Jules kept the three points of the trident she held aimed at the assassin standing on the opposite side of the loft. He chuckled, twirling the sickle in one hand and brandishing the Windcleaver in the other. While her focus was on the bloodstained figure slowly coming toward her, she could see the trident's front slightly shaking. She was trembling. Though she spoke confidently before, her mind was racing. The Yiga was right: she had never once fought, and now here she stood challenging a trained assassin that possibly had killed the most skillful fighter in Hyrule. The person she cared about most.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thoughts plaguing her mind. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. The Yiga was lying, trying to get into all of their heads in order to throw them off. She had to ignore them. She took a deep breath before attempting to steady her weapon. Bravely, she took a small step toward her opponent. The assassin, however, suddenly clanged his weapons together, causing her to flinch and retreat, taking two steps back.

"What was that supposed to be?" the Yiga asked. "Was that supposed to be resolve? Look at you, shaking in fear. You're afraid."

He slammed the blades against each other again, and while Jules didn't move as she had done before, she could feel the vibrations course through her body, in every fiber of her muscles, and all the way down to her bones. He laughed.

"It looks like you only had enough alcohol to think this was the best idea," he said as he grew closer to her. "I doubt one drink is enough to convince you that you'll actually succeed, though. Am I right?"

Jules didn't reply. She simply gripped the trident even tighter. In a puff the Yiga vanished, only to reappear less than a second later, now standing with his stomach only a few centimeters away from the trident's longest point. Only now did Jules realize just how much taller the assassin was than them. He loomed over, slightly leaning down to look her in the eye. The mask was shadowed, yet the blood-red eye was still barely visible.

"Do you really think you can stop me?"

In a blur, the Yiga's arm moved. Jules felt her heart stop for a split second as she saw something fly past her head before hearing a thud. She glanced over to see the Windcleaver blade sitting right next to her ear with its tip stuck in the wall behind her. Remembering to breathe, she took a deep breath but instinctively took another step back. She felt her back hit the wall, and the Yiga stepped closer, leaning down ever further until his mask almost touched her nose.

"I've worked far too hard… Dealt with far too much to let this slip away from me," he hissed.

She felt it; a weight pushing down on her body. His aura, his hatred, and his rage. It oozed down from the evil glare she could feel even from behind the upside-down eye. It was suffocating— unbearable— but she couldn't move. Her body had frozen in fear.

"Nothing will stop me from completing my goal. From fulfilling my destiny," he continued. "Especially not by some depressed, drunk, rebound like you."

He released his grip on the sword, allowing the wall to hold it. Slowly, he reached forward, ready to take Jules by the neck.

"You can't do anything. You couldn't before, and you certainly can't now," he said in a low tone. "So why don't you finally give up? It's what you should have done before getting your hopes up with your precious champion."

"I…" Jules stammered.

His presence was overwhelming. It was like darkness itself was consuming her mind. Maybe she should have given up, at least a lot sooner than she already had. She wasn't much of anything anyway, especially compared to the princess herself. With Zelda around, she wasn't needed. The Yiga's long fingers wrapped around her throat.

"Jules!"

A whizzing sound could be heard. With the sickle in his free hand, the Yiga turned and swung. A clang echoed through the air as sparks flew. Jules barely saw the glint of a jeweled scimitar fly away, passing over the loft's railing and down below to the dining area. Getting a grip over herself, she thrust the trident forward toward the assassin's abdomen. He narrowly avoided the attack, and with an angered growl, he grabbed the front of her weapon and yanked. Jules refused to let go, causing her to be sent flying across the loft. She hit the floor and rolled, stopping only when her back hit the nightstand. Though it hurt, she quickly stood and readied the trident again.

"Why don't you wait your turn," the Yiga angrily yelled to the two women standing next to the dining table down below. He looked back at Jules as he reached and grabbed the handle of the stuck Windcleaver. With another yank, he pulled the tip free from the wall. "I tried to make it easy for you, but oh well. This only makes it more fun for me."

He readied himself, twirling the sickle in his hand like before. Again he slowly stepped forward, but this time, he seemed far more prepared, ready to strike at any moment. Jules swallowed but kept the trident pointed at him. As the Yiga slowly closed the gap from above, Celessa ran over to where the sword she had thrown was now laying on the ground. Taking the scimitar back into her hand, she looked around at the wall before grabbing its matching shield.

"Zelda, you're okay enough, right?" she asked, hurrying back to Zelda's side. "Here, take this—"

She held the shield out to her princess, but Zelda didn't take it. Instead, she stood still, looking up at the Yiga with a white, bruised face.

"Zelda! Zelda, come on!" Celessa said, slightly shaking the shield. "We can't leave Jules alone to fight him!"

"I caused this…" Zelda mumbled without taking her eyes off the masked man. "He's here because of me… I allowed this to happen… He killed Link…"

"We don't know that," Celessa said. "You can't let him get to you. We need to fight him."

"But even if he didn't kill Link, he must have bested him," Zelda said in a hollow voice. "We can't beat that… Link's the strongest person I know…"

"Zelda, listen to me," Celessa said, setting her sword on the table. She tightly gripped her by the shoulder and forcefully turned her body to make Zelda look her in the eye. "He's trying to get in our heads. You can't let him in. You have to block him out—"

Suddenly the two heard a puff. They looked up to see Jules taking a jab at her assailant, who puffed away before reappearing, now balancing on the wooden railing. Jules immediately jabbed again, forcing the assassin to dodge.

"Look at him," Celessa said, turning her attention back to Zelda. "Jules doesn't know how to fight, and yet he's still dodging. You see the blood running down his body, right? He has to be wounded; there's no way he could have fought Link and simply came out okay. That's why he's trying to get in our heads. He's being careful. We can do this!"

She held out the shield to her once again. Zelda looked down at the ornate shield. Her red and green reflection looked back at her.

"This shield once belonged to the Gerudo Champion, right?" Celessa asked. "You mentioned her a lot when you told me stories from the past. She protected you before, right?"

Zelda nodded.

"Then make her proud," Celessa said. "Let's show her she doesn't need to worry about you anymore. You or Link."

She was right. She couldn't give up, especially not in front of the weapons that had fought to protect her so long ago. After a moment of hesitation, Zelda took the shield into her own hands.

"His arm," she said. Celessa, who had taken the sword back off the table, looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"His arm," Zelda repeated. "The one holding the sickle—"

Suddenly, they heard a yell from above. The two looked up to see the Yiga, who had appeared balancing on the nightstand, now finally taking a swipe at Jules. She dodged, yet a gash appeared on her arm. She stumbled back, almost tripping over her steps, but kept the trident held, even if it was far more unsteady than before.

"Looks like I didn't have anything to worry about with you," the Yiga said, jumping off the nightstand. "You really don't know how to fight. I can end this quickly now."

"Zelda!" Celessa urged.

"It's hurt!" Zelda said quickly as they hurried toward the stairs. "His whole body is, but the arm with the sickle; the right arm! Something's wrong with it! When he was hitting me, his arm was weak!"

Making it to the staircase the two dashed up together, yet the Yiga chuckled.

"There we go," he said menacingly.

With another puff, he vanished from in front of Jules and reappeared at the top of the staircase. Surprised, the two women stopped right before they could reach the top, looking up at the mask that now stared them down.

"Couldn't go down there and have the drunk throw that trident at me," he laughed. "It would've been much harder to block. But, I'd like for the princess to see some death before I take her life, so if you'll excuse me—"

Zelda barely had time to raise her shield as the Yiga aimed a kick. His foot slammed against the painted golden disc, sending her tumbling back down the stairs. Angered, Celessa swung her sword. The Yiga twisted his body, barely avoiding the thick, curved blade while using both blades in his hands to deflect her attacks when needed. After a few moments of swinging, Celessa saw an opening. As quickly as she could move her arm, she swiped toward the hand holding the sickle, and yet, the curved blade caught hers and held it in place.

"Really, of all the people in this house," he said. "You're by far the least interesting."

Suddenly, he began rotating his arm, forcing Celessa's arm and her sword to move in circles before forcing her blade out of her hand. Again the sword went flying, landing on the first floor.

"I've seen that princess work," he said. "You think I wouldn't expect her to notice my weakened arm?"

Celessa's eyes grew wide, she looked at the arm holding the sickle. It was his left.

"You switched your swo–?" she began to ask, but before she could finish, she saw a blur of silver. Dodging the sudden stab from the trident aimed for his head, he quickly turned and headbutted Jules, who fell to the ground.

"Fool," he spat down at her before looking back at Celessa. "Yes, I switched the swords in my hand. I heard her down there. Don't you know your left from right–? Oh?"

The Yiga looked behind Celessa to see Zelda hurrying back up the stairs with the shield and scimitar now in her hand.

"Looks like she's come to try and fight me again," he said to Celessa. "You better be on your way now. Goodbye."

Before Zelda could get past her friend, the Yiga swiped. Blood splattered onto the walls. She had tried to step back but simply wasn't fast enough. With a deep gash in her chest, Celessa fell backward, with Zelda unable to catch her thanks to the weapons in her hands. She hit the stairs with a thud before rolling down until her body hit the floor, where she remained unmoving. Zelda looked down in horror.

"Celessa!" Jules yelled, pulling herself up using the railing of the loft.

"Hm. You know, I told the champion every body left dead would be on him," the Yiga said, placing his sickle on his belt, "but that one might actually be on you, Princess."

"Hey! You just–!" Jules began to yell but was quickly silenced by a hand wrapping around her throat and lifting her up. Zelda, hearing Jules's chokes, looked away from Celessa's body—now sitting in a pool of blood— and up at the Yiga.

"You know, you have a really bad habit of staring at your enemies," the Yiga said. "Maybe that's why everyone around you tends to die."

Zelda rushed forward and swung her sword, but the Yiga jumped back. With both him and Jules dripping blood, he shoved her over, hitting her body against the railing before he held her off the loft by the neck. With her face beginning to match her hair, Jules swung the trident she refused to let go with one arm, missing the Yiga completely.

"That pilgrim down there survived the fall before," the Yiga said to Zelda, who finally made it to the loft floor. "I wonder if this one will?"

"Wait, stop—" Zelda said, but his hand opened. "No!"

Jules fell directly onto the wooden floorboards with a thundering thud. The assassin paused.

"I'm sorry, this cowl makes it a little hard to hear," he said. He brought his hand to his ear. "Did you say wait?"

Fury took over Zelda's mind. With a yell, she moved forward and swung her blade at the lanky, bloody body. Using the Windcleaver, the Yiga deflected the attacks, but she kept swinging. He caused so much damage. He was the reason everything had gone the way it had. It was because of him. It was him that hurt Celessa. It was him that hurt Jules. It was him that killed Link. It was him. Not her foolishness. It couldn't really have been all her. It simply couldn't have been.

"You're good," the Yiga said. "You're the best challenge I've gotten since we started. The Champion taught you how to fight himself. But, alas—"

Zelda swung, aiming directly for the shoulder she knew was bad, and yet, the moment before her blade touched, the Yiga turned into a cloud of smoke. Her blade went through, dragging some of the smoke with it.

"—you'll never be as good as he was."

Before she could do anything, Zelda felt a rough hand grab her hair from behind. The Yiga pulled back, yanking and slamming her back against the wall Jules had been pressed up against earlier, and with a throw, Zelda was tumbling down the stairs again.

She felt a stair hit against her hip, her head, her knee, and every other part of her body as she rolled. The scimitar and shield flew from her hands, bouncing down the stairs next to her until finally, she hit something that brought her to a stop. It was softer and warm. Whatever it was had cushioned her fall. Aching, Zelda pushed herself to look down at what she had fallen onto, but her vision was blocked. It was a liquid, a warm one. She raised a sore arm and wiped her eyes away before looking down at her hand. Red.

Her blood-covered face went white as she looked down at what she had crashed into. A corpse, the one that belonged to the friend that protected her only a few minutes earlier. The gash on Celessa's body had started to bleed uncontrollably, spilling even more onto the floor. Zelda stared at the body as her chest began to rapidly rise and fall. From on top of the staircase, the Yiga clicked his tongue.

"Princess, Princess, Princess," he said as he slowly came down the stairs. "So sad. So weak. So useless. Link put up much more of a fight. You really do tend to live in his shadow, don't you?"

Zelda didn't respond. She kept her gaze down at the deep gash in Celessa's body. Trembling, she placed her hands on Celessa's wound, trying to stop the blood flow. Her eyes widened. She felt a small heartbeat, but her relief didn't last long. Stepping onto the ground floor, the Yiga stopped and stood next to her.

"Still alive, huh?" he asked. "You people sure are durable. She'll bleed out in time though."

Zelda's heart sank. He was right. She must have shown it on her face because the Yiga chuckled.

"Did you think you could save her?" he asked. "Don't be foolish. You know I wouldn't let you. I like this though. Like this, you can slowly watch her die."

She felt him place a hand on her head. Gently, he began to stroke her hair, as if comforting her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's happy," he said, crouching down to her level. "You're here next to her. I'm sure that's all she wants in her last moments… Hm. That seems a little too generous. How about I let you watch from a distance? I think that's fair."

Gripping her hair again, he pulled Zelda to her feet. Though she struggled for just a moment, he threw her again. This time she tried to land on her feet, but only stumbled forward before knocking her head into the cooking counter against the wall. Upon the hit, the shelf that sat on the wall shook, knocking over the bottles of alcohol that sat on top. They clattered down, landing on the floor and counter, just narrowly avoiding hitting Zelda's head.

"That's a far enough distance," the Yiga said, now stepping on and over Celessa's body. "Come on. Get up. You wanted to watch her die didn't you?"

Zelda didn't move. Her head hurt. She felt dizzy. It was as if she could throw up even while laying down. The Yiga stepped to her and crouched down again.

"Did you hit your head? That's no fun," he said. "I thought you girls said you'd put up a fight, at least that's what the pilgrim said. She really was your moral support, wasn't she? Too bad she's dead now. And all she wanted you to do was live a good life for defeating the Calamity Ganon. Too bad I want the opposite. Oh? Would you look at this…"

Intrigued, the Yiga picked up one of the bottles that lay on the floor as Zelda attempted to push herself up.

"Wine… Just like those two ladies. I like them, I think they'll be spared," he said, uncorking the bottle and taking a sniff. "It was fun watching them bully you around. What did they do your first time working on the weekend shift? Oh right."

He tipped the bottle over, allowing its contents to spill onto Zelda's head, staining her golden locks with red.

"Ah, perfect," he said. "It took everything in me not to laugh when I saw that. Maybe I really will spare them… It depends on the number of people in this town. I did tell that champion every cut would be a body, so I'll leave them for last, and hopefully—"

Suddenly, he shrieked in pain. Zelda heard a thud. Though she was still disoriented, she looked over as best she could the see the Yiga leaning against the wall, gasping for air. After wiping blood and wine from her eyes, she blinked a few times, allowing her blurry vision to sharpen. Sticking out of what was the Yiga's good shoulder was the trident. Confused, both looked back to see Jules, propped up on her knees.

"Y-you, bitch!" the Yiga screamed in anger. "How are you still alive? Why won't you just die?"

"You did call us durable just a moment ago, that or I happened to land just right," Jules said weakly. She tried to stand but then fell back down. She looked down at her ankle, which was now puffy and red, broken from the fall she had taken. "Uh oh…"

"Uh oh is right," the Yiga growled. As best he could, he pulled the trident out from his shoulder and threw it away. "I've been having too much fun. Fine. I'm killing you first, then I'll make sure that pilgrim is properly dead, and then—"

He looked at Zelda.

"— then it's you."

He began to walk toward Jules while spilling blood from his shoulder. Ignoring the pain in her ankle, she stood with a grunt. Her heart pounded as the Yiga grew closer. She didn't have a weapon, not that it was doing her much good before. She could feel the assassin's aura starting to encase her, the closer he grew. His fury overpowered any other emotion. Until suddenly, he stumbled.

"W-what?" he questioned. He continued his uneasy pace until he lost balance. He tripped over, only keeping himself up by catching himself on the dining table's edge. Jules breathed a sigh of relief.

"You've been bleeding this whole time," she said, "and it looks like the blood loss is catching up to you. Link saved us again thanks to him injuring you so badly."

The Yiga continued to gasp. He looked at his own blood, watching as it dripped down onto the floorboards beneath his feet.

"Fine… Fine then!" he shouted. "You think this will stop me? It won't! I won't let anything get in the way of my mission! Not even myself!"

With shaky feet, he stood straight up once again.

"I will kill you!" he said, pointing the Windcleaver at Jules. "I will, so you can't save them, and then the princess!"

"No!" Zelda said loudly. Ignoring her concussion as best she could, she stumbled to her feet and tackled the Yiga down. "No more! I won't let you!"

"You stupid fool!" he shouted as he tussled with Zelda. "Alright then! You win! I'll kill you first!"

"Zelda!" Jules shouted, watching as the Yiga kicked Zelda away. She took a step forward but fell to her knees. Wincing in pain, she looked back at her ankle, before hearing the Yiga stand. She had to move. She had to stop him.

"You're dead… You're dead…" he mumbled as he walked toward Zelda, who was once again on the ground.

Keeping balance as best he could, he crouched down and grabbed her by the collar of her dress before standing. Keeping her balanced on her feet, he threw her back against the wall, knocking over the large heavy bow with the blue ribbon that sat on one of the racks.

"I'll kill you… I kill you the same way I killed him," the Yiga said. He brought the tip of the sword up and aimed it at Zelda's stomach. "Goodbye, Princess."

He thrust his sword forward, yet Zelda's stomach wasn't the first thing it hit. The Yiga barely saw the blur of purple rush in front of him. Zelda watched as Jules's blue eyes winced with pain as the blade pierced through her back. Tears fell down Jules's eyes as the pain began to set in. The assassin sat in disbelief, before beginning to chuckle. In pain, Jules glanced at the man behind her.

"Oh, you poor fool," he said. "Did you really think… you could protect her… like that?"

Confused, Jules furrowed her brow, yet the moment she heard a cough from Zelda, the realization sunk in. She looked into Zelda's eyes before looking down. The sword's slightly burned blade had gone completely through her body, but the blade had continued into the one she had tried to shield.

"You really just can't… do anything right, can you?" the Yiga chuckled through his own coughs.

As blood stained both their dresses, Jules lifted a trembling hand and grabbed part of the blade visible between their bodies, trying her best to pull it out of Zelda, but the assassin only pushed it deeper into them.

"Finally…" the Yiga said, watching as the women weakly struggled. "Finally… We Yiga… have gotten our revenge… But, don't think… it stops here, Princess. With you now gone… We… We can try and—"

Suddenly, the front door to the house opened. The Yiga, still holding on to the handle of the sword, looked at the entrance. His body began to shake angrily as his blood-red eye saw their visitors. One was a large farmer with a red necktie, the one he recognized as Dantz, and the person next to him, the person he was helping walk by placing his arm over his shoulder, was the thought to be dead champion.