Omg dramaaaaaa. Drama llama!
Who else was beginning to find King Bulbin kind of cute after he revealed that he wasn’t just a mindless monster after all? : D
So I wasn’t really feeling these boss fights. I think partly because I want them to be really good, so I wasn’t sure about what to put to make it ‘really good’. After all, we’ve been waiting the whole story for these fights!
Stole some dialogue from Wind Waker. It’s good dialogue.
The music when Midna makes her move is just so heartbreaking… The track is only a few seconds long, but it is such a perfect background for the action. Also I kind of like the weird ‘tribal’ music for Gannon, heehee.
Chapter 20: Storming the Castle
He ran forward with a shout, his arms outstretched. Midna collapsed into them, and he rolled to soften the impact.
He came up on one knee, with her small form safely cradled in his arms. Her disproportionately large head lolled against his shoulder, the Fused Shadow bumping his face. It didn’t seem to affect him.
Her large red eyes opened, and she smiled shyly up at him, reaching up to touch his face. A few raindrops splashed down on the cobblestones around them.
“You did it!” Navi said, hovering over his other shoulder. “The shield is down. Good job, Midna!”
She stirred, recovering her strength. “Thanks. That really took a lot out of me, though…”
He set her upright. “You just ride with me for a bit. We’ll take care of things until you feel better.”
She clambered onto his head. “Right. Onwards!” It began to rain in earnest.
The others were swiftly filing past them, stealing through the gate that was partially ajar. Auru gave Rauru a handshake. “See you later. Right! Group C, with me!” He led the way to the left, heading to a small door just inside the walls.
Link looked around at the front plaza of the castle. He had never seen it before, not even in the past incarnation of the castle. It was very impressive.
“Go, go, go!” Nabooru hissed, dodging past him. “Save the Princess now, gawk later!”
He came back to himself and followed her lead, sprinting for the main gate of the castle. She was more than right.
The Sages split off from their group, heading to the right, transforming as they went into coloured balls of light. Link and his little group continued straight ahead, down a coloured marble hall, into a huge ballroom lit with golden chandeliers. It was dead silent except for their footsteps.
“Eerie,” Rana said. “There’s usually tons of people in here.”
“At least there are no monsters, not yet,” Link said. “Let’s find a way up. I bet he’s at the top again.”
“Then follow me, and I’ll get you there!” Rana said.
It took them longer than she thought it would. The doors to the upper stairs were locked, and in the interest of time, Link actually tried to bash them down, but was unsuccessful.
And that was when they ran into their first Ironknuckle.
“Stay alert!” Link snapped. “These are very dangerous!”
“Sure,” Rana said, “but you just have to know how to crack them… just… right.” She flipped in the air, impossibly high, and came down on its head. Its helmet popped off. “And now for the back…”
Even as it turned to follow her quick movements, it presented its back to Link, who immediately saw what she was talking about. He cut the laces holding up the rest of its armour, and pieces fell everywhere with a clatter.
It flung its axe at him, and he ducked; the axe wedged in a pillar behind him. He heard Franz gulp, and gave him an encouraging grin.
The Ironknuckle was quicker now, and seemed capable of engaging all four of them in combat at once. But the Master Sword, though it no longer sparkled, still blazed in his hand, and cut through the rest of its light armour. It stumbled, and Jakob’s lance finished it off.
He nodded at them. “Good work. Now, where are we going to find a key for this door?”
Rana shrugged. “This guy doesn’t seem to have it. It’s a fairly large key…”
They began to search, hunting wherever they could. They eventually ended up in the back garden, passing through a vaguely familiar hedge maze, and arriving at a vaguely familiar miniature courtyard.
The chief Moblin was waiting for them. He waved when he saw them. “I have come to play!” His boar grazed peacefully behind him.
“I’ll play,” Rana said.
The Moblin shook his head. “I want to play with him.” And he pointed at Link.
Link shrugged, unsheathing his sword. “You’re challenging me to single combat? Happy to oblige… Especially after all the trouble you’ve given us…”
The Moblin did not answer, and instead swung his giant axe horizontally at Link, who jumped back to dodge it. The Moblin seemed faster than before, although perhaps that was because he was not wearing the heavy armour he had been wearing when they first met.
He jumped over the next sweep of the axe and blurred past the Moblin, cutting a bloody line on his side. The Moblin grunted and swung the axe like a wall at him, knocking him to the ground. He flipped back up, and saw a disturbance.
Shad was running along the top of the wall, pursued by a Bokoblin, who was pursued by Ashei. “This… may have been… a mistaaake!” wailed the scholar, booking it to the nearest tower. There was a small explosion, and the Bokoblin was blown off the wall by a bomb from a small cannon that Auru carried on his shoulder.
“Got you covered,” said the older man. “Come back and relax.”
Both Link and the Moblin laughed, and Link turned back to his battle in some confusion. What was the Moblin laughing about? He stabbed forward, splintering bits of bone from one of the horns on the Moblin’s helmet, and rolled in time to avoid the answering swing.
The Moblin was fast and strong, and he was beginning to wonder whether parrying would be less tiring than dodging.
He saw an opening, and smacked the Moblin in the face with his shield. The Moblin staggered back, dazed, and Link slashed him deeply. He pressed his advantage, a bit too far, as it turned out, because the Moblin shook his head and swung his axe too fast for him to dodge, sending him flying into the far wall.
“Wait,” said the Moblin. He sniffed the air, looked around for a minute, and pulled a key from his pocket. Link slowly got up and came forward cautiously to receive it. But nothing funny happened, and he took the key and put it in his pocket.
The Moblin downed a red potion and wandered over to his boar. He mounted, and headed towards the exit. He paused and turned to Link. “I fight for the strongest. …It is all I have ever known.”
And he spurred his boar and left, thundering to the second gate of the castle.
They all stared after him, but it was Midna who spoke. “…He talked. I didn’t know he could do that.”
“I think you may have just gained Zelda a powerful ally,” Franz said. “If that beast fights for her as well as it did for Ganondorf, the lesser monsters will be cleared out in no time.”
“Well,” Link said, waving the key at them. “Is this the key you were talking about, Rana?”
“Looks like it!” she chirped. “Now we can get higher in the tower!”
They hurried back to the door that had been locked. The key fit, and they found themselves just above the arches that led to the outer walls. A ramp led up to another door, which led them to more halls. “Zelda certainly has enough space in these halls…”
“No kidding,” Rana said. “But at least it helps everyone keep fit. At least, that’s what Zelda says. I’m not sure if she really means it. But the throne room is at the very top of the tower, which is another three very tall stories, so we’d better keep hoofing it.”
“My father’s castle in Labrynna is more wide than tall,” Franz said. “This place is very strange to me.”
They hurried up, defending against attacks from Ironknuckles, finding their rhythm as a team together.
They came out on a wide balcony, high above the town. The gardens looked like they were full of toy trees. Link looked up and saw what looked like a small cathedral still rising above them. The clouds were low and blowing fast above the top of the tower, and black as pitch. At least it wasn’t raining anymore.
“That’s the throne room,” Rana said. “So… I guess you’re going to kill Ganondorf first, and then revive Zelda?”
“I don’t know,” Link said. “But this is where I must go alone.”
“Link…”
“Rana, listen. I wasn’t able to save so many people on this adventure alone. I don’t want to lose anyone else. Especially not you, not after the things we said the last couple days. …Promise me you’ll get to the ground safely. I don’t want this place to collapse on your head again. Last time was enough.”
She sniffed, and nodded. “I promise I’ll get out of the castle alive. And I’ll get the others out, too.” She began to cry. “But promise me you’ll do everything you can to come back, too!”
He reached out and took her in his arms. “That’s easy. Hush. It’s okay. I’ll come back to you, I promise.”
With an effort, she controlled her tears. She had her pride, too, and it served her well. But she still clung to him, this one last time.
Franz and Jakob were looking confused. “So we came all this way, and now you’re going alone?”
“I’ll explain on the way down,” Rana said, not letting go yet.
“If that is your wish,” Franz said, looking unhappy.
Link stroked her hair. “It’s going to be fine. I’ve beat him before. I’m stronger than I was before; I have my sword; I have my courage. Nothing can stop me.” He kissed her as extra reassurance, trying to memorize everything about her in ten seconds. Her shape pressed against him, her scent, her taste, the sound of her breath, her warmth, the feel of her lips pulling gently on his, all these things he tried to fold away in his memory. Just in case.
Reluctantly, she pulled away, and he let her go.
She grinned as widely as she could. “I’ll see you later. Come on, guys, we’ve got to get the others.”
“You’re acting like the castle is going to collapse…” Franz protested as he followed her in bemusement.
Link turned to the double stairs leading further up, and took a step forward.
“Did you forget me?” Midna asked, sounding coy behind him.
“I can’t tell you what to do,” Link said. “I would rather you went with them. But you have even more at stake here than I do. The choice is yours. And Navi, of course, won’t leave me.”
“Never!”
Midna floated up beside him. “I’m staying. I have Zelda’s spirit with me. I don’t care how scary Ganondorf is, or what he does to us. I’m in this to the end.” She glanced down at the town. “Not that the others aren’t. But I want to protect them as much as you do. I’m glad you let me stay.”
They ascended the stairs to the throne room together. Thunder rumbled, and lightening flashed.
“Could the atmosphere get any more cliché,” Navi muttered, sticking close to Link’s shoulder nervously. He raised a hand to comfort her, and then froze as he saw what was at the top of the dais ahead of them.
There was Zelda’s throne, he was sure of it. Above her was a huge marble carving of the Triforce, with the three Goddesses flanking it on its three sides, but they had been vandalized, the heads torn off and thrown on the floor. In the triangular hole in the centre of the Triforce, Zelda’s body hovered, softly illuminated.
Link gasped audibly and began to jog forward, but Midna stopped him with a hand. She had seen what he had not.
“Welcome to my castle,” a deep, rich voice rolled through the hall, followed by a low laugh. Link had hoped never to hear that voice again. A dark figure was sitting in Zelda’s throne, tall and broad and covered in even more ornate black armour than last time. His skin had darkened from a greenish brown to almost pure black, but his eyes were still the same malign brown. His hair was still scarlet, although it was pulled back in an elaborate set of rolls bound in gold.
The figure rose slowly and paced a few steps. “I’ve been waiting for you, Hero. I knew you would make it here eventually. Your ridiculous and annoying stubbornness means that you just don’t know when to roll over and die.”
“That time is when Hyrule is at peace,” Link answered. “When you are gone.”
“Hyrule could be at peace under my rule,” Ganondorf rumbled. “Do you know why I conquered it?”
“I don’t really care,” Link said. “Your definition of ‘peace’ doesn’t match anyone else’s.”
“You yourself know that the Gerudo live in an endless desert. When the sun rises into the sky, a burning wind punishes my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbs into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierces our homes. No matter when it comes, the desert wind carries the same thing… Death. But the winds that blow across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose. But what does that matter to you? To one raised in the soft, green, protected confines of the forest?” He made a dismissive, spiteful gesture with his hand.
“I wouldn’t call it soft…” Navi muttered.
“That means nothing!” Link shouted at him. “Living with a wind full of Death does not mean you are allowed to bring Death to your neighbouring country! And you never truly wanted Life. You only wanted the Triforce.”
“I do not need to explain myself to you, Hero! Your people would never accept the Gerudo! And I am no mere vassal, to bow to another king! I am King of the Gerudo… and deserve to be King of Hyrule! All who resist me will be destroyed.”
“That’s not how Hyrule works,” Link said. “You don’t want the love of your people.”
“No. Only their respect and fear.” He tapped the long, glowing white sword at his side.
“That is why Zelda will always be better than you.”
“Her? She is a formidable woman. But she knows nothing of actually ruling a country. Hiding from me all those years will teach her nothing of that.”
“But with the support of her people, she is better able to rule than your iron fist is.”
“Of course you would disagree. You are a fool.”
Midna had been watching the exchange with interest. “So you’re Ganondorf? Oh, I’ve been dying to meet you,” she snarled sarcastically, baring her fangs.
“Your people have long amused me, little Midna,” Ganondorf answered, turning his attention to her with a step forward. “To defy the Goddesses with such petty magic, only to be cast aside… Yet the dregs of their anguish was my nourishment during my three-year exile. Their lasting hatred called to me. I drank of it and became strong once again.” He paced again. “Your people had some skill, to be sure… but they lacked true power.” He looked up at Zelda’s limp body. “The kind of power those chosen by the Goddesses wield. He who wields such power would make a suitable king for the world, don’t you think?” He raised his hand, and his Triforce glowed as he tightened his fist.
“Such conceit!” Midna spat. “But if you are what you claim… I will risk everything to deny you!”
Ganondorf laughed deep in his throat. “Shadow has been moved by Light, it seems… Your love for the Hero will not save you. But you are as amusing as your people. Deny me, then! Yes, deny me, you and your little friend…” He looked up at Zelda, reaching a hand towards her, his form dissolving around the edges into small black squares that floated up towards her. Ganondorf had been learning a few tricks in the Twilight Realm, it seemed.
Midna saw his intent better than Link did, and zoomed forward, getting between Ganondorf and Zelda, spreading her arms to block him. Ganondorf did no more than smile, and then evaporated fully into black squares that shot straight through her into Zelda. Midna cried out in pain, but whatever she was doing had not worked.
She looked around desperately, as if hoping to find Ganondorf hiding in a corner somewhere, and then flew to Zelda’s face. She raised a hand as if to attack, but could not, and drooped in defeat.
Zelda’s eyes snapped open, and even from that great distance, Link could tell they were the wrong colour.
Midna went flying, crying out in pain and shock as she went, and slammed into the carpet hard near the entrance. She did not move.
Link turned to go to her, but a yellow barrier blocked his path. He touched it and jerked his fingers back, burned.
He heard a deep, mocking laugh from behind him, and turned to see Zelda, yellow-eyed and grey-skinned, walking briskly towards him. Her lips moved, but it was Ganondorf’s voice coming from them. “It is not often one gets such sweet revenge as this. You defeated me once… but to take up arms against the King of Light and Shadow again is foolish beyond compare.” Zelda’s body drew a slim, straight sword and pointed it at him. “So I shall take great pleasure in slaying you with the hand of the one you are sworn to protect!” She floated up into the air, sword still pointed at him.
Link drew his own sword. “Ideas, Navi?”
“Watch him, and see what he does,” Navi said. “We don’t want Zelda to get hurt.”
Zelda’s body raised its sword, and the floor began to glow under Link. He jumped to the side, off the glowing part, before it erupted in crackling energy.
“All right, stay tight, stay calm!” Navi cried. “He’s definitely not going to know how to fight with Zelda, he’s going to make mistakes, we can do this.”
Zelda dove at him, her sword the deadly tip of a dart that was her whole body, and he met it head-on with his shield. Perhaps he could tackle her, pin her down…
Zelda’s sword bounced off his shield with a resounding thud, but then as he moved to grab her, she swung quickly, cutting through his thigh. He gasped in pain and limped to one side as she dove again.
“Need a red potion?” Navi asked.
“Not yet… Gaagh!” Link rolled to the side to avoid the ‘glowing floor attack’ again, and agony lanced up his leg and into his gut. “Actually, yes!” He swallowed a gulp and tossed the bottle back to Navi; she caught it in midair and put it away.
He twirled his sword, ready for Ganondorf’s next move.
Evidently deciding that he wasn’t going to injure Link any other way, Ganondorf lifted Zelda’s sword high, and a ball of energy formed at the tip of it.
Oh, really? Link thought to himself, his nerves all firing with adrenaline and familiarity. Of all the things you think will put me down, this is the one you try? The one I know so well?
Zelda flung the ball of light at him, and Link bounced it back with the Master Sword. Their game of hot potato was faster than it had been years before, but he was quicker, his eye was steadier, and he certainly wasn’t afraid of it. He was a little afraid of what it would do to Zelda, but it wouldn’t kill her, not if it was the same spell it was before. With every swing, his breath came faster, his shield arm grew more tense.
Ganondorf slipped, just the tiniest fraction, and the spell shot past Zelda’s sword to impact her in the chest. Her body spasmed, and Ganondorf’s voice echoed through the chamber in a long, guttural, choking growl of pain, as she sank to the floor, incapacitated for the moment.
Something huge and blobby shot past Link, and he turned in time to see Midna’s war form reaching past him with all seven arms. They wrapped around Zelda and squeezed, and black bits flew from the tangle like juice from an orange.
When Midna finally let go, diminishing back into herself, she had laid Zelda’s body on her throne. Zelda’s skin was her own colour again, pure and porcelain. She was more beautiful than he had ever seen her before. And she was safe.
Midna hovered next to him, leaning casually against his shoulder, and they shared a silent grin and nod. She had done it.
A ground-shaking rumble grabbed their attention, turning them away from the unconscious Princess and to where the black flecks were coalescing into a growing shadow. He thought he could make out a shape in it…
The shadow swelled, and swelled again, and gained solidity, and colour, and he was staring at huge beast, like a cross between a black boar and a red-maned lion, with great tusks, tiny eyes, and huge clawed paws, and a massive scar glowing white on its belly. It was like Gannon had returned, but smaller and more animalistic. It roared, and Link brought his shining blade forward. It jumped backwards and pawed the ground, ready to charge at him.
“Bow!” he snapped, and it appeared in his hand. Quick as thought, he drew it to his ear and released, and a Light Arrow zipped out at the beast’s forehead just as it began to charge.
It struck slightly off centre, but still the beast tripped, shaking its head violently. He turned and ran to the side, and it shook off the arrow and followed him.
“I suggest you use the Wolf Stone,” Midna said, hovering beside him.
“Do it.”
With a hiss, he compacted in mid-stride to all fours, and began to run lightly to the other side of the room. They were going to have to stop its mad charge somehow…
“If you find a way to get a little bit ahead of him, I can grab him with my hair and flip him over,” Midna called. “I need space to work in, though.”
The tusks were frighteningly close behind him. He nipped behind a pillar and Gannon crashed right through it, sending stone chunks flying everywhere. One of them struck him on the flank and he hopped, and then Gannon’s head knocked into him, sending him flying sideways. He rolled laterally as he hit the floor, tumbling over and over with Midna still clinging to his back. He hoped she wasn’t too hurt. He was certainly going to show bruises later.
He picked himself up, wondering why he hadn’t been trampled three times already, and found that Gannon had vanished. He trotted out to the centre of the room, all his senses taut. He could smell the monster… but where was it…?
“Here!” Navi cried, and he spun. A red swirl in the air turned purple to his left, and Gannon materialized out if it.
Midna grunted as her hair wrapped around the beast’s tusks and heaved to the right. The monster seemed to have a high centre of gravity or something, and pawed useless at the air with its right paw before she managed to flip it over onto its side, where it lay, stunned for the moment.
It was too big for him to attack with claws and teeth. He looked to Navi, and turned back into a human. The Master Sword was in his hand before he knew it, and he leapt at the monster’s face, where he had killed it before. Blood sprayed over him, like before, but Gannon was recovering, and shook his head, sending him flying into the corner again.
He guessed that was why he shouldn’t try that without Zelda’s help to hold the beast still.
He turned back into a wolf, and waited for the charge, but this time Gannon jumped over his head and disappeared before Midna could get a hold of his tusks. It was learning.
He tried hiding behind a pillar, but that was not so successful. Gannon charged through it, sending shattered stone at him, and he ducked. But still the monster teleported away before they could grab hold of it.
“We’re going to need to try something else,” Navi said. “He’s gotten wise to this plan.”
Link turned back into a human. “I bet I can take him myself.”
“You crazy?” Navi demanded.
“He is,” Midna said. “But maybe I can help him.”
“What about your war form…?”
“It’s recharging, sorry. A few more minutes…”
“In the meantime, I’m trying this.”
“Or you’ll get impaled on a tusk or trampled to death under those ten-ton hooves, and then who’s going to clean up after it?”
“I’m going to try my bow again,” Link said. “I shoot at him, Midna grabs him, and Navi helps me find a weak point.”
“It’s a plan,” Navi said, handing him his bow.
He cautiously trotted out to the middle of the chamber, and saw several red proto-portals around the edges of the room. He turned, half in a crouch, an arrow ready on the string.
“Here!” screamed Navi. “Get him!”
Link whirled and fired, and the Light arrow hit the monster square between the eyes. Midna didn’t even have to knock it over; it fell sideways at Link’s feet, steamrollering into him. Or it would have if Midna hadn’t dragged him backwards just in time. “Look out!”
Link dropped his bow, leaving Navi to pick it up, ran around to the huge white scar on the beast’s side, and slashed at it. The thick hide resisted the sword, but the monster gave a shudder. He took a step back and stabbed with all his might.
Gannon screamed and, finding its back legs, reared high above them. With a final roar and flail, the monster collapsed to the floor and lay still. It began to burn in an otherworldly green flame.
Link climbed, panting, back to Zelda’s dais and watched it burn. When it was gone, there would be nothing left of either Ganondorf or Gannon, nothing left they could use to cause mischief in this age. He poked his injuries and bruises. He would live.
Beside him, Midna began to glow with a beautiful white light. She looked down at herself in confusion, and then back at Zelda on her throne.
The white light drifted over to Zelda in a stream of sparkles, and they followed it, arriving just in front of her as the light faded and her light blue eyes slowly opened.
“Princess!” Midna exclaimed. “I…”
Zelda blinked a few times, and then came to focus on them. “You don’t have to say anything, Midna. I know everything that happened. Such suffering you have endured…” Midna’s lip wobbled, and she turned away.
Zelda turned her clear, if still slightly disoriented, gaze to Link, and nodded in greeting. He knew his mouth was hanging open, but he couldn’t help it. He was just so glad to see her… herself again. “Link…”
A sudden explosion from behind them shook them, and Midna and Link whirled to see the fire had consumed Gannon’s body and had grown into a huge ball of green flame. Ganondorf’s laugh boomed out of it, and Link realized that he could recognize Ganondorf’s face in the fire. No wonder Zant had thought he was dealing with a god. He had long known that Ganondorf was no longer exactly mortal, but he had never imagined this.
Link put out an arm to protect Zelda, but beside him, Midna straightened with a little grunt, and the pieces of the Fused Shadow appeared swirling around her. He turned to her in astonishment, and saw inexorable purpose in her gaze that was fixed, unwavering, on Ganondorf before them.
She was going to fight him with all of her power, although she could not win; she would give even her life for them… for a world not her own, all for the people she had come to call friends…
“Midna… no! Don’t! You can’t fight him, not even like tha-” He reached out to her, crying out desperately, but before he could reach her, stop her from doing this crazy thing, he felt the tug of a portal on his head, and both he and Zelda were drawn up in little black squares.
The last thing he saw was Midna’s grimly satisfied gaze.