Fan Fiction ❯ Professional Hero ❯ The final showdown ( Chapter 41 )

Chapter 41 - The final showdown

Link crept up the stairs, with his sword ready. He hadn't seen too many guards anymore since he had passed the first levels. There had also been some Iron Knuckles, but they had been no match for him. Finally he came into a large room, shrouded in darkness, but even without seeing anything, the noise gave his enemies away. Kees, what was probably the most underestimated enemies. Link could faintly make out an unlit torch in the middle of the room and knew that lighting it would be the start of a certain flying doom, but he had no choice if he wanted to advance. He powered up a fire arrow and saw the ceiling stayed dark. No, it wasn't darkness, it were kees, just as he had thought. He let go off the arrow and the flame lighted the torch. Immediately the room was engulfed in light and almost a hundred kees came flying down. The chance they got through his armour was slim, but they were too small to kill them with his sword, not too mention it would take him too long. So he brought his hands together and waited for them to swarm him, staying calm as their claws and fangs scraped his armour. Finally he let out the magic he had been saving up and Din's fire consumed the batlike creatures. Link looked over the scorched battlefield and saw no kees had been spared. He simply drew his sword and opened the door to yet another set of stairs.

"You're gonna need something tougher than that, bitch," he said out loud as he mounted the stairs.

Link opened the door and saw the same dark room as before. His first impression was that it was the same trap, but he heard no noise. There was nothing to be heard. He could barely make out the torch in the middle of the room but nothing more. Link sighed and powered up a fire arrow. In the faint light, he could see two metallic shapes behind the torch. Iron Knuckles? Again? He had given Zelda a bit more credit. The arrow lit the torch and once again, the room bathed in light, causing the two Knuckles to stand up. Then Link saw they weren't ordinary Knuckles, but the same as the one in the Forest Temple. Okay, he thought, so it WILL be a challenge. Link raised his sword and waited for the two monstrosities to make their move. Slowly they advanced and took a position on either side of him. How can I use this to my advantage? Link thought, as he turned his gaze from one to the other. Suddenly one of them lounged forward. Link dodged and thought of using one of them to run into the other, but saw the other one just jumped back. Maybe their movement is synchronised, to avoid collision, was Link's next thought, but then the two armours dashed forward and Link could barely duck out of the way of the two axes.

"You're really gonna make this hard for me, aren't you?" Link asked as he powered up his sword.

He unleashed his spin attack, but both monsters blocked it with their axe. Before they could lower their defences, Link jumped over one of them, and slashed it in the back. The monster staggered forward and then turned, bringing his axe along. Link ducked the swing and jumped back. Suddenly something dawned to him and he started to grin. He stepped slowly in range of both Knuckles and waited for them to attack. Their axes came crashing down on Link but both weapons stopped a mere inch away from Link, stopped by the blue forcefield of Nayru's love. Link brought his sword around and slashed the two armours. The two armours fell unanimated to the floor and Link stepped over them, to reach the final door. Two golden triangles served as handles to this large double door, as final decoration. Link couldn't resist the urge to scratch the golden tri-force emblem on the door before he kicked it open.

Link stepped into the bright hall and saw on the other side, Zelda in a pink dress. She looked up and shook her head.

"Link," she sighed, "now I know how Ganondorf felt when you walked into his castle. I somewhere knew this was inevitable, but I was hoping you would have died somewhere along the way."

"Actually," Link retorted, "Ganondorf was expecting me. He needed me alive, so I could pull out the Master Sword, so he could take the Tri-Force, and to find you."

"Whatever," Zelda shrugged and brought her hand forward.

An energy ball came flying to Link, but he just send it back with his sword. The attack hit Zelda, seemingly off guard and engulfed her in a bright light. When the light died down, the dress was gone and now she stood in a dark blue skin tight outfit, similar to the one she wore as Sheik.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Zelda smiled a wicked grin and brought her hand forward again.

A large flow of fire came emerging from her palm and Link could barely dodge it. He brought his free hand to his back and took off the mirror shield. When he had stopped in the Lost Woods, he had given his children shields and he had taken the mirror shield, just in case he needed it. He couldn't help out bringing out a small grin. He remembered to take his shield, but he forgot his armour. Zelda's second attack was one of bonechilling coldness. He caught the blow with his shield and attacked. Zelda easily jumped out of the way and send another cold gust. Link fenced of her attack with his shield and brought it back, so she wouldn't see the shield glowing.

"Is that the best you can do?" Link grinned as he slashed at her.

"You should say," she dodged the attack with ease and started another fiery attack, "you know, you could have avoided all of this."

"How's that?" he asked as he jumped out of the way of her attack.

"The hero always ends up with the princess. It's not just a story, it's the truth," she said, "one word of you and Alexis would have been history."

"I was never interested in you," Link spat as he caught the third ice attack with his shield, "but I do have something for you."

Zelda's eyes grew wide as she saw the glowing shield. The mirror shield send back all the energy stored in it, too fast and too wide for Zelda to dodge. After the onslaught, an ice statue of Zelda stood before Link.

"Oh yeah," Link grinned as he raised his sword, "before I came here, the Great Fairies told me they would block the Tri-Force of knowledge."

"I know," a voice said from behind him, as the ice statue shattered.

Link turned around quickly and stood eye to eye with Zelda.

"Poor Itaké," Zelda sighed, "that poor little Gerudo witch really did think she had a chance against you. It was a good thought, throwing you off with my image, while using her magic on you. Too bad she didn't have the Tri-Force of knowledge, and knew about your shield. I however have it, and knew about the futile attempts of the Great Fairies to block it out. They failed, by the way. Now, it's just you and me. And I'll make you regret your comment about you never being interested in me. I am the only one for you. That milkmaid of Tempora isn't good enough for you."

"Is that why you created that double of me?" Link asked while he raised an eyebrow.

He saw this enraged Zelda and she lunged forward, faster than he had expected. Her knives cut through his armour and he felt blood sip through the cuts. If he hadn't brought it, he would have been dead.

"He's just as good as you, if not better!" Zelda continued as she turned to strike again, "you've become the inferior now."

"That's why he's dead, and I'm still alive," Link managed to grin despite the fact Zelda had cut through his armour again and he had dropped his sword.

"We can bring him back, after all, we have your blood."

"Without the witch?" Link smirked.

Zelda's gaze went blank for a moment but then fury returned in her eyes.

"You think you're so smart, don't you, you little…"

She was cut off when a large barrel came crashing through the window and landed in the middle of the room.

"What…" her voice was lost in the explosion the barrel caused, activated by an arrow.

Link grabbed his shield which lay a bit further and planted it in the ground to support him. He wiped the blood out of his eyes and looked around the room. Zelda was crawling up and looked bewildered around her.

"What…Who…" she growled as she tried to focus on the figure at the door.

"Looks like the Great Fairies did their work after all." Link laughed and then spat up some blood.

"Hello bitch!" Romani said, each word loaded with pure hatred, "Romani has come to kill you. And kill you, Romani will."

Romani powered up a light arrow and aimed at Zelda.

"No!" Zelda shouted, "it won't end like this!"

She raised her hand in a complex gesture and the light at Romani's arrow tip faded. Suddenly Link tackled Zelda and held her steady. The arrow started to power up again.

"Shoot her!" Link yelled, "I can't hold her much longer!"

"Fools!" Zelda shouted, struggling to get free, "don't you know what the light arrows will do with the power of the Tri-Force? Ganondorf only survived it because his darkness soaked up most of the blast."

"Actually," Link hissed as he held her tighter, "I think it was the lack of darkness that helped him survive. I've met the real Ganondorf. It will be a lot worse for you. I've seen the real you."

Romani let go of the arrow.

"That was a huge fucking explosion." Mikau-Zora said as he watched the huge tower, "you know? For a moment, I thought you wouldn't make that throw."

"I think that explosion was powered up by something," Goro answered, "and I knew I was gonna make that throw. My pitch is accurate."

"I think it was powered by a light arrow," Zora frowned, "is it possible to boost the explosion that way?"

"Could be, but do you think Link and Romani are still alive?"

"They are," Malon nodded, "I know it. But the problem is, so is Zelda."

"You think?" Goro asked, "I mean, it was a huge…"

He was cut off by a bright light that emerged from the top of the tower and when it died down, Zelda's quarters had incinerated. None of the heroes, nor the children could say anything, but stare in disbelief of what just happened. When they heard horses coming nearer, Goro broke the silence.

"What happened?"

"No fucking idea." Zora shook his head.

"You think this is one last trick of Zelda?" Mikau-Zora started.

"No," Darmani shook his head and turned his gaze away from the tower, "it's mom. Somehow she triggered that with a light arrow and the blast wiped everything away."

"You mean, she meant for that to happen?" Goro asked in disbelief.

"Before she send us away with you," Mikau said, "she told she was gonna end it, for all of them. I never thought she meant this, but, it's all over, even for our parents."

Makei stopped with the horses Link had asked near the heroes and looked at the tower.

"What happened?" he asked, "I saw that huge light and now half the tower is gone!"

"Let's just say," Dekaru mounted one of the horses, "we'll only be needing four horses."

"You're leaving?" Goro frowned, "you can't leave. Where will you go?"

"In case you didn't notice," Darmani said as he mounted his horse, "it's what we do in our family. We go and save the day, but turn and run when our dearest are gone. We'll be fine. I don't know where our journey will lead us, but I do know, we will return, as heroes."

"Because that's our destiny." Mikau sighed.

"Know you're always welcome on Death Mountain," Goro nodded as he was forced to accept their decision.

"And Great Bay." Mikau-Zora added.

"We know," Malon forced a smile, "but who knows when our journey will lead us there?"

The two Zora's and Goron remained silent as the four children rode off.

AN: There you have it, kiddies, the end of Professional Hero. Hope you enjoyed the show and stuff like that. See you guys later…

Okay, I'm not totally satisfied with this chapter, it seems too short, although I've put everything I wanted in it. But still, compared to the length of the last chapters it seems short (but then again, compared to the first chapters, it's huge, but that's criticism on me and I don't want that). Though it's still a big accomplishment writing 2 pages and a half from only five lines of synopsis, it just seems too short. Still, that's my opinion.

Epilogue

The grasslands seemed endless and nothing could be seen but for a small house and some trees next to it. It reminded Link of the field just before the battle with Majora's Mask. Not just because of the view, but also of the serenity it seemed to breathe.

"I can see why you were so desperate to obtain the Tri-Force," Link sighed.

"The things we do to obtain bliss," Ganondorf nodded and stretched in his chair on Link's porch, "You know, I never even cared about Hyrule before Kaligan. He talked about how the desert was a terrible place, full of death, and that's why we had to attack Hyrule, because it was full of life, and they flaunted it in our faces. But I had seen every secret oasis in the desert, I knew the desert was filled with life as well. We just had to look a bit harder to find the beauty of life."

"It was the same thing in Kokiri Forest," Link smiled at this memory, "Saria sometimes could look hours at a spider weaving it's web. When I asked her why she did something as boring as that, she told me it was part of the beauty and secret of life. She then told me that the spider killed the fly, but that was also part of life."

"That's true," Ganondorf said, "the Gerudo elder also said this, the more apparent death is, the more you can see how precious life is. Some of us, and mostly me, pitied the Hylians for not knowing the true secret of life. Well, one of the many secrets."

"You pitied them before Kaligan," Link reminded Ganondorf.

"Exactly," Ganondorf sighed, "I had no idea how that sword would fuck up my life like that. I only wanted to save Madakar so he could kill Kaligan. Instead I obtained the burning desire to seize control over the Tri-Force. When you had defeated me, I was transported here by the Gods, but then Zelda send you back in time, bringing me and her along, and every thing would start again."

"Zelda knew as well," Link sighed, "then why did she torture us like that?"

"The Tri-Force," a voice came from behind Link.

Before he could look back, two arms slid down his chest and held him firmly.

"Like you said before," Romani told her husband, "only the Hero of Time could withstand the corruption of the Tri-Force, but Zelda wasn't the Hero of Time, so she fell also under the same spell that captivated Ganondorf."

"And since she thought she would have to give up the Tri-Force," Ganondorf nodded, "she made us relive everything, knowing she was safe, relishing in her power."

"She tortured herself as well," Link suddenly grinned, "in the final fight she told me she was the only one for me, but still she got together with Alexis, every time I ran around to fight you. For someone possessing the Tri-force of Knowledge, shows what she knows."

"She had no patience," Ganondorf shook his head, "she might have been a good queen if none of this would have happened. By the way, what ever happened in Tempora?"

"You don't know?" Link raised an eyebrow, "but you set Majora loose there, didn't you?"

"I only send an old mask there," Ganondorf confessed, "according to an owl who was my secret advisor, and who also wanted to end my addiction to the Tri-Force, it would be a good plan to train you in Tempora."

"An owl?" Link started to laugh, "you mean Kaepora? I can't believe it! My mentor that helped me on my quests helped also my greatest enemy?"

"He was the great Kaepora? That explains a lot. Well, he didn't become my advisor until after the first run."

"He once told me he never went back in time," Link stopped laughing, "he just relived everything in his dreams before everything started."

"I hope he's alright somewhere," Ganondorf sighed, "he was killed by Twinrova when she discovered him."

"He's alright," Link assured him, "he just reincarnated as an owl again. I think that's one guy who knows every secret of life."

"Talking about knowing of secrets of life," Ganondorf looked at Romani, "why do you think your wife is here instead of Zelda?"

"Well," Romani answered, "the bitch isn't here because she knew what terrible power of the Tri-Force was and she didn't do anything to fight it, unlike you. You just wanted to end the pain, she wanted to have the full power of the Tri-Force, so it's seems natural that the Goddesses would punish her for abusing their power. As for me, I think the Goddesses decided to give him finally a break."

Romani kissed Link on the cheek and Link stood up, took Romani in his arms and carried her inside.

"Please, don't mind me," Ganondorf sighed and refilled his glass, "go right ahead, I'll be alright."

Ganondorf sighed, and looked at the horizon where the green grass seemed to change in a brown yellow shade.

"I first had my ache when I experienced the Master sword," he mused, "then I knew no aches when I first came here. But when I was returned to the point where my conquest of Hyrule began, my ache had become worse, for I no longer cared about the Tri-force, only about this bliss. I knew nothing but bliss until the day Link arrived here. Then I realised how much I had missed talking to someone. Should I be worried now that Link has someone he loves and I have no one? Is that a reason to become frustrated, even in this bliss?"

Ganondorf stood up and a faint smile formed around his lips.

"I'm a fool," he shook his head as he stepped off the porch, "this house didn't even exist before Link came. I was so overtook by bliss I didn't even know there were rules to this place, but now I understand them. Question is, do I deserve a break?"

A black horse stepped up next to him. Ganondorf smiled and mounted the horse.

"Guess I do. Time to go home."

Steadily the horse started his trip to the desert where, Ganondorf knew, his old friends were which had stood beside him in the times he needed them the most. He only hoped they could forgive him for betraying them.

The world was filled with darkness. It wasn't pitch-black, it was complete and utter darkness. She could almost claw at it. She couldn't believe it, she had been so close and now everything was ruined. She had lost her power. Both pieces of the Tri-Force had been stolen away from her, by that milkmaid. She should have killed her when she had the chance, but she had to play. She knew she could afford it to play, but now it seemed she couldn't have afforded it. It didn't make sense, but so much things hadn't made sense. Not from when she had received the Tri-Force of Wisdom. It didn't make sense when she didn't tell Link she could also remember everything when she had reset time. It didn't make sense when she started something again with Alexis when she knew Link would survive and they would live happily together ever after. It all didn't make sense, but she did it anyway. And when she had discovered that the Tri-Force of Power had returned to the Temple of Time after Ganondorf had died, it started to make sense. When she obtained the power, it all made sense. She would rebuild the world after her own image of a perfect world. And it had almost worked. But she hadn't been able to destroy Link, and her version of Link was inadequate. And she was beaten by a simple milkmaid. She tried to scream, but no sound could be heard. Only one thing stirred in her head.

"You can't even do that right. But what can we expect from a complete failure?"

Zelda tried to block out this thoughts and started to cry… or at least tried to…

****

AN: and just a little special feature you might find interesting, the timeline I made up concerning this story.

Timeline:

0 - Flames of War

10 - Link fights Ganondorf and goes to Termina; Birth of Goro, Zora and Mikau

17 - Link Defeats Ganondorf

18 - Link fights in Holodrum and Labrynna

20 - Link trains Goro; Link marries Romani; birth of Darmani and Mikau; Birth of Terrani

22 - Birth of Malon; Birth of Ruto's kids (4 or 5)

23 - Birth of Dekaru; The war in Tempora starts

25 - Link believes Romani is dead and snaps; his children hide in the Lost Woods

26 - Link kills the Zora in Labrynna and kills Ralph and Shark

30 - Goro goes to Tempora to train Terrani; Mashka kills Terrani; Goro kills Mashka

30 - Goro returns to Hyrule with the news that Zelda is behind the war in Tempora; Zelda sends out the Gravedigger to kill the sages; Link returns to Hyrule; Darmani and Mikau are age 10, Malon age 8 and Dekaru age 7.