Chapter 18: Captain's Hat.

Four more arrows flew past Romani and stuck into Zak. He called out in surprise. Daku walked out from behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Zak fell forward, but caught himself with his hands.

"Give it up, son," Daku mocked, "You've lost. See, when I found Romani here, she hated you more than anyone. I offered her the means to stop you from destroying her home, which she accepted all too happily." He walked over to Zak and stood over him. With his foot, he kicked him onto his back. "She really does look just like her, doesn't she? The hair, the eyes..."

"Don't you say it," Zak mumbled weakly, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"Mommy dearest," Daku continued, unsheathing his sword, "Malon." With a quick thrust, Daku stabbed his sword through Zak's midsection. Zak yelled out, pain radiating throughout his entire body. A mighty wind whistled around. It picked up speed, forcing Daku to jump away from Zak. A blue diamond shimmered around Zak a few times before solidifying. He crawled up to his feet, and a shining green ball of light drifted to him. Both Romani's and Daku's eyes widened as he reached into the light. First, he pulled a purple handle out of nothingness, which materialized from out of the sphere into the Great Fairy Sword. The magical blue diamond shimmered again. Romani and Daku fired as many arrows at Zak as they could. He swung the sword at their arrows, batting them away effortlessly. A single pink fairy drifted out of the sword and encircled Zak. He inhaled deeply, and then exhaled as his wounds healed.

"You made a big mistake, today," Zak said, his eyes transfixed on Romani's quivering face, "You took something from me." He pointed his sword at Romani, who strung another arrow and aimed at him. "I command you give it back!"

Zak charged with the giant sword in his hands. Daku jumped up to meet him. Their swords clashed so many times that the sparks obscured their view. Zak swung the two-handed sword effortlessly with one hand, thanks to his Silver Gauntlets, but couldn't find and opening in Daku's assault. Romani fired several arrows, which struck Zak. He stumbled back, and Daku sliced at Zak's head. Daku's sword grinded against Zak's shield, and Zak punched him hard in the face with it. Seizing his opportunity, Zak threw the Great Fairy Sword high into the air, withdrew his Giant's Toothpick in one hand and Gilded Sword in the other, and proceeded to go berserk on Daku's entire body with countless slashes.

Daku yelled out in pain, but Zak didn't stop. Daku bounced from side to side from every slash that Zak delivered, blood spraying all over him as he hacked away. Finally, Zak stopped. He spun around, delivering a double-bladed spin attack that flung Daku's crumpled body off of the bridge. Zak let out a bloodthirsty roar as the Great Fairy Sword stabbed into the ground at his feet. Romani inched backwards, her bow trained on Zak's blood-covered body. She fired several shots, which Zak sliced out of the air with his swords. She slowly ran out of arrows, finally aiming her last one at him. Blue magic erupted from the tip, and she aimed it at his heart.

Zak's eyes widened and he sheathed his swords. When she fired, he reeled back and punched the ground. A colossal half-sphere of fire erupted from around him. Her arrow melted away in its wake, and it fired out in all directions. Romani jumped back, narrowly avoiding it. She jumped down from the bridge in an attempt to find Daku. Zak yanked the Great Fairy sword out of the ground and dove after her. Romani grabbed Daku's quiver and fired a few more arrows at Zak. Much to her surprise, she missed. Zak brandished his sword, spun around, and caught her in the midsection. He flung Romani into the far wall, blood spewing from her mouth. Zak reeled back and threw the Great Fairy sword as hard as he could. It stabbed into the wall next to Romani, snapping her bow into splinters. She limped towards Daku, desperately searching for any sort of weapon.

Zak grabbed her around the throat and held her off of her feet. Tears streamed down his face. "You made me do this!" He plunged his Giant's Toothpick into her midsection. Romani gasped out in a mixture of pain and horror. Zak pulled out his sword and dropped her to the ground.

Dak's unconscious body sat up, "I'm disappointed in you. Even after all this, you still won't kill them?"

Zak glared at him, "You're going to have to try harder than that." Magical blue diamonds flickered to life around both Daku and Romani, finally visible. Romani struggled to stand, but couldn't.

"This changes nothing, boy," the voice coming from Daku remarked, "This world is mine."

Zak narrowed his eyes, "No, it's not." White wings erupted out from behind Daku's back. They enveloped him, and he vanished in a flash of white feathers. Another set of wings appeared around Romani, but Zak grabbed her. Green wind magic surrounded them both, and the wings faded. He let out a sigh, disappointed that the one pulling the strings wasn't stupid enough to still teleport her. Romani stared back at Zak with her white, lifeless eyes. She pulled out a dagger and plunged it into his arm. Zak grabbed her firmly by the back of the neck and planted a kiss onto her lips.

She struggled against him, but soon grew limp in his arms. Zak pulled away from her to see her crying. He couldn't help but smile, as her brilliant blue eyes had returned. Without saying a word, he hugged her tightly. She cried in his arms.

"Thank you," he said, tears in his eyes.

She wiped her face and stared up at him, "Why are you thanking me?"

Zak smiled weakly, "Thanks for coming back to me, Romani. I...I don't think I can do this without you." Smiling, she wiped the tears from his face.

"I'm scared, you know," she admitted, "But, if anyone can save Termina, it's you. It has to be you."

A loud scream rang out from the entrance to the Fortress. Zak stood up, holding Romani in his arms. She scrambled down onto her feet, her legs still shaky. Zak ran over and ripped the Great Fairy Sword out of the wall and bolted towards the source of the screaming. Romani followed, her legs still wobbly.

Zak emerged to see a gigantic skeleton towering out of the pool of bony fish. He cursed out loud, aiming his hookshot at the monster. It scratched at the rock face where Cremia stood in an attempt to maim her. She slid down the opposite side, out of its reach. Cremia screamed out again, terrified. Zak slipped his shield off of his back and put it on his feet before firing the hookshot. Its tip stabbed into the giant skeleton's ribcage. The chain retracted, and he flew towards the pool. Zak slid across the water on his shield, pulling his spear out with his other hand. He flew up the monster's back, and his momentum slowed as he ran over the bumpy bones on its back. He jumped off his shield and grabbed on, stabbing the spear into the monster's spine. It jolted in pain, reaching down at him with its bony hands. Zak pulled out the spear and jumped onto its wrist. It brought him up to its empty eyesocket.

"Your duty is over, Captain!" he shouted, leaping into its eye socket. After a few deft strikes from Zak, the skeleton's entire body cracked. As it fell into dust, Zak struggled to play the song with his blade of grass, but couldn't quite get it to work while falling towards the pool. Romani cleared her throat and sang Zak's Song, long and loud, until the dust vaporized. A hat made up of tiny bones fell into the pool of water next to Zak. He grabbed it with one hand while striking it in two with the other.

Panicked, Romani jumped into the water and swam out to Zak. He sheathed his spear and swam over to his floating shield before Romani reached him. She grabbed him on the shoulders and dunked him in the water.

"How dare you get my sister involved?!" she said hotly, "I oughta beat you senseless, Zak!"

Zak resurfaced, spurting water, "You didn't leave me any choice, you know. Wait..." He searched himself. "Crap. My hookshot is gone. It's probably at the bottom of this pool. Wait here." He dove underwater to go retrieve it.

She smiled while floating in the water, "Always."