With Lana's aid, the four Hyruleans rendezvoused from their time-travelling stint at a common location in the time period Cia was attacking from. Their various hangers-on looked between each other, looking at what had been or was to come. Or in the case of Twilight and Wind, what might have been.
"So… four of you, in one place," the Doctor said, looking between the Hero of Time, the Heroine of Twilight, the Crimson Glider and the Hero of Winds.
"I know. This will give us an edge in the battle to come," Impa said proudly.
"I don't think that's why Link's worried…" Lana said.
"Which one?" the four heroes asked in unison.
"…Oh…" Impa said, realisation dawning on her face.
"Well, my Link's at the centre of time, so he gets Link!" Malon stated.
"My Link came first!" the Zelda from the era of the Sky said back.
"My name came from a stable time loop, so I'm fine dropping it… Linkle? No, that's too confusing…" the Link from the Twilight era mused.
"I hated being called Link, too. What do you think of 'Dazel'?" the Link from the era of Winds suggested.
"…Actually, can I suggest names?" Lana asked. The four turned to her.
"I've done a stint as a historian, and dealing with every single Link annoyed us, too. We came up with the naming convention Time, Twilight, Sky, and Wind," Lana said. The four Links looked between each other.
"Well, it makes sense if none of us are Link. No instinctual 'that me' reaction," the newly dubbed 'Wind' reasoned.
"Sky even sounds like a normal, human name," 'Sky' added.
"I'm not so sure on Twilight, but if it's neat…" 'Twilight' chipped in. 'Time' signed something to Malon.
"It's just for now, Time. And I don't know… sounds all right to me," Malon assured him. Time nodded, seemingly calmed.
"So… anything else we need to know?" the Doctor asked. He resigned himself to the name, as it was the only other title he possessed. Sheik raised her hand, and everyone turned to her as she removed her disguise.
"Aha! Knew it!" Malon said. Sheik had revealed herself to be Zelda, causing instant deference in Impa and confusion in the Doctor and Lana.
"Great, now what names do we call you, her, and her?" the Doctor asked, pointing out the Zelda from the era of Time, and the Zelda from the era of the Sky. The Zeldas had fewer aliases to choose from, and Time's alias was Ilia- and there was another Ilia. The Zelda formerly disguised as Sheik merely chuckled, and explained her reasoning; that she was going into hiding to find the person who could help defeat Cia. She was looking for a doctor.
"Found him," Lana said quickly. Zelda raised an eyebrow, and pointed out that she was meant to find him with the aid of her enemy.
"Well… got me there. I'm… well… me and Cia are the same person. Cia is the original, and I'm… I'm the light that was purged from her soul," Lana said.
"Whatever that means, you're still 4Δ#ΡL to me. How ironic you have a delta in your name," the Doctor commented.
"…As for the real 4Δ#ΡL…" Lana started.
4Δ#ΡL, or Cia, as she had dubbed herself to the monsters she called upon as servants, reappeared in her base of operations, still reeling from Twilight's attack and the odd sensation she got that didn't seem related to anything. Here, at least, that odd sensation had passed, to be replaced by another feeling that was basically identical, until its purpose made itself clear: a bolt of darkness shot from her chest, and circled in front of her. A menacing figure stepped through it, causing the stone under his feet to groan under his weight.
"You!" Cia cried out, summoning her staff.
"You have been my favourite puppet yet, future one. But every puppet meets its end…" Ganon stated.
"…I am no one's puppet!" Cia exclaimed, shooting a bolt of electricity. Ganon caught it, not even budging an inch, before throwing it at Cia, paralysing her.
"Urgh…" Cia muttered to herself, as Ganon strode purposefully down the stairs to her.
"I will claim what you possess…" Ganon said. As he said this, a devious idea occurred to Cia. She scrunched up her eyes, and focused with all the determination she possessed. The Triforces of Wisdom and Power, stolen from Link and the Sheikah warrior, departed her body and sailed into the distance. Ganon, in his confusion, was distracted, and Cia took her chance. Her body exploded, darkness radiating all around her. A golden triangle appeared at Ganon's feet, sending him into the realm of the Goddesses.
"The Hero… will be mine… all of him…" Cia said.
The group had set up camp by the Temple of the Sacred Sword. The five Links, as well as their companions, sat around the fire talking to each other.
"And then Ghirahim snaps his fingers, and my worst fears get realised. He took control of me! Not for long, mind you, and I doubt he could do it again, but he got me to not attack him as he stole Zelda," Sky narrated.
"Beats mine. Snapped up into a hurricane. That's how I wound up meeting Theresa here," Wind stated simply.
"Redeads. Undead that can take your freedom away with a scream. I don't know how anything can get worse. At least Ghirahim has to try," Twilight said. Everyone turned to Time, who thought a little. He started signing.
"Learning everything that happened to me in the seven years he was sealed away, aww!" Malon translated.
"I thought you lot were supposed to be fearless," the Doctor sighed.
"That wasn't in the job description," Sky observed.
"You guys got a job description?" Wind asked, looking up.
"Doctor… we're not fearless. We're courageous. There's a difference. Fearless implies that nothing scares us. Courageous means we're scared, but we don't back down from our fear. After all, who would save Hyrule if we didn't?" Twilight explained.
"Not me," Wind said.
"I know your upset with what our Zelda did, but do you have to take it out every chance you get?" Malon asked.
"She was about to lock me in an underground compartment of Hyrule Castle, turned into a useless princess," Tetra said. The Doctor rolled his eyes, and cast his eyes to the back of his hand. The symbol of the Triforce was glowing. Lana looked up, and spotted Zelda and Impa. They were transfixed on Zelda's Triforce symbol, too.
"The Doctor has it, too!" Lana called out.
"Interesting… it seems that Cia's grip on the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage have been relinquished," Impa said.
"Wait, you were missing your pieces? Doctor, I didn't need my Courage piece!" Twilight said.
"Nor my Wisdom, Zelda," Tetra said. The two looked to their hands, only to notice the mark missing.
"Time would like to ask how you have a piece in the same time period as him," Malon said.
"…I don't check for that, mother," Twilight said.
"Enough, you lot! This is our chance to attack, not to squabble!" Lana encouraged.
"Careful, Lana. Cia still has the Triforce of Power. And that's in best case scenario. Are you prepared for that?" Impa asked.
"Am I prepared? Of course I'm prepared! We have FIVE Links!" Lana pointed out.
"Only four of them have proven themselves. What makes you think the Doctor can do anything other than heal?" Impa asked. She had a point- the Doctor had not dealt anything resembling lasting harm to anything more sentient than a monster- and even then, monsters that had the body shape of a Hylian were often met with the blunt edge of Link's sabre. A Light Sabre, but the blunt edge nonetheless.
"…The Master Sword. If the Doctor can draw that, then the goddesses have seen fit to bestow him with the power to repel evil," Lana said.
"Lana… the Master Sword is more than just a weapon. It is a barrier," Impa pointed out.
"Like when it resurrected all Ganon's power in my time?" Wind asked.
"Exactly," Impa said, nodding in agreement.
"You cast Fi in too bad a light. Besides, one Ganon. Five Links," Sky said.
"One Ganon. Five Links," the other Links, aside from the Doctor, echoed.
"How can we be sure we can trust this Link with the task?" Impa asked, staring between the four Links.
"Because I believe in him," Zelda, the Zelda of this era, said. Link and Lana turned to her in shock. She almost never spoke in that way.
"I believe in him more. After all… he is Doctor χ8&WӔ, the greatest Doctor in the entirety of the time-stream!" Lana said.
"Well then, Doctor… if you wanted the chance to prove your reputation, now would be the time," Impa suggested.
"Be as swift as the coursing rain," Twilight said.
"With all the force of a great typhoon," Wind added.
"And all the strength of a raging fire," Malon said in place of Time.
"All while being as mysterious as the dark side of the moon," Sky said. Lana burst into nervous giggles.
"I'll keep that in mind," the Doctor said, sounding only slightly more composed.
The group entered the Temple of the Sacred Sword. Sky wouldn't recognise the place because it wasn't built. Time wouldn't recognise the place because it was in ruins. And Twilight wouldn't recognise the place because it wasn't ruined enough.
"All we have to do is go find this 'Master Sword', and then we're golden?" the Doctor asked.
"It can't be that easy…" Twilight said, nursing her crossbows.
"It might be something as trivial as organising statues in Time and his girlfriends' likenesses… but there'll be a puzzle. It'll aim for meaning over difficulty, but it'll be there…" Wind said.
"I'll take a look," Sky said. He hummed a few notes, and shot into the air. Time waved his hands.
"Yes, that is Epona's song…" Malon said.
"Wait, it was? I guess it sounded familiar…" Twilight asked, looking up in shock.
"Why am I always stuck out of the loop on these things?" Wind asked. Sky resumed his position, and turned to the others.
"Four statues in the far corners of the Temple. The statues seemed to be holding an ocarina, some Twili artefact not unlike Midna's, a sword, and an odd baton. Does that mean anything?" Sky asked. Zelda nodded.
"All right. Time, the ocarina's that way. Twilight, Midna's doo-dad is over there. Wind, baton's over there. I'm guessing that leaves the sword to us, my Zelda," Sky said.
"We really need better names," Malon sighed. She elected not to pursue the matter further, and made to follow Time. However, Theresa stopped her.
"Before we go bolting off all in different directions…" Theresa said, before giving the five Link a fragment of a blue crystal.
"Lapis Lazuli? You had more?" Wind asked.
"I'm still the Fairy Queen. My power's just a little unstable at the moment," Theresa explained. The Doctor affixed the gem to his Luminal, Time to the headband his mask rested upon, Twilight to one of her ribbons, Sky just under his Fireshield Brooch, and Wind on his belt buckle.
"You'll need these to communicate in a hurry," Theresa stated. The Links nodded, and the four Heroes divided to head to their statues. Malon, Ilia, Zelda, and Tetra accompanied their Links.
"…You know, why did you even bother with that?" Lana asked. No sooner than the words escaped her mouth did a mournful horn sound play. Appearing all over the place were ghosts. Ghosts of Hylian soldiers with all sorts of weapons.
"Link needs our help!" Zelda, Midna, Fi and Aryll said in unison, darting off with their companions to get to the statues.
"4Δ#ΡL…" the Doctor said.
"I know, χ8&WӔ… I shouldn't have said anything…" Lana responded.
Time looked over his shoulder, and noticed the armies of ghosts. He turned back to Malon, who had found the statue. The ocarina was truly the most distinguishing feature, being a deep blue while the statue was a dull grey, but Time couldn't help but notice the statue's resemblance to Malon. Malon stood before it, before a light enveloped her feet. She stood, rooted to the spot, as a green light shot from her chest and into a brooch on the statue's. The statue's brooch shone yellow.
Calling all Links. The statue with the ocarina appears to employ Malon's power directly. Caution when fighting the ghosts! You won't have your ally! Time thought, touching the Lapis Lazuli with his left hand while his right drew his sword.
Understood! Twilight responded, as did Sky and Wind. Twilight looked up, and brandished her crossbows. Ilia's yellow light was going into the statue of herself bearing something that did indeed heavily resemble Midna's piece of the Fused Shadow, and thus no aid would come from that quarter.
Twilight didn't need it. And if she did, she had used the Dominion Rod before. She shot down several ghosts, sending waves of fear into the ranks behind them. Twilight felt a pain shoot up her breast, before shaking off the feeling. She was still raring to go, and she wasn't letting her useless mounds stop her.
The Doctor fought off a bunch of ghosts encroaching on his position, and stepped back. He found himself back up against Lana, and turned to her.
"There's too many to fight normally… they must be being controlled," the Doctor suggested.
"So what! Kill, kill, kill!" Lana responded excitedly.
"Kill what?" the Doctor asked, jumping away. Lana came rushing up, and looked between the Doctor and Lana in confusion.
"Two of you?" the Doctor asked. Lana turned to face Lana, and growled. The two were roped into a melee, one seeming to fight the other on the grounds of confusing the Doctor as to which was which. The two Lanas jumped up and faced the Doctor relatively scratchless.
"So, Link, which of us is it?" the Lana on the left asked.
"You," the Doctor said casually.
"What?" that Lana asked.
"I have many names. Three, I suppose, but that matters little. Lana has never called me Link," the Doctor said.
"You are as clever as Cia said you'd be. I guess this proves your reputation as a scholar true. But the question we have here is… can you strike down the girl you have affections for?" the fake Lana said, pushing the real one aside with electric walls. Another wall was pulled up behind the Doctor, and the fake jumped towards it. The Doctor conjured up a barrier, soaking up the electricity, before sending the barrier forward into the fake. The fake growled, and sent the Doctor flying backwards. The real Lana jumped to her feet, and rushed at the fake. A series of electric walls surrounded the pair, and the real Lana charged forward, performing a flip with electrified heels. The fake Lana dodged, and turned to the real. The fake Lana's jaw dropped, as she realised that the real was never aiming for her.
She was aiming for the electric walls.
The real Lana's heels struck the electric walls, and Lana used that chance to jump from them, before turning and shooting an orb of electricity at the large gathering of walls. A flashy explosion spread from the site of the two Lanas, and the Doctor gasped. He ran up, watching the electricity fade. Two Lanas were lying there. One was breathing heavily, tears in her eyes. The other was lying with her eyes wide.
"4Δ#ΡL?" the Doctor asked, panicking slightly. The exhausted one looked up.
"χ8&WӔ?" Lana responded, not stumbling over the name once.
"Lana!" the Doctor said, pulling Lana into a cuddle. Lana accepted it, still hyperventilating from the experience.
"You know I'm going to have to give you a full checkup after this, right? Also, no fighting until I've ascertained you're fine," the Doctor said.
"Of course, Doctor…" Lana sighed.
"Hmph…" the fake Lana said. The Doctor turned to her.
"You're no fun! I guess putting on a mask wasn't enough to deal with you. Oh, well. I still won't let you win!" the fake Lana said, her lips not matching her words at all. The fake burst into a pile of wood.
"A puppet…" the Doctor muttered.
Doctor, the Sealed Statues appear to be activating, Sky said.
Good. How are the girls? the Doctor responded.
Not good. They look positively drained, Wind said.
"Zelda, can you look after Lana and the girls?" the Doctor asked the Zelda over his shoulder. Zelda nodded.
Bring them to where we started. Lana is drained, too. Zelda will care for them while I find this Master Sword, the Doctor said.
Affirmative. We'll meet you there, Twilight said. The Doctor nodded, and began running.
With Puppet Lana's defeat leaving the ghost soldiers free to wander, the Doctor could approach the pedestal of the Master Sword freely. He stepped up to the sacred blade, before pausing. Was this wise, interfering with the past to such a degree?
"We can help you," a voice said behind the Doctor. He turned, to see that it was Twilight speaking. She, Time, Sky and Wind had appeared behind him.
"Twilight…" the Doctor said.
"To draw it. You're obviously doubting yourself. We'll help you take this step, Doctor," Twilight said.
"That's not it…" the Doctor said.
"Then why are you afraid?" Sky asked.
"…I do not want to interfere in such a momentous occasion. Should someone of the future really claim the Master Sword?" the Doctor asked.
"You've come this far," Wind said.
And the Master Sword has proven itself to immunise the time stream against stuff weirder than this, Time's words echoed.
"…All right…" the Doctor said. He stepped up to the Sword, and placed both hands on it. The four Links stepped behind him, and placed one hand each on the Master Sword's hilt beside the Doctor's. They pulled, and the Master Sword came free of its pedestal. The Doctor laid claim to the Master Sword, as each of his companions had before him.
"Tee hee hee…" a voice said. The Doctor said, as a horn noise played. A puppet dropped from the sky, which Twilight shot through three times before it landed. Time jumped forward, and drew his sword.
Mischievous Imp SKULL KID
The Skull Kid started playing a song on his ocarina. Well, by 'song', it was the same note over and over again, but the dark mayhem he was causing made up for it. Time darted around Skull Kid, creating a triangle pattern, before letting it explode in a beautiful display of colours. The Skull Kid was sent flying, and Time hurriedly shot an ice arrow. The arrow missed horribly, but Skull Kid landed on the ground in splinters still.
"Hmph. I think I know the only way to deal with you," the Skull Kid said, before playing another mournful note on a horn.
Zelda finished attending to the five exhausted girls, and left the medical tent for the Doctor later on. She looked up, just in time to notice a massive warrior drop from the sky. He was painted from head to toe in bright, earthy colours, wore a menacing mask, and carried a deadly looking sword and shield, both easily as tall as her.
Masked Jungle Warrior: ODOLWA!
Odolwa stood menacingly before Zelda, shaking its head and making grating chanting noises. Zelda played a few notes on her lyre, summoning a tree underneath Odolwa's feet. Odolwa tripped backwards, and several Light Arrows found themselves in Odolwa's head.
"Giant, makes annoying noises, has big sword. I don't care how friendly it is, it's going away!" the other Zelda, Time's Zelda, stated. Zelda nodded, as Odolwa resumed its feet, turning to Time's Zelda threateningly. Zelda played another song, and Odolwa stopped moving, predicting the trees underfoot.
It did not predict the torrent of water coming behind him instead.
Time's Zelda laid the finishing blows on the warrior, sending its body withering away. Said Zelda turned to the other, smiling.
"Good plan," Time's Zelda said. The five Links came running, but upon seeing the remains of Odolwa, breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well. Now that that's settled, I have patients to tend to," the Doctor said, entering the tent Zelda had set up. Time looked between both Zeldas, and waved his hands.
"When the other Zelda and Ilia get up," Time's Zelda stated.
The Doctor entered the tent, and looked across at all of the girls that had been depleted by the Statues. He pulled out his Luminal, and pointed it at Ilia, shining a light at her. He nodded, as some sort of information poured into his mind.
"It just seems like fatigue. Nothing that good food and a little exercise won't solve, though I'll see what I can rustle up to get that process started quicker. Potassium, iron… wonder what's available in this time period. As for you, Lana…" the Doctor said, turning to Lana. He shone the light on her, and his face fell.
"What is it, Doctor?" Lana asked.
"Stress and electricity do not mix. This'll take a while to cure, and while I'm doing so, you're not to do anything more strenuous than a light jog for exercise," the Doctor said.
"Doctor?" Lana asked.
"Rest, Lana. I'll give you anything your body needs. For now, the electricity you absorbed will preclude any physical activity," the Doctor said. Lana looked down in disappointment.
"Relax, Lana. With the Master Sword, I'm told that I'll be able to pull your weight and mine twice over," the Doctor said encouragingly.