Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda: The Ballad of Fallen Angels ❯ Metal Gear Solid ( Chapter 14 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 14: “Metal Gear Solid”

Cremina groaned. She didn't want to open her eyes and accept the fact that she was awake, but she found it impossible to fall asleep again with the horrendous headache that pounded away at her brain. Groggily she sat up and opened her eyes.

She was lying on a hard stone floor. She tried to stand up but found she couldn't just yet, for the muscles had all cramped up with lying on the floor for so long. The walls were also made of stone, and there were no windows.

Romani was snoring away in the far corner, and Tael was nowhere to be seen, but Kari was awake. She was seated against the wall in the lotus position, her red eyes half-closed. When she saw Cremina sit up, Kari quickly crawled over to her and pulled her close. She whispered, “Are you all right?”

Cremina nodded, shivering. “What happened to us?”

“We were drugged by Descrod. That's the only thing I can come up with.”

Cremina sighed, resting her head on Kari's shoulder. “Can you remember what we planned to do, after that summer?”

Kari smiled, clasping her hand in Cremina's. “Oh yes, I remember it all the time. After one last good season at the ranch, you and Romani were going to sell to the Grummans and come to live with me.”

“We were going to be married that year,” Cremina whispered. “I would have just turned twenty that past fall. But then the Grummans passed away, and everything changed.”

Kari was silent for awhile, lost in her thoughts, when she realized that Cremina was crying quietly. “What's wrong?”

Cremina whispered, “I wish things would go right for us, just once. I hated all of it. The mocking calls and fingers they used to point at us in the Clock Town market, the threatening letters, everything. Even my own sister is disgusted by me.”

“What?” Kari exclaimed. “Why, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Romani's not disgusted by you!”

“Yes she is, I know it.” Cremina sobbed. “I know she is, I can see it in her eyes. She thinks I'm a freak. She hates me because she thinks I control her too much. We used to fight so much. I'm so worried for her. She's my little sister. I don't want anything to happen to her.”

“Cremina, please-“

A soft voice came from behind them, “I don't hate you, Cremina.”

Kari turned to see Romani raise her head up from the ground. She crawled over to them. “Cremina, I don't have, and I never have. Yes, I hated how you always seemed like you had to protect me from every little thing, but I never hated you. And I don't think you're a freak. You're my sister, and no matter what, I will always love you.”

“But, the things that you said-“

Something pounded at the door. “Quiet! Quiet down in there, you! No talking between prisoners!”

Romani glared at the locked door, sticking her tongue out at it. “This needs to be discussed later. Right now we need to get out of this cell.”

“How?” Kari asked. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Yes I do,” Romani replied. “Problem is, poor Cremina needs to put on a little show.”

Cremina narrowed her eyes. “Just what kind of show do you have in mind?”

Romani smirked. “The kind you usually do just for Kari.”

“Hey there, soldier.”

There was only one guard in the dungeons, for there was only one cell that housed prisoners. The guard was young and determined to do a good job, but he couldn't ignore the fact that he was guarding three young women, two of which he found attractive. He especially couldn't ignore it when the eldest one was now appraising him with her deep blue through the bars of the cell.

“What do you want?” he asked.

The woman giggled, pulling her hair out of it's ponytail and letting it swish around her head. The guard gulped. “Um, can I help you miss?”

She moaned. “That depends, brave young man. Can you?”

He gulped again, casting his eyes downward. “I believe that I could.”

The girl giggled again. “Then why don't you come on in? I'm sure we could make ourselves comfortable.”

He was fumbling with the keys to the cell door when logical thinking returned to his head. “No, no I'm sorry. I can't.”

“Oh come on! Please?”

“No I can't. Be quiet, be quiet right now!”

Cremina pouted, turning back to the others. “Well now what?”

Kari grumbled, “We need him to open that damn door! It almost worked, too.”

Romani was eyeing Cremina sharply. “It still might work, just…”

“What?” Cremina asked. “Just what?”

“Oh well.” Romani reached up and started to unbutton Cremina's shirt. Kari's eyes bulged and Cremina exclaimed, “Romani, what the Hell are you doing?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, sis. Kari, get behind the door and get ready.”

“Oh soldier boy!”

The guard sighed in desperation. `Why?' he thought to himself. `Why do I need to be on shift now?' “What?” he asked out loud. “What do you need now?”

“You, lover boy.” The girl moaned out.

He sighed, turning to the cell door. “Listen lady, I really would love to, and I appreciate it, but the fact is-“

He never finished that sentence, for when he looked at her through the bars, the young woman threw off her shirt. He was staring open-mouthed at her chest.

“Oh forget it, I don't care about the consequences any more!” The guard fumbled with the keys at his belt and quickly unlocked the door, letting it swing wide open. The girl giggled and stepped up against the far wall, beckoning him forward. The guard strode forward into the middle of the cell.

That was as far as he ever got. Something came from behind him and caught him on the nub of bone at the back of his neck, pinching hard. His entire body turned to stone. He couldn't move, he could barely breath.

The other girl came from behind him and handed the woman's shirt back to her. She took it and quickly put it back on, buttoning it up.

Still holding onto his neck, the fish-girl stepped in front of him. She smiled sweetly for a moment, then pulled her lips back in an obscene grimace, exposing the vampire-esque fangs that her race was blessed with. His eyes bulged in utmost horror.

“I feel I should tell you,” the water monster bit out, her jaws slowly opening to a freakish width, her fangs dripping with saliva and drool, “That this is going to hurt you much more than it will me. But don't worry, it won't hurt for long.”

The guard tried to scream. He really did, but with her hand cutting off the nerves at the base of his neck, he couldn't do anything.

The fish-girl's aqua-blue tongue caressed his throat for a split-second, before she sank her fangs into it and ripped it out.

Saetoushei cried out again as the whip struck his unprotected back. He had been woken up from his drugged slumber when the resident torturer had hit him the first time. That seemed like, and most likely was, hours ago, and the sick freak hadn't let up yet. Saetoushei had to admit, though, that he liked the whip best. The torturer had used the whip, several different canes, kept him almost completely submerged for ice-cold water for hours at a time, and just performing random acts of pain. All the fingers of his left hand had been broken and there was a broken dagger blade embedded in his right thigh. The torturer loved him. Apparently, most people he worked on would have died hours ago. He gleefully told a horrified Saetoushei that at this rate, he would get to use his iron maiden for the first time in years. Currently Saetoushei was hanging by his wrists, which were held together by chains, which were held up by a long hook nailed to the ceiling.

Just as the torturer was winding up for another shot with the whip, the door of the torture chamber swung open and Augustine Descrod strode into the room. The torturer stopped what he was doing and bowed to the Ikaylimu.

“Leave us.” Descrod ordered.

The torturer bowed again and left, closing the door behind him. Descrod turned back to Saetoushei. “Well, well, well. Commander Saetoushei, we meet again. How are you?”

Saetoushei mustered all the strength he had left to kick out at Descrod. Descrod laughed out loud as Saetoushei's foot fell short of him.

“Yes, just the thing I expected from the great Captain Link of the Bombers. I was going to execute you the moment I saw you anyway, but yesterday, after we left the dungeons, I sent a messenger to Clock Town. Apparently, the Mayor never sent any ambassadors at all. This gives the legal opportunity to have my way with you.”

“What do you want, Descrod?” Saetoushei muttered.

The Ikaylimu laughed again. “Talking now are we? Well, as you might have guessed from the swamp, I wish to control so much more of this land than just the dead lands of Ikama. The kingdom of the dead has served me well, but it's purpose is slowly ending. Soon a war, the likes of which this land has never seen, will erupt and consume everything. And in the end, it shall be I, Augustine Descrod, who will wield the power of the gods.”

““the power of the gods”, are you insane?” Saetoushei demanded. “So it's true then, the mask lives on!”

“What? Oh you mean this,” and from his robes, to Saetoushei's complete horror and terror, Descrod pulled out Majora's Mask. The wild, primitive war paint of the demonic face was exactly the same as before. The large eyes seemed to pierce straight into Saetoushei's heart.

“Augustine, listen to me. That thing is pure evil, you cannot control it. Burn it, burn it now, save yourself and the world from it's evil-“

Descrod replaced the mask in his robe and took hold of the whip. He took a few shots at Saetoushei, grinning as the whip ripped another line of flesh off Saetoushei's back.

“I think not,” the Ikaylimu said, striking the prone figure again. “I want to see how much I can make you scream first.”

The girls raced out of the corridor leading from the dungeons into the main hall, stopping short as they entered the high-ceilinged room. Guards were everywhere, but they were all asleep. Some lounged in chairs arranged helter-skelter around the room and some slept propped up against the walls, but most were laid out along the floor.

“No sudden movements.” Romani whispered to Cremina. “And Kari, stop eating, everyone will hear you.”

The Zora had taken the unfortunate guard's arms off with her fangs and was merrily chomping on them.

“Oh come on, I'm almost done.”

“Shush up!” Cremina whispered loudly. “Please Kari, we must get out unnoticed.”

The three young women picked their way across the room, desperately trying to avoid the forms of Horders as they made for the door on the opposite wall.

Suddenly Romani heard a clanking behind them and spun to see a guard, apparently back from a bathroom break, step on a shield left on the ground. The loud metallic noise roused the other guards from their sleep.

“Wha-? Who are you?” a guard said sleepily, trying to get to his feet.

“We've been ID'ed! Everyone for themselves!” Kari screamed. She seized the neck of the guard nearest to her and snapped it like a twig. Stealing his sword, she struck out at another soldier trying to draw his own blade. Cremina grabbed a pike off the ground and killed another soldier. Romani took the sword off the guard's corpse and ran for the door. The other two following behind her as the rest of the Horders oriented themselves and ran after them.

At about that same time, from one of the higher levels of the castles, Augustine Descrod strode to a grand window looking out over the side of the courtyard. Behind him, half a dozen Horders carried a figure wrapped in a white sheet. Without ceremony, the guards dumped the body out the window, watching it fall down into the darkness.

“Tell no one of this. It goes to your grave with you.” Descrod said to the guards.

The girls bolted down corridor after corridor in full flight from the soldiers pursuing them.

“This sucks! This sucks! This sucks!” Romani screamed as they turned yet another corner to see another group of soldiers hurrying toward them from the opposite way.

“This way, come!” Kari shouted as she saw a stairway leading up to the next level. They ran up the stairs as the two groups of guards crashed into each other in the passage below them.

Emerging on the second floor of the palace, the three girls turned left and ran down the corridor. Cremina noticed a wooden door in the wall. She tried the knob and found it unlocked.

“In here! Quickly!” she called to the others. All three of them hurried in. Cremina slammed the door behind them and locked. The girls held their breath as the sounds of the guards grew louder and nearer. Suddenly something struck the door.

“This one's locked.” They heard a Horder say. “Maybe they've barricaded themselves in here.”

“That's stupid.” Another guard snorted. “How could they get into a locked room?”

“Good point,” the first said. “Let's try further down the corridor.”

They waited before the sounds of the guards faded away, then exhaled deeply. “We're trapped in this place.” Romani moaned. “What can we do now?”

“We cannot give up.” Kari said, holding the sword she took off the guard tightly in her hand. “We must find a way out.”

“There is no way out,” Romani countered. “And even if there was, how would we get through all the guards?”

“Here's an idea, how's about one of you opens the latch on this thing and lets me out!”

The girls turned in unison to a small wooden crate that had just spoken to them. “Um, hello?” Romani said to the box.

The crate bounced up and down as if something inside was ramming the top. “Oh give it up and let me out!”

“I know that voice!” Cremina exclaimed. “It's Tael!”

Saetoushei was walking along a road. Or at least he thought it was a road, for he couldn't see it. In fact he couldn't see anything, for wherever he was, it was pitch-black, but he felt like he should keep walking forward.

A white light slowly appeared further way in the distance. It was incredibly small now, but it quickly got much bigger the further he walked. And out of the light came the most beautiful voice, a voice he hadn't heard in years.

“Link. Link, come to me.”

“Mother? Mother is that you?”

“Link,” the voice repeated. “I want you to come home. Come to me.”

Saetoushei started running, running as fast as he could towards the light. But now the light was rapidly shrinking, falling away from him. “Mother, don't leave me again!”

“It is not your time, Link. You have great things to do first. But soon we will be together again. Don't worry, Link, Link, Link…”

“Mother!”

“Link!”

Saetoushei slowly opened his eyes, wincing as he did so. He nearly passed out as the pain started registering in his mind. Every single inch of his body felt like it was on fire, and there was blood everywhere.

“Link! Oh good, you woke up. I was afraid I'd lost you there. Come, there's a place nearby that I can hide you at for a while.”

Saetoushei forced his eyes open again. It was night, but it was strangely brighter than it should be. An there was a moon. It was a huge thing. He stared at it, wondering how it got there, and how it was so big and bright.

Then the `moon' moved, and now Saetoushei could see that the ball of light he thought was a moon had wings and was off-white in color.

“Link, come on, we can't stay here.”

It hit Saetoushei like a shot to the head. “Tatl!”

Tael and the girls hurried away from the sounds of soldiers, searching desperately for a stairway that would take them up to the third floor. After being freed from the crate, Tael had quickly reminded them of what Sakon the thief had said in his hideout.

“We look for a statue of a lion with it's jaws open. Pull down on the lower jaw and the passage opens. We'll end up outside the castle at the thief's place.”

They didn't relish another meeting with the thief, but it was much preferred over the Dark Hordes that ran loose in Ikama Castle.

Rounding another corner, the party ran headlong into Augustine Descrod and the six guards with him. Acting on instinct, and with her sword useless at such close range, Kari snapper her free hand up and slashed with her claws at Descrod's face. The Ikaylimu reeled back with four long, deep scratches disfiguring his once-perfect look.

“Run! Back the way we came!” Kari seized Cremina and Romani and ran back along the corridor, Tael flying beside them, as Descrod and his men gave full pursuit.

The party ran for their lives, taking turn after turn, hoping to lose their pursuers, when Tael shouted, “There it is!”

A stone stairway, curving upwards, opened up in front of them. They ran as hard and as fast as they could, pounding up the stairway.

They emerged on the third floor. And straight ahead of them, on the opposite wall, was the lion statue.

An arrow shot from behind them. It struck Romani in the upper arm, ripping it's way through her flesh and muscle. She cried out, falling on the statue. Cremina spun, raising her pike up to kill the archer-

-when the statue and a large chunk of wall next to it suddenly performed a full spin. Romani had falling on the statue and pushed the jaw down. All four of them were swept into the secret passageway.

The archer blinked. So did the guards behind him. One moment their quarry was directly in front of them, the next second they were gone, as if they had melted into the wall itself.

“What happened?” one of the guards behind him asked.

The archer gulped. “They're gone. We lost them.”

Silence overtook the soldiers. They all knew the fate that Augustine Descrod handed out on those who failed him.

Tatl had helped drag Saetoushei to the hidden hole in the corner of the courtyard. Years before, the main entrance to the castle had been blocked, and so she and Link had needed to find another way in. They had discovered the ancient catacombs that ran underneath all of Ikama. There was a hidden entrance to the catacombs in the courtyard, and that was where Tatl hid Saetoushei. The labyrinth of passages was dark, with only Tatl's natural light to illuminate the way for them.

“Can't we rest here?” Saetoushei moaned around broken ribs.

“Sorry, truly I am, but I don't know if the Horders have breached these passages yet. I am taking you someplace safe, though, it is a little ways from here.”

It might have only been a few minutes, but for Saetoushei it felt like and eternity when Tatl finally said, “Here we go up.” The little fairy helped the broken Hylian climb the steep ladder that led up to the ground.

The air was cool, the night pleasant, but it was still murder for Saetoushei when he finally pulled himself out of the hole.

“Where is it?” he gasped. “Where to now?”

“Right here, don't worry.” Tatl whispered, gesturing to the stone archway in front of them. “I know for a fact that Horders rarely go here. We should be safe.”

This is how Saetoushei returned to the great Stone Tower of Ikama.

Sakon the thief was in the middle of dinner when sounds of heavy breathing and dragging foot steps started issuing from the passageway to the castle. He looked up just in time to see Cremina, Romani, Kari, and Tael drag themselves out of the darkness.

“Don't get up, we're not staying.” Kari gasped out. “But do you have any water and medical supplies?”

Not sure of where Saetoushei was at the moment, Sakon nodded, pointing first to a tall cabinet against one wall, then to the little well next to it.

Cremina sat Romani down and removed the arrow in her arm, bandaging the wound tightly. Kari filled up canteens full of the cold water. Tael helped carry the canteens to the hideout's main door.

“Rough night?” Sakon asked.

“That's one way to put it.” Romani replied, wincing as she stood up. “I wish you told us how long it was from the lion's statue to here.”

“In any case, thank you for the water and bandages.” Tael said and hurried out of the hideout. The girls followed behind him.

As the door swung shut behind them, Sakon muttered to himself, “The things I do to maintain a decent living.”