~Chapter Five-Near Death~
“I’m impressed,” Ganondorf said. “So, this reformed dark matter is stronger than the original?”
“Yes, m’lord.” Vaati was on a knee, his head bowing to the tall, green, ginger man before him. “I created him as you wanted. No flaws like the last one.” Standing next to Vaati was Dark Link. It stood next to a pillar, for the light will weaken it. The gears and cogs spun round and round, ticking and tocking as they spoke.
“Yes, about that last one, how did you dispose of him?” Ganondorf asked.
“Rest assured, m’lord, the prototype was disposed of in the most efficient way possible,” Vaati stood up and looked out the giant glass window of the clock tower. “He did not stand a chance. His agility far surpasses the prototype’s at the cost of the other features the prototype had.”
“It does a good job, and is a good servant,” Ganondorf said, walking over to Dark Link. He placed a hand under its chin and lifted it up. Its body felt like a swampy goo, but it did not adhere to his skin. “Your gift is a good one. You have been taught well.”
“Thank you, m’lord,” Vaati said bowing. “I learned from the very best. I’ve been talking with my teacher lately. She said she would love to meet you one day.”
“One day…”
“Yes, anyways, m’lord, here is my report,” Vaati said. “Over half an hour ago, ReFoDaMa and Link came into contact with the other. Combat capabilities were amplified due to compatibility.”
“Good work, Vaati. I believe seeing their hero so badly hurt might have caused unrest among the city.” Vaati bowed down once more.
“Thank you, m’lord.”
“And the Princess?”
“That brings me to another thing, m’lord,” Vaati said. “Dark Link, as Zelda has come to call it, exhibited strange behavior during his infiltration, which was a failure as we both know.”
“You found out what it was?”
“There was a break in prior to ours. The infiltrator and it met, and the amplification of power occurred. I believe it might have been a minor glitch, because the boy’s outfit was similar to Link’s, or that both were under the role of an intruder.”
“That is unexpected. So, you say there was another infiltrator?”
“Yes, m’lord,” Vaati said, holding back the urge to disrespectfully point out that Ganondorf was not listening, with a little wince. He pointed behind Ganondorf and nodded his head toward Dark Link. The power was amplifying. Somebody else was here. Ganondorf nodded in approval and said,
“So, you say…”as he turned around. Vaati teleported himself and Dark Link out of the clock tower just before Dark Link would turn into a killing machine. This time of day was not the best time for him.
“Thanks, Impa,” Kuro said as she sat on a bench in the marketplace. Impa stood next to her. She had spent the whole time comforting her, and she had almost forgot Zelda’s request before she said,
“The Princess wishes for you to keep an eye on the boy from the night before,” Impa said. “So, think of it this way. You’re like Link, now. You aren’t a member of the Royal Guard, yet you are working for the Princess.” As Impa said this, Kuro’s eyes lit up, but they would soon be filled with worry when bad news struck.
“Impa! Impa! You must come quick!” It was one of the guards stationed in the Market. He pointed over to an alley, where a large crowd of people—no the entire market was at. “He’s dying, Impa!”
“Who is?”
“Link! Somebody injured him badly.”
“What?” Kuro and Impa said in unison. Kuro stood up and was about to go see for herself, when Impa grabbed her should and said, “Find the other one. He shouldn’t be hard to find.” Kuro reluctantly nodded and ran away from the situation. She had far too much respect for Impa, the only other female working in a combat position for the Royal Family, to disobey her.
“Don’t bother clearing the way for me,” Impa said as she ran towards the crowd and jumped over them all with her trademark, Sheikah agility. She landed in the alley and hurried over to the bloodstained body of Link. She placed her fingers to his neck and felt for a pulse. It was faint, and he was loosing blood fast. “Red potion! Get me one, now!” Link coughed up some blood and Impa tilted his head, so he would not choke. “Whoever they are, they certainly did a number on you, lad. Just breathe, alright?” Link sputtered some more blood as Impa tilted his head. As somebody came back with a red potion, Link coughed up a large amount of blood onto Impa’s armor, and shut his eyes. Impa had witnessed the deaths of many, but this… No! She turned around and took the potion. “Come on, Link,” she muttered. “Please, I don’t want Zelda seeing you like this!” It did not make a bit of difference. His body was still warm, however. She picked Link up and said, “Give me a deku nut.”
“But Impa—“
“Just do it!” She said as she hoisted Link’s body up and slung him over her shoulder. “Somebody take his weapons to the castle.”
“Yes, ma’am,” a guard said, running over and picking up Link’s sword and shield, as little girl came forward and handed Impa a Deku Nut. She could not have been older than ten, and she said,
“I bought the last of the Deku nuts to throw at the cuckoos, but…”
“It’s alright, child,” Impa said, almost patting the girl’s head with her bloodstained hand. “I will make sure Link and Zelda thank you personally when I come back.” She took the Deku nuts from the child and threw on onto the ground, disappearing in a flash of light. She then reappeared and started to race as fast as should could to the castle. Come on… come on. Move faster! Zelda’s counting on you! She jumped over the gate under the arch at the entrance, just barely missing the spiked tips of one of the bars. She brought Link close to her chest, holding him tightly as she rolled on the ground. Her legs were burning, and they went slower as she continued. She was tiring out from all the running, but she would not give in. She took a deep breath and put all her energy into moving her legs. Hidden in the fields of the castle was a Fairy Fountain. She needed to get Link there before it was impossible to bring him back. She made a quick turn to the right and found the Royal Family’s crest upon the rock wall. She lifted a hand, and did what she had to do. Her hand was bloodstained and it smeared onto her face as she whistled the lullaby that was hummed to Zelda as a baby. It was the song of the Royal Family, one of three which did strange things to the environment.
As the lullaby ended, the wall rumbled softly and a passageway was revealed. Impa ran through it and entered a dark room with brilliant lights shining, and moving as if it were raining upside-down, to the cave’s ceiling. Her body was working against her will as she weakly made her way to the white fountain at the back of the room. She placed Link in the fountain and her legs gave in and she fell to her knees. She panted and whipped the sweat off her brow. It would be only seconds, now, before the almost maniacal (in her opinion) laugh of the Great Fairy would echo off the walls.
“What is this? Red water? Who put blood in here?” a voice said, before laughing as a large, scantly clad, red haired woman wearing golden leaves for clothes emerged from the center of the fountain. She looked down and saw Link lying in the water.
“Great Fairy… I beseech you,” Impa said between great breaths. “Please, on behalf of the Royal Family, save this boy.”
“I see.” The Great Fairy looked down and examined Link’s wounds. “The wounds are infected with Dark Matter. It will take more than just my power to heal him.”
“We don’t have time. Just tell me what you need to do.” Impa rose to her feet and made her way into the fountain. “I’ll help anyway possible. Princess Zelda can’t see him dead. He must stay alive.”
“Anything?”
“Yes, Great Fairy, anything.”
“Well, then…” Link would be surrounded by a red light as the Great Fairy revived him. Impa, too had this light around her fatigue wore off. As the two exited the fountain, the blood on Impa’s armor peeled off like paint, and disappeared in the pure water. As they exited, the Great Fairy disappeared, spinning downwards into the fountain as ff the plug was pulled out of a drain. The next stop was Hyrule Castle, where Princess Zelda waited.
