Time had not been kind to Captain Alphon.
He was thin from the limited rations of bread and water pushed intermittently through a slot in the dungeon door. He could feel the wrinkles on his face and he had to cope with his dirty, unshaven beard. On rare occasions, he tried to stand up and pretend that he was holding a sword, but each motion he tried seemed slower than it would have been before his imprisonment.
And still, that was not the worst of his situation.
He had been completely alone for the duration of his imprisonment. He had learned early on that shouting out demands to his captors on the other side earned him no chance to see any other prisoners held in this bleak place. He had not been allowed to see any of his men. He did not know where Princess Zelda was, or what condition his son Link was in. That monster...
Captain Alphon huddled himself in the corner to stay warm, but he felt the chill down his spine nonetheless. He had no idea what had happened to his son. Of course, he tried to think of the situation rationally. Link was still young and strong. He was nowhere to be seen at the castle. There had only been the apparition that had disguised itself as him. But such facts did nothing to help the man's mood.
So there he sat, as he did nearly every day, cursing his luck and feeling tormented by the memories of his men and his son. The schedule had been consistent, and he had no reason to think anything could break it.
So of course, he had not expected Princess Zelda to materialize beside him.
It was strange...it was as if she had simply popped into existence. He sat there dumbly, looking up at the young girl in the crown and the long pink dress. The fact that she was holding a strange black helmet under her arm barely registered in his mind. It took him a few more seconds to find himself close to reality.
Have I truly gone mad? He questioned himself. Surely this is a dream, a figment of my imagination...
Then Zelda curtsied.
"Your Highness!" He shuffled on to one foot, kneeling before the princess.
"I am glad to see that you are alive, Captain Alphon." Princess Zelda smiled her famous smile, the one the knight had seen so many times in the past. His heart welled up. But even so, he remembered his station.
"My lady, how can I be of service? And where are we?"
"Don't you recall?" Zelda frowned slightly. "A monster born from the shadows trapped us here, in the Palace of Winds. It is the same monster that hunted down your son, Link, and took his life."
"My s-" Alphon's face was pale. His blood went cold. He lowered his head.
"The same villain is on his way to us, hoping to extinguish the last light in Hyrule." Zelda raised an eyebrow, her voice deepening. "It is not enough for the monster to kill your son. It is not enough for that monster to destroy us. It means to torment us by wearing the face of your son!"
Alphon's body tremored, but he recovered. "Just as well." He spoke as steadily as he could. "As a knight of Hyrule, I swear to destroy that abomination!"
"You are loyal to the last, First Knight." Zelda offered the helmet she carried. "Take this helm. It will allow you to see through any illusion cast by that monster."
Alphon bowed his head, took the offering, and placed it on his head. The change was sudden. It did not feel like a simple helmet, but a vice crushing his head.
"W...wait!" He was startled. "This isn't right! You're not the Princess! I..."
Then he fell silent. His eyes became hollow, and the girl laughed.
"That's much better. Now remember..." She snapped her fingers, and the heavy door of the cell opened on its own.
"The demon is disguised as Link, and it has several cronies that might try the same deception. Kill them!"
"As...you...wish..."
As Alphon lumbered towards the door, he did not see the girl's eyes flash red. And he was too far gone to notice her voice grow cold and stale.
"One more shock for those meddlesome heroes..."
Vio had long since ceased trying to struggle. There was nothing he could do about the ropes binding his body, nor could he change the fact that he was forced into a standing position by the tall wooden stake behind him.
At least the view was not too bad. The stake he was tied to had been planted on the highest spire of Death Mountain, not too far from the gate of the Palace of Winds. Below, one could observe the vast wilderness of Hyrule; the green forests, blue lakes, and even the castle piercing the clear sky. Vio almost scoffed at himself. He had never cared much for nature now, and he was only seeing the bigger picture when everything was close to an end...
"You were a cautious one, I'll give you that."
Vio's eye followed Shadow as the appartition paced to and fro before him. Besides the two of them, there was Shadow's personal guard of six Hinoxes, all looking at their intended victim with devilish glares. Shadow was to have the honors, true, but each held on to the hope that they could receive his grace after the execution was over with. They were famished, even after the celebration last night, and none of them had eaten a human in a while.
"I was going to say the same thing." Vio shook his head. Even his impeding doom would not be enough to negate his facade of cheer. "I planned for everything, except the flower you put near the mirror."
"That's right. And even so, you almost had me fooled regardless." Shadow twirled the weapon is his hand, the Four Sword he had taken from Vio. "You're no villain, but you're no saint either!"
Vio did his best to shrug, despite the ropes. "I just did what you did with Vaati. I let you see what you wanted to see."
"You'd have been a great partner." Shadow had a small, rueful smile on his face as he approached the captive Vio. "It's a pity, but at this point I can't let you see another sunrise."
Vio did not wince, glare, or sweat as Shadow drew closer, sword in hand and at the ready. He simply took a deep breath. He could at least tell himself he tried...
"Vio!"
What occurred next was sudden, but welcome, hullabaloo.
Flames were everywhere, spontaneously bursting forth into the air. The Hinoxes screeched, and the ground pounded with the sounds of their footsteps as they fled. Vio saw only flashes and blurs, eveyrthing was so fast.
"You fools! You...ack!"
The next thing know, Vio faintly registered the whistle of a blade swiping through the air, and for a split-second he thought his doom was inevitable. But instead, he felt the ropes fall away from him. He felt the dry earth as his both of his knees hit it at once. He stayed there, blinking rapidly, still feeling the roars in his ears and the thundering in his heart...
"Vio..."
He looked up. It was Green...?
Was it really Green standing over him, holding out his right hand, a look of both relief and fear on his face?
Was this all a dream?
Unconsciously, Vio slowly raised his trembling hand. He felt the other hand grab it.
This was reality.
"Thanks..."
Vio found himself back up on his feet. Red was standing near the edge of the cliffside, still firing off flames from his magic rod to keep up the pressure on the Hinoxes fleeing below. Meanwhile, Blue was engaging with Shadow.
Shadow was quick on his feet, true enough. But his face was flushed, and his teeth were bared. He had clearly lost his cool. He kept swinging the sword he had taken from Vio, but Blue no longer bothered to parry the blows, simply moving to and fro opposite the steel.
Vio and Green watched as Shadow took the sword into both hands and swung at Blue's head. The hero, with contemptuous ease, sidestepped and gave his enemy a blow to the face with his own weapon's pommel.
As Shadow stumbled backwards, Blue joined Vio and Green. Soon enough, Red switched off his rod and joined the trio. The four of them watched as Shadow rounded back.
Shadow had each hero in his field of vision, but there was only one that he was really looking at.
"Vio..." He snarled. "You can't be this lucky. If fate's not on my side, why should it be on yours? How...how did you four...pull this off?"
"All we had to do was figure you out, I guess." Vio shook his head. "And we did not have to work too hard for that, since...well, to be frank, there's a lot of you in us. The difference is...you did not have Vaati on your side, or Ganon. You did not have me, either. You're alone. You've always...been alone."
"Y-you think this is over?" Shadow glowered as he took his stance. "I...I'll never forgive this! This isn't over yet!"
"This is as over as it gets." Blue sheathed his sword and folded his arms.
"We're stronger than we were at Hyrule Castle." Red gave his rod a twirl. "We're a real team now."
Vio felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned his head. Green gap flipped his sword and was offering it hilt-first.
"The honor's all yours."
As Vio took Green's sword, Shadow ran towards them with a snarl. Vio engaged, dodging one blow, then another, and then pivoting on his frontmost foot.
Green's sword pierced straight through Shadow's chest. As the apparition writhed and growled, Vio reached across with his free hand, taking his own sword back from the cold fingers.
For another moment, Vio and the impaled Shadow simply stared at one another.
I'm sorry.
The involuntary thought flashed through Vio's mind.
Then, with another snarl, Shadow slowly, barely summoned the strength to raise his hand and snap his fingers.
And then he was gone, leaving only a purple mist behind.
Almost there! A few more chapters, and I'll be able to conclude!
