//------------------------------//
// Chapter 57: The Heartless Soldier 
// Story: The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Majora's Mask 
// by Ganondorf8 
//------------------------------//

The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Majora's Mask
By Ganondorf8
May 22, 2017
Chapter 57: The Heartless Soldier.

Sometime in the past.

" Report, Spitfire!"

Spitfire bowed before her king before speaking. " I have informed the guards that they are to kill the living one when she enters the castle. According to the whispers of the Poes who linger about in the shadows, she is close to acquiring the sacred shield hidden below in the underground maze." Upon saying that, Spitfire gulped as though she believed she would be condemned for saying something that would surely anger her king, but to her surprise, he appeared to be acting rather melancholy about it. " That shield has been a royal treasure for generations, meant only for the chosen ones."

The king raised his hand to silence her. " And yet, this girl is one of those who has been chosen."

" Her!?" Spitfire exclaimed. " She is merely a commoner and pales in comparison to you, my king."

" And yet, she has achieved a task no one has ever done before, yes?"

Spitfire nodded. " Well, yes, but I still don't--"

" This girl possesses powers the likes of which none have ever seen before." The king said. " To doubt that she is of the chosen is a fools gambit. Besides, you know that no one who once lived can wield that shield as it has been imbued with the very light, that which we of the undead cannot tolerate. Long ago, I resigned to the fate that the sacred shield would be claimed by a chosen who was destined to end our suffering should our eternal rest be disturbed."

" You never mentioned anything like this before."

" It was something that has been passed through the Royal Family of Ikana for generations."

Spitfire became excited. " If this living one is the chosen one, then why have you commanded us to attack her? Should she not be given an audience with you, my king? Surely, one with her powers would be able to bring the light to a land that once cherished it?" The king said nothing in response prompting her to take things up a notch. " We've all been wondering why we suddenly awoke from eternal bliss after so long and so far no one has come up with an answer. Even our enemies, the Garo, have returned and are already gathering intelligence as they did in the past."

" She must be killed!"

" But why?"

" Do not question me!"

" Forgive me, my king."

" The Garo are indeed a concern as they could share their intelligence with the living one were she to defeat them." The king said. " That means our defences will be made useless unless she chooses not to believe them." He then began talking to himself. " If she does reach my throne room, I hope she can defeat me and free my soul from being trapped in this limbo. My kingdom must never be allowed to return after such atrocities were made all because we couldn't understand why it happened. We had our chance and squandered it so now we no longer have the right to exist." Noticing that Spitfire was still looking at him, the king coughed before uttering one word: " Ahem!"

Spitfire saluted in response. " Yes, my king?"

" Which of my guards are currently on patrol?"

" There is the Red Wizzrobe guarding the right-hand side of the castle." Spitfire answered. " The Poes who haunt the halls are also willing to defend the castle provided they are allowed to do so at their own discretion. My only concern involves those dancers of yours who became nothing but walking zombies."

" What about them?"

" They are not guards, my king."

" The ReDeads no longer recall what they once were."

Spitfire sighed before continuing. " Were they to be shown a symbol that resonates with them, they are likely to perform their dances as opposed to guarding. The Garo have most likely informed the living one about this and she will have no trouble getting through some of the chambers." She looked at her king to see if he had grown angry over how she was questioning him again, but like before, he didn't budge making her wonder if he was allowing her to expressed her grievances. " Unfortunately, we don't have any other guards available to defend the castle other than Fleetfoot and myself yet our duty is to protect you."

" Then so be it."

" What do you mean, my king?"

" The current guards will have to do."

" It sounds like you want the girl to reach you."

The king smiled. " I cannot confirm or deny that, Spitfire, but as my loyal servant, you shall not question my methods. I need you and Fleetfoot to go back out and observe the living one, and properly this time since I know you did not do this and instead came back here upon informing the guards of the girl's eventual arrival. I know your duty is to protect me but I can take care of myself! My skills far outweigh those of both you and Fleetfoot! Now go! Only return when you have finished observing her."

Spitfire bowed slightly before turning around and walking towards the entrance of the throne room. In her mind--she couldn't afford to mumble under her breath in case the king could hear what she was saying--she couldn't understand why the king wasn't taking things seriously. She and Fleetfoot were the elite guards and it was their duty to protect him despite his protests against this. Their effectiveness in fulfilling their duties would prove challenging if they were to be sent away to observe someone who had been chosen by destiny to fulfill a great purpose according to what Spitfire understood after her audience.

When she stepped outside of the throne room, Fleetfoot was there, eager to receive her new orders. " Well, Spitfire? What did the king say? Are we to protect him like we're supposed to or are we to do something else?"

" We are to observe the living one when she arrives." Spitfire answered.

Fleetfoot was surprised. " Really? Well, if that's what the king wants us to do then we must obey."

" Even though we should remain here and protect him?"

" Never question the king."

" I know that, Fleetfoot!"

" This living one must be something if she was able to make it through the underground." Fleetfoot said. " Those Gibdo down there can easily rend anything to pieces in mere moments--we know as we lost so many good soldiers down there--so anyone who managed to survive is someone we can't allow to reach the king. The other guards are already in place and are ready to kill her upon sight."

" I wonder..."

Fleetfoot sighed. " You know we can't question the king as I said. We must carry out his commands without question even if they don't make much sense. Anyway, we should go to one of the rooms that the living one must past through and see what kind of person we're up against." She began moving only to turn around and notice that Spitfire wasn't moving prompting her to grab Spitfire's arm and began pulling her. " Come on, Spitfire! We must complete our task as the king wishes! Don't make me have to drag you all the way there as you know how I feel about not using my sword arm as intended.





Facing a ReDead was tough enough since it could paralyze you on the spot before latching onto you and draining away your life energy in mere moments, but facing four of them at the same time was practically a death sentence as your chances of survival were slim. One could paralyze while the other three would proceed to have their fill of life energy and there was nothing you could do to stop them other than reminisce over how you ended up being consumed by the undead. Had I entered the room while wearing the Captain's Hat or one of my other masks that resonated with the ReDead, I would have easily waltzed past them without having to bat an eyelid.

Unfortunately, I took off said mask before coming in here and now I was staring death straight in the face. Even if I had the most powerful sword imaginable--I didn't and I really needed to get around to acquiring it--it would do nothing if I were paralyzed several times over all because of their cursed gaze. No wonder no one was able to survive down below in the underground tunnels. The Gibdo were of a similar mindset to the ReDead in that they could paralyze, latch onto, and drain the life energy out of their victims in the same vain though they were seen as far more dangerous.

The ReDead began shuffling towards me upon seeing as an enemy and my body was frozen on the spot instantly as their gazes bore down on me. I tried to fight back using my shield to perhaps deflect their gaze but it didn't work and they continued to slowly make their way over to me. Every time I would regain movement, I would lose it again upon being paralyzed and whenever I had a brief moment to make a move, I got paralyzed and feared that it would be my last one before death. If there was one surprising moment in all of this, it would be the fact that Princess Twilight was unaffected by their gaze.

Most elements, environments, and other magical--and non-magical--afflictions I felt had no effect on Her Highness other than the rare instance where she too would be in the same boat, but most of the time she could just go about her business while I had to endure incredible hardship before either succeeding or wanting to run away. I knew it wasn't her fault that she possessed so many immunities yet sometimes I felt that perhaps things would have gone a lot better had I been a fairy. That way, I could ignore all of those afflictions yet it would prove difficult to fight monsters if I only had a tiny body.

When I got paralyzed for about the eighth time--I had since lost track of how many times it actually had been--I had slowly inched my way backwards towards the door in the hopes of being able to open it and escape so that I could put on one of my masks, but the ReDead were wise to my plan and ensured that I couldn't do anything as they continued to paralyze me one after another until they could latch on and drain me. Fortunately, it turned out that Princess Twilight could also open doors. When it looked like I would surely die, she reached out with her hand, touched the door, and it slid open allowing us both to escape.

Unlike most other doors we had seen throughout our journey, the doors inside the Castle of Ikana were the kind that slid open before sliding back into place. Had the doors here featured doorknobs instead, I doubted Her Highness would have been able to open it, and I would currently be having my life energy drained. On the other side, I began breathing heavily as a result of having cheated death yet again--I wasn't fond of doing it mind you--and upon regaining my composure, I sat down, buried my head into my knees, and mumbled silently to myself, Princess Twilight respectfully giving me some much needed space.

After I had finished with my little moment, I lifted up my head and pressed my ear against the door. " I don't hear them on the other side." I pulled my ear away from the door and got back onto my feet. " Either they moved back to where they were before or are waiting for us to go back in there and resume paralyzing me."

" I'm going to say that the former is what happened." Twilight said.

" Now you understand how I feel about dealing with the undead."

Princess Twilight nodded. " Neither of us knew those creatures were waiting on the other side of the door so you can't be faulted for taking off your mask. If I hadn't been able to open the door, we'd still be stuck in there and you... well... I don't need to explain any further."

I shook my head. " I'd rather not think about THAT alternative."

" I am surprised that I could open doors at all considering you've been doing it this entire time."

" Just goes to show you what you're capable of under extreme stress."

" In any case, we still need to keep going if we're to reach the throne room."

I nodded as I took out the Captain's Hat and placed it on my face. " We know that there is something that needs to be destroyed using the Powder Keg and we have one on hand so there's no need to suddenly retreat and come back here later." I breathed a sigh of relief knowing I had a Powder Keg on me. " I'm going to assume that we need it to open the way to the throne room but I'm curious as to the purpose of that one sun block we saw back at the entrance."

" I've been thinking about it myself." Twilight said. " The throne room could be behind that block and since light is required to remove it, it can be viewed as the perfect means of defense as no one else would come along with the necessary items with which to remove it."

" How do you suppose Spitfire and Fleetfoot got past it?"

" As servants to the king, I suspect they know of alternative paths."

" Hopefully, we won't need to use one of those."

Opening the door, I went back into the room with the ReDeads and they immediately began dancing. My heart pounded against my chest for a few moments before quickly calming down upon realizing that everything was okay. It still felt weird seeing them dance around despite being undead monsters but at least I could now walk past them and continue on with my journey. One ReDead in particular struck Princess Twilight as being odd and she insisted on showing this to me. While I wanted to move on after almost getting killed, Her Highness was insistent on me taking a closer look.

This particular ReDead had gotten down onto its hands and was kicking its legs in conjunction with flailing about its arms without losing its balance, and I could swear that it was closing its eyes every now and again along with sticking out what constituted as a tongue. I thought it was disturbing but when Princess Twilight mentioned that the dance the ReDead was doing was what she had done during the Fall Formal the previous year, I couldn't help but chuckle despite my reservations towards that event. I was a horrible person when it happened so my experience wasn't as pleasant. Still, I could imagine Her Highness dancing like that.

Walking past the ReDeads and up the stairs to the next floor, I began contemplating something that suddenly popped into my mind when Her Highness showed me the ReDead dancing in the manner she had done. It must have been difficult for her when she first came to the world I now called home. After all, she had only known the magic filled world of Equestria and believed it would be a similar experience, but instead she practically had to re-learn everything, including how to walk as going from four legs to two would do that to you. I'll even bet she walked into a door or two before learning how to use hands.

Me? I went through a similar experience though my thought-process was hatred rather than shock. When I first entered the world of humans, I struggled to get used to having two legs and no magic--even now I wonder where I got those clothes from--and stumbled about as Princess Twilight must have surely done, yet my hatred towards Princess Celestia was what fueled my desire to want to get adjusted to my new form and subjugate the people under my thumb. Even when walking into doors, slipping on ice, and even wanting to eat hay out of a yearn for back home, my hatred kept me going.

Now, I've gotten so used to it that I fear I've forgotten how to be a pony, and a part of me is afraid that I'll never be able to experience it again. I supposed there will come a time where I must return to Equestria for something--probably to get a new magic journal for instance--and I'd need to quickly get reacquainted with being a pony but then many ponies would question me endlessly, wondering where I've been for so long, and even my own family would ask questions. Until absolutely necessary, I intended on remaining as a human--I still feared being sent to the desolate wastes because of stealing an important artefact.

The next door took me back outside where I immediately noticed that the floor at the end of the path looked like it had given way slightly. No doubt that this was the place that needed to be destroyed with the Powder Keg. Judging from the approximate location of where we were, blowing up this section would shine light down into the entrance room below, and I could remove the sun block and gain access to whatever lurked behind it. And, so long as I wore the Captain's Hat--or any other appropriate mask--I wouldn't be attacked by the ReDeads yet I wondered if this unusual immunity would apply to the king himself.

Princess Twilight then alerted me to something or someone in front of us who was hiding underneath an old stone slab that overlooked the weakened floor. It took me a moment to recognize Fleetfoot yet something didn't seem quite right. " You were able to defeat the Red Wizzrobe!? Next to the elite guard, there was no one else that powerful, and here you are having bested him without even breaking a sweat."

" Why are you hiding under there?" I asked as I took a step forward.

Fleetfoot aimed her sword at me. " Stay where you are!"

" You don't want me to come over to you?"

" I'd love nothing more than to teach you a lesson, but, the thing is, I'm not very comfortable in the sunset." Fleetfoot answered. I squinted my eyes in hopes of getting a better look at her and from what I could see, she was definitely nervous about being outside where the sun was blazing even as it was settling down for the night. " This should have been an epic battle between warriors but it looks like I got shafted without even realizing it until I got up here."

" Where is Spitfire?"

" How do you know her name?"

" I also know that you're Fleetfoot."

" Are you psychic or something?"

I shook my head. " I heard you two mention your names when I encountered you earlier in the castle." Now that Fleetfoot had mentioned it, Spitfire was nowhere to be seen, and my assumption was that they were never apart. According to Princess Twilight, in Equestria, one could never be seen without the other, yet did that apply here in Termina despite some slight similarities? " I thought Spitfire would be here since she appears to be your superior judging from how you two acted."

Fleetfoot was shocked to say the least. " What!? Me!? Being her underling!? You've got to be kidding me! I am far superior to Spitfire even though she thinks she is better, but let me tell you that my swordsmanship skills are superior to even that of our king, and that makes me the most feared swordsman in all of Ikana!" She then noticed I was taking small steps towards her and she raised her weapon again. " I said don't move! Why is such a simple task so difficult for someone to follow?" In her tirade, Fleetfoot dropped her sword and I took advantage by walking forward but she quickly picked it up only to notice how close I really was. " Huh?"

I could tell she was looking at me funny and I wanted her to stop. " Um... Why are you staring at me?"

" Captain Keeta!" Fleetfoot announced. " Boy am I glad to see you! I thought that was you who I saw earlier."

I couldn't believe it! She actually thought that I was Captain Keeta himself? I had no idea how Fleetfoot could come to such a daffy conclusion since I was clearly flesh rather than bones and he was clearly much taller, but perhaps her confusion stemmed from the fact that I was wearing the Captain's Hat on my face. Captain Keeta had told me that anyone who once served under him would recognize his symbol of authority yet I didn't think an elite guard like Fleetfoot would mistake me for him. Perhaps the same was true with Spitfire and the king himself though I'd need to meet him so I could test such a theory.

While a part of me felt a little mischievous and wanting to see how long I could drag this out, the serious side of me knew that I needed to progress and that meant talking to her by asking the correct questions, and there was one in particular that was now weighing on my mind. Unlike other undead, Keeta wasn't affected by the light since his remains were located in the graveyard which was pretty out in the open, yet other denizens might not appreciate being in the light. If this were true, would Fleetfoot reveal such a thing to me or would she see me as an imposter even though I was.

" I... um... came here to check on the king."

" You don't need to worry about him."

" Um... Are you and Spitfire guarding him?"

Fleetfoot sighed. " The king ordered us to observe a living one who was said to be infiltrating the castle, but she insisted on going back to him and ensuring his protection was adequate even though he issued her a direct command. Now I'm here on my own waiting for some girl to show up and so far no such person has shown up." She took a closer look at me to make sure that I was who she thought I was before putting her sword away. " If anyone can find that living one, it's you, Captain Keeta. I know you were humiliated that one time in battle but you can easily get over that."

" Where is the throne room?"

" You want to know where that is?" Fleetfoot asked. " You should know where it is, Captain Keeta. It's hidden behind that strange block with the sun insignia on it. The king ordered it to be placed there so as to prevent anyone other than the chosen one from gaining access to the throne room."

" Chosen one?"

Fleetfoot nodded. " The king has been mumbling about something regarding a chosen who is said to acquire the sacred shield from the underground, helped to ease the lingering regrets of the Gibdos down there, and is to go to the temple in order to seal it up again. None of us believe his words are true which may explain why he often mumbles such things to himself, but when you have good ears like I do, you can hear anything." Her eyes then saw the shield on my back and she immediately became curious. " Say... that's a pretty nice shield you have there, Captain Keeta. It looks a lot like the one the king hid down in the underground ages ago."

I looked behind my back nervously at the shield Fleetfoot was talking about. " Um... What about it?"

" I'm sure it looks like the shield." Fleetfoot answered. " In fact, I know it's the..." It dawned on her that I wasn't the real Captain Keeta and her expression immediately changed from happiness to anger. " You... You tricked me! You're not the real Captain Keeta! Ugh! How could I be so stupid to not realize that you were wearing his mask." It occurred to her at that moment that she recognized what was on my face and recoiled slightly. " No one has ever been able to claim his mask before. Could it be? Is it possible? Are you the chosen one our king had said would come?" She shook her head. " No... No... You couldn't possibly be the chosen one."

" Why can't you tolerate the light?"

" Huh?"

" You heard me!"

" Like I'm going to tell you that." Fleetfoot said. " I'd have to be foolish as to say that some of us undead are extremely prone to the light hence why we must remain in the darkness or else become nothing but spirits were the light to strike us down."

It took her a few moments to realize that she had unintentionally revealed something she shouldn't have. As a result, Fleetfoot disappeared into the ground, but not before telling me to come to the throne room so that the king would end my life at the end of his blade. I dropped to my knees and breathed several times before soaking up what I had learned. The king was waiting for a chosen one to appear, and judging from what Fleetfoot had to say, the chosen one was me since I had the Mirror Shield and had survived the underground maze by helping the Gibdo with their regrets.

She also unintentionally reaffirmed what that one Garo said about the weakness of the king though I shouldn't have been surprised by that. For whatever reason, the undead were extremely vulnerable to the light, and whenever it came to dealing with it, they would cower in fear and attempt to blot out the light by using darkness which is what they both fed on and relied on for their power. Not all monsters hated the light... Only the undead and other monsters that lived in the darkness couldn't stand it. I then had a sinking feeling Fleetfoot was going to make sure I lived to regret taking advantage of her confusion even though she did walk right into it.

Walking over to where the indent in the ground was, I began stomping it with my foot to see if anything would happen, and sure enough, small cracks appeared indicating that it had fallen into decay for quite some time. No doubt it would crumble to dust upon use of the Powder Keg but I thought maybe I could loosen it by myself without needing to waste my powerful explosive. I stomped my foot down on the loose ground several more times and while more cracks appeared, it was obvious that using my foot would only be a waste of time. I needed to blow open a hole in the ceiling now and not later.

Princess Twilight flopped down on my hat. " We were lucky that Fleetfoot gave us the information that she did."

" I do feel bad for unintentionally tricking her."

" You shouldn't since technically you've been tricking most people across Termina."

I knew what Her Highness was getting at. " That's because I needed to carry on their lives so that their respective people could be saved though I'm not sure if that was the case with the Deku Scrub I become."

" I know but I was just saying..."

I nodded. " In those incidents, I tricked the Deku, Gorons, and Zora but for the right reasons, and with the latter two tribes, if they had found out that Darmani and Mikau had been killed in their respective fashions, no doubt they would have been devastated and their morale in this dismal world would really have been shot. With Fleetfoot, I feel bad for having tricked her despite knowing that she's the enemy."

" You've got a good heart, Sunset."

" Maybe too good?"

Princess Twilight shook her head. " It shows that you've come so far ever since you accepted friendship into your heart. True, you have personal experience from your time as being both a bully and a monster, yet you teach others not to fall into the same trap. Starlight has been doing something similar to that back in Equestria but she tends to struggle with some of my more simple friendship lessons. Unlike her, you were able to complete the lessons without much trouble but you did have to rely on your own intuition rather than having me guiding you along the way."

" Speaking of Starlight... I wonder what she's thinking about right now."

" That was surprising."

" She's up there on the Clock Tower, laughing at how all of her pranks have played out, yet I sometimes wonder if she shows any remorse for what she's done." I said. " I know the answer to that is practically zero but I think she might be realizing that what she's done has gone way too far for a common prank."

" I've been thinking about that."

" And?"

" Starlight is a powerful unicorn." Twilight answered. " In fact, her magic at times even exceeds my own and I'm an alicorn, but I think she might have an understanding as to what she is doing and has realized that she needs to stop before its too late for this world." Her Highness then paused for a moment and something began sinking in before she sighed and continued talking. " Then again, Starlight has used questionable methods with which to solve a problem, methods that resonate with the thought of using power. If that aspect of her personality was retained in this version of her, I don't think she cares about her actions."

I interrupted her with a sudden exclamation. " Starlight is stronger than you!?"

Princess Twilight nodded. " Um... Yes?"

I shook my head in disbelief. " And I was taught by Princess Celestia that alicorns were supposed to be the strongest ponies in terms of using magic. Guess Starlight must be an exception to the rule if her magic was able to exceed what you can do, and you yourself have dedicated your life to studying magic so that you could be the best at it like Starswirl the Bearded." I knew my words were hurtful but then Her Highness had experience much harsher criticism. " Don't about it, Twilight. I ended up getting overshadowed by you and while it annoyed me initially when you followed me, I grew to accept it because you stuck to it while I chose to take an easy path."

" At least you show maturity about it."

" And you don't?"

Princess Twilight looked the other way and I knew nothing I say would get her to answer my question. This was a side of her I didn't know much about and it felt pleasant to see because it showed that despite being an alicorn, she was just as capable of having flaws like anyone else, and had to learn to accept them as part of who she was. While I wished some of my flaws no longer held me down--temper being my biggest problem--others I've accepted as being part of my personality that others have learned to appreciate because they've come to expect it from me.

Still, I was surprised that Starlight was much more powerful than appearances suggested, but I supposed it was something I should have expected given that she had the unique ability to remove a pony's cutie mark just by using an incantation along with a made up relic that was simply a stick she found. Removing cutie marks was something not even Celestia herself knew was possible so it never came up when I was her student but even if it had, I probably would have tried using it to get my way and to move closer to ascension. Just thinking of what it must have been like for the ponies who had to give theirs up sent shivers down my spine.

Turning my attention towards the indent, I took off the Captain's Hat, switched it with the Goron Mask, placed it on my face, and I began stumbling about as my body shimmered from human to Goron--I was glad there was a fence otherwise I would have dropped down and either would have broken something or lost my life. When I had finished changing I took out my Powder Keg, carefully placed it down on the indent, and stood back knowing that the explosive had a short fuse--I didn't want to get caught in the explosion. As the fuse slowly ticked away, I imagined what was awaiting me upon reaching the throne room.

I had hoped that the king would at least see to reason and not want to fight me just because I had entered his castle without permission, but deep down I knew that reasoning with someone who possessed a lust for power was impossible. The King of Ikana was determined to restore the once ancient kingdom back to its former glory despite it being nothing more than a desolate wasteland--how ironic. Nothing could reverse such decay as it had been neglected for far too long yet he needed to know this the hard way. A part of me was curious about how this land once looked during its glory days.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

Night of the Second Day - 36 Hours Remain.

When the Powder Keg exploded, not only had the resulting explosion created a hole in the floor, the howling of the wolf indicated that nightfall had come. I needed to act fast as there was no telling how long it would take me to knock some sense into the king. Before jumping down, I knew there were ReDeads waiting for me below and to jump down there without having the proper mask on was suicide as they would drain my life energy. Grabbing my face, I took off the Goron Mask to become human, flipped my hair back, put my mask away, and switched over to the Captain's Hat before putting it on.

I also concluded that the only way onward was to drop down through the hole rather than go back the way I came--I could have jumped down to the ground below and entered through the main entrance but I wanted the element of surprise on my side. Slinging the Mirror Shield off of my back and onto my arm hoping that the ReDeads would be vulnerable to the light and doing some last minute breathing exercises, I jumped into the hole, landing in-between all four ReDeads who began dancing instantly. I had no idea how I didn't sustain any damage from my jump but I wasn't about to complain considering my current position.

Raising the Mirror Shield, the light that shone from it struck the sun block causing it to disappear, but when I slun my shield onto my back, the light reflected off a ReDead destroying it instantly and leaving behind some rupees. My first instinct was to prepare an adequate defence yet they continued dancing as though nothing had happened. Grabbing the rupees the one ReDead had left, I chose to ignore the rest--I didn't need additional money for the moment--and walked down the passage where it suddenly turned dark. I could hear wailing sounds all around me, a sign that the undead were lingering about and were looking to feast on my life energy.

The path eventually ended at another door yet pots lining up on either side of it told me that the throne room was in the next chamber. " Well... This is it! We made it to the throne room despite some fierce opposition."

" You should take off the Captain's Hat, Sunset, as you don't need it."

" Actually... I want to try something."

" What did you have in mind?"

" Captain Keeta served the king, correct?" I asked. Princess Twilight nodded and I smiled in return. " I doubt that this will work since the king is likely to be less susceptible to being tricked compared with Fleetfoot, but I want to see how he would react to seeing the Captain's Hat on my face. He might think I'm Captain Keeta and perhaps talk with me instead of wanting to fight or it might blow up in my face. Either way, I want to try at least once."

Princess Twilight smiled. " You should make such an attempt at the earliest opportunity."

" If I can avoid any unnecessary fighting, I'll go ahead and do so."

" Before going inside, you should smash those pots so that you can stock up on supplies."

As I picked up and smashed the pots, a wild idea came to mind. " I was thinking of trying some other masks when encountering the king and his guards. Before you go and say that I'm being reckless, Twilight, hear me out. I need to use some of my non-transforming masks so that they can get some love rather than just abandon them after going to great lengths to get them to begin with."

" Well... So long as you go with the more serious masks."

" I was thinking of using the Bunny Hood, the Blast Mask, and the Bremen Mask."

" The first one should definitely prove useful as it will give you the speed necessary to avoid attacks." Twilight said. " I'm actually surprised that you never used it before despite having gotten it quite some time ago. Either you felt wearing the Bunny Hood would look silly given your current attire or you wanted to prove your resolve by not being augmented by the power contained within the hood."

I blinked a couple of times when Her Highness mentioned augmented. I mean, I knew what the word meant. It's just that she used it in such an awkward manner that I couldn't help but react like that. And yet, she was right in that I didn't feel the need to use it--that first reason was completely false. " Okay... and your thoughts on the other two?"

" The Blast Mask is risky but should catch them by surprise."

" And the other?"

Princess Twilight just stared at me for a few moments before answering. " Why would you want to use a mask that corrals small animals into following you? I doubt it would be useful against the strongest undead we've seen so far."

" You never know."

" I hope you're joking, Sunset."

I shook my head and Princess Twilight was simply stunned by my resolve. I didn't understand why I felt the need to want to use the Bremen Mask against Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and the king, but it felt right to want to use it. In Her Highness' eyes, I was coming off as someone who wasn't taking things seriously, yet that wasn't true at all. I had every intention of trying to resolve things without fighting but I needed some alternative methods to use that could hopefully avert a battle. My heart hoped for a peaceful resolution yet my head was telling me that I should prepare for the worst.

Once I felt I was ready, I opened the door and entered a large chamber that featured two windows, pillars at each corner of the room, a lush yet worn-out carpet that went from the entrance to the back of the room, and culminating at the end was the throne itself. Compared with everything else in the case, it looked remarkably intact as though someone had gone to a lot of trouble keeping in good condition. I could sense darkness all around me, a sign that I was now at the heart of everything I had endured thus far. There was no turning back now otherwise my efforts would have meant nothing.

Gulping, I began walking forward until I stopped upon seeing Spitfire and Fleetfoot standing before me. Both of them had either suddenly materialized out of nowhere or had been waiting in the shadows for me to approach. No doubt Fleetfoot was still seething over revealing certain information she shouldn't have but I couldn't allow that to be a distraction. Spitfire kept a close eye of my every move as though she didn't want me to get anywhere near the throne, but then both of them suddenly got down onto one knee and I gulped in response upon seeing the king himself sit down on his throne.

Much like Spitfire and Fleetfoot, he appeared from either materializing or from the shadows, yet unlike them he wasn't a zombie which struck me as odd. Instead, he was a skeleton wearing royal regalia--he bore a slight resemblance to a Stalfos much to my extreme displeasure--though this didn't seem to faze him given how his entourage knelt before him. I couldn't recognize anyone from either Equestria, Canterlot High, or Crystal Prep whenever I looked upon the king's face so I assumed that this was the real version and not someone from my world portraying him. And then there were those eyes... small... beady... yet filled with a powerful darkness.

" So... You are the one I've heard so much about."

" I guess so." I said.

" Such a modest answer that belies a hidden truth."

" What do you mean?"

The king laughed under his breath. " All will be revealed to you in due time, but first, allow me to introduce myself."

Spitfire took immediate offence to this. " What!? My king!? Why would you reveal your name to this living one!? She doesn't deserve to know such a thing as she is nothing more than a common girl who somehow made it all the way here without much trouble."

" Silence!"

" But..."

The king slammed his fist down onto the arm of the throne and Spitfire immediately went silent. " I told you before to never question my actions, Spitfire. Even now, your standing with me has reached a low point because you chose to disobey my command. You were to observe this one and instead you came back here in order to protect me, yet I never wanted such protection as you know I can take care of myself." He turned towards Fleetfoot, a disapproving expression clearly on his face. " And you, Fleetfoot... You were so easily deceived that you gave out precious information this living one has used to learn about my ambition."

Fleetfoot lowered her head in shame and looked at me with extreme anger. " I did not mean to reveal such important information, my king. I thought she was Captain Keeta and tricked me into revealing your innermost musings." Her expression changed to a gasp upon realizing that she had blurted out the fact that she had been able to hear the king talking quietly and lowered her head even further. " I did not mean to listen in to your private matters, my king."

The king was clearly unamused. " You shall be punished for listening to that which did not concern you, Fleetfoot, but perhaps you can redeem yourself shortly by dealing with our most esteemed guest. Now then... Allow me to introduce myself. I am Igos du Ikana, the last ruler of the Ikana Kingdom before it was destroyed as a result of circumstances beyond its control. I have heard that you have succeeded in doing the one thing no one has ever done before, and that is appease the Gibdo that lurk underground."

" And what if I did?" I asked.

Igos snickered. " Do not attempt to hide the truth from me. I can see the sacred shield that I hid down there in an age long forgotten on your back. That alone is proof that you appeased the Gibdo of their regrets as there was no other means of acquiring it from that accursed underground. You have my respect for having done what others failed to do yet you have also committed a terrible sin that must be rectified before it becomes too problematic."

" What do you mean?"

" You brought something into this land."

" Like what?"

" Light."

I was stunned slightly by this revelation though I suspected it would be that. " The light is a guiding force for me though it took me a while to be worthy of it. I would go into details as to the meaning behind my words but that's a bit personal. In any case, I came here hopefully to speak with you without having to fight." As I spoke, the windows suddenly got covered in drapes, plunging the throne room into darkness but I couldn't allow that to intimidate me. " You and the rest of the undead shouldn't be here."

Igos slammed both fists before lurching forward. " Such insolence from one like yourself! You make such a claim when in fact you have done much worse? Are you such a hypocrite that you neglect your own actions? Fool! You have brought the unthinkable into a land as dark as Ikana. My servants have fallen namelessly before the light that guides you, the light which blinds those who are susceptible to it, weakened by it, and cower at the mere mentioning of it! Had you not brought that accursed power here then you would be dead by now and my ambitions could continue unabaded."

" Your plan to revive this kingdom is nothing short of insane!"

" What!?"

" I don't know what happened to your kingdom long ago nor do I understand fully what you intend on doing now." I said. " But what I do know is that you can't be allowed to succeed in something that would only cause suffering to a world that is already on the brink."

" Then it shows you are ignorant." Igos said. " However... You shall see with your own eyes... That the darkness is one that isn't so easy to destroy. First, I shall test you to see if you are worthy enough to face me in the heat of battle itself!"

He snapped his bony fingers prompting both Spitfire and Fleetfoot to stand up, draw their swords, and advance towards me. My efforts in trying to resolve the situation through diplomacy had failed so now I had no other choice but to fight against the elite guards. Fleetfoot managed to reach me first and swung her sword erratically because she felt humiliated over being tricked yet each blow didn't find its mark resulting in Spitfire having to take the initiative and swing her sword appropriately. I managed to bring out my Mirror Shield just as her blade came swinging down, sparks flew upon sword crashing against shield, Fleetfoot clearly showing annoyance over being upstaged.

" Stand aside, Spitfire!" Fleetfoot said. " This one is mine!"

" We have to work together!" Spitfire said.

" This living one must pay for humiliating me in front of the king!"

" She will suffer, yes, but you must remain focused otherwise the battle will go against us."

" Like how you were focused on carrying out the king's orders?"

Spitfire turned away from Fleetfoot in disgust. " I had to protect him even if he didn't want it because that's our job as his elite guard. His order, while absolute, was also foolish in that he left himself vulnerable to the likes of this living flesh who may or may not be special. While our king is more powerful than both of us combined, he cannot be forced to fight battles we can surely do ourselves. Now come! Let us deal with this girl together!"

Fleetfoot pushed Spitfire out of the way. " Not a chance! The girl is mine and you won't get in the way."

Already the two of them were bickering over me and while that meant I could easily deal with them more easily, it also made them more unpredictable with their actions. Looking up at the curtains that had since covered the windows, I recalled what the one Garo said about having to burn away that which disrupted the light. It took me a second to realize that it was referring to fire and how I needed to use it to burn the curtains so that light would shine in here. Fortunately, I had plenty of arrows along with enough magic, but I needed enough space otherwise I would easily get pinned down by Spitfire and Fleetfoot.

Knowing that the curtain closest to the entrance to the throne room was too difficult at the moment since the guards were practically on top of me, I ran past them--I was much faster than they were--took out the Hero's Bow, readied a Fire Arrow, and stood below the other curtain before firing at it. Upon striking the curtain, it immediately burned away exposing the room to the light though it was restricted to a small square but hopefully it would be enough. I suspected that Spitfire and Fleetfoot needed to be pushed into the light in order for them to be defeated and that meant getting up close and personal.

Before I could do anything, Igos suddenly got up off his throne and looked directly at me. " Ohhh! Keeta! Is it not Captain Keeta? I was wondering what happened to you after you were defeated in battle. Rumours say you were so ashamed that you never fought again, yet here you are once again ready to serve your king."

" Um..." I said.

" What's wrong, Keeta? Why do you show hesitation?"

" Um..."

" Igos then noticed what was wrong. " Wait! You are indeed Captain Keeta... But you're so... T-tiny!" A sudden silence than echoed throughout the throne before Igos came to the conclusion that he had almost been duped by my unintentional deception. " I was nearly fooled by you unlike Fleetfoot here who was so gullible that she believed your deception without even realizing it. I will not be fooled so easily unlike those who swore their servitude towards me."

While his reaction towards what happened was comical, it ultimately meant nothing as he was still determined to see me dead. Knowing that there was no reason to continue wearing the Captain's Hat, I took it off, put it away, and took out the Blast Mask in hopes I could use it to damage Spitfire and Fleetfoot thereby pushing them into the sunlight. In hindsight, using this mask wouldn't work either as they could easily move far enough away to avoid the blast radius and I would be taking damage every time not to mention. Not only that but I'd have to wait for a couple of minutes before using the mask to cause an explosion again.

Fleetfoot, whose anger had risen even further as a result of what Igos said, performed a jump attack that knocked me down onto my butt, and when I got back onto my feet after avoiding her thrusting her sword into the ground, she swung at me repeatedly, forcing me to use my shield to deflect her blows. She continued swinging away, each blow grew stronger and stronger, and I noticed she was forcing me towards Igos who merely watched with amusement. Fleetfoot pushed me close enough to the king that he responded by kicking me so hard, I landed on the other side of the room.

Getting back up, it was obvious that Igos couldn't be approached as he didn't see me as being worthy. Luckily, he had kicked me to where the other window was so I quickly fired a Fire Arrow at the curtain, burning it to ashes allowing another patch of light to shine down into the throne room, and it caused Igos more discomfort. Spitfire and Fleetfoot then retreated backwards to avoid knowing what I had done and while it meant having two chances at luring them towards the light, they weren't exactly going to follow me unless they were coerced into doing so.

" The living one has brought light into this room!" Fleetfoot exclaimed.

" That's why we should have attacked her together." Spitfire said.

" I told you that she is mine!"

Spitfire sighed. " You're allowing your anger over your humiliation to blind you to what's going on around you. Maybe you should fall back and allow me the chance to defeat her in the name of our king and the kingdom? My calm demeanour will keep her occupied."

Fleetfoot pushed her aside again. " My honour is at stake, Spitfire! I must restore it!"

Spitfire rubbed the bridge of her nose. " While that was a noble sentiment, Fleetfoot, you should know that you're on bad terms with the king right now. If you were to be defeated all because you couldn't control that anger of yours, you would be doing a great disservice to he who commands us."

" Me!? Bad terms!? What about you?"

" Whatever are you on about?"

" You disobeyed the king by going back to protect him when he said not to."

Spitfire pushed Fleetfoot this time. " That's because I was performing my duty whereas you shirked yours! The king will forgive me for disobeying him because this was the very reason why he needed protecting. If both of us fall in battle against this girl, he will be forced to fight her without us being there to back him up. My actions were noble while yours were only to an extent."

Both of them then began bickering back and forth leaving me standing there wondering what exactly was going on. When I initially encountered them in the castle, they were working well together despite one or two slight hiccups yet now they were on the verge of fighting each other. No doubt the king wasn't thrilled about seeing such a display but I couldn't afford to focus on him right now. At the very least, I had a free moment to plan out my next move. Fleetfoot's attacks weren't all that powerful since she was determined to cut me down and therefore wasn't using her full strength while Spitfire remained unknown since she had yet to do anything.

I needed to get both of them to stand in either one of the squares of sunlight to defeat them. Since they were both zombies--and by slight extension ReDeads--being basked in the light would defeat them but that would prove challenging since they might ignore me completely and choose to fight each other. I then thought that perhaps I could shine light onto them using the Mirror Shield and reflect light that way yet their shields could easily deflect it. Before I could come up with another idea, Spitfire swung her sword at me, prompting me to raise my shield in response following by crossing swords with her.

Unlike Fleetfoot, Spitfire was much more refined with her sword strikes, and both of us ended up parrying each other's blows. We began moving around the room, our swords clanging against one another every other second yet neither of us would budge an inch. Eventually, Spitfire's experience would overwhelm me and she started striking me in the stomach before sending me flying with a upward slice, and I landed a short distance away. I got back onto my feet only to get struck down by her again, falling flat on my stomach, and forced to roll along the ground to safety before I could get back up again.

When I got up, I raised my shield just as Spitfire's sword came crashing down on me again. If this was how strong she was, I could only begin to imagine how strong Igos was by comparison, and the diagnosis was against me on all fronts. I finally found a break when her sword recoiled off my shield in an awkward manner and I took advantage by swinging my sword, striking her stomach, only to discover that my blow did absolutely nothing. Was it because she was a zombie that my sword had no effect? Or was my sword just not powerful enough and needed to be upgraded?

Either way, Spitfire struck me again, causing me to land on my butt... again. Before I could get up, she aimed her sword at my head--it was mere inches from my face--and I knew I had to do something before she would perform a finishing blow. At that moment, Fleetfoot butted in, pushing Spitfire aside, prompting the latter to push back, followed by the former until they began arguing. While they were distracted, I consumed the rest of the milk I had in the one bottle, and when putting it away, the Bremen Mask fell to the ground and I picked it up, an idea forming in my head that sounded ridiculous in practice, yet I had no other choice.

Princess Twilight noticed what I was doing. " You're really going through with it aren't you?"

I nodded as I placed the Bremen Mask on my face. " Desperate times call for desperate measures."

" But they're not little animals."

" My sword did nothing against Spitfire." I said. " It's either because she's a zombie or my sword isn't strong enough, but I have to do something before they get the hint that they need to work together."

Princess Twilight sighed. " Okay, but let's hope this doesn't backfire."

Taking out the Ocarina of Time from the pouch on my belt, I began playing the same melody that I used to entice the young chicks from Romani Ranch to follow me, and hoped it would cause Spitfire and Fleetfott to react in a similar manner. The music caught their attention and at first they just stared at me wondering what I was doing but then they began marching along with the music and couldn't stop. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The power of the Bremen Mask combined with the ocarina had them under my power and that meant I could make them follow me anywhere I wanted them to.

The king could only watch as his elite guards were reduced to following along without a will of their will as I began leading Spitfire and Fleetfoot around. Both of them tried in vain to break free of the hold I had over them but it was to no avail as the Bremen Mask prevented them from escaping. For a few minutes, I had some fun parading them about so that they could unwind and perhaps be willing to talk things out yet they kept on demanding me to stop playing the ocarina as it was nothing short of embarrassing. I eventually acquiesced and lead them one of the two squares of light causing their bodies to burn away to nothing.

While it was fun leading them around, it made me look like a bully who wanted to make them suffer for something they didn't even do. I wasn't that person anymore and their pleas were enough for me to say that I had done enough. Now that their bodies had been destroyed, perhaps Spitfire and Fleetfoot would be able to rest in peace knowing they no longer had to suffer living in such a painful existence. Turning my attention towards Igos, the king had been awfully quiet since his two best servants had been defeated, but I knew I couldn't drop my guard knowing he would retaliate for what I had done.

Igos laughed slightly. " So you managed to defeat my elite guards... I must admit that you are far stronger than appearances suggest. Of course, you had luck on your side as my guards constantly bickered with one another resulting in their humiliation by your hands. While the method you used was childish, it was still a method of success and so I now see that you are indeed worthy of fighting against me."

" Must we fight though?" I asked.

" Fighting is the only means."

" What do you hope to prove?"

" There is something about you that I want to see happen." Igos answered. " If I am to see it with my own eyes, then I must fight against you in battle. Unlike my elite guards, I will not be deceived by the power contained within that instrument."

I took off the Bremen Mask and switched it out with the Bunny Hood. " Do you mind if I wear this one?"

Igos shook his head. " It does not matter what mask you wear on your face, living one. A true warrior uses the full extent of their abilities to achieve victory. Now... we shall do battle and you shall fall before me, and my kingdom shall rise once again." He then stood up from his throne and both a sword and shield appeared in his hands. " I wonder how long you will last before I end your life?" He then began talking under his breath so I couldn't hear him. " Now... chosen one... show me that you are the one who can end our torment and restore this land to what it once was before the door was opened."

The king then began walking towards me and I responded in kind though I was much faster due to wearing the Bunny Hood. We both swung our swords and they collided with one another sending sparks everywhere yet he managed to push me back thanks to his immense strength--not bad for a skeleton. I then tried to take advantage by pushing him back but he quickly responded by swinging his sword. His blade crashed against my Mirror Shield and again I was pushed back. I needed to change things quickly before he could take control and keep me on the defence.

He swung his sword and I used my shield to parry him back allowing me to strike his vulnerable chest a couple of times, but it turned out that he was a lot faster than I gave him credit for and he responded by swinging his sword in a deadly arc, slicing my chest and pushing me back into the wall. Unlike Spitfire and Fleetfoot, the king's sword blows had far more power behind them so I had to keep a close watch on my health to make sure it didn't drop dangerously low. Igos walked forward and I managed to get up just as he swung his sword down at me but I raised my shield just in time.

I parried him back and swung my sword only for him to block with his shield. Even with my increased speed thanks to the Bunny Hood, he was still able to keep up with me so perhaps a different tactic could be used? The king resumed his sword swings and I countered him and we both began parrying each other's blows though I began tiring out most likely because of my inexperience compared to him. He eventually broke through, knocking me down by striking me in the chest before kicking me to the side as a cheap shot. As I got back up, the light from the window reflected off my shield, paralyzing the king for a few seconds before he raised his own shield to block it.

Unlike Spitfire and Fleetfoot, the king wasn't as prone to the light, but perhaps if his skeletal body were to collapse, I'd be able to defeat him. I then moved forward towards him only to suddenly get blasted by what looked like smoke but I didn't see anything like that in the throne room. Looking at Igos, it was he who had created the smoke by breathing it out of his mouth, causing to become unable to see what I was doing. He took advantage of my disorientation by performing his own jump attack and because his sword had a much larger range, I took the full force of the blow and crumpled to the ground.

" Are you alright?" Twilight asked.

I shook my head several times. " Since when can a skeleton breathe out smoke?"

" The king is much different than his servants were." Twilight answered. " I suspect that being an undead monster has granted him powers that he's never wielded before so you need to watch his moves carefully. That smoke  didn't cause much damage from what I could see so it mainly serves as a distraction for him to attack while you're disoriented. I am certain he has other abilities that will become apparent in due time."

Igos then grabbed his head and detached it from his neck causing me to cover my mouth in disgust. " What in the world is he doing!?" I felt like throwing up upon seeing such a display but his body suddenly turned transparent. " Okay, this is definitely something you don't see everyday or not at all." His head then began flying around while his body proceeded to attack me like before when he had his head on his neck."

" As long as his body is transparent, you can't damage it."

" Now you tell me..."

" I don't know how long this will last but you need to avoid his head at all costs."

" Why?" I asked. Before Princess Twilight could answer me, the king's head latched itself onto my own and I found myself unable to move. " Gah! Get off of me! Twilight... I... I can't shake his head off!" While I wasn't suffering any damage, I couldn't see a thing as the king began munching down on my head preventing me from escaping. " I don't know where his body is as I'm being blinded by his head." I would get an answer moments later via another jump attack courtesy of Igos that sent me crashing into a wall. When my vision finally came back to me, Igos continued walking around before grabbing his head and reattaching it to his neck.

" I see, so when he removes his head, it's all about avoiding him until he puts it back on."

" I wish you could have told me that earlier." I said as I slowly got back onto my feet.

" I didn't know he was capable of such attacks." Twilight said. " What I do know is that he probably doesn't take many hits to defeat since he is a skeleton and all but it might take you some time, Sunset, what with not having the strongest sword you can possibly obtain."

I moaned. " Alright! I'll make sure to get that upgrade when we're finished the final temple."

Princess Twilight was surprised. " Why not after we're done here?"

" Because we would need an entire three day cycle to get it."

Princess Princess slapped her forehead for a change. " That's right... The Mountain Smithies need an entire day to upgrade your sword and a second day to do so again provided you give them some gold dust, but that involves defeating Goht a second time to bring spring back to the mountains."

Igos began swinging his sword at me and I used my shield to deflect his blows whilst responding to Her Highness. " I want to focus on awakening the final Giant before going for a better sword than what I've got. I know my priorities don't match up with your standards, Twilight, and I know you'll give me a lecture about it later, but this is what I think is best as some things are more important than others."

When I mentioned the Giant, Igos began to attack me with a more relentless approach, each blow from his sword crashed against my shield. I had no idea how long my shield could last against such ferocity--it was indestructible--but I couldn't allow him to gain control of the fight. I began pushing him back in hopes he would drop his guard but he responded by grabbing his head and detaching it. Knowing what happened moments ago, I ran away in hopes of not getting pinned down by his head. It flew about and attempted to latch onto my head several times but I continued keeping my distance until he reattached his head again.

The instant he put his head back on, I was able to strike him once again with my sword before becoming blindsided by smoke he spewed from his mouth. As I held my breath amidst not seeing anything, I was blindsided again this time by a jump attack performed by the king. This one wasn't as brutal as the previous one as I managed to stumble far enough away from him to avoid the full force of his strike yet it sent me crashing into another wall. Why was it that whenever I fought against powerful monsters, they would throw me into the walls at least several times before they were defeated?

Hitting the walls in this manner wasn't good for my back but the nature of this world so far had prevented me from suffering from a severe case of paralysis--I would have suffered from this a lot sooner had such an unusual phenomenon hadn't been an issue. When I got back onto my feet, I could tell that I had gotten weaker and needed to consume some more milk before Igos would take advantage of me. I reached into my pocket and took out the other bottle that contained milk--I needed more--but the king swung his sword at me before I could uncork it and was knocked back into the wall with the bottle rolling on the floor.

It stopped a short distance away and I scrambled onto my feet in order to get it but I quickly found myself stuck in place thanks to the king's detached head--he did this while I was distracted at seeing my bottle of milk roll away from me--munching on mine before his body used another powerful sword strike. This blow sent me in the direction my bottle had rolled off to though I overshot by a very small amount and crashing into yet another wall--at least this time I hit it front first instead of my back. Landing on my stomach and feeling dazed for a few moments, the impact of my landing caused the bottle to roll over to me and I picked it up.

Igos placed his head back onto his neck and began laughing as opposed to walking towards me. " I must admit that you can take a great deal of punishment, living one, but that will not be enough to save you from my sword."

I struggled to respond. " At least I can take it unlike yourself!"

" What!" Igos exclaimed. " Just because my body is not what it once was doesn't mean I am weak." He looked like he was about to lose his composure when he noticed that I was stalling for time and laughed in response. " You surprise me, living one. You never used such tactics against my servants so why think they would work against me?"

" Well, I had to try."

" No... I know what you were trying to do."

" You do?"

" A true warrior must recognize his own limits and take the necessary steps to regain lost strength." Igos answered. " However, I cannot allow you to do that because that would mean you getting another chance to thwart my desire to restoring my kingdom."

Fortunately for me, his little speech gave me enough time to drink my milk though I knew it had only restored part of my strength. " You know... I was going to ask you again why you're so determined to bring back your kingdom after so long, but I've decided that trying to convince you otherwise is merely wasting both my time and vocal chords. I didn't even want to fight in the first place yet I had no other choice as you were determined to prove you were better."

" My kingdom was forged in battle."

" Then I pity you."

" You... Pity me?"

I nodded. " Yes, I do. You were in a kingdom that knew nothing but how to cause bloodshed which what resulted in its destruction based on what little knowledge I've learned from some of those who haunt this land. Had things been much different without fighting, your kingdom might still exist and there would have been descendants living here to continue on with the legacy created by you and those who lived here back then. Ikana can never be what it once was and deep down you know this is true. It was lost long ago and no one remembers it other than for the bad reasons yet people use your tragic fate to ensure they don't succumb to the same thing."

" You are the one..."

" What did you say?"

Igos turned his face away from me. " You heard nothing from me, living one. Besides, what I said won't mean anything to you as you will be dead soon enough. I shall restore my kingdom to its former glory and we shall resume from where we left off."

I sighed knowing that nothing I said would convince him otherwise so that meant I had to defeat him to make him understand. He walked towards me and swung his sword prompting me to respond in kind and once again our blades would clash numerous times but it was obvious that I wouldn't last for very long yet at least I had the determination to prove that my way of thinking was correct. As we continued parrying each other, we kept walking around until we both stood in one of the panels of light that shone through the windows, and the king hissed as he covered his face with his shield because of what the light did to him.

That gave me an idea. I raised my shield and the light reflected off of it and onto his body forcing him to lower his shield to protect his skeletal frame. This left his head completely exposed and I raised my shield causing his face to become blinded by that which he despised the most. The king stumbled about trying desperately to regain his vision but he found that he couldn't see a thing due to the light having affected him. He also unintentionally lowered his guard and I struck his body causing it to collapse on the ground. I then shone the light from the sun onto his body and it burned away to nothing leaving me the only one standing.

I dropped to my knees. " That was too close."

" I admire your tenacity towards wanting to resolve things peacefully." Twilight said.

" I get no joy out of fighting."

" Yes, but there are times where it's the only option."

I sighed. " Maybe now we can get some answers as to why the king was so determined to restore his kingdom." It then dawned on me that I had killed him despite the fact he was already dead, and that meant I had lost my one chance at knowing the truth. Crap! Without the king, Spitfire, or Fleetfoot, I had no leads on how to reach the temple let alone its location in this region. " Looks like we have to reset time and try this all over again as we didn't get any information."

Princess Twilight shook her head. " That won't be necessary, Sunset."

" How do you figure that?"

" Because of the darkness surrounding us, the undead won't stay that way for long." Twilight answered. " In other words, when the undead die in Ikana, they can easily bring themselves back though whether they have the same form remains to be seen."

I was about to make a sarcastic remark when Spitfire and Fleetfoot suddenly appeared before us. " WAAAAH!" Their sudden appearance startled me so much that I jumped slightly and beat my chest several times to make sure my heart was still ticking. " I wish the undead wouldn't just show up out of thin air!" I then noticed that Spitfire and Fleetfoot weren't quite the same as they were before. " You were right, Twilight. It looks like they didn't get to keep their bodies." The two elite guards had been reduced to floating heads though I doubted they had noticed this just yet.

" I can't believe I was both humiliated and defeated!" Fleetfoot shouted.

" It seems this living one is more powerful than we thought." Spitfire said.

" How can a young girl defeat us!?"

" Because we were so busy arguing amongst ourselves over trivial matters, she was able to defeat us without much trouble." Spitfire answered. " If we had worked together like I originally said, she would have been killed by now and the king's desire to restore Ikana Kingdom would have become reality. We can still make this work, Fleetfoot, provided we can get past such petty divisions and attack her together."

" Out of my way, Spitfire!"

" I'm not in your way!"

" You're blocking me!"

" Don't be stupid!"

Fleetfoot knocked Spitfire aside by ramming her head into Spitfire's sending the latter careening into the wall. " I don't need your help since I can still get her! Just let me do my thing and maybe I'll leave you some scraps behind for good measure."

Spitfire bounced back with her head, knocking Fleetfoot aside resulting in the latter to butt heads with her. " Forget what I said just now about how we were defeated. I just realized the real reason this living one was able to win. The reason she beat us is because you were so feeble! I know you're going to try and blame me for what happened but don't even bother as we both know you couldn't handle it because of your humiliation. Don't blame this on me!"

" What!?" Fleetfoot exclaimed. " Just try saying that again to my face! C'mon! I dare you!"

Spitfire scoffed. " It would be a waste of my time."

" You can't do it because you're afraid."

" Take that back!"

" I won't take back what's obviously true."

That put Spitfire over the edge and she made sure to let Fleetfoot know by saying a single word... feeble. In fact, she kept on repeating it many times prompting Fleetfoot to try and drown her out by shouting nonsensical words but it didn't work as Spitfire upped her efforts by getting louder and pushing her head right into Fleetfoot's. In a way, I thought it was pretty how two Wonderbolts--elite guards in this case--had been reduced to childish acts all because I defeated them by using the power of a mask. Princess Twilight whispered to me that she was glad Rainbow Dash wasn't around to see such a terrible display.

Just seeing two of her idols clashing over pointless rhetoric would have been enough to break her heart. The more I watched the two continue arguing, the stronger the darkness grew, and that was when I realized why Ikana ended up being a barren wasteland. Arguments such as this one must have been common-place throughout Ikana and may have been one of the driving forces behind the conflict that killed everyone centuries ago. Granted, my theory wasn't solid because I didn't have all of the facts and also because these two were a prime example of what could happen when you allowed hatred to consume your very souls.

Fleetfoot had finally had enough. " Shut up! Just shut up, already!"

" I am only speaking the truth."

" Don't look down at me like I'm some kind of weakling." Fleetfoot said. " I was once called the best swordsman in all of Ikana! No one other than our king was able to match my skills with the blade and I deserve a great deal of respect because of it."

Spitfire began laughing. " The greatest swordsman in all of Ikana? You? That's the funniest thing I've heard in centuries."

" That's it!" Fleetfoot shouted. " Draw your weapon right now and I'll prove my point."

" Huh?"

" I'm telling you to draw your sword!"

" How am I supposed to do that?" Spitfire asked. " I'm just a floating head right now and so are you."

" What!?"

" I guess we've been reduced to this when our bodies were burned to ashes by the light."

" How can we be floating heads when we're zombies?"

" Spitfire shook her head. " I don't know but we wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't focused on your humiliation. In fact, I'd say this was a new look for you though I wish you hadn't dragged me down with you."

Fleetfoot became angry at such a remark and knocked Spitfire back who responded by knocking into her. Both of them then resumed their bickering though this time they started acting physical by colliding their heads with one another. In the meantime, I had just been standing there listening to everything they had said, and while I had felt sad for them, I also felt this situation had become nothing more than a gong show that just wasn't going anywhere. In fact, I felt like leaving since it was obvious there was nothing left and I wasn't about to waste what precious time remained before having to reset time once again.

I turned and was about to walk away when a bellowing sound echoed throughout the throne room. I recognized the voice behind the bellow as belonging to the king himself and I hoped that he was nothing more than a head otherwise he would no doubt want to fight me again and I didn't have enough milk on hand to go through another fight. Spitfire and Fleetfoot began shivering out of fear knowing he wasn't happy with how they handled me in addition to being annoyed with how they had been arguing over pointless matters that didn't really mean anything in the long run since their past lives had been lost.

Igos appeared out of nowhere. " Will you stop! What fools!"

Spitfire began pleading. " Please understand, my king, that we failed because Fleetfoot allowed her humiliation to consume her."

Fleetfoot began pleading. " She's blaming me when it was obvious that she is at fault because she disobeyed you from the start."

" Enough!"

" My king..." Spitfire and Fleetfoot said at the same time.

" Haven't you begun to understand?" Igos asked. The blank expressions on the faces of both Spitfire and Fleetfoot told him that they were oblivious to it. " No... It seems that you do not get my meaning. It was the living one who made me come to this realization so now I shall share it with you two. The people who lived in Ikana are responsible for this and there is no denying it. The kingdom being ruined and us left in this state... Isn't it petty, little battles like this that have caused it?"

" Yes."

" You are both dismissed." Igos said. Spitfire and Fleetfoot faded away into the shadows leaving me, Princess Twilight, and the king alone. " It seems that I was blinded by my own ambitions that the very truth was lost to me but you have shown me the truth. Believing in your friends and embracing that belief by forgiving failure... These feelings have vanished from our hearts and we became monsters who cared for nothing other than proving our dominance."

" What happened here?" I asked.

" Centuries ago... Ikana Kingdom was a beautiful place where everyone lived in peace and harmony." Igos answered. But the darkness began manifesting itself when we lost our way as a result of arguments that resulted in my people going to war against one another. The Garo took advantage of the confusion by learning of the kingdom's weaknesses and used that knowledge to destroy us after we had already done so. In a matter of days, everything was lost and the kingdom became a barren wasteland, a reminder of what can happen when hatred and malic consume all."

I almost started to cry but refrained from doing so out of respect. " Okay, but that doesn't explain why you're here now."

" For centuries, we have embraced death though our eternal sleep." Igos said. " But then all of a sudden, we began to re-awaken as undead beings and were roaming this land once again after so long. Many are confused as to why we have returned but I know that it is because somebody thrust open the doors of that Stone Tower. The tower contains a dark aura that blanketed the land awakening us when it seeped forth from it and now we can no longer rest. It was said that a chosen one would appear in this land wielding the sacred shield that was sealed below and carried the light that would shine against the darkness."

" You think I'm some kind of chosen one?"

Igos nodded. " When I first heard of your presence in my kingdom, I viewed you as a threat to my desire but also as a saviour. The more I heard of you from those who swore their loyalty to me, the more it became obvious that destiny brought you here in our time of need. You who bring light into darkness, allow me to introduce myself properly. I was the last king of this kingdom before bloodshed destroyed it. I am Igos du Ikana, last of my line. We undead have been placed under a spellbinding courtesy of the Stone Tower, but you have broken it by the light which you carry."

" Do you know who opened the Stone Tower?"

" It was said to have been caused by a masked one."

That was an official confirmation that Starlight was responsible for opening the door and allowing the dead to roam once again after so long. I had no idea why she thought it was a good idea when they didn't appreciate it but at least I was starting to get an idea about what was really happening. The temple was the source of the problem so I needed to know how to get there and awaken the final Giant so that the undead could finally rest in peace once again and only the king knew those answers. He viewed me as some kind of chosen one so perhaps he would provide me with some additional answers.

" I'm familiar with that imp."

" The masked one opened the Stone Tower and the darkness within has awoken us."

" Where is the Stone Tower?"

" Beyond this castle and at the far end of Ikana Kingdom lies the Stone Tower." Igos answered. " To return true light to this land and for us to return to our eternal rest, you must seal the doors of the tower. But, Stone Tower is an impenetrable stronghold. Hundreds of soldiers from my kingdom would not even be able to topple it. It was used by the Garo as a base of operations with which they could attack my people with the knowledge they obtained. No, going up to the tower is far too reckless for one such as yourself. Automatons protect the path alongside an ancient puzzle that none could ever solve."

" I have to go up there." I said. " It's the only way."

Igos shook his head. " Such a challenge is too much."

I nodded. " While that's true, you don't really have much of a choice, do you? I know that going to the Stone Tower would be nothing short of suicide but I've seen my fair share of challenges throughout this journey. Fate has tasked me with the mission to save this world from its impending destruction even though I didn't want anything to do with it. I just wanted to live out a somewhat normal life but that just wasn't meant to be."

" So be it."

I was confused. " What do you mean?"

" I shall do something most unexpected yet it must be done." Igos answered. " I grant to you a soldier who has no heart. One who will not falter in the darkness. This soldier will accompany you to the Stone Tower and perhaps you can solve the ancient puzzle that others could not."

The king then began wailing in different pitches whilst moving his floating head in different directions and I had no idea what he was doing initially. On the last pitch, he made an extra effort to put some gusto into it before repeating the entire sequence again. When he finished this time, I still didn't understand the significance behind it so he repeated it a third time and continued repeating the sequence, my mind clearly wasn't getting it. Princess Twilight in the meantime had also been watching and her eyes lit up upon realizing what the king was doing so she began bopping me on the head to get my attention.

Her Highness told me that the king was performing some kind of melody though it didn't sound like one given his wails were sounding exactly like that. I then looked at the sequence for the fifth time--it might have been the eighth--and was beginning to see a connection so I took out the Ocarina of Time and watched his movements carefully. Each time he moved to a different position, he wailed in a particular pitch, an indication of how high or low the corresponding note was. The entire sequence comprised of seven notes with a couple being repeats but it was still unique sounding compared to other songs.

I raised the ocarina to my lips and began playing the seven notes, and upon finishing, I suddenly felt strange as though something weird was happening to my body. I felt like I was about to pass out but then something appeared exactly where I was standing. It felt really uncomfortable so I walked forward before turning around to see what it was, and the resulting shock I felt was one of epic proportions. I was staring at a strange statue that bore a close resemblance to me yet it was wooden in texture and had a smile that screamed creepy to unprecedented levels. Had the song caused this thing to come into existence?

Unlike me, the statue had no equipment on its person nor was in any kind of pose. It was just a creepy looking statue that continued to make me uneasy because of that smile smeared across its face. This was supposed to be a soldier? The king had to have been playing some kind of prank as this thing clearly wasn't a soldier who could back me up. Unless... He was referring to a different kind of soldier? I walked over it and began looking at it--it was just an ordinary statue--before attempting to lift it up. It was much heavier than it looked and I eventually gave up after a while before my back would give out.

I then tapped it on the head using my fist. " It's definitely solid."

" Yes." Twilight said, nodding her head. " Despite the disturbing appearance especially around the face, this statue is a solid object that you somehow conjured up when you played that song just now.

" The king said that this was a soldier that has no heart."

" And it doesn't because its an inanimate object."

" What am I supposed to do with this?"

Princess Twilight shrugged her shoulders. " I have no idea but perhaps the king will tell us."

I turned to face the king. " What exactly is this thing?"

" This soldier who has no heart is your twin image." Igos answered, looking towards what I had created. " A shell of yourself that you will shed when your song commands it. The song that you played just now is known as the Elegy of Emptiness, an ancient melody whose power can create soldiers much like what stands before you. While it may be silent and unable to act in a manner that befits you, it shall always be by your side, ready to assist. Perhaps you may be able to create additional soldiers if you had the power to change your current appearance?"

" Can this power be used anywhere?"

" It can only be used in the Stone Tower."

" A little disappointing but expected."

" On my kingdom... shine the light of justice..."

Igos then burned away to nothing leaving me and Princess Twilight to figure out the significance behind the song and its ability to create soldiers. The statue itself was a solid object and its weight meant that carrying it around wasn't an option. That very weight could be used to press something down though a problem was that it couldn't defend itself were it to be attacked by a monster. While the statue looked pretty sturdy in appearance, it might not be all that durable in reality. The king also never mentioned how many times I could create a soldier nor what would happen if I were to accidentally create one and it was in the wrong location.

Rather than giving me concrete information on how to use this ability, the king had chosen to given me the basics and was leaving me to figure out the rest. I wasn't really surprised by this way of thinking as it had been a consistent issue throughout my entire journey. This was basically one additional obstacle in my way. Now that this song had been added to the repertoire I had already obtained, there was nothing else for me to do in the castle so I could now begin climbing up the Stone Tower though I wished I had been given some information about what was waiting for me.