"Look out!" Navi cried when the hideous phantom riding on the dark stallion suddenly flicked his hands, and a huge lance appeared in them, tipped with nasty spikes.
"Take THIS!" he shouted and waved around his lance, firing a bolt of magical energy at them both, while at the same time, his stallion neighed loudly and jumped directly at one of the paintings hanging at the wall.
Link pushed Ukyo to the side, just as the magical bolt was hitting the floor next to them, creating an electric field. Link's legs got caught in the field and he cried out as he was shocked badly.
Ukyo threw him a quick glance to make sure he was all right, then she looked back at Phantom Ganon.
"Where is he?" she asked in confusion.
"He... he and his horse entered one of the paintings," Navi stuttered in confusion. "I've never heard of any magic like that before..."
Link winced as he got back to his feet. "Well then, we just have to be careful when he reappears, right?"
"And what if he doesn't?" Ukyo asked.
"I'm sure he will, he wants to finish us off..." Link murmured and watched the painting intently. He sheathed his sword and pulled out his bow. "Once he's coming back out, I'll nail him with an arrow. Keep your guard up, okay?"
Ukyo nodded, while wishing she had a better projectile weapon than just her flour bags.
They waited... and waited... and then they heard the evil laughter of the phantom.
"What? What?" Ukyo shouted while looking around. "Where is he? I can't see him?"
Navi had a bad feeling about this. She turned around... and yelped with fright when she saw the black stallion and its rider come out of a painting at the opposite side of the room, surrounded by a violet aura of dark magic.
"QUICK, TURN AROUND!" she yelled.
With a motion swift as lightning, Link turned around, firing his arrow at the flying abomination. His arrow pierced the black neck of the phantom horse, which let out a sharp whinny of pain. It came crushing down to the floor, and Phantom Ganon, who already had raised his lance for the killing blow, only barely managed to jump off his mount.
Ukyo cried out as she stormed forwards, twirling around her spatula. She then turned it so that the sharp edge of her weapon was aimed at the demonic horse's neck and slammed it down.
The dark steed's body jerked around one last time, then it slumped to the floor motionless, dissolving in a plume of green, demonic fire.
"That takes care of your little pet," Ukyo grumbled as she looked up, where their skull-faced opponent was floating. "Now it's your turn!"
"Pesky little insects..." the phantom growled. "You are nothing in comparison to the power of Ganondorf!"
He raised his hand and focussed his energy. They could see how all of his magic got focussed in one single point, creating a sparkling energy ball of magical power.
"DIE!" the phantom roared as it threw the energy ball at Ukyo.
"We'd rather not!" Link yelled as she stepped in between them and flung the magical projectile back at him with his blade.
THe phantom was surprised, but then his demonic face seemed to sneer. "Two can play that game," he grumbled as he grabbed his lance and hit the energy ball back at the two heroes.
"Backhand shot!" Ukyo shouted as she used her spatula like a tennis racket. Phantom Ganon snarled, but hit the energy ball back at them once again.
"We can keep this up the whole day," Link shouted as the Master sword sliced the air and sent the magical projectile back at him yet again. "Can you?"
The dark phantom tried to hit his own spell back at them one more time, but he must have miscalculated, as he missed it, and then the energy ball hit him in the chest, making him twitch sporadically as he sunk down to the ground, where he slumped down and clutched his chest with a groan.
"NOW!" Ukyo yelled as she prepared for the Overhead Slam the Great Fairy had taught her. She jumped up to slam her spatula down on him with all force she could muster, while Link drew back the Master Sword and then twirled it around with a loud yell, as he attacked the phantom with a Spin Attack.
Phantom Ganon yelled out loud as the two attacks hit him at once, throwing him back against the metal bars that surrounded the platform. He tried to get back to his feet, but failed miserably.
"Veran..." he coughed. "Veran, come back here immediately... I need your... assis... tance..." He waited for any answer of his female ally, but he got none.
He looked around in confusion. "V-veran?" he muttered. "Wh-where are you? What kind of tr... treachery is this? I am... my master's will and long arm..."
"What's wrong, phanty?" Ukyo mocked. "No tricks left? Looks like this is the end of the line!"
"N-no..." the phantom coughed as he tried yet again to get back to his feet. "My master... I won't fail you..."
"You already have," a dark voice appeared out of nowhere, sounding identical to Phantom Ganon's. "You have failed to accomplish the task I have you burdened with."
"No, master!" the phantom cried out in shock. "It is not my fault... the sorceress... she abandoned me..."
"You are not supposed to rely on the help of others, servant!" Ganondorf's voice replied darkly. "You have failed me and you will have to suffer the consequences..."
"NO!" the phantom roared. "No, master... anything but that!"
But he couldn't do anything when all of a sudden, a mysterious force pulled him off the ground and pulled him into the middle of the room. Link and Ukyo jumped back in surprise when suddenly, a dark swirl of evil energy appeared beneath the flailing phantom.
"You so-called 'heroes'..." Ganondorf suddenly said, addressing Link and Ukyo directly. "You did quite well... It looks like you may be gaining some slight skill. But by defeating my phantom, you have proven nothing! When you fight the real me, it won't be that easy!" His evil chuckled filled the room. "What a worthless creation that ghost was! I will now banish it to the gap between dimensions!"
"YYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAARRRRRRGGHH!!!" Phantom Ganon screamed out as his body fell apart bit by bit, every single bit being absorbed by the dark portal underneath his flailing form. And when he was completely gone, the portal vanished.
Link and Ukyo stared at the ground in awe.
Finally, Link broke the silence: "So... he now knows that we are back, huh?"
"Seems like it..." Ukyo murmured. "We managed to beat his dark copy... but will we able to handle the real him when we face him one day?"
"I know you will..." a soft voice exclaimed.
The two heroes looked up in surprise and watched how a shimmering bubble came floating out of one of the paintings, surrounding a figure they all knew too well.
"Saria!"
The Kokiri girl smiled down at her friends while the magical bubble lowered itself to the floor and vanished with a slight 'pop'. The very same instance, the walls of the Forest Temple vanished all around them, and to their surprise, they found themselves back in the Chamber of the Sages.
Rauru was standing on the Emblem of Light and looked at them proudly, while Saria appeared on the green Emblem of the Forest.
"Thanks to you two, I was awakened as a Sage," Saria said softly. "The Sage of the Forest Temple... I now know what you have to do to free Hyrule from Ganondorf's evil reign."
"Saria..." Ukyo murmured, but then, Link fell down to his knees.
"Saria..." he said. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry that I was gone for seven years. I wanted to come back to you... if I was here, maybe all of this wouldn't have happened... I am so sorry..."
Saria smiled, then she walked off her emblem and gave Link a hug. "Link... you don't have to be sorry. It was your fate to bring the Spiritual Stones into the Temple of Time and pull out the Master Sword. Without its help, we would have never been able to defeat Ganondorf. And while I was sad that I couldn't see you for all those years... seeing you now, in front of me, makes up for all of that!"
"Oh Saria..." Link said, hugging her back. "Even if those seven years seemed to be a very short time to me... I've still missed you so much! And I was so afraid they would have done anything to you..."
"It's all right," she smiled. "I'm fine now... and in here, nobody will be able to harm me anymore."
"Indeed, boy!" Rauru nodded. "Within these walls, she will be safe from anyone who wants to misuse her powers. And now that one of the sages has awakened, you are one step closer to freeing Hyrule from that tyrant."
Saria nodded as she released Link and took a step back. "I will now give you this... as a sign of my powers. Keep this safe when you go and search for the other sages!"
And she handed them her own medallion, the dark green Forest Medallion!
Link stood up from the ground and clutched the medallion to his chest. He then seemed to remember something. He pulled something out of his pockets and handed it to his old friend. "Here, Saria... I think it's time I gave this back to you. For all this time, I have kept it with me... but now, that I know you to be safe, I want to give it back to you."
Saria smiled when she saw the small instrument in Link's hands. "My Fairy Ocarina..." she said and took it back. "Thank you, Link... thank you for keeping it safe for all those years!"
She then looked at the ocarina sadly. "You know, I am pretty sad that you and I... we are from two different worlds..."
Link was taken aback. "Wh-what do you mean by that?"
Saria sighed. "Link... you are not from the forest, don't you see? You are no Kokiri! Therefore... I believe that it must be destiny that you and I can't live in the same world..."
"S-saria..."
She smiled back at them. "But... I want both of you to know that... I will always be your friend! Always!"
And as soon as she spoke those words, the Chamber of the Sages vanished around them, and they found themselves in a different place, once again...
Veran huffed as she left the Lost Woods behind her. "That stupid phantom... did he really believe I would come to his aid? As if I, the Sorceress of the Shadows, would waste my time for a fool like him..."
She knew she would have to answer her lord for this act of insolence. Maybe he would even punish her. But she knew she had not much to fear. For some reason, Ganondorf had never punished her too severely, even if she overstepped her bounds quite a few times. It seemed to her that she was still one of his favorites, a powerful servant which he has big plans for...
She didn't really believed she could have hindered the Hero of Time from freeing the Kokiri girl. It was not that she thought he would have been able to defeat her... she was far to arrogant to think that... but she told herself that the phantom's plan was doomed from the very beginning.
She sneered. "Well, what do you expect? He was still just a copy from my master... a moronic ghost that could never capture one of the sages by himself! The only reason why he managed to capture the girl for some time was because he had my help and that of the four Poe Sisters..."
Now that she thought about it, where were her four servants? Oh well, she would look for them later... Now she was far more interested to find that young Sheikah warrior again... he had been a truly interesting opponent.
Ukyo looked around in confusion. "Where... where are we?"
"I know it..." Navi said in a very sad voice.
They turned around... and gasped when they saw the dead remains of the Deku Tree standing in front of them...
While Navi fluttered up to the dead tree and hugged its grey bark with a sigh, Link lowered his head.
"I am sorry I couldn't save you, Great Deku Tree..." he murmured. "But... at least I have come back... and I saved Saria, the Forest Temple and the whole forest. I just wish... I could talk to you one more time..."
Ukyo walked up to him. She wanted to say some words, to cheer him up, but then her eyes caught something and she looked down at the ground. "What the...? What's this?"
Link and Navi looked down as well, and they saw a strange little scrub growing from the floor. It was tipped by two green leaves.
"That hasn't been here seven years ago, right?" Ukyo asked.
Link wanted to reply, but suddenly the strange plant came shooting upwards, startling all three of them. Link even fell back on his behind and let out a yelp of surprise.
The small, bulbous tree that had grown from the ground within seconds stared at them with a wide grin.
"Hi there!" he said. "I'm the Deku Sprout!"
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(Posted Sun, 02 Sep 2007 12:13)
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