"Nothing changes about the battle plan," Harun told Raeger as they walked back to the temple. "Tell your monsters to focus on capturing the Hero and securing the final key. That is all that matters. Beyond that, defend the temple. There is no need to go on the offensive and cause more undue bloodshed."
"I have my orders from Mistress Remoth," Raeger replied, clearly attempting to remind Harun that he was not the one in charge of him.
"Just see that it gets done."
"It is no longer clear which of them is the Hero," the Hinox went on. "Those two Hylians who met with us have both been seen with the Master Sword and with the key."
"Then take them both. We'll sort out the rest afterwards."
As Harun reached the stairs leading up to the temple's entrance, he was greeted by Emri, Laine, and Kyra.
"How'd it go, Harun?" Kyra asked. "The battle still on?"
"Unfortunately so," Harun told her. The temple doors were slightly ajar, leaving enough room for the four of them to enter, passing by numerous monsters as they did.
"Um… How was Queen Urballa?" Emri asked, clearly nervous to ask about their queen, but nonetheless desiring to know.
Harun walked in silence for a moment, trying to think of how to answer. The things Urballa had told him regarding Sabah weighed heavily on his mind. "She has made peace with the Hyruleans, clearly. But her opinion of my mission here remains unchanged."
"Well… Do you think we should go back and join her?" Emri pressed on.
The prince halted, directing his confused gaze toward his attendant. Emri shrunk under his attention, attempting to hide half of her body behind Kyra.
"Do not question the prince," Laine warned her.
"No. It is fine." Although Harun knew that was the right thing for him to say, he felt the anger in the back of his mind.
The last thing I need at the moment is more people telling me I'm wrong.
"If we leave now, we will have accomplished nothing," the prince rationalized. "I finally have the chance to free myself of the burdens unfairly placed upon me, and there is no limit to how much more good we could do with the Triforce under our dominion."
"Hell yeah!" Kyra enthusiastically agreed, thrusting her spear into the air. "I'm gonna wish to be the best damn warrior this world has ever seen!"
"My only wish is to serve our people," Laine said.
Harun was not in the mood to discuss wishes. At the moment, there was someone he knew he could justifiably direct his anger at. Setting his sight high, he spotted who he was looking for. Up on a suspended walkway spanning the upper levels of the temple, most of the rest of their alliance's leadership was overlooking the scene. Without waiting to explain his goals to his guards, Harun set off for the staircase.
After climbing several floors with his retainers in tow, Harun stepped onto the bridge-like stone walkway. Impa Sadashi was there, as was Sage Lucrezia and Mina Remoth. Impa stood leaning over the railing, occasionally shouting orders to the Sheikah warriors throughout the temple's main area. The Sage of Time stood in the center of the walkway. She seemed to be focused on something intently. It reminded Harun of the Sage of Spirit's gaze – like she was seeing something no one else could. Mina was lazing about, lying along the top of the railing, picking her fingernails with a dagger.
"Oi, Harun." Mina Remoth was the first to greet him as he approached, casually waving. "How's it going out there, hm? We win yet?"
Impa stepped away from the railing and turned to face the prince, standing tall and proud with her hands cupped in front of herself. "Do you bring an update on–"
Harun cut her off with a punch to the face. He was furious, and he knew she was the cause. However, as satisfying as the punch was, the Sheikah woman disappeared the moment his fist connected with her. She reappeared several meters away on the other side of the walkway. Several other Sheikah appeared as well, surrounding Harun from both sides. Harun's guards quickly moved in, forming a tight circle around him with their spears at the ready.
"Whoa-ho!" Mina was surprised by Harun's sudden act of violence. However, aside from turning in interest, clapping her hands together once, and laughing, she did nothing. "Damn, Prince! Didn't think ya had it in ya!"
Lucrezia stopped spacing out and looked at Harun with intrigue. However, she chose to step behind the Sheikah.
"Don't any of you dare come near the prince!" Kyra called out.
"Hold." Impa raised a hand and let her agents know not to attack. She walked closer again, standing beside the Sage of Time. "Prince Harun, would you kindly explain why you chose to strike me?"
"Admit it!" he shouted loudly. "You had Sabah killed!" Although he had denied it in front of Urballa, he knew it was more than likely that there was some truth behind the queen's accusations. While the Hero had claimed the orders had come from Impa Sadashi's daughter, that likely meant Sadashi was ultimately responsible.
Impa's face remained unflinching. "And may I ask how you have arrived at that conclusion?"
"The assassin confessed his crimes."
"To you?"
"To my queen."
Impa shook her head. "You are being misled, my prince."
"So you deny it?"
"Of course. The death of a Gerudo Princess does not serve my goals," the shogun calmly explained. "Regardless, once we have the Triforce, you may wish for her resurrection."
Harun was still seething. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Impa could not be trusted, but neither could Urballa, nor the Hero, nor anybody. The only thing left was to hold onto the hope of obtaining the Triforce.
I'll be able to set everything right.
"This could have been over," Harun cried out in frustration. "We could be retrieving the Triforce as we speak, but you sent that accursed Socicila. He tried to steal the final key while I was negotiating with Queen Urballa and the Heroes. Raeger and I had everything under control! We could have ended all of this now, but you ruined our chance!"
"Socicila's instructions were not to step in unless he determined the negotiations would not bear fruit," Impa explained. "If he attempted to retrieve the final key himself, it was because he had already ascertained your failure."
"Socicila is dead," Harun told her. "That strikes me as a much larger failure than anything I have done."
Mina snickered at that. "He's got a point."
"Who is responsible for Socicila's death?" the Sheikah shogun asked. "The Hero?"
"No. The enemy has a Sheikah ninja of their own. He killed your lackey," Harun told her.
"Interesting." Impa held her hand to her chin for a moment, considering something.
"Regardless of who has failed, the task set before us remains the same," the Sage of Time interjected, tapping the bottom of her ticking scepter against the ground. "Capture the Hero and secure the final key. Then we can finally claim our divine reward."
Harun had thoughts on that matter as well. He let out a frustrated sigh before pressing on. "There is some uncertainty regarding the Hero's identity now," he said. His anger still remained, but he tried to calm himself as much as possible to focus on the mission. "The Hylian vai who killed Lord Remoth is here, but there is also a voe who killed Volder while wielding both the Master Sword and the key."
"These are the same two who murdered my daughter?" Impa asked.
"That is likely," Harun confirmed.
"If the girl's the one who killed my dad, nobody better touch her but me." Mina turned and hopped down from the railing. Her usual playfulness had disappeared from her face. "She's mine."
"You mustn't harm her until we have what we need. Whoever the Hero is, we need them alive for now," Impa reminded the Remoth girl. "Remain here and let our soldiers capture them."
"Yeah, yeah," Mina said irritably.
"I shall return to the gate to help lead the defense," Harun declared, tired of listening to these people talk. Before he left, he turned to Impa and pointed a gauntleted finger at her. "You will not send any more of your assassins, especially for Queen Urballa. The Gerudo shall be spared as much as possible."
"As you wish, young prince," the shogun replied.
Growling lightly under his breath, Harun turned his back on his fellow leaders, intending to storm away. "Move. Now," he demanded of the Sheikah blocking his path. The ninjas, despite their obvious training and dedication, were clearly frightened of him, and they stepped out of Harun's way to let him and his guards pass.
When Harun stepped outside again, he could see the Hyrulean army already advancing towards them. Raeger still stood in front of the temple gate, while the motley horde of monsters, Gerudo, Sheikah, and even some Hylians scrambled into defensive positions in front of and on top of the temple.
Down the stairs, Harun spotted Mila Shadowgale barking orders. Her high-pitched, childish voice was unmistakable, but despite her small stature and youthful appearance, the soldiers seemed to obey her. The prince found it odd. He still was not entirely clear who this girl was, other than that she was one of the fairy children who came from a forest in the Faron region. Nonetheless, like Harun, the Sage of Time, and the Impas, Mila was a key-bearer, and that was enough to grant her significant authority within their odd alliance.
Descending the steps, Harun approached the young-looking girl who wore a knight's armor. "Are we prepared?" he asked her.
Mila eyed him suspiciously for a moment. Given that Harun was the size of a full-grown Gerudo male, while Mila was the size of a Hylian child, the physical difference between the two of them was staggering. And yet, she did not seem intimidated by the prince's presence.
"Barely," the fairy child replied. "Without the dragon, we've lost our advantage. We've got two sages sitting on their asses inside the temple, but for some reason, they refuse to come out and fight alongside us. At least we have that giant, although his depth perception leaves something to be desired."
Harun agreed with her. While he had never seen a sage in battle before, he knew that powerful magic users such as them could be exceedingly effective in combat. "We need not defeat them all," the prince told her, gesturing vaguely towards the approaching enemy army. "All we need is to take the Hero alive and secure the final key."
Mila scoffed. "Why take the Hero alive when all we need is their key? If they're as dangerous as everyone says, we're better off putting the Hero down and taking the key off their corpse."
"I admit it sounds odd, but the Impas insist it is necessary for a more permanent solution they have planned for this conflict." Harun did not fully understand it himself, but the matter of the Hero was of no great concern to him, and the idea of avoiding more unnecessary death appealed to him regardless.
The fairy child appeared uninterested in Harun's answer. "Whatever. It doesn't matter as long as I get my hands on the Triforce in the end."
"And what do you intend to use it for, my lady?" The Gerudo prince asked. He knew the monsters wished to use it to improve the circumstances of their people, the Sheikah seemed to be trying to do something that benefited the entire kingdom, and the Sage of Time was on a mission from her Patron. Mila was the only key-bearer whose motivation was unclear to Harun.
"I have my goals, same as everyone else here," was Mila's only answer. "It's got nothing to do with you, so let's keep it that way."
Laine stepped forward, likely intending to scold the young-looking girl for speaking rudely to the prince. Harun held out his arm to stop her, even though he felt a voice in his head telling him to strike Mila just as he'd done to Impa. "Very well, Lady Shadowgale," he chose to say instead. "I hope we are both successful in our endeavors."
"Good. Now get your women into position," the fairy child ordered him. She gestured toward the advancing enemy in the distance. "In case you haven't noticed, the battle's about to begin." Mila then walked away from him, heading off to join the contingent of their troops who belonged to her.
"I do not like her," Laine said, watching the fairy child with disdain.
"You don't like anyone," Kyra replied. "Besides, you're not about to start a fight with a mere child, are ya?"
Harun knew the fairy children were not actual children. Fairies were spirits, and it could be difficult to judge the age of a spirit by appearance alone. He did not feel the need to correct his retainer, however. He chose to focus on the upcoming battle.
The prince did not have a large number of Gerudo under his command. Only those who were loyal to him had chosen to follow him when he left Queen Urballa at the Coliseum. What few troops he had were assembled on the right flank, alongside a group of Lizalfos.
"Let us join the others," Harun told his guards. "It is time for battle."
The first attack of the battle came from Raeger the Hinox. Just as he'd done in the earlier battle, he hefted a massive chunk of stone from the earth, and then he proceeded to toss it into the sea of approaching foes. Bigblins placed upon the temple's roof did the same, hurling smaller boulders at the enemy army from up high. Many of the stone projectiles did some serious damage, crushing Hyrulean soldiers and rolling over several more behind them. However, much of the damage was mitigated by Hylian defensive magic. The enemy army had many mages in their ranks, and magical barriers of various colors and shapes began popping up to shield their ranks from the oncoming barrage.
The flying monsters were the next to attack. A horde of Achemen and Aeralfos took to the skies with bows and spears, raining arrows down on the Hyruleans and dive bombing them with their sharpened weapons. Bokoblins, Lizalfos, and Sheikah with bows also launched another volley of arrows from the ground and from the rooftop. The enemy mages were able to effectively shield their forces from the arrows, but the real battle began once the dive bombers made contact with the ground forces. The clanging of metal against metal once again echoed throughout the canyon, accompanying the many battlecries, the orders shouted by commanders, and the screams of pain.
It did not take long for the Hyrulean archers and mages to begin firing upon them in return. Those who could do so raised their shields in defense, but many of Harun's allies were struck down, including a number of the Bigblin boulder chuckers.
As the monster force's artillery was dying down and their initial flying strike force was beaten back, the enemy army was soon at the foot of the temple. Raeger lifted a fallen stone pillar in his hands and stepped forward to meet them head on. With his first swing, he took out an entire line of Goron warriors. A horde of smaller monsters joined in from behind him, giving the Hinox a wide berth, but moving forward to meet the enemy vanguard.
Over on the left flank, Mila Shadowgale ordered her troops to engage the enemy as well, so Harun figured it was time to do the same. He issued his commands in the Gerudo tongue, and his warriors marched forward. The monsters beside him likely did not speak his language, but they got the message regardless and obeyed. Harun had been worried about facing off against other Gerudo, but if it were some small consolation, the enemies he and his allies faced were Hylian.
At first, Harun stood back, overseeing the battle and issuing further orders when needed. He had not entered the battle in the best of moods after what had happened earlier, so he did his best to remain focused and calm. However, it did not take long for his troops - his loyal allies who had followed him into exile - began to fall. All around him, people were fighting and dying. Weapons clashed, people screamed, blood was spilled. It became harder for Harun to restrain his growing rage.
Why must all these people be such utter fools? The Triforce is just inside that temple. The keys are all gathered here. If we just went inside together, we could grant everyone's wishes. The world would be saved. It would be better for everyone, so why must we fight?
The Gerudo prince cursed the gods for putting him in this position. He hated these people for fighting at all, and yet he was forced to draw his sword all the same, unable to stand idly by while his loyal subordinates died for him.
I just need to fight until the Heroes reveal themselves. Then I can claim the final key, and this will all be over.
As Harun approached the battle, a number of Hylians on the frontlines took notice of him. Some shrunk back, cowering in fear. A couple of them abandoned their positions and fled. Others stood their ground, but visibly shook at the sight of him. Their reaction could have been because of any number of things. He must have looked quite large to a Hylian, and they could not have ever seen a Gerudo voe before. His sword was likely quite intimidating as well. But, more than likely, it had something to do with the curse. Harun could feel it. The rage was boiling inside him, trying to force its way out, and that was having an effect on those around him, particularly the enemies upon whom he set his scornful gaze.
With his first swing, the Gerudo prince cut through four of the Hylian soldiers, the dark blade he wielded slicing through their armor with barely any effort. His enemies screamed, and he swung again. With the Hyruleans' defensive line broken, Harun raised his sword into the air and slashed downwards in front of him, conjuring a violet flame that spread outwards and incinerated everyone in front of him.
At that point, whatever remained of the Hylians' courage left them. All those in his immediate vicinity fled, falling back to the rest of their forces.
"Come and face me, Heroes!" Harun called out, magically amplifying his voice to be heard over the chaos of the battle. "Cease this senseless attack! Give me the key and let me end this!"
After making his declaration, Harun indeed spotted one of the Heroes. However, if she had heard him, she was much too busy to address him. The foolish Hylian girl was currently engaged in single combat with Raeger the Hinox. Her Hylian allies and Raeger's Blin allies were giving them plenty of room, creating a ring of open space in the middle of an otherwise crowded battlefield.
Raeger swung the pillar he wielded for a weapon, but the Hero easily avoided it. Harun was stunned to see the inhuman speed at which she moved. The young Hylian girl attempted to run behind the Hinox and slash at his ankles, but as if he'd anticipated that, Raeger leaped into the air. The giant's feet returned to the canyon floor with the sound of a colossal stomp, and the Hero was knocked back by the sheer force of the shockwave it created.
"All I require from you, Hero, is that tool you carry on your waist," Raeger said. His voice easily carried over the commotion, but the Hero's did not, so Harun was unable to hear her response.
The key is with her?
If that was the case, then this conflict was as good as over. "Hold the line here," Harun told the other Gerudo. "I shall retrieve the final key."
"Yes, my prince."
Raeger and the Hero continued fighting as Harun made his way across the battlefield. Hylians and Bokoblins alike parted for him as he walked, temporarily ceasing their battles as they watched him pass. Any Hylians who did not remove themselves from his path were cut down.
The Hero had the Master Sword strapped to her back. In her hands, she wielded a small crossbow. As she zipped back and forth, she took a few shots at Raeger, clearly aiming for his giant eye. Raeger's large, three-fingered hand was able to block the Hero's bolts with no issue, likely feeling little more than a tiny prick.
With how fast she moved, Harun imagined it would be difficult to capture the Hero alive. However, Impa's strange obsession with capturing the Heroes did not matter to him. He could see the hookshot dangling from her waist. He did not need her - all he needed was the key.
Reaching his arm out, Harun conjured a shadowbound hand in front of his own. His magical creation then flew forwards, heading for the Hero, intent on snatching the hookshot right out from under her.
The Hero noticed, however. Reflexively, she dropped her crossbow and drew the Master Sword, slashing at Harun's shadow. The magical construct immediately dissipated, and Harun pulled his own hand back in pain, feeling as if the Hero's sword had slashed him instead. The Hero then took notice of Harun, locking eyes with him from a distance, a look of shock and righteous indignation on her youthful face.
The incident appeared to have reminded the Hero about the hookshot. She glanced down at it, then grabbed it with her right hand and aimed it up at the one-eyed giant. Raeger saw what she was doing and raised his hand to guard his face, but she did not aim for his face. Instead, when she launched the hookshot, the pointed grapple at the end of the chain embedded itself into the Hinox's shoulder. The Hero then allowed herself to be pulled off of the ground as the chain retracted into the hookshot. When she reached the Hinox's body, she stabbed her sword into Raeger's collar. Gripping her sword tightly, the Hero slid downwards, with the Master Sword carving a deep cut all the way down Raeger's torso, expelling a holy light the whole way down.
The massive Hinox roared in pain, falling to his knees. The Hero leaped away from him just before he fell forward, his body crashing down with enough force to shake the ground. The Hylians in the vicinity cheered at her victory, but the Hero herself did not appear triumphant. She turned and stared at the body of the Hinox with a look of shame and regret upon her face. She even stepped forward and placed a hand on Raeger's head, as if to make a gesture of apology.
Behind her, the other Hero shoved his way through the crowd. Upon seeing the position the Master Sword-bearer was in, he appeared to understand her thoughts immediately, approaching her from behind and gently placing a hand on her shoulder sympathetically.
Harun had intended to make another attempt at seizing the Hero's key, but he found himself unable to move as he watched the two Heroes. The feeling welling up inside of him was indescribable. For some inexplicable reason, he felt intense ire towards the two of them, but at the same time, he could tell that neither of them were worthy of that ire, and the two irreconcilable views now fought for control inside of him.
The prince had little time to dwell on what was happening. Several warhorns sounded from behind him, and the voice of Mila Shadowgale called for a retreat to the inside of the temple. Harun could immediately see why. The enemy forces were rallying in response to the defeat of Raeger, one of their enemies' greatest threats. And, in addition to that, a great, hulking, blue beast had appeared at the Hyruleans' backs. The Zora within their ranks had somehow managed to bring a Hydrophant down into the canyon, and the massive creature was coming to serve as their reinforcements.
"My prince!"
Emri, Kyra, and Laine appeared behind Harun, and Emri grabbed him by the arm.
"Come with us, my prince. We shall make our stand inside the temple," Laine urged him.
Harun could not stop staring at the Heroes.
It's right there. The final key is right there. I can end this.
However, he could not bring himself to fight the Heroes at the moment. "Fine," he relented.
Perhaps if we retreat now, it will allow us one last opportunity to resolve this without further bloodshed…
The entry hall was perhaps the most fully excavated area of the temple. While much of the temple was still filled with rubble and fallen rocks, most of the entry hall had been cleared of such debris. It was by no means in good shape, however. The floor tiles were cracked and filled with craters, pillars were missing huge chunks that had been broken off of them, and inert Beamos statues that they had not been able to repair stood uselessly throughout the hall. Nevertheless, a sizable portion of their forces were able to fit inside, forming defensive lines in anticipation of the enemy breaking through the doors.
With Raeger dead, Harun and Lady Shadowgale were the highest-ranking commanders on the ground. From where he stood, Harun could see the other leaders he'd spoken with before the last battle, still looking over the temple from the upper walkways. However, Mina Remoth hopped up onto the railing, spread her wings, and glided down towards Harun.
"You got it?" the impish girl asked, landing beside the prince.
"No. The final key remains in the possession of the Heroine," Harun replied. "She killed Raeger," he felt the need to tell her.
Mina looked shocked, then furious. "That bitch."
Suddenly, there was a heavy pounding on the temple doors. The temple itself shook, spilling loose dust and debris from every crevice. Then came another pound, and the doors nearly opened.
"Keep that damn thing shut!" barked Lady Shadowgale. A line of Bigblins and Moblins had braced themselves against the doors, pushing with all their might.
"What the hell's doing that?" Lady Remoth asked. "Some big Goron or something?"
On the third earth-shaking thud, a large portion of the great stone doors were demolished, raining heavy pieces of debris down upon the monsters below. The Hydrophant's tusks stuck their way inside the temple. The animal raised its trunk and let out an extremely loud trumpeting sound. It terrified many among their forces, and served as a warhorn telling the enemy troops to move in. Dozens of Zora, Gorons, and humans spilled in through the gap in the doors, immediately forming a line in front of the cowering monster troops.
"Hold!" Harun stepped forward, holding his arms out to the sides and raising his hands. Both armies waited silently for orders as the Gerudo prince approached.
"It is over, Harun." Through the crowd, Queen Urballa emerged. She was accompanied by Commander Bularis, fully armored with her head obscured by her Iron Knuckle helmet. Harun stood at the front of his troops, and Urballa stood at the front of hers. "Tell your forces to throw down their weapons. Return outside with me, and we can make formal arrangements with Queen Zelda to end this conflict."
Harun's eyes narrowed, glaring at his former queen in frustration. "Why didn't you listen to me?" he asked, venting his frustration. "In Naboris, at the Arbiter's Grounds, in Taafei, in Yarna, at the Coliseum, outside this temple - Why didn't you just listen to me?!" The temple seemed to darken as he yelled, and many of those around him flinched, friend and foe alike.
"I did listen to you," Urballa replied. "Always, I listened to you. Always, I did what was best for you. But you do not understand everything, Harun."
"I understand that the gods never intended for me to succeed!" the prince cried. "I was set up to fail from the day the gods chose me to be the Voe. But I don't need to experience the ending they've written for me. The key to everything - to ending all strife, all suffering, and all pain - it's right here in this temple." He reached back and pointed behind himself, indicating the Triforce chamber much further within. "I can bring back Katta. I can bring back Averla. I can bring back Sabah. We can free our people. We can fix everything. All we need is the last key."
"Listen to yourself, Harun," Urballa said, somehow both gently and forcefully. "You sound exactly like Ganondorf. Is this who you wanted to be?"
"I. Am. Not. Ganondorf." The temple rumbled once again with the forcefulness of his words.
Behind Urballa and Bularis, the two Heroes pushed their way through the crowd. There were still plenty of enemy soldiers in front of them, but Harun took notice of them, as did Mina Remoth.
"There!" the impish girl shouted, pointing at her father's killer accusingly. In an instant, she'd transformed into her bat-like Acheman form.
However, before Mina could do anything, a gigantic shadowy hand emerged from the floor behind the Heroes. It reached forward and gripped them both in its clutches before retreating back into the ground, bringing them along with it.
Shrieks of terror and voices of confusion followed. Harun, thinking this was Impa's doing, turned around and looked in her direction. Impa Sadashi was still standing atop the upper walkway, as was Lucrezia. The Sage of Time tapped her scepter against the ground two times, then snapped her fingers.
Harun felt an extraordinarily powerful wave of magic wash over the room. He braced himself, expecting some sort of attack. However, there was no immediate damage. Instead, the room was suddenly filled with strange beeping noises coming from every direction. Then, thin red beams of light began to appear, aiming at various people among both armies.
"Beamos!" someone screamed.
Like everyone else, Harun became aware that the inert Beamos statues littered throughout the temple were now suddenly active, turning their heads and aiming their lasers. All of a sudden, the Beamos began to fire. Lasers turned into powerful beams, creating explosions wherever they shot. The room erupted into chaos. Hyruleans and monsters dove for cover, screaming in terror. Others began fighting, assuming the Beamos were under the command of the other side.
Harun lifted his mirror shield to block a laser that was aimed at him, but others were not so lucky. "Urballa!" the prince shouted, seeing two separate lasers taking aim at her. Bularis stepped in the way of one of them, but it ultimately accomplished nothing. Each of them was hit by one of the beams, and Harun watched as they were incinerated by the explosions.
He didn't even have time to react. Another shadowy hand emerged from the floor, grabbing him and pulling him out of the fight.
For a brief moment, Harun was enveloped in total darkness. He wondered if he was dead, or if he'd been sucked into the Spirit Realm again somehow. But then, the shadow hand spit him back out. He landed in a heap on the floor, completely disoriented.
"That is everyone, then," came the voice of the elderly Impa Ichika.
"Yes. We ought to restrain the Heroes, though," Impa Sadashi commented.
Harun managed to get his bearings, pushing his way onto his feet. Looking around, he found himself in the chamber of the doorway that sealed the Triforce. Ichika was seated in front of the altar where the keys needed to be placed. Her daughter stood to her right, and Lucrezia stood to her left.
There were others on the floor around Harun. Lady Remoth and Lady Shadowgale appeared to be as disoriented as Harun was. Shadowgale was holding her sword out menacingly, as if worried she'd been caught in some sort of trap. Remoth was still in her monstrous form, but she held her hand to her temple and shook her head, like she was fighting a hangover.
A bit further from the three of them stood the Heroes. The girl held the Master Sword outwards, training it on Lady Shadowgale, likely because she was the only other one who looked ready to fight. The boy was armed as well, and he stood very close to the girl, holding up his shield defensively.
Harun lost interest in the Heroes when he remembered what had just happened. "You!" he shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the two sages by the altar. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"
"Of course, my child," the Sage of Shadow replied. "We have finally gathered all six keys in one place."
"But what about everyone else?" the prince cried. "Urballa, Bularis, my friends, our allies… Those damn Beamos are going to slaughter them! Why on earth did you reactivate them?!"
"Elle, run!" came a voice from behind Harun.
He turned back to see the two Heroes attempting to flee while the others in the room were distracted, the girl running much faster than the boy. Lucrezia snapped her fingers. In an instant, a set of glowing, golden, magical chains shimmered into existence, ensnaring the Heroine before quickly disappearing. Nonetheless, the Heroine remained frozen in place, as if completely paralyzed.
"Elle? Elle? Elle!" When the other Hero caught up to her, he attempted to shake her awake, but it had no effect. "What the hell did you do to her?" he shouted angrily, looking back at everyone else.
Ichika closed her eyes, reached out her hand, lifted it up, and closed it, as if she were gripping something invisible. In response to her actions, another shadowy hand emerged from the ground and took the Heroes with it once more, spitting them out closer to everyone else.
"Wha–?" The Hero seemed disoriented again, but he was silenced when Sadashi held a katana to his throat.
"Do not attempt to flee again. If you do…" The shogun moved her blade to the frozen Heroine's throat. "Your sister dies."
A look of terror came over the Hero. He dropped his sword and raised his hands in surrender, nodding his head quickly.
"Lady Remoth, retrieve the key," Lucrezia told her, raising her hand in preparation to snap her fingers once again.
Mina reverted to her human form with a mischievous grin. She stood near the frozen Heroine and held out her arm, level with the Heroin's neck. "Do it."
The Sage of Time snapped her fingers. The mystical chains binding the Heroine reappeared for a brief moment before immediately shattering and dissipating into the air. The Hylian girl continued running as if she hadn't noticed she'd ever stopped. Unfortunately for her, she ran straight into Mina's arm. She fell onto her back, clutching her neck and coughing.
Lady Remoth knelt down beside her. "Yoink!" she said, snatching the hookshot off of the Heroine's belt before standing up straight again. The Heroine, having dropped her sword, attempted to roll over and grab it, but Mina kicked her in the stomach to stop her. "Nuh-uh-uh!" the half-breed chided, kicking the Master Sword over to the other side of the room. Mina then flicked her arm outwards. A dagger flew out from beneath her sleeve. It flew straight at the Heroine's neck, but it froze in midair, stopping close enough to prick her neck and draw a drop of blood.
"Elle!" the Hero shouted in a panic, but Sadashi placed her blade to his neck once more.
"Do not move," the shogun ordered them both. Then she cast her gaze upon each of her fellow key-bearers. "We are all here. We have all the keys. Let us place them upon the altar and finally claim our prize."
"No one's claiming anything until you answer for what you've done!" Harun insisted. "How could you leave everyone behind to die like that? Those were our allies! They were loyal to us, and you left them to the slaughter all the same!"
"All unnecessary deaths can be undone with one simple wish," Sadashi reminded him, completely unmoved by his emotional plea. Still holding her blade to the Hero's neck with one hand, she reached behind her back and removed her bow, placing it upon the altar. A glowing red rune lit up beneath it.
Her mother was next. With great effort, the old woman stood. Reaching into her robes, she produced the Lens of Truth and put it down beside the bow. A violet rune glowed beneath the item.
Lucrezia added the Ocarina of Time as well, lighting up a yellow rune upon the altar.
"Now you, child," Ichika said to Remoth.
Keeping an arm held out to maintain the floating dagger pressed to the Heroine's neck, Lady Remoth crept over to the altar and placed the hookshot upon it, igniting a glowing blue rune.
"And you, Lady Shadowgale," Sadashi said next.
The Kokiri girl had been standing at a safe distance away from everyone else up until that point, still holding her sword in a defensive position. She seemed to consider the situation a while longer, but she eventually complied. Keeping a distrustful eye on both her enemies and her allies, she approached the altar and put her gilded sword down on it, activating a green-colored rune.
Harun held the final key – the mirror shield upon his back. All eyes turned to him.
"Don't do it!" the Heroine pleaded. "The whole kingdom could be destroyed! The whole world–!"
"Shut up!" Mina flung another dagger at the prone girl, this one stopping midair just before it pierced her left eye, terrifying her into silence. The Remoth girl then turned back to Harun. "Look, Prince. A lot of shit has happened, but we can fix everything if we open that door. If we don't, then we've done all this for nothing."
Harun noticed the change in Mina's demeanor. She wasn't angry or demanding something of him. There was a look of desperation on her face. This was not a monster trying to conquer the kingdom; this was a girl trying to bring back her father and her fallen friend. It was difficult not to feel sympathetic to her situation.
She's right. We need to be the ones to fix this.
Unwilling to look anyone else in the eye, Harun walked forward with purpose. He removed the mirror shield from his back and placed it upon the altar beside the other five keys, causing an orange rune to light up beneath it.
A humming noise was emitted as the altar accepted the keys. Magical symbols appeared on the great stone door. Among them were the symbols of the original Six Sages' elements, each one matching the color of one of the runes beneath the keys on the altar. A more intense humming noise was emitted next, followed by a rumbling as the whole temple shook. The eight people in the room watched with rapt attention as the door slowly slid open.
Harun immediately felt something powerful radiating from within the open chamber. The raised door revealed a somewhat large, circular room, but it appeared to be almost empty. The walls and floor were of blank stone, and only a single notable feature sat in the center of the chamber. There was a small, raised dais encircled by a short set of stairs that led up to it. Upon the dais was a pedestal resembling a column with a flat top. Harun had expected to see a shiny set of golden triangles perched upon the pedestal, but in its place, he saw what appeared to be a sculpture of only a head and upper torso.
Harun was confused.
Is there another chamber deeper within? Or must it be summoned to appear upon that pedestal through some further ritual?
Impa Ichika, shuffling carefully along using her cane, was the first to walk around the altar and enter the chamber. Her daughter followed after her, forcing the Hero at swordpoint to move with her. "Bring that one, too," Sadashi told Mina while Lucrezia joined her.
"Gladly." Grabbing the Heroine by the throat, Mina lifted the girl to her feet and twisted her arm behind her back, easily overpowering her as she struggled.
"Get off me! I'm gonna kill you!" the Heroine threatened.
"Other way around, bitch. Just you wait," Mina replied, tightening her grip around the smaller girl's throat until her sharp fingernails broke the girl's skin. Lady Remoth then pulled the crossbow off of the struggling Heroine's back and tossed it onto the floor before dragging her into the chamber.
Lady Shadowgale retrieved her gilded sword from the altar before following as well. Harun was the last to enter the chamber.
Sadashi stopped before getting too close to the dais in the center of the room. "Mother, if you please," she requested, gesturing to the Hero in front of her.
"Of course, my child." With a few movements of her hand, a faceless shadow person appeared behind the Hero. The shadow quickly shoved the Hero onto the ground, kneeling on top of him to pin him in place.
"Thank you." Sadashi sheathed her katana and took a few steps forward, but she was stopped when Lady Shadowgale appeared in front of her.
"Hold it," the fairy child demanded, raising her sword. "You've brought us this far, promising us the Triforce." Mila gestured to the otherwise empty space around them. "I don't see it. Explain yourself."
"Yeah, what the hell's going on?" Lady Remoth joined in. "You better not have been wrong this whole damn time."
Harun was somewhat relieved to hear he was not the only one confused about the situation. He could still feel that there was something immensely powerful somewhere in the room, but he could not see the Triforce anywhere. "Yes. I concur," the prince added, making it clear he wanted answers as much as they did.
"Fear not," Lucrezia assured them, stepping up beside Sadashi. The faint ticking sound emanated by her scepter could be heard clearly in the large, empty chamber. "We shall explain everything."
"Explain that first, then." Lady Shadowgale gestured to the sculpture sitting atop the pedestal upon the dais.
Being able to see it up close now, Harun examined the bust. Whoever the sculpture was intended to depict remained a mystery, however, as the sculpture had a mask placed over its face. The mask resembled a human face with pointed ears, and it looked slightly uncanny due to the large blank eye holes. The face it depicted was wearing war paint, with two red lines painted beneath its eye holes and a V-shaped blue symbol painted upon its forehead. The mask was also framed with silvery-gray hair.
Some sort of primitive Hylian war mask, perhaps?
"That is our final step before obtaining the Triforce," Sadashi explained.
"How? I said explain," the fairy child demanded further.
"When I don that mask, I will be able to extract the Triforce from within the Hero," the shogun responded.
"What?" both Heroes replied in unison.
Harun looked the Heroes over. He supposed that explained why the Impas had been so insistent that they be captured alive. Whatever ritual they intended to perform, it must not have been possible if attempted upon their corpses.
"What the hell? You never said anything about that," Lady Remoth said, sounding skeptical and rather annoyed.
"It is the way of the Sheikah, my dear. Information is not to be shared unless it is vitally necessary," Sadashi concluded, sounding almost proud of herself.
Lady Shadowgale narrowed her eyes, looking as though she didn't believe a word Sadashi said. "Fine, then. Let me wear the mask, and I'll cut the Triforce out of them."
"My mother has given me extensive training on how to perform the ritual," the shogun told her. "It must be me."
"Bullshit. If you know it so well, you can walk me through it." Keeping her sword raised, Mila crept backwards towards the dais. Lucrezia followed after her, her heels clicking loudly upon the hard stone floor. "You wait back there!" Mila demanded.
Lucrezia simply smiled with amusement and calmly tapped her hand against the pointy tip of Mila's gilded sword. In an instant, Lady Shadowgale was enveloped in a yellow magical light. She began to walk forward instead, and the Sage of Time stepped out of her way to allow the fairy child to pass. Mila soon lowered her sword, turned around, and began to walk backwards out of the room, as if she were replaying all of her recent movements in reverse.
"What in the…?" Harun watched all of this happen in bewilderment.
"My thanks to you, wise sage," Sadashi said, sharing a nod with Lucrezia. The shogun then calmly ascended the steps leading up to the pedestal where the mask awaited her.
"No! You can't let her! Somebody stop her!" The Heroine began struggling once more, forcing Mina to shove her to the ground and fall on top of her, pinning her under her own weight.
"She's right! You can't trust her! She'll kill us all!" The other Hero struggled as well, held in place by Ichika's shadow figure. He made eye contact with Harun, staring at him with pleading eyes. The prince forced himself to look away.
Let us swiftly be done with this final monstrous act…
When she reached the pedestal, Sadashi lifted the mask off of the bust. She stared at it for a moment, then turned it over in her hands and brought it to her face. As soon as she put the mask on, it seemed to clamp onto her. The Sheikah woman gasped and put her hands to the sides of her head. She then fell to her knees. "Ah! Ahhh! Ahhhhh!" Her groans of pain turned into screams of torment.
"What is happening to her?" Harun cried, turning to Ichika for answers.
The Sage of Shadow merely held up her hand. "It will pass."
The sounds of several cracks of thunder shook the room as lightning shot out from Sadashi's body in all directions. Temporarily blinded by the flashes of lightning, Harun stepped back and buried his face in his arm, holding out his other hand to block any lightning that might have come his way.
When the sounds of thunder and screaming died down, Harun uncovered his face. Sadashi remained kneeling atop the dais for a moment, but she soon climbed to her feet and turned to face them.
The Sheikah Shogun looked very different. She had grown taller, standing above the height of a Gerudo woman now. Her hair had changed from snow white to metallic silver. Her armor maintained the appearance of Sheikah samurai armor, but it was now silver and teal with golden symbols of a crescent moon and a piece of the Triforce on the upper breast plate. Her sword, too, had been transformed, now having the appearance of two wavy pieces of greenish-blue metal woven together. Finally, she no longer appeared to be wearing a mask. Her face was now decorated with the red and blue war paint that had been present on the mask. Additionally, her eyes now appeared to lack pupils, being a completely blank white.
"Are you prepared, my child?" Ichika asked her daughter.
"Yes, Mother." Sadashi's voice echoed with power, containing a distinctive quality Harun had only ever heard before in the voice of the goddess Alkawbra. When she opened her mouth, Harun could see she now had pronounced fangs.
"Good. Proceed," the Sage of Shadow commanded.
Sadashi climbed down the steps of the dais, approaching the prone Hero. Harun could hear his own heart beating. Something was definitely wrong. The dark power he sensed from Sadashi now – it could only be compared to the dark powers he'd sensed from Ganon and Demise in the past. When the Sheikah shogun drew her transformed sword and raised it above her head, Harun acted without thinking. When his own dark sword collided with hers, it made a sound like thunder, and a rippling wave of heat shot out in all directions.
Everyone froze for a moment. Harun stared into the empty eyes of the dark warrior in front of him, locking swords with her.
"Why have you interrupted me?" Sadashi asked, her voice still echoing with god-like power.
Harun took a second to respond, not quite sure himself. "You lied to us," he said.
Sadashi pulled her sword back and stepped away. "Explain."
"The Hyrulean Royal Family and their previous Hero were the last ones to possess the Triforce," Harun began, keeping his sword raised defensively. "They would never have hidden it in a manner that required the next Hero to be sacrificed."
"Yeah, he's right!" Mina joined in. "That doesn't make any sense. You lied!"
Sadashi looked between the two of them, gazing at them with lifeless eyes. "I am giving you what you want," she insisted. "Lady Remoth, the Hero is the scourge of your kind. I am giving you a world without a Hero. And Prince Harun, you are burdened by the Curse of Demise. I shall free you from its power."
Harun lowered his guard for a second, momentarily enticed by the idea. "What?"
"When the First Demon King was defeated by the Hero of the Sky, he uttered a curse with his final breath," Ichika began, explaining the events from the old legend. "He decreed that an incarnation of his hatred would follow Hylia's bloodline and the Hero's spirit for all time. It is because of their existence that the curse persists. When they are gone, the world – and you – will finally be free of Demise's wrath."
"That is absurd," Harun insisted. "The Hero is reborn in an endless cycle of reincarnation. Killing them would accomplish nothing."
Sadashi held her strange sword horizontally in front of herself, running her hand over the flat of the blade. "This weapon was used by the Hero of Time to slay an immortal demon from another world," she told him. "In other words, it has the power to obliterate immortal souls. It is one of only a handful of artifacts in all of creation that could permanently end the Hero's reincarnation cycle."
Harun heard a scuffle off to the side. Mina had let the Heroine go and climbed back to her feet. "So that's it, then?" the red-haired girl asked in disgust. "All the people we killed, the wars we started, it wasn't to obtain the Triforce at all - it was all just to kill, what, seven or eight people?"
"No." Ichika shook her head. "We could have killed every member of the Royal Family at any time. We did all of this to kill one person. Or two, I suppose, if these children are truly both the Hero. We needed war, mass terror, and my granddaughter's demonic altar ego in order to force the Hero to awaken."
Harun had never heard anything so callous. These people were offering him the solution he'd been looking for all this time, but could he really accept it now that he knew the truth?
Suddenly, the Heroine sprinted across the room with blinding speed. Letting out a battle cry, she leaped forward to deliver a flying kick to the shadow creature holding down the other Hero. The shadowy being dissipated in a puff of smoke. "Brother!" she cried as she landed beside him, reaching down to hurriedly help him to his feet.
The Sage of Time nonchalantly pointed her scepter at the Heroes. The magical chains she'd summoned before appeared briefly once again, freezing the two Heroes in stasis while their hands were clasped together. "Stand aside, young prince," Lucrezia told Harun.
"Yes," Sadashi concurred. "Once we eliminate these two, it is only the Queen of Hyrule and her sister who remain. Then you can finally be at peace."
"Fuck you." Mina threw both her arms out, and several knives flew out from within her clothing. Before they could hit Sadashi, a shadowy portal appeared in the air. The knives sailed into the portal, disappearing, then reappeared from a second portal that opened behind Mina. However, Mina simply redirected them, making them fly in Ichika's direction.
Lucrezia held out her hand and froze Mina in stasis as well. Ichika intercepted her flying knives in a similar fashion as before, depositing them harmlessly onto the ground this time.
Harun stood in the middle of Sadashi, Ichika, and Lucrezia. All three of them were clearly immensely powerful, and all of his potential allies were now frozen in place. If he acted out of turn again, the Sage of Time would likely simply put him in stasis, too.
Can I really fight them? Is this the only way? Is this not what I wanted…?
Before he could make up his mind, Harun heard music drifting into the room. Turning around, he saw Mila Shadowgale stepping through the open doorway. The Kokiri girl had three swords strapped to her back. In her hands, she held the Ocarina of Time, and she was playing a simple but beautiful tune. As she played, shimmering images resembling floating clock dials circled around her. The same images appeared around the Heroes and around Mina Remoth. The magical chains binding them shattered, and they began moving again.
"How do you know that song?" Lucrezia asked. For the first time, she did not seem calm and in control. She was angry, and perhaps worried.
"Every Kokiri knows it." Shadowgale drew two of the swords from her back – the Master Sword and the one the other Hero had wielded. "Hey! You two!" she shouted, tossing the swords in their direction.
The Heroine reacted immediately, sprinting forward to catch the Master Sword out of the air. The other sword clattered to the ground and slid the last few feet before the other Hero picked it up.
Glaring at Shadowgale angrily, Lucrezia held out her scepter. The stasis chains appeared around the Kokiri girl, but they just as quickly shattered, failing to put Mila in stasis for even a second. The Kokiri girl smiled smugly. "Not gonna work, bitch," she declared, idly tossing the Ocarina of Time in her hand. She then drew her gilded sword. "Time to die."
The two Heroes, now wielding their weapons again, attempted to attack their closest enemy, who happened to be the Sage of Shadow. Ichika avoided their blades by melting into the shadows, replacing herself with two shadowy figures resembling the Heroes. The shadow creatures swung their own swords, which the Heroes blocked.
"Not this again," Link complained.
Meanwhile, Mina Remoth regained control of her knives, lifting them off of the floor and sending them flying around the room once more. This time, she attempted to fling them at the Sage of Time. Lucrezia cast some manner of spell on herself that allowed her to move at incredible speed, dodging out of the way of the knives and moving over to the far wall.
With the battle having begun, it came time for Harun to make his decision. His choices were either to side with the Impas and hope they were right about breaking the Curse of Demise, or to side against them and fight alongside more trustworthy allies. In the end, it was not a difficult decision. Clenching his jaw in fierce determination, he directed his anger at Sadashi, hefting his sword in both hands and swinging at her.
The shogun blocked his blade, sending out a shockwave that made the others in the room stumble. "Our goal is your own," Sadashi told him as they locked blades once again. "Fighting me is counterproductive."
"I have had many people tell me they know what is best for me," Harun said. "I'm beginning to think none of you know any better than I do." The prince leaped back and cast a lightning spell, shooting a bolt directly at the shogun. The bolt hit Sadashi, but she pointed her sword out to the side and redirected the lightning through her, out of the sword, and into the wall, leaving a smoking scorch mark on the stone. She then lunged at Harun, swinging her sword downward, forcing the prince to dodge to the side.
A couple meters away from them, Mina and Mila were still fighting with Lucrezia. With the Sage of Time's magic no longer effective on them, the half-breed and the Kokiri seemed to have the upper hand. However, the time dilation spell Lucrezia had cast upon herself allowed her to move too fast for them to hit. So, the Sage of Time was able to side step every sword swipe and flying dagger they threw at her, occasionally moving in to bash one of them with her scepter when she saw an opening.
"Hold still and let me stab you!" Mina complained.
Link and Linkle were faring a lot better against their foe. The Master Sword's light magic enchantments proved extremely effective against Ichika's shadow minions. Within a few strikes, Linkle was able to take one of them down, forcing it to dissipate back into the darkness. However, every time the Heroes defeated one of the shadow creatures, Ichika simply spawned another one, and she continuously evaded them with her portals.
During the fight, Link took notice of Mina and Mila's duel with the Sage of Time. "Elle, I think they need you over there," he told his sister while he parried his opponent's strike.
The Heroine felled another foe with her blade, then glanced over at the other battle. She seemed to understand her brother's meaning, taking notice of Lucrezia's speed before glancing down at the Pegasus Boots she wore. "Switch?" she asked her brother, holding up the Master Sword.
"Switch," the Hero agreed. At the same time, they each tossed the sword they were carrying to the other. Now holding the more suitable blade, Link made quick work of the shadow creature he was fighting, and Linkle sprinted off with the Lynel reaper in hand.
Harun's own duel with Sadashi was not going particularly well. The Sheikah woman moved much too quickly for someone wearing so much armor and carrying so large a weapon. The prince first tried to fight her the way he might have fought an Iron Knuckle, but his attempts to exploit her perceived weaknesses bore no fruit.
"You accomplish nothing by fighting me," Sadashi told him, once again attempting to convince him to stand down. "You are protecting the very people who have caused you so much suffering."
"You will not use my suffering to control me!" Harun shouted. "They did not kill Princess Sabah. They did not start this war. They have never lied to me!" As he thought of every horrible thing Sadashi and her cohorts were responsible for, his anger only grew. With every swing of his sword, he felt his strength growing. Soon, Sadashi was on the defensive, stepping backwards as she blocked his attacks with her divine blade.
Harun could hear the rapid movement of footsteps behind him as Linkle sprinted across the room. This was followed by the sound of Lucrezia screaming in pain. The Heroine had interrupted Remoth and Shadowgale's fight with the Sage of Time, stabbing the sage through the chest with the other Hero's sword. However, this action was immediately undone. Just as Lucrezia had done to Shadowgale earlier, she used her chronomancy in order to rewind the clock for both her and the Heroine. The sword was pulled from her chest, with all damage being reversed along with it, and Linkle sprinted backwards to the other side of the room.
Linkle was not deterred. As soon as Lucrezia's magic wore off, she yelled in frustration and charged forward once again. Lucrezia seemed to expect her to do the exact same thing she did last time, and she held her scepter defensively in front of her chest. However, she only had a split second to register her surprise as Linkle instead aimed higher, swinging her sword at the sage's neck as she ran by. Lucrezia was decapitated instantly, with no time to cast her recall spell.
Lucrezia's head clambered across the floor. Her body began to tilt over. As it did, bright blue and gold lights appeared around her, like her body was drawing magic into itself. Moments later, the magic was unleashed. Waves of blue and gold magic pulsed across the room, radiating outwards from Lucrezia's falling corpse. The magic she released caused those in the room to speed up or slow down, seemingly at random.
Harun had trouble maintaining his apparent advantage against Sadashi. He alternately found himself swinging at a slow-moving opponent and suddenly being attacked by an opponent moving too fast for his eyes to see.
Link and Ichika's battle was similarly affected. However, due to pure luck, he managed to slice through his last shadow opponent at a time when he was moving fast and Ichika was moving slow. Taking advantage of the moment, he lunged forward and drove the Master Sword through the sage's chest.
A few moments after Lucrezia's body hit the ground, the magic stopped radiating from her body, and the time anomalies ceased. Shortly after, the Sage of Shadow died in a similar fashion. However, rather than releasing a burst of time-altering magic, Ichika's body released a cloud of black smoke, engulfing the room in total darkness.
Harun heard shouting from Link, Linkle, Shadowgale, and Remoth, but he tried to shut them out. Sadashi was a Sheikah, and her kind were known to strike from the shadows. Cautiously, he held up his sword defensively and backed away towards the wall, unable to see a thing. A few times, he slashed blindly into the darkness, hoping he might be fortunate enough to hit her, but his sword did not connect with anything.
Before he could make it to the wall, Harun sensed a strong source of anger beside him. He had time to leap to the side before he heard a scream of agony. Suddenly, a bright light emerged from the darkness, chasing away the shadows. As the magical clouds of darkness dissipated, Harun shielded his eyes from the light, but he could see its source now. Sadashi was there, and her sword had been driven into the body of a man who had gotten between her and Harun. At first, the prince thought it was the Hero, but both Heroes were huddled together on the far side of the room. Instead, Harun came to recognize the man as the mysterious Sheikah who had killed Socicila outside of the temple earlier. For some strange reason, the Sheikah's entire body was glowing, emitting a brilliant golden light.
Sadashi said something to the man in the Sheikah tongue. Harun could not understand her, but her god-like voice dripped with contempt. The man responded in the same tongue, clearly having trouble speaking from his injury, but plainly furious with the shogun. Sadashi attempted to pull her sword from his chest, but he grabbed onto the hilt, pulling himself further down on it. Sadashi shouted at him again, sounding shocked that she was unable to overpower him. The Sheikah man shouted something back before pulling out a dagger and stabbing her in the neck.
Sadashi let go of her sword, falling backwards and clutching her neck wound. The Sheikah man fell to the ground as well, still impaled with the sword through his chest. Despite this, he turned his attention to Harun and shouted at him in the Hylian tongue. "Finish her!"
The Gerudo prince only hesitated for a moment. The idea of executing a defeated opponent felt dishonorable, but he had a strong feeling that the head of the Impa family simply needed to be killed. With his heavy footsteps echoing throughout the chamber, Harun walked forward and raised his sword.
"Now you will never be free," Sadashi told him.
Harun did not respond. He stabbed his sword downward through her heart. She screamed in pain. Thunder and lightning crackled through the chamber once again. Harun stepped back, shielding his eyes from the bright flash. When he opened his eyes again, the lifeless body of Impa Sadashi lay upon the ground. Her appearance had returned to normal, and the mask was no longer fused with her face.
With Impa Sadashi, Impa Ichika, and Lucrezia dead, it appeared as though the fight was over. Harun turned to the Sheikah man lying on the floor, hoping to thank him and help him up, but Harun could see right away that the Sheikah's wound was too great.
"Is she dead?" the Sheikah asked, clutching his stomach as it bled profusely.
"Yes," Harun told him, hoping that would at least grant him some comfort before he passed.
"And her mother?"
"She is," the Hero replied. He and his sister approached them, standing by Harun to look down at the wounded Sheikah. "Thank you for helping us once again."
"Tell the kid my name is Ori." The Sheikah spoke these words to the Hero, whom he seemed to be familiar with. He made no other requests, however, merely letting out a low groan of pain. Moments later, his movements ceased, and his body went limp. The Hero knelt down to close his eyelids.
Harun wasn't sure what to say next. The Heroes had been his allies a moment ago, but now that their mutual enemies were dead, that could've changed rather easily. He had no reason to fight them anymore, but he would not be surprised if they decided he needed to be killed for his role in aiding the Impas up until this point.
"They lied to us," Harun said aloud, glancing at the bodies of his fallen former conspirators. "The Triforce was never here. It was all for nothing."
"So you're not gonna fight us?" the Heroine asked. She still held her brother's sword and was yet to sheathe it. She maintained a firm grip on it, staring at Harun in suspicion.
"No," the prince told her. "I wanted the Triforce. I never had any quarrel with you, or with Hyrule."
"Speak for yourself." Remoth drew two of her knives, glaring at Linkle. "You're the bitch who killed my father, aren't you? And Raeger! You and me got a score to settle."
"Your fa–?" The Heroine seemed confused for a moment, but a look of realization came over her. Link had already stepped in front of her, raising the Master Sword at Remoth defensively.
Harun wondered whether or not he should intervene. Remoth and the Heroes were both irrelevant to him now, and some of the Gerudo may have survived the battle elsewhere in the temple. He considered leaving the three of them there to settle their score so that he might reunite with his true allies instead. However, as he watched the Heroes argue with Mina Remoth for a moment, a nagging thought entered his head.
So many lives were lost to get us here. Can I truly leave and let all of that be for nothing? Could Sadashi have been right about breaking the curse?
He still had major reservations about the idea of using the artifact Sadashi had found in order to murder these two people and the two remaining members of the Royal Family, but that did not stop the idea from staying with him. Turning to the side, he idly glanced at the mask that was still affixed to the Sheikah shogun's face. In doing so, he spotted Mila Shadowgale kneeling beside Sadashi's body.
"What are you doing?" he asked, speaking loudly so as to get everyone else's attention as well.
The little girl looked up at them. "This belonged to the Hero of Time," she said. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the ocarina that had been Lucrezia's key. "So did this. And so did my sword. All of the keys were his. I didn't understand why, but now I do." She turned back to the mask, eying it with a deep desire. "He sealed it here, and he used his other legendary artifacts to do it." The Kokiri girl reached her hand out and grabbed the mask.
"Put that down!" Linkle demanded.
Harun heard his heart beating. He could not focus on anyone in the room. His gaze was set squarely on the mask as Shadowgale pulled it off of Sadashi's corpse. He could feel the Curse of Demise tugging at his soul somehow. The curse did not speak to him, but he could tell what it wanted; what it was telling him.
That mask is not as powerful as the Triforce, but it would still give me the power to do whatever I wanted.
Sweat fell down his forehead as he watched the Kokiri girl stand up, holding the mask in front of her.
"Don't put that on," Link warned. "It's clearly dangerous."
"Yeah, and it ain't yours," Remoth argued. "Give it here!"
Harun felt lightheaded, and he began to see visions. The whole room seemed tinged with red. Beside him, a shadowy image of Ganon's porcine demon form grew, opening its jaws like it wanted to devour the little girl who held the mask. But, beside the Kokiri, another shadowy figure grew. This one took the form of a round orb with a single giant eye in the center. A crescent-shaped structure adorned the top of the orb, and six bat-like wings sprung from its sides. Ganon and the other demonic entity seemed to glare at each other, and Harun absorbed their mutual hatred, feeling an intense anger towards Lady Shadowgale.
"Give me the mask," the prince demanded in as calm of a voice as he could muster.
The Kokiri girl looked at him questioningly, as if confused as to why she would ever consider complying with that demand. "The Hero of Time was the first of his generation to leave the forest. Just as I was." She turned her gaze down at the mask in her hands. "After everything I had to do to get here, this should be mine." With that, she lifted the mask to her face and put it on.
Just as it had with Sadashi, the mask immediately clamped down onto her face. She let out a shrill shriek of agony, clearly unable to handle the pain half as well as the Sheikah shogun had. The Kokiri girl fell to the ground. Her body convulsed for a moment before the lightning struck her. Harun briefly wondered if the little girl would have been killed in the transformation process, but seconds later, she rose to her feet upon the smoking scorch marks on the floor.
Mila Shadowgale no longer had the appearance of a little girl. She now stood taller than a grown Hylian woman. The mask had transformed her in other ways, as it had Sadashi. Her eyes and hair had changed to match the mask, and the mask's warpaint had appeared on her face. Her armor bore the same symbols Sadashi's had, and the gilded sword on her back had changed into the same divine blade Sadashi had wielded after she'd transformed.
The newly empowered girl looked down at her hands in amazement. "I can feel it," she said, her voice echoing with god-like power. "Yes. This is what I should have been all this time, if the Deku Tree hadn't cursed me with such a meager form."
"Take the mask off!" Harun shouted. "I killed the last person who wore it, and I can do so again!"
Shadowgale glanced at him, then at the others, as if she'd forgotten they were there for a moment. "None of you are important," she said simply. "I have gods to slay." With that, she lifted her foot, then stomped it onto the ground. In an instant, a raging wind tore through the chamber. Harun, Link, Linkle, and Remoth were all thrown against the wall. Before any of them had a chance to recover, Shadowgale rose a few feet off of the ground and flew away, leaving through the great doorway.
The tornado in the room lasted for another few seconds. When it died down, Harun and the others climbed to their feet.
"We have to stop her!" the Heroine shouted in alarm.
"Yes," Harun agreed, retrieving his sword from the ground. "We must."
I cannot let someone else have that kind of power…