149Thank you everyone for being patient, if you are subscribed to my facebook, you would know that I was very very sick, that being the number one cause for my absence. The second being that I rewrote this... four... times... That being said, ENJOY!
Zorn slowly awoke to the sounds of birds chirping as the sun broke up over the horizon, signifying a new day. He sat up in the bed that he had somehow managed to appear in and looked around the room. "Where am I?" He thought as his eyes scanned his surroundings.
To his right, there was a curtain covering an open window, its folds moving back and forth with a gentle breeze. In front of him, there was an open door that led to what looked like a small bathroom, and to his left was a closed door. It was wooden, so if it was in fact locked, a simple flick of his wrist would remove it from his path.
The Ex-Sage removed himself from the comforting bed, thankfully still clothed, however the familiar weight of his sword and shield were absent. Easing up next to the closed door, he could hear footsteps, specifically hurried footsteps.
He waited until it was silent before turning the knob and leaving the safety of the room behind, emerging into a long hallway leading to both his left and right. To his right, the hall continued to an open balcony, while to his left it led deeper into the establishment and most likely to whomever brought him here.
Taking the more obvious choice he turned right and kept at a steady jog until reaching the end. The sight before him immediately downed his guard and brought forth a relieved sigh. Hyrule Castle Town spread out below the balcony's view, as well as the hundreds of people that inhabited it, going about their everyday business.
Being in the castle made his job much easier, considering this was his intended destination from the start. From what Link told him, the throne room was at the peak. And where there's a throne, there is sure to be a ruler, or at the least, evidence of one.
As he began to turn away, a flash caught Zorn's eye from down below. He began to turn away again after glancing across the city, but the flash appeared just as his sight crossed the fountain. A figure in dark armor clashed with a Hylian guard, sending sparks as their weapons collided. Several more similar fights began to appear within his line of sight.
As he continued to gaze, he saw more armed men running towards the castle, cutting down anyone who got in their way. Screams now wafted their way high enough to reach his ears, causing him to sigh as the sounds of agony increased. "And so it begins" He muttered.
Keeping a calm demeanor, the Ex-Sage turned around and traversed to the other side of the hallway and rounded the corner. He descended the small stairwell before him before coming upon another hallway that led to a balcony overseeing a grand ballroom; many elegant chandeliers hung from the ceiling above, sparkling magnificently as light reflected through their crystals.
An arrow suddenly flew up from below, whizzing past his face and embedding its sharpened point in the hard stone behind him. He reached for his own bow, but cursed as his fingers found an empty holster. Another flew past him, however this time he was only saved by narrowly dodging the lethal projectile.
Zorn growled under his breath before leaping across the chandeliers to a lower balcony where a small staircase lay, leading to ground level. As he stepped down from the last step, a sword swung just in front of him from the side. Without thinking, he shot a fireball at his attacker, sending the hunk of smoldering metal that was the wielder back several feet where he lay motionless.
All activity in the room suddenly halted and all heads turned towards the warrior on the ground, then to Zorn, unsure of who's ally he was, or if he was an ally at all. The Ex-Sage's eyes scanned the smaller soldiers amongst the crowd and found them all garbed with the Hylian symbol, while the larger all bore the symbol he had hoped to never see again...
A bubbling rage slowly began to break free from his darker side as memories flooded back. His face set itself in a glare at the closest enemy as his blades sprung free, earning a twitch from the armor clad figure. With a roar of pure fury he plowed directly into his victim and flung the lifeless body away as he came down upon his next target.
Before he could block Zorn's attack, the sharpened edges found their way between the eyes slits in the helm. As the soldier began screaming, the battle that had originally taken place began to flow once again.
Several more soldiers came to the aid of their flailing companion, but were stopped in their tracks as a ring of flame burst out around Zorn and the man. With adrenaline flowing through his veins, the Ex-Sage ripped his weapons free through the sides of his enemy's skull, and blasted the ring of fire outwards at the others.
The floor around him was scorched black and red with the blood of his kills, but his mind was devoid of this detail as he let out an almost inhuman growl before launching himself at three more enemies. The one on his left noticed him first and swung his blade down at Zorn. The blade was quickly knocked away with a gauntlet as his other arm swung around and connected with the soldier's wrist, shattering it even through the armor.
The other two were now well aware of his presence and each swung their blades towards him. He quickly ducked while pulling their comrade into their own blades, and kicked the one on the right back several feet.
The remaining soldier attempted to remove his once ally from his weapon but was stopped as Zorn's fist suddenly connected with the side of his helmet, denting it inwards and sending the warrior to the ground. The Ex-Sage wrenched free the blade left in the dying man's abdomen and kicked him away as the last soldier stood from where he had been knocked down earlier.
The two slowly began circling, studying each other for a weakness of some sort. With a cry, the soldier ran forward and stabbed his sword at Zorn, which he parried as he spun away, bringing his newly acquired sword to grace the straps holding the soldiers armor together.
The breast plate fell away to reveal simple chain mail. He almost laughed at the predictability of such simple protection, before blasting the man away with a bolt of lightning. Letting his blades sink back into their holding place, he spun the sword around and taunted several more warriors brave enough to approach him.
An exceptionally brave soldier circled behind him and attempted to slice his back side, but was blocked as the Ex-Sage spun, slamming their swords together hard enough to make them hum. The soldier recoiled from the shock of it all before being kicked squarely in the chest. As he lay there, Zorn took advantage of his opponent and swung the flat of his still vibrating blade down onto his breast plate, sending shock waves through the armor.
The man howled in pain as the tiny ripples of vibration bounced around inside of his armor, as well as his own body. The others that surrounded him were visibly shaken as their companion's breathing steadily decreased until it halted entirely, along with his screams. (1)
Picking up his fallen enemy's sword, Zorn turned to one of the strongest looking soldiers within the circle and quickly rushed him, twirling each blade expertly around his body. As each slice made contact with the metallic armor, a long gash was made. The man within the suit, traumatized by the events, quickly spun around and ran away.
The Ex-Sage smirked as he scanned for the next heroic fool, his eyes catching but one out in the chaos garbed in shining silver armor, and wielding a large battle axe. As the silver clad warrior cut down another Hylian soldier, he too scanned the room, catching Zorn's eyes almost immediately. The tension in the air magnified with each step the two combatants took towards one another, staring each other down all the while.
As if a silent signal had gone off, the two sprinted towards one another, sparks flying up in an elegant display with their collision. The two traded blows back and forth, each either dodging or blocking the others attacks with the skill of a seasoned God of War.
The silver clad man swung at Zorn's head and he rolled around his opponent to perform a back-slice. Each blade collided hard against the warrior's back and he toppled over, creating small cracks in the stone floor with his landing. The behemoth quickly rose to his feet and swung once again.
Zorn back-flipped away before sprinting up to him, running up his body, flipping over his head, and performing a helm-splitter. The helmet flew free to reveal a red haired, blue skinned male face. The man turned around and glared daggers at him, his blood red eyes seeming to glow with a fiery intensity.
"You have done well to get this far, little man, but you are nothing more than a bug in my midst, which I shall crush with delight." The Twili growled in a deep, accented voice.
"Some bugs are poisonous." Zorn countered before throwing the sword in his left hand directly at his enemy's head. The warrior's eyes shot open as the shining blade flew towards him, the hilt smacking him square in the forehead, and knocking him out cold.
As the Ex-Sage looked for another combatant, he found the enemy's number thinning quickly. "Commander down! Fall back!" One of the enemy soldiers called out, bringing a grin to his face. He simply let what was left of the soldiers run past him, the smile not once leaving his face as he watched them leave, specifically giving him a wide birth as they did so.
The large Twili that he had fought slowly sat up, holding an armored hand up to the large bump on his head. The surprise was evident on his face as he looked around, finding himself to be the only one left alive, other than the Hylians and Zorn.
"You can either give up, or I can take you out as well, it's up to you." Zorn chuckled, remembering the first time he gave that offer.
"Who are you?" The armored man asked.
"I am someone to be feared, that is all you need know. Now make your decision."
The man pondered for a time, glancing at the many souls that well outnumbered him and with a sigh, he lowered his head. "I forfeit, do with me what you will, it's not like I have anything to live for anyways."
"You would be surprised at the many reasons there are, even in the bleakest of circumstances, trust me." He brought his attention up from the Twili and focused on the Hylian soldiers. "Take him to the Princess and tell her a man with news of 'The Hero' will be up shortly, I'm going to make sure the invaders have completely departed."
Damien watched the tiny Hylian jog out of the castle with sword in hand; no one had ever beaten him, but that small, insignificant man had, and managed to capture him as well. Several soldiers firmly held his arms behind his back and secured each wrist to the other with a thick rope before being hauled to his feet.
"Move" Commanded one of the soldiers with a small push; or at least, what he thought was a small push, but was in reality a forceful shove on the soldier's part. Damien sighed and did as he was commanded.
He was led through the castle in relative silence, his eyes staring aimlessly out into space. His sight caught small glimpses of the surrounding walls, the suits of armor, doors, things that you would expect to see but his mind still only focused on his defeat.
It wasn't just a simple loss to him though, he served for a purpose, for the survival of his people. Without him, the chance of succession against this 'Hyrule' dropped; it didn't drop much but it dropped nonetheless.
The Hylian infantry was weak for the most part, up until entering the castle, then things took a turn that was greatly unexpected. Damien led the attack into 'Castle Town' and found little resistance. Thinking it would be the same at the castle, he led a small group inside. They were met immediately by a few soldiers but as soon as they were engaged in battle, many others stormed in.
Things seemed to be going well until the man in the blue tunic appeared. His magical blast and wrath seemed to fuel the Hylians into an adrenaline frenzy. He watched as his men began thinning and eventually found the man again. How exactly had he lost though? This small question buzzed in the back of his skull, begging to be answered, but all he found was the image of the hilt to a sword.
Those words that man had spoken before everything went black came back to him as he was led outside, atop the castle peak. 'Some bugs are poisonous'.
"I take it this is their commander?" A gentle voice asked. He was certain the voice belonged to the princess of this world the man in blue spoke of.
"Yes, your highness, we were instructed by the man who turned the tides in our battle to bring him here."
"Do you know who this man was?"
"No, your highness, he did not say, but he did tell us to inform you that a man with news of 'The Hero' would be here soon."
"Link?" Another, far more silken voice asked. "I know that voice..." Damien thought.
"I don't know ma'am."
The warrior finally brought his attention to his surroundings and found himself in a large throne room. Many large pillars lined each side of the room, a fair distance spaced between the wall and the red carpet he stood on leading up to the focus of the room.
A woman dressed in a purple and white dress stood just in front of a fairly simple throne underneath a colossal statue depicting the image of The Golden Three. Two Twili women stood on either side of her; one that he knew to be Kaiden, or Kabalstin's kin, while the other was an even more familiar face.
"Princess Midna." Damien breathed as he bowed his head and lowered himself to one knee. A few gasps were released at the revealing of her title.
"Why are you bowing to me, does such an act not signify allegiance?" Midna asked. "You led an attack on Hyrule today, no doubt to find myself by order of Kabalstin, correct?"
"That is correct your highness."
"Then why exactly do you bow to me now?" She asked as she approached him.
Keeping his head bowed, he carefully thought out his next words as her imposing figure loomed over him. "I saw many people suffering, families broken apart, lovers ripped from one another and defiled in front of each other... He promised peace so long as some of us obeyed."
Kaiden huffed from where she stood at his words. "Have you honestly not figured out by now that he is a liar?"
Damien sighed, the obviousness of her words sinking in. He remembered some of the things The Dark Lord had mentioned under his breath, things that he wasn't meant to hear. Something about the gathering of the Triforce, the Goddesses, and the power within the Twilight Castle. It all seemed to make sense, but he still hadn't hurt anyone since Damien took up arms and brought him an army, to the best of his knowledge anyways.
The Twilight Princess backed away when the man didn't answer. "You never answered my question."
There was a long pause before the warrior broke the silence. "I bow to you now because I now have no reason not to."
"I think there is a bit more to it than that." A male voice echoed throughout the throne room. All heads including Damien turned towards the statue of The Golden Three, and there in the center of the Triforce sat the man in blue. "In fact, I know there is more, but he is not willing to divulge such information to anyone, because of the pain it brings."
The man in blue launched himself from his seat and rolled across the ground as he landed.
"Zorn, it's good to see you are awake and well." The Hylian Princess smiled at him as he stood to his full height.
"Why thank you... Zelda? I'm sorry if that is not your name, the Goddesses gave me quite a bit of information before putting me to sleep and to be honest, I forgot some of it."
She chuckled. "Yes, that is correct."
He smiled and looked over towards the Twilight Princess. "And you must be Midna, seeing as you are the only woman here radiating such concentrated shadow magic."
She smirked and folded her arms over her chest. "Yes, that sounds like me."
"If I may make a suggestion, either convert all of that energy back into the form it was originally in or learn to hide your aura, I could sense you in Castle Town."
She nodded though was obviously tempered by his words, the emotion ever so slightly hidden beneath her features. Zorn turned to Kabalstin's daughter and his smile dropped. "You... You are the Demon's Kin..."
Her eyes immediately shot open at the mention of her true identity, though she recovered quickly enough with a forced nod.
He sighed while both Midna's and Zelda's questioning gazes continued to prod at her for information. "You made the right choice."
Zorn turned now to Damien, who was by now greatly perplexed to say the least. "I was only told that I would fight a warrior of the Twilight Realm who fought for reasons he would not voice, I was never given your name however."
"It's Damien."
"Damien, that's a nice name." He turned his focus to the soldiers behind the warrior. "Release this man from his bonds and help him remove his armor."
Damien's mouth dropped as the soldiers looked to their princess for confirmation. "Do as he says."
Zorn extended a hand to the warrior as soon as he was freed from his bonds to which he accepted, and was pulled to his feet with more strength than what he looked to have. "I don't understand, why are you doing this?"
"Because I choose to." He smiled before turning back to the three women. "I'm sure these soldiers have told you that I have news of Link, so what say you all I tell you what I know over breakfast?"
Before Zorn lay a large plate of especially prepared grilled fish strips, as was requested by the Ex-Sage, while the others all seemed to have chosen a simple stew, leftover from the prior night. Save for Damien, now clothed in the largest available gray tunic, and Nabooru, whom had both eaten before the battle and had respectfully declined when offered a meal.
"So what news do you have of Link?" Midna asked while taking a sip of the broth, in contrast to Zorn's immediate devouring of several handfuls of fish. Taking his time to swallow, she waited patiently until he was ready to speak. "Well that depends, how long was I out for?"
"Two days." Zelda answered before softly blowing on a small steaming bite of beef and carrot, and elegantly maneuvering it onto her mouth.
The Ex-Sage slurped up another strip, earning a glare from Nabooru, and stared off into space before speaking. "Link and Ganondorf started their training before I left and should be done with what can be offered by tonight. They have gone to a section of the Sacred Realm that ever so slightly overlaps the world of light, where time has no meaning."
"The only down-side to this area," he continued. "is that since time is irrelevant there, you cannot tire, meaning you have an unlimited source of energy to feed on. Though this can help immensely while the user is there, as soon as he or she leaves they are reliant upon their own bodies to feed their magical attacks. In Link's case, he will have the same power given to him by the Triforce that he received in the Sacred Realm, but it will put a tremendous strain on his body since time is relevant here."
"What exactly does that have to do with right now?" Midna asked.
"Nothing what so ever, but it is good to be prepared with that knowledge because I am more than certain that he is going to try something big when he comes back that will knock him unconscious." Zorn chuckled.
Silence filled the area, save for the obnoxious devouring that took place upon a plate of fish. "I have a question." Nabooru voiced.
"By all means, ask away." He replied with his mouth full.
"What exactly was it that you felt that knocked you out on the bridge?"
The Ex-Sage immediately froze for several seconds before gulping down what was in his mouth. Zorn frowned as his brow creased, signifying him entering a deep state of thought, much to everyone's surprise. "I... Don't know. I don't remember everything, just bits and pieces. I remembering screaming, and terrible pain, so deep that even the fabrications of the void were writhing in pain."
"After the waves of pain stopped," He continued. "I felt very cold, like when... When I died..."
(1) Yes, this can really happen. When enough energy in the form of sound, which is caused by vibration, is conducted into an organism, it can rip cells apart. In this case, it ripped enough free to cause nerve trauma which can lead to the brain believing the body is dying, so it will simply shut down, in effect killing the organism.
Hope you enjoyed!
The Sage of Water,
~ConGie