From the window of his personal chambers, the king of Hyrule looked down at the immense numbers of monsters, undead creatures and desert thieves that were surrounding his castle.
He sighed. He should have never believed in Ganondorf's lies and deceits. He should have listened to his daughter. He should have paid closer attention to what happened in the lands of his allies, the Gorons and the Zoras.
With a tired expression the king's shoulders slumped down. "Maybe..." he whispered. "This is the fitting punishment for a senile, old fool like myself..."
He wished the chancellor was at his side right now. He could use some of his usual cajoling to cheer him up.
But his so-called 'trusted advisor' turned out to be a coward who had locked himself inside his own room as soon as he heard from the Gerudo's invasion.
Well, at least Ganondorf had let the townspeople live. His troops simply cold-shouldered the scared inhabitants of Hyrule Town and marched straight towards the castle that was sitting atop the summit of the big hill. And now they were surrounding it from all sides.
The king had tried sending messenger pigeons to his allies, the Gorons and Zoras, but the flying monsters under Ganondorf's control quickly disposed of them.
There was no way to escape. They were trapped.
The door to the chamber opened. "Your Majesty!" It was Captain Mikado of the royal guard. "It looks like the enemy is making its move. What shall we do?"
Well, what was there to do? Was there even a chance of winning? The king felt so helpless right now. If he only had made the right decision...
"Your Majesty!" Suddenly, one of the castle maids stormed into the room. "Princess Zelda and Lady Impa are gone. I just went into her room to make sure they're fine, but they weren't there."
"What?" the king shouted in alarm and turned around. 'No, please not my daughter!' he thought. First they took Kodachi from him, and now his beloved Zelda?
"Where are Impa's daughters?" he asked. "Maybe they know where their mother has vanished to."
"I-I'm sorry, your majesty," the maid stuttered. "But I couldn't find them either."
Neither the maid nor Captain Mikado were able to interpret their king's expression right now.
"Your Majesty..." Mikado spoke up. "The enemy..."
King Gustaf the Third turned around to firmly stare into his captain's eyes.
"Tell your men that we won't back down! Let Ganondorf come! He took the two most precious things from me... he won't get my throne that easily!"
----
Princess Zelda and her nursemaid and bodyguard Impa, followed by Impa's daughters Kasumi and Nabiki, were running through the lower levels of Hyrule Castle.
'I'm so sorry, father...' Zelda thought. 'But I have to do this.'
The main entrance to the Treasure Rooms was unguarded, as most of the soldiers were standing on the castle walls to defend their king from the Gerudo army. But there were two guards standing in front of the entrance to the room where the Ocarina of Time was stored.
"Y-your Highness!" the soldier standing to the left stuttered in surprise. "You shouldn't be here. If the enemy attacks..."
"I know!" Zelda nodded. "That's why I need to take the Ocarina of Time to a safer place. Please, let me pass!"
The two soldiers looked at each other uncertainly, then blocked the entrance with their spears.
"I'm sorry, princess," the right one stated. "But we are under order from your father, the king... and he told us to let no one through until the enemy army has been defeated."
"We don't have time for this," Nabiki said impatiently. "If we don't hurry, the Gerudo will come down here and take the ocarina for themselves."
"I know," the princess sighed. "But they're just carrying out their duty..."
She nodded to Impa and Nabiki, and with very quick movements, the two Sheikah disarmed the soldiers and pressed them against the wall.
"W-wait!" one of them shouted, as Zelda ran into the chamber, right to the pedestal where the Ocarina of Time was lying under a thick glass dome.
She pulled out a silver key and removed the lock that kept the dome to the pedestal's surface. She quickly removed the dome and took the ocarina.
"If Ganondorf gets his hands on this artifact... he might become an even greater threat as he is now."
She ran back to the Tendo family and nodded. Nabiki and Impa understood and threw the two guards down to the floor.
"Please excuse us," Kasumi politely bowed before she followed her family and the princess. "But we have no time to explain."
Dazed, the two guards looked after the four females.
"Hiroshi, I still don't get it how kind, sweet Kasumi can have such a badass fighter like Impa as her mother," murmured one of them.
His pal nodded. "I know what you mean, Daisuke... you'd think she would be a tough girl like Akane and Nabiki." He winced. "Maybe Nabiki's a little bit too tough... ow... that hurts."
----
Meanwhile the fight had already started, and the air around Hyrule Castle was thick with the fog of war. Monsters, bandits and royal soldiers exchanged battle cries, while they were locked with each other in a heated battle.
Meanwhile, the Poe spirits had floated up to the castle walls where they tried to spook and kill the soldiers that were positioned up there. The wizards of the Wizzrobe clan, on the other hand, preferred to keep their distance and bombard their enemies and the castle gates with their deadly spells.
Finally, after a long and drawn-out battle, the main gate fell, and the Gerudos and Lizalfos cheered in triumph.
"My lord," Gerudo elder Cologne addressed her ruler. "The elite warriors are ready for the assault. Will you join them?"
But the evil desert king shook his head. "No, I'll stay here for now. I have to contact the Kuno boy... he will become a useful ally."
"But my lord," Cologne said. "Tatewaki Kuno is imprisoned within the castle's dungeon... how will you contact him?"
"I have my ways," Ganondorf smiled enigmatically. "Now go and instruct the troops... and you two make sure that no one disturbs me during the next ten minutes!"
The two Stalfos knights that were standing next to their master's dark steed nodded, while Cologne turned around her broom and flew over to where the elite warriors of the Gerudo were waiting for instructions.
Meanwhile, Ganondorf closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt the dark energies of evil flowing through his veins, a feeling that always drew him near ecstasy.
"Come to me..." he murmured. "My ghostly double... Evil Spirit from Beyond... I summon you!"
And with a commanding gesture, he stretched both of his arms out and gestured at his own shadow, that was being cast on the hillside of Hyrule by the rays of the blazing sun.
And then, moving like a puppet on strings, the shadow began to stir and writhe, as it slowly got up from the ground and changed its shape.
Ganondorf grinned at his demonic counterpart that was standing in front of him, with blazing eyes that were staring out of a deformed skull.
"You go down into the dungeon and free the young Kuno. Give him this!" Ganondorf produced a small item from his belt pouch and gave it to his creation.
He looked into his dark double's burning eyes and asked: "You know what do do?"
And Phantom Ganon replied in a perfect replica of his voice: "Yes, master!"
----
Tatewaki Kuno was fidgeting around nervously in his cell, when he heard the sound of battle outside.
"I knew it!" he muttered. "They're attacking! The Zora... those demonic fish fiends!" He ran to his cell's door and shook the bars.
"Let me out of here!" he shouted. "I have to defend my king!" But, no one was around. All of the guards were outside, fighting the enemy. And the few other criminals that were sitting in their own cells either ignored him or simply yelled: "Shut up already, you nut case!"
Kuno Jr. gritted his teeth in anger. Those thugs... how would they understand the sorrow of a true nobleman like him? He turned around and leaned against the walls of his cell in despair.
He didn't notice it when suddenly, a dark shape came stepping out of the shadows. One of the other prisoners looked up and murmured. "Huh? Who's dat guy?"
The tall, armored man looked at the thug with disdain, raised his hand and uttered a simple word: "Sleep!"
Silently, all of the prisoners were falling asleep under the spell. All of them, except for Tatewaki Kuno.
The dark figure approached his cell and made a gesture with his arms. With a click and squeak, the door opened.
"Tatewaki!" a deep voice spoke up.
Kuno turned around in surprise. He gasped. "My lord!"
The dark phantom who was wearing Ganondorf's face smirked. "My boy, the time has come! You have to show the king your loyalty! Help him defend the castle from the intruders, and he will recognize you as what you really are: A noble knight in the service of the kingdom!"
Kuno bowed down in front of what he believed to be Ganondorf. "I will do as you say, my lord!"
Phantom Ganon then produced an item which he offered to the young swordsman. "Take this! It will give you the courage to protect your country!"
Kuno stared at the skillfully woven headband that was resting within his lord's grasp. He took it, bound it around his head and once again bowed down.
"I humbly accept this gift, my lord! I won't fail you... or the king!"
Phantom Ganon also made a long sword appear out of thin air and gave it to the young warrior. "I have to return to the battlefield," he exclaimed. "Fight your way out of the dungeon, and we'll meet each other in battle."
"I'm looking forward to it," Kuno said, while Ganondorf's double once again vanished in the shadows.
Suddenly a loud voice came echoing down the stairs. "Hey! What's going on down there?"
One of the king's soldiers entered the room and gasped upon seeing Kuno. "He escaped!" He aimed his sword at Kuno. "Don't move, or else..."
Kuno looked up from the ground. Through his eyes, the image of the soldier turned blurry, until it changed shape and turned into the image of a Zora warrior, armed with a deadly harpoon.
"Evil filth..." Kuno snarled as he grasped his blade. "Return to the depths where you came from!"
"He's insane..." the royal soldier muttered nervously.
Kuno drew back his blade and charged the man, who once had been one of his comrades, with a cry of: "DIE, ZORA VERMIN!"
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(Posted Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:22)
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