Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Back In Her Hands ❯ The Decision ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Back In Her Hands
a Legend of Zelda romance fic
Chapter 8: The Decision
10-31-2004
by Grey

Disclaimer: I don't own the Zelda series or any of its characters; Nintendo and the series' creator Shigeru Miyamoto do. So don't sue me or anything.

This fic is dedicated to CubedCinder128, for what I hope are obvious reasons.

******

Link slowly walked over to the barn where Zelda was still staying, carrying a barrel filled to the brim with apples. Thankfully, he had been able to get a ride on a wagon back to Lon Lon Ranch. Having to carry that barrel all the way from the market town would have surely worn him out, especially with it being high noon and unbearably hot.

As he made his way to Zelda's barn, he couldn't help thinking about the previous night. Specifically, when Zelda had asked if he would marry her. Link truly loved Zelda, but for some reason the question made him a bit uneasy. *I guess it was just so sudden, the way she asked me,* he reasoned.

Then there was the possibility that a cure for Zelda's condition might never be found. Having a giant woman for a wife would sure be.... weird. *Oh, come on! Since when has anything in your life been normal?!* Link thought, mentally chiding himself. He had promised Zelda he'd stay by her, and he had to live up to his vow.

Finally, Link made it back to the barn, and he had to put down the barrel to open the huge front door. Link quickly picked up the barrel again and headed inside. In the middle of the barn was Zelda, lying down on the floor sleeping soundly, using a large wagon tarp for a pillow. *She looks so peaceful when she's sleeping,* Link thought to himself.

Evidently though, it had been a very light sleep, for Zelda slowly rose and turned toward Link almost as soon as he had stepped inside. "Oh hi, Link," she said lazily. "What's that you have there?"

"Oh, it's another barrel of apples for you," said Link. "I figured you could use some more to eat."

"That's OK, Link. I'm really not hungry," she said quickly.

As if on cue, Zelda's stomach started gurgling loudly. "I see," said Link, clearly not believing her. "Zelda, you've hardly eaten anything since the... well... you know. Why starve yourself like this?"

Zelda looked down at Link awkwardly. "It just... doesn't feel right, to have to eat so much. It going to cost Hyrule so much to feed me now and it just... makes me feel guilty."

"Zelda, please, don't worry yourself over that," Link said scoldingly. "We've got the resources to feed you and you know it. Please, just eat, OK?"

Zelda stared at him for a moment longer, considering what he had said. She grudgingly admitted to herself that he was right and there was really no point in starving herself. Reaching down with her huge hands, she picked up the barrel and dumped its contents into her mouth. There were barely enough apples in the barrel for three mouthfuls.

After she had finished, Zelda looked down to see that Link was chuckling to himself about something. "What's so funny?" she asked shortly.

"What? Oh, oh it's nothing," he quickly replied, but the look on Zelda's face clearly told him she didn't believe him. "Well, er, it's just what you talked about last night, about getting married and stuff."

"Yeah, what about it?" asked Zelda, now feeling a bit hopeful that Link had reached a concrete decision.

"Well, I just thinking, about how... I dunno... how FUNNY it would look if you're still like this when we get married. I mean, it would be really...." Link suddenly stopped himself, realizing that he probably made another mistake by talking about Zelda's predicament in such a fashion. But when he looked up at Zelda again, he could see that she was quite amused by the idea too.

"I'll say. When it comes time for you to kiss the bride, I'll have to pick you up!" she said teasingly, clearly enjoying the conversation.

"And where would we find a wedding dress big enough for you?!" Link went on, glad that Zelda was finding this so humorous. "I don't think there're any your size. It'd take ages to make one for you!"

"And they'd have to make sure the aisle is wide enough for me, otherwise I'd be liable to knock people over as I walk down," Zelda went on in a giggly voice. "It'd be a wedding no one in Hyrule would ever forget, that's for sure."

"Hey, it's not every day that a twenty-two foot tall girl gets married," said Link, who was now giggling too. "Or a girl so beautiful, for that matter," he quickly added.

Zelda instantly blushed a bright shade of red, and she bent down to give Link a soft kiss on the head. Link relished the feel of her soft lips pressing against him, and how her long strands of hair cascaded all around him, tickling him. "Just don't make me wait too long, OK?" she whispered softly into his ear, her hot breath blowing all over him forcefully.

Link reached up and placed his hands underneath her chin, and then stood on his toes, planting a kiss on her lips. "OK, my princess," Link said softly. Zelda felt her heart flutter as she felt the light, feather-like touch of his lips against hers.

Then Zelda remembered something else she had wanted to ask about. "Link, um, when you were in the market town earlier, was any construction going on?"

"Yeah. They've been at it since early this morning from what I could tell," Link answered.

"Think they could use some help?" said Zelda.

"Well, I suppose they could use a hand, and..." Then Link realized what Zelda was getting at. "What, Zelda, YOU want to go and..."

"Like I said before, I can't ignore my duties," Zelda interrupted. "I pledged to help rebuild Hyrule, and I intend to keep my word. Besides, with my size, I bet I could help finish rebuilding the town in no time flat!" She then began crawling to the barn's exit. "You coming?" she called out to him. Link, seeing that she clearly intended to go help out in the market, followed her out.

As soon as Link stepped outside, he felt Zelda's hands grab hold of him and hoist him up. "Huh, Zelda, what..."

"I'll give you a ride," Zelda said in that teasing voice of hers as she lifted Link over her head. She set him down so that he was essentially riding piggyback on her shoulders. "OK, let's go," she said to him, and with that, Zelda briskly walked out of Lon Lon Ranch and out onto Hyrule Field. Within no time at all, the two of them were at the gates of the market town. Link was amazed at how quickly Zelda had reached the entrance to town; it would have taken him more than twice as long by running, and Zelda had only walked.

For a moment, Zelda seemed to hesitate in front of the town entrance, as if trying to decide whether or not to go in. Link knew it must have been because Zelda was still apprehensive about everyone seeing her. "Zelda? You don't have to do this, you know," he told her as he hopped down from her shoulders.

"No, Link. I-I need to do this," Zelda answered quickly. "Everyone now knows about what's happened to me. I might as well just show myself and get it over with."

"You sure about this?" Link asked, still not certain it was such a good idea. "I mean, the people hearing about you is one thing, but actually SEEING you..."

"Yeah, I know," Zelda said flatly. "But I just... I just can't hide forever." And so, gathering her wits, she walked forward into the market town, with Link running in behind her.

As Link had said, plenty of people were out and about, working tirelessly to finish rebuilding the town. But once Zelda walked into the center of the town, all activity abruptly stopped as everyone started to stare up at her. Zelda's mouth suddenly felt dry. All those people staring nervously at her.... Would they all turn and run in terror, or did they really think of her as a hero now, as Impa had said?

"She's even BIGGER than they said!" said one woman.

"No wonder she could wipe out those monsters!" said another.

Zelda slowly looked around her, at all the confused and nervous faces looking up at her. *I was afraid of this,* she thought to herself. *They ARE scared of me. I knew I shouldn't have...*

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU?!!!" called out an irate, admonishing voice from beside her. Zelda quickly looked down to see Link standing next to her, eyeing the crowd angrily. "Impa told all of you about it!! Stop looking so shocked!! And she's the one that practically wiped out the rest of Ganon's monsters, like Impa said! We all owe her for that! Especially me... I'd be DEAD if it wasn't for her!! Not only that, but..."

"Link, please, that's enough," Zelda said meekly, finally finding her voice. She didn't sound angry, but I was clear to Link that she wanted him to stop. She really aprreciated how he vouched for her, but yelling at everyone like that wasn't really going to help much. Getting down on her knees, she began to address the crowd. "Look, I know I look really scary, but you've got to believe me when I say I don't want to hurt anyone," she told them, speaking softly and trying to sound unthreatening. "It's still me, the princess. I've just had... had an accident. I-I still want to make Hyrule the way it was before. I-I came here today to help with rebuilding again..."

For a while, no one said anything. It seemed as if Zelda's words had had no effect. But soon, one by one the townsfolk began to bend down on one knee and bow: the traditional Hylian way of showing deference to royalty. Although Zelda was glad to see they had finally accepted her again, she hated the way they were showing it; she had always hated it when people bowed to her. "Please, everyone, there's no need for that. I don't want to be treated like royalty; right now, I just want to be treated like everyone else."

******

After the initial shock of Zelda's sudden appearance in the market town wore off, things eventually got back to normal and work in the market town resumed. And Zelda soon found a suitable place to start working, so she had gotten down on her knees and got to work rebuilding one of the old store buildings down the back alley.

As Zelda expected, her gigantic size made working on the buildings ridiculously easy. Planting the support beams and doing the masonry work turned out to be child's play for her; the whole building was practically finished after barely an hour! In fact, it brought back childhood memories of when she built model buildings. She had delighted in building entire model towns when she was a kid. The silliness of it all made Zelda smile to herself as she continued her work.

Occassionally, though, out of the corner of her eye, she would catch some people staring up at her in an uneasy manner as they walked by. She kept telling herself to just ignore it, that it was to be expected that people would tend to look at her in a curious, sometimes even in an apprehensive, way. After all, women over twenty feet tall weren't exactly a common sight in Hyrule. But it still bothered her the way some of the people stared at her. At least Link didn't seem to care about her size...

"There, that's finally done," Zelda said to herself as she laid the final brick in place. "Now to let it sit a while, then get started on the roof." She sat back and looked at her handiwork. It was amazing how quickly she was able to do all this work. *If I can keep this up, I could finish the town by sundown! Or maybe even finish rebuilding the castle!* Being stuck with the power of the Giant's Mask was turning out to not be such a bad thing anymore. *But-but I as long as I stay this size, I guess it's OK. But if the mask's magic kicks in again.... Oh, I don't know what I'd do....*

Zelda then sensed someone slowly approaching her. Having previously been wrapped up in her brooding thoughts, she hadn't noticed. Looking down, she saw a young brown-haired Hylian girl standing by her, probably no more than five or six years old, looking up at her curiously. She didn't seem to be the least bit fearful; in fact, it seemed as if she was looking at her with a sense of amazement. *Finally, someone else who isn't afraid,* Zelda thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "Well, hi there. What's your name?"

"Um, Marie," said the little girl. "Wow, are you really the princess?" Zelda really had to listen closely to be able to hear the girl's tiny voice.

"Yeah," was all Zelda said.

"And, um, did you really save everyone from all those monsters?" she asked querulously.

"Uh, I hate to brag about it, but yeah, I did," replied Zelda.

"Wow, cool!" exclaimed Marie. "You're the coolest princess ever!"

"Uh, thanks," Said Zelda, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"Say, do you think one day I could grow up to be as big and strong as you?" she asked.

Zelda had to stifle a laugh; this kid was pretty funny. "Sorry, kiddo, what happened to me was a fluke. Besides, it's not really all that great, being like this."

Marie looked genuinely disappointed at this. "But-but, you'll always be here right, to save us from monsters?"

Zelda paused for a moment before answering. "Yes. Yes, I will be. Well, as long as..."

"Zelda, how's the store coming?" said Link, walking up to the princess. He then noticed Marie. "Hey, who's this? Made a new friend, Zelda?"

"Well, yeah, I guess I did," said Zelda, looking back over to Marie and flashing a smile, who smiled back.

"Marie! Marie, where are you?" came a loud voice from down the alley. Zelda turned in the direction of the voice to see an older Hylian woman.

"Mommy!" cried Marie as she ran towards the woman, who promptly picked up the little girl.

"Come on now, Marie. Time to go home," the woman told her daughter. Before turning to leave, however, she looked up at Zelda. Saying nothing, she quickly turned around and exited the back alley. Zelda let out a sigh of frustration. Despite what Impa had said, the people of Hyrule were obviously going to be skittish around her.

"Don't let it get to you, Zelda," spoke up Link, correctly guessing what was on the princess's mind. "Give them time, they'll get used to you."

Zelda turned her gaze over to Link. "Th-thanks, Link. I don't know what I'd do without you..."

"AIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

"ACK!! A MONSTER!!!!"

The terrified screams of the townsfolk snapped both Link and Zelda to attention. "Sounds like trouble," said Link as he drew his sword and ran toward the center of the town.

For a moment, Zelda stayed where she was. *Link can probably handle this,* she reasoned. *But, a Moblin attack, here? Surely they know I'M here right now, and attacking like this in broad daylight? This doesn't make any sense! I'd better check it out too.* And so, Zelda stood up and briskly made her way to the center of town.

What she saw was even more confusing. There weren't any Moblins at all; all there was was the single Wizzrobe that she had encountered before in the hideout, hovering by the path that led to the Temple of Time. Still, it was enough to induce panic in the townsfolk, as they were all fleeing. *So, it survived,* thought Zelda glumly, disappointed at finding out that that particular monster had escaped her. *What's its game, though? It must know it can't beat me. And where's Link?*

She spotted him nearby, with his bow taken out and an ice arrow charged up. Link let his arrow fly, but as soon as it got near the Wizzrobe, it was deflected, as if it had hit some sort of barrier. *It's as if it used Nayru's Love,* thought Zelda. *But how? A creature of darkness can't use spells like that. Wh-what's....* Then she saw it; a glassy, black-tinted sphere was beginning to form around the hovering Wizzrobe.

Then something even more unexpected happened: something seemed to be extending outward from the black sphere. It was as if long, obsidian-like rods were branching outward from it. Then the rod-like things bent, resembling the legs of a spider. Then it became obvious that that was exactly what these things were supposed to be: eight long (as long as Zelda was tall) , powerful, spidery legs. Soon, all eight legs were firmly planted on the ground, and Zelda could still see the Wizzrobe encased in the murky, black sphere, glowering wickedly at her.

*Oh no. This must be some new spell it came up with just to fight me!* Zelda reasoned. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Link moving in closer, this time with a light arrow powered up. "Link, no!! Get away from there!!" she screamed.

But her warning came too late. The Wizzrobe lashed out with one of the legs, catching Link unawares and smacking into him, sending him flying through the air and slamming painfully into the side of a two-story building. It looked as if he had been knocked unconscious.

"OH NO, LINK!!! LINK!!!!" shrieked Zelda, horrified by the sight of her beloved Link getting struck down so easily. She then turned to the Wizzrobe, fists shaking and teeth clenched in anger. "That's it!! You want a fight, YOU GOT ONE!!"

Zelda charged rashly at the creature, and it easily stopped her advance by lashing out again with a spider leg, hitting her on the side of her head. Zelda could taste her own blood, and felt two of her teeth pop out of her gums. She was momentarily stunned, and it gave the Wizzrobe time to stick two of the spider legs together and club her with them. The impact knocked Zelda backwards and almost made her fall over. Then it advanced and clubbed her again, and this time it managed to knock her off her feet and into the air. She crashed into the front of one of the newly-rebuilt buildings (the one that used to house the bombchu bowling alley) and her massive size and weight caused the walls, and pretty much the entire structure, to crumble instantly. Bits of masonry and wood flew everywhere, and Zelda's impact sent up a big cloud of dust and dirt.

"Ugghh," muttered Zelda weakly, stars swirling in front of her eyes. It took a while for her to realize what had just happened. *Argh! That one took almost a week to finish, and now... GAAHH!!* she thought dejectedly. So much work had gone into rebuilding it, and she destroyed it in a matter of seconds just by falling into it!

Zelda got back on her feet, and she saw the spidery structure walking in front of her. But then it merely stood in place. *Huh? Why isn't it attacking? What's it....* Then she noticed it was glowing, as if it was gathering power. *Oh no, its lightning bolt spell!!* she thought panickingly, realizing what the Wizzrobe was planning to do. Zelda quickly collected her own magic power and used Nayru's Love, and the lightning bolt reflected harmlessly off of the magical barrier.

However, the bolt was deflected at a store building right across from her, and it completely leveled the store in an instant. *WHAT?! I... it... damnit, if this keeps up, the whole town will be destroyed!!* Zelda thought to herself angrily. *Got to stop it now before anything else gets destroyed!!*

Zelda used her magic power again, this time calling upon Farore's Wind. She teleported directly behind the Wizzrobe's spider structure and reached back with one hand, collecting even more magic power. She then flung her arm forward, her palm outstrecthed, and unloaded the destructive force of her magic into the sphere surrounding the Wizzrobe. Her plan seemd to have worked; her enemy was caught by surprise and the force of her attack knocked it forward a couple dozen feet. Clearly, her attack had staggered the monster.

Then Zelda tried another move. She jumped forward at the spider and concentrated her power in the ball of her foot, then lashed out with a kick, striking the sphere with her heel. This time, her power had a greater effect. The Wizzrobe's spidery creation shot forward like a cannonball, crashing right through the remains to the building Zelda had fallen into. Zelda heard it crash into the buildings in the market town's back alley as well. *Oh great, there's goes more buildings,* she thought as she walked toward the back alley entrance. *Time to crush that thing for good.*

The back alley was barely wide enough for her to walk through, and it made Zelda extremly nervous. *Oh great. In this narrow space I'm a sitting duck. Damn, and where is it?!* Eventually, she came upon the back alley building that the Wizzrobe's spider had impacted. Zelda bent down to look inside. The building's interior was a complete wreck, and it was obvious where the spider legs had flailed about and caused even more damage, but there was no sign of the Wizzrobe itself. *Argh!! Where is it?!* through Zelda, shaking her head angrily.

Then she heard a skittering noise from behind the row of buildings. Zelda instinctively looked up, and a second later saw the Wizzrobe's spider lean over the roof of the wrecked building. And it had a lightning bolt spell already charged up, and it promptly fired it at Zelda before she could even react. Zelda was struck down so brutally and so quickly, she couldn't even muster a scream.

Fortunately for Zelda, she was now so huge that one lightning bolt wasn't enough knock her out altogether. Still, the Wizzrobe had managed to render her helpless, and decided to take advantage of that. It reached down with four of the spider legs and grabbed hold of her, a sticky goo being secreted at the ends of the legs to hold on to her. Then it hoisted her high into the air and brought her giant body crashing down onto another building - the very building Zelda had been working on moments before.

Zelda was in a half-daze, but she still realized what it was the Wizzrobe had done. And it served to make her even angrier, both with her enemy and with herself. Still, she couldn't muster to strength to fight back. She still couldn't even move....

And so, the Wizzrobe continued to carve a path of destruction through the back alley. It slowly walked through it and used Zelda's massive body like a wrecking ball, slamming her into the sides of some buildings and bringing her body downward forecfully onto others, smashing them to pieces.

It was as if the Wizzrobe was deliberately doing this to torment Zelda, taking a sick pleasure in slowly destroying everything she and her fellow Hylians had worked so hard to build - destroying it with her own massive body!! And Zelda... all she could do was watch helplessly as the Wizzrobe continued to destroy everything, overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness and her utter frustration with herself.

*No... no... I can't let this go on... I have to fight back...*

Zelda mustered all the strength she could, and used Farore's Wind again. She used it just in time too, for the Wizzrobe was just about to slam her body into another building. She vanished in a wisp of swirly, yellow wind, and rematerialized in the central square of the market town. "Urrgghh!!" she shrilled angrily as she tried to stand up, clutching her aching head. *Urgh, I'll lure it back out here, where there's more space,* she thought to herself, her lips contorting into a bloody snarl. *I can't believe this.... that thing used ME to destroy so much!! And if anyone was still in those buildings....*

Zelda didn't even have time to complete that thought. She could hear the skittering noise again, and saw the Wizzrobe's spider walk out of the ruined back alley and out into the central part of town again. "That's it... I've got you now!!" she shrieked, collecting a massive ball of energy with Din's Fire and hurling it at the Wizzrobe.

But her plan failed. The fiery ball of energy rebounded off of the glassy sphere, the same way Link's ice arrow had bounced off....

And it was deflected toward the two-story building that Link had slammed into, and he was still lying right in front of it. The fireball smacked into it and immediately set it on fire. Not only that, but it had caused the front wall to start to crumble, and it came crashing down. Zelda could only watch in horror as the debris fell down onto Link.

*Link.... no.... no....* thought Zelda, her mind unwilling to accept what her eyes had just seen. Link was surely dead... and she was partly to blame for it. And this time, it was no dream.

Zelda slumped down to her knees, her eyes fixed on the wreckage of the building that her magic had totalled. She was in a total state of shock, totally oblivious to everything around her. Even the Wizzrobe's spider thing that was advancing again....

And then, there was a blinding flash of white light that went off nearby, and the Wizzrobe's spider staggered backward. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rauru standing near her. Obviously, he had used his holy magic to ward off the Wizzrobe, but Zelda really wasn't paying any attention. All she could think about was Link....

And as the Wizzrobe was forced backward, Darunia jumped off from atop one of the buildings, clutching a piece of a shattered wall. He brought it crashing down onto the Wizzrobe's sphere, and a loud cracking sound could be heard throughout the market town. Cracks could now even be seen forming in the Wizzrobe's sphere. But again, Zelda took no notice. She could still only think about what she had done to Link....

The sphere housing the Wizzrobe unceremoniously fell to the ground, and the spider legs sprawled out everywhere. Rauru and Darunia's combined efforts had apparently been enough to finally bring it down. Satisfied that the monster had been brought down, the two Sages walked over to Zelda. They started to say something to her, but Zelda was hardly listening.

"Sorry, we took so long getting here," said Darunia apologetically. "Moblins were attacking other places, obviously to keep anyone from coming here to help."

"And I was away from my temple at the time. I didn't even realize anything was going on until I sensed your pain," explained Rauru. "By the way, where is Link?"

The mention of her lover finally snapped Zelda out of her state of languor and she lifted her head, looking down at the two Sages. Then she looked over to the flaming wreckage of the building Link was by and pointed at it. "There. He's dead, and it... was because of me!!" It was finally too much. She buried her face in her hands and the tears started flowing, and all Darunia and Rauru could do was stare up at her and watch helplessly.

Then another lightning bolt engulfed all three of them. The Wizzrobe had recovered and was on the offensive again. Darunia and Rauru were immediately rendered unconscious, and the bolt caused Zelda to fall face-first onto the ground, overwhelmed with fiery, knife-like pain, even worse than what she had suffered in the Moblins' hideout.

A few seconds later, Zelda could feel herself being lifted up off the ground. The Wizzrobe was hoisting her up with two of the sticky-ended spider legs, and was rearing back with a third leg, as if it was planning to run Zelda through with it....

Through tear-drenched eyes, Zelda looked at her attacker again. The monster that had wrecked so much of the town and was partly to blame for Link's death. In that instant, Zelda's sorrow and despair turned into venomous, seething rage. No, she wasn't going to let this monster get away with all it had done....

The Wizzrobe flung its spider leg forward to skewer Zelda, but she was ready. She reached out with both hands and grabbed the end of its legs before it could run her through. Then she used her power to send magical shocks through the Wizzrobe's spider structure. It was enough to force the Wizzrobe to relinquish its hold on Zelda. She fell to the ground, but immediately got back up to face the Wizzrobe again; her last trick hadn't stopped it for long and it was getting ready to charge again. The feelings of hatred and rage built up within Zelda again, eclipsing even the horrific pain her body was going through....

Suddenly, Zelda felt that same surge of power again, the same thing she had felt in the Moblins' hideout. *Uh-oh,* thought Zelda. *The Mask's power.... Link said it might be triggered when I'm angry or hurt.... OH NO!!!!*

Then it started. Everything around her looked like it was getting smaller: the Wizzrobe's spider, Darunia and Rauru's unconscious bodies, the buildings, everything. And it was happening even faster than before. And this time, it didn't stop when everything looked only half as big as before; this time, she wasn't just doubling in size again! When it was finished, she was FIVE TIMES as big as she was before!

Breathing heavily, Zelda looked all around her. *Oh Goddesses, this can't be happening... I'm-I'm ENORMOUS!!!* Everything had looked so small before when she was only four times her normal size, but now that she was TWENTY times her normal size.... And from her new vantage point, she could see all the destruction caused by her fight with the Wizzrobe. *Ack, I can't believe this!* she thought furiously. *We all worked so hard to rebuild our town, and now....*

Down below, she noticed something glowing brightly. Looking down, she saw the Wizzrobe charging up another lightning bolt spell. The bolt hit her dead center, but with her incredible new size, it was nothing but a mild shock to her now. All it made her do was flinch and stagger backward slightly.

In desperation, the Wizzrobe began to charge up another lightning bolt, but Zelda wasn't going to let it attack again. With one swift motion, she reached down and grabbed the Wizzrobe's sphere; it was nothing more than a ball to her now. She peered inside the black sphere and saw the Wizzrobe inside, its face contorted in terror. And it had good reason to be scared....

Zelda forcefully threw down the Wizzrobe's spider structure onto the ground, causing the sphere to finally shatter. The Wizzrobe was now lying down on the ground, exhausted and weak. *Time to finish this for good!* Zelda thought vindictively as she lifted up her foot. She then brought her foot down onto the fallen Wizzrobe, squashing it flat underneath her shoe. And her stomp created a powerful tremor that rocked the entire market town and could be felt as far away as the castle....

At last, it was over. The Wizzrobe was defeated and the people were safe. *But what now? What about me? I-I'm so-so....* She looked all around her again. So much destruction had been wrought, and she was partly responsible for it. And now, she was absolutely gigantic.... over a hundred feet tall!!! Everything looked so incredibly small and fragile. Now she was an even greater danger to her people....

Looking down, she saw Darunia and Rauru's tiny bodies, and her feet were dangerously close to them. *Oh! One false step, and I could've ended up....* Then she noticed that in the entranceway to the market town from Hyrule Field, many of the townsfolk were standing there. They were all transfixed, staring over at Zelda with a mixture of awe and apprehensiveness....

Then she looked again at the flaming rubble of the house that had come crashing down onto Link and killed him. That had partly been her fault.... Link had been killed by the sheer power of her spell. And that was before.... now, the sheer power of her spells would be incalcuable....

*I can't stay here anymore!!!* Zelda thought sorrowfully, the tears flowing once again. *I'm too big, too strong, too powerful!! So much destruction, because of me!! I might have been able to stay before, but now.... now, I'm too dangerous!! And, Link... oh Link....* She looked at the wreckage again. Her beloved boyfriend, dead because of her. The pain... the heartbreak... it was too much. *I can't stay in Hyrule!! I have to leave, for everyone's sake!!*

With a speed that belied her titanic size, Zelda ran towards the walls surrounding the market town. She effortlessly leapt over the wall and landed onto the plains of Hyrule Field. She then proceeded to run south, past Lon Lon Ranch and toward Lake Hylia, creating a huge, thunderous tremor with each step she took.

And within moments, there was no sign of Zelda anywhere in Hyrule. It was as if she had simply vanished.

******

"Are you sure?!" asked Impa as she stared at the burning remains of the building, the worry evident in her voice.

"Yeah," said Darunia, who was holding a cold, damp cloth up to his aching head. "The princess pointed here when we asked her where Link was. And she said it was because of her." Darunia took another good look at the wreckage of the building. "D'you think he really...."

"It can't be," muttered Rauru. "Link has survived so much already. It's hard to believe he could be done in this way, so easily."

"I feel the same way," said Darunia. "But I don't see how...."

To the utter surprise of the three Sages, the rubble began to move, as if something powerful was stirring underneath it....

Then, something slowly clawed its way out of the rubble. It was Link, in his Darmani form, and he was very much alive.

"He-he's alright!!" shouted Rauru excitedly.

"Brother!! I... we... thought you were dead!!" exclaimed Darunia.

Link took off the Goron Mask, transforming him back into his human self. "If I hadn't seen that fireball coming for me and slapped on my Goron Mask in time, I would be," he muttered in a strained voice. Link then took a good look all around him, seeing most of the townspeople standing about, nervous looks on their faces. "Wh-what's happened? What did I miss? Wh-where's Zelda?"

Impa and Darunia looked at each other nervously, then turned back to Link. "The princess managed to defeat that creature, but...." Her voice trailed off, clearly not wanting to go on.

"But what?!" asked Link impatiently. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It happened again, Brother," said Darunia. "She grew again, far larger than before."

"And now, we have no clue where she is," added Rauru.

"'No clue'.... What do you mean by that?!" demanded Link angrily.

"She's fled from Hyrule, Link," Impa answered sadly. "She's gone."

******

Wow, two new chapters within one month. Looks like I'm finally getting on the ball. Too bad this is pretty much only the halfway point....

Oh, and Cinder, it's a real honor to have this fic declared one of your 'Personal Favorites'.

So long,
Grey