man in the purple tunic along with a figure in a brown cloak. It stood up, shaking the dust off of its cloak when Zak approached it. Even in the dim light, Zak could tell what the creature was.
"I see you're finally in the castle," Zak said to it, "Is it everything you hoped it would be?" A blade slid out from under its brown cloak.
The man smiled, "That's a good point. I'm surprised you remembered that little detail. Clearly, he chose the right man for this job."
Zak unsheathed his gilded sword and pointed it at the man, "Don't you dare speak of his name. You aren't worthy anymore."
His expression softened, "Fine. Consider it a last request."
Zak arched an eyebrow, "This creature can't beat me."
The stranger shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. However, I never said it was alone." Another sword slid out of its cloak. Zak narrowed his eyes and looked around the room. He finally looked down at the floor. His own reflection stared back at him. He blinked. The reflection disappeared.
"Oh, great," Zak gripped his Giant's Toothpick with his other hand. The cloaked monster rushed him, its blades narrowly missing him. Zak jumped back, sliding unexpectedly across the slick floor. The cloaked monster sprang at him, and Zak unsheathed his sword. Their blades connected. Zak slid across the floor due to the cloaked monster's strength. It slashed at him with surprising speed. Zak tried in vain to continuously block its attacks. Several superficial wounds opened up on his torso. Zak swiped at it a few times, forcing it back. He held his gilded sword out to his side and swung it in a mighty circle. Before it hit the cloaked monster, a shield blocked his attack.
Zak's reflection shoved him back. Zak twirled the gilded sword in his hand. He looked between the cloaked monster and his reflection, studying them. He sheathed his Toothpick and popped the shield off of his back, catching it with his foot. The cloaked monster backflipped, rushing at him with a bizarre charge. Zak tossed the shield into the air with his foot, charged up his sword for a split second, and spun it around with a powerful stroke once more. The blade smashed into the shield, which sent it flying at his reflection. His reflection deflected the shield, which flung it into the back of the cloaked monster well before it hit him.
The man smiled wide, "Now that's what I'm talking about." Stunned, the cloaked monster dropped its swords to its sides. Zak jumped over it, performed a front flip, and landed behind it. The cloaked monster fell forward, its head split cleanly in two. A white light drifted up before fading away. His reflection put away its shield and pulled out a spear identical to his Zora spear. Shrugging, Zak kicked the edge of his shield, which flung it up into his hand. He sheathed it and his gilded sword and pulled out his spear.
"Wait," the man called out from his position near the throne room, "There's someone else here. Why, Zak, I underestimated you." Another reflection materialized next to Zak's. A girl holding a bow. Zak turned around to see Romani standing in the throne room.
"Son of a-"