Disclaimer: I do not own any Legend of Zelda Characters or ideas
Ch 9 The Fall of a Kingdom
Senseless slaughter. That's all there was to it. As Link ran by the mobs of maddened hylians, hacking apart anyone nearby, he was filled with grief. He was powerless, Dampe, Impa, and now all of Castle Town. He couldn't save anyone, even during his time in the future, all of the sages, he never made it in time, always a second too late. He then thought of Saria's death, how much it hurt him, how much rage he had, and how much he missed her. 'But she's back now,' Link thought to himself, passing a guard impaling a maddened housewife into the wall, 'If we make it out of this, I'll tell her just how I feel, regardless if she feels the same.' Link made a vow, he would tell Saria, no matter what.
As Link approached the castle gate, he was met with none other that King Faraam himself, "Link my boy," the king greeted. "Hurry this way," the king then waved Link forward. As Link passed the king, the king's eyes fixated on the body Link was carrying, "By the goddesses, is that-?" Faraam cut himself off, knowing the answer. But his head did not drop, he may have trusted Impa with his life, she may have been the best swordsman he had ever known, but he had a kingdom to run, a kingdom to save. There was no time for such emotion.
As Link and Faraam entered the courtyard, Zelda and Saria ran up to them, then Zelda started, "Father, Link, what is happening out there? I hear so many screams, how bad is-" Zelda then stared at Link, or more specifically, at what he was carrying. "I-Is that-?" Zelda then realized exactly what, or rather who Link was carrying. As Link laid the sheikah on the ground, Zelda crawled up to her, "I-Impa?" Zelda shook her, without a response. As tears welled in her eyes, she let out a screech that not even King Faraam Roalus Hyrule could stop from having his heart torn from his chest. Impa had been there for the princess, ever since her mother had been lost during childbirth. Impa was everything to Zelda, and now she was gone.
King Faraam then turned his gaze towards Link, "So tell me Link, what happened down there? How bad is it?"
As Link explained everything, from the explosion, to the horde of stalchildren, and eventually, the deception that led to Impa"s death. This of course led Saria to be full of rage, an emotion alien to kokiri, but she was hylian, and she was pissed. How dare someone use her image? Especially against her friends, Saria could not forgive this. However, her anger was nothing compared to Zelda's. Taking a single glance at her eyes was enough to unnerve Ganondorf himself. Seeing this, and how unresponsive everyone else was, King Faraam looked towards his soldiers, "Men! Save anyone in the town that you can and bring them back to the castle for sanctuary! We shall not fall to this hell spawn! We will rise above this 'Xantam' and watch as his head rolls from the gallows! And once this is all over, every soldier here shall get a ten percent increase in salary!" King Faraam then raised his fist in the air, earning a fierce cheer from the small army he had before him.
As the soldiers readied themselves for a charge, they were stopped by a mod of maddened citizens, rampaging towards the castle gate. King Faraam once again looked to his soldiers, "Men! Prepare yourselves for battle! Some of these poor souls may have been your friends once, but now they will not hesitate to kill you," King Faraam then reached behind his back and pulled out his royal greatsword and greatshield, both golden with gemstone embellishments, wielding each in one arm, and impressive feat of strength, "Nor should you" he finished, flourishing his blade at the mob.
Link then drew his gilded sword and hylian shield, Saria her kokiri staff, one she carved by hand from a large deku stick, and even Zelda, the princess who hated violence, drew her rapier. As the mob broke through the gate, and charged for the castle, all the soldiers, Faraam, Link, Saria, and Zelda charged into battle. Claire used her fairy magic to slightly boost the mobility of the small army, which strained her greatly, but she knew she had to help somehow.
Link jumped headfirst into the onslaught, cutting down the people he'd sword to protect. "Damnit! When I get my hands on that bastard Xantam I'll-" Link cut himself off, and looked to the sky. Saria's barrier was still there, which meant that the sorcerer was still somewhere in town. "Saria! Fall back! You need to keep the barrier up!" Link shouted.
Saria was about to question Link's motives, but as he shot a look straight at her, she understood. "Alright, but make sure you actually catch him this time." Saria then jumped back, casting long range spells, but still focusing on the barrier.
Link was in awe of how much Saria had grown, just a few years ago she had no control over her magic, always putting too much power into her spells, but now she was keeping a defensive barrier up, while fighting a mob of enemies. She was truly the Sage of the Forest.
Link then continued cutting down the former citizens of Hyrule, as King Faraam used his royal greatsword to cut another row of citizens clear in half, scattering innocent blood across the field. Coating the king's white beard in a thick red coat of blood. As he raised his greatshield to another onslaught of citizens, he pushed the group back, as he rose a fallen soldier to his feet, "On your feet soldier! We have a kingdom to save!"
Zelda was rapidly swiping her rapier, piercing the bodies of multiple citizens she once promised to protect, this made her feel sick. She despised violence with every fiber of her being, but she had no choice, she had to kill her kingdom….to save her kingdom. As her thoughts rambled, they eventually sat on Impa, her smile, her frustration, even the way she walked. She would never hear or see any of those things again. All because of Xantam, her thoughts then made her furious, letting the darkness within her heart take over for but a second, "Nayru's Blast of Holy Light!" Zelda blasted the group in front of her with a divine light, disintegrating all in its path, catching some hylian soldiers in the crossfire.
"Arrrghhhh!" A hylian soldier, caught at the side of the blast screamed in pain, with a massive gash just under his knee. Zelda and King Faraam were the only ones who had witnessed what had just happened, other than the wounded soldier.
"ZELDA!" Faraam screeched running over to the fallen man, cutting down any maddened citizens in his way, "What have you done?!"
"I-I don't remember," what was she just thinking about anyway? On top of that, when did she learn that spell? Zelda then shook her head, approaching the soldier, "We must get you to the rear, we can heal you there," Zelda then reached to the man, only for her father's hand to block her.
"No, I will take this man back myself, you continue out here," he ordered
"But father," Zelda tried to argue
"That is an order, my daughter," Faraam then picked up the wounded soldier and carried him off, thinking to himself, 'What in the goddesses name's happened to my little girl?'
Zelda then looked back to the mob, and to the large area of scorched earth that laid before her, 'Did I really do that?'
Link was still slashing into numerous maddened citizens as they poured to him. But he was curious what had just happened, what was that light? And that scream? Whatever it was couldn't have been good, but he had other priorities right now. He had to finish off the rest of this mob, and find Xantam. Find him, and kill him.
Faraam finally reached the rear of the small army, where Saria was, and placed the injured soldier down in the grass. The king reached into his pouch and pulled out a red potion, handing it to the soldier. "I sincerely apologize for what happened. I would ask to purchase this event from your memory, exclusively." King Faraam and the soldier then went on bartering over the story.
Saria looked over to the king, noticing he and the soldier were not in any peril, she continued casting her spells towards the oncoming mob, however she had an uneasy feeling over what was happening between the king and that soldier, something seemed….off about him. Saria then sent a telepathic message to Link "Link, the king and some soldier are back here with me, but something doesn't seem right. I need you back here."
"Understood, on my way," Link replied. You couldn't be too careful in these situations.
The soldier, now fully healed, looked towards the king, "Now that is a number we can agree on," he then shook his hand.
Link however was now at the rear as well, and looked at the soldier. His eyes now widened, that soldier, it was the mole! "King! Get back!"
The king then turned towards Link, as the soldier let out a devilish smile. He reached towards his sword that was on his side, and cut through the king's neck, cutting his head clean off. "Ahahah!" he let out a maniacal laugh "Ohhh the King is Dead!" he then gestured over to the forest sage, "Long live the King!"
Saria, frozen in shock over what had just happened, felt a breath down her neck. "Hello darling," a foul voice called over her shoulder. However, before she could react, a quick attack from the sorcerer's staff to the back of the head knocked her out cold.
"You bastard!" Link lunged at the sorcerer, he of course was furious at the mole as well, but this man had Saria, he could not stand for that. As he swung his sword straight at the man, the sorcerer moved Saria's unconscious body in front of the blade, forcing Link to stop his attack mid swing. "Oh ho ho, you fucking coward" Link fumed at the sorcerer.
"Be quiet boy, soon enough you'll be dealt with as well. Once the almighty God of Darkness returns come next year, this world shall be reborn anew! With me at its true god's side!"
"You're just a pawn, you dumbass! A pawn I will cut down with my own hand!" Link was furious at the sorcerer, he had been a stain on this world for far too long.
"Not if you want your precious sage left in one piece you're not," he then pulled out a knife, holding it to Saria's throat. Causing Link to growl in rage.
However, much to everyone's surprise, Claire appeared behind the sorcerer, and blinded him with fairy light, pulling the knife away from him, and thrusting it into his side. "Keep your hands off my companion!" Claire then rushed back at the man, only to be swatted away.
"Foolish weakling, you cannot stop me, none of you can," Xantam then floated in the air, as Saria's protection faded over the area. "There's my queue," as he started to make his escape, the mole then called out to the sorcerer.
"Master! Don't forget about me!" He then held his hand out, expecting to be carried with him.
"Oh don't worry, I'm not." He then disappeared into a black smoke, with Saria.
Link then let out a blood curdling scream, as he was surrounded by maddened citizens.
"LINK" Claire screeched at the hylian, expecting the worst.
"DIN'S VENGEFUL FLAMES OF NINE HELL'S!" Link thrusted his sword into the ground, "MAY ALL YOU SINNERS BURN AWAY IN A SEA OF FIRE DESPAIR!" A thick whirlwind of blood red flames then circled around Link, spreading out to the entire battlefield, scorching all the remaining maddened citizens to nothing but ash.
As all the soldiers, Claire, and Zelda looked towards the source of the magic, they then saw the horrible truth. Their king, King Faraam Roalus Hyrule, was dead. Zelda, however, said nothing. She didn't shed a single tear. She instead walked up to the mole, knowing full well what he had done based on the blood on his blade. Link also walked up, coming to Zelda's side. "Link," she began, "He took Saria, didn't he? That's why you unleashed that abomination of a spell,"
"Yes, he did," he clenched his fist, cutting into his palms, "And this bastard is at the root of it all." He then lifted his sword in the air, only to be stopped by Zelda, "Why would you defend him?! After all, he's done!"
"Quiet! Do you know where Xantam has gone?" Zelda argued
"N-no" Link replied, lowering his sword.
"Exactly, we have no ideas. We have so many questions about this sorcerer," She then pointed her rapier to the throat of the mole, "and we need answers." Her attention was now directed to the mole, "Lucky for you! That woman your 'master' killed? She was very important to me, she was very violent, and since I hate violence I hated that about her."
The mole let out a quick snort, "Yeah? What of it?"
"Well you see, she was very persistent and made me sure I knew EVERYTHING about her methods of getting information. And now, with my father lying in his own blood, I have nothing left to lose." She then made a quick slash into the tendon of the man's right arm, forcing him to drop his sword.
"Damnit! You bitch!" He then lunged at Zelda, only to be kicked back down by Link.
"Link, I need you to carry this traitor to our dungeon beneath the castle, I shall show you the way." Zelda then set off, beckoning the hylian.
"With pleasure" Link then roughly picked up the mole, being sure to put a lot of pressure on his wound, causing him great pain.
Claire then came floating up behind the two "Are you sure you guys want to do this? Zelda I thought you hated violence."
"I did, but now as I lost everything, I know how foolish I was. This world runs on violence, and if you don't throw your glove in, you'll fall into its darkness." She didn't even bother to look at the fairy, she wasn't going to be swayed away.
"Well what about you Link? Do you think Saria would want this?" She pleaded to the hylian, this was wrong, there had to be other ways of finding Saria.
"Damnit Claire! First you give Saria a very shady potion that 'might' make her hylian, and now you try to talk down to me about finding out where she is? I am trying to save her! Not risk her life over some pipe dream!" Link shouted at the fairy.
Claire grew impatient and shouted back, "Excuse me? I saved her too! Do you know how she was while you were gone? She was a mess! She sat around her house all day for weeks! When I finally got her outside she wouldn't talk to the other kokiri! Want to know why she was in the Sacred Forest Meadow when you came back for those couple of days? Because she wanted to be away from everyone else as she cried for you! She of course made me swear not to tell you any of this but fuck that! If you want to act all righteous like the 'Legendary Hero of Time' can do no wrong, then you deserve to know. If you went on this quest without her, it would have killed her. So forgive me for putting the wishes of my charge in front of your precious superiority complex!" Claire then sped past Link, flying back outside of the castle, as Link stood in shock. Was Saria really in that bad of shape while he was gone? Why didn't she tell him?
"You coming?" Zelda asked the stunned hylian,
Link shook his head, jumping him out of his thoughts, "Y-yeah, of course. Lead the way Zelda."
As the two went down a spiraling staircase, Link's mind started to wander. Would Saria want this? No, of course not, but he knew he had to. Even If there was another way, he might be too late by then, he had to do this, whatever it takes, for Saria.
Zelda then came to a stop in front of an old iron door, a stench of blood leaking from the room. As she pushed the door open, a large whine echoed from the door. The light breached into the room, revealing a lone chair in the center of the room, with a masterful collection of all sorts of tools Impa had collected over the years. She then pointed at the chair, with cuffs on the arms, legs, and neck for whoever got placed in it. "Strap him in Link, we don't want him moving."
"Right" Link locked the traitor in the chair, and backed up to Zelda.
"Right, good work Link. I'll take it over from here." Zelda then reached for, what seemed to be, a large pair of shears, however they were rusted, and bloodied. "Now then, we can do this the easy way, where you tell us everything we want to know without a fuss. Or, we can do it the hard way, where I have to get….creative, and start chopping away." She then jabbed the blades into the chair, in between the traitor's legs.
"Heh, do your worst whore, I would never betray Lord Xantam." The traitor mocked, although not without a quiver in his voice.
"Very well." Zelda then looked to Link, "Strip him Link, it will make things easier to cut through,"
"Understood." Link quickly complied, feeling no remorse for the monster in the chair. He deserved worse than whatever Zelda would give him.
As Zelda slowly cut into the man piece by piece, screams filled the castle dungeons that would unnerve anyone who was nearby, however Link and Zelda stood unphased. They needed the information he had, on top of that, this traitor led to the murder of Impa, the destruction of Castle Town, the slaughter of its populace, and the assassination of the king. He deserved far worse than anything they could do.
As the hours ticked by, the man finally caved "AGhhh, Alright! He has a hideout in the Gerudo Desert! He probably took your friend there!"
"We're going to need more than a 'probably' worthless scum," Zelda spat
"I don't know anymore than that I swear! It's the only thing he told me other than that he'd revive the 'One True God' to 'shape the world into one fit for such a being.' As far as I know it's his headquarters, just please end this." The man sobbed into his own blood.
"Where in the desert?" Link demanded
"Near the Spirit Temple, instead of following the markers, you have to go East. Eventually you'll reach a small building, in there is a door and a staircase leading down. I don't know the exact spot." The man then groaned in pain, and continued to sob.
"Better than nothing," Link looked towards Zelda, "I don't think he knows anymore."
"I agree," Zelda then grabbed her rapier, and quickly slashed at the man, slitting his throat. As the man started choking on his own blood, Zelda looked back to Link. "You should go and see what you can find. I have to stay here and repair the town…..and arrange two funerals." Zelda then began to walk out. Only to be stopped by Link.
"Zelda, I'm here if you want to talk."
She only brushed him off, "About what? How my family is dead? I'd rather not. Now make your way to the desert, we didn't go through all this so you could waste time saying ridiculous things." Zelda then pushed past Link, and walked upstairs, towards the courtyard.
"Right," Link said to no one, he looked back to the traitor, who was now motionless, dead. He let out a quick chuckle, "Guess you did betray the 'Great Lord Xantam' after all didn't you?" He then walked upstairs, towards the courtyard. Making his way to Gerudo Desert.
Author's Note: I had a harder time trying to get this all to flow together for some reason, but I eventually got it out. As Always thank you for reading! Be sure to leave a Review!