I'm so sorry for forgetting to post this for so long, I had so much going on. First it was holiday stuff, then I was sick (great way to spend a holiday, am I right?), and then work on top of everything else. Point is I had so much going on this got pushed to the back of my mind.
Chapter Ten
War is Declared
For about a minute nobody moved or said a word, the gods stood there, or perhaps rather one manifestation of them. They could exist in multiple places at once so maybe they were also still on Olympus. But why had they all appeared here? This had never happened before.
"Umm, what's going on?" Percy asked hesitantly.
"The Yiga attack on Camp Jupiter made us realize the magnitude of the crisis." Zeus immediately rumbled in reply, but not really giving an answer.
"What my father means to say is that the attack opened our eyes to a truth that we have never before had to acknowledge." Artemis said with a sideways look at her father, still dodging a clear answer.
Athena interjected, "The fact that these traitorous people managed to locate you, it is truly troubling. We all have decided that in light of this and the looming time of destiny that we will need to stand alongside our offspring." Finally, a straight answer.
All of us mortals gasped, this was absolutely unheard of! The last time the gods had done anything like this was during the second Giant War. But this was different, when they said stand beside us, it gave an impression of something else. An impression that it could be imperative to our survival for whatever reason.
"But…mother the ancient law…" Annabeth trailed off.
"Peace my child." Athena raised a hand.
"To answer your question, Annabeth, we only recently learned ourselves that the ancient law apparently has the ability to make an exception. Though whether it's because of the magnitude of the disaster or because this crisis is because of something which is older than us and therefore not included in the law, we don't know." Poseidon said with a nod, slightly leaning against his trident.
"Well…I guess that's great. It seems like we might actually have a chance now!" Percy says happily.
Athena gives him a look, "We can't say that for certain yet, son of Poseidon." She notices Annabeth looking at her irately, "But we must hope for the best, your hopeful nature is commendable, I'll give you that."
Over the next few weeks there was a rush of activity in camp, Athena worked with the lead scientists here and together they devised a new technology that astounded everyone, well almost everyone. My wife and I were not surprised, it was actually quite similar to the fast travel mechanism I had utilized heavily prior to my defeat of the calamity. There was a travel gate here in Camp Half-Blood. It was difficult to make though, it had necessitated me temporarily relinquishing the Sheikah slate. I reluctantly did so, but I was assured it would be fine.
Once its travel ability was duplicated, the slate was returned to me. Each outpost soon was given its own travel gate, on both the Greek and Roman sides. This way if there was trouble, help could arrive in moments, regardless of where in the country it was. It ended up being almost just in time because not long after there was a distress call from one of the outposts. They were under attack by the Yiga clan.
The moment the notice came in over our radio in our house, I immediately grabbed my sword and shield and began heading for the door. Anger was beginning to rise in me, those monstrous people who killed my father were attacking us, I had a chance to settle this score.
"Link? Where are you going?" Zelda's voice cut through the thickening fog of rage in my mind.
"I'm going to help the outpost, darling. I have to help them." I reply softly.
"No! You can't go! What if you don't come back?" The distress in her voice makes me turn back to her.
She's standing there, cradling Ilia in her arms, looking frightened. I quickly make my way back over to her, take her face in my hands and press a reassuring kiss to her lips. I tell her I will come back, how nothing could ever change that.
"But…I'm so scared for you! Please don't go! What if they take you away from me?" She pleads, almost in tears.
A lump appears in my throat, seeing her in this much distress really hurt me too. It made me feel like I'd failed her, it really did.
"My love, I need you to trust me with this. You know they need me there, the Yiga don't stand a chance against me, and plus how can I be the legendary hero if I hide from the Yiga?" I softly ask.
I can tell she sees the truth of that because she hesitates, then says softly, "Just…promise me you'll come back home to me…OK? Don't leave me alone, I won't ever love anyone else!"
"Don't worry, I'll be back my darling, I'll be back for you and our little one." I say looking down at our daughter in her arms as I run a hand through her hair.
"Good luck Link, and you be careful you hear me?" Zelda urges me as I walk to the door.
"I will dear, I will." I assure her with a smile as I walk out.
I quickly made my way to the travel gate, just as the group of volunteers who'd decided to go assist the outpost were about to leave. Most of them are former cadets of mine.
"Wait up!" I call out, skidding to a stop.
"Sir Link! You decided to come too?" One of my former cadets asks me.
"Yes, I did." I reply stepping onto the travel gate.
Then I notice Ganondorf standing there too.
"No, you're not coming." I say instantly, responding to a gut instinct in my mind.
"What? Do you still not trust me?" He scowls.
"This isn't about trust, I don't want the Yiga to know we have you, not yet at least." I quickly reply.
He hesitates, "But…" he trails off.
I cut in, "Look, Ganondorf. I just have this gut feeling like you need to lay low for now."
He nods and steps off the platform, the operator begins the warping sequence. Ganondorf meets my gaze again.
"Give them hell for what they've done Link." He says seriously.
"That's the plan, my friend, that's the plan." I respond as we finally warp away.
As my vision goes blue, I reflect on my motivation for this. 'I do this for my friends. I do this for my dear family, my precious daughter Ilia, and my beloved wife Zelda. I do this for them, I will protect them.'
We materialize on the outpost's travel gate, I quickly assess who all is in this rescue party. There are about twenty of us, most of them, as I'd already noticed, former cadets of mine. This was good, very good. We meet up with the generals in this outpost to come up with a plan.
"We need to get those Yiga archers attention off our defenders." One of the generals says.
"I have an idea that might work." I say.
"What is it?" One of my former cadets asks.
"I could lead an attack group out to engage the enemy while our archers lay down suppressing fire." I say confidently.
"I'm sorry sir, but I can't let you do that." One of the generals says apologetically.
"Why not?" I ask, turning my gaze on the general and leveling an intense stare at him.
"With all due respect sir, you're married and have a child, therefore you shouldn't be taking these kinds of risks…...…your wife would never forgive us if something happened to you." Another of my former cadets, a young woman who is a daughter of Nemesis, tells me firmly, gripping her spear tightly.
"I assure you I have no plan on dying today. Furthermore, I'm the one who has the best chance of pulling this off successfully. The Yiga clan will jump at the opportunity to fight me themselves." I reply, while thinking that although she was sort of going against her commanding officer she did have a point.
"I still don't like this idea, you're our best fighter yes, but you're not a god." Lexa, who had also come with us, speaks up.
I turn to her, my eyes narrowed a little, directing a piercing gaze at her. She looks back at me stonily, not intimidated in the slightest.
"I'm not letting you do this unless I can come with you." She firmly states.
I want to argue; that she's married herself, that she shouldn't be taking these risks either, but there's no time, I concede to her request. We draw up our plan and then move off toward the gate. Our group gets in formation, ready to go. I look up at the watchtowers.
"Open the gate!" I command.
The gate rumbles up and the archers all increase their rate of fire, holding back the Yiga archers as we charge out and forward. The Yiga soldiers drew their sickles and windcleavers and charged towards us as well.
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Third Person Zelda POV
Fear, that was only word to describe how she was feeling right now. She held Ilia to her chest tightly as her husband left the house and made his way down to the travel gate to aid the outpost. She was so worried about him, she was terrified he wouldn't come back. But she had let him go, knowing he would torture himself with self-hatred if he stayed and the outpost fell. He would never be able to forgive himself, so she allowed him to leave despite her fears.
Despite her attempts to focus on other things, her mind kept coming back to her beloved hero. All she could think about was how he was fighting somewhere and she wasn't there to protect him and make sure he was alright. Deep down though, she knew she had to sit this one out. She couldn't leave their daughter unattended and go after her husband, nor could she take their child into a veritable battlefield. As much as it hurt her, she knew that in having to sit this one out, if the worst happened and the outpost fell, their daughter wouldn't lose both her parents.
After about an hour, she couldn't take it anymore. Picking up Ilia she made her way to the travel gate, intent now on waiting there for her darling husband. When she got there, the person in the front looked up, and upon seeing her spoke up.
"Mrs. Parker? What can I do for you?" They asked, "You know your husband wouldn't want you and your daughter to be in danger."
"I was wondering if it would be alright if I waited here until they got back?" She asked hesitantly.
"Oh…sure! Yes, of course you may!" They quickly said, perhaps a little too quickly…
Not noticing how they sent a message on their communication device on their wrist, Zelda sat herself down on one of the chairs by the front entrance with Ilia seated on her lap. A few minutes later, Zelda was slightly surprised when she was pulled from her thoughts about her husband.
"Hey Zelda." Came Annabeth's voice.
Zelda looked up to see her and Percy walking over.
"What are you doing here?" Zelda asked them.
"Could ask you the same." Annabeth deflected.
Zelda pondered how she should respond, when Annabeth continued, "Your silence speaks volumes."
Zelda hesitated, slightly enfolding her daughter in her arms.
"You're worried about your husband, I get that, believe me I've been there myself." Annabeth tried to comfort her friend.
"What if he doesn't come back? What if I lose him? What if the Yiga take him away from me?" She said, distress mounting. Even though it was during a completely different lifetime, seeing her husband die in her arms once had been enough for eternity. She still feared that very thing whenever her husband was in battle.
"Hey, remember I said I've been there? Some years ago, before Percy and I got married, Hera took him away and dropped him into Camp Jupiter after wiping his memory. For months, I dragged myself around in exhaustion from my constant worry for him." Annabeth soothed.
"If I may add something as well?" Percy chimed in.
Zelda nodded worriedly.
"I admit I don't know your husband as well as you do, obviously, but I know him well enough to know how much he cares about you and Ilia. I've honestly never seen someone more devoted to their family than him. Not only that but if there's anyone in this world who can pull this off and keep everyone safe, it's him." He assured her confidently. "You won't lose him Zelda, he won't let that happen, because he knows how much you care for him. Never in a billion years would he throw that away."
"I suppose you're right." Zelda dipped her head, accepting their reassurance.
"Indeed, and you should start trusting your husband with his abilities. I realized years ago that I needed to do the same for Percy or I would never stop being tortured with worry for him." Annabeth said warmly, placing a hand on Zelda's shoulder.
"We are talking about a man who despite being almost a decade younger than me managed to best me in a fight in less than two minutes even though he was just sixteen years old." Percy reminded Zelda. "That's another thing I'd never even imagined, while I wouldn't say I'm even one of the best swordsmen in existence, your husband definitely is the best. I have never seen anyone perform so gracefully with a blade, it's almost like he was born for it."
Annabeth chimed in, "Despite that, he still is very much a gentle soul. It's honestly kind of a paradox to be frank. A born warrior with what I have to admit is the gentlest heart I've seen, I understand why he would be the goddesses' chosen."
Zelda knew it was true, throughout all their lifetimes together he had never faltered in his generosity to help others and herself, he would even risk his own life for strangers who were in danger.
"Thank you, that's very kind of both of you." Zelda said softly before lapsing into silence.
Annabeth and Percy walked out then leaving Zelda and her daughter to wait for their husband and father respectively to come home.
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My POV
The plan was going pretty well to be honest, as we charged the Yiga, I whipped out the slate and threw bombs amongst the Yiga. The blasts decimated the attacking Yiga force, their bodies blown away by the bursts. Even when a blademaster suddenly teleported in front of me and raised his windcleaver I didn't flinch. Driving the Master Sword into his chest without slowing down, I jumped over his fallen corpse and continued making my way to densest cluster of Yiga soldiers.
I zeroed in on the tall burly figure of Sooga, distinctive from the other blademasters by his "M" shaped hair style. My former cadets, now skilled and formidable fighters, engaged the other Yiga, keeping them from swarming me. I charged Sooga, he quickly noticed me and bent forward a little, hands on the hilts of his swords. I quickly realized what he was about to do, and right as he began to charge forward and draw his blades to cut me down I activated the cryonis rune. The pillar of ice rose underneath me, launching me into the air a little. Sooga smashed into the column of ice at full speed, dazed from the impact he just stood there for only a few moments.
That was all I needed though, I somersaulted down from above him, sword directed downward. I dealt him a major blow, but he wasn't dead, not yet at least. He staggered back to his feet, and faced me.
"You have some skill I see, perhaps our strategy should have focused more on you." He addressed me directly, voice deep. "It matters not however, I will banish you from this plane of existence!"
As he prepared himself for his strike, I raised my blade into the air, preparing to unleash a great spin and when I spun in the great sweeping circle of destruction, almost all the Yiga were dispatched in an instant, Sooga was flung backwards about twenty feet.
"What a blunder." He muttered, getting up again. "I suppose destiny is at work, the future is fickle. Yiga clan! Time to go!" He called out in his deep voice.
With that all the surviving Yiga teleported away, it was over, for now. As my cadets and I made our way back to the outpost, I took in my comrades' condition. They were all accounted for thank the goddesses, and none were seriously hurt thanks to the training they'd received from my lessons. Upon reentering the outpost, we found that fortunately our losses had been minor, some of our archers had been struck down but that was about it. We commemorated our fallen and honored their memory.
Those of us who had come to help stepped back up on the travel gate, ready to go home. I promised that we would soon send additional archers to replace our fallen soldiers. Then the warp sequence activated and we were transported back to Camp Half-Blood.
Upon reappearing on the platform, I immediately noticed my wife sitting in a chair by the front entrance with our daughter on her lap. I was moving even before I realized it, I quickly made my way over to them. Zelda instantly noticed me and quickly got to her feet, her face melting into an expression of intense relief.
"Link! You're back!" She said, her voice delicate with the strength of her relief to see me back and unharmed.
I embraced her, hugging her as tightly I could without crushing our little girl between us. I pressed a passionate kiss to my wife's lips, then angled my head down to look at our little angel. I stroked a hand through her hair, my heart almost melting in my chest with affection for my child. I would fight a thousand battles for these two people. My wife and daughter meant the world to me, more than that even. There weren't words to describe how much they meant to me.
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"I think it's safe to say that they'll never stop, we should formally engage them and show them what happens when they get on our bad side!" Clarisse barked out, to no great surprise.
We were all in a council meeting, everyone was present and accounted for. The gods were also standing off to the side.
"My daughter's right, those Yiga scum have attacked us and need to be obliterated immediately!" Ares spat venomously.
"Although quick to jump to conclusions and impulsive, Ares and Clarisse are right." Athena said, with a disdainful sideways glance at the war god.
"Right! Of course, I'm…wait a minute who are you calling…?" Ares was cut off.
"Ares." Zeus rumbled, a warning clear in his voice.
"We all know what must be done now." Hera rephrases the statement, nodding seriously.
"You mean we declare war against the Yiga and the demon king." I state flatly, hardly surprised.
"Yes, son of Athena, chosen hero." Hera replies.
"If we do this, there's no going back. We commit to this and they are going to throw everything they've got at us." Zelda sighs, her voice full of wisdom.
"We need to be sure we're ready." I agree.
"You already are, my son." My mother says warmly. "You have us, we stand alongside you remember?"
"Very well then, so that's what we'll do." Zelda says tensely.
This was it, we were now at war. A war that was obviously going to determine the fate of this world, a war that had been uncountable eons in the making, the war between good and evil.