Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda series do not, repeat, not belong to me. They rightfully belong to Miyamoto. (May he continue to make excellent games for the rest of his days.) What does belong to me are Cleo, Finn, Syrilla and Okam (sorta).

Chapter 26

Aku saw the Essences of Light and couldn't believe his eyes. "NO... THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE! HOW COULD SHE BRING THEM BACK?!"

They flew over to Cleo, recognizing a new master, and encircled her. They didn't just lend their light to the Skribal Sword, they infused themselves completely into it and transformed the blade back into the Sword of Oni. Her tears and the light within her were gone. She was smiling. "You are so screwed, Aku!"

"I do not even want to know what that means," added Jack, although by his tone, he was liking the idea.

In a terrible roar, Aku waved his hand to summon yet another shockwave. Cleo braced for it that time, although Finn and Midna were sent flying. She spun around, afraid they were falling, but Midna recovered fast enough to catch Finn and start levitating. "Mid! Take Finn and get outta here!"

"I will!" She quickly teleported herself and Finn away before Aku could blast them with his lasers, narrowly avoiding being hit. The laser hit the red horizon, turning into a little, lingering light in the distance.

"That's enough!" Cleo hollered at the demon. "You're nothing but a coward!"

Aku turned his burning glare back at her. "FOR THAT REMARK, I SHALL DO WORSE THAN KILL YOU! I WILL DRAG YOU INTO THE PIT OF HATE AND MAKE YOU WATCH AS I DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU HAVE SWORN TO PROTECT!"

"I am so getting tired of your ham! You're not hurting one! More! LIFE!" Cleo shouted, swinging her sword with each word.

Aku turned into a floating spiral and the twilight markings on his form spread across the air and the entire environment turned black for a moment. The darkness faded and they were no longer on the top of the Altar of Dawn. Cleo looked around her and realized she was back on top of the Temple of Hira where her whole adventure began, only this time within the Twilight Realm. Aku then shifted into the form of a large shelled beast with spikes.

He withdrew into his shell like an armadillo and rolled after her. The shell was too hard for her blade to penetrate, she needed to use something powerful. Aku tried to ground pound her and she barely dodged him. She suddenly felt the ground give way, again her fast reacting mind told her to grab the edge. As she hung on, she felt stupid forgetting the area had the pitfall trap. She pulled herself up and looked around for Aku. He must've fallen in the pit but she wasn't surprised to see him leap out of it. The pitfall closed up and Cleo stuck to the edge of the rooftop. He rolled after her again, and nearly fell off. As he was wobbling on one foot, Cleo quickly equipped Mars and Mjolnir, drew a Q on the floor, and rushed to Aku's back to grab his tail with the lighting clawshot (she had to be really fast). He was heavy, but she managed to spin him around and release him onto the Q, the burning line almost gone. It exploded on him, sending him skyrocketing and crashing.

He shook himself and floated up, turning into a spiral again and the scene changed. They were now on the top of Thunder Beacon Tower, with lighting flashing overhead. Aku turned into a bat. He swooped down and knocked her off her feet. Then he began beating his giant wings, harder and faster, trying to blow Cleo off the tower. She switched Mars with Draconequus and drew an x on the floor. The mark pulled her onto it, gluing her to the ground. She looked at the lightning and activated Mjolnir again as he started to dive bomb her. The lightning hit the sword and she redirected it at the bat, electrocuting him. Cleo took a chance and attacked.

Aku changed the scene again and they were now on Prisms Peak. He transformed into a giant lizard, then his black body turned red as he puffed up and breathed out fire which spread around him. Cleo avoided the fire but couldn't get through to attack him. He turned green next and spat green fire at her, penetrating the red flame wall. She equipped Iris and threw the sword. It flew through the green fire, absorbing it, continued through the red, and hit his green body, causing him damage. Then he recreated the wall with both red and green fire in different places and changed color more rapidly as he attacked Cleo. She needed expert timing for this. After several failed attempts to cut through his defenses, she finally hit him again.

Another change of scenery and form, Cleo faced Aku's strangest form yet in the heart of Blue Crater. He had the body of a bull, the head of a crocodile, and two huge arms on his back holding swords. He was covered in flames and absorbed metal from the walls to create armor. He charged at her, swinging his swords, flames erupting from the blades. She dodged the attack, nearly getting hit, a small spout of fire barely licking her sleeve. She used Pele to gather blue lava and splash it on his armor. As she chipped away, Aku leaped up and stomped his legs to shoot out a ring of fire. Cleo blocked it with her shield and resumed her chipping. She soon got rid of his armor and now had to deal with the fire on his body. She used Futen to blow out the fire, revealing a skeletal body, and hacked away at him.

In the next round they were underneath the Tree of Dusk and Aku became a mole. He burrowed through the ground and tried to get her from underneath. He made the ground very unstable wherever Cleo stood and she needed to jump away quickly before falling through. Multiple sinkholes formed as she ran. Aku then started popping out to catch her off guard and duck back in before she could gain a hit. She decided to narrow down his maneuvers with Viridi by growing strong vines over all the holes except one. Once he was forced out of the only hole did Cleo whack him good.

Then everything went black and, this time, stayed black. Cleo was in total darkness, guessing she was in Pitch Black Caves. She quickly equipped and used Will-o-Wisp to light up the area and was suddenly attacked from behind, feeling sharp claws on her back. He pinned her down, and she struggled with all her might to push him off. Aku slinked back into the darkness before she could spot him. She was sure he could see her in the dark, so she needed to outsmart him. Cleo summoned more little lights, ran to a corner, and equipped Anubis. She extinguished the lights and drew a shadow copy of herself, letting it wander around while she stayed crouched and still. She heard a growl and a pounce and, pinpointing the source, ambushed him.

She saw his markings glow in the dark and everything lit up again. Cleo fell in the water with a splash and, frantically paddling, hurried to a raft. She was back on the Bioluminisle lake. A sea serpent rose up amidst the circle of rafts. He opened his mouth wide and spat green slime at her. Cleo leapt onto the next raft, before it hit and melted the one she'd been on. She got her Flamel rune ready in case she were to run out of rafts. Then she equipped Shenlong and waited for an opportunity. Aku opened his mouth again and she bent water into it, overhydrating him and his head collapsed onto a raft. She hopped on and struck him.

They were transported again to (Cleo guessed correctly) inside the cone shaped room in the Nebula Observatory. Aku fused into one of the stained glass windows, becoming part of a living image. He darted between the windows surrounding the room. She got Sagittarius ready to shoot at him. He split in two to confuse her. While she was trying to figure out which one was fake, one of them leapt out and zapped a bolt down on her. She fell after a painful shock and heard him laugh. Cleo quickly recovered and made her decision fast. Trusting her instincts, she fired a light arrow at one of the images and he screamed and fell out of the window. Then she attacked.

Finally they returned to the Altar of Dawn. Aku was getting frustrated, thundering. He swelled to a huge shapeless mound and dozens upon dozens of different beasts spawned from it, heading right toward her. Cleo fuddled for the Salamander rune. They swarmed her and she fought them off with all her might, occasionally pulling off a fiery spin attack when there were too many. No matter how many hits she received, she wouldn't give in, not now, not ever. Don't stop... keep fighting... no matter how impossible the odds are... Scervo's words echoed in her head. Jack never gave up, she thought, no matter the odds against him, no matter how impossible the goal. They were so close this time... almost there... almost finally over...

Her unbreakable determination eventually paid off. Aku had reached his limit, getting smaller with each spawn, until he exhausted himself. Cleo charged and stabbed him right in the belly, where the center of the Twilight Realm markings were. They started pulsating faster and faster until they flashed out. She pulled the sword out, and Aku roared in pain as the lights left his body, absorbed into the Skribal Sword, and the markings disappeared completely. The atmosphere immediately reverted back to its normal peaceful appearance in a rippling effect.

The demon looked at himself in dumfounded shock and screamed in complete and total rage. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! HOW CAN A LITTLE CHILD BE THAT POWERFUL?! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! YOU WERE AT MY MERCY FROM THE BEGINNING, I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU THE MOMENT I FIRST DRAGGED YOU INTO THIS REALM! I HATE YOU!"

Cleo was feeling no fear or pity, nor did she have anything else to say. Stone-faced, she was aiming to finish this shameless monster. "Now is your chance! Do it Cleo!" Jack commanded. She ran at Aku, screaming, sword ready to strike him down... Something made her stop, something she noticed in the distance. "What are you waiting for?! Cleo, what is wrong?" Cleo couldn't stop staring at the strange sight that caught her attention. It wasn't there before, she hadn't seen it until now, but she knew in an instant what it must be. She had learned about in astronomy. And it was getting bigger... closer...

It suddenly felt like a strong wind was growing, but it was no wind, it was a pull in gravity. "Aku... what have you done?!"

"That last laser attack wasn't aimed at your friends..." he answered with a sneer. "That was my ace in the hole... LITERALLY!"