Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Link: Lucky Number 13 ❯ A Son's Reality Pt. 03: Selfless Warrior ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter Seventeen

The battle had been going on for hours, neither Link nor his father gaining any noticeable advantage. It was a far cry from how things began, which the elder of the two gods showed clearly on his face. Hours earlier, he'd been in total control-tossing his son about like trash. Yet now, now that the switch to common swords had been made, the father found his son a more than worthy adversary.

And that annoyed him.

It had all been a part of Link's stealthy plan. Of course, it hadn't been a total work of stealth, because his father had made several allusions to knowing just what Link's big plan was. The plan, if one could even call it that, told of using melee weapons as the foremost of their attacks. The purpose was obviously to make sure no energy blasts killed a bystander. But somewhere between the plan's stupidity and his own ego, his son had gotten to him. It had ceased being about humiliation, as he found himself doing something odd… something… manual. He had to exert actual effort to stay in the battle.

Meanwhile, the Gerudo-Nabooru in particularly-looked on in astonishment at the battle before them. Years had passed since she'd watched Link destroy Ganondorf from the Sacred Realm, saw that impassive guise that only animated to make that little shout: "Yah." Both men were partial to the noise, she'd noticed of the father and son. Even now, as they shuffled in circles around one another looking for an opening to attack, it was still hard to believe that they were gods doing battle on Gerudo ground.

Disbelief changed, though, because every time one of them landed a punch, it created a sound loud enough to rattle their bones. The world seemed to move with every blow, sparks of an unholy size flew from between them each time their swords clashed, and that was just during the warm up. When they'd begun to attack with actual fury, those same sparks took chunks out of the earth and those sounds began to eat away at the cliffs. In fact, night had turned to day and back again several times in a weird distortion of time. It was in those moments that everyone remembered, comprehended, and maybe, in some ways, even tried to forget the nightmare going on right in front of them.

I'm not even tired, Link thought bitterly, because he knew the same held true for his opponent.

"Yah!" Link Sr. shouted, letting his rage fuel his two-fisted sword down at his son's skull.

It wasn't even close.

Preparing the second wave, the elder deity found himself a bit at a loss, as Link's sword slashed him across the ribs.

That didn't even hurt.

"So, she wasn't messing with Majora after all," he mused, though, flipping well away from his son. "Well, enough of the warm up then." Nabooru frowned, as Link Sr. turned and winked at her. Lousy son of a bitch had read her mind, she knew then. "Here I come."

Link's hand tightened around his sword, a surge of confidence taking over as his opponent finally decided to come to him. This is where he'd take advantage. Every time the opponent brought the fight to him, it was all over. Well, usually that was the case. His father faded away in mid-step, that eerie chuckle only amplified in its omnipresence, and left his son annoyed… highly annoyed. Link swore under his breath. This was the last thing he wanted to happen. His father didn't turn invisible like a Poe and linger in one spot or leave a visible lantern following him around. When he disappeared, he actually ceased to exist in any physical form-and that was upsetting since he had to not only watch out for himself, but the group of women at his rear.

An old feeling began to return the longer the old god stayed out of view. It was a feeling that reminded Link too much of himself in the beginning, a feeling most people experienced daily had been all but eliminated from his memory due to certain experiences. But now, now in the very moment it should've stayed buried, he found himself face to face with fear.

"Is that fear I smell?" his father's voice echoed from the right.

Link, predictably, swung completely in that direction, but then back to his left to keep Nabooru in his peripheral vision.

"Come, come now," Link Sr. laughed. "You're actually so pathetic that you need to see her with your eyes?" His voice bobbed from Link's left ear to his right and then back again. "A word of advice: Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see!" His voice hissed by Link and faded toward Nabooru, almost as though his father was running toward her when he said it.

At that moment, Nabooru screamed. Without even thinking, Link turned and took off toward her, as his father appeared behind her. He held the Gerudo Queen captive with a dagger to her throat, and smiled that same condescending smirk at his panicked son. So close, Link kept repeating in his mind, he was so close. All his dad had to do was keep smiling, and Link would be all over the situation, but the sword began to cut…

"No!" Link finally screamed making a flying leap to stop her imminent demise.

Unexpectedly, his body changed direction in mid-flight and slammed face-first through a riding target and into the sandstone wall. The Gerudo looked between themselves for a moment. They all wondered what the hell Link saw. His father knew, though. He laughed, too. And it was sincere this time.

"Are you sure you want him for a king?" asked Link Sr., appearing in the flesh behind his son. Using his forearm, he began to hammer Link's skull until in dug its way into the wall. "I mean, he can't even see through parlor tricks. 'No!' What kind of man are you?" He took a fist full of his child's hair and pried him from the rock. For a minute, Link's eyes, as vacant as white eyes could be, appeared completely out of it. Not that his father cared. This was simply an advantage to be exploited-and he exploited the hell out of it. "I asked you a question!"

Nabooru felt a wave of sick come over her, watching as Link's head was bashed again, and again. She had to keep the faith, though. If she panicked, her troops panicked, and if they panicked, they died. Still, how much of this could a woman take? The sword shot barely stunned that smiling dolt, so how come a damn rock could kill Link? Arduous seconds continued to stroll by, as Link's face met with the rock repeatedly until his arms eventually hung listlessly at his sides, hand not even able to retain grasp of his sword.

"This has lost it's-ah!" the elder god suddenly screamed, jarring those Gerudo who'd looked away back to the fight.

What they saw made them all smile, because Link had used his boot heel to kick that loudmouth square in the balls. Apparently, that was a universal weak spot, given the deity had no sly retort. Instead, all he did was bend over, hold himself, and curse.

The significance of that was wasted on Link, as he weakly turned around to catch a moment of recuperation, never noticing that he'd actually hurt his father. Placing his left hand to his face, Link found himself a bit surprised to find a sort of liquid light on his hand. He was… bleeding? How did gods bleed? His girlfriend wondered the same thing, but remained silent.

"Goddamn," his father muttered, too distracted by the pain in his crotch to notice his son had came back around.

As he continued to hold his injury, Link seized the moment. He took his father by the back of the head and rammed his knee right into it with a satisfying crunch. The force sprawled the god out and left him stunned. With this upper hand came approval from the choir.

"That's why he's king!" Nabooru shouted, as a large round of approving cheers rose up to support her claim.

Link didn't acknowledge them. He stayed focused and stalked his prey. His father's hands came away from his bloody nose and lips to see Link's boot come down in his stomach. One time, two times, three times, four… no, Link had gone to the well too many times now. Link Sr.'s body became translucent as it sank into the ground like a ghost, which left his son's leg implanted in the hardened clay up to the knee. Well, three out of four kicks to the gut wasn't a bad number, most would say. Prying his leg from the ground, Link found himself on the defensive again.

"What was that supposed to be?" his father's disembodied voice shouted, frayed as he fought to keep his rage in check.

Link snorted his reply, and then spit out a wad of blood for emphasis. "Is that the big comeback? Another trip down parlor magic way…"

"Parlor magic," his father interjected with an air of indignation, as his hands burst from the ground and grabbed Link's ankles. "Perhaps a more hands-on approach is what you want. Far be it from me to deny my child."

With a violent lurch, Link sank into the earth up to his knees, and then his thighs. Nabooru looked at him, as he struggled and flailed, somehow resisting the urge to help… or try to help, anyway. The ground continued to devour him, though. His hands cracked the hardened clay beneath them, using his godly strength on the terrain to no avail.

"Stop it!" shouted Link Sr., growing agitated with his son's fight.

The ground parted from its struggling quarry in the next moment, and swallowed him whole.

"Buried alive," Nabooru whispered, "and he didn't even scream."

Having enough of sitting by, the Gerudo all looked to their queen for direction. Should they take this pause to save themselves or did they wait? "Link will be back," was the queen's mantra, though. Faith in him… love for him probably clouded her judgment, but Nabooru ran to the area of land that had eaten her lover. The urge to run to him had been quelled with that action, but now a new desire ate at her: she wanted to dig for him. No matter how long or how hard, she wanted to get down on her hands and knees and dig. In her heart she knew, she knew wherever he was, she couldn't help him and that hurt most of all.

Meanwhile, in a place that Link could only describe as the epitome of emptiness, he was pummeled. Punches were only differentiated from kicks by the thickness of the leather covering hand and foot. There weren't any insults or sarcastic barbs down here, Link recalled, as his head was snapped viciously from the right to left by the soul of a boot. Yes, it was definitely a boot, the sand granules proved that.

"So, a couple of kicks and this is what you have to resort to?" Link asked, covering up as best he could, but wheezing all the same as a fist smashed into his lower back. "And you call me a coward?"

His father snorted, letting the boot in the gut answer the first question. "Hey, I never said cowardice was a bad thing. It's there for the weak to use."

"So, you're admitting you're weak then?" Link asked, enduring a particularly harsh punch to the jaw. After a while, it became apparent that fists and feet would be his only answers from there on out.

Beneath the cowl of darkness, he scowled. This obviously wasn't the underground training lair of the Gerudo, as there was no molten lava running. And, since his feet didn't seem to be on uneven ground, Link deduced the area was probably somewhere between dimensions and fully under the old man's control. What he needed was a light. And since there were no Gerudo around to get burned, Link resorted to the one mystical attack that he knew: an energy ball.

Uncovering his face, a dim light slowly began to expand from his left hand. The simple task was only made more difficult, as the pull on his mystic energies and the injuries all made him woozy. Of course, fatigue had never stopped him before. And, as the light became brighter, it didn't seem to stop him now. A pained grunt accompanied the Deku Shrub-sized ball of energy, which only illuminated a few feet in either direction of it, as it flew out into the void.

"Clever, clever," Link Sr. mused sardonically. "You'll still have to do better than that."

The poor fool couldn't even comprehend area and volume. That alone made his father's bass-filled voice strikeout with laughter again. Something about the glimmer of hope in his eyes made the situation that more amusing.

"Seriously, what the hell did you think that would accomplish?" Link Sr. looked at the energy ball, which now looked like a tiny star it had coasted on so far, and then back at his child. "You do know that I can see you, right? I mean, the whole channeling thing took a good minute. And even if I couldn't see you before, did you think I wouldn't notice a light in the middle of a dark room?"

Beneath the new wave of berating, Link let a small curse slip. If that stupid thing had only lit up more, lit up like the fucking sun…

His father screamed abruptly, as the entire area turned white with light. He'd had not only his eyes open, but also his mind's eye open to the void, which left his vision completely shattered for the time being.

The light didn't affect Link, though. At the same time, he failed to draw the connection between his wanting something badly and it manifesting exactly as desired. Instead, he looked out and found his father standing a few hundred yards away. This was his moment, but the question was did he have anything left to fight with? Link jogged toward his objective, slowly building up to a sprint, leaving the question to be answered in the heat of the moment.

"Stupid mother…" his father paused. The boy was on the move, his ears told him. But where was the fool going? The expansive room's fatal flaw had been revealed it would seem. A space that large and that empty made the sound of Link's boots echo, which made it impossible to pinpoint the real sound from the delay. To a guy relying solely on his ears, nothing good could come of that-and Link reiterated the fact.

"My turn," Link whispered, throwing his entire weight behind his left fist. The concussion was brutal, as his father took the punch right in the eye. He attempted to scream, but Link put his right hand in baby's mouth to pacify that reaction. "No jokes?" he asked between clenched teeth, watching his father wilt at the waist.

Link Sr. found his vision was still spots and bubbles, but the warrior in the elder god made him swing out at his son's voice. Link smirked, bouncing from foot to foot in his usual manner before planting those feet and landing an overhand left hand. This would be the punch that took his old man down. That same light that so freely oozed from child's face now dripped from the parent's right eye. Ah, but in that pain came a clarity. For a split second, he saw Link clearly.

"I…see…you're learning," he muttered, wracking his swimming head for a way to lure Link in closer.

"You see? What do you see?" Link laughed while his father flailed weakly about the ground.

Unfortunately, he casually walked into his father's attack range.

"I see… that I still know more!" The slight temperature change told him that Link was in arm's reach, and he took advantage.

Link audibly gagged on his father's leg, which was thrust up into his gut. Still, he attempted to fight, but he'd dipped his head. Before Link could tell what was happening, his father landed a stellar uppercut that knocked him back on his ass-not to mention, back into the Gerudo archery track. He dug his fingers into the ground, as the fatigue from the previous beating seemed to comeback fivefold. The Gerudo all jumped in surprise as the two beings appeared out of nowhere, both of whom leaked profuse amounts of their glowing blood.

"Impressive," Link Sr. mused. He was bent over with his hands on his thighs, sucking in profuse amounts of air, which showed how tired he was becoming. It'd been eons since he had saw competition this decent, and it made him smile in a twist of fatherly pride and ego. "I've been thinking, why don't we both rule?"

The question caused a group gasp, but, immediately after, it caused an eerie silence. Would the new king turn his back on them and the rest of the world? After all, it was one thing to hate someone for the sake of good before the battle had begun. It was an entirely different thing to hate someone you'd fought to an (apparent) draw. A situation of co-ruling a kingdom with that kind of power would put either individual in the perfect position to backstab the other and that…

"No." Link's answer cut the doubters off at the knees, and put Nabooru in at least some form of comfort and proved once again that they couldn't rationalize his situation.

"Think about it, we'd be the first father and son to control every single aspect of…"

A cheap shot of energy interrupted his old man, and this time it landed in his face. The elder god left a giant hole in the wall at the far end of the course, as Link took a moment to pull himself together. If his answer hadn't been understood before, this had let the father know without a shadow of a doubt where he could place his proposal.

"I'll take that as a no." The calm stature of his voice was slightly overshadowed as he appeared unscathed back in the same place he'd been sucking wind earlier.

"Shut up," Link said shakily.

Before his hand was even half cocked for the punch, he was hit in the head from behind, and then from his left, and then a blow from his right sent him sailing up into the air and down the incline to the fortress's main grounds. And, surprisingly, his father never lifted a finger.

"I've given you every opportunity to walk away from this," he shouted, shaking his head as his son seemed startled by his being there. "After everything we've done, you're still surprised that I can warp faster than you can fall? Idiot…" He picked him up by his hair, and kneed him in the stomach.

Why isn't he hurt anymore? Link thought, silently absorbing another shot to his burning insides. To make matters worse, the Gerudo had run down to follow the action again. To take a big steaming dump on that, Nabooru had decided to come along as well. Heh, it wasn't like he expected her to desert him. In a sad, pathetic kind of way, he felt a little better with her around. Just then, Link found his stomach harboring another knee.

"Reminds you of a throw rug, doesn't he?" his father asked the group, the same look of condescending mirth sprawled across his face as usual.

Why does he always have to be the one to save everyone? Nabooru wondered of Link, finally comprehending the downside to his being the hero of legend and, apparently, the child of a madman. She shut her eyes as Link was slammed into the ground, unable to watch the brutality any further. And for a brief moment, it sounded as though the violence had stopped.

"Aaah!" Link screamed, as his father laughed and ground his boot into the boy's spine.

"Oh, now you want to scream? I gave you a chance to stop this, but no-you had to be the laconic hero. Now, shut up and play the part!"

Goddess, damn it! Nabooru said within the confines of her mind, trying her best to keep her mouth shut.

"Let him go!" she shouted as her thoughts finally spilled through her vocal cords.

The thunderous hail of stomps stopped, leaving Link in an actual crater. His condition was the furthest thing from his mind, though, as he looked up to find his father staring at Nabooru. The psycho was lost in his rage, leaving no room for light-hearted airs and falsified formalities. And even though his image of Nabooru was slightly blurry, Link knew she'd keep talking shit.

"You actually have the nerve to tell me what to do?" he roared more than shouted, a look of incredulous madness dancing in his eyes. Link felt his heart begin to beat faster, silently cursing himself and the Goddesses for leaving him this ill-prepared, watching helplessly as his father began to march toward her. "You insignificant little…"

Link swallowed a gulp of air and desperately lunged for his father's… well, anything in hand's reach. Unfortunately, the only thing he could grab a hold of was his father's ankle. The enraged warrior looked down at this idiotic soul on his boot like a common pauper, and sighed.

"Oh, no… What am I going to do now? The Hero of Time has grabbed my ankle. Oh, the horror." If the lethargic tone didn't make everyone understand how unthreatening Link had become, being drug along like a toddler at his father's boot spelled it out quite nicely.

"You aren't going to touch her," Link wheezed.

He began to squeeze his father's ankle until finally…

*Crack*

"Aaaaaaah!"

He'd crushed the man's… bone, if god's possessed such things. Even with such an advantageous attack, like a blood-fattened tick, Link wouldn't let go. In an effort born of pain, Link Sr. appeared to use every ounce of willpower he had to punt his son directly in the face, no less than shattering it.

Link now wailed along with his father, as he instinctively grabbed his face and writhed around in pain. Unlike the old timer, Link didn't know how to heal himself, which saw him continue to grunt and roll around like a wounded dog.

"Now, as I was saying," Link Sr. pondered aloud, "who do you think you are?" He shook his ankle back into working order before warping directly behind Nabooru, and wrapping his fist in her massive ponytail.

The other Gerudo were seized with fear, as they stood around and watched their queen be dragged up the incline back into the archery track.

"Let me go, you jackass!" Nabooru screamed, as she got closer to shaking her brains out than getting her hair out of his hand. "Link, get up!"

The fierce deity smirked, pulling down on her hair until her back arched. "How could you hate this face?" His face was upside down to her now, which made his smile seem like a sinister frown. "He looks just like me." Link Sr. pursed his lips at her, a lewd kissy face that was done more to mock her boyfriend than Nabooru herself.

"He looks nothing like you." Nabooru only highlighted that difference by spitting up into his face. Even for a god, that required a certain time for reflection. Did she really just do that? As a glob of spit slithered down his cheek, it became clear that this mortal had, in fact, spit in his face. Link was already pitifully clawing his way up the steep incline toward them, but this didn't help the situation.

"Only… Nab," he muttered with a pained little smile. The other women parted slightly, watching their supposed king crawl. To complicate that, his father began to lose his cool and drag Nabooru further up the hill toward the track.

"You see, boy? This is why I can't stand these things! They're always so disrespectful to anyone or anything greater than themselves!" Nabooru kicked furiously, as she was drug like a child's toy behind the monster. "And how you can even…uh, with this…thing?" Link Sr. shuddered.

Link managed to lift his head to see what exactly was happening again. What the Gerudo saw paled them all. Luminous blood oozed from his nostrils like snot from a child, while his lips were slit with the most visceral of cuts, and, worst of all, his left eye appeared to be sunken completely into his skull. It had been squashed out shape from the kick his father delivered to get his ankle away from him. Most wondered how Link even survived this assault, while others didn't think fortitude of that level was even possible.

"Now tell me who looks better?" the elder god asked, as he watched his freshly disfigured son continue to crawl towards them.

"Let her go," Link ordered, blood dripping from his mouth like slobber from a rabid dog.

"Of course I'll let her go. But first, I'm going to melt her mouth shut." And with that, his father's right hand began to glow with a red energy mere inches from Nabooru's head.

Link's pain seemed to disappear in that moment, watching helplessly as everything was about to go up in smoke. No, he wouldn't let that happen. Not now… not after all of this! In another one of those blinding moments, Link's anger caused him to react without thought or plan-just instinct, an instinct filled with the want to stop what was about to happen. He disappeared, much to the shock of everyone, and then reappeared with his father's arm in hand. Link struggled to hold on, but that struggle kept Nabooru alive.

Link Sr. held steady, smiling deftly at his son. He was far too weak to pose any sort of physical threat now… or so it seemed.

A head-butt came out of nowhere-it was the only move he could think of that was quick enough to take advantage of the situation. However, as the elder of the two lost his footing and rolled down the slope, Link fell back with his own pain. He'd saved Nabooru for the time being and exceeded his previous limits by ridiculously large means-and, sadly, the battle still wasn't finished. Somehow, even with all that against him, Link didn't fall down. He just staggered. Despite everything that had been done to him, he kept standing. His left eye twitched. The upper eyelid had slid back behind his eyeball somewhat, which gave his misshapen eye an even more distorted appearance.

"Unbelievable," one of the Gerudo whispered, although they were all thinking it.

He found the prowess to walk forward after a moment, only stopping to tuck a piece of hair behind Nabooru's ear and offered a rather pathetic smile.

"I'll be fine," he assured her, as best he could.

His words, while stable, didn't lessen the worry that plagued her, as he stumbled shakily down the hill toward his father. Obviously, he wasn't going to be fine at this rate. And the longer things dragged on, the more Nabooru was reminded of what Link had told her earlier. If he didn't survive, neither would his father. He'd actually kill himself to kill the old man… to save them all. After she'd tried to cut his arm off…and after the way some of them had acted toward him…Link would still die to save them. The guilt shook her more than the pain in her scalp. Nabooru couldn't begin to understand the type of selflessness Link must've possessed.

"Don't tell me that hurt," Link called out, a dark laugh emanating from his chest that brought Nabooru back into reality. His father continued to stay on his hands and knees in bewilderment for some reason. Too bad Link didn't care. He took his shot and kicked his father in the chest, launching him high into the air.

Through all his pain, Link somehow managed to float, which was done mainly to meet his father's descent head-on. It wasn't like in the Temple of Time, Nabooru noticed. He was weak now, and it showed, as he continued to ascend like a dying spider up its web. She shouted out for him to let it go, but it was too late. His father was diving right at him, and the impact sent him down hard on top of the surrounding cliffs. Link Sr. landed within a few feet of his son's body, with a look of pure hatred now. Unknown to Link, he'd made an irreparable amount of damage to his father's face in the form of a small crack in his forehead, which shown through with light.

The rushing river that turned into the falls was the only sound for a moment, as father watched son struggle back to his knees.

"What? No stupid chatter this time?" Link asked, as he stood up and surveyed the area around him with his good eye.

Silence was his father's response, as he blasted the boy damn-near out of his boots towards the waterfall.

Link laughed, though, wobbling back up to take another shot. He took this one right in the face, but he only swayed.

"You're getting weaker," he mocked, beating his chest with his left fist and stumbling toward his father. "Show some balls! Ganondorf's hit me harder!" Link shouted, losing as much sanity as blood.

Link Sr. didn't see the humor, as he appeared in front of his son, and backhanded him across the face.

The resulting blow spun Link like a top, but this top backhanded back. His father stumbled away, only to look at his son's face and gasp.

He healed himself! His brain screamed.

"You seem surprised," Link laughed, which only hid his own surprise. "Weird, all I thought about was how good a blue potion would be right about now. And, poof, it doesn't hurt now."

There was, again, no reply. His father appeared unfazed, but there were little signs that showed otherwise. The labored way he breathed, the way his eyes periodically squinted, as though losing focus-definitely, everything wasn't as it appeared.

"I don't understand how it's happening or why," Link told him in sincere tone. "All I know is the more you hit me, the less it hurts. But it isn't working like that for you, is it? Even though you're standing here with that little cut on your forehead, I bet you still feel every single punch or kick I've landed, don't you?"

Finally retorting the old man said: "So says you. I'm fine, but can you say the same? I don't think you can. Because if it hurts less, it still hurts, and that'll eventually kill you without the proper precautions in place." He formed an identical smile to that of his son.

"We'll see," Link said lightly, obviously feeling some of his confidence return.

The mutual smile faded as his father tackled him, and sent them both into the churning river. As they went over the falls, the two men exchanged a flurry of punches, both landing their fair share and narrowly missing others. The only alternative thought to killing the other came when Link realized that he could actually breathe beneath the water. They rode the river over the falls into the lower half, sinking to the bottom like two overgrown stones. Still, the fight continued, both men trading punches that moved as deftly through the water as they did through the air, as they coasted on to Lake Hylia. His father was using him like drift wood, yet Link's punches came as hard as they ever did. Reaching the shallow falls near Lake Hylia, Link pushed his father off, and leaped to his feet.

Somehow, his father's disappearance didn't surprise him.

"You know you can't win!" he called out to him, this time making sure to pay attention to the earth beneath his feet.

From out of nowhere, his father's elbow appeared and caught Link in the back of the neck and sent him cascading across the humungous lake. The sound his body made when it hit the granite wall was tremendous, drawing more than a few of Zoras to come up and investigate. None came too close though, except one, and she was quite cautious in her approach.

"Link… is that you?" Ruto asked, looking at the quite familiar, yet overtly pained giant pulling himself from the cavity he'd made in the wall.

"Take them back inside," Link replied rather rudely, not even bestowing one of his few friends with a direct look.

The lack of genial respect flipped the spoiled switch in the Zora, which never meant anything good. "Why should I?" Ruto asked failing to consider whatever it was that threw him four feet deep into the lake's wall couldn't be very friendly.

Link looked directly at her this time, causing Ruto to unconsciously step back. The colorless eyes, that slanted slate to them, it unnerved her. "Look for yourself." He pointed out across the lake, and Ruto followed his arm. What she saw was a man standing atop the surface of the lake, not disturbing it in any manner whatsoever.

"There are two of you!" Ruto shouted, as if the visual didn't state the blatantly obvious.

For a Zora out for a leisurely swim, this was a little much. The only thing that differentiated the two was boot and eye color. Link himself hadn't realized his usual green tunic had turned a similar shade of deathly black, but that didn't matter right now.

I'll do it myself, Link thought, at the same making Ruto and her fellow Zoras disappear. Taking a second to think about what he'd just done, he couldn't help but wonder if he put them in Zora's Domain. Refocusing his attention on the fight at hand, Link looked toward the center of the lake and found… nothing.

"Do you ever get sick of that?" he screamed, growing frustrated with the disappearing act. From where Link stood ankle deep in the water, he sighed and looked down at his reflection for a brief moment. "How much longer is this going to go on?"

"Not long at all," his reflection whispered. Then, in one fell motion, it grabbed his feet, and then dragged him down into the surprisingly murky waters.

"Gee, this is familiar," Link said of the moments they spent beneath the water in the river, before taking off towards the surface… only to find it blocked by an invisible barrier. "You know you can't drown me," he said with an arrogant little laugh, folding his arms and sinking down into the warm waters and floating halfway between the surface and lake floor.

His father's face began to take shape in the cloudy silt, adding, "I can if I'm the very water that surrounds you!"

Link's mouth dropped in awe, just as every orifice that could be flooded with water was. His hands fought desperately to keep the invading liquid from entering his mouth, his nose, and even his dick, but all to no avail. Link's eyes burned as gritty sediment forced its way inside and settled, while his internals all grew heavy from the water that rapidly filled them.

"What? No more bragging, son? Awe, too bad, I missed your boasts!" Link Sr. shouted via the water invading his son's body.

Well, this certainly gave the term "water on the brain" a new meaning. Link tried again to breach the surface of the water, only to have the water solidify around him like gelatin. Great, the Hero of Time was now reduced to a slice of banana in a fruit mold. Could the day get any worse?

"I was too close, too close to be killed like this! Think you bastard, think!" he screamed mentally, while he was forced to inhale more of his watery death.

Minutes crawled by like hours, which saw Link's struggle lessen. There had to be a way out of this, he knew. The same inch-long cut that was visible on his father's forehead in solid form was present in the muddy apparition of him… Could that be the opening he needed?

"Again with the Ganondorf light show?" his father sighed, more like bubbled, rolling his eyes as Link struggled to keep consciousness and summon the energy required to perform the attack. "Ugh, are you that unoriginal?" Link Sr. made an exaggerated face of surprise, looking on indifferently at the sphere that passed through into his wound.

That was a costly mistake.

He screamed, screamed gutturally, apparition turning back into man, as pain seized hold of his body and he seized hold of his head.

The little fuck hurt me, he thought, thrashing wildly, and never noticing his son's mad dash to the surface.

Link burst out of his watery grave, and landed like a wet fish on the tiny island above the Water Temple. Gallons of water, mixed with mud and debris, poured from his stomach and lungs. Still, where most people would be thanking their stars to be alive after something like that, Link had something else on his mind. "Why didn't he heal himself?" he asked himself, before vomiting out another quantity of water. The translucent slop ran down the backs of his hands, as he kneeled and attempted to regain his composure. The question had merit, though. A wound like that should've been easy to heal, after all. The peaceful moment of reflection didn't last, because no sooner had Link caught his breath did a giant column of water explode behind him.

"Enough!" his father shouted, voice cracking like a whip on a bull's hide. The god still held tightly to his forehead, dangling like a vengeful puppet above the lake's tiny waves. He was out of breath, though. Either the fight was taking some unseen toll on his body or it was a trick. "Yes, enough."

For the umpteenth time, Link Sr. disappeared.

Link stood his ground, but something about the sudden resoluteness in his father's words, the abrupt way he stopped panting… something wasn't right. Now, where would he go was the big question.

"You know where I am," the old god's voice stated directly into Link's mind, and it was true. There was somber finality to the tone, he noticed, which made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Nabooru," Link whispered, as his heartbeat began to multiply. Just the idea of that son of a bitch touching her made his fists clench, jaw tighten, and…body warp instantly to the Gerudo Valley. He'd reappeared at the foot of the path that led into the fortress's main ground, which was close enough for a man in panic. Through the trail's bends and blind corners, Link silently hoped his father would ambush him. Still, as he got closer and closer to the mouth of the trail, that hope slowly diminished until, finally…

"A crude instrument, don't you think?" Link skid to a stop, for standing across the way from him was his father… and Nabooru. "It takes one of these things days to complete just one…" a sword appeared in his hand, which made Link's mouth run dry. "…where as we, we can make them in the blinking of an eye." Link Sr. marveled at the sword he held in his hand. Much like his clothing, its blade was completely black, only casting light off of its sharpened edges.

"Oh, so this is another trick?" Link asked, attempting to call the bluff, but Gerudo were present and they all slightly shook their heads. "Okay, look, let's comprise…"

"I've tried compromise. I've tried violence. This is the only card I haven't played-and it bugs me that you're weak enough to actually go for it-so, how about it… her life or your birthright?" He'd won, everyone knew, because he'd seized his son's biggest weakness and held it at sword point.

He'll still kill us all, Link thought logically, literally biting his tongue to not hand over his powers.

Still, this was Nabooru… the only person left, in his world at least, that didn't think of him as something to be discarded when all the monsters were slain. He'd rather eat his own foot-and with no seasoning-than to walk away from her. It was written on his face to everyone present. There was a man caught between his instincts as a warrior and his love for a woman. The instinct wouldn't let him hand his only possible advantage away, but his heart wouldn't let him follow those same instincts and attempt his father's life once more.

"So, you need one of those clichéd countdowns to help make this all less conflicting, I see. How about 20 seconds? That's good for me, how about you?" Link Sr. smirked, because he knew he had the boy by the balls now. He even let his sword swing back and forth like a pendulum in front of her face.

That was something else that didn't seem right, Link noticed. Nabooru was too quiet. Even with her life hanging in the balance before, she'd kicked and struggled. Now… now she just stood there like a perfect little doll. The warrior inside wanted to react to that thought, delude the heart into believing that it was, in fact, a doll and that an attack would be the best course of action. Ah, but the heart felt that there was more to the puzzle, so it held his legs steadfast.

"There's no point in ruling everything!" Reasoning, a ploy that had already proved pointless, was used again. The cocky smile answered the child this time, as his father began to count down.

"Five."

"Take me!"

"Come here and I will," his father replied.

Link didn't move.

"Four," the elder god said with a shrug.

God, it felt just like that time Ganondorf was tearing down the castle tower and he and Zelda had to escape…

"Three."

Or that time his blue tunic had been swallowed and he couldn't get the iron boots off…

"Two."

Or when he first wandered inside of Death Mountain Crater without his red tunic and his body…

"One…" Link Sr. brought the sword to her neck, and lifted his eyebrows as he prepared to slice. The boy was obviously going to crack… just a little more… and…

"Stop," Link shouted, as his heart had, predictably, overridden his instincts. "You…win."

The Gerudo all shuddered, as his father laughed. Oh, that played out beautifully! He couldn't have scripted it any better himself, the older god practically screamed without ever saying a word mental or otherwise. That was the thing about premature celebration. When people stopped to celebrate too soon, they forgot about the plan in motion that had yet to come to fruition. It was often times a fatal flaw, because without an end, a plan is no more than a set of steps that lead nowhere.

In his gloating, Link's father forgot to keep one tiny cog in place. And without that cog, Nabooru's body became her own once more.

"Don't…dare…" Nabooru struggled to say, limbs feeling a bit heavier… but somehow lighter. "Don't let him win!" Her voice was strained, which made her words run together in an almost indecipherable mess.

His head crooked in confusion, as he tried to understand Nabooru's twisted expression. She smiled, but what the hell was there to be happy about?

"I can't let him kill you," Link shouted back to her, as his father's slighted smile said something… something that didn't click for the former hero.

Nabooru chuckled, and then she coughed. "I'm already dead." Before the words could even be digested, the Gerudo Queen dug her heels into the dirt and thrust backward. A bittersweet smile formed on her lips, as the second sword Link Sr. held slid out through her stomach. The whole time… he'd been… she'd had… a sword in her.

"This is the big comeback," his father said fatalistically, letting the irony do what it would to his son-and given the dope's bleeding heart, this would take the legs right out from under him. Indeed, this had been a lose/lose situation from the jump. Nabooru's body would've fallen dead into the dirt the minute the last of Link's powers were drained, leaving him unable to get in a final goodbye… not even a chance to explain why he'd failed her. It would've been exactly the way his mother died, not that his father was trying to recreate that or anything. He shook his head to dislodge any of those memories, adding, "See, this is another reason why I can't deal with these things. A minor stabbing and they go all dead on you."

Link's expression was unreadable. Every part of his body wanted to take this as a joke, another rouse and move on. He began to shake visibly, as the monster removed the second, shorter sword from her abdomen with a little squish. Watching her white pants turn burgundy in the cascade of blood, Link could only mutter incoherent little bobbles of thought. They weren't even complete thoughts, just blurbs of grunts and moans like a creature chained in a dungeon.

"Stand back, she's walking! She's walking!" Link Sr. shouted, watching in an almost amused state of mind, as the mortal woman used every ounce of strength she had to walk to her beloved one more time.

His father skipped in circles around her, garnering a few enraged swings for his work, until Nabooru no longer had the blood to do both walk and swing. She felt so light… so heavy… so light and heavy at the same time. Her vision swayed in and out of focus. This wasn't how she'd imagined her death, not at all. It scared her, too. And, quite possibly the worst of all, was that Link could see the fear as she marched towards him. Nabooru held the wound in her gut to slow the rapid release of her life's blood, but only swore beneath her breath as it slipped between her fingers in a thick torrent that the Gerudo soil greedily drank in.

There were still 50 feet of space between them at least, but the Gerudo Queen had lost too much energy to walk another step. With an outstretched hand to Link, she collapsed.

What happened now?

Link looked to his right, sinking even deeper into himself, as the Gerudo stood and cried like a bunch of helpless children.

Wasn't like they helped or anything, he spitefully thought, but somehow lost the strength to even hold on to that pointless emotion. Link looked away from the group, taking a deep breath as he let his gaze fall upon his boots. And there she was at his feet now. Nabooru hadn't crawled, though. Her boyfriend had warped from spot to spot in the time it took his head to tilt downward, but somehow the act seemed far, far too mundane to acknowledge. A lot of good that stupid trick was now. Yeah, let's warp now that everyone is dead.

"Is that a tear I see?" his father asked, watching his son kneel down to his mortal lover. The boy took his hat off and ripped it at the seams in a pathetic attempt to stop the blood flow. Ha, the woman was in need of more than a simple patchwork job. It'd been so long since he'd seen genuine suffering… it was almost orgasmic in a sense.

Link continued to move like only he and Nabooru existed in the world, as he attempted to use his power to revive her. Slowly, painfully slow, the blood began to travel from her pants back into the gash that ran through her body. He cradled her head, a relieved little smile beginning to grow as the wound sealed, and then faded. He wasn't a complete failure… but if that was the case, why wasn't she breathing yet?

"Wondering why she isn't up and running?" Link Sr. asked in a sinister little voice. Expectantly, his son turned to him with that same low-brow expression, which was so obviously mixed with hope that it made it all the more funny. "You've repaired the body, but what of her soul? You can't slap a new wedge of flesh on the bones and call it resurrection, son."

"How…" Link bit his tongue, but his father had heard him nearly ask for his help, and, for once, he couldn't blame the laughing response. As his father continued to cackle, he could only look at Nabooru's face and wonder why. Not even having time enough to savor that one answerless question, did Link's father see fit to sprinkle more salt in the wound.

"Look at it this way, kid," he slapped him on the back, "at least you won't have to worry about that bastard offspring now."

"Bastard offspring," Link feebly repeated, trying to find the true weight of the words in his own mind. He turned and looked up at his father with a sudden jolt because this had to be another trick… it had to be.

His father was already bursting with laughter before, but this was the icing. The fool couldn't even tell the woman was with another soul. It would've been hilarious had Link's godly visage not suddenly blurred. In an instant, Link appeared as he did when the Triforce was first made his-the red tunic, the black tights, and the silver gauntlets. Even the Triforce-shaped scars, from where the light had burst from his chest, hand and back, were there. That wasn't exactly the reaction his father had in mind, but it would do.

For the first time in all the torture he'd endured, Link decided to let his life end. After all, what was the point in standing up now? The great Hero of Time couldn't even let his first child take its first breath before getting slaughtered. Alone… again… as usual. Maybe that was the grand scheme of all of this? To pile so much shit on one god…Hylian…thing…until he cracked alone in the dirt. He looked down at Nabooru's corpse, and failed to find any solace. She looks like she's asleep, he thought, stroking the side of her face with the back of his hand.

"You better not let him kill you because of this," he imagined her saying. Nabooru would be standing there with her hands on her hips and telling him to get his ass up. And, as comforting as that delusion was, Link couldn't do anything but look out at the barren land in front of him and wait for the sword.

"You aren't meant to die, Hero."

Link snapped his head to his right, startling the onlookers with his sudden show of life. That wasn't his imagination. His father probably…

"Don't let him kill you," Nabooru's voice interjected, ringing as clearly as a bird's song inside of his head, but with a definite poignancy that only she could deliver. "Please…fight…for…us…"

As her voice faded from his mind, Link stared down at her. Nabooru's lips seemed to be turned up in a small smile, as death finally had her. He purposely attempted to read her mind, coming up with a painful emptiness that seemed to stoke that fire… that self-loathing fire that made him want to hurt something, anything in fact. She'd been alive! He looked out at that long trail of blood still on the parched earth, grinding his fingers into his palms until it hurt. Like a village idiot, he'd bitched and moaned and let her bleed out like that! If he'd gone to her at first… healed her then… Nabooru would still be alive. Their child would still be alive! But no, Link had to stand around like a puppet with cut strings.

"As interesting as this all is, I believe you owe me something," his father added, as the humor had diminished.

Link continued to look at Nabooru's blood, ignoring all but its dark contrast to the surrounding dirt. He didn't attempt to speak for whatever reason, nor did he attempt to run, as had been expected by more than a few. A low, almost subterranean roar began to make its way across the valley, as streaks of lightning glittered in the distance. A drop here, a few drops there, and then it began to do something not seen in Gerudo Valley for decades-it rained. It didn't matter to him, because everything he'd seemingly stayed alive for was dead. So, as Link's body began to ache with injuries of the past, he recalled all that were responsible-and let the hate build.

"This is the last time I let one of you things hurt me," he whispered in a dark, seething tone that seemed to do nothing more than restart his father's giggle box.

"Really," his father quipped, smiling until Link turned his head up towards him. Resting his sword upon his son's Hylian face, Link Sr. carved a ragged wound from forehead to the bottom of Link's left eye, and that's where left the tip of his blade… and spun the tip of his sword right against his child's eye. However painful this appeared, Link didn't flinch. Even as his father hooked the razor-sharp point under his eyelid and slightly tugged, he didn't so much as grunt… or bleed. "Looks like you've…"

As Link turned back to Nabooru, interrupting his father's gloating, he blinked his eye to the weapon and broke the point of the sword off in the same motion.

"That didn't hurt," he said, setting Nabooru's head down as gently as possible onto the ground.

Slowly, with a muttered grunt, Link stood up and faced his next challenge. His father attempted to come up with wit, but couldn't hide the surprise in finding the tip of his weapon broken. The boy shape-shifted, though, he shouldn't have retained any form of true power, Link Sr. thought, running his thumb across the ragged break. Well, it had been ages since the boy last wore him as the mask. So, maybe in that time he picked up a new spell or two. After all, he couldn't read his son's thoughts back then unless he wore the stupid mask. Confident that this was another form of mere fairy magic, the fierce deity's tension eased.

With a half-cocked smirk, he said, "You know that form limits your powers, right?" The last syllable barely made it out of his mouth before Link's hand planted itself in his eye. The blow made him stumble backwards, as it actually hurt! Not only that, but the punch had lengthened the crack in his father's face. The Gerudo silently cheered their king's renewed attempts, even if they were confused as to why and how he changed forms. "So… it wasn't fairy magic."

The words didn't garner a response, which seemed more unsettling now than it ever did. It would've been one thing if the boy was in true form, but now… a Hylian… hurting the fiercest of all gods who claimed to be warrior in stock… it didn't make sense! How the hell did this virtual infant have the power to hurt a god under another form? His father's thoughts continued to pine over that one fact, before it hit him right smack in the mouth.

The dreams!

Moments from earlier in their battle came back to him in frightening clarity. Every time he did something extreme, Link's reaction hurt him gravely-from the wall in that field, to that Gerudo, and on up to a few moments ago. What if the dreams were true? What if it was his son that eclipsed him, surely that eclipse couldn't be that large as to let him inflict damage to a god from beneath mortal skin?

"That's what being a god is," Link Sr. remembered himself saying. "It's all about getting what you want. Want something-anything-badly enough and it's yours!"

The elder god looked down at the dead woman, and then back at his son's lifeless expression with an air of realization. His dreams had been true, only his successor lacked the belief in himself, the want, and the conviction to prove those dreams right. Unfortunately, Link wanted nothing more than his stuffed head. He wanted to hurt him in the name of that sycophantic emotion, love, and he wanted to kill him. That may have been an understatement, but, whatever the case, his son's wants… his needs and beliefs didn't leave much hope for survival. After all, what would a man want more after witnessing his fledgling family's murders? His father couldn't let the thought to take shape.

In short, Link believed he couldn't be hurt, so no one outside of himself, Fate, or Destiny could. And more than that, he wanted his father dead, but…

Himself, the elder god thought, as a slow smile spread across his lips. The kid could extinguish his own godhood, but how could that happen?

"That doesn't happen until you die," Link stated calmly, his eyes narrowing even further.

"Impressive," his father said, staying his voice and trying to act as indifferently as ever. Okay, so he had read his mind. That was nothing. All he needed was a boost in power. "Well, this has been fun and all, but I've got a meeting with three goddesses. But don't fret, I'll be back to deal with you later." Link Sr. faded away once more, which had only hinted at the plan he had in store. Even if his son was the god from his dreams, the boy was still weaker in that Hylian form than his normal one. A single blip in his beliefs and wants would leave him wide open for the kill.

Even as Gerudo thought to go to their queen's side, Link remained focus on the spot once occupied by his father. Sepaaru observed his eyes closely; they'd turned normal and blue again, which made the task easy. His eyes danced around for a moment, and then he suddenly lurched forward with his left arm. It jerked back and forth for a moment, almost as though something was struggling in his grasp. Slowly, surely, at the end of his arm his father segued into existence once more, suspended by his throat and with wide eyes. Shaking off his surprise, he used his height and arm length to an advantage to wrap his own hands around Link's neck. All he needed was Link to lose control of his emotions, let them all jumble up, and then he'd have him.

"Fool, did you really think it would be that easy?" Link Sr. screamed, as his hands continued to squeeze his son's throat. "Did you think you'd let your child die and suddenly become invincible?" It was the end all, be all of bluffs. Somehow, though, as Link's hand fell away from his throat, the old god thought he'd done it. He'd actually made the simpleton doubt himself! To hell with power draining, he just wanted to survive now. The nefarious smile returned to his father's lips. He openly laughed, as Link grabbed his massive forearms and feebly tried to push them away. "It's too late for that now!"

The Gerudo faction had had enough, though. Women began to draw their scimitars and lances, hesitantly walking into death behind a man that some of them hadn't even wanted there in the first place. Varia called them off with a short grunt, however, as she looked at Link and noticed him looking out the side of his eye at her. He wasn't in pain. And, as she pointed that fact out to the troops, she looked even closer and saw the faint glow emanating from the large Triforce-shaped scar on his back. The triangle on the lower right side lit up first, turning a shade of green-Courage. Next the top triangulate slowly turned red-Power. The lower left one then began to glow a faint hue of sky blue-Wisdom. The Triforce continued to light up in that sequence until the scarred skin began to crumble and flake away.

The last flake of skin fell off, and the Gerudo gasped. The golden symbol he'd fought to protect for so long had made its first appearance. It no longer flashed in sections. The Triforce was now, as a whole, one pulsating golden emblem. The divine light grew until even Link's father noticed. He was blinded by self-preservation, though. He thought it was Link summoning another ball of energy, and couldn't resist the chance to take another dig.

"Your light show won't help you," Link Sr. hissed, bearing down even harder.

Varia and the other Gerudo began to back up, as the Triforce slowly submerged into Link's back. That couldn't mean good things were to come. And, much to her credit, Varia was right. Once the glow beneath his flesh ebbed out, Link's hands snapped shut on his father's forearms and crushed the bones to rubble. He tried not to scream as his son let go, but looking at his forearms made it nearly impossible. The sections of his arms right below the elbows hung towards the ground like wet sheets, making it appear as though he had two elbows. To make matters worse, no matter how much he wanted it, the pain wouldn't stop.

Link Sr. screamed… screamed from his very soul and it lit up the sky. Hyrule quaked and strained to keep itself together, as the god fell to his knees before his child. And even as the world and people around him toppled over from this outburst, Link still bore that same expression. His typical scowl seemed to indicate the tiniest amount of anger, but something about his eyes. His eyes were empty. Even though they held those pristine blue irises, they were more empty, unfeeling and cold than they were when they'd been all white.

The leather around his fingers made a twisted noise, as they formed a clinched fist. Lightning cracked the moment he struck his father's face, which did nothing to ease the tension in the spectators' faces. The elder god's body hit the ground hard, splashing muddy water in every direction around him. More importantly, the crack in his forehead had elongated. It branched in different directions now, the largest of the cracks coming down the left side of his right eye.

And his son still didn't care.

Link lifted him up by his shattered limbs, and watched him tremble. He squeezed the flesh around the breaks, letting his father howl out like a tortured animal before throwing him into one of the sandstone cliffs. The impact broke large chunks of the rock off, throwing it high into the air and mixing it with the rainwater. It had almost been too close to the Gerudo, but Link was beyond that to a degree. The ladies themselves merely shuffled around until they were behind their king, who marched towards the bleeding god. Link suddenly ran at his father, drawing back his left hand, and letting out his own pain with that one syllable.

"Yah!"

Link Sr.'s head snapped back and burrowed into the rock, and merely hung there. Still, it wasn't enough. His head was snatched from the cool of the stone, only to see his son standing there with a sword.

"Don't… kill me," he rasped, but it didn't stay Link's hand. "I know how to bring her back!" his father screamed, a thick spout of glowing, rainbow-colored blood spilling from his lips.

The replica of the Great Fairy Sword stopped mere inches on top of his father's throat. Link's heart hadn't been totally destroyed after all. Simple want and desire wouldn't bring Nabooru back, and his last hope appeared to exist right in front of him. Warrior instinct found itself stuffed down, as the heart came bubbling to the surface and silently begging for its suffering to be eased. He lowered his sword, but wrapped his hand in his father's tunic to be safe.

"I can bring her back," his father labored to say, as the light showing through the crack in his forehead now flickered. Link didn't know or even care what that meant. He just wanted Nabooru breathing. "All you have to do is catch me!"

Apparently disappearing was a power the old god was fond of, because Link Sr. vanished yet again. Rather than grabbing him from afar, Link's instinct and desire for his father's death took over. What he wanted more than anything at that moment was his father right back where he was-and, naturally, what Link wanted, Link got.

Link Sr. reappeared right where he started. He stared down into his son's eyes, and those eyes promised to send him to that one place he feared: his grave. With eyes blacker than night and twice as intimidating, the god openly began to plead for his life. Unfortunately, his cries all fell on deaf ears, as Link nailed him to the wall with the sword.

Why didn't it hurt, though?

The elder god slowly opened his right eye and surveyed things. He was still alive! Ha, the boy was too sentimental to do it! No, it wasn't sentimentality. The boy didn't have the physical power to do it! He'd merely psyched him into believing that he was the superior deity from his dreams. After all, if father believed the son could kill him, then it was so. Link Sr. began to laugh again. His confidence returned in overwhelming supply, because there was nothing to fear there.

"You almost fooled me," Link Sr. shouted. "Oh, the pain!" He screamed in mock terror, before shaking his head.

"I'll do worse than kill you," Link replied evenly. His father opened his eyes wider, and mouthed the word really. "I'll let you live out the rest of your life as a thing, as you'd put it."

As Link removed the sword from his father's chest, the elder god was laughing before he even consumed the meaning in Link's words.

"Do you think this is over? I'll…" his words ended abruptly, noticing the strange glow Link's sword now possessed.

"No," the elder god whispered, continuing to watch the weird glow. It was his power! It was his godhood! He shook his head and screamed, "No!"

He tried to take the sword away, screaming as his broken arms flailed. Link held him steadfast against the wall with aggravating ease. Helpless to do anything but watch now, Link Sr. found himself with his mouth open and a feeling of violation that made his skin crawl. His powers were now his son's, and there wasn't a thing he could do to change it. Like his son, Link Sr. too had nothing now.

"I suggest you leave," Link replied listlessly, as his body processed the weird mystical energies. An intense rage boiled within him, though, which took a moment to calm. At last, the emotion subsided and left the Hero of Time to process the new knowledge he'd gained with this absorption of godliness. "And, if I may, I'd suggest you move fast. Wolfos can be deadly even without dark magic," Link added in seemingly genuine concern, as he retired his sword to thin air. Without the weird effects the two gods had over time, the noonday sun quickly moved across the sky and began to set-and a Wolfos howled in the distance, right on cue.

Not giving him a chance to reconsider, the now mortal god trudged away from his crater in the rock… now dripping that filthy red, mortal blood. Ugh, and what was that pain in his stomach about? "Hunger," he muttered. A myriad of mortal afflictions set in on him, not the very least of which was the pain of two severely broken arms. And where the hell did a former god live? "After all this, I don't even remember how to even start a fire! Hmm, maybe I can play to the boy's emotions after he's had time to forget about all of this?"

"Hey, dad," Link called out, which ended the one-man conversation his father was having. He turned to face his child and waited for the sentimental rubbish to take hold of the boy's sanity. "I never said how long the rest of your life was." He lifted his left hand and dropped it down like an axe, as a copy of the Master Sword-the symbol of the beings that plagued his life-flew through the air and speared his father's throat and carried him off and embedded in one of the canyon walls.

And his father was still alive.

His father's body suddenly lurched straight up the wall, effectively cutting him from his throat clear on down through his ass. Blood sprayed out of him in a disgusting torrent. Link looked back at Nabooru and the sword his father had dropped earlier. The sword floated to him, but, suddenly, flew towards his father spinning on its side until…

The sword was buried horizontally in the sandstone, which left his father's head severed and his body lifeless.

The Gerudo slowly fanned out around Link and edged forward, gasping at what they saw. The god that had tormented them for the last few hours was now burning with blue flame. It had been the most violent death that any of them had ever seen, and for one of the women, she had to see it up close. So, she boldly ventured past her king, and up to the swords in the wall. The guard leapt back in surprise, as Link appeared beside her in the form of a god once again.

"He was still attached to the mask," he stated, looking up at the cracked mask resting tenuously on the edge of the sword that severed its owner's head. A little more thought and he summoned it down into his hands. It was frozen with a knowing smirk, his father's final expression Link imagined. "Told him I'd cut him from his throat to his ass if he touched her."

"W-W-Would you like me to do something with that for you?" she asked, fearing he would lash out at her in the same silent fury.

Link shook his head, turning the mask to vapor and fading away in the same instance. He reappeared at Nabooru's side in the same action. The tight circle parted for him. He kneeled down to her, silently praying the thoughts he'd stolen from his father were correct. Placing a hand on her forehead, Link shut his eyes and began to concentrate. Taking a cautious look, he found himself on a different plane. Everything appeared to be the same, only covered in shadow. He felt around with his heart, a hollow attempt to find a woman with two souls. Of course, this was only hindered by the fleeting knowledge gained from his father. The know-how continued to fade until something hot ran up his back… something powerful. Above him, there was a vortex of swirling light that seemed to be drawing in large globs of light.

"Souls," he said, as that hot tingle raced up his back again.

Link turned to see what it was and nearly toppled over. This soul was easily twice his physical size. And, as he prepared to strike it down, a little red glow emanated from its center. Well, Nabooru was the Sage of Spirit, which would lead one to believe that her spirit was unusually large. Then there was the fact that this soul seemed to keep ramming him told Link all he needed to know. He hesitantly reached out to her and she… it did the same. That same heat ran up his right arm, across his chest, and down his left. The overhanging shadow rushed away from the land and people, as Link shifted planes and Nabooru… gasped.

"Link!" she screamed, struggling to get the large hand off her head.

"Sssh! I'm right here," he whispered, as Nabooru's eyes darted around wildly.

She looked up at Link and shuffled back in fear, which noticeably hurt him. His tunic had turned green once again, but it would take more than that to erase the mental hardships his father had left on them. He wouldn't force the subject, though. With that, he rocked back off his knees and stood up.

"It's easier than you think," he whispered to the guard who'd questioned his ability to kill family.

Nabooru continued to wonder what had happened to her, as she watched the best thing that had walk away. Knowing him, he was blaming himself for something. Then again, wasn't she only proving him right by saying nothing and treating him like his father? So what if he looked exactly like the monster that'd killed her and her child? Didn't she look exactly like the women who'd tried to kill him all throughout time? Wasn't she also one of those women? And didn't he spare her life and theirs? He deserves more than the benefit of doubt, Nabooru thought.

"Link," she called after him, leaping to her wobbly legs and giving chase. "Link!"

He'd just rounded the first bend when he heard her. Backing up his solemn march, Link's indifferent expression slowly changed when he saw the mother of child running towards him. She hopped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. Nabooru's smile seemed to make it all worth it. At the same time, his body seemed to grow weary and shutdown. The mood seemed fitting for panic, Nabooru noticed, as she hopped off the collapsing god. But, then, Link snored. He'd actually fallen asleep.

"Goodnight, daddy," Nabooru whispered, as she kissed his lower lip gently and curled up on top of him to do the same.