Chapter 8

Ganondorf was in Hyrule Castle. He had just came from a meeting with the King of Hyrule and he was feeling angry. He had a feeling that he didn't trust him anymore. Perhaps he was aware of his true intentions? Ganondorf snorted. Surely not! Whatever evil activities he performed, he always covered his tracks well and he never had any witnesses other than his own gerudo officers. He laughed quietly as he made his way out of the large castle and towards Castle Town. Now was the time to mount the rescue operation of Captain Saska. He wasn't about to let her rot in prison. She was far too valuable. She wasn't just a soldier to him, she was also a dear friend. Saska, Jaska and Ganondorf all grew up together in the desert They were inseperateable then and they still were today.

It didn't take Ganondorf long to make his way to Castle Town. As soon as he entered, he was immediately greeted by a guard.

"Hello, Lord Ganondorf. Just taking a relaxing stroll in town, are we?"

Ganondorf smiled at the guard. He didn't want to reveal his true intentions to the guards, so he always tried his best to get along with them.

"Yes. I just...needed to get away from the castle for a while."

He walked past the guard and made his way to the back alley. Before making it there, the guard stopped him.

"Hold up, sir! I need to talk to you about something. It's about your gerudo soldiers."

He smiled and turned around.

"What's wrong with them?"

The guard narrowed his eyes.

"Don't act like you don't know! They are causing all sorts of trouble in town and we want it to stop. They are always stealing from townspeople and putting up a fight when we catch them. Please tell them to stop. We've signed an allegiance with your people, so why is this going on?"

Ganondorf shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"I'm not sure why they are acting like this. When I get some spare time, I'll gather them together and talk to them."

The guard sighed.

"Be sure that you do. It's only making our jobs harder, having to keep our eyes peeled for your people."

The guard walked away and the gerudo king walked into the alleyway. He didn't want to act nice anymore. He had to do that enough when he was talking with the King of Hyrule. He walked up near the vacant house and he saw someone standing outside. Upon seeing him, the figure became alert. When he got closer, the figure sighed with relief. A familiar voice reached his ears. It belonged to Jaska.

"Sir, am I ever glad it's you! I thought you were a town guard!".

Ganondorf shook.

"You're lucky I wasn't. Why are you standing out here, Lieutenant? It looks very suspicious. Are you trying to show people that we are hiding something?"

She shook her head vigorously.

"Of course not, sir! I'm sorry about that. I didn't give that much thought."

Ganondorf sighed.

"Jaska, you're one of my best officers and friends in Hyrule. Please don't disappoint me. What's the status of those two whelps?"

Jaska grinned.

"They haven't been able to move a muscle. When I last checked, one of them was sleeping while the other one was staring at the ceiling. That kid told me that their friend Link was going to save them. I just told him to keep his mouth shut."

Ganondorf crossed his arms and snickered.

"Good work. Everything is going perfect so far. I need some of those knockout smoke bombs we created. We're going to knock out the guards so we won't have any troubles getting Saska out of that guardhouse!"

Ganondorf walked away from the house with Jaska following behind and they both went to work. They threw their gas bombs at all of the unsuspecting guards in Castle Town and knocked them out. Ganondorf grinned. Now all that was left was the guardhouse!

Max was still staring up at the ceiling, while Charlie was still sleeping. Max was thinking about his life in this world so far. It was very amazing until they got captured. He felt like an idiot. They should've both gone back to the inn instead! Then they probably would've never got in this mess. He began to think about the whole world and the events leading up to now. He still couldn't believe that this was a game in his world. However, there was a huge difference. For one, this was reality. Everything was real here. The people, all of the trees and plant life and especially the enemies. His mind could barely comprehend how this was possible. Secondly, things were playing out completely different compared to the game him, Charlie and Tom played. He was wondering how the rest of it was going to play out. Were he and Charlie going to be prisoners forever? Or would Ganondorf let them go after they helped with the rescue operation? Was Link aware of their captivity? He sincerely hoped that he was. Before he could think any further, the door burst open and Ganondorf and Jaska walked in. They ran up to the captives and released their bonds. Charlie began rubbing sleep from his eyes. He yawned loudly.

"What's going on? Are you letting us go now?"

Ganondorf laughed.

"Fat chance, kid! It's time for that rescue operation I told you about. We knocked out all of the guards outside, so this should be relatively easy to pull off. I wish I could run it with you, Lieutenant. I've got a meeting with one of our spies regarding the locations of the other Spiritual Stones. You're in charge of the rescue operation. Make sure you keep these kids in line and don't mess this up."

Suddenly, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Jaska turned to the two captives.

"Alright. Time to get to work. Don't you dare disobey me or you'll regret it! Hold out your hands."

They both did as they were told. Jaska handed both of them two curved swords called scimitars. These swords were intrusted to only the most trusted soldiers in the gerudo army. Charlie and Max gasped in shock. They were captives, yet they were being handed weapons? The swords themselves were very nice. The blades were polished, so they were very shiny. The hilts of the swords were golden and incrusted with sapphires! Jaska narrowed her eyes.

"I know what you two might be thinking and I want you to reconsider. Turning your blades against me will be a death sentence! I know a couple of sword techniques that would leave you two without heads. Now, follow me and keep quiet!"

They obeyed without question. They were far too nervous to attack the gerudo. They both knew nothing about handling a sword. She led them up to the guardhouse and in front of an open window. Jaska grinned as she threw a smoke bomb inside. It exploded when it hit the ground. All that could be heard outside was a lot of coughing and gagging. After a few minutes, there were a lot of loud noises. Jaska turned to them.

"That was all the guards passing out. Now we can get in here without any troubles. But I still want you to keep those swords at the ready. If you see a guard, swing at him! We'll wait a few minutes for the smoke to clear and then, we're going in. Once we're inside, don't try anything funny or you'll regret it!"

Max sighed.

"We understand, Jaska. Let's just get this over with!"

She raised her eyebrows.

"Well, aren't we the impatient one! Don't worry, kids. After this is over, I have some plans for you two."

Max groaned.

"What kind of plans? I was hoping to be released after this was over!"

Jaska laughed.

"Don't be silly! You can't expect us to let you go after this. You'll only go to the guards and tell them everything once they're awake and we can't have that now, can we?"

Charlie shook his head in rage.

"You'll never get away with this! We'll find a way to escape, you'll see!"

Jaska laughed quietly.

"After I'm done with you two, you won't want to escape! I've already learned a spell from Lord Ganondorf himself. Let's just say that it will keep you in line and bend your free will."

Charlie and Max both gulped nervously. Neither of them liked the sound of that sinister spell! They had to escape somehow. Jaska pointed at the window with her scimitar.

"Get inside you two! I'm right behind you, so don't try anything funny!"

They jumped through the window and looked around inside the guardhouse. There were a lot of rooms inside the small guardhouse and there was a large stairwell. There were also many unconscious guards lying everywhere. Jaska jumped in behind them. She pointed at the stairwell.

"Up the stairs now! That is where my sister is being held."

They climbed the stairs. Upon reaching the top, Jaska noticed a room leading into the prisoner cells. There was also a lone guard patrolling inside. The gerudo cursed in anger.

"Drat! The knockout gas didn't reach up here and I'm out of smoke bombs."

She turned to Max.

"Okay, kid. Now's your turn. Kill that soldier with your sword!"

He shook his head defiantly.

"No! I'm not taking a life."

She held her sword dangerously close to his throat.

"Either you kill him or I will kill you, brat!"

He gulped nervously and walked into the room with his sword drawn. Upon hearing the commotion, the guard turned around only to see a kid with a sword. He scratched his head. How did a kid get in here? And why did he have a weapon? He cleared his throat.

"Hold it, kid. How did you get in here and why are you brandishing that sword?"

Max didn't reply. He simply held the sword in front of him. The guard tried to reason with him.

"Look, kid. Why don't you drop the sword? We can talk about this. If you don't listen, I'm going to be forced to attack you."

Jaska peered inside and smacked her forehead.

"Oh for the love of god! I'm going to finish this here and now!"

She ran in and was beside Max in a heartbeat. She glared at him.

"You're useless! You're supposed to be attacking!"

She turned and faced the guard and realized that he was charging towards her with his spear pointed outward. She held her sword at the ready. When he got closer, she jumped up in the air and made a few very quick slashes with her sword. All of them hit the guard. She landed on the ground. The soldier had a look of surprise on his face as he stopped running. A few seconds later, his left arm and his head fell to the ground and his body fell to the ground. A pool of blood began to form. Charlie and Max witnessed the whole thing and they both found it revolting. Max clutched his stomach.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Jaska frowned.

"You wimp! Both of you wait outside this room while I break my sister out. Don't try to escape!"

They went outside the door as Jaska searched the dead guard's body for a key ring. She didn't have to look for very long. It was in one of his pockets. There were many cells in the room lined up on both sides of the room. There came a cry form one of the far cells.

"Is that you, sister? Get me out of here!"

She ran over to where the voice had come from. Her sister was in the cage with her hands tight against the bars. She smiled with relief.

"Thanks a lot, sister! I knew you and Ganondorf wouldn't leave me in here to rot."

Jaska smiled.

"Think nothing of it. I wouldn't abandon my only sister."

She fiddled with the key ring and finally found the right key. She then unlocked the cell door and freed her sister. They hugged each other for a brief moment and then Jaska started to walk towards the entranceway. Saska cocked her head to one side.

"What's the hurry? You did deal with the guards, right?"

She nodded.

"Of course I did. They are all knocked out. I brought kids along with me and I want to see if they listened to me or not!"

Max and Charlie acted quickly. They wanted to escape their captives as quickly as they could. They were on the bottom floor about to climb out the window when the twin sisters at the top of the stairs spotted them. Jaska pointed her sword at them.

"Stop where you are! You're going to regret it!"

They ignored them and climbed out of the window. They began to run towards the inn. Charlie looked behind and gasped in shock. They just materialized outside of the building and they were now running towards them.

Jaska grinned evilly. She concentrated as she ran. Within seconds, her hand was glowing green with magical energy.

"I guess it's time to try out this spell!"

She pulled her arm back and threw the ball of energy. It hit Max in the back and he dropped with a cry. Charlie turned around to help him. He was glowing bright green. He gasped as he looked up at Charlie.

"Something's happening to me. You've got to get away while you have the chance!"

Charlie shook his head.

"I'm not leaving without you!"

Max grunted in pain.

"Listen! They hit me with a spell. It's affecting my mind! I'm going to end up hurting you."

Max's eyes started to glow green. He got up on his feet and pointed his sword down at Charlie. He was doing his best to fight the spell.

"Charlie, you idiot! Get away from me!"

He quickly got up on his feet and started to run. Suddenly, he saw something that made him sigh with relief. Link was back! He was accompanied by a tall woman. He ran over to him as fast as he could. When he finally reached them, he was completely out of breath. Jaska had tried to him with the spell too, but she missed every time. Link looked at Max and the two gerudos standing beside him.

"Charlie! What's going on here?"

He gasped out a reply.

"We were...captured by...by gerudos! Ganondorf captured us, made us... work for him. Something is...wrong with Max!"

He looked over at Max and the two gerudos They were observing him. Saska prodded him.

"I know this kid! He's one of the two I chased before. What did you do to him, sister?"

Jaska smiled evilly.

"I cast a powerful allegiance spell on him. He's working for us now! Watch this!"

Jaska stood in front of him. He was still holding the sword and his eyes were glowing green.

"I want you to attack those fools in front of you!"

Max gave her a quick nod.

"Yes, master!"

He started to walk towards Link, Charlie and Impa. The shiekah blinked in surprise.

"I've seen this before. He's been hypnotized, kids!"

Link groaned.

"Is there any way to break it?"

She simply shrugged.

"I have no idea. The gerudo weild powerful magic. I've been questioning their motives for quite awhile now. I knew all along that the peace treaty was nothing more than a sham! Link, try to see if you can snap him out of it."

Link walked up in front of Max.

"Hold it, Max. You've got to fight this spell! It's me, Link."

His unblinking green eyes showed no emotion. He pointed his sword at Link.

"You are my enemy. Prepare to die!"

He started to attack Link with his sword. He had a hard time dodging all of the attacks. The spell must have given him increased skill with a blade. He tried to hit back, but he had a hard time. Hypnotized or not, he was still his friend! Link grunted as he continued to block Max's onslaught.

"Max! Cut it out. I'm not your enemy. The gerudos are your enemy. We're on the same side, remember?"

He shook his head.

"You're wrong. The gerudos are my masters. They told me to attack you, so I must obey!"

He continued swinging at Link with his sword. He grunted. Blocking his attacks was getting harder. He quickly grabbed his deku shield. Splinters of wood were flying everywhere was he deflected the hits. He quickly glanced over at Charlie. He was just standing there with his sword pointed to the ground! He gritted his teeth.

"Charlie! Instead of standing there, why don't you help me out?"

Charlie watched as Link was trying valiantly to block Max's attacks. He felt hesitant.

"I'm not sure if I can, Link. That's Max! He's our friend!"

Link rolled to one side as Max brought his sword crashing down. It missed him by barely a fraction. He glared at Charlie.

"This isn't our friend anymore, Charlie! His mind is warped by whatever spell was cast at him. I don't want to fight him either, but I have no choice. You have to realize that and at least try to help me out!"

Navi was flying above Charlie, Link and Max. She hated to see Max hypnotized just as much as Charlie, but she knew that it was time to fight back.

"Charlie, I hate to see this as much as you, but you have to help Link. He's going to be in big trouble if you don't!"

Something landed on the ground in front of Link and Charlie. There was a shout from Impa.

"Cover your eyes now!"

They both did as they were told. Navi even covered hers as well. Something on the ground exploded in a blinding flash. This stunned Max and he fell to the ground. When Link and Charlie opened their eyes, Impa was in front of them. She grinned at them.

"It looked like you needed a hand, boys. That was a deku nut I threw. It stuns the enemy for a brief time."

Upon seeing the change of events, the two gerudos looked at each other. Jaska cursed in anger.

"Darn it! He was doing so well! I guess it's time for us to intervene."

They ran towards Link and Charlie with their swords drawn. Impa saw what they were planning and ran up and blocked their path.

"Hold it, you two! If you want to kill those kids, you'll have to get through me."

She reached behind her back and brought forth a beautiful sword. It was a one handed shiekah blade. The hilt was a dark purple and it had the shiekah symbol on it, a big red eye with one big line heading downwards. There were also three red triangles above the eye, one right beside the other. The blade was keen and looked deadly. She pointed at the two gerudos with her sword.

"You two had better release that lad from mind control at once or you're going to regret it!"

Saska Laughed, as did her sister.

"Now, why would we do that? When he wakes up, I'll be sure he finishes you all off!"

Impa pointed her sword at Saska.

"Then I will fight you. If I win, you release him from mind control."

Saska grinned and pulled out her scimitar.

"How about this instead? I keep him under mind control and kill you and those stupid kids?"

Impa bellowed in rage and thrust her sword towards Saska's head. She blocked it easily.

"You'll have to do better than that! Me and my sisters are skilled with the blade."

Impa moved her sword arm very quickly and managed to land a hit. She made a gash in the side of Saska's leg. She yelled in pain. Impa smiled with confidence.

"You're not the only one, scum! I've been training intensely with the blade since I was ten years old. I used to be the captain of the Hyrule guard and I taught our current captain all he knows. If you were really skilled with the blade, you would've deflected that hit!"

While she and Saska were fighting, Max groaned and got up on his feet. His eyes were glowing a dull green. He looked at Link and Charlie oddly.

"Uh. My head! You guys have got to get away from me. I'm going to hurt you and I can't control it!"

Link was happy that he was back.

"Max! You have to keep fighting it! I know you can do it!"

He dropped his blade and held his head.

"Ugh! It's taking over again. You should've...Listened."

He removed his hands from his hand and reached down and grabbed his sword. The mind control had taken over once more. His eyes were glowing bright green. Charlie yelled with rage and charged in with his sword drawn. Max stepped to one side.

"You have to be faster than that, you idiot!"

Link walked up with his sword drawn.

"Okay, Max! This ends now. I'm going to get that mind control out of you one way or the other!"

Max held his blade out.

"You're welcome to try, Link."

He charged in and tried to tire Max out. He expected Max to block every blow and he did easily. Link glanced at Impa while he was fighting Max. Jaska was by her sister's side.

"Sister! Are you okay? Maybe we should get out of here."

Saska was screaming in rage. How could she let that stupid shiekah injure her? Impa smiled and taunted her.

"What's wrong, scum? Is that all you've got?"

Forgetting her wound, she bellowed with rage and went into the fight once more. She swung at her feet. Impa jumped neatly and avoided it. They kept blocking hit after hit, their blades making loud clinking noises. The noises woke up a lot of the town people. There were standing outside their houses, watching the fight. Saska noticed that she was running out of energy. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't land even a single hit! She glared at Impa.

"You... You're very good with the blade, and I can't fight with this wound. You've won today, but I will get my revenge!"

Jaska was crestfallen.

"Wait! I can fight in you're place."

She shook her head.

"I don't want to see you get injured as well. We need to rethink our strategy. For now, let's get Max out of here!"

Impa ran up to them, but Saska threw a mysterious ball. It produced thick, purple smoke. Max was still fighting Link and Charlie. Both of them tried, but they couldn't win against their hypnotized friend. He seemed to block everything. Saska called over to him.

"Kid! Stop fighting and follow the sound of my voice. We're retreating."

Max stopped fighting Link and Charlie and turned around. Link took a chance. Hr dropped his sword and jumped at Max and tackled him. They both fought each other. Max ended up dropping his sword in the struggle. Link was angry.

"Wake up, Max! I want you back. You're one of my best friends!"

Max kicked at Link's stomach hard and sent him flying backwards.

"Not anymore! I work for my masters Jaska and Saska! We will meet again and when we do, you'd better be ready for a fight to the death!"

The smoke was clearing and Max could see Saska and Jaska. He ran up to them and al three of them disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Link got up and dusted himself off. He was struck with a feeling of sadness. Was he ever going to see his friend Max normal again? Or were they now enemies? Tears began to form in his eyes. Charlie walked up to him.

"Link, are you okay? Did Max hurt you?"

He shook his head as the tears continued to flow down his cheeks.

"This is all my fault, Charlie! I should've never left you two alone. I should've taken you guys with me, despite what Zelda told me. Now, because of my stupidity, Max is working for the enemy!"

Charlie shook his head.

"It's not your fault, Link! Don't put yourself down like that.

Navi flew around Link's head.

"That was painful to watch, but you mustn't blame yourself, Link. We'll find a way to help him, you'll see!"

Impa walked up and placed a hand on Link's shoulder.

"Link, don't talk like that. I don't think that even our princess could have seen that coming. None of this is your fault. You need to cheer up. Max wouldn't like to see you crying like this. He would want you to fight for his freedom! I know it hurts now, but you'll pull through. I know it's not the same, but I've lost many friends over the years and I may feel sad at first, but then I realize that I can't feel sad all the time. I cheer myself up and carry on with my life. You need to do the same."

Link wiped his eyes.

"I guess you're right. Max would be quite furious with me right now. Okay, Impa. I'll try my best to cheer up. It's just hard losing a friend, especially like I did."

Impa nodded understandingly.

"I know, Link. Now, follow me out of this town. I'll show you where you have to go next."

Link, Charlie and Navi followed her out of the town, leaving behind a lot of very confused and nervous villagers.

Back at Hyrule Castle, Ganondorf was staying in a guest room. There was one bed, one dresser and a single window in the small room. He was staring out of window deep in thought when suddenly, he heard a strange noise behind him. He turned around and Saska, Jaska and a kid were standing there. He smiled at Jaska.

"Good work on the mission, Lieutenant. I'm glad you were able to rescue our captain. How are you feeling, saska?"

She smiled.

"A lot better since I escaped, sir!"

He noticed the gash on her leg.

"What happened to your leg?"

She growled angrily.

"That one called Impa. I crossed swords with her and she ended up injuring me."

Ganondorf shook her head.

"That was a bad move. She's very skilled with the blade. I'm glad you've got away."

Jaska gasped.

"There's something else, sir. The other kid blabbed to Impa about you. I think they may be on to you."

Ganondorf laughed.

"I'd like to see them get in here! I put a magical seal on the door. Now, why are one of the kids we tied up with you?"

Jaska grinned.

"I used that spell you taught me, lord. He's completely hypnotized! My spell has been experiencing some difficulties though. He snapped out of it a few times."

Ganondorf laughed.

"Well done, Lieutenant! I'm glad you got one of them to work for us! Don't worry about the spell. By the time I'm done with him, we won't need it any longer! I'll pour some of my own evil magical energy into him and make him pure evil, just like me!"

Saska and her sister laughed evilly. What a brilliant idea! If he was more evil, he would be more likely to kill one of his former friends!