Clearer in Time

~Power~
XXII. Downfall

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The Hero of Time knew darkness. He felt as though his eyes were open, but his vision only gazed upon an abyss of darkness. He was dying, he knew. The pain in his body was subsiding, numbing. He welcomed the feeling. The pain had been unbearable. Not just the stab wound, but something in his pocket had shattered when he had fallen to the ground. He could still feel the faint sting of glass shards in his stomach and torso. He tried to recall what he could have possibly been carrying that was made of glass, but nothing came to mind. Just as well; it made him tired to think.

As he lay there, the sounds of the world slowly fading, he felt another feeling. A strangely familiar feeling. It was a kind of tingling sensation.

His vision slowly returned, showing him the cold stone floor he lay on. The tingling was dancing all about his stab wound. What was happening?

Link rose to sitting position, his strength returning steadily. He looked down to his torso to see a small bump under his tunic. He grabbed hold of the front of the tunic and gave it a shake, watching something bright and round poke through the neck of his shirt. It hovered in front of his nose, glowing her bright blue, petite wings fluttering excitedly. It was the fairy Saria had given him. Navi. The fairy had mended his wound.

Saria, he thought. What would I do without you? Link rose to his feet, Navi companionably flittering about the top of his head. He observed his surroundings, looking for the others. Ganon was on the other side of the room, approaching the princess. He hadn’t noticed Link yet.

On the floor directly before him, lie a crumpled body, clad in black. Link recognized with horror who it was, kneeling down beside his double, taking him in his arms. Dark Link’s eyes were cloudy and glazed, unfocused and unmoving. From his chest protruded his own sword.

Link felt tears well in his eyes. Dark Link had been the last to deserve this. After all he had done to help, all that he had begun to live for. Link suddenly thought of Malon, and how he could possibly explain. What could he say?

Link’s tears fell upon his counterpart’s tunic. With a reluctant tug, he pulled the faux Master Sword from his friend’s body. He couldn’t just leave it there. He gently shut Dark’s eyes, so that it almost look as though he were asleep. It was the best he could manage.

Goodbye, my friend…

The deed done, Link’s initial shock wore off. He clenched his fist, tears still flowing freely from his eyes. Not just of grief anymore, but of insurmountable rage. He turned his gaze toward the far end of the room. Ganondorf was standing before the princess, his massive hand outstretched to touch her face. Link could see her flinching away in disgust. They still had not noticed that he was alive. Dark Link’s sword still in hand, Link silently approached the Evil King, his face a twisted portrait of fury. It was time to end this.

…

Zelda watched as Ganon let the doppelganger’s body drop to the floor, landing beside his dying counterpart. She was screaming out his name, but Link didn’t move. He just bled. From within her, she could feel Sheik’s emotions. Her sorrow was akin to physical pain.

Ganon turned in Zelda’s direction, slowly approaching her, his maniacal grin stretched from ear to ear.

“The Triforce is mine now, princess,” he said as he neared her. “I believe I’ll have your shard before his. Ladies first, after all.” He stood just before her now, eyeing her hungrily. He reached out and brushed his fingers across her teary, flinching cheek.

“Perhaps,” he said, more to himself than her at this point. “I’ll just have you before the Triforce. Would you mind? You didn’t seem to last time.”

Zelda said nothing, a fresh waterfall of tears tracing down her face. It was all over, she thought. Link was gone. Ganon had won. He was going to take her again. She had convinced herself, forced herself to enjoy it as much as possible last time, finding a taboo pleasure in it all. She couldn’t bring herself to do it again.

Ganon eyed her malevolently, his hand tracing down the side of her body. She looked into his eyes, and suddenly she saw them change. The Evil King was suddenly alert, as if he had heard something.

Ganon spun around, catching the blade that had come inches from the back of his neck. The Master Sword. Wielding it, still pressing it forward with both hands, was Link. Zelda gazed upon him disbelievingly, not wanting her eyes only to be deceiving her.

But, it seemed he was really alive. There was still a tear in his shirt where the sword had pierced it. Around his head fluttered a tiny blue orb. A fairy. Link had had a fairy the whole time. Zelda felt her heart lift with the realization. Internally, she felt tears of joy and relief, both hers and her other half’s.

Ganon took a better grip on the sword and wrenched his arm. The sword flew out of Link’s hands and through the air. Ganon watched it soar, triumph once more accenting his face. Zelda could see it in his eyes. Without the Master Sword, they both knew, Link had no chance.

Then, once more, Zelda saw a change in Ganon’s eyes. Realization. A fatal mistake. The princess followed his gaze to the sword and saw what he had. The handle was jet black. It was the wrong sword. A decoy.

Her eyes still on it, she heard the gut wrenching sound of blade through flesh. She looked back to Ganon. His eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. Through his own chest, buried to the hilt and protruding from his back, was the real, sacred Master Sword. In an instance of poetic justice, the blade had pierced directly through where Ganon’s heart was presumed to be.

Link still held the handle, twisting it back and forth within the wound, a look of remorseless fury painted across his face. He pulled the blade out of the Gerudo King, and watched him fall to his knees. Black blood poured from Ganon’s chest, a few more trickles dribbling from his mouth. His eyes were still wide with denial, as if his death was an absolute impossibility. Without a word, he fell to the ground, bleeding at Link’s feet.

Link stepped over him disinterestedly, adrenaline pouring into his veins. He approached Zelda, gazing up at the chains that bound her. He swiped at them with the Master Sword, the blade thrumming and glowing, magically cleansing itself of Ganon’s blood. The sword cut through the chains as if they were liquid. Zelda’s arms fell to her sides, sore and exhausted.

Link stepped closer to her, placing the blade between the shorter chain that bound her hands to one another. His head was tilted downwards, focused on not harming her.

Zelda looked at nothing but him. He was grown up. The boy she had thought of every day as a child, the boy from the forest whom she’d dreamed of. He was very much a man now. Tall, strong, handsome…

Don’t you dare… A voice in Zelda’s head said. The princess shushed it. Don’t you shush me! I know what your thinking, you treacherous whore! Don’t do it! He’s mine!

Zelda blocked the annoying voice from her thoughts, not slightly intent on listening. He had loved her first, after all…

With a small metallic noise, Zelda felt her manacles give, freeing her hands. Link turned his gaze up to the princess, his blue eyes peering into hers. Here she was, after all these years. After so many adventures, so many deaths and near death experiences. The one he had been searching for all along. Then again, he thought, she turned out to be with me the whole time.

Zelda placed her newly freed hand upon Link’s face. Hers was so close to his. She kissed him, softly, lightly, her lips testing his. She pulled away, only to press back once more, harder this time. Link dropped his sword and shield to the ground with a loud clatter.

They stumbled backwards until Zelda felt her back against the cold stone of the wall. Her mind was a complete blank, her body only knowing desire that had been brewing for the past seven years or more. She could feel his hands all over her, the calluses on his fingertips exciting every nerve ending. He could feel him brushing through her blonde brown locks, touching the bare flesh of her thigh. Her own hands were de-gloved and caressing the perfect canvas of his torso. She could feel, among others, the scar where he had been stabbed just moments ago. When he had almost died.

All of that seemed far away now. A world away. All she could feel or think of was the sensation of Link’s hands upon her, the look of absolute love and affection in his eyes as he looked into hers.

Is it for me, though…?

With the single passing thought, Zelda felt reality setting back upon her. Her hands paused on Link’s body, her lips parting from his. He looked at her confusedly. She didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry,” she tried. “We can’t. It’s not that simple.” Link continued to look perplexed, seeing the sadness in Zelda’s eyes.

Then something happened. The room seemed alive with energy. A humming sound caught Link’s ear. He looked down to Ganon’s body to see, on the Evil King’s hand, the Triforce, the topmost corner glowing brightly. The rest of Ganon showed no signs of life. Whatever he was doing, it was with his dying breath.

The room began to shake uncontrollably. Stone fell from the high ceiling. Link and Zelda had to struggle for balance. The tower was collapsing, the last ditch effort of the fallen Gerudo King.

Link took Zelda’s hand, rushing towards the door. He stopped for a moment, stooping down next to the body of his late double. He hoisted the body over his shoulder, grimacing at the weight. It seemed almost foolish, Zelda thought, but she could see that Link had cared for his counterpart. He couldn’t very well just leave him there.

They exited the room and descended the staircase, Ganon’s Tower continuing to fall apart around them.

…

Vaati watched the dark tower fall. In his mind’s eye, he had seen the entire showdown, from the intrusion of the doppelganger to the final blow to the King of Darkness.

He stood a ways down the hill from the castle, his arms crossed, his face blank. Next to him stood a chestnut colored mare, the Hero’s he presumed. The horse whinnied and kicked, feeling the dark energy in the air. Vaati paid no mind, lost in thoughts.

He had watched the centuries pass, and had seen countless green clad Heroes pull Hyrule from the brink of darkness. On more than one occasion, Vaati himself had been the source of the evil. And every time, he had met defeat.

True, the Hero was always a mortal, and passed away as mortals did. But, whenever Hyrule was threatened, a young boy clothed in field green and wielding some mighty sword or another inevitably appeared. The will of the Goddesses, he supposed. Why they created such evils in the first place, even he wasn’t sure. Perhaps they actually had nothing to do with it.

This time around, Vaati had seen a dark, corrupt man lay claim to the Power of the Goddesses themselves. He had seen the Hero of Destiny sealed in another realm for seven years. Despite Vaati’s previous knowledge, it had appeared that this time, it was really over.

Vaati, for his own part, had worked his way close to the Evil King, waiting for the opportune moment, waiting for the chance to claim the land for himself. He would finally have the power he had always dreamed of, enough power to feed his own insatiable lust for knowledge, to know the secrets of the universe. To end this curse he had naively placed upon himself.

But it had all been in vain. As always, the Hero had appeared to vanquish the darkness, leaving Vaati, once more, without direction or purpose. Vaati wondered why he was surprised. It seemed as though it would take more than such to catch him off guard.

Then again, he had been feeling many strange things lately. More and more often, he felt his mind traveling years back, to the forest, where he had fought the Hero as a child. His companion, the forest girl… He thought of her often. He had never been so close to a woman before, never felt a woman’s touch. It felt strange… different. Probably it had meant nothing to her, though.

The tower finished crumbling dramatically, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. The Hero and the princess were approaching. Vaati felt it was time to go. The horse whinnied again as a dark wind brewed, shrouding the eternally youthful mage and sweeping him away.

…

Zelda looked back at the rubble left from the tower that the two of them had barely escaped. The dust clouded the sun, making the day look bleak. Epona was in sight, whinnying and stomping in the dirt. The two of them reached the horse, Link petting the mare, soothing her.

He hoisted his friend’s body upon the horse, looking forlorn. Zelda took his hand, offering a friendly comfort. Looking at him this way, she saw him in a different light. Innocent, if that was the right word. Her advance upon him up in the tower seemed strange and forced now, as if she had been foolish to try it. She loved him in a strange way, more than something platonic, but not quite something romantic. He looked to her and smiled, surprising her by speaking.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was you?” Zelda was taken aback, not sure how to respond. She hadn’t realized how right Sheik had been. Link really thought that the two of them were one and the same.

“Link…” she started. She watched alarmed as Link’s eyes suddenly widened. He pulled his hand from hers. She wondered for a moment if she had done something. Then she saw it, too.

The Triforce was alight upon the back of Link’s hand, burning furiously. He locked eyes with Zelda.

“He’s still alive,” he said. At first she didn’t understand. Then she saw the truth in his eyes. He held his hand up for her to see.

“He’s calling me. I can feel it.” Without another word, Link turned away, walking quickly up the hill. Zelda followed.

The bridge the Sages had created was still intact, allowing the two youths passage across. Debris littered the platform, floating above a lake of fire. There were entire walls of the castle that had tumbled over each other.

In the very center of the ruins, was one such wall. It shifted and shuddered, as if something was moving under it. Link approached from the edge of the ruins, Zelda watching from where she was. He drew his sword.

He could feel the Triforce in his hand, resonating stronger and stronger with each step towards the shifting debris. He stopped a few yards away from it, watching as the mass of stone was finally moved from place. A dark hollow appeared, nothing visible from within it.

Link’s ears caught a sound, and he looked behind him, around the platform, a giant ring of fire had appeared, sealing him within. Zelda was trapped on the other side.

“Link!” She cried to him, but he was already turned back around. From the hollow in the debris, a hand had appeared, clad in a black gauntlet. Link watched with a set face as Ganondorf, the King of Evil, pulled himself from the debris. He was battered and bleeding, and his eyes were rolled up to the whites. Still, they seemed to stare at the Hero.

“YOU!” Ganon screamed. It was half a cry of rage, half an insane cackle. “You thought you could KILL ME!?!?” Ganon stood with his hands outstretched at his sides. Above them, the sky sparked with lightning and fire. The wind whipped up around them. The very earth shook, and below the platform, the sea of fire began to boil and churn.

“I am the Ruler of Darkness!” Ganondorf continued. “I am a god among mortals! I cannot be killed! But I will kill you, Hero! I swear to you, here and now, if it’s the last I do! I WILL WATCH YOU DIE!!!”

Ganon’s right hand began to glow, the Triforce of Power exerting itself like never before. Ganondorf screamed out in agony, hunched over as his body began to change. Link could only watch in horror and amazement.

The night black armor was rent off of Ganon’s limbs as his proportions increased. Link could hear his bones shifting. His already long, wild Gerudo hair grew longer still, shrouding his face beneath it, a wild fiery mane. Already he was double his already massive size. His mouth was stretched open and bleeding as his canines bulged forth, curling into massive tusks. The bones of his arms grew forth out of his palms, forming giant, organic blades.

Lightning flashed and thunder cracked, and Ganondorf was no more, having relinquished all of himself to the Power of the Triforce. Standing before Link was the embodiment of might, Power in it’s darkest incarnation.

The thing stared at him through a disfigured, animalistic face, It’s swine like nose dripping fluids and yellow eyes burning madly. As it stumbled forth, it’s bone formed cleavers dragged along the ground, making a terrible noise.

Link backed away defensively, raising his glowing blade to the monster. With an uncharacteristically fast lurch, the Ganon beast knocked away the Master Sword. Link watched it sail through the air, sticking into the round outside the ring of fire next to the princess.

Link turned his gaze back to the monster just in time to see the abomination swinging It’s massive limb once more. Link felt something break as the hit connected and sent him flying through the air.

He landed yards away with a sickening thud, crying out in pain. His vision swam for a moment before he forced himself to his feet. A fairy could only heal a person once, he remembered as he eyed the blue orb floating about his head. Navi couldn’t save him again.

He had to stay alive long enough to finish this. Without the sword, though… all he had were his bow and some arrows, tucked into the inside of his Mirror Shield, and the hookshot, fastened to his belt.

He looked up to see the Ganon creature approaching him with disturbing speed. He felt a surging energy in his hand. The Triforce. If Ganon could harness all of It’s Power, so could Link tap into the Triforce of Courage.

As for what manner of strength it would grant him, he could only hope it would be enough.

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*Sorry, guys, but this is taking longer than I expected. From THIS point, there will be two more chapters(courage/wisdom), and then an epilogue. My apologies for those who just wanna see the end already. It'll be worth it.
*"jarty," "DTAngel," "sutur," "JBails," and "GigasMoose," thank you all so much for the reviews. It put a big smile on my face, and your guys' input/comments are always welcome and appreciated : ) And to sutur, I still am wondering as to whether or not you are going to continue your fic...
*Next chapter will be up soon. Until then, Read, rate, review, and ENJOY!!!
*