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Endgame	By : RyuaAlba Category: Zelda > General Views: 26666 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda, or any of the characters or regions or names associated with it. I make no money from this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Ganondorf did not return that day, to both of their great relief. Zelda's magic was returning more quickly now, although she kept having to drain it to heal either herself or Link. She suspected it was from necessity, the way a body would adapt to harsh circumstances, but it was a good thing regardless of the reason. After the midday meal, she felt ready to try some more ambitious spellwork.
She walked to the window, setting her hands lightly on the enchanted glass. The window itself was large, half her height and as long as she would be stretched out from toes to fingertips. It was made up of multiple panes of glass, as clear as the craftsmen could make them. There were a few minute bubbles and ripples, but it was some of the highest quality glass in the castle, let alone the country. It had to be, to make the watchtower any use at all.
As far as she knew, there hadn't ever been a spell on the windows before now, which made it simpler. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her magic sense, trying to see what shape the spell was. It seemed to be very simple, a strengthening charm. For that matter, it wasn't an exceptionally powerful one… if they had anything heavy and solid enough like a mace, they could probably shatter through it given a few minutes to work at it. It was quite enough to ensure the glass was substantially stronger than their bones, however, meaning they couldn't break the glass with the magic intact.
Concentrating, she splayed her fingers out across one of the panes, following the lines of the magic. They didn't move the way she expected, enchantments tended to be woven over a space this large. These ones seemed to be different, almost organic. Like roots, or veins… Frowning, she forced her awareness broader. The taste of the magic wasn't what she expected either. Fighting with Ganondorf had given her a certain familiarity with his spells, and while there hints of his… flavor, so to speak, it was blended evenly with something else.
All at once, she realized what she was dealing with, and stepped back. "Nayru forsake it, he's used Twilight magic," she spat. "I hate Twilight magic." Although it was still magic by the broadest term, it bore about as much resemblance to her brand of spells as a sword did to an axe. Given time, she could unweave, rearrange, or alter any Goddess-given magic, which is what every mage in her country used. The chosen of Nayru were the most proficient with magic in the widest of forms. Faore gave her followers movement and navigation magic for the most part, often an affinity for wild creatures. Din's few chosen had always been best at martial magic in the tales, and Ganondorf was certainly a powerful battle mage. Anyone who could touch magic could work any of the three types, although most mages had a particular affinity. Faore's specialists often did not know they were mages, simply that they were never lost, or never had trouble on the road.
Despite the variety of magic the Goddesses of Hyrule gave to the people in their land, the Twilit mages had something else entirely. Legend hinted that it might have started from the same source, but after uncountable generations in the Twilight Realms, it had changed form. It wasn't completely incompatible with her magic, or clearly with Ganondorf's, but it didn't follow any of the rules or expected results. The most important difference was that while Triforce magic was cast by the user's will and shaped by their own mind, Twilight magic was cast through a focus. While this could be viewed as a vulnerability, since an outside focus was required to cast and could be destroyed to end the spell, in this case it was an impenetrable defense. Without access to the original focus, there was no way to disrupt it.
"What does that mean?" Link asked in reference to her outburst. He'd seen magic, of course, but unless you counted howling as a wolf or grasswhistling, he'd never used any himself. Midna had handled any magic they needed doing, and transforming to wolf had never been under his control either.
"Sorry," she said with a sigh. "It means that I can't touch this enchantment. It's bound to a focus, probably some kind of gem, like Zant used to change you into a wolf. If I could touch the focus, I could unravel the spell, or smash it to release the energy. But if my magic is like water, Twilight magic is like oil. They can be bound together if you're very careful, but they can't really affect each other once in place."
"I assume the door is the same thing?" he asked, sounding like he was trying to be optimistic, but doubted it.
Zelda crossed to it, but barely had to lay a palm against the wood before saying, "Yes, different focus, but same kind of spell. I was hoping Ganondorf wouldn't have thought this far ahead… or been this lucky, whichever the case may be."
It put a damper on the rest of the day, really. It hadn't exactly started out well in the first place, and re-affirming just how well they were caught wasn't a great way to finish it. Zelda went to bed not long after they had dinner, dropping off to sleep. With nothing else to do, Link joined her a little while later when it started to get too dark to see anything out of the window clearly.
She woke him up three times with whimpers and thrashing that night. The first two, she fell back asleep after a hand on her shoulder and some reassuring words, but the third time, she just sat up and hugged her knees, staring off into the darkness. Link sat beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned against him. When he kissed her cheek, she turned to capture his lips with hers, her arms clinging to him almost desperately.
"I don't want to hurt you…" he whispered, pulling back from her.
She followed him determinedly, crawling over his lap. "I need this, Link, I need to forget… at least for a few moments…"
He was reluctant, but she was determined, and he eventually gave in, being as gentle as possible. She set the pace, riding him harder than he would have dared to after what she'd been through earlier. It was too dark to see when it began, but after they both finished and she shifted over to lie beside him, her head on his chest and body wrapped around his, her cheeks were wet with tears. He swallowed, and set his hand lightly on her shoulder, turning his head to kiss her forehead, wishing there was something more he could do.
She was still there when the door opened to allow a Twilit servant to drop off their food in the morning. At least that meant she'd gotten a few hours of sleep, judging by the numbness in the shoulder she'd been laying on. Not that he would ever complain, of course, and he forgot totally about it when she woke up and turned away from him, not quite fast enough that he didn't catch the expression of revulsion and shame on her face.
He laid a hand on her shoulder, but she flinched away. Deciding a different tactic would be needed, he got out of bed and went to pick up the food. "You need to eat something," he said.
Her face was buried in the pillow, but her voice wasn't quite muffled too much for him to hear, "I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat anyways," he said firmly. "Keep up your strength." He set a berry on her hand, and sat beside her, eating his share of the fruit.
After a good long while, he heard the barest whisper, "I'm a terrible person, Link, I'm sorry…"
"No, you're not!" he protested. "How could you think that? You've done so much, given so much…"
She shook her head, pushing herself up on her elbows. She still wasn't looking at him, but at least she picked up the berry, rolling it lightly between her fingers. "I used you last night, Link. You tried to tell me you didn't want to, and instead of respecting that, I forced you into it anyways. That is unforgiveable… Link, I… you were important to Hyrule, to me, even before this mess started. Now… I can't stand the thought of you being made uncomfortable, or hurt because of me."
He set down the basket of fruit and lay down beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against him. "Zelda… what we did… that's never something I don't want to do. I just didn't want to hurt you."
Zelda leaned against him and shuddered, a bizarre mixture of relief and fear running through her. She'd needed to hear him forgive her, needed it badly, more than she'd thought. In almost the same instant, she realized that this was exactly what Ganondorf had been planning all along. He had been planning for them to grow close, to learn to depend on each other, care for each other… she sighed softly at how quickly, how easily she'd fallen for the bait in the trap. Now, though… now she'd just have to bargain harder, since she had more to lose. "Alright," she said firmly, sitting up and swallowing the berry that was still in her hand.
Link stared at her with no small amount of confusion as she climbed over him out of bed, strode to the door, and knocked authoritatively upon it. "I require words with Lord Ganondorf," she said loudly and clearly before turning and coming back to the bed. "Hopefully he's got guards out there who will relay messages," she said, picking up her breakfast and starting in on it with a good appetite.
"What are you planning?" Link finally managed, taken aback by her sudden change from ashamed to determined, even motivated.
She smiled at him, her quick, calculating mind showing in the set of her lips. "He's made his moves, set the board. Time for me to counter. He wants me to address my people in support of his reign? He's going to have to barter for it."
Link just stared at her, shaking his head in disbelief, but also in amused awe. Zelda laughed, and said, "He's thought an awful lot of things through, but I don't think he quite knows who he's dealing with." Maybe relinquishing her kingdom so easily to Zant was going to work in her favor. It meant Ganondorf had never seen what she was actually capable of.
It would be unseemly for Ganondorf to answer a summons from a mere prisoner too quickly, even one as important as Zelda. But she knew his curiosity would get the better of him, and he arrived a scarce couple of hours later. "And what words do you require?" he asked in an amused tone.
Zelda squarely in the center of the room, Link to her left and slightly behind. "I am prepared to speak in favor of your rule," she said simply.
"And what has brought this decision forwards?" he asked curiously.
"That is unimportant," she said. "Suffice to say that I have come to the conclusion it is in the best interests of all concerned." Rather than push too far, she let him continue the conversation from this point.
"Your much vaunted wisdom finally appears," he said with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. "And when would you like to make this announcement?"
"Today," she said. "The longer I remain out of sight, the more suspicious any explanation either of us can make will become. To that end, I will need clothing, preferably from my own wardrobe if my quarters survived the occupation and battle. Something suitable must also be found for Link, something in green."
He folded his arms, staring down at her. "And what would be the reasoning behind that?" Dressing her up properly was expected, of course, but he saw no reason for Link to be there. He'd much rather keep the meddlesome hero in this secure room.
"Because while you killed your puppet Zant and freed the capital, Link fought all through the countryside, vanquishing his lieutenants and minions, saving children and maidens, protecting the common folk and their lands and livelihoods. By pretending he doesn't exist, you'll breed discord. Acknowledge and praise his actions, claim him as an ally, and you'll gain more of that good will than either of you would alone."
There was utter silence in the room. Zelda had explained some of her plan to Link, but she'd said that she couldn't plot it all in advance, it would depend on how Ganondorf reacted. As a result, he was floored by the sheer audacity of her plan, not to mention the idea of working in tandem with the Dark Lord. Ganondorf reacted faster than Link, which Zelda offered a quick prayer of thanks for. He started to laugh, low at first, then out loud, a wide grin on his face. "This may work better than I'd thought," he said. "Very well. I'll be sending a servant along shortly with something appropriate. But keep in mind, Zelda," he said, his tone going from jovial to threatening. "If your speech professes against my rule, upsets my control in any fashion… not only will the resulting civil war be on your head, but I will take every inch of my ire out of Link's flesh."
She felt a bit of the colour drain from her face, but said quietly, "Understood." She kept her gaze locked on his as he backed out of the room, standing straight until the bar slammed home, and she sighed with relief, relaxing. "Well… that could have gone worse."
"You mean it. You actually mean to work with him," Link said, looking as if he was torn between horror and pride.
Zelda rubbed her hands together, more like she was trying to clean them than with glee. "As distasteful as it may be, I believe it to be not only our best option, but the only one available to us at the moment. However…" she paused, thinking on her words. "Link, I'm not going to actively disobey him. What I DO plan to say, though… I do not believe he will be happy. He will be furious, and he will take it out on you. I don't want to force you into this…"
"Do it," he said, interrupting her. "I can take whatever he dishes out."
She chuckled slightly, and kissed his cheek. "You are brave, I'll give you that. And maybe it won't be as bad as I'm hoping." It would be a careful balance between keeping Ganondorf happy enough that he wouldn't cause either of them too much damage, and not allowing him to control the whole situation. For her, at least, the wait for the clothing went quickly as she planned out her words, determined to make the most of the situation. Even while Link helped lace her into her borrowed gown, she kept muttering to herself, working on the phrasing, the pauses, everything she could.
Of course, trying to get him suited up took more work, and she laughed helplessly at his frustration. "You couldn't have just found me some cook's clothes or something," he grumbled, tugging at the collar. She slapped his hand away and folded the fabric back into the shape it was supposed to be.
"Oh, stop fidgeting," she said, grinning. "You're supposed to look like a hero of the realm, and the more well-cared for and confident you appear, the better." She'd seen more elaborate getups on gentry, of course, but for someone used to a loose tabard over chainmail and quilted padding, she supposed the fitted velvet tunic and high collar would be uncomfortable.
"At least it's a pretty close fit," she said, standing back with a critical eye. Her dress had needed some extra corseting to get anything approaching a proper fit, and she missed the armor that she'd built into her own wardrobe. But at least from a distance, they'd look right… and for that matter, being a little less than perfect would be more in character. The castle had been in ruins, after all, it would be expected that the nobles would be a little worse for wear too.
"I feel ridiculous," he said morosely. Although it was nice to wear clothing again, the velvet tunic was tight on his shoulders and arms, restrictive. It had clearly been designed for someone wider in the gut and less active with his hands.
"Just think of it as a new kind of armor," she said encouragingly. "We're about to enter my battlefield now, Link. And I have trained at this all my life."
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Endgame