The Legend of Zelda: The Hero's Twilight, a 'Legend of Zelda' fanfic by Tsunami Storm
Chapter 3: Replant
Time looked around the ancient temple in interest, marveling at how much Hyrule had changed since his day. Of course, this Forest temple was not the same one through which he had fought. This one was in a new area entirely- the old one having crumbled decades ago, making it impossible to even enter. Twilight smiled as his ancestor took in the sights, still stunned by the miracle that had brought him back into this world.
"Y'know, your friend Ilia kinda reminds me of Malon." Time commented suddenly, surprising Twilight. "I mean, they have the same- presence, the same personality." Could they be related as well? He thought, then shrugged.
Twilight looked at him then, met his eyes and nodded very deliberately. Time gasped. "Ilia is descended from Malon. They have their family tree framed on a wall in their house." Twilight explained, smiling with pride in his friend and speaking aloud for the first time in nearly two years.
"So you can speak!" Time teased, laughing. "I had thought you were like me at your age. I never said a word until I was ten, and even then as little as possible."
Twilight nodded. It was the same for him. Mostly. He wasn't as soft-spoken as his ancestor, but he wasn't talkative either.
"When did you- break that 'vow of silence'?" Twilight asked, and Time shrugged. "A while ago. I guess it was sometime after I became a knight of Hyrule and before the Seventh Sage- the Princess of Destiny- and I began… courting."
Twilight gaped at his ancestor, once again dumbstruck with surprise. There were so many details of the Legendary Hero's life that he'd never learned, that had faded into obscurity. He was a knight? Well, that would explain the armor he wore as the Hero's Shade. I wonder how he lost his eye-
"A captain of the Hylian cavalry can't be silent, after all." Time imparted with a smile. "And neither can a king." And with that, he fired his Longshot at a faraway tree branch and swung to the other side of the room, leaving his descendant to just gape at him with his mouth open. Link shook his head violently to snap himself back to reality, then used his Double Clawshots to catch up with the Hero of Time.
"I know what you're gonna ask." Time interrupted as Twilight opened his mouth. "And you're right. The King of Hyrule appointed me to be his successor to the throne, on one condition: that I eventually marry his daughter Zelda. Given all we'd been through together in the Future that Never Was, it was a condition I gladly accepted. It felt like we'd spent years together, when in reality it was only a few short days between the time we met and when Ganondorf was arrested and executed." He mused, his mind in the past.
Twilight nodded, but then frowned. "There's something I still don't understand about that. If you went back in time and erased all that you did in that timeline, how is it still remembered today? I mean, it never happened in this reality." He asked with a quizzical frown.
Time smiled. "That's a good question, and believe me, you're not the first one to ask it. It's true that most of the tribes of Hyrule didn't remember my adventures through time, but the Sages did. And my Zelda, of course. And they passed those tales on to their descendants, continuing down through the generations. Also in some cases, I had to re-do my achievements in this time- such as 'saving' the Great Deku Tree, cleaning out Dodongo's Cavern and rescuing Ruto from Jabu-Jabu's insides, then dealing with Volvagia, Morpha, Bongo-Bongo and Twinrova- so really, not much was erased in terms of my achievements." He explained, then he led the way through the door. "Not to mention all the things I accomplished as a knight of Hyrule." He added with a lopsided smirk over his shoulder to an awed Twilight.
However, both chosen heroes gasped when they entered the next room. Creatures that looked like the Bulblin hordes were poking spears at a trapped Kokiri-turned-monkey, but there was something off about them. Even as both Links raced to help their friend and ally, Twilight noticed that the creatures looked… dead. Almost as if they were ReDead versions of themselves.* As if confirming this, Time elbowed one of the creatures in the face and started in surprise when the head just rolled off backwards and dropped to the ground like a lopped-off cabbage. Then he received an even bigger shock when the headless torso kept attacking him.
[Like the undead bokoblins in the basement of the Ancient Cistern in SS.]
"Apparently, headshots don't work!" Time called to his double, who chuckled as he fought his way through the guard to try to save the monkey. Suddenly an idea came to the reborn Hero. "Hey, keep fighting them back for a second. I wanna try something." Time announced, backflipping away a few feet and nocking an arrow. "Close your eyes!" He called, and Twilight obeyed without question- shielding the former Kokiri as well. Time muttered something under his breath and suddenly the arrowhead began to glow. He shot it into the circle of enemies, careful to avoid Link and the monkey. An explosion of light burst in front of Twilight's eyelids, but he didn't dare open them until he knew it was safe. And his answer came after a moment.
"Yep. Thought that'd do it." Time commented proudly, pleased that he'd found a way to kill these new enemies. "Just like ReDeads, Stalfos and Bubbles. A little bit of light, and they go to pieces. Literally!" He laughed, stowing his bow and quiver in his bottomless 'Adventure Pouch' on his belt. Strangely, the area around the young Hero of Twilight was now littered with purple Rupees instead of zombified Bulblins.
"How-" Twilight asked, once again stunned. "How did you do that?"
"What, the Light Arrow? Magic." Time answered, shrugging nonchalantly. "Which reminds me, I gotta teach you how to use magic one of these days. It's a wonder how you survived this long without it." Twilight scowled at this, but Time continued on as if he hadn't. "It's an absurdly useful skill, and it's really simple to learn too- that is, if you have magic in your blood. Which you do. All Hylians have it, and a few humans do as well. Remind me to give you a lesson when we get out of this place." Time requested and Twilight nodded- both excited and nervous, but mostly the former.
Things went on more smoothly from this point, now that they knew how to defeat their enemies. Time eradicated the enemies in every room while Twilight solved the puzzles. Eventually they freed all of the 'Kokiri', and the forest children rewarded them by making a giant swing that led to the boss room- the same thing they had done for Twilight the first time. Though this time one marsupial was missing: Saria.
Time jumped on first, but still held on for the swing back, the monkeys now holding his ankles. "Come on!" He laughed. "Don't you trust your old teacher?"
Twilight made a face at him, but jumped anyway- letting Time catch his wrists. To his relief, he made it to the ledge without falling into the chasm. He stood to the side as Time swung back, but he turned a backward somersault before landing gracefully on his feet.
Showoff. Twilight thought with a roll of his eyes, then they inserted the two Big Keys that they'd found in the dungeon into the big door and rolled the stones away so they could enter the last room.
As they entered, both boys gasped- though for different reasons. This room wasn't like this last time! What's going on here? Twilight thought. Beside him, Time looked horrified. These paintings on the walls- this malevolent force in the air- Oh no. No no no- Not him. Anyone but him-!
As if to confirm Time's worst fear, Phantom Ganon burst out of a shadow portal in one of the pictures and laughed maniacally. Already knowing what to expect from last time, Time drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Beside him, his peripheral vision told him Twilight had done the same.
"Aim for his horse." Time whispered to his partner. "It's just an illusion and will vanish after a few solid hits. Then we tackle the rider." He instructed, and Link nodded quickly. "He'll try to confuse us by making two portals, so only fire at him as he's jumping out or you'll waste your arrows."
Phantom Ganon laughed again, then leapt into a portal within a painting. As the heroes battled the boss, Time mused, It's like 'Old Hyrule' and the 'new' Hyrule somehow combined. I mean, this temple was like an amalgamation of 'my' Forest temple and Link's. What in the name of Hylia is going on here?
Eventually the phantom steed vanished just as Time had said it would, and Time caught Twilight's eye. "Link, catch!" He called, tossing a sword to the young Hero hilt-first. Twilight caught it expertly and marveled at its beauty. "It's no Master Sword, but it's still infused with magic. It should be able to deflect his energy attacks." Time growled in explanation, still focusing the majority of his attention on Phantom Ganon.
When the boss turned his attention to Twilight for a moment, Time suddenly cried out in agony as he donned the Fierce Deity's mask, but recovered quickly as he shot an energy blast of his own at the specter from his double-helix greatsword. The foe shrieked in pain and anger as he was brought down, allowing Twilight to pummel him with a few well-placed jump slashes from the Gilded Sword. Five times they repeated this process, and after the last blow- the poltergeist whimpered in defeat. Then it wheezed, "I finally free myself from the gap between dimensions, only to be defeated again! Forgive me, Master! I've- failed- you-" Then he burst into blue flames and faded from this world.
With a tired but satisfied huff, Time carefully removed his mask and stored it in his 'masks pouch', returning to his Hylian form. He reached into another pouch on his belt and drew out a belt and scabbard for the Gilded Sword, which he handed to Twilight. Link took the gift reverently and buckled it across his chest, sheathing the blade behind his left shoulder.
"I got that blade in Termina when I was thirteen." Time explained to an awed Twilight. "It's essentially a reforged Kokiri Sword with more gold in it. Like I said earlier, it's no Master Sword, but it's still the best magical blade that you'll find in this world- I guarantee it." He assured, cracking his neck loudly out of habit.
"Thank you, Link." An astral projection of Saria whispered, and both Chosen Heroes nodded at the Sage of Forest. Then both boys took out their ocarinas and played the Minuet of Forest in unison, Time using his gift from his Zelda and Twilight using the rose-colored Ocarina of Friendship.
As the emerald sparkles faded, Ilia ran to her best friend and tackled him in a warm embrace. "You're safe! Thank Farore you're both all right!"
Twilight blushed bashfully and Time smiled. "The temple is back to normal as well. I don't know why all of the enemies are reanimated rotting corpses, but rest assured- I will find a way to put an end to this and whoever is causing it." He vowed, putting a fist over his heart. Twilight nodded, promising his help as well.
"So where to next?" Time asked, and Link shrugged. Ilia's green eyes sparkled. "I want to show you our home. Let's go back to Ordon." She suggested, and Twilight agreed. It would be interesting to see how the villagers would react to Time's appearance, how it was so similar to his own. Especially Bo and Rusl, given that they knew so many of the legends of the Hero of Time.
"I would be honored. Lead the way, Lady Ilia." Time bowed, causing the young woman to flush. "J-just 'Ilia' is fine." She mumbled, but no one heard it. Then she started back to her home village, the land protected by the Light Spirit Ordona.
End of chapter 3
Next Chapter Teaser: Revenge
And I'm taking more artistic liberties, making nonexistent connections between my favorite characters. Keep in mind that this is a fanfiction. I claim no ownership of any of these characters. They belong to the immensely talented Shigeru Miyamoto-sama.
Sorry for skipping the temple, but I'm really not good at things like that. I'll leave it up to your own imaginations. Just picture a composite of the OoT Forest temple and the TP one. On the other hand, if any of you wonderful readers are good at that sort of thing, lemme know and I'll put your work in the chapter! (And give you the credit, of course!)
Time's reaction to Phantom Ganon's reappearance was based entirely on my own feelings. He's by far the hardest boss in OoT for me- except maybe Bongo-Bongo- given that I absolutely FAIL at aiming the bow. Kudos to all of you who find him easy as pie. XD
Oh, and after you (that is, OoT Link) defeat PG in the Forest temple, Ganon-dork (Sorry, Ganondorf) says, quote, "What a useless creation that ghost was! I will banish it to the gap between dimensions!" So that's what PG was talking about.
Throughout the rest of this adventure, Time will be using the masks he got in Termina (sometimes), and Twilight will be using a few 'gifts' from his old teacher to fight. The Master Sword will no longer work for either Hero, as it has already fulfilled its purpose. It will rest in the Sacred Grove until the next hero comes along to pull it from the stone. (The 'Hero of the Wild', possibly? -Or maybe not. I can't be right about everything, can I? XD)
-Then again, maybe it is! The next game in the Child Timeline is Four Swords Adventures, and that game uses the Four Sword instead of the Master Sword. Hmmm- So, the next game to use Fi's vessel could very well be BotW, especially if Nintendo confirms the 'merged timelines' theory. We'll just have to wait and see!
See you next chapter!
God Bless!
Tsunami Storm