Chapter 177: A Broken Man
Immediately upon reaching the surface, the heroes navigated toward the closest inhabited island from the Forsaken Fortress, which also happened to be the most inhabited island of the sea: Windfall Island, in coordinates D2.
The chart of the Great Sea was divided into coordinates, using letters for columns and numbers for lines. For example, the Forsaken Fortress was in coordinates A1, at the top left of the map, so Northwest. Windfall Island was D2, fourth column, second line, so right in the middle North of the sea.
They departed very early in the morning, before the sun was even rising, hoping to have enough time to arrive before Mewtwo.
Well, there was also Spectacle Island just West of Windfall Island, coordinates C2, where a man named Salvatore could sometimes be found, but Toon Link hoped that he would be in Windfall Island. If not, then they would just have to go search for him, not having to go far.
Meanwhile, Phantom explained to Link their current quest, about the Master Sword having lost its power because the Earth and Wind Sages died. Link looked very saddened upon hearing this.
They rather quickly reached Windfall Island and immediately began to work on gathering everyone while warning them of the danger. They remarked that most people here had round ears instead of pointed ears, meaning that very few had Hylian ancestors. Among the pointy-eared people were the girls rescued from the Forsaken Fortress. And yes, Salvatore was here, thankfully. Some of the inhabitants had difficulty being convinced of Mewtwo’s menace and caused a huge loss of time, but then, Mewtwo itself arrived and began to attack the island, convincing them to follow the heroes’ orders.
Phantom went to make a diversion, attacking Mewtwo, allowing the others to complete the evacuation. Once everyone on the island was gathered, Apple Death opened a portal to Hyrule, allowing them to pass through to safety.
As soon as the last inhabitant passed the portal, Link put on the Fierce Deity Mask (Toon Link had stars in his eyes when he saw the Fierce Deity Link) and went to help Phantom, sending sharp waves with his sword at Mewtwo as the two were fighting in the sky above. Mewtwo easily avoided them and countered with its own projectiles. Finally, it decided that it had better things to do and flew away, searching for victims to attack. Phantom went after it to gain time and allow the others to reach the other inhabited islands in time, leaving her boat to them.
The closest was Tingle Island in C3, inhabited by humans disguised as what the one named Tingle thought were fairies, which was quickly evacuated as there were only there people.
Then there was Dragon Roost Island, F2. It was inhabited by Ritos, so they weren’t as much in danger as humans, but the heroes still decided to evacuate them just in case. On the way, they encountered a merchant boat with a man, Beedle, inside. Apple Death immediately sent him to safety.
The Ritos immediately understood the gravity of the situation, so the heroes didn’t have any problem sending them to Hyrule where Valoo welcomed them happily. One of the Ritos remained behind however to lead the heroes to two men disguised as Ritos in G2, not forgetting them.
Next was Forest Haven, F6, inhabited by Koroks and the Great Deku Tree. The tree, for obvious reason, won’t be able to be evacuated, but they can at least save the Koroks. Would Mewtwo hurt the tree? Not sure. They hoped not.
The Koroks revealed to be little tree spirit people with leaves for masks. Link was surprised to not see Kokiri, but one of the Koroks then told him that the Kokiri were their ancestors who had transformed into them following the Great Flood. Link didn’t know what to think about that.
Then, he saw the Great Deku Tree who immediately recognized Link.
“You are the Hero of Time!” the tree said. “You are younger, but I recognize you. I didn’t expect to see you again after so long.”
It took a moment for Link to recognize the tree. “Oh! You are the sprout I saved when I cleared the Forest Temple!”
“Yes, that’s me. Oh, the memories. As if it was yesterday.”
Link grinned. “For me, it wasn’t that long ago.” His grin quickly disappeared however. “But I don’t have time to talk. We are here to evacuate the Koroks before Mewtwo could hurt them.”
“Mewtwo? Who is it?”
“A creature called a Pokémon, very powerful. It defeated Ganondorf despite him having the Triforce of Power, and now, it threatens everyone on this sea.”
“I see. As if Ganondorf had not been bad enough… Very well. Take my children. I only wish for their safety. But where will they go?”
“To Hyrule,” Apple Death answered. “Ah can transport everyone there.”
“Impressive!”
The Deku Tree immediately called all the Koroks, allowing Apple Death to send them to Hyrule. One of the Koroks, however, warned that more Koroks moved out of the island to plant trees on other islands. Toon Link remembered these Koroks flying out of the island after the Korok Ceremony the first time he arrived here. They will have to find them. He actually remembered seeing one of these Koroks on Greatfish Island, beside a withered tree. He needed water from the Forest Haven source to bring the tree back to life, and he had noted it to do later once he found all the Koroks.
Finally, their last destination was Outset Island, B7, which Toon Link had really been impatient to go to since it was his native island.
There weren’t that many people in Outset Island, and they all trusted Toon Link who was especially happy to see his grandmother. Aryll wasn’t present however, meaning that she was still traveling with the pirates. A letter from Aryll in the mailbox confirmed it, telling Toon Link that she was alright. Link repeated that to his grandmother, reassuring her.
Speaking of the pirates, the heroes will have to find them, and it will be difficult. Toon Link also talked about a group of treasure hunters that he encountered a couple of times, and also wandering merchants like he encountered once on Greatfish Island (B4).
Orca, the island’s warrior, didn’t want to leave and wanted to fight Mewtwo, but Toon Link managed to convince him not to.
“Leave it to me!”
“And to us!” Sonic said with a thumb up.
“Mph. Very well.”
They evacuated the island just in time, because Mewtwo arrived, with Phantom nowhere to be seen. Certainly Mewtwo defeated her and she dropped in the ocean, or she teleported away to recover.
Apple Death quickly closed the portal after the last inhabitant passed it, then flew to fight Mewtwo while Sonic, Link, and the others escaped. She telekinetically manipulated the water around the island to surround her, using it both as a shield and a weapon as she formed dozens of spears.
While avoiding Mewtwo’s attacks, she sent everything she could think of. The spears, water hurricanes, giant waves, not forgetting to electrify them for more damage. But Mewtwo avoided most of them, generally by teleporting, and the little damage it received was healed. If the fight continued, it was clear that Apple Death would lose.
But she wasn’t trying to win, she was gaining time, and as soon as the others disappeared beyond the horizon, she teleported away, leaving Mewtwo alone above the deserted island.
Apple Death joined the others, and together, they moved away from Outset Island. Once they estimated they were far enough, they stopped and waited. After ten minutes of Mewtwo not finding them, they sighed in relief.
“I think we are safe,” Amy said.
“Ah hope Phantom is alright,” Apple Death said.
“I’m sure we will find her eventually,” Link said.
“So, that was the last inhabited island,” Toon Link said. “We almost saved everyone. We just have to find the pirates, the merchants, and the treasure hunters.” He groaned. “We will have to explore ALL the islands.”
“We are near the Earth Temple,” the King of Red Lions said. “We should first see if there is anything we can do there.”
The heroes agreed, and under the King’s direction, they moved toward C7, quickly reaching a mountainous island. Here, Toon Link fed a fish who painted the island on his Sea Chart, revealing it to be named Headstone Island. He also gave them info, that there was a huge boulder head blocking the entrance of the temple and that they will need to lift it by finding an object inside a volcano four squares North and three squares East. They did pass beside the volcano, so the heroes knew what he was talking about. When they landed on the island, they quickly found the head stone blocking the entrance to the temple.
“So we will need something like the Silver and Golden Gauntlets I had,” Link said. “They allowed me to lift heavy things.”
“And I’m ready to bet that something similar is blocking the entrance to the Wind Temple,” Sonic said.
“We should go see quickly,” Amy said.
The others agreed, and the Red Lion told them that the Wind Temple was in D1. So Apple Death teleported everyone to Windfall Island, and from here, they moved North until reaching another mountainous island. Again, Toon Link fed a fish that painted the island on his chart, naming it Gale Island. He then told them that there were strong winds on the island blocking the entrance to the temple. To traverse, they will need to go five squares South and one East to find an ice island where there was an item that would make you very heavy. Again, they remembered seeing this island as they went from Forest Haven to Outlet Island. When they landed on Gale Island, they quickly found themselves face to face with the wind coming out of a stone blocking the entrance.
Also, on the island, waiting for them, was Phantom. Apple Death immediately hugged her.
“I knew you would come here. I did well to wait here. I hope Mewtwo hasn’t given you problems again,” Phantom said.
“We encountered it but we managed to escape,” Sonic said. “Nice to see you alright.”
Meanwhile, Link looked at the stone blowing wind. Again, he was looking sad.
“So it seems we will need something like the boots I had. They made me very heavy.”
Apple Death stopped hugging Phantom and looked at Link. “So, we have ta find a pair of gauntlets and a pair of boots inside a volcano and an ice island.”
“Seems like it,” Link said.
“Wait. I remember something,” Toon Link said. “The first time I went from Dragon Roost Island to Forest Haven, I passed beside the volcano. There, the fish told me of a way to freeze the volcano so I can go on the island, one square North and four squares West.” Toon Link then took out the chart and pointed at coordinates B2. “There!”
“Oh, it’s not far. Let’s go then.”
They reached the B2 island, which revealed to be one large island surrounded by a ring of rock, and a smaller island on which they found one of the wandering merchants, which revealed to be a Goron, and one of the Koroks with a withered tree. There was also a blue blob-like enemy named a Blue ChuChu, quickly killed, the monster giving a Blue Chu Jelly that would allow Toon Link to make a Blue Potion once enough was collected.
They convinced the Goron and the Korok to go to Hyrule, promising the Korok to bring water to the tree. They actually saw Mewtwo pass above them, but the Pokémon seemingly didn’t see them. It gave hope that the other merchants and Koroks were safe.
Toon Link then fed the fish beside the island, the fish doing like the others, painting the island on the chart and telling them useful info. This time, he told them that there was a very beautiful fairy inside the ring island and, in order to get inside it to meet her, they would need to ride a whirlwind.
Toon Link immediately understood and groaned.
“There are cyclones here and there on the sea. A god is controlling them.”
“I remember seeing a cyclone, yes. So we have ta approach one and talk ta the god controlling them?”
“Yes, except that the god is angry, so approaching the cyclones is… not recommended.”
Phantom shrugged. “That’s no problem.”
After getting some news from Zelda that everything was alright, they found a cyclone and approached it right away. Once they were close enough and caught in the strong current leading inside it, the god controlling it revealed himself, some kind of giant purple or dark pink frog sitting on a pink cloud.
“Foolish creatures who do not fear the gods! To the end of the sea with you! Let the winds of Cyclos’ wrath blow you away!!!”
The heroes let the Links deal with him with their bows. They fired arrows at him. A few were enough to calm the god down, stopping his cyclone.
The god, Cyclos, descended to be in front of them.
“That’s a heck of an arm you’ve got there!” he said before he shrunk to their size. “And what an eye! No one’s ever been able to spot me in there before now!”
Toon Link took out his Wind Waker, showing it to Cyclos. “Uh… I have this, so…”
“Oh! You have the Wind Waker! I guess that you want me to teach you this then, uh? Very well! Let me show you! Let’s see if you can handle this!”
Cyclos then flew up to a certain height, then began to fly in a certain pattern.
Down, right, left, up.
Link followed him with the Wind Waker, getting it right in the first try.
“Waaaaa-hooooooooooooooooo!” Cyclos shouted. “This is the Ballad of Gales! In the hands of a Wind Waker like you, my adorable little cyclones will be as happy as can be!” he said before he descended to face Toon Link again. “If you need to move like the wind over the ocean deeps, just call on my cyclones!” He crossed his arms. “Well, I guess that I’ll head for home now! See you on down the road!”
And finally, he flew away.
“So, now, you can call cyclones?” Sonic asked.
Toon Link nodded. “That’s what I understood. So, I guess that I can now go to that fairy.”
At that, Toon Link did the Ballad of Gales, calling a cyclone to transport him and the King of Red Lions. The ship began to spin, faster and faster. On him, Toon Link was starting to feel sick. Then, the cyclone appeared and lifted the ship into the sky. However, the cyclone was only big enough to transport them, leaving behind the boat containing the others. Thankfully, Phantom teleported them.
Phantom teleported their ship just above the ring island, then made it drop slowly toward a small source, or fountain, in the center of the island. At the same time, Toon Link and the Red Lion were coming down from the sky, still spinning. The two ships landed in the fountain, surrounded by large trees, little fairies, and strange little lights floating everywhere.
Poor Toon Link, face as green as his tunic, was on four on the Red Lion, eyes spinning.
Link looked at him in pity. “I think I prefer my Warp Songs.”
Suddenly, a column of sparkles sprouted out of the center of the fountain, the sparkles condensing into a thinner and thinner column and turning a bright white before they exploded, the sparkles falling all around the heroes.
Then, the figure of a child appeared like a ghost, floating above the center, back to them. The child, holding the doll of a four-armed, black-skinned fairy, then turned to face them, revealing a face like a mask, with empty eyes and a small empty smile.
She then put a hand before her mouth and giggled. “Tee hee hee! Greetings, children!”
The heroes looked at the child-looking fairy in wonder, feeling her great power.
“Tee hee hee! So many visitors. It seems that fate has been altered. Will it be for the best?” the fairy asked. “I am the queen of the fairy world.”
“Of course she is,” Phantom mumbled.
“What is the matter? Does that not surprise you, children?”
“Eh. Not really. We already have a queen child,” Sonic said.
The Fairy Queen giggled. “I like you. But you are all already very gifted.” She turned to Toon Link. “Except you. I shall give new power to the bow that you wield.”
She then began to manipulate her doll like a puppet. She suddenly made the doll explode into light, revealing in its place two fairies, one trailing red sparkles, and the other trailing blue sparkles. The two fairies then flew toward Toon Link, flew around him, faced him, and entered him one by one.
Toon Link then took out two arrows and looked in wonder as one had its tip enveloped in fire, the other in ice.
“Ooh! You got the fire and ice arrows! And in one go!” Link said, amazed.
Meanwhile, the Fairy Queen descended, moving right, then left, then right again. “Ice Arrows can freeze the hottest flames, and Fire Arrows can melt the coldest ice.”
Exactly what Toon Link needed.
“The fairies in this fountain will ease your weariness. Use them as you need to.”
She didn’t have to tell it twice. Phantom, still feeling fatigue from fighting Mewtwo, touched a fairy who immediately flew around her, giving her energy.
Meanwhile, the Fairy Queen stared amusedly at Toon Link. “Child… I must tell you… You are just my type. Tee hee hee!”
“Oh… Uh… Eheh…” Toon Link smiled like an idiot and looked aside in embarrassment, to the amusement of the others, including the King of Red Lions.
The Fairy Queen then spread her arms and giggled while a column of sparkles appeared again. Then, she looked like a puppet whose strings had been cut before she disappeared.
“Well… That wasn’t creepy at all,” Sonic said. “So, which one do we go first? The volcano or the ice island?”
“Let’s go with the volcano first,” Toon Link said. “And can you teleport us directly to it? I don’t want to use the cyclone again…”
“Of course,” Phantom said.
Fire Mountain, F3.
The heroes appeared beside it, and right away, Link fired an Ice Arrow at the column of lava coming out of the chimney, freezing it. The ice then exploded, freeing the way to the inside of the volcano.
They knew that it wasn’t definitive, so they hurried to land and climb, dealing on the way with a hostile bird, a Kargaroc. They jumped into the chimney and landed in a cavern full of magma with Fire Keeses that Phantom killed. The others jumped from floating rock platform on the magma to floating rock platform until reaching a surface with two one-eyes fire centipedes named Magtail. Killing the two revealed a chest containing two golden bracelets, the Power Bracelets. Toon Link put them on and immediately tested them on a nearby head stone, lifting it and tossing it away like it was a feather. It freed a passage back to the entrance of the cavern where a light allowed them to leave.
They quickly left the island before the volcano could erupt again.
Next was Ice Ring Isle, E6.
On this island, a sculpture looking like the head of a dragon was breathing ice on it, freezing it. After blowing up a warship, Toon Link fired a Fire Arrow at the dragon head, making it stop breathing ice.
Like with the volcano, they quickly climbed on the island where they found a chest trapped in ice. Phantom melted the ice with a fire sword, allowing Toon Link to open the chest and get a treasure chart. Then, careful to not fall in the freezing water, they walked and jumped toward the mouth of the dragon head, getting a blue rupee on the way.
They entered the mouth, climbed some large stairs, and jumped into a cavern.
Inside the ice cavern, they carefully traversed an ice bridge while dealing with some Keeses, then slid down a slide to the chest containing the Iron Boots, which will allow Toon Link to become very heavy.
He had to use them to fight strong wind and reach a hole leading to a deeper cavern where he had to fight a bunch of enemies frozen, like a green Bokoblin, a Moblin, and even a Darknut in golden armor. The others were all able to fight the strong wind and follow him except Link. He could actually fight the wind as a Goron, but he would be too big to enter the hole, so Phantom materialized for him some boots. Together, they fought the monsters and revealed a chest containing an orange rupee, worth one hundred rupees. Finally, they left the cavern and the island.
Once away from the freezing island, Phantom said, “Alright, so now we have to decide: which temple first?”
“Well, we got the bracelets first, so why not start by the Earth Temple? It’s the closest from our position anyway,” Amy said.
They agreed.
Headstone Island.
Toon Link lifted the stone, revealing an opening to the inside of the mountain.
They were now in a small cavern with a large stone tablet facing them. It had the Triforce symbol above wings, a red harp in a fancy sculpted part, and a series markings indicating directions in another sculpted part, this time purple.
Down, down, middle, right, left, middle.
They were clearly directions for the Wind Waker, so Link took it out and followed them. As soon as he did right, the Triforce symbol began to glow, and suddenly, the ghost of a Zora in purple robe appeared. She had some kind of golden shark mask above her head, and she was holding a golden harp with a face sculpted on it.
She looked right at Toon Link. “O great hero, chosen by the Master Sword! My name is Laruto.”
The name surprised Link. “Laruto? Ruto… Is it a coincidence?”
Laruto smiled sadly at him. “No… It is not, Hero of Time.”
“So you are, or… were, the Earth Sage?” Phantom asked.
“Yes. For an age, I offered my prayers here in the Earth Temple, praying that the power to repel evil would ever remain within the Master Sword.”
“But then, Ganondorf killed you,” Amy said sadly, anger in her voice.
“And because of this, the Master Sword has lost this power,” Laruto said. “After his defeat at the hands of the Hero of Time, Ganondorf was sealed away… but not for all time. He was revived, and he returned to Hyrule in a red wrath. He attacked this temple and stole my soul, knowing that he had to remove the power contained in that enchanted blade.”
“And what can we do to return it?” Toon Link asked.
“In order to return the power to repel evil to your sword, you must find another to take my stead in this temple and ask the gods for their assistance. You must find the one who carries on my bloodline… The one who holds this sacred instrument…”
Toon Link looked closely at the instrument, and then shock filled him.
“Nothing can stop the flow of time or the passing of generations… but the fate carried within my bloodline endures the ravages of all the years. It survives. The song you just conducted is one that will open the eyes of the new sage and awaken within that sage the melody that will carry our prayers to the gods. The door that blocks your way will only open when the sage plays that song. May the winds of fortune blow with you.”
And with these words, Laruto disappeared.
“I… I know who is the next sage!” Toon Link exclaimed.
“Great! Are they in Hyrule?” Phantom asked.
“Yes.”
“Then how about we go to the other temple to see what the Wind Sage has to say before we go search for the new Earth Sage? If the two new sages are both in Hyrule, then it will be faster this way.”
Everyone agreed, so they left the entrance and returned to the ships where Toon Link explained everything to the Red Lion. They then teleported to Gale Island where Toon Link used the boots to resist the wind before reaching the stone at its origin and using the hammer to destroy it, revealing the entrance.
Inside, they found another stone tablet, but this time, instead of a harp, there was a… green leaf? As for the directions…
Up, up, down, right, left, right.
As soon as Toon Link reproduced them, the Triforce symbol glowed, and the ghost of a Kokiri appeared. He had the usual green Kokiri tunic, and he was holding a blue leaf-looking violin with a long purple stick as the bow.
Toon Link saw the instrument and immediately knew who was the new Wind Sage.
Link advanced to face the ghost. “Fado…”
“Hey Link. Long time no see. I would like to catch up with you, but… I guess this is not the time.”
Link sighed. “And I’m not your Link anyway. I come from another dimension.”
“I see. It is still good to see you again after you disappeared, even if it is not you.”
Link could only guess what happened to the him of this world, after he was sent back in time. Without Sweetie Void to help him… Link promised to himself to visit Fado in the Wind Temple more often. He rarely left the temple.
“Now, let me look at your successor,” Fado said, and Link nodded before he stepped aside so the ghost could look at Toon Link. “So you are the new hero. I am Fado of the Kokiri tribe. I know I appear to you as a child, but the eyes can oft deceive. I am a most esteemed sage.”
“Kokiri are eternal children,” Link informed.
“That’s right. I had been praying here so that the power to repel evil would continue to be contained within the blade of the Master Sword… But I was attacked by the evil Ganondorf… and this is what happened to me. You wish to return the power to your blade, don’t you?”
Toon Link nodded. “Yeah. There is a terrifying enemy even more powerful than Ganondorf. I need this sword’s full power to deal with it.”
“In that case, look for the one who has the same instrument that I hold, and teach him the song you just played. Once you do, I’m certain the holder of the instrument will feel the blood of the sages awaken within his veins. That Wind Waker you hold was used long ago to conduct us sages when we played our song to call upon the gods. In those days, it was always the king who conducted for us… Please… Tell the king that I will still play… even in the next world!” He looked at Link. “Link… Goodbye. Or… See you quickly, I guess.”
Then, he disappeared.
Link sighed, and a moment of silence followed.
“So…” Phantom began. “A friend of yours, Link?”
“Yeah. He sometimes visits the forest, and he told me lots of stories about the world outside it. I found him so cool.”
Sonic looked at Link knowingly. “He was like your big brother, uh?”
“I guess. Or rather, he is. He is still alive in my world.”
Amy looked at Toon Link. “So the new Wind Sage is in Hyrule too, right?”
Toon Link nodded. “Yes.”
“Then I guess it’s time to return to Hyrule,” Sonic said.
They teleported to the garden in the castle which was now full of inhabitants from the surface, intermingling, except around Ganondorf who was meditating alone in his corner.
Toon Link immediately saw at the foot of a tree the two persons they searched: a Rito girl named Medli, and a small round Korok named Makar. They were both playing together with their respective instruments, a golden harp and a blue leaf-like violin.
“It’s them,” Toon Link said.
“Eh. They already became friends. Fate can be funny, uh?” Phantom said.
“Or they simply both love music. No need for fate ta intervene with such common ground,” Apple Death said.
The heroes approached the two future sages who were too in the zone to see them. Toon Link was the one interrupting them with a “Hey you two!”
The two stopped playing and looked at Toon Link.
“Link!” they both shouted.
“Nice to see you two friends,” Toon Link said.
They both laughed, and Makar said, “Yes. I saw her playing and I decided to join her.”
“It’s nice to play with someone else,” Medli said. “Everyone is so worried because of this Mewtwo.”
“Not mentioning Ganondorf being just over there,” Makar said.
“Playing music helps calming down,” Medli continued.
“Well, Link here has some new music for the both of you,” Sonic said before he looked at Toon Link. “How about you show them?”
Toon Link nodded and took out the Wind Waker which Medli recognized.
“The Wind Waker! Wow! Does this mean you will conduct us?” Medli asked.
“Yes. First, you, Medli.”
Toon Link then proceeded to conduct the first song, the Earth God’s Lyric, which Medli began to play.
After playing the first few notes, Medli stopped playing and looked in the distance.
“Hmm… What a mysterious song… It sounds so… familiar. It’s almost as if something I’ve forgotten is trying to be remembered…” Suddenly, she closed her eyes and began to shake. “Oh… I feel…”
She began to drop on the ground, and Sonic quickly caught her.
Inside Medli’s mind, she was surrounded by darkness. But then, before her, Laruto appeared. The Zora then began to play the Earth God’s Lyric, then stopped after a few notes, letting Medli continue. Eventually, Laruto resumed playing, and the two played together until the end of the song, when the Triforce appeared before them. Laruto then disappeared, leaving Medli alone to look at the Triforce, and at the Master Sword floating above it. Finally, she closed her eyes.
In Sonic’s arms, Medli opened her eyes.
…
“Just now, a sage spoke to me. She spoke so gently… There’s something… something that I must do. Link… Thanks to you, I’ve been awakened to the knowledge that I’m a sage of the Earth Temple. There’s actually something that I can do to help this world. It’s incredible… I bet my teacher knew all about this…”
As she stopped talking, Toon Link looked at Makar, and the Korok understood.
“My turn, right?”
“Yes.”
And Toon Link played the second song, the Wind God’s Aria. Like Medli, Makar played the first few notes, then stopped.
“As expected, it… feels like I already know this song. Does it play like this?”
Makar then played the song, and to everyone’s surprise, Fado appeared in his place, playing too. Toon Link made sure to conduct him.
When Fado stopped playing, he disappeared, and Makar reappeared in his place.
“Yes… This sacred song that you’ve conducted has awakened me… I know myself now! I am the sage of the Wind Temple… It is my fate to return the power to repel evil to your Master Sword… And to easy the regrets of my ancestors. Link…”
“Link…” Medli said…
“You must take me to the Earth/Wind Temple,” they both said.
They stared at each other.
“Well, Medli first,” Makar said.
Medli shook her head. “No no. You first, Makar.”
Amy giggled. “Oh, they are cute.”
Phantom groaned good naturedly. “This will go nowhere.”
“Uh…” Toon Link began. “How about… girls first?”
“Aww. Well then, very well. I guess that I will go first,” Medli said.
“But ya’ll come too, Makar, so we won’t have ta return ta Hyrule.”
“Okay. I’m curious to see the Earth Temple.”
“Then let’s go right away,” Link said, and the group began to move toward the ships only to find Ganondorf before them.
“Uh? What do you want, Ganondorf?” Phantom asked, immediately getting on guard.
“I need to talk with you,” Ganondorf said. “Follow me.” He then moved to enter the castle.
After some hesitation, the heroes followed him. Inside the castle, they moved toward the statue of the Hero of Time and descended the stairs to the basement. Soon, they joined Zelda who was surprised to see them, especially Ganondorf.
“Is there a problem?”
“Ganondorf just wants to have a chat, and it apparently includes you,” Sonic said.
So they all looked at Ganondorf.
“So, what is it?” Link asked.
Ganondorf didn’t look at them. Instead, he looked up at the light coming from the ceiling.
“I have been thinking about this curse you told me about,” he began. “As some of you may know, my country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came, the wind carried the same thing… Death. But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin.
I… coveted that wind, I suppose.”
For the first time, some of the heroes felt sympathy for Ganondorf.
Link frowned. “But when you got what you coveted… you almost destroyed it.”
“Yes… The grass died. The trees died. The animals died. The people died… The land died. I brought my lands’ death with me… and I took pleasure in doing it. When I took over Hyrule, I could have settled with it. My people would be happy. The others would eventually accept my rule. I would feel the nice breeze on my face. But instead, I destroyed the capital, I threatened to feed the Gorons to a dragon, I trapped the Zoras under ice, I left the Kokiri to suffer in a forest full of monsters, and I left my people under the claws of death in the desert. What was the point? Just the sick pleasure of feeling in power. Of making others suffer. And all that… Now I know… This is this curse’s fault, am I right?”
Everyone looked at Apple Death who nodded. “Yeah… Evil envelops your soul. An evil influence that makes you do things for the sake of being evil, nothing else.”
“And if I manage to have my wish, if I manage to bring Hyrule back and to rule over it… It will just restart all over again.”
“You mean all you are doing is just to rule Hyrule again?” Zelda asked.
“Yes. Just that. Not rule the world. Just Hyrule.”
“Why? What is the point of wanting Hyrule again? You could have literally anything else!”
“I know. And I don’t know. I guess… This is just some foolish sentimentality from an old man. But… If I’m just something’s puppet… Then continuing is not worth it. I refuse to continue. I don’t want to be a puppet of Evil anymore!”
Ganondorf suddenly faced the heroes, two swords coming out of his kimono.
“Then fight me!”
Phantom glared at Ganondorf. “You think that dying in combat will let you keep your pride? It won’t! It will make you a coward!”
“Then what can I do?! Tell me!”
“You can help us!” Toon Link shouted. “And we can help you, somehow!”
Zelda nodded. “Yes. I’m sure that we can find a way to remove your curse.”
Ganondorf looked at them in shock. Then, he laughed.
The heroes weren’t sure if he laughed because he mocked them, because he was amused, or because he snapped.
“You naive children really think that there is a way to save me?” he eventually asked.
“Yes,” Zelda simply answered.
Ganondorf silently stared at Zelda.
He rubbed his face with a hand and spoke tiredly. "Even if… if you somehow manage that… What is there left for me at the end of that?"
He turned away. "An old tyrant from a forgotten era, infamous even among those that live today. No family, no home, even my power and army are a mild consolation at best, not that I even have that now… After all this, what would I have to return to?"
No one really knew what to do nor say to that.
No one but a fearful, yet determined Zelda who took a few steps towards him.
"I can't say this is much of a reassurance but…" she said, stopping just beside him. "It’s not like it has to stay like that. You could… y'know, just start over. It will be hard, and regardless of anything it still could be a long time for you to get anyone to truly trust you, but while you can't recover what’s lost to the past…"
Then Zelda, in a daring move, reached for Ganondorf’s hand.
The Dark King didn't pull away.
Zelda smiled. "You can still build a better future, if you just let others help you along the way."
Ganondorf looked down to her and saw her faintly smiling at him.
He was about to say something when-
"HAUUGH!" Ganondorf suddenly let go of her hand and jolted violently, pulling a hand to his head and using the other to support himself against the wall.
The heroes immediately were alerted by this, the Links pulling themselves in front of Zelda with shields and swords out, Sonic and Amy at their sides and Phantom and Apple Death in the back.
"Hugh…Grrr…!" Ganondorf growled painfully. "My… head… It hurts DAMNIT!" he shouted with anger.
Everyone saw with increasing worry at how Ganondorf hunched himself.
But Apple Death noticed it was none other than the curse, fueling Ganondorf’s soul with hate and anger. Likely it didn't like him almost getting a change of heart.
She looked at Phantom, and Phantom looked back. She nodded, and Apple Death didn't lose time to approach Ganondorf.
She reached out with both of her hooves towards his soul and-
"GRAWWW!"
and there it was, what she assumed was the form of Ganondorf’s curse appeared inside her mind. The apparition looked like a tall and muscular man, with ashen gray skin and black scales covering almost all of his body. His eyes as well as his long hair looked like smoldering fire, and his forehead had a white scar in the form of a X.
The man lunged at her, but Apple Death was quicker and materialized spectral chains all around him to stop him.
Yet the man still pushed through, his form bulging against the chains as he made slower but still steady steps at her, all the while grunting and looking straight at her with so much hate and rage that felt like enough to burn the entire world to the ground.
Apple Death simply redoubled her efforts and used all her might to chain the curse down with more spectral chains. It tried to fight back, but against a serious Apple Death it wasn't long before, with a last mighty scream of rage, the curse's face, along its entire body, was sepulchred, bound under tons of spectral chains holding it back.
When Apple Death rejoined the real world, she could see how Ganondorf was now breathing heavily against the floor, everyone looking at him warily except Zelda who looked concerned.
"...What… what did you do…?" Ganondorf asked once he recovered and slowly stood up.
"Uhh,yer curse started acting up, likely cuz ya ain't supposed to be all buddy-buddy with Zelda, so Ah stepped in and helped ya calm it down. It should stay tame… for a while. Ah wasn’t kidding-you really are possessed by an unfathomably old Evil curse. It’s nothing like Ah have encountered before in terms of curses in mah career with the paranormal. "
"I… see. Thank you, then. I am feeling better. In fact…more than better. There's some sort of sudden… peace now."
"It’s not gonna last tho. I have no doubt yer curse is sooner or later breaking free from the bounds I placed it in and returning on full-force."
"You have my thanks regardless. I must take the chance to think about some things with this new state of mind, so if you excuse me."
Then, he left.
The heroes could only exchange looks.
“Ganondorf… The Evil King… A broken man…” Medli summarized. "But maybe… just maybe… with a hope of becoming whole again…"
At that, they all left except Zelda, returning to the surface.
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Last word is supposed to be "ice" here, i think.
11891001
Thanks.
Quadrant, as the "quad" implies, is only to be used when you're dividing things into exactly 4. I'll admit that I don't know off the top of my head which word to use either. Coordinate (pronounced differently than when it's used a verb)?
11891295
Coordinate, pronounced as Coordinates but singular, would be the best word for it, I think.
11891295
11891307
Thanks. I'm correcting that.
In her position, I'd have cracked my knuckles. Since, at this point, beating the snot out of actual gods is apparently just what I do.
11891336
Surprisingly, Cyclos is the first god that Phantom has faced. And again, she let the Links do the work. The closest she fought a god, or demi-god, is when she fought Discord, and a copy of Galacta Knight in Magolor's training room. Not sure if Past Eggman's God Emperor Death Egg counts.
11891366
What about that destroyer god that ghost cult worshipped from the first mario arc.
11891366
You forget Crakthulx.
She helped fight that.
11891409
11891419
Right.