Chapter 27: Couple's Mask.
Zak sat on the ground next to his shield and spear. While his wounds bled, he pulled out a bottle filled with a thick blue liquid. With great difficulty, he barely managed to pop the cork off. Pinching his nose with one hand, Zak drank the blue liquid with several gulps. He gasped once he was finished, disgusted. Zak stood to his feet and put the bottle away. As the potion coursed through his system, Zak stretched his arms and legs, making sure he could move without too much stiffness. Once he found himself satisfied, Zak looked across the smoky place. Without hesitation, he swiped the smoke away with his spear.
Daku smiled back at him, "Hello, son. It's been a while."
As Link stared in shock at the grinning moon, a glint flung off of it and torpedoed towards the ground. It crashed with a blinding silver light. Both Romani and Link covered their eyes. Right as the light fades, countless arrows fired at Romani. Before she could react, Link's shield appeared between her and the onslaught. The silver arrows bounced against the shield, a few piercing right through it. Link gritted his teeth in pain as arrows stabbed straight into his arm, but he held his ground. The arrows ceased firing. The figure standing before them was a gorgeous woman made completely out of silver with long flowing golden hair. The silver monster placed another arrow on her bow and pulled back the string. Romani motioned to grab her bow, but Link stopped her.
"This one is mine," he said sternly, unsheathing his sword. Unsure, Romani nodded in response. As Link approached the monster, another bright light, this one golden, rocketed towards them from beyond the horizon. She had to squint in order to look at it directly. The golden light crashed down nearby, blinding the two of them once more. Link failed to spot the second volley of arrows from the silver monster, and took the brunt of them before rolling out of the way. The golden flash subsided, revealing a handsome figure of pure gold, a mane surrounding his face. The golden figure produced a golden sword and shield and approached Romani without provocation. She quickly pulled out her bow and fired a coupled arrows at it. The monster blocked them effortlessly, even slicing a few in half with his sword. Romani retreated, creating as much space as she could manage between herself and the golden figure. Link hid behind his shield as the silver figure fired volley after volley of arrows at him. His blood spilled onto the grass below. The arrows stuck in his arms and legs spilled out some silvery liquid as they slowly dissolved. He tried shaking them off, but found them securely buried inside of him. Romani took aim with her bow, and, as she did, an idea struck her. She reached into her bomb bag and hurriedly fastened a bomb to the tip of her arrow. As she held it up, the golden monster sprang at her, its sword brandished. Romani tried to roll out of the way, but couldn't outrun the monster. A deep gash opened up across her back, causing her to yell out in pain. She dropped her bomb-tipped arrow, which blew up when it hit the ground. The resulting explosion sent her and the golden figure flying away from one another. Link called out to Romani, unable to move without being struck with more arrows.
Zak and Daku clashed swords. Daku easily overpowered him, crushing him under the force of his huge sword.
"Tell me something," the voice said, "How many times have you been here, in this very position? It must be exhausting to fight this fight over, and over, and over again."
Zak shoved Daku back, hopping to the side. Daku responded with a swift spin, which knocked Zak's gilded sword out of his hand.
"Shut up, Interloper," Zak snarled, pulling out his spear, "It doesn't matter how many times I fight your monsters. All I have to do is defeat you once." He thrust the spear at Daku several times, forcing him back. Daku fired a few arrows at Zak, one of which managed to graze his calf.
"It must be disheartening," the Interloper chuckled, "to know that you've been in this position hundreds of times, only to lose to me once again. You and that time heretic are only delaying the inevitable."
Zak clashed his spear against Daku's shield, "We'll see about that."
Romani stood up shakily, her eyes trained on the gold monster. Link huddled under his shield as the silver monster hammered him with an unrelenting barrage of arrows. Romani notched another arrow, took aim, and fired. It sailed right past the golden monster. The golden monster charged her, brandishing its sword. She pulled out a large Deku nut and held it behind her back.
Link lowered his shield as the silver monster had stopped firing at him. Romani's final arrow had shot through the string of its bow and cut it in half. The monster tossed the useless bow to the side and pulled out two glowing silver swords. Link ran at it as fast as his wounded legs could carry him. The monster swung at him. He blocked one sword with his shield, and the other with his own sword. The two of them locked weapons, struggling against one another. Link felt his strength faltering.
As the golden monster swung its sword down at her, Romani gently tossed the Deku nut in its sword's path. As the sword struck the nut, it erupted into a blinding flash of light. The golden monster reeled back, blinded. Seeing her opportunity, Romani grabbed the monster's hand that was holding the sword and shoved the blade through its own head with all of her might. The golden monster thrashed around before collapsing.
Link lost his footing, and the silver monster overpowered him. It stabbed him in the sides and lifted him up into the air. The monster threw him to the ground. The sounds of snapping bones ripped through the air, followed by Link's cries of pain. His sword clattered across the ground, coming to a stop near Romani. The silver monster bounded at Link, aiming to finish him off.
"No!" Romani grabbed the sword and jumped between it and Link. The silver monster slumped over, Link's blade buried in its forehead. Romani struggled to push it over, one of its swords stuck through her left arm. Both if the monsters thrashed violently. Their faces ripped off and flew up high in the air. Romani tried singing Zak's song, but only got about halfway through it. The masks combined, and a brilliant light flashed. A new monster landed in front of Romani. It was white, bipedal, and covered in glowing white markings. Four tentacle-like appendages wriggled around where its arms would have been.
Zak could feel his strength slipping away. Daku hopped from side to side, watching Zak's wide spear swings. He charged forwards, bashing the spear out of the way with his shield. Daku's sword tip met Zak's neck, and Zak dropped his spear. "You've failed again," the Interloper cackled. Zak dropped his shield onto the ground behind him. Daku thrust his sword, and Zak moved to the side. The sword pierced his right shoulder, and the force of the attack knocked Zak back. He fell onto his shield and slid backwards out of harm's way. Frustrated, Daku pulled out his bow and fired a few arrows at Zak. Zak spun around, pulling his legs and arms in. The arrows flew past him. He jumped up and kicked his shield into his left hand. Daku fired several ice arrows at him. Zak hopped from side to side, narrowly dodging them as he ran towards Daku. Daku tossed a bomb in his way, forcing Zak to stop and shield the resulting explosion. Daku pulled out his sword and slashed at Zak, who took the slash up his left side. Zak's shield smashed right into the side of Daku's face with a sickening crunch. Daku fell crippled to the ground. Zak kicked him hard in the side, ensuring that he wouldn't get up.
The Interloper sighed, "What a disappointment. You're in no shape to finish this. See you next round, kid." The surroundings around Zak faded, and he found himself in Clock Town. The sun, half descended over the horizon, revealed how little time he had left. Zak limped towards North Clock Town, holding his bleeding side.
Romani held up Link's sword in her shaky hands. The white monster bounded backwards, and the lines on its face shined brightly. A massive beam of white light fired from it towards Romani. Unsure of what to do, Romani shielded her eyes in a panic. The bright light struck against something. Link, who had managed to pull himself up into a sitting position, held his bow, having just fired an arrow at the monster's attack. Romani nodded at him and charged at the white monster. Its tentacles shot at her. She continued charging, trying her best to ignore the cuts and gashes ripping open on her arms and legs from the monster's relentless strikes. Link notched another arrow, which shimmered with golden light as he took aim. The monster charged up another beam of light. As it fired at Romani, Link fired his Light Arrow over her right shoulder. The arrow struck the beam, and deflected it just enough to allow Romani to reach the monster. She yelled out with all of her might as she sliced the monster with Link's sword. A deep gash opened up on it, starting from its head and slicing across its torso diagonally. The monster roared, thrashing its tentacles all over the place. Romani was knocked off of her feet, Link's sword flying from her hands. Link pulled out his ocarina and played the Song of Healing. The monster's body disappeared, leaving behind a pure white mask with white markings on its otherwise smooth surface. Romani struggled to her feet, marched over to it, and stomped down as hard as she could on the mask. As the white light of it floated up and faded away, she collapsed in a heap.