(ZGen/Adv/Rom)Legend of Link II: Adventure of Caleb[T]

Sorry about last week. I'm having school troubles, and haven't been able to write for a while (THE PAIN!!!). Apologies, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to provide chapters for a while. After this, wait until Easter Break (hopefully I'll have something by then).
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Chapter 24

"Kate, come down from there!" Kafei shouted, pointing up at his daughter, who was sitting on the bridge that went to the Clocktower, under one of the rails in the fence, so that she could've easily slipped off and fallen to the ground.

Kate looked down at her father, frightened of his tone. She difficultly got to her feet, and ran back, around a torch that was taller than her, and down the wooden stairs.

Dark Link saw the concern in Kafei's eyes. He was determined not to let today be his child's last. Even so, a drop from about ten feet would hardly qualify as life-threatening, unless you were trying to make it so. The bridge had been completed for a while now, and the door was open as well. South Clocktown wasn't very crowded, but was filling up fairly quick. The festivities were in full swing, decorations exceeding those of Hyrule's. Red and gold streamers, rows and arcs of weird masks, great tapestries depicting the Four Giants, and a plethora of green confetti which uncannily seemed to reach every nook and cranny of the town.

The Indigo-Gos, staying together over the long twenty-three years, were playing "The Ballad of the Wind Fish" atop a raised platform, between the stairs to the Laundry Pool and the entrance to West Clocktown. Dogs ran about, following the nearest Zora they could find, and keeping a lookout for Sally (for, as you may know, dogs hate Dekus). Sally had chosen long ago to play the Deku mini-game in North Clocktown, avoiding them completely. Most kids were in East Clocktown, where all of their favorite games were (David was overseeing these activities), but Jill and Kate came with Dark Link, Kafei, and Midna to get lunch. Anju and Hannah were helping Lucia and Cole into their new Carnival-wear, a custom for lovers in the town. They would dance at the ball that was to be held soon, along with the adults.

Kate tugged at Kafei's sleeve. "Daddy, are Cole an' Lucia getting married?"

Kafei laughed, getting into a short line to buy chocolate milk (a relatively new invention in Termina, aided into being by wizards from Hyto). "Maybe. But that's only if they stay together for about...six years." He pulled out his wallet, and counted out fifty rupees, placing them on the counter as the Goron in front of them walked off. "Five," he ordered, before Mr. Barton took down that many thin glass bottles of the milk and handed them to him. They each grabbed one, and walked to the next stall to buy sandwiches.

Once they had their food, they sat at a table near the stage. Five minutes later, Jill pointed east, to where Anju, Hannah, Cole, and Lucia stood. She snorted as she saw Cole, making the chocolate milk squirt out of her nose and onto her now-ruined egg salad sandwich.

Cole wore a pinstripe suit, a tie, straight navy blue pants, and dress shoes. He looked rather unhappy about it, and Anju's look of indignation showed that he had gone so far as to argue about it. Lucia, on the other hand, had on a long green dress, which blocked her feet from view. Her hair was in a ponytail, which had been brought forward on her right shoulder. She seemed a bit embarrassed at having to wear this, but wasn't really complaining.

"I take it back," Kafei said as the others came to the table. "Yes, Kate, it appears they are getting married today."

"Shut up," Cole grumbled, his anger elevating his nerve.

"Cole, watch your language," Anju warned.

"Sorry..." he apologized insincerely. He mumbled, so only Lucia could hear, "I wonder what language she wants me to speak..."

"Jokes aside," Kafei continued, "you two look great. Where'd you find that dress?"

"Laura," Hannah answered. "She says it's what she wore back when she was a princess."

"Dad, do I seriously have to wear this?" Cole complained to him now.

"Seriously. It's tradition."

"And these shoes?"

"Tradition."

"What about the tie? It's suffocating me."

"Tradition."

"You don't care if I die, do you?"

"Trad--" Kafei halted, laughing. "Good one. But c'mon, Cole, it can't be that bad. At least you've got a pretty dance partner."

"But I can't dance."

"That's your fault. Your mother and I would've been delighted to teach you, if you had asked."

"Yeah, well I didn't even know there was gonna be a dance until yesterday. All I heard was 'Oh, I didn't know you could dance, Coleslaw'!" He imitated Jill's voice almost perfectly, and everyone laughed.

"Well, that's your lesson for the day: look before you leap."

"Can you dance, Lucia?" Jill asked, hoping to make Cole feel worse.

"No," she replied, thinking that it was stupid to even bother trying.

"Well, no better time than now to learn," Kafei persisted.

"Y'know, why don't we go first?" Dark Link suggested, gesturing to Midna (they hadn't been forced to wear such clothes because they weren't residents of the town). "We'll show 'em how it's done."

"Good idea," Kafei agreed. Dark Link and Midna, blushing, stood, and walked to the dance floor, where a few other couples had begun to congregate. And, as had been in Link and Eleah's dream, the two of them danced, as the Indigo-Gos reluctantly played even slower music. "Take notes, Cole."

On the floor, Dark Link sighed. "Midna, I probably shoulda brought this up last night, but I think I'm getting shy about these sort of things. I figured if there were people watching us, you'd be less willing to make a scene about it."

Midna's eyes widened. "Y'mean...you wanna break up?"

He hesitated. "Yeah."

"Well, you certainly picked the perfect time to tell me," Midna said sarcastically.

"Like I said, I couldn't do it yesterday, and right now no one's listening. And we have to set an example for the kids to follow. Everyone's watching us for direction, so you won't show any anger you may have for now."

"Brilliant," Midna mumbled. "Is it because I'm not the White Wizard?"

"No, I just don't think either of us are really committed to this. At least, I know I'm not."

"Then why'd you start in the first place?"

"I dunno, I guess..."

"You thought I might be the White Wizard, and you didn't want me to turn into another Hannah?"

"Pretty much."

"I understand..." Midna actually felt quite relieved. It was true that she had forced him into the whole thing, when she wasn't really that interested in him. He had been an infatuation, and ever since he saved Hannah...they had become more of an obligation. Were Dark Link's feelings changing? Did he now like Hannah?

"Plus, the fact that we went through the portal together...it seems to've made you gain some of my logic. It freaks me out when someone says the exact same thing I'm thinking..."

A few seconds later, Cole and Lucia entered into the dance, thinking that it didn't really look that hard. Heads turned, and many couples laughed at them. Though, whether it was because of Cole's outfit, or their poor dancing skills (or maybe even the simple reason that they were young), neither of them could tell.

Dark Link and Midna went back to the table as the first song ended, leaving Cole and Lucia to themselves. Kafei and Anju were staring at their son with pride, and Jill and Kate had wandered off to East Clocktown. "They're so cute!" Anju said, in that annoying way some mothers do.

Dark Link let his mind go, seeing that nothing important was happening. His thoughts had been restless the whole morning, trying to figure out why he'd written all that about Gramarye. Instead, he thought of pi. He fought against it, but it soon became too addicting to resist any longer. But he kept a side-ponder going: it felt good to be free of Midna now, but Evol couldn't really be right, could he?

Suddenly, there came screams from East Clocktown. People ran frightened away from the site, and everyone else seemed to freeze. Dark Link sensed that a certain person had just appeared and disappeared: Sutar.
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Sutar looked miserably about the castle with its huge towers, useless pillars, and four separate buildings surrounding the courtyard where he now stood. He transformed back into his dragon form, trampling the bed of roses which had been tended to only minutes before a servant. He took a deep breath, and roared at the top of his lungs. A window on the nearest building shattered, and, throughout every structure, cracks spread along the bricks.

As the noise died down, three dragons, one red, one green, one gold, each bigger than him, flew out from the fourth building. They quickly approached him, landing on three pillars nearby. The gold dragon, Solia, stretched her neck to peer closer at him. (The following conversation is translated from the ancient dragon language.) "A simple TM would have sufficed," she said. (TM stands for Telepathic Message.)

"Law 94," Sutar explained, speaking of the law against certain spells after a dragon has taken a life in the last day.

"Ah, yes, and how does thine work fair?" the green dragon, Kilia, asked in that pleasant voice she used to fool humans into believing her to be kind.

"I have completed my job," Sutar replied. "All that is left is for the curse to finish off Kafei."

"And thou hast come for thy second purpose?" the red dragon, Volvia, inquired, taking her turn.

"Unfortunately, yes. Hannah has declined, and I've been informed that Evol's plan does not consist of me finding happiness whatsoever. But, once this is all over, whether good or evil prevails...our race is endangered. I have searched all possible locations, and some impossible ones as well. I have consulted Evol, Tylk, Rulm, and, though indirectly, Sahara. There are no more dragons in existence. So, I--"

"Art thou sure this is the fact?" Solia questioned. "I speak for us all when I say that we shan't give ourselves unless we know it is the truth. Wouldst thou give thine word?"

In dragon culture, such a query holds a spell every time it is uttered. If the response to it is a lie, then the liar dies immediately. In situations as these, it is obvious that this was a good idea.

"Yes." He paused, allowing them to see that he was still, in fact, alive. "Unless you want to be sensible and mate with the humans, I am the only one whom you can--"

"Humans!" Kilia spat with deepest loathing. "You continue to rant of those things! Fool, they are below us! Whereas Gramarye himself created us perfectly as we are, humans took many an era to evolve into their current state, which is, I must remind you, rather grotesque. They are weak, frail, dishonorable... They always have been, and always will remain to be, inferior to the dragon race."

Sutar sighed. "Okay then, I am the only one through which you can hope to repopulate our race. If time is reset, I will never be born, for my mother would have been killed sooner, as the Eradication will not have happened. Once we enter the Time mage's realm, we will have him preserve us for the new reality. Now, how shall we go about this?"

"We will decide amongst ourselves," Volvia replied, turning to her sisters. "I think Solia will be best."

Solia laughed coldly. "No, no. I fear that I am becoming far too old anyway. I say we leave this task to our youngest: Kilia."

Kilia scowled. "Yes, well, I fear I am far too young. Take Volvia."

Sutar rolled his eyes. None of them wanted to be his mate... Well, that was to be expected. Solia was 56, Volvia was 41, and Kilia was 37. Sutar himself was 48. For dragons, it was considered wrong for a couple to be farther than twenty years apart, so he had no troubles there. But by the very fact that he'd tried to court a human, especially one just on that boundary (Hannah was 28), had made him detestable to them.

"Look, I really couldn't care less which of you it is," Sutar said. "If you want me to choose, I will."

"Please do," Volvia said weakly.

"Kilia," Sutar chose quickly, beckoning her.

"Why me?" Kilia whined, as the other two gave sighs of relief.

"Cuz you hate me the least," Sutar shrugged. "And cuz your scale color's closest to mine."

It's not easy being green, Kilia thought bitterly, complaining some more. Eventually, she calmed down and went with Sutar to her room (or, building), where the servants were dashing to and fro, trying to make the area more comfortable for the two of them.

And it was now, not before, that Sutar felt, with finality, that Hannah was completely out of reach. She had rejected him, tried to fool him, and been told that she would find happiness that couldn't logically be with him, and it was at the moment when he and Kilia were unceremoniously made to reproduce that it actually hit him. With that pain in his heart, he tried to make the best of his situation.
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Caleb rubbed his temples, free of the evil veil. They had been informed already that David, Jill, and Kate had been murdered by Sutar. It had occurred over four hours ago. Prs. Zelda was being rather emotional about it, as were Steve and Mary. John just seemed to be a little disconcerted. Mikau had gone to their room in the inn, and sat on the bed, crying his eyes out. Whenever someone approached him, he would say, "It's me, I know it is. Why, why?"

Caleb, however, was too relieved that he felt normal again to even force himself to shed a tear. He'd only really liked Cole, anyway. Jill and Kate reminded him of his mother, and he hadn't even met David. But, similar to Mikau, he now thought with the utmost certainty that he was the White Wizard (and he had a hard time not laughing at the Zora for being so stupid). Of course, he had more reason to believe so, as you can imagine.

All of the musical acts had become more up-beat as the day wore on. Their act was to be the last, before the voting would begin. It was impossible for anyone to beat them. Just downright impossible. How could you compete with two guitars and a set of drums, especially when half the equipment was magically made electrical? Not to mention how good Caleb could sing, and how great the songs they were going to play were.

Prs. Zelda had put on her dress--the traditional Princess of Hyrule dress, which you can't possibly have missed (unless you've never seen the younger version of Zelda before)--and Caleb couldn't help but think that she actually did look beautiful (a word he didn't use often--when he was telling the truth, that is). Qn. Zelda had come down to the Square, sitting on her throne, which had been moved all the way from the castle. She was wary of her daughter's interactions with the others, secretly only allowing it because Mary was there.

Caleb was having second thoughts about his plan now. He was starting to feel even more connected to the Princess, and the thought that he would give her up just because it was inconvenient... Well, she really did love him, that was for sure. Did all people in Hyrule fall head over heels so easily? Still, she was pretty fun. More so than Angela had ever been, or Claire had appeared to be. More so than being with his best friends and bandmates (granted there was an exclusion of Larry). He would go so far as to say he might love her in return. Things were looking good in that area. But it was becoming harder to keep this a secret.

Every now and then, he had that thought: was it so bad that it needed to be hidden? He felt strangely like he was becoming more mature, and figured that the adults wouldn't have expected them to be sleeping together, and that that had been a bit of a stereotypical idea on his part. But it was too late to turn back now. The least he could do was act like it had never happened: pretend that the entire thing had started only recently.

Caleb took a long drink from his water bottle, shaking his head at the medieval band on the stage. No competition whatsoever... He stared across the Square at Prs. Zelda, who was talking with Mary and Steve. John stood next to him, tuning their guitars. "In all seriousness," he was saying, "it really is a bummer Larry had to leave like that. You didn't have to be so hard on 'im."

"He was being an idiot," Caleb argued. "He had it comin' to 'im for months."

John sighed, finishing. "Well, we're on next. Guess we'll see if Hyrule can handle modern music, eh?"

"If Zelda can, I bet they can, too." He thought it quite strange that John would even think that anything could go wrong. "We'll win. I mean, is there any possible way we couldn't?"

"Dunno...guess the whole 'Sutar' thing's got me thinking a bit more pessimistic. Was a pretty bad shock."

"Yeah..." Caleb lied. "But I still feel good enough to go on. Just hope Steve keeps it together..."

The two of them lifted their guitar straps above their heads, made themselves comfortable with it, and walked over to Steve. "Ready?" John asked, as the song ended on a tranquil note.

"Yeah, be right there," Steve assured them, before kissing Mary and following them to the stage.

Dark Link, who'd arrived only a minute before, came by, put the necessary spells on their instruments, and then put Voice Amplification spells on the band members themselves (John and Steve were to do the echoes). Caleb felt slightly out of place without a microphone, but he'd practiced without it before now, so he would be okay.

As Caleb strummed the strings, loud applause greeted the band. Seconds later, the audience had doubled. Feeling he had right to do so, he said to them, "And now, what you've all been waiting for...!" He struck the first chord, hesitated. The people were loving it... And so, he began the song ("For Your Love", by the Yardbirds):

(For your love.)
(For your love.)
(For your love.)
I'd give you everything,
and more, and that's for sure.
(For your love.)
I'd bring you diamond rings,
and things right to your door.
(For your love.)

To thrill you with delight,
I'll give you diamonds bright.
There'll be things that will excite,
To make you dream of me at night.

(For your love...)
(For your love...)
(For your love...)

For your love, for your love,
I would give the stars above.
For your love, for your love...
I would give you all I could...

(For your love.)
(For your love.)
(For your love.)
I'd give the moon if it were mine to give.
(For your love.)
I'd give the stars,
and the sun, 'fore I live.
(For your love.)

To thrill you with delight,
I'll give you diamonds bright.
There'll be things that will excite,
To make you dream of me at night.

(For your love...)
(For your love...)
(For your love...)
(For your love...)

The two-and-a-half-minute song ended to even more praise. It was a simple song; one the Hylians could understand. And since they had practiced it so much, they had been able to play it almost exactly the same as the original. Caleb took another drink. "Seeing as everyone else only does one song," he announced, pointing in the general direction of the Bombchu Bowling Alley, where some of the other bands were resting, "we're gonna treat you to another."

They had been given permission beforehand, but Caleb felt like saying it anyway. It sure made them sound a lot better, and why not, if you could, win every vote there was? Seemingly, the other bands had only even had one song ready in the first place.

He pointed back to Steve, who began the instrumental for "Jaded", by Aerosmith, and he and John joined in.

Hey...
Ja-ja-jaded.
You gotch yo mama's style,
But you're yesterday's child to me.
So jaded.
You think that's where it's at,
But is that where it's s'posed to be?
You're gettin' it all over me.
X-rated.

My, my, baby blue...
Yeah, I been thinkin' 'bout you--
My, my, baby blue...
Yeah, you're so jaded,
And I'm the one that jaded you.

Hey...
Ja-ja-jaded.
In all its misery,
It will always be what I love.
And hated.
And maybe take a ride,
To the other side we're thinkin' of...
We'll slip into the velvet glove...
And be jaded.

My, my, baby blue...
Yeah, I been thinkin' 'bout you--
My, my, baby blue...
Yeah, I'm so jaded,
And baby, I'm afraid a' you.

Your thinkin's so complicated...
I've had it all up to here...
But it's so overrated,
Love and hate it,
Wouldn't trade it,
Love me, jaded...

Hey...
Ja-ja-jaded.
There ain't no 'baby please',
When I'm shootin' the breeze with her...
When everything you see is a blur...
And ecstasy's what you prefer...

My, my, baby blue...
(Blue blue blue yeah)
I've been talkin' 'bout you--
My, my, baby blue...
(Blue blue blue blue yeah)
Yeah, I've been thinkin' 'bout you--
My, my, baby blue...
(Yeah, blue blue blue)
Yeah, you're so jaded...
(Baby...)
Jaded...
(Baby...)
You're so jaded...
Cuz I'm the one that jaded you...

Caleb let the last note hang in the air, soaking in the adoration selfishly. The three of them made it off the stage with a "Thank you. Thank you very much.", its nature undetectable (as this was Hyrule, and they had no idea who Elvis was). Steve lagged behind, difficultly wheeling his drum set away to the Bombchu Bowling Alley for safekeeping.

Caleb handed back John's guitar, and stood still as Dark Link undid the enchantments. He said that he'd gotten the whole thing on tape, and that he thought they'd done a great job. The two Zeldas came to bring their compliments as well, followed by Mary and Steve.

"Well, I've gotta go back to Termina," Dark Link sighed. "I'll be here tomorrow." He gave the Queen a significant glance, assuring her that he would follow through on his promise.

Just then, a sharp pain erupted in Caleb's skull. It was that evil feeling again... It was so severe this time that he gasped, clutching his head with one hand.

Dark Link hesitated. "You okay?"

And it disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving him a bit embarrassed. "Y-yeah. Headache..."

But he had figured these out now. There were two different evil feelings, and their nuances had finally become clear to him. One was a veil, and one was a muffled shout. As Dark Link was convinced that he had nothing to worry about here and left, the Queen dragged the Princess off, and Mary went with Steve to find an early dinner, John stood beside Caleb, gaping as the two of them stared at the same sight: on the stage, microphone in hand, was Sahara.
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I've started a new book (yeah, I know, another one). This one feels perfect though. Like I can write it really easy. I'm actually having more trouble writing this fan fic than that book (opposed to the usual way of things). But I'm still interested in finishing this, don't worry. I just feel like the Legend of Link's done it's job already, that it really, really helped me, and will continue to do so.

Edit: Most of the two songs was taken from the Internet, but I corrected them in a few places (since I have the songs).

Also, I noticed the number 15 in a few more places:

1. Obviously, tennis. The first point is 15.
2. As of Feb. 27, I am 15 years old, just like Caleb.
3. Team 15 was the one that died in the fourth round of the Trivulian Tournament, saving Link's life.
4. When we got on the bus today, it was 1:22. Once we got to the mall, it was 1:37. If you can't tell, that took exactly 15 minutes.

And just so ya know, the whole 15 thing was to show that 15 is LOL's equivalent to 13 in our world.

Anyway nice chapter, the relationships are much more serious.
The chapter was a little short. What's the third books name? I need to find it when you post.

Er...Keken, I might not post it. I mean a completely original work, not fan fic. I might give an excerpt in the Council, but that'd be the most.

As for this chapter... Just finished, and I haven't many ideas for how to start the next one. But hey, it's Easter Break! And I've got Brawl (which sorely needed Shadow as a playable character)! Where was I in TFG around this time last year? I'm gonna go check...
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Chapter 25

Sahara didn't bother with a greeting, nor an explanation. She merely began the music, by magic, and started singing "Into the Groove", by Madonna, skipping to the chorus.

"Get into the groove,
Boy, you've got to prove
Your love to me..."

The spectators neither argued, nor acted surprised. To some, this seemed an extension of the previous act. Others, mostly the men, didn't care why she was there. John was either scared or entranced--Caleb couldn't tell which. As for Caleb himself, he felt sure now that this girl was going to be trouble for him, if he did continue with Zelda...but by Din, she could sing! He wasn't a fan of the song, but her voice gave him a strange respect for it.

Sahara, accustomed to staying still while singing, now danced across the stage, showing off her beauty to the town to gain approval. The Princess was nowhere in sight, or sound, so Caleb guessed it okay to look on shamelessly. She must've been trying to entice him. Yet, it was every other man in the area who whistled, and fought for the spot at the front of the audience. Caleb just stood there, contemplating what he should do, probably only restraining himself because John was next to him.

"Isn't that...Sahara?" John asked finally, pointing at her unnaturally.

"Yeah," Caleb answered mechanically.

"Damn, she's hot..."

Sahara looked directly at Caleb as she sang,

"Gonna get to know you in a special way
This doesn't happen to me every day
Don't try to hide it, love wears no disguise
I see the fire burning in your eyes..."

And now Caleb knew she was talking to him through the song. Not just enticement, but a message as well. Clever... Steve and Mary came to watch soon, utterly perplexed. Sahara made a proper show of it, somehow making it interesting, seeing as the song held much repetition. She ended slowly, and gracefully made her way off-stage, and into the abandoned Happy Mask Shop, beckoning Caleb as she did so.

The crowd of instant fans, having only been hyped about her while she was performing, went off to vote. Most of them thought Sahara was with Caleb's band, and this brought in, eventually, all the votes. Caleb excused himself, following Sahara. The others hadn't seen where she'd gone, or that she wanted him to do this, so they thought little of it. Caleb thought with horror that he'd seen the Princess in the corner of his eye, but entered the shop anyway.

Sahara stared at him, her desire evident. She came very close to him, and he instinctively closed the door. "Hello, Caleb..."

"Sahara," Caleb said, unable to pull himself together. The Black Wizard, Eleah's daughter, the most dangerous woman around at the time... What should he say? What could he say?

"Yes, that's my name," she said humorously, thinking his fear to be cute. "What'd you think of the show?"

"It was great," Caleb replied in a rush, gaining back some of his cool. "You've got a great voice."

"Thank you." She smiled, enjoying this. "I'd say yours is better, but it's rather difficult to compare between the two genders. Relatively, at least, I think you're a better singer."

Caleb stood there stupidly, still in this state of surprise. He'd thought about it for days, but now that she was actually here, he didn't know what to do. He still wasn't decided on whether or not he loved the Princess...

"Well, Caleb...I'm sure you know why I'm here...and, I don't really wanna force you into anything you don't want." She paused, thinking of how to phrase it. She ended up just throwing it out there. "I like you, and, if you'll have me, I wish to date you. I know that's a blunt statement, but I hate having to merely allude to something like this. Truth be told, the whole 'love' business is new to me, but..." she trailed off.

Caleb involuntarily grinned. Her speech reminded him of Dark Link's, but he guessed that was how every Wise Wizard talked... But no, he would never be caught making sentences like that. Never! "I'm the White Wizard, aren't I?" he asked, thinking he'd have more luck than Hannah did.

"Yup," Sahara said blandly. "That's not why I like you, though. Well, okay, I felt sorry for you once I found out, and that may have influenced it. I just don't think it's fair that you should be dragged into all of this before you had a choice. But that's not the full reason. I'd still be here right now if you weren't."

"And what about Zelda?"

Sahara sighed. "Do you love her?"

"I don't know," he laughed. "That's the problem."

"Ah... Well, from what I've seen, I'd say you don't. But, I guess that's up to you to decide. If you love her, I'll respect that."

"And how do I know you're not just trying to trick me?"

Sahara raised an eyebrow. "It wouldn't be practically beneficial for anyone, really. And if I were that malicious, I'd've done this much earlier on, or tried to expose what you've done. As it is, I'm hoping that can be hidden and forgotten, if you wish it to be. I mean, c'mon, give yourself some credit here. You are the first and only man able to infatuate me, a Wise Wizard. You have my word that I am completely sincere."

"Well, uh..." Caleb was trying hard to make a decision, but he couldn't stop returning to that fact: he was the White Wizard! The White Wizard! (Which meant that Mikau was wasting his time.)

"Oh, don't worry. I'll give you time to think about it." She inched closer, blushing. "For now, I'll give you a little something to help you decide." She grabbed the back of Caleb's head, and pulled him towards her, embracing him in the most intensely passionate kiss he'd ever experienced. Caleb had to hold onto the doorknob for support (which was rather a lucky thing, for the door had almost opened, and now he closed it). There is a word that describes this kiss, which has been used once before in this story for the same purpose: heaven. For Caleb, it was the height of perfection. But, sadly for him, everything comes to an end.

Sahara let go of him, put her hand on his, and together (though he wasn't willing), they opened the door. Without another word, Sahara strolled out. Prs. Zelda was nearby, and, as Caleb recovered enough to walk outside, Sahara waved to her, before disappearing.

Zelda rushed to his side, slapping him before he could stop her. "What was that for?!" Caleb shouted after her, as she ran off, crying. John, not sensing that it was unnecessary, came and told him that they had won. Caleb ignored him, thinking of how he could possibly make up for what happened. With frustration, he thought, But it wasn't my fault!
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Sahara plopped down on the sand, staring up at the darkening sky. She held her hands out, free at her sides. She licked her lips, savoring the memory. Her first kiss! She didn't know how she had actually pulled it off...her heart had been beating so hard that she was sure it'd kill her...

O love!, she thought with delight. Love, thou art most intoxicating! Her mind was giddy with excitement still, and she was unable to subdue it, even for a moment. Love had captured her, and she felt wonderful! If there was anything to be sure of, it was that Caleb was hers, if she had the willpower to wait a few days for everything else to sort itself out.

She sat up, giggling now, staring out to sea (sea of sand, that is). Across this desert, through the Gerudo Fortress, through the rest of the valley, across a large field, over a drawbridge, and down the road was Caleb, her future husband, most likely being yelled at by the Princess at this very moment. If only she could've stayed with him...but there were other things to take care of.

Standing, she laughed again. "Is it really that funny?" asked Dark Link, from behind her. She turned, slightly embarrassed.

"Not funny. It's..." she paused, searching for a word, "exhilarating! It's...it just is!"

"Yes, well...now that you've had your fun, shall we get down to business?" He summoned his information on Gramarye, and handed it to her.

Looking at it, Sahara only laughed harder. "Gramarye?! You just wrote this?! I had this figured out when I was five!"

"Sorry for being preoccupied," Dark Link groaned. "So it's true, then?"

"True? Why, of course! What kinda question is that?!" She threw the pad of paper to the ground on her right. "Great Nayru, Gray! And you're supposed to be greater than I!"

"Sure, rub it in...I really don't care. Just answer my questions, okay?"

"Got it." Sahara became sober again, somehow.

"First, and most importantly: is Caleb the White Wizard?"

"Yep. He'll be the one you send to the Dark Realm in seventeen days."

"He doesn't already have the magic? Do you confess to having used anti-magic?"

"I'd feel better to call it 'admitting', rather than 'confessing'. But yes, I did do that."

"And may I ask why?"

Sahara, in the mood to annoy, replied, "Yes, you may. I thought it would've been obvious, seeing as you have already put the word 'why' in your query, in an interrogative fashion."

Dark Link rolled his eyes. "Why, then?"

"Because I wanted to anger Sutar for abandoning his kin."

Dark Link hesitated. "Uh...and...how do you figure that one?"

Sahara sighed. "Seriously...? I'm sure this'll be a huge 'duh' moment for you... By making Midna seem to be the White Wizard, she believes she will need to be in love again. Then, once you two go through the portal, you eventually end up filling that quota. As a result, Hannah is enraged. She leaves, and pretends to join Sutar, in order to try and impress you with her info-gathering skills. Then you came and tried rescuing her. By now, Sutar is sure that Hannah will die, since Evol's seen through her plan. I saved her, and announced that he would not find happiness, in both Hylian and Dragon, so that he would know I was speaking the truth. Added with all the stress he was under previously, he storms out, and sulks. In his rage, he killed the three children of Kafei which he had promised to dispose of all in one blow, whereas, normally, he would've picked them off one at a time.

"He has now gone back to the Three Great Dragons of Xeria, where he has found a mate, in the hope that Gramarye will have sympathy on his supposed 'first creations', and keep him and his wife in existence after we have undone this reality. Inside, he is very much depressed. And rightfully so, since it is against dragon custom to do any evil to your siblings. And, as Evol has specifically implied to you, Sutar had a step-sister. Her name was Mirinda, and I had found her in the last hours of Tulpar, left there to die. Sutar knew of this, and so, abiding by dragon law, I took it upon myself to punish him."

"...Oh...I see."

"Like I said, a 'duh' moment, huh?"

"Yeah...but is that really considered punishment? And was any of that really necessary, beyond telling him of his fate?"

"Oh, believe me, his ultimate punishment is yet to come. In the end, he will be in a most dreadful state, which indeed justifies my means."

"Well, I guess that explains it..." Dark Link looked over the horizon, to the setting sun. "So, you've implied that you're on our side."

"I take no sides, Gray." She crossed her arms, and turned back to the east, thinking of Caleb again. "I have my own plan to carry out. But yes, from now on I shall be helping you, for yours is Caleb's side. And, by a certain woman's plan, we shall prevail."

"Would Zelda's plan work, though? Couldn't we use the Light Sword to kill Eleah, too? Or at the least, can we use it to extract his magic?"

Sahara sighed again. "Yes, but I'm sorry to say that at the point where that is possible, you may not want to do so. Even now, it would be much more beneficial to carry on with the current plan."

"Why's that?"

"I...don't want to go into the details, for the plan's sake. But think of Tulpar. Matt. Earih. Firah. Warih and Telwyn. Luke. All those Twili. The Eradicated Mages. The Bonded Matter Wizards. Soral. Bob. Okin. Rulm. Tylk. Tylk's Army. Sara and Lucia. Jill, Kate, David, and, soon, Kafei. Allara and Brakek. Mirinda. Hyrule's Zoras and Kokiris. Termina's Dekus and Gerudos. James. The thousands of people Evol's murdered. I could go on forever listing the people who died needlessly before their time. All of their deaths could've been avoided, and, once we're done, will be. But to keep this reality just because you can would be to give up on regaining them."

"True..." Dark Link agreed. "Never thought of it that way."

"You only thought to allow Zelda to relieve your pain, and to save...how many? Me, Link and Laura's children, and a select few others?"

"And you would rather none of us exist? Those of us in that minority, I mean."

"Honestly, no. I would hope that we could find some way out of it, but I have seen none so far... What's worse, my mind's been on Caleb a lot lately, so I can't put much of an effort in discovering one. I guess we'll let what happens happen. As my father once told me, the duration of a relationship isn't as important as the love shared. If Caleb and I have only weeks, it should be no different than if we had years.

"As for you, Gray...I know you want to be done with it all, and any method keeping you around would not be satisfactory. So you may have your wish, once this is all over. I fear you will be the only one to get what you want."

Dark Link felt the anguish of yet another, and resolved to help her as well. "I'll try an' find a way for you, as well."

"Thanks for the consideration, but I doubt you'll be the one to find it."

Dark Link didn't bother showing his annoyance, and promptly disappeared. Sahara fell back to the ground, resuming her star-gazing. The sun was falling under the mountains, and night crept in slowly. Caleb...
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Dark Link knew it was cruel, but he couldn't help feeling that Kafei was being an idiot. "Just tell her!" he exclaimed. "It's bad enough that you've lost three kids, but if she loses you without at least having an idea that it's gonna happen beforehand, it'll kill her. And as I recall, her health was the very reason you did all of this."

"I...I c-can't..." Kafei sobbed pathetically. He was crying his eyes out, as Anju was doing downstairs in Hannah and Midna's presence. Even though he was the only one of the two who knew this would happen, his sorrow was the same.

"She's gotta be worried for Cole as well. You, on the other hand, know that he'll be safe. Tell her."

Kafei was silent in his grief, wiping his face on his soaked right sleeve. Dark Link had told him that Caleb was to be the White Wizard, and that, because he needed to travel to the Dark Realm, there was no hope, now, that he or his three dead children could be saved. He had nothing to look forward to. What Sahara had forced upon Sutar was nowhere near enough to make up for everything he'd done...

Dark Link gave up. He left Kafei to himself, and entered the hallway. In front of him, apparently having been on her way to find him, was Midna. "She'll be fine, given a day or two," she informed him, after being asked. "Hannah's going to deal with Cole and Lucia. How's Kafei?"

"Doesn't wanna tell Anju yet," Dark Link replied sadly.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, Kafei told me it would sooner or later."

"So you planned it..." she said, resigned.

Dark Link raised an eyebrow. "Planned what, exactly?"

"Don't act dumb now. I can't be angry with you anymore, with all this stuff going on. You knew, and that's why you ended it now, instead of last night."

"No...I really wasn't expecting this to happen today. Otherwise, I would've tried to stop it. I wouldn't use people's lives like--"

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me. I just...I don't know what to do now. I've got no reason to stay here, but...if I go back, what'll Zant say about all this? Will he scold me for forcing you? And what if he expects me to marry him now, since I can't regain our ancestors' magic and be a separate ruler anymore? What's happened since I've been gone?"

"You'll never know until you go there," Dark Link pointed out, walking past her to start down the stairs. "And really, Zant isn't that bad."

"Oh, he uses that facade around everyone else, but when we're alone... And it's law that if the King desires a certain mate, he will have her, as long as she is a Twili, and not the ruler of another land. As Zant's now in charge of both the Twili and Gerudos...I'm not even the Twilight Princess anymore. If I walk back in there, he can marry me on the spot." She followed him, making a face of disgust upon seeing the mask on the wall, which she hadn't noticed before.

"Then just don't go, I guess..."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's spent their whole life there, and feels out of place."

They entered the lobby, where they found Hannah, and a retreating Anju. She went back upstairs to her husband, and Hannah shrugged. "Lucia went back home, and Cole's practically deaf. Won't show any response. I think the only thing we can do is wait."

"Yes, all we can do is wait. Seventeen days until we can send Caleb forth to finish this...and, to my knowledge, Evol hasn't made any attempts at making this interesting... In relation to your dilemma, Midna...the question is, would you rather be bored to death, or married to Zant?"

Midna lifted her hands to eye level. "Hey, I'm not complaining. The more time Evol leaves us alone, the better. I'd love to learn some magic, so it's okay with me."

"Yeah, we'll start that tomorrow," Dark Link promised her, keeping in mind that he had other things to do as well. "Speaking of which, I think we should call it a day..."
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138 pages. 25 AOC = 41 TFG

I apologize in advance. I got sick for a few days, and I've been feeling really strange. Detached from reality, somehow. But I wrote (slowly) anyway. Now, I have no idea what I'm gonna write after this chapter, since I hadn't thought ahead to this point in the story (bad idea). So...yeah...

Here's what I think to be my sub-par chapter.
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Chapter 26

Sun., Sept. 1

Qn. Zelda sighed. "She won't talk to me about it," she said. "Something happened yesterday--she's been crying since she got home."

"Guess I'll try my luck." Dark Link opened the door to his daughter's room, situated nearby the Queen's, and slipped inside. The room was an utter mess. He could only guess where the many wrecked items had previously been placed. An array of clothes, littered with chunks of wood, suggested a dresser. Broken mirrors, ripped paintings, and a lot of unidentifiable junk had been thrown everywhere, and there was a crack in one of the two windows. "Zelda?"

He finally noticed her, lying on the bed, head in her pillow. "Go away!" she shouted.

Dark Link made his way over to her, choosing his path carefully, so as not to break anything any further. He sat down next to her, and reached out, pulling the covers back a bit. She slapped his hand away.

"I said t'get the f...outta my room!" she screamed louder, not caring to rephrase it, or take the Censor Spell into consideration whatsoever, for that matter.

"Zelda, calm down," Dark Link said softly. "Just tell me what happened, and I'll go."

She peeked up at him, and her tears returned. "He cheated on me," she answered in a soft voice.

"Who?"

"Who the f...d'ya think?! Caleb!"

Dark Link was taken aback. Laura didn't have that much of an effect, did she? "You were dating him?"

Zelda scoffed. "No, we were playing checkers."

"Hey, I'm just surprised. How long has it been?"

"I dunno...two weeks?" She wiped her eyes, and sat up.

"So he said 'no' to try and hide it. He thought we'd be against it..." He paused, proceeding rather awkwardly. "You didn't...um...y'know--"

"Yeah, we did. Three times." She was no longer afraid of him knowing, for she was so distraught.

"What?! Three times?!" Dark Link hadn't actually expected it to have occurred at all. Or at least once...maybe even twice, if he was unlucky. But thrice he had come close to being a grandfather? That thought really freaked him out: being a grandfather before he was technically even an adult.

"I thought he loved me!" she continued. "But then Sahara shows up, an' he runs off with her."

"Just like that?"

"No, he... After you left, Mom took me back here. Said there was something we had to do. It was just the Gorons complaining about you an' Caleb doing something to their leader or whatever..."

"Ah...lest we forget, they hate me. Carry on."

"Got really boring, so I left. Then I saw Caleb following her into that old shop--y'know, the one they were practicing in. They come out two minutes later, and she waves at me and leaves. Now, I know something happened in there. She had that stupid grin on 'er face, and they were both blushing. I mean...the idea disgusts me, but...the evidence just...ugh!" She became even more angry, picking up some piece of wood by her side and throwing it across the room. "Then the ba...comes up to me an' says it's not his fault! Right after he says he didn't do anything! Loada bulls...!"

"And so you dumped him?" Dark Link suggested, once her silence had gone on for a while.

"Well duh! Ya think I'm gonna forgive him after that?!"

Dark Link sighed. "Okay, I'll talk to Caleb and Sahara about this, and will personally deal out any necessary punishments."

Zelda nodded, having forgotten the conditions under which she had told him all of this in the first place. Dark Link got up, and carefully walked out. With the door closed behind him, the Queen approached.

"So?"

"Apparently, she and Caleb have been dating, and she just dumped him. Logically, her earlier depression must've been from the fact that he might've been the White Wizard. I think that's all."

Qn. Zelda gaped. "Caleb?"

"And for Pete's sake, take off her Censor Spell. I know you're trying to get her to be more 'lady-like', but it's failing miserably. Half the time I have to make sure she's still talking to me..."
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Caleb was in his own world. Playing Halo, listening to his iPod ("You Give Love A Bad Name", by Bon Jovi), and basically trying to shove out all other thoughts. Prs. Zelda had dumped him, it was true. Steve, Mary, and John were with him, but he had forced them to leave him alone. They were probably swimming. Laura was in the kitchen, talking with Hannah and Malon.

Lucia had gone back to Termina. The night before, she had gotten mad with Caleb, who didn't give a damn about Kafei's children. It wasn't the first time they'd argued, but it sure had been the most intense. But why should he care? Why did anyone? They were gonna be alive again once this was all over, right? And everyone died someday.

Caleb decided to play multi-player—against no one. He merely snuck up on the second player and overkilled him, then waiting for him to respawn further away. Halo 2 was coming out soon, but he no longer wanted it. Subconsciously, he reasoned that it didn't matter, since Steve had pre-ordered it, but, nonetheless, he didn't care.

Suddenly, his character fell to the ground, dead. The score came up: 7-1. Shocked, Caleb looked to his right: as he thought, there was Sahara, holding the second controller. "Hmm... This game has an astoundingly simple structure." She tried out a few other buttons. "Yeah...well, I see that Nakeem never ceases to find new ways to train its youth into becoming killing machines. Yet, I do find it quite hard to believe that some of these guns just happen to be lying around the area, with no dead body in sight to signify the previous owner..."

Caleb paused the song, and moved his character along, picking up every new gun he came across, whether he wanted to swap or not. Coming up to Sahara's, he threw a grenade. It bounced off of some invisible plane in the programing, and killed him instead. Sahara laughed. Caleb guessed that she had used magic to make that occur. "Go away," he said, annoyed.

"Why? Have you and the Princess made up?"

"No, she dumped me," Caleb replied flatly.

Sahara's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"Why d'ya think? She thought I was cheating on 'er."

"I'm sorry," Sahara said sincerely. "I didn't think she would... I mean, it was only a minute or two... Well, okay, it is physically possible, but the probability that we'd do that at such a moment..."

Caleb took his chance and reset the balance: 9-2. "Yeah, she's an idiot."

"Look, I'll go and tell her what really happened."

"Don't bother."

"But don't you--?"

"I already know you're not gonna do it anyway. And even if you did, it wouldn't change her mind."

"Wait." Sahara put a hand up. "Honest to Nayru, I am not the kind of person you accuse me of being. I will allow a truth spell, if any of your companions are willing."

Caleb put down his controller, disinterested in continuing. He sighed. "No, I...it's okay, I'll just go with you."

Sahara raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was a quick--and unenthusiastic--decision. Especially since you told me to leave."

Caleb shrugged. "What else can I do? You pretty much destroyed my options."

"First of all, I didn't mean to. Second, that's not necessarily true, for you don't absolutely need to date me, and I'm sure there are others--"

"No, really. After a kiss like that, who could resist?" Caleb grinned, showing he wasn't mad. "As long as no one finds out about me and Zelda, I'm fine with it."

Sahara bit her lip trying not to smile. It was a lot less...romantic...than she had envisioned, but he had agreed to date her! That fact alone seemed to make up for everything else. "I'm still gonna talk to her."

"If you know what's good for you, don't," Dark Link warned, having appeared without them noticing. Caleb jumped, his iPod falling to the floor. "She may not be able to kill you, but...well, you know the saying."

"So, Zelda's taken the risk?" Sahara asked calmly, not even turning around. Caleb, however, saw just how angry he looked.

"Caleb, I'm trying not to take sides on this one. I'll listen to both your stories, then--"

"Stories, stories..." Sahara interjected. "In a nutshell: Caleb dated your daughter, they made out three times, and I kissed him. The end. Go teach Midna already." She snapped her fingers, and he disappeared before he could object.

"And...how do you know how many times we made out?" Caleb asked.

"I'd rather not answer that..."

Then another interruption. "Hey Caleb!" Laura exclaimed, coming into the room. "Why don't you introduce your girlfriend to us?"

Sahara got up, and stared directly into her eyes. "Ah, I thought there was some reason I had been reluctant upon meeting here... Caleb, I think I'll go talk to Zelda now. When I come back, we'll go somewhere we can be alone." She teleported to Hyrule.

Laura giggled. "Alone, eh?"

"Don't even--"

"Is it true?" Laura inquired, having listened to the conversation. "About Zelda, I mean."

"Yeah."

Laura sighed. "Hate to get all serious on you, but...I think you're rushing things. Three times in two weeks... I know everyone wants to break me and Link's record, but that's an adult's contest. So, my advice is...keep your pants on. 'Kay?"

Caleb settled back into his seat. He didn't even respond to her. He waited, and she just gave up, going back to the kitchen. "You call that parenting?" he heard Malon remark. "'Keep your pants on'? Really, Laura..."

Caleb thought that he just might make sure not to follow that advice, out of spite. But not now. He felt like crap. Whether it was because of Zelda, or finding out he was the White Wizard, he couldn't tell. Or both, maybe? They each seemed to drain something from him...

Hope. That was it. He had lost all hope. His existence was gradually coming to an end, and he was being forced to bring it about. Why? He remembered Sahara's words from the day before: "I just don't think it's fair that you should be dragged into all of this before you had a choice." But didn't he have a choice? He still had to go to the Dark Realm to become the White Wizard, right?

Caleb's surroundings melted away, being replaced by those of the Desert Colossus. He was seated on a large rock, most likely part of the Spirit Temple, which lay in ruins behind him. Sahara paced slowly in front of him. For the first time, he noticed two things: first, she didn't wear shoes. Her cloak was always so long that you couldn't see her feet, but now he caught a glimpse. Second, her eyes were now red. He knew that wizards could change their appearances, but now he wondered if brown had even been her true color. Whatever the case, her beauty struck him once more.

"The strangest thing happened," she began, still not looking at him. "She called me a dog, and then seemed to be surprised that she had the ability to say it."

Caleb, figuring wisely that Sahara had blocked Dark Link and given a TM to Laura, threw off his initial discomfort at being teleported without warning. He laughed, somehow understanding that she left out the fact that Zelda'd specified it as a female dog. "She had a Censor Spell on 'er, that's why."

Sahara stopped, and looked at him quizzically. "But why would someone Censor that?"

"Cuz it's a cuss word, duh."

They each stared at one another, confused as to why the other thought what they did. "And what, exactly, is a 'cuss word'?"

"Y'know..." He listed off as many as he could think of. "You're just not supposed to say 'em."

"Why not?"

"Don't ask me. I didn't make the rules."

"My father never said anything about it... He used those words around me all the time." She shrugged. "Well, with how many stupid things society's done, this shouldn't be that surprising, really..." She snickered. "Banning words...how silly... It just begs the question, 'Why'd they make 'em in the first place?'"
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Dark Link sighed. "Well, it seems that you didn't need much practice."

Midna rubbed her forehead, storing the reserve energy. "Yeah, but this R.E. crap's gonna take forever to get used to..."

"Sahara's still blocking me," Dark Link groaned. "This whole thing is so stupid..."

"What about it?"

"It's not that I'm against my daughter dating someone. The problem is that he kept it a secret from me, and that was one of the signs of the White Wizard. I woulda thought he'd tell me the moment I told him about it--cuz, apparently, they were dating even before I told him about that. But no, he thinks I'll be against it, so he does whatever he wants before I can find out and stop him."

"So Sahara just...?"

"She took him to the desert. All I know about her right now is that she's madly in love with him, and that she's gonna help us just because it's part of her plan. I wish she'd at least given me some time to speak with Caleb on this matter, but I must admit that she's a lot stronger than me. I just hope Evol can't get to them either."

"And what ever happened to Sutar?" Midna sat against the wall of the Crystal Chamber, staring at The Crystal's bright blue depths.

"Yeah, we haven't seen him for quite a while, have we? Sahara said she was punishing him for neglecting his step-sister, but it still seems pretty strange that he would just leave us alone like that."

"Now that I think about it, not having him killing off people every day or so feels sorta weird, huh?"

Dark Link put a hand on The Crystal, searching once again in vain to find the means to extract Link from the Dreamer's Dimension. He thought he might know how, but it seemed impossible for him to do. It must've required the White Wizard's power. So they wouldn't be able to get them out until at least the sixteenth.

He had to decide still: his or Zelda's plan. True, there were many deaths which needn't've happened, but what would happen after it all? Would everything repeat itself, with the sole difference of there being no anomaly to destroy? Or would everything be completely different? And what if...what if he still existed?

"Y'know, I think I'll go back," Midna said abruptly.

"Now?"

"Might as well. Nothin's going on here anymore, and I'm getting curious... I know it'll mean I'll most likely have to marry Zant, but...I don't care anymore. There aren't many guys around here I like anyway..."

Dark Link snapped his fingers. "That's it! I knew there was something I forgot! You could go with Eleah, if we ever get him out. He's a pretty good guy, and he's been looking for a new girl for a long time now...everyone says he's after Malon, but I can tell he's not really interested in her. I think you'd like him."

"But doesn't he have that Servant Pact with Malon? What if she suddenly gets jealous or something?"

"Well, I'm sure we can work out some sort of loophole. He only did that to get away from Evol."

"Wait, he's the one who dated Hannah, right?"

"Yeah, and he married a Gerudo named Nahara, but she died a long time ago. He's Sahara's father."

"Oh, he is?" Midna hesitated. "I thought that was...oh! Oh, now I get it. Sorry, too many names for me to remember..." She scratched her head. "I dunno, I think I'll just take my chances with Zant. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Hannah? Zelda? Anyone...?"

"I don't think anyone would really want me anymore."

"Then what about Hannah or Zelda?" she joked.

Catching on, he laughed. "I doubt they would either. Hannah says she's over me, and Zelda just wants me to help with our daughter. Fortunately, it seems that the whole love triangle thing's passed."

"Looks like Evol was right, huh?"

"Even so, I'm surprised. I mean, love was the very reason I became the Gray Wizard, so I don't see why it's turned out like this. I oughta feel something. Oh well..."

They teleported to the Arbiter's Grounds, and Midna immediately walked up to the portal. "I think I'll come back in a week or so," she announced.

"Sure ya don't wanna stay another day?"

"I'm sure. Good-bye." She waved.

Dark Link waved back, as her body started to break up into little bits again, flying through the hole in the slab of rock. Half wanting to follow her in there, he went back to Link's house, to await Sahara.
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Again, I should apologize for actually writing while in this weird state of mind. I hope this feeling goes away, because I think I've got major Writer's Block on my hands here... I dunno, maybe I should write one of my other stories for a while...

It's an ok chapter just kind of odd at times.

I like your story, but you could shorten it by about a sentence

Originally Posted by kekenkenka

It's an ok chapter just kind of odd at times.

If you'd be so kind, would you point them out for me? Thankies.

Rasen- Lol...the goal is to write book-length, so that would sorta defeat the purpose.

On a side-note: Sorry for this week. I'm currently trying out new ideas in my mind, seeing what I can come up with to make this interesting. I've got a few good ones, but I still can't get over the fact that I seriously can't wait to get to Link and Eleah's return...and that one death I mentioned before. I've also decided on bringing an old character back into full view, and increase the amount of side-humor. And there're still so many secrets I can't wait to reveal! Oh, if only I'd get over this damned Writer's Block...

Finally! I have finally finished it! Sorry for the insanely long wait! Thanks to school work, Writer's Block, and that weird feeling I talked about before, my writing has been moving along very slowly. But, today, I have finished ch. 27. Here it is.
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Chapter 27

Thurs., Sept. 5

Caleb yawned, stretching his arms above his head. He rubbed his eyes, and pulled himself up off of his bed. He changed, putting on his favorite red shirt, and opened the door. Stepping out, he bumped into Sahara.

"Good morning," she greeted, kissing him on the cheek. "Got up by yourself today, I see."

"Surprised?" Caleb grinned, as she took his hand and they walked down the hall. She had been staying here since the first, and had awoken him everyday until now. Dark Link had calmed down by now, and had spent few words on him, going back to Hyrule to continue comforting his daughter. Sara had come back, and Paul was debating whether or not his presence was really necessary anymore, with Sahara around. But, since she sometimes left to go on dates with Caleb, he'd been forced to stay.

Caleb was starting to get used to Sahara's speech. He had never spent enough time around Dark Link or Eleah to pick up on it, but she made it much simpler. Strangely, he was starting to feel as if he'd never dated Zelda, and soon the entire affair seemed to have been ages ago. What annoyed him was that he knew that Sahara had said something to Dark Link about it to stop his anger, but she wouldn't tell him what it was.

The day before, two funerals had been held: Matt's, and Jill, Kate, and David's. Hannah and Lucia were still in Termina, as well as Mikau and Sally. The rest of the band was in school, so, added with the other absences, the house was quite empty. Laura and Malon were in the kitchen, drinking tea. Paul was in the living room, reading the newspaper, while Sara watched a children's program (no one cared to remember its name).

They entered the kitchen, and the two women looked up, offering greetings. "Laura, we shall be away for a few hours again today. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Laura said dismissively, taking a sip. "So, where're you going?"

"Dunno." She shrugged, summoning her own cup. "Just thought we'd walk around downtown." She drained the tea in one gulp, as Caleb opened the refrigerator.

"Hey, who drank all the orange soda?" he asked, looking accusingly at his mom.

Laura pointed at Malon. Malon pointed at Laura. Laura put her arm down, and rolled her eyes. "Oh, very mature, Malon..."

Sahara laughed. She had started to take a liking to Laura and her childish manner. Indeed, she had been happy to oblige when asked to kiss Caleb so she could have a picture of it. And while Caleb slept, took showers, or was otherwise occupied, she would listen to her tales of Link's signs of affection.

"Whatever," Caleb sighed, as Sahara summoned a can of Sunkist for him. He popped it open, closing the refrigerator slowly. "Let's go."

He led Sahara out the door, taking his first sip. It was a beautiful day (just like the ones before it). The sun's rays lay as a blanket over the small garden Laura had planted. Rows of flowers, red, yellow, blue, and purple, arranged in strange patterns to create a dazzling effect when seen from afar. Two tall evergreens stood as posts next to a fence on either side, the open path leading to the door giving an impression of warm welcome. To their left was the garage, where Link kept their car (duh). He only used it, however, when Laura was pregnant or out of reach (which means not very often).

The road led off in two directions: to the left, east, was Kian Village (though it was really a city); to the right, west, was about a six mile drive to a water park, where the family had spent many summers. To the south was a forest, and, beyond, a mountain range. Around the house itself, there were few trees to obstruct the view of the lake on its other side from passerby. The only thing that destroyed the scene's beauty was a speed limit sign a little to the east.

Caleb didn't pause to appreciate the sight, but Sahara was once again enraptured by Link and Laura's choice of residence. She made no comment, but followed Caleb as they began down a side path towards Kian Village. She suddenly began to count on her fingers, and stopped at four. "Damn, I forgot..." she said, as Caleb slowed down, thinking she was about to stop walking.

"What?"

"Something's supposed to happen today... Well, five things, but I can't remember the last one." She continued walking on past him, looking up. Caleb tried to keep up. "Whatever, it can't be that important..."

They walked the long four miles to the city, discussing the topics which Sahara had prepared. Once there, they went to the mall and milled about, not feeling the compulsion to purchase anything but food. They bought two large pretzels (Sahara dipped hers in the provided nacho cheese), and debated over which movie to see. It was about eleven o'clock ("about", for, as Sahara pointed out, no clock was ever 100% accurate), and the earliest times for anything good were 11:45, 11:50, and 12:10.

To kill time (they'd chosen the 11:45, "I Am Legend"), they played in the arcade, which was connected to the theater area. They wasted loads of rupees on a shooting game, placed first and second on both of the two racing games, aced the three random rounds on Dance Dance Revolution (Normal difficulty), and quickly gave up on a near-impossible Star Wars Podracing game (the fact that Sahara was able to learn any set of controls, yet failed at this, forced Caleb to believe that it really was impossible).

At 11:40, they bought popcorn, nachos, and two blue raspberry Icees, and went into the almost empty theater. They took their seats in the middle of the back row of the front section: Caleb's preferred location. Caleb explained the concept of previews to her, as he had forgotten to before. "What, they don't think the millions of posters, commercials, and reviews suffice?" she asked.

"Guess not," Caleb shrugged, not having thought about it. It was pretty hard not to know about upcoming movies these days, unless you lived under a rock.

Once the previews were over, and the movie started, Sahara laughed. "I've almost forgotten what we came to see..."

One remade movie later, they left, going straight to their respective gender's bathroom. They exited the mall from the east entrance, and made their way, slowly, to the park. Here, they stopped and sat atop a lone picnic table, separated from its kind by a wall of trees. The sun was above them (and a bit to the west), and the Kian River sat before them, reflecting its rays. They continued their discussion of the movie for a few minutes, and then, at a time when Caleb wondered whether the circumstances really warranted it, Sahara kissed him, pushing him against the table while doing so.

Suddenly, Caleb pulled out, clutching his forehead. "Dammit!" he exclaimed, trying with all his might to suppress the Evil Veil (as he had come to call it).

Sahara sat him back up, and laid one hand over his. There was a feeling of warmth being drained from her, and then the veil ceased to cause him pain. "Sorry, I should've done that sooner," Sahara apologized. "'Course, I've been forgetting a lot of things lately... By any chance, can you pinpoint this one's location?"

"Sonura."

Sahara snapped the fingers of her idle hand. "That's it. Today's the day when a Sonuran knight attempts to assassinate Queen Vanessa."

"What?"

"Well, your grandmother. No doubt Gray'll be asking for me to help him any moment now..." She sighed. "But no, I must be the responsible one, and stay with you at home once Paul leaves to protect his wife."

"Is she gonna die?"

"To tell the truth, I really don't know. Either way it doesn't change anything, since the idea is to get Laura and Malon alone, if possible, and strike. Seeing as Evol and Sutar didn't attack on any other occasion when places have been left alone, they're hoping our guard will be down, and they'll have a higher chance of being able to swoop in, and perhaps kidnap Malon and Sara. With Malon, obviously, they could kill Link. And Sutar'd take Sara for the fun of it... You don't seem very concerned for your grandmother, though."

"Don't really know 'er," Caleb said dismissively. "They never visit, and Mom wouldn't let them if they wanted to..."

"Well, I'd say it's time to go back home," Sahara said sadly, teleporting them.
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Dark Link put a hand out to stop Paul from moving forward, not taking his eyes off of Thomas. The newly-promoted knight had his arms around Vanessa's throat, with a switchblade pressed against her neck, standing in front of her throne. He had short blond hair, and the same hazel eyes of Rulm. He wore a brown traveling cloak and sandals, looking as peasant's garb next to the Queen's extravagant silver dress.

"What do you want?" Dark Link demanded of Thomas.

"Nothing which letting her live would award me," he replied darkly, drawing a line of blood from the Queen, who was now crying. "Her death will be sufficient."

Dark Link manipulated his magic as much as he possibly could to try and find a way to save her, but, unfortunately, Thomas was a Matter Wizard. Granted, he wasn't Bonded, but his power was as near to that level as possible. He made an appeal to Sahara through TM, explaining the situation.

I know, she thought back to him simply.

Remembering that Eleah had told him of her rebellious nature, he became frustrated. Then c'mon!

What, have you finally realized your inferiority?

Yes, okay?! Now get--

Wonderful. Now, as it should've ocurred to you, get Hannah to help. I'm filling in for Paul (a position you'd completely forgotten about) so that Evol doesn't come and attack. Which, most obviously, was his plan.

Okay, then get Hannah to cover for you!

A telepathic sigh. Gray, as much as I'd love to stick the most emotionally challenged Matter Wizard with the job of keeping the person who annoys her the most alive, I'm sure Hannah knows a lot more about Thomas than either of us. If you haven't, check his lineage: he's another one of her cousins--Tylk's second son. Ask her about him, not me.

Dark Link did what she said. Indeed, he was Tylk's. Thanking a sarcastic Sahara, he contacted Hannah. He made sure he was careful when speaking of Thomas, but she seemed to be much more helpful than Sahara.

Sure, I'll be right there, she thought. Dark Link noted her readiness, especially since this was her cousin they were talking about. No pause? No reflection on how her last encounter with a cousin had gone? Very unlike her...

Hannah appeared by his side, in front of Paul. She took one look at Thomas, then stretched out her right arm, pointing her palm at him. Vanessa's blood sneaked back into her neck, and the skin became as it had been before. The switchblade fell from Thomas's hand and hit the floor hard.

"Hannah?" Thomas said uncertainly. The switchblade disintegrated, but he quickly summoned another. "So it's true? You're betraying us?"

Dark Link looked to Hannah, puzzled. "Wha--?"

"You never gave me a choice," Hannah said coldly. "It can't be called betraying if I wasn't willing to help in the first place."

Thomas laughed. "I think we may reach a compromise yet, Dark Link. For her life, Hannah...you still have it, don't you?"

"Of course." She reached to her neck, and pulled out a long necklace, with a golden circle at its end. There were four spheres embedded into it, surrounding a small hourglass that emitted a faint glow. Dark Link detected a curious microscopic particle inside of it.

"Ah, good. Well, if you return that, I will let her live."

"Never," Hannah said flatly.

Paul stepped forward, grabbing her arm. "Hannah, please!"

"What is that?" Dark Link asked, for some enchantment stopped him from discovering that for himself.

"The First Quark," she replied, not taking her eyes off of Thomas. "Taken by Gramarye from the First Neutron of the First Atom. It has the power to create duplicates of every world in existence...but only once. You can probably see why I don't want to part with it."

"I don't care!" Paul exclaimed, trying to grab the necklace from her. "Give him what he wants!"

Hannah held onto it, as Dark Link restrained Paul. She closed her eyes, and used Element Manipulation to make the metal of the switchblade turn into oxygen. Thomas growled, readying a spell. "If that's what you want..."

Hannah swiftly cast Sublimation on Thomas, old hatred pushing her to finish it this time. Thomas gasped at the spell's speed, as it did away with his left leg and right arm. He pulled Vanessa down with his weight, and, once they hit the floor, cast Cell Deterioration on her.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Laura sighed. "Well, her I could stand. Since she couldn't talk, y'know." She shook her head sadly. "People just keep dying around her, huh?"

Dark Link swirled his cup of tea in his hand, not looking up. "Yes, and more to come..."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know?"

He decided to let her in on it. "Kafei made a deal with Sutar a long time ago. He'd let Anju live if he, David, Jill, and Kate died. And his time's coming. Five days..."

Laura shook her head again. "And I was gonna give him a birthday party... But why couldn't Thomas just kill my dad instead? Mom never did anything..."

"Thomas knew we'd bring Hannah to confront him, and she was the only one of the two who wasn't protected. Plus, Evol planned to have the house empty of wizards, so he could kidnap you and Malon... But wait...you're sad about your mom, but you wouldn't care if it was your dad?"

"I'd love it if it had been Dad instead. The world could use less people like him..." She rubbed her forehead. "Why's Evol doing all of this?"

"Cuz he loves killing," Dark Link replied cynically. "He is a Death mage, after all."

"Do mine ears deceive, or hath Gray yet again made a fool of himself?" Sahara proclaimed loudly, as she entered the kitchen. Dark Link groaned. "For starters, it is stupid to think that every Death mage loves to kill. In fact, there was one rather famous Death mage who despised his fate, and remained at the lowest level of his ability for life. Most importantly, however, Evol does have a goal. Do you recall the first Impenetrable Wizard Law?"

"Okay, I see your point. But we don't know for sure if that's his plan, do we?" Dark Link took a sip of tea, as Laura excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"Yes, actually. He told me himself." Sahara sat opposite Dark Link, smiling arrogantly. "He also wishes to regain his old body. Guess he hates relying on magic to move..."

"Whatever. By any chance, do you know what this 'First Quark' thing has to do with Hannah?"

Sahara rolled her eyes. "Again, Hannah would the proper one to ask. But yes, I do."

"Hey, I just didn't want to...y'know, make her uncomfortable."

"Gray, you must've seen by now: she has changed. First, she comes without hesitation. Second, she kills Thomas. Her first murder, I might add. She didn't have it in her to kill Matt, a man she hated just as much. Suddenly she has no guilt in bringing another cousin to that fate? That, Gray, is major change. Asking her about her past would not be a discomfort. On the contrary, it may help her to make a complete change."

"Just tell me..." Dark Link had sent Hannah back to Termina, and didn't feel like disrupting Anju and Kafei's lamenting again.

"Well, Evol did, as Rulm predicted,--funnily enough, by Evol's own instructions--attempt to recruit Matter Wizards. But they resisted him, and he began killing them off. Soon, he became tired of this, and made Rulm create the Dreamer's Dimension, thereby creating a new source for the Juyks' powers (since their previous source had been destroyed during the rampant terrorism between 2074 and 2076, in Hytoian time), and making the Matter Wizards endure suffering, as a sort of punishment for not working for him. Tylk helped his son, Thomas, escape persecution. Then, knowing that his neice was also a Matter Wizard, he went with his brother to take her away from MIH, where Rulm was the headmaster--"

"Wait," Dark Link interrupted. "So you're saying that's why she was taken from Eleah? Not because her father hated him?"

"That was only Tylk's reason. Hannah's father...didn't hate him. He just...disliked the idea of his daughter dating someone like him. But it can't be classified as hate." Sahara strained herself trying to make sure she didn't reveal everything on the subject. No, there were things that needed to happen before she told anyone about that. She only hoped someone else would figure it out, so that the burden of telling them would be taken from her. "Anyway, Thomas was, at this time, a great adventurer. By a stroke of luck, he had found the First Quark, and hoped to use it to undo the damage Evol would inevitably do (for some of the Matter Wizards had become spies, only to find that Evol knew about them, and thus only led them into a trap so that they'd retrieve that holy item, so that what has happened would happen). Thomas entrusted Hannah with it, and futilely fought alongside his father when Rulm came and destroyed Nal. And I believe that explains it."

"But the quark...why's it so...?"

"Seems that epiphany hasn't awoken you yet, has it? To save you some sleep, I'll tell you: Gramarye didn't end his experiments after the anomaly. When he started to insert the goddesses' radiated power into objects to see the effect, he grew bored, and decided to do a little trick. He went back to the creation of Hyrule (and its parallels), and found the first piece of land created. From that, he stole the First Atom. But he didn't stop there. To see the effect magic had on matter, he decided to go to the most basic of its forms. He broke off the First Neutron, and took out the First Quark.

"As you know, quarks are nearly the smallest particles in existence, only beaten by the electron. He found that putting magic into this piece of matter, rather than in an entire atom, meant a very high concentration, unachievable in protons, neutrons as a whole, electrons (for something of their nature repels magic; when it is placed in matter, those are the only particles it isn't distributed into), or whole atoms. He later made the ability to do the same thing he'd just done impossible for anyone but himself. With this higher concentration, magic had the capability of doing as Hannah has told you: creating a double of Hyrule, Termina, Hyto, Tulpar, etc."

Dark Link laughed. "So how do they know that that necklace has the First Quark inside of it? I mean, you can't see quarks, let alone make sure you've got the right one."

"Apparently, Gramarye planted it where Thomas found it on purpose, and there was some kind of reassurance he was given. Hell, only Thomas knew. But I can assure you that it is."

"And...how come she still has it? I mean, she didn't have anything with her when she came out of the Dreamer's Dimension."

"Matter Storage spell," she replied simply, referring to the enchantment that can, hence the name, store items away inside your magic when you enter a state such as eternal slumber. "And it has a spell on it that makes it impossible to receive or steal it from the current owner without their permission."

"Ah. Well, since it can do all that...why doesn't Hannah want anyone to use it?"

Sahara gave him a blank stare, staying silent for about ten seconds. "You...did not...just ask what I thought you asked. You could not be that stupid. I must've misunderstood you. You commented that it was smart that she didn't want anyone to use it, correct?"

"No, I asked why she didn't." Dark Link was getting annoyed with Sahara's superior intelligence. Did she have to rub it in so much?

"Gray, what do you think would happen if that were to fall into the wrong hands, and it was used? After Hyrule, Termina, and Hyto are gone, that quark would make those lands start all over again, as well as Tulpar, while destroying every other parallel world. Not only that, but at some point in the new Tulpar's history, there would be a second Evol. A second Allara, Brakek, Sutar. A second Eradication, a second set of the same circumstances. A second group of people coming into the Time mage's realm, possibly complicating our mission.

"Or, if the goddesses are against that, it will merely be a complete wipeout. Evol, who will have prepared for this in advance, would be the only one there, able to control those worlds' histories as he sees fit. And then he can make his own Impenetrable Wizard Laws, and make the Time mage's realm inaccessible. Since that place is outside of time, this would mean that we couldn't get through in the first place, thus stopping our plan."

"I understand that," Dark Link lied in an impatient tone. "What I meant is that if he does that, then what about the anomaly? Laura'll never be there, so--"

"Great Nayru, you're dense! The Time mage! The fact is that Gramarye put the magic into a being. Whether it be Laura's child or the Time mage, Gramarye's own son, it doesn't matter!" Sahara got up from her chair, shaking her head. "Seriously, you... It seems Love has made you a lost cause. Doing away with hormones has hardly helped...but don't worry, you've proved Evol wrong, at the very least."

Before Dark Link could ask her what she meant (and, no doubt, greatly reduce her respect for him even more), she left to talk with Caleb. He sat there, feeling stupid. Love? No, he hadn't been moved by Love for quite a while. What did she...? But of course! The whole Gramarye revelation came after Evol has used Foot of Death on him, so...the fact that he wasn't continuing to become smart meant that Love still affected him? But why?

An idea coming to him, he grinned. Now it made sense... He had bent the rules, and now they were criticizing him for not taking the freedom he had given himself. With a feeling of a strange emotional liberation, he teleported back to Hyrule.
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Okay, the whole First Quark thing was an idea I'd been constructing for a while. And then, in Science class, we were assigned to read the first section of the next chapter--which happened to talk about the composition of atoms. Fate? You decide.

Edit: AOC 27 = TFG 43

Edit Edit: Due to my learning of a few small errors, I have changed it to the First Neutron instead of Proton (seems to fit better, in my opinion), and added a bit more about why electrons won't do.

This may have been in an earlier chapter, but do you think it's safe to be writing about intecourse. You never know when some young kid is going to read this, and the might wonder about it, and ask their parents about it before they are ready.

Originally Posted by Sonic Boom

This may have been in an earlier chapter, but do you think it's safe to be writing about intecourse. You never know when some young kid is going to read this, and the might wonder about it, and ask their parents about it before they are ready.

In a world like this, it makes little difference...

But seriously, it is a teen story. And I'm trying to keep it toned down a bit (which can get very hard, very fast), while still, at the least, alluding to it, so people know what's going on.

In my own opinion--and I know there are people who disagree--I think that it's okay for children to know about it. As long as we're not instructing them on how to do it, or something like that, it's okay.

So, in answer...yes, I do. As you'll read later on, Eleah despises premarital sex (as do I). I'd think that makes some compensation. The big expert on love, against that.

Lol, if TFG hadn't been rated T, I might've made this one M. But some kids follow those restrictions, and thus it'd be cruel to them for this one to be a higher level of maturity. If I wasn't restricted, I'd be making this a whole lot more realistic: more offensive "swears" and the like.

And notice: in the story, I completely refrain from calling it "sex". I just sorta skip around that.

Edit: If you really want, you can PM me to continue discussing this, as long as you don't post it in here. Or talk to me in person. Whichever suits you.

I guess your right about that

Originally Posted by Sonic Boom

I guess your right about that

I know I am. But I said PM me...because that avoids spam, like that post. In the future, keep stuff like that in PMs.

Okay, here I am, on schedule again! Wonderful. I just finished this one, so hopefully my fans will be encouraged to post more, now that I'm becoming more consistent?
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Chapter 28

Tues., Sept. 10

Kafei had been born in the morning. That was certain, for it was only 9 A.M., and he was undoubtedly dead. Sahara had teleported the Terminians, and Lucia, back to Link's house, so that Laura could help in the comforting. It seemed that Evol and Sutar were still backing down for now, but nevertheless, Sahara was away, saying she had to at least slow their plan's progression. How she planned to do that, Dark Link had no clue. Even Princess Zelda had been made to come. The Queen, of course, had to stay in Hyrule, for the preparations were becoming much more demanding. She would've came otherwise, since Hyrule Castle Town would be safe (Dark Link had staked his claim there, and Sahara had staked hers at Link's house).

Queen Vanessa's funeral was scheduled for the twelfth, and the second death of an ally had lowered the overall morale even greater. Paul had not returned from Sonura since her death, and it didn't seem like he would any time soon. Anju, Cole, and Lucia were beyond consolation. As far as Dark Link could tell, the only ones who weren't saddened by these events were Caleb, Sahara, and his daughter. Sahara knew what was going to happen anyway, and his daughter wasn't as attached, so he understood them. But Caleb just seemed...indifferent to anything that didn't directly concern him. It bugged him that someone could live like that, and he tried not to dwell on it. Hopefully, all of this would be over in a week...he'd finally be gone.

Dark Link had told everyone about Kafei's deal by now. But he told it to Anju in private, in order to embellish it. She'd gotten extremely upset upon hearing of such a thing, and it took much persuasion (which Dark Link himself didn't believe) to make her settle down. He hated doing this sort of thing. Sadness, whether seen or felt, was always horrid. The worst emotion everyone had to witness.

That is not to say that absolutely everything was going so badly. His daughter, once unbelievably disagreeable, had begun to open up to him. They spent as much time as possible together, and Dark Link was confident in saying that they had bonded, at some level or another. She still rebelled against her mother, still hated Caleb's guts, still acted immaturely. But there was something...just a little something...that peeked out from the walls she'd erected around her heart. There was someone there, someone beautiful, the Princess she had been meant to become, and Dark Link felt encouraged now to bring it forth, and do his duty. But it wasn't just because his ex-wife wanted him to, anymore. He felt reattached now with his old life, and he had a yearning in his soul to try and undo the damage he'd caused. And moreover, he loved his daughter.

But indeed, he still had a long way to go. "Why do I have to be here?" Prs. Zelda whined, sitting next to her father on the Links' living room couch. Hannah was failing at slumber on his right, and perked up once the sound reached her ears. Malon was sitting in an armchair, flicking through the channels, yawning loudly. In the visitor's room, Anju, Cole, and Lucia were being comforted by Laura, Mikau, and Sally. Caleb was in his room, possibly still sleeping.

"Cuz your mother can't," Dark Link replied, annoyed at being taken from deep thought. He had been pondering how to get Link and Eleah back, for Laura had become such a nuisance that he finally realized he'd spent little time on the matter. Whenever he focused on it, however, he had trouble keeping the facts straight.

"I'm not even doing anything," she continued to complain. "I'm pretty sure you guys can watch 'TV' on your own." She had a very small understanding of the device, and felt weird saying it.

"In times like these, being there is all you can do to help. It's a bit comforting to know that others share your loss, or at least that they feel empathy."

"Bull," Malon argued, speaking up for the first time that day. "When Firah died, I didn't care what anyone else thought. Still don't..."

"Yeah, but you'd've been outraged if they didn't have a funeral for him, wouldn't you?"

Malon rolled her eyes, not willing to go into debate. Zelda hadn't been convinced. "This is boring..."

Hannah scowled. "Well, if you die, we'll be sure not to waste any time mourning over you, okay?"

Zelda was silent, only half caring. She was just hoping not to meet Caleb or Sahara, Dark Link could tell. Which was bad for him, since that was actually his point in bringing her there. He thought she might be ready to face it, even if it was a bit early.

Suddenly, there came a frightened exclamation from the visitor's room. The door burst open, and Laura emerged, eyes wide open in fear. "Darky! Something's wrong with Anju!"

Dark Link immediately sprang into action. In two seconds, he had teleported to Anju's side, and was applying a Healing Spell. The others jumped at his appearance, and Laura came running back, seeing if there was any way she could help.

Anju was lying down, gasping for breath while she gripped the sides of the bed. She screamed, swiftly putting her right hand to her heart. Her eyes were closed, her brow furrowed in pain. Terminian doctors may not have known what it was, but that was because none of them were wizards. Sutar had placed a curse on her. What truly clandestine duplicity! A dragon's bond: the victim's wife given prolonged life, with the illusion of being saved, and being taken upon the victim's shortened life span's end. And adding the deaths of David, Jill, and Kate made it almost as if only Kafei and David had died since she first became cursed. But what for?

Dark Link seethed, to the others' perplexity. Hannah, Malon, and Zelda had entered now, just as scared as the rest of them. "What're you standing around for?!" Hannah yelled, utterly irate.

"There's nothing we can do," Dark Link replied through gritted teeth. "It's Sutar's curse... Damn him!" He swiped one hand through the air above Anju, and she disappeared. He had teleported her to the Crystal Chamber, where he decided he'd bury her.

The others were outraged at this display of insensitivity. They all marched up to him, shouting in his face. Well, not all of them. Far from anger, Zelda asked, "Now can I go?"
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Sahara blocked Evol's scythe with her own black sword as it came an inch from striking George, an Emotion Wizard who fit the criteria for adding to number of deaths towards Evol's goal. The man, probably in his forties, with neat black hair and brown eyes, crouched in the corner of his office, where Evol had tracked him down.

"Ten million, nine hundred and eighty-two thousand, four hundred and thirty-seven souls... You're nearly there, I see," Sahara commented, teleporting George to his home. "About one hundred more, I presume?"

"One hundred and six," Evol corrected, not caring in the slightest that he'd been stopped. He'd get him later. "You do realize, though, that if you stop me from having enough time to finish, I'll merely take the souls of people on Dark Link's side?"

"Yes, I am aware." She released her blade from the clash, keeping it at her side. The geography of the room made fighting a rather foolish thing to do. One big desk took up about one half of it, with a swivel chair positioned behind it. In the front, there was a large window, looking out into the hallway, and three black chairs in a row, which she stood near to. Very bad conditions for a duel. Nevertheless, she kept her sword, in case Evol got angry enough to strike. While they spoke, she devised a plan for fighting such tight spaces.

"And you know who I'm going after first?"

"Of course."

"Yet you're still willing?"

"I wouldn't be here if I weren't. Besides, they'll all live again once this is over. The only ones I'm sacrificing are Caleb and myself. Despite a few people who shouldn't've existed in the first place, almost everyone else is coming back. So, don't think I'll be that heart-broken if you kill some more people. All I wanna do is make sure you don't finish before we're able to finish."

"Which I will."

"Which you won't." She counted on her fingers for a few seconds. "Up to Plan UHJRB, correct?"

"UHJRBY." Evol, indeed, had a master plan. But that broke off into the many possible exact circumstances (similar to the old "Plan B", "Plan C", etc.). For quite a while, things had been happening by Plan U. When Hannah tried to fool him, she'd made it take the road of UH. Then Sahara's interruption filled out the qualifications for UHJ. R was added when Sutar killed David, Jill, and Kate all at once. B was Sahara beginning to date Caleb, and Y was Midna returning to the Twilight Realm. Currently, things were going by Plan UHJRBYG, as Vanessa was dead, Sahara had made it impossible for him to kidnap Malon, Laura, or Sara, and Kafei and Anju had died. There was still one thing that determined whether it was G, H, I, or J, though. And that had to do with Midna's inevitable reappearance.

"Ah, yes, Midna... The way things are going, I'd wager it's gonna be Plan UHJRBYILNTZQ. Of course, you're gonna fail, so I changed the last part. Always include the possibility that you'll fail, Evol. Always."

"I suggest you heed your own advice. Who, I can't help but repeat, is the one with the greater plan?"

"You'll see, when the time comes."

"Well then, how're things with Caleb?"

"Just wonderful," Sahara said angrily. He knew, didn't he?

"Not what you expected, is he? Too immature, too impatient."

Bingo. "He can change."

"Yes, but time is running out. And where do you spend your time? Attempting to avoid something that will give you more time with him."

"It'll be worth it."

"Oh, will it? By the time you change him, by your own plan, you'll have hardly any time to enjoy this newly-improved Caleb." Sahara tightened her grip on her sword, and Evol took it as invitation to attack. She dodged his first swing, laughing as the scythe stuck into the wall. She slashed at his neck, but he bent back, shielding himself from the spell she'd attached to it.

Magically removing the scythe, Evol difficultly executed his normal series of strikes, halted every now and then by the desk. One minute into this, he, being enraged, teleported it into the hall, where it made a tight fit. Sahara gained the advantage after this loss of complete concentration, and Evol was put on the defensive. He pushed the bottom of the scythe against the wall, flinging himself towards her. She jumped to his right, blocking his flailing swipes.

Then, in a motion which she wasn't expecting, he batted away her sword, and stopped his scythe one millimeter from her neck. Sahara gasped, pressing herself to the wall. "What's this?" Evol chuckled, taunting. "Can't defend yourself anymore? Perhaps speaking of Caleb has softened your strength." Sahara was silent, staring down at the sharp metal that was so close to ending her life. She was bound. "Well, Black Wizard, you have a choice to make. Love Caleb, focus on him for the rest of this short existence, and be unable to defeat another opponent. Or love him, and step down from fighting; join me and live with him in peace for as long as you wish. Or, the best idea yet, forget him. Stay away from love, and keep your potential."

"I will never stop loving Caleb, nor will I help you," Sahara said strongly (considering Evol had the advantage). Evol's scythe moved forward until it touched her skin.

"So be it. But next time we fight, I may not be so lenient." And he disappeared, going after George again.

Sahara let herself slide to the floor, repelling the sword (opposite of summoning). She was weak. She had seen it, hadn't she? Evol hadn't done anything differently, so why did she lose? Was Caleb really affecting her that much? She couldn't face that. Instead of thinking on it, as she normally would, she teleported to Caleb's room.

Caleb jumped, pulling his headphones out of his ears and stopping the song on his iPod ("All The Small Things", by Blink-182). "Don't do that," he said, only half annoyed. He sat on his bed, guitar by his side. He had been about to play it, and reached for it now. Sahara grabbed his arm gently, pulling him up to her level.

"Caleb..." she started, not knowing now what she wanted to tell him.

"Yes, that's my name," Caleb joked, grinning.

Sahara smiled faintly. Truthfully, she would've laughed. She felt it in her to laugh. But instead, she began crying. And then, when prompted, she told him what had just happened. At the end, she turned her gaze away from him. "I fear that, at this rate, I may become useless."

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Caleb said dismissively, surprising her. She let go of him, and he proceeded to ready his instrument.

"I thought Gray already told you: if you were me, you'd think like me, thus--"

"Oh, shut up," he laughed. He strummed each string in order, making sure it was in tune. "I meant that you should just stop him, but not stay long enough for him to fight you. If you don't trust your skills, that is."

"I don't."

"'Kay, then do that. No point in getting yourself killed when you can avoid it..."

From his tone, Sahara could tell that he thought she was trying to flatter him, as Zelda had done, but with something greater than his mother's old status. He was no longer afraid of her (though, in a general way, this was wonderful). He felt like he was above her now. Sure, eventually he would have the possibility of being so, but right now? He must've felt like that no matter who he dated. Well, that would have to change. "Thanks," she said, truly thankful. Even if he incorrectly saw himself as her superior, it was good advice. "So, what's going on here?"

Caleb knew that she knew, but humored her anyway. "Kafei and Anju died, and Dark Link left. Mom and Hannah are trying to get the others to settle down, but they're mad at him too."

"And Zelda? Did she...?"

"Nah, she left when I came down. Didn't wanna see me. So I came back up. They'd drag me into all of this if I stayed down there..."

"Hmm...they'll never get over this. But Gray should make them see reason, I think. And if not, I'll do it myself. Laura'll try and raise morale with Link's birthday. By then, he and my father will be back. And not long after that, we shall be in the Time mage's realm. Oh, if only time would slow down... Less than a week until you are sent to the Dark Realm..."

"Yeah..." Caleb sighed. Sahara looked into his distant eyes. He was afraid. Not of her, not of Dark Link and the Queen. Not of seeing his ex-girlfriend again. Not of...well, maybe Evol. But that was unlikely. He was probably of the opinion that Evol wasn't really all that (for he'd never actually met him yet), but that would all change... No, what he was really afraid of was being sent to the Dark Realm. Of having all that power; of gaining magic. And Sahara could do nothing to comfort him. Hell, she was the one who needed comforting...
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It was getting late. Sahara had everyone fooled, thinking she was still away, while she was only in Caleb's room. By now, they were bound to be getting ready to go to sleep.

Dark Link hated it. He wished everyone else were as he was. Not as burdened by his feelings. He had known Kafei's death was coming, but he didn't cry. It was his own stupidity that killed all of his family except Cole, and he wasn't sulking. Many horrible things had been his fault, but he didn't let anything get him down. Things that weren't his fault, too, hadn't gripped him so badly. Why couldn't everyone else get over it? All those people weren't really dead; they'd be alive again.

It was times like these that he wished it would all go faster. He couldn't wait for that glorious day when he finished his task, and ceased to exist... But until then, Love would fight with his suicidal intent. He had been freed, but it wasn't what he wanted anymore. Sure, he'd felt fine after realizing his freedom, but in only five days the feeling had subsided. What did he need Love for? Death would be a lot more comforting.

Hannah appeared by Dark Link's side, looking at Anju's grave. "Why're you blocking me?"

Dark Link had stopped TMs from reaching him. He had counted on Sahara's absence (and later, faked absence) to keep Hannah there, because they didn't want to leave the house without a guardian. They'd taken the hint from Sahara. "Cuz I already know what you're gonna say."

"But how could you?!"

"I can tell that she's not gonna be the last to die." He turned to The Crystal. "And there was nothing to be done. She was bound to die, whether I kept her there or not."

"So?! You can't just--"

"None of it matters!" Dark Link exploded. "It doesn't matter who dies, as long as we win! They'll all come back!" He silenced upon seeing his angry reflection. He didn't need to be mad at her...

Hannah, thinking that maybe he didn't care for everyone else's feelings, disappeared. She wasn't going to try and reason with him while he was like this. She'd learned the hard way that it was a very stupid thing to do. Dark Link focused on getting Link and Eleah out again, taking his mind off of Kafei's friends' righteous indignation.

And then, when he was beginning to give up on this, he received a TM. He smiled. Putting his hand to The Crystal, he brought up the image of Arbiter's Grounds. Indeed, there was Midna! But no, it was past ten now. He'd meet with her tomorrow... Forgetting his problems, he teleported to Hyrule to await the morning.
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Okay, how'd you like it?

It's a bit late, but I read The Odyssey (well, most of it; our textbook didn't give the whole thing, but gave some summaries), Merchant of Venice (a Shakespeare play), As You Like It (another Shakespeare; funny thing is, I completely forgot, but I actually saw a performance of this when I vacationed in Canada some years ago), and finished Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony, by Eoin Colfer. I'm reading through the Artemis Fowl series again, just to remind myself of all that happened, and will also be reading yet another Shakespeare, Othello, which my sig informs of. From now on, I'll try to keep that updated.

Lol, great new smilie: . That's what we've always needed...

Anywho, here I am with ch. 29. This one took a bit of work, since my mind was not so clear on how to write the part with Midna returning. But I've got it now, I think...

Bad thing: I tried to save my progress the other day, and it said it had an "unexpected error while writing..." It wouldn't save. So I did what I should've done a long time ago: copy and pasted it into an e-mail, and sent it to myself (attaching the file wouldn't've worked, since it only attaches saved files ). Then I got out. Going back today, I find that my file is gone. I can no longer access that file. So, I go on my laptop, access AOL, and copy and paste the e-mail contents to that Word-esque program, and finish the chapter. End of story.

What does this mean? Well, for starters: I'm either gonna hafta just use the laptop, or start a new file on that disk. I'm a bit reluctant about both. Just using the laptop means complete dependency, except for the e-mail. And creating a new file on that disk might result in the same thing that just happened (for the file that just died was only one chapter and a half long; who knows how long a new one'd last?). So I don't know what to do right now.

You can give suggestions, if you want.
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Chapter 29

Wed., Sept. 11

Midna proved to be a wonderful distraction for Dark Link. Upon arrival at Hyrule Castle, where he'd spent the night, she waved her hand in front of him, showing an ornate diamond ring. "Sorry Dark Link, but you had your chance."

"You're married?" Dark Link asked, genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected her prediction to be correct.

She plopped down on Qn. Zelda's throne. "Yup. Ever since I got back."

"So, he's not that bad, is he?" Dark Link summoned tea for both of them. "You look pretty happy about it."

"Oh, he's the same as always," Midna said, waving her hand at the thought. She did seem rather energetic today... "But never mind that. I'm just..." She trailed off, then began to laugh. "You remember how, before I came, I was always so mean, so sadistic, all that? And he always knew what I was gonna say or do, no matter what. So, since we..."

Dark Link caught on early. "Ah, since we went through the portal, you've changed."

"Exactly," she said with the most undeniably smug look he'd ever seen on her face. "And now...I'm unpredictable! I can practically control him!"

He could hardly keep himself from laughter. His personality, mixed with hers, had created someone whom Zant couldn't predict? His joy for Midna overwhelmed his faint pity for Zant's position. "Great. How's he taking it?"

"He's...a little disappointed. But it's okay, he likes a puzzle." She took a sip, then stared off into space. "I'm actually beginning to like him, strangely enough..."

"And he's okay with you meeting with me like this? Isn't he coming?"

"Nah, he's staying behind for now. Why, planning on a double-crossing?"

"No, I just thought it was weird. If you two were just married, wouldn't he want to spend as much time as possible with you? There isn't another war going on over there, is there?"

"Yes, there is, but that's not why. He said he needed time to figure me out. Then he'll come and check up on me. Don't worry, I told him about your condition. That's mostly why he trusts you."

Dark Link laughed. "Well, I'll keep an eye on you for him."

"So, what's been going on here?" she asked, unaware of the dangerous territory.

Dark Link sighed. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to think about that for a while...oh well, she'd find out sooner or later... He told her of Vanessa's death, the First Quark, and Kafei and Anju. At the end, he made it quite clear just how annoyed he was that everyone was being so emotional in a time like this.

Midna raised an eyebrow. "Then why're you mad about Caleb dating your daughter? Or glad that I came back? Or, most hypocritically, why're you depressed?"

"At least I'm not getting in the way," Dark Link defended. In truth, she had hit a nerve, the way she said "depressed" so casually... His situation was much deeper than that.

"And they are?"

"Yeah, they are. I'm trying to find a way to get Link and Eleah freed, but I'm interrupted by mourners. If that's not 'getting in the way', I don't know what is."

"Okay," Midna said, lifting a hand to show that she didn't want to continue arguing. "I just thought we were taking a break right now."

"Yeah, but we could do with some higher morale right about now, and Link's return oughta do it." Midna let it go, even though there were many arguments one could make against him. After a while, she continued friendly banter. "So, what about you? Still not seeing anyone?"

"Nope. Nothing's changed with me for quite a while." It wasn't entirely true, of course. That once-liberating feeling come and gone, he'd gone through a bit of confusion over the past few days. There was no doubt that he was different now than he was when she'd left. Nothing noticeable, obviously, but change nonetheless.

At that moment, the Queen walked in, yawning. She looked semi-surprised at Midna's presence, having expected them to meet elsewhere. "Good morning," she greeted, being handed her own cup of tea. She approached and shook Midna's hand.

Then the conversation started all over again, as Zelda was informed of everything. Dark Link's mind was absent from the talk, thinking of his predicament. Yes, Midna could distract him, but not for long... Especially since Zant hadn't came along. He would have to deal with it eventually. Maybe the best thing was to give it some time, and if it didn't go away, then he'd be forced to quell the melancholy in any way possible...
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"How's the weather down there?" Link shouted to Eleah. He stood atop a golden pillar, immobilized. About fifty feet below, Eleah was on a shorter, similar blood-red pillar, likewise unable to move. The drop to the bottom looked daunting, but half of Link's mind understood that he'd still live if he fell. Not like that helped much.

Very chilly, Eleah thought to him, the frigid air around him making speech more strenuous. At Link's height, there indeed was a cool breeze blowing, but it had been preceded by extreme warmth, so he wasn't complaining.

Suddenly, a blue heron appeared out of thin air, flying straight for Link. He struggled against his invisible bonds, and was able to dodge its beak as it flew for his heart. It kept on flying, right into the circular force field. There, it crashed like a bird against a window, blood dripping from the point of contact much quicker than normal. The bird's body itself, though, didn't move from its spot. It stayed, seemingly suspended in empty space.

Then, when he thought it was over, the blue plumage turned black. Darkness then began to spread through the air like gas, heading for Link. This time, he wasn't able to avoid it. It swirled into a tornado around him, and lifted him from the pillar. It flung him against the force field, and he slowly began to fall. Reaching Eleah's elevation, he felt the most bitter freeze, which followed him down to the tan platform.

The golden pillar started to crumble. In a few seconds, its foundation shifted, and it tipped over, knocking into the realm's barrier, and breaking apart completely. The tornado dissipated, but Link remained frozen to the bone as he sat on the floor, slightly ticked at being taken off his pedestal.
Eleah had much better luck. The pillar beneath him began to crack...though, it wouldn't be accurate to say "began". As chips of the stone broke off, it seemed that those lines had always been there. At any rate, it came close to being demolished right under his feet. Then, by some bizarre circumstance (normal to this realm), his feet sank into the pillar. Scowling, he futilely attempted to pull them out, while they went deeper, like quicksand.

After half a minute, the pillar cracked again, this time totally breaking apart. Eleah enjoyed a shorter fall, managing to land on his reanimated feet. He shook off the debris from his cloak, and sat on the platform, not anywhere near as cold as Link.

And they awoke, smiling at the fact that they had sat down, in the dream, on the exact same spots where they'd fallen asleep. "Well," began Link, "I really don't know what to make of that."

Eleah stood and stretched, turning the events over in his head. "First, the pillars. Red and gold...ah, Mal and Laura. And our respective stances..."

"Meaning the ones we love?" Link suggested seriously, without thought of teasing him.

"No," Eleah disagreed flatly. "Rather, whom our hopes rest upon in our bet. As for that heron--"

"Wait! I'm gonna win the bet, aren't I?" Link said incredulously. "I was higher up than you. Usually something like that means--"

"Interpret with an open mind," Eleah interjected. "Height of pedestals can mean anything. I doubt it'd be something so trivial as that. Probably to separate some other idea...for the arctic chill at my level must stand for something. Mal's hatred for me, perhaps?"

"Nah, I felt it when I came down too."

"Is that so? Then maybe...both of them get angry at us for betting on them, and Laura...hurts you? Then Mal adds insult to injury...maybe even literally."

"And the heron?" Link prompted, though he had an urge to argue. It seemed Eleah was trying to avoid the possibility that he'd lose. And what fun was that?

"Well, since it was blue...Sutar. He's either suffering or dying." As Link suspected, he'd only put in "suffering" to give the allusion that he was actually looking at this that openly. Truthfully, he thought the same thing, but he would never admit it. But now that he thought about it, it was more likely that Sutar was merely suffering. That dragon was too resourceful to be killed so soon. He knew: he'd seen it first-hand. "A heron, though...strange choice to represent a dragon."

"Tornado?"

"Maybe...either Evol, or some sort of enchantment on Sutar's part that activates once he's dead. Or it could be Laura's anger, like I said before. Not really sure... Let's see, what else... Oh yeah, my feet sinking into Mal. Hmm... Don't know about you, but that one's got me stumped."

"You try to give her your love, but she rejects you," Link said with mock-pity. The Laura-like quality of it finally made him snap.

"I...DO...NOT...LIKE...HER!" Eleah exclaimed, all other thought leaving him for that moment.

"Okay, calm down, I'm sure you--"

"I DON'T, OKAY?! SO SHUT UP!"

"Sure. Whatever you say. I'm sorry." An awkward silence, while Eleah rearranged the ideas in his head.

"Anyway," Eleah said, trying to think of anything they'd forgotten to analyze. He skipped over the feet issue. "What else is there?"

"What, besides the fact that the pillars broke?"

"That. That means...I dunno, they're gonna die?"

"Laura won't die."

"Yeah, I forgot, she's immortal. Silly me, I keep getting our abilities mixed up..." He put a finger up. "Oh wait, it is me that—"

"What about Mal? She can't die. Since you're her protector."

"Nah, it's still possible. She could order me to poison her, or someone else could do it. With Omni-, y'know... But, granted, that's highly unlikely. Not to mention that there's little hope for us getting out of here if that's the case. Better to look on the bright side, right?"

Link got up, and walked to his "corner". Eleah turned away as he went to the bathroom there, and sighed. With his luck, it wouldn't be very shocking if Malon did somehow find a way to not come through for them. Not much had ever gone right for him, so he was almost naturally pessimistic by now. It wouldn't work, most likely. Something would happen to Malon. Or Dark Link'd do something stupid and get Link killed...

Before Link finished, a dark haze settled around them. Five Iron Knuckles appeared from nowhere, followed by Ice Keese. Link groaned at the bat in front of his eyes, ducking from its attack. "Don't we ever get a break?"

Thurs., Sept. 13

There was great apprehension now. Who would die next? Caleb and Sahara walked around the house like they owned the place, acting like nothing had happened. Laura was recovering rather quickly (for she was an Emotion Wizard, and even though she couldn't magically erase the sadness, it had become very easy to do it naturally). With Midna's help, Hannah resurfaced, apologizing to Dark Link for her anger.

Laura, indeed, announced that she would celebrate Link's birthday on the 15th, whether he was back by then or not. And if he came on the 16th, they'd have it again. And if he didn't come back...she wouldn't specify what her plans were. But over the last few days, she'd been talking about Link non-stop, and stating wild ideas about what she could do for his thirty-seventh birthday. One rather memorable notion was that she could be inside his cake. Not baked in, but she would make about twenty layers, and each would have a differently shaped hole in it. She would then fit the pieces over herself, making sure that her hair was tied in a bun so it wouldn't get in the frosting. But even she admitted that would be very difficult to pull off, let alone in a few days.

Sahara continued to halt Evol's killings, using Caleb's plan. So far, it was working perfectly. Out of the fifty-three he meant to kill for the last three days, he'd only managed twenty-four. If she kept it up, there was no way he could hope to complete this task before the 16th.

Lucia and Cole were still depressed (no surprises there). Mikau and Sally weren't as sad, but stayed away from those who were, in order to escape guilt. Cole hadn't said a thing to anyone since his siblings were killed, and he didn't seem to be opening up anytime soon. Lucia was more angry than sad, avoiding any room that Caleb entered.

Caleb, it seemed, was the most nonchalant person now. He didn't care if his dad came back (in fact, he was on the verge of hoping he didn't), if anyone else died (except Sahara, since that would mean he was out of a girlfriend again; not for the obvious reason that the mission would fail), or if Sahara loved him or not (he didn't care for her opinion, as long as she was still his). Though, he was losing patience. Mostly with Sahara, for being chaste, but also with everyone else, since the days were becoming mind-numbingly dull.

Laura poked Sahara's side, interrupting her Caleb-gazing (they had gone out earlier, and he was playing Halo with Hannah, again baffled as to how she could possibly be winning). "Can't get enough of him?"

Sahara snapped out of her trance, turning to stare blandly at her future mother-in-law. "Sorry, I was just thinking...since Caleb's the one messing up the fluency of my thoughts, I assumed looking at him would help my mind grow accustomed to this road block... So far, it isn't working."

Laura took it as a compliment to her, and more to Link, that Sahara was so attached to her son. "Well, that's Love for ya..."

Sahara turned back to Caleb. Laura had assured Caleb, more than a week ago now, that Sahara's love was true. She could tell by her eyes. Whenever she looked at Caleb, there was a unique sparkle on the edge of the reflection she saw there. It was a gift Laura had, to see this sign. She'd been born with it. It was the reason she'd been skeptical about Link's apology years before: he had only developed the sparkle right before he'd proposed.

She'd seen it in her parents (though her mom's had seemed almost non-existent), in Zelda and Dark Link, in Eleah, in Firah and Malon, in Cole, in Kafei and Anju, in Sahara...but never in Caleb. She wished she could, but it seemed hopeless. Caleb just refused to love.

"Laura," Sahara started, curling a few strands of hair around her index finger, "he doesn't have it yet, does he?"

Laura tried to keep a steady head. Could she read her mind? "No, not yet."

"Hmm...I hope it happens soon. The alternative is much less than desirable." She switched her gaze to the front door and sighed. "And by the looks of it, things are about to get a lot worse."

Before Laura could ask what she meant by either statement, the doorbell rang. Caleb, taking this chance to escape another beating by Hannah's wonderful tactics, went and opened it. Steve stepped in, and shook his head wildly. Drops of water flew in every direction. Mary, almost completely dry, came in after him, sporting a pink umbrella that Steve apparently had been either too embarrassed or too impatient to stand under.

"Hey, where's John?" Caleb asked, closing the door slowly, after taking a look outside. It was hard for him to believe it was actually raining.

"Hospital," Steve said, looking about with a pained expression.

"What?!" Caleb exclaimed, putting all of his focus on Steve. Laura and Sahara entered from the kitchen, and Hannah got up. "What happened?"

"Larry, that's what," Steve replied insufficiently, heading for the couch and lying down, running a hand through his hair. Caleb stood next to him, prompting. "Seventh hour, we played softball. John and me were in outfield, Larry was at bat. John was on second base. Larry hits the ball, runs to first, and I catch it. But he keeps running.

"He gets to second base, but John's not paying attention; he thinks he went back already. Larry runs right into him, probably hit him with his elbow. They both fall down, but John won't get up. Mr. Spartz tells us to get the nurse. He looked like he had something wrong with his lungs or something. But class's over, so they don't let us stay around much longer. Just found out he's at the hospital."

Caleb remained silent for a while, letting it sink in. He almost had the nerve to ask, but decided against it. Just what type of person would he have to be to actually ask, "Will he still be able to play guitar?" What a stupid thought. But it couldn't be that serious, could it? He'd just been knocked down. It wasn't like he was near death or anything, right?

"Now, I don't know if Larry did it on purpose or anything," Steve continued, sitting up, "but if he did, I hope he's expelled for that."

Mary was greeted by Laura and Sahara, whom she had met almost everyday since the concert. The three of them—John, Steve, and herself, that is—had been coming there after school since everyone took Link's house to be their headquarters. She still felt weird about Caleb dating the Black Wizard, especially since she was so mysterious...and, in her opinion, too powerful.

Eventually, Steve and Caleb became calm about the situation, and played some Halo. They'd come to the conclusion, with Sahara's information given, that John would be okay. Doctors had to be very, very skilled to be where they were, since every single one of their patients would be terminally ill, or otherwise under no possible protection by magic.

Malon came out to join the women in their small discussion, only doing so to get some food. Laura stared off into space as Malon opened the refrigerator, to find to her dismay that, indeed, eight days had not changed the fact that they were out of orange soda. As she closed it, the shadow of her arm was engulfed by that of the refrigerator door...

Something in Laura's mind clicked. Without excusing herself, she ran to the visitor's room, where Dark Link was sleeping. He jostled him awake, and, as he groggily complained to her, she shouted in joyous exhilaration, "Wake up! I know how to get Link out!"
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As for John's predicament...that actually happened at our school. Different names, of course, and no one caught the ball. Scared the hell outta me, and later I thought "Hey, this would work perfectly in my story!", since I had thought Larry would punch John or something. This works a lot better. Larry, being slightly, ever so slightly, mentally retarded, keeps on running after he's out, and knocks John down. Much better than a burst of anger, in my opinion.

Oh, and the guy was okay. Came back the next day just fine. Didn't play with the rest of the class for three days, though.

And even though my sig says I'm reading Of Mice And Men, I've actually finished it by now. Shortest novel I've ever read, I think (I don't say "book" because there's children's books). My sister says it sucks, and I'm agreeing with her on the fact that it is really confusing why anyone loves it enough to force everyone to read it. Meh, it's okay...

Edit: 159 pages, AOC 29 = TFG 45

Anyone here...? I'm doing my best here, so can't someone help out? Give some comments, some criticism...some something. Except plain "sorry" posts...

It's getting harder to remember just how many characters are all there... I mean, it would help a lot if I could kill off Mikau and Sally, but they're sorta protected at the moment. They don't even do anything anymore... Sigh...

Well, the big three-O :
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Chapter 30

"Makes you feel pretty stupid, huh?" Sahara teased, after they'd heard Laura's plan to free her husband. The obvious method: forcing Eleah to teleport Link out, then himself.

"What about you?" Dark Link deflected. "You're always saying you're smarter than me—"

"Cuz I am. Yes, I knew this would be the way to do it, but I just couldn't bring myself to interfere."

Dark Link raised an eyebrow. "Interfere with what, exactly?"

Laura groaned. "C'mon, Darky! We want him back today!"

Malon was ready to try and bring them back, but Dark Link had made her wait, so he could run through the things that might go wrong. So far, he hadn't thought of anything. He was hesitating now just in case another idea popped up when they didn't expect it.

Dark Link, Sahara, Laura, and Malon were currently sitting in the living room. It was past nine, and everyone else was getting ready to go to sleep. Some of them had actually fallen into slumber already. Steve and Mary had left. It was just the four of them.

"Okay," Dark Link said reluctantly. "Malon, do it."

Malon cleared her throat. She had been told the exact words to say, but it felt very strange. "Uh, Eleah...teleport Link here," she began, pointing at the rug between the couch and the TV to specify the location, "and teleport yourself here five seconds later."

A moment of silence. For a second, everyone (except Sahara) was afraid that it hadn't worked. Then, in the same flash of light that had marked his departure, Link appeared in front of them, wearing the same thing he'd worn for the past month. His legs began to fail him, but Laura wasn't about to let him hit the floor.

"Link!" she exclaimed, swooping down and lifting him back to his feet. Not giving him a chance to speak, she kissed him, letting her passion off its leash. Link was still weak, however, and fell onto the couch. Laura followed, not caring that she was being watched.

Eleah appeared next, in the same spot Link had come. Dark Link turned to Sahara. "No harm, huh? If Laura hadn't pounced on him, the two of 'em would've landed on the same place."

"I knew she'd do that," Sahara defended.

"Well, at least it worked," Dark Link resigned, walking towards Eleah. "Hello."

"Hey," Eleah said weakly. He looked around. "Wow, this place is even better than that dream..." His eyes stopped on his daughter. "Sahara? The only reason you'd be here is if..."

Sahara approached, not sure if she should smile or frown at this bit of logic. "Yes, I am."

"And you know about his—?"

"Yeah. As I told Gray and Evol, I will change him. So don't worry."

Eleah wasn't convinced, but let it go. "So, someone mind filling us in?"

"I would, but I'd hate to repeat myself," Dark Link said, motioning to Link and Laura. "Who wants to stop them?"

Laura suddenly surfaced, still staring down at Link. "Link, you're filthy!" And it was true. He hadn't taken a bath since he'd left, and some of the stains in his jeans had stayed with him from his dreams. However, his hair was in the same state as when he left—no need to shave, even. "Darky, I thought you said Hannah came out all clean. And naked too, now that I think of it..."

"Um, actually...she's gonna hate me for saying this, but...she had been taking a shower when she was taken there..."

Laura accepted this. She didn't really care, since it was Link, but she didn't want to get her cloak dirty. "Well, first thing tomorrow, we'll take a shower, 'kay, Link?" Link nodded his agreement, not trusting his voice quite yet. His throat felt pretty dry. He coughed, and Laura stood him up, beginning to lead him off.

"I'll tell him everything that happened, 'kay?" She continued to cling onto Link's side, kissing him anyway, leading him up the stairs and away into their bedroom.

"She seriously has no shame..." Eleah sighed. "Oh well, still great to be back. Situation?"

Dark Link recounted every event since Eleah's disappearance, ending with John's admission to the hospital. "And then Laura came to me with the idea of how to get you guys out."

Eleah's eyes widened. "Laura did? Not Malon? Not you? Not Sahara?"

"Yes, Laura did. Surprising as it may be... But Sahara says she knew how to this whole time."

Eleah looked to his daughter, his last hope. "You told her, didn't you? Please tell me you told her."

Sahara gave him an evil grin. "Nope. She figured it out all on her own. Cuz it wouldn't be fair if I told, would it?"

"How'd you even know about that?" Eleah asked angrily, confusing Dark Link and Malon. Now that he thought of it, Link never said he couldn't tell Malon it was a bet. "Whatever," Eleah said, putting it aside. "What about Evol and Sutar?"

"Same as always," Dark Link replied, ignoring the side-conversation he hadn't understood.

"I've been keeping Evol from his goal," Sahara informed. "He shouldn't be able to reach it before we go to the Time mage's realm."

"Good," Eleah said. "So, we just have to wait three more days, right?"

"Exactly."

Malon remained silent, staring away from Eleah. She wanted to apologize for sending him there. She really did. But not with the others watching her. If she could just get him alone... Besides, he had a secret to reveal still. She knew that he didn't know about the deal she'd been forced to make with Laura, so she still had a chance to get him to tell her, free of charge. If only Dark Link and Sahara would leave...

"Oh, and Mal..." Eleah began, startling her once she figured out that he'd made up a nickname for her to get around the Censor Spell. "Sorry about that. It was really stupid of me. I figure I'll tell everyone my big secret in a while, since it might serve to be significant at some point. Who knows? Maybe someone can tell me who my parents are..."

"Oh...Okay," Malon said, taken aback. There went her chance of apologizing...

"And now I think I deserve a nap," Eleah laughed. "A month of being asleep sure makes you tired, for some reason..."

Sat., Sept. 14

Caleb nervously shook Eleah's hand. It was the strangest feeling he'd ever had: facing his girlfriend's father without trying to keep something hidden from him. What was weirder was that this man looked like a future version of him.

"My daughter has a very high opinion of you," Eleah stated, likewise not knowing what he should do in this situation. He'd been alone for almost his entire life, so the thought that he had another person to care for was alien to him. Just treat him like everyone else, he thought. "Of course, Link and Dark Link have filled me in on your poor reputation. If my daughter weren't stronger than me, I'd be totally against you dating her."

Caleb started to argue, but Eleah cut him off. "No offense. You brought it on yourself. I originally had hoped you two would date, just because you're Link's son. But even she confesses that you've got quite a few flaws."

"She does, huh?" Caleb said with some indignation. So this "high opinion" couldn't be quite that big of a deal, then.

"Oh, don't bother using that tone. She still loves you, and that's the only reason I'm allowing this. I just thought I'd help you out a bit."

"With what, exactly?" Caleb was gradually regaining his confidence. With nothing to hide, he could act as normal as if this were someone his own age. Or maybe it was because he looked so much like him?

"What d'you think?" Eleah said, losing his cool. "If you handle my daughter like you did with your other girlfriends, it won't go so well. When you think about it, I'm really doing you a favor... Your main problem, you see, is that you're impatient. Shouldn't be new to you, I bet. Here's my little saying on the subject: 'In its absence, Love should not be made'. Simple enough for even you to understand, I presume."

"Yeah..." Caleb only responded this way to keep Eleah in a good mood. He, personally, hated people like that. What the hell did it matter? He was gonna die soon anyway. A fair few people were. What did anything they did now matter, if it was all going to waste? He was getting tired of people not realizing this.

"So, I thought we could make a deal."

Crap, thought Caleb. Anything but that. "What?"

"You two remain chaste for the rest of the time we have left."

"And...? What do I get?"

"'What do you get'? You get to spend that time with your limbs intact, that's what you get. Remember, as long as you become the White Wizard, it doesn't matter what shape your body's in. You wanna make that trip to the Time mage's realm as nothing but a brain in a jar? A set of organs held in the air by magic? Nothing but bones, like Evol? Be my guest."

The first thing Caleb thought was: Damn, Eleah was serious. Second thing: Bummer, Sahara was hot... Third: Now what? Fourth: Nayru, his life was gonna get really boring, really quick. What good was Sahara's beauty and charm if taking advantage of its full extent would get him tortured? Why hadn't he gotten one night in before Eleah came back? Of course, it had come as a surprise, but why had he prolonged his wait? What was that weird feeling that had kept him from it?

"Now, do we have a deal?"

"Sure," Caleb sighed. No time to find a new girl. He'd just have to be very cautious... She'd better be worth it.

"Okay, as long as we've got that settled...a question I shoulda asked a long time ago: Do you love her?"

"Yeah."

"Sure about that?" Caleb nodded, and he continued. "Would you die for her?"

"Die for her?" Caleb stalled. He hadn't thought of such a thing, especially so soon in their relationship. It wasn't like he was asking permission to marry her or anything... "I don't think I'd have to deal with something like that."

"I didn't ask if you thought it was a possibility. I asked if you would die for her. Seeing as she's flirting with death at the hands of Evol right now, would you, if you were able to come to her aid, take the bullet, so to speak?" It was an out-dated saying, since guns had been banned thirty years ago, but it was still used in some places, so Caleb would know it. "In this case, would you jump in the way of Evol's scythe, Sutar's teeth and claws, etcetera?"

"Sure," Caleb replied simply, not caring to think of all the devotion that such a statement needed to be true. Whatever it took to get Eleah off his back... "If it comes to that."

Eleah shook his head. "'Sure'? You have the nerve to just say 'sure'? She is my daughter. I have taken many precautions to make sure she was safe until she turned sixteen. Safe from the things I had to go through: absence of parents, abuse, confusion about magic, Evol's Servant Curse, the infatuations of the beginning of puberty (which, on average, are a hell of a lot worse than any that come later), and, most importantly, idiotic antics of society (such as the whole 'no swearing' deal).

"I haven't had as much time with her as I'd wanted. Indeed, the time I have even now is swiftly fleeting. So, if you can say 'sure' so dismissively, prove to me that you deserve the right to do so. Make me believe that you truly love her." He stopped, looking up at the clock. 8:42. "Well, not right now, but I believe you get my point."

And indeed he did. Eleah walked out into the living room, taking down the Silence Spell from the kitchen. Caleb shook his head, and followed. His dad was on the couch, playing with Sara. Eleah looked like he was about to say something to him, but at this sight he stopped. The two of them, father and daughter, were smiling gaily, without a care in the world. He was sure Eleah didn't mean to, but looking at him looking at Link, Caleb could tell that Eleah was jealous.

Laura was at Link's side, kissing his cheek, which she had recently cleaned. Even after Laura had told him of everything that had occurred, he wasn't sad. Probably because he had lived so many years alongside Laura, an Emotion Wizard, and copied her ability to tone down his sadness. That was fine. The thing that annoyed Caleb was that Link still wasn't wearing a shirt. Malon had gone back to Hyrule to settle things back on the ranch, but she'd assured them that she'd return...eventually. Hannah and Midna were sitting on the floor, playing chess (using magic to move the pieces, as a way of helping her grow accustomed to using this new type of magic for everyday things).

Mikau and Sally were sleeping on two opposing couches on either side of the room. Lucia and Cole sulked in the room's two armchairs, their depression not knowing how much longer it could withstand all the happiness people were trying to impress upon them. Dark Link, apparently, had gone back to Hyrule, to stay with the Zeldas for the day.

Sahara, the only one of them Caleb really cared for, was nowhere to be seen. Was she out there, stopping Evol? No, she'd told him that there was no need for doing that anymore; there was no possible way he could accomplish it now. So just where was she?

Eleah bit his lip, still staring. "Y'know, I think I oughta make up for my numerous procrastinations. I'll be back in a bit." And he let the others say their good-byes before disappearing.

Laura leapt to her feet, heading towards the kitchen. "Almost forgot! I still have to make you a cake, Link!"

Link looked up, a look of bewilderment on his face. "Cake? Wait, what day is it, again?"

"The fourteenth," Laura replied, with a note of anticipation of the day after. "Tomorrow's your birthday, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Link said, more to himself. Days, in the Dreamer's Dimension, blended into one long period of time, thanks to constant "dreaming". One night back in his own bed may have dispelled all of his strange physical weaknesses, but he still needed to regain a sense of time. "Funny, it feels like it should still be August..."

"That's normal," Hannah assured him. "Takes a while to get over it. Took me a few years to realize that things had changed. It's just a big nightmare. That's why."

"You can say that again..."

Laura stopped on the threshold, pointing at Hannah. "I'm watching you." Link smiled, and chuckled as the interruption had caused Hannah to move her rook off the board, where it hovered an inch above the floor.
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Eleah found Sahara exactly where he'd expected to find her: Gerudo Desert. She was seated on a boulder, overlooking the vast expanse of sand. Deep in thought, as usual. Then she giggled. Very unlike her...

"Hello, father," she greeted, not turning from the great view. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Wonderful. By experience, he knew that phrase to be sarcastic whenever she spoke it. "Look, I know this may come off as me being over-dramatic an' all, but—"

"But you love me, right? And you're confused as to how you should treat the situation, since I'm the first child you've had—or will ever have, for that matter. You resent being Evol's servant for what has been my whole life so far...and that I may know you perfectly well—and not be quite so enthusiastic about the idea as you—while you can hardly say you've spent much quality time with me. You came to tell me how much you love me, and get all emotional just cuz you can. Touching sentiment, but I think I'll pass."

Eleah stayed silent for a few moments, taking it in. Like father, like daughter. Not as catchy, but true. "Well, yes, that was my initial intent. But—"

"But now that I've stated it, it would be unnecessary. Good of you to see that. I'd hate to have one of those 'moments'."

Eleah scowled. If only he hadn't passed on so many of his traits... "What I wanted to tell you is that, yes, I love you. Truth be told, I was watching Link with his younger daughter, and I felt a little guilty."

Sahara had nothing to say to this, though she did seem to be near the point of rolling her eyes.

"But, since you've pointed out what I originally thought of saying, I'll move on to other topics. First, Evol. Do you honestly believe that what you've done so far will set him back enough? You'd be surprised at how quick he can be."

"Yes, I am sure this will work. No matter how much I stall for time, he's gonna get down to seven or eight right before we enter the Time mage's realm. At this rate, I'd wager it'll be the latter."

"Granted. Second, I heard you're punishing Sutar for something."

"Yes," Sahara sighed. She forgot about Mirinda all the time, and it seemed only the thought of what she was doing in retaliation could remind her. Needless to say, she felt guilty for not even mentioning Mirinda to Caleb yet. She had promised herself that she would. "His step-sister, Evol's daughter. He abandoned her."

"Mirinda?" Eleah asked, remembering hearing that name from Evol. "Don't tell me you fell for that trap?"

"Trap?" Sahara finally turned to stare at him.

"Yeah..." Eleah was surprised that she hadn't picked up on that. "Guess I oughta save you from it, then. It was his plan to make you realize that 'Love makes you dumb', and all that crap. Which it doesn't, of course. If anything, Love makes you smarter. More in tune with the spiritual aspect of your being. True Love improves you. "

"Yes, I know," Sahara lied. She had actually held the same opinion as Evol, but now that Eleah disagreed, it seemed foolish. Why were all these things happening, then? She would have to think about that for a while.

"Good. Anyway...Caleb. You knew I was gonna bring it up eventually."

"Unfortunately."

"You love him?"

"Yes. I already told you that. I love him more than anyone else. More than you." She grinned. "At his best, he's funny, smart (by Hytoian standards, anyway), and a great musician... Doesn't hurt that he's devilishly handsome."

Eleah scoffed. "'Handsome'? You dare speak of looks when describing why you love him?"

Sahara raised an eyebrow. "What, you don't believe in love at first sight?"

He nearly fainted. "That doesn't exist!" he shouted, enraged. "You can't fall in love just by looking at someone! 'Love at first sight'? More like 'lust at first sight'! You have to—"

Sahara lifted a hand to stop him. "Calm down, I'm just kidding. Caleb and I have shared much more than glances. I love him for who he is, and look forward to how much better he shall become... So don't worry."

"Well, I sure hope he changes. I've made a small deal with him just now, and—"

"Oh, a 'deal'? Is that what you call it? Yeah, wonderful compromise on that one: 'Stay away from her privates and live', basically."

"How'd you—?"

Sahara showed him her Crystal Sword, turned black from her magic. She manipulated the flow of energy until one of the blunt sides shone clear. On it, she conjured a picture of the inside of Link's house, where Laura and Sara were fighting for Link's attention, Midna was being annihilated by Hannah in chess, and Caleb was training on Halo.

"So that's how you knew about me and Link's bet?"

"Exactly. And, if I recall correctly, you're supposed to tell Malon that you love her. All you've done so far is apologize."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get on that later. But...that's an invasion of privacy. Don't tell me you spy on Caleb, too...?"

"No," she lied, saying it as normally as possible, destroying any chance Eleah had of detecting its false nature. No suspicion, no truth spell... "'Cept just now, since I watched both of you."

"And you accept his answer? Just 'sure'?"

"Father, we haven't been together that long. You can't seriously expect for him to feel that way just yet."

"Then why didn't he say that?"

Now she did roll her eyes. "You also can't expect him to want you to think that he doesn't love me right now. He's gonna try and keep you in a good mood. That, paired with the desire to keep his body in one piece, is the only reason he agreed to your 'deal'."

"So you're saying he's gonna be sneaky about it, is that it?"

"Yes, he will try. But, as you seem to forget regularly, I am capable of making my own decisions. Not only that, but I'm strong enough to stop him, should he attempt anything. He doesn't control me, and neither do you. It's my body, and I'll do what I want with it."

"I understand. Just so long as you don't humor him, that's okay."

"My body," she repeated. "I don't take requests. Not even from you."

"I pray you're merely stating fact...?"

"I will only humor him if we get married. That is what I promise you," she assured, choosing her words carefully. "As for right now, you can inform him that I will return at precisely nine thirty." She waved a hand to her side, teleporting her father back to Link's house. Yawning, she thought, I almost forgot how annoying he can be...
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Okay, anyone wanna...y'know...say something?

30 AOC = 47 TFG

Someone gonna say something? .............

Okay, here's the deal. I finished 30 not last Wednesday, but the one before it. I finished 31 that Sunday, and finished 32 last Tuesday. And now I'm working on 33. So I was thinking that I just might put 31 and 32 out as a double chapter deal this week. If I get good headway on 33, that is.
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Chapter 31

Laura announced the plans for Link's birthday. She would make the largest chocolate cake she'd ever made (5 square feet), and they'd eat it, along with ice cream, while watching old home videos, followed by the video Dark Link had recorded of Caleb's band's concert. Then said band would perform live outside (John had been discharged from the hospital already, and he was indeed still able to play guitar). Then the presents. Afterwards, everyone would come back in and talk, play Halo, eat, and do whatever else they wanted for the rest of the day.

But first, they'd need to go to the grocery store. Link volunteered for this task, since he wanted to do some driving (ever since he'd gotten his license, he took every chance to do so. And since he'd been gone for almost a month, he greatly missed the open road), and some of the items on Laura's list were over 20 rupees.

"I'm coming too!" Laura proclaimed, raising her hand like an eager schoolgirl. She always accompanied him whenever he drove somewhere, unless she was extremely busy (and even then she sometimes dropped her responsibilities to join her husband).

Link, now wearing a dark green T-shirt, took his keys from his pocket, swinging them around on his finger as he had always done. "Okay, next in command... Caleb, you're in charge 'til we get back."

Caleb turned down his iPod, pausing Halo. "What?"

Link sighed. Teenagers... "Never mind, I now grant that authority unto Eleah."

Eleah grabbed at the air. "Received. Don't worry, your fortress is in good hands." He saluted.

"Mind cheerin' up Lucia and Cole while we're gone?" Link asked cautiously, seeing as the two he mentioned were in the room at the time. "I'm betting that you can, if anyone."

"I shall," Eleah promised. "Most undoubtedly, they will be back to normal in no time... No guarantees, though."

Link bent down and gave Sara a kiss. "We should be back around eleven."

Laura ran to Link's side, then stopped, her eyes widening. She giggled, pointed at her stomach. "Sorry Link, I gotta go wee-wee. I'll be right back." She skipped away to the bathroom, saying, "Beep...beep...pregnant lady coming through..."

Eleah stared after her. "She's gotten worse, if that's possible... 'Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it'. Damn me for wishing her happiness..."

"She's just putting up a facade," Link confessed. "She's really sad cuz her mom died, but, of course, I rank higher with her, so she's putting that to the side for now. Told me yesterday. I didn't get as much sleep as I'd wanted, as you can imagine."

Eleah raised an eyebrow. "So early? She's worse than I thought..."

"I didn't mean like that. She had an awful lot of stuff to tell me. Kafei and Anju, Matt, the whole Dark Link and Midna thing..." Midna looked up at him, and he feebly waved to her. "She did make the offer, though. But obviously I wasn't in the mood."

Laura returned, energetic as ever. "'Kay Link, let's go!" She reached into her pocket, extracted a pair of sunglasses, and slipped them over Link's eyes. She then jumped on him, giggling as he opened the door and walked out with her on his back.

As soon as Link and Laura were out of the house, Sahara appeared by the door. "Huh. I guess by 'numerous procrastinations', you meant 'time away from my daughter'?"

Eleah sighed. "And how'd you know they'd leave at exactly nine thirty?"

"Correction: 'precisely nine thirty'." Sahara sat next to Caleb. He bent over and kissed her, and she picked up a controller and started to play against him. "And I knew because I can see the future."

Hannah laughed. "Checkmate." She used the Floating Spell to move her queen into position, and then stood.

Eleah turned to her as Midna stood to shake her hand. "Ah, and I completely forgot about Hannah," he said, not wishing to deny his daughter's claim at the moment. "Going after Dark Link still?"

"Nope," Hannah replied, magically packing the board and pieces away into the game cabinet. "Don't like him anymore."

There was something about her smile that confused Eleah. She was happy. A rare sight. "Well, with a grin like that, I'd say you have someone in mind. Something you haven't told anyone about yet?"

"And that I won't tell anyone about." She continued to wear that superior smile. Absentmindedly, she gripped the First Quark medallion, which she'd started to wear more often. Something clicked in Eleah's mind.

"No way."

"Way." Hannah took a mental picture of Eleah's face as he heard her telepathic message. Priceless.

"I admit, it is poetic...but what makes you so sure?"

Hannah rolled her eyes. Midna left the room, fed up with trying to understand them. Sara ran after her, curious about the blue-skinned woman's appearance. "Sahara promised it would be someone, and logically it can't be anyone else."

"Just sayin'...y'know, since you thought it had to be Dark Link cuz you caught the bouquet. Making sure you're not being misled by symbolism again. But if you're sure, okay."

"She's right," Sahara said, annoyed by Eleah's speech.

"Is that so? What, is this another insight into the future?"

"No. I know Evol's plan. I know all the possibilities, and he is the one for her in every one of them, ever since I saved her."

"Thanks for that, by the way," Hannah said, before going to catch up with Midna.

"Though I know I won't get the chance to do so... Anytime. Now, father, I believe you promised to do something with Lucia and Cole."

"Ah, yes..." Eleah knew she was just trying to make him leave her and Caleb alone. Nevertheless, he pulled the two pre-teens to their feet, and walked them into the kitchen, where Midna, Hannah, and Sara were leaving through the glass sliding doors.

Sahara decided not to use magic to win, to help Caleb train. She did, however, put a Silence Spell over the room, so they wouldn't be heard by Eleah. The only other ones in the room were Mikau and Sally, but they were soundly asleep.

"Caleb, I know about the deal," Sahara started, not feeling like skipping around the topic until it rose up. "Heard the whole thing. Cool that you remembered all that, actually. I didn't expect you to."

Caleb grinned from the compliment. "Good memory, I guess. I was hoping he wouldn't ask for me to recite that passage. It'd be really embarrassing..."

Sahara noticed the tangent. Give a diversion, and they'll run with it... "About the deal, though..."

"I know, I know. You're with him on this one, right?" Sahara's state of distraction made it all too easy to beat her. He waited for her to be ready instead of hunting down her respawned character.

"Not...entirely. I know it's foolish to mate when you don't love someone, and I understand the very obvious logic behind all that my father says. But...I'm with you on the fact that we haven't much time left. The whole 'what the hell?' argument. In my mind, I've made a compromise. I think that if you truly love someone, they truly love you, and you plan to marry, it shouldn't matter. What is marriage, but a legal confirmation that two people are in a relationship?"

"So...you're saying...?"

"I'm saying that if we share true, unwavering love, then damn my father's deal."

Caleb, finding it hard not to do so, smiled. That solved that problem. "Then what's stopping us?" he laughed. "I love you, you love me. No obstacles there."

Sahara sighed. "Caleb, it is nowhere near that simple. I wish it were. With all my heart I wish it were. But I fear... My father has reminded me that true Love doesn't impair one's skills. And since what happened with Evol was so...in all honesty, pathetic...I'm beginning to doubt that I truly do love you. I fear I am merely infatuated with you. No matter what way I think about it, there's no escaping it..."

Caleb had a wonderful idea then, but hesitated. If he argued, it would only make him look worse. Like he was trying to keep her on the road to defying her father's wishes. Which he was, in a way, except he tried to make it less evident.

The idea, plain and simple, was that Sahara thought about it too much. Love was an emotion, a feeling. Something to be felt, not...pondered. Weird of him to think about, but a very great insight nonetheless. Of course, he wasn't to know that by Evol's plan, he and Sahara would have to be together. No, Sahara would make sure not to tell him that quite yet, in case it enforced his "what the hell?" thought process. He was not to think that it made no difference.

Instead of saying what he thought, Caleb just said the first thing that had come to mind. "Maybe he's trying to make you doubt it."

"Perhaps. That's feasible." She was utterly unconvinced, seeing as that didn't explain her predicament with Evol.

It must've shown, for Caleb immediately voiced his true opinions, seeing that what he'd said was actually doing exactly the thing he'd been trying to avoid. "Look, maybe you're just thinking about it too much." Awkwardly, he added, "How do you feel?"

Sahara was taken aback. "I...I love you... How do you, truthfully, feel?"

Noticing her word choice, he realized she had used magic on him to elicit truth. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Don't you trust me?"

"In all fairness, I know that you're going to do whatever it takes to fool my father. If lying to me falls under that category, I wouldn't put it past you. Besides, if you were gonna tell me the truth in the first place, it shouldn't matter whether I make sure it is or not."

"Guess you're right. Well, I like you. Very much."

Now Sahara had the upper hand (in Halo). She jumped from behind Caleb's character, downing him in one shot. "By your standards, I'm pretty lucky, then..."
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Okay, I've gone back and fixed all the typos in both stories. But if you happen to find one that I didn't pick up on, tell me. Also, if I use a word where it doesn't belong. Spellcheck doesn't pick up on those, of course.

So, tomorrow I'll post 32.

Well, here it is. Link's b-day.
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Chapter 32

Sat., Sept. 15

Link's birthday was a bittersweet day. Everyone they had expected showed up: the people already there since the day before, Paul, Dark Link, Prs. Zelda, Malon, Zant, Juyk, Jessica, Celia, Steve, Mary, and John. The large cake, with a huge green 37 on its massive chocolaty surface, was cut into fifty pieces and given out to anyone who wanted one. The ice cream was gone very quickly.

While they ate, they watched a video depicting Link and Laura's life from wedding day to present. The first thing they saw was Link carrying Laura in his arms, wedding dress and all. "We were so young!" Laura exclaimed, entranced. She was the only one, apart from Link and Sara. "I think I've gotten a wrinkle since then..."

There was about an hour and forty-five minutes of footage, but they watched it all anyway. It included kisses, pregnancies, newborn babies being forced to wave, playing with their kids, first days of school, visits to water parks, other similar birthdays, Link painting the house in late spring, giving of Christmas presents, and ended with a handwritten sign (most likely Sara's handwriting, by the look of it) saying, "An nuch Nor to Come", held up by Sara. At this, many of the women in the room drew out a long "Aww..."

Laura then put on two more videos. One was Caleb's concert from the school's talent show, and the other was their more recent concert. For most of them, it was a first. Paul was guilty of a proud smile, seeing his grandson playing "For Your Love", a song that used to be one of his personal favorites when he was Caleb's age.

Next, everyone went outside, where Caleb and the band were getting ready for their small concert. Tables were set up far from the stage, and fold-up chairs were set in between. There were bowls of chips, the rest of the cake, orange soda, newly-ordered pizza from Pizza Hut, plates carrying her signature chocolate chip cookies, and packages of Oreos, which Link had rushed to get that very morning.

Caleb's band played three songs, each by Bon Jovi: "Livin' On A Prayer", "Wanted Dead Or Alive", and "I'll Be There For You". This convinced them all that this band really did have potential. If everything wasn't ending so soon, this band could be really, really famous, as long as Caleb didn't kick anyone else out, and they actually started writing their own songs (John assured them he was working on it, but with hardly two days left, no one paid much attention to this claim). Sahara couldn't help but sing along on the last number, especially when Caleb sang,

"I'll be the water when you get thirsty, baby.
When you get drunk, I'll be the wine..."

At this point, everyone came back inside, and gathered in the kitchen. The only ones who had even prepared gifts were Laura (duh) and Juyk. Laura had been giving him old items of his for his birthdays for a few years, since he couldn't go to Hyrule and get them for himself. Just last year, he'd received the Fairy Ocarina, which he had thought to have broken. The year before, the Megaton Hammer. And before that, both of his old Hookshots (the first from Dampe, and the Longshot, which, curiously, she had obtained from Dark Link). He couldn't use them, of course, but it was good enough just to have them; a reminder of the old days.

Today, the present was in a large green box, as always. It would make it harder to guess. Yet, by its weight, Link had a fair idea of its identity. Laura giggled as she gave it to him. "It was very, very hard to find these. You're gonna love it!"

Link opened the box, and, as usual, gasped at the contents. He took them out and studied them to make sure they were real. He held each in his left hand to see if they gave him the same feel as they had over sixteen years ago. Indeed, they were the Giant's Knife (he had broken it, but Laura must've gone through all the trouble of finding the other piece and magically reattaching it), and the two-handed Biggoron's Sword. He still wasn't strong enough to lift either of them with one hand, but it didn't seem likely that he'd be battling again anyway, so what did it matter?

He thanked his wife, giving her a few kisses to show his gratitude. This almost completed his collection of his old things, minus the masks from Termina. The Hero's Bow was irretrievable, since he'd broken it long ago, and the miscellaneous bottles, Deku sticks and nuts, etc. weren't that important to him. Besides those, he basically had everything back.

Juyk came forward with his present. It was a long cylinder package, wrapped very neatly (probably Jessica's work there; he'd seen first-hand just how terribly Juyk wrapped presents). Link laid it on the table as he unwrapped it, and noticed that whatever was inside was very hard, probably metal.

As he ripped off the last bits, he stared blankly at what he'd been given, unable to believe it. "No way..."

Laura, Dark Link, Eleah, and Malon stared just as Link did. The rest of the room was baffled as to why they were so surprised over two metal tubes. Laura spoke up. "Are those Fierce Deity's...?"

Juyk grinned. "Exactly. The Terminian Power Gauntlets. They make the user capable of destroying black metal, the hardest substance, next to diamonds. Also, you can lift up to one million times your own weight. Should come in handy, now that you've got the Biggoron's Sword back."

"How'd you find those?" Dark Link asked, utterly bewildered. "I thought the were destroyed along with Fierce Deity?"

"It's a secret," Juyk replied, making the few of them who knew about the mysterious closet think that that had something to do with it.

Link tried them on. They fit perfectly (by magic, they had to, but Link didn't know that). As Juyk said, he was now able to carry the Biggoron's Sword easily. In a fight, now, he could use both of these old blades, as long as he found a way to make the Giant's Knife stronger.

Now, with all the planned activities out of the way, everyone milled about the house in a real party manner. Caleb, Steve, John, and Hannah were playing Halo, while Sahara magically added in obstacles, moved characters around unwillingly, blew up vehicles right before they could be used, and made random holes in the stage (one of which Caleb took advantage of by shooting through an intangible rock and utterly destroying John's character).

Eleah was in charge of music. Using Link's laptop and his own iPod, he arranged a playlist. The first song, in light of the circumstances, was "Birthday", by The Beatles. All the while, he discussed the topic of the Caleb-Sahara relationship. Link had been reassured by Sahara that there was nothing to worry about, and he didn't see why Eleah was so opposed to it.

Dark Link, Midna, and Zant remained in the kitchen, talking their mouths off. Laura was following Malon around, calling her her "best friend in the whole world", since she'd been the one to bring Link back. Malon constantly warned that she'd leave, but Eleah had announced he would reveal his secret to anyone who wished to hear it, and making him repeat it later just seemed overwhelmingly inconvenient to her. Lucia and Cole, almost their old selves again (yet missing something everyone knew would never come back), helped Mikau and Sally in entertaining Sara.

The first to leave was Prs. Zelda. She felt the whole party was torture, because of all the glorifying of Caleb's abilities. Next went Juyk and his family, followed by John, who had told them earlier that he wouldn't be able to stay as long as he'd wanted. At seven, Steve and Mary left, saying they were still in the mood to go on the date they had planned on in advance for this day.

So, with everyone gathered in the living room again, Eleah began his tale. Nearly everyone was eating something, and the music was still playing (right then, it was transitioning from "Stand", by R.E.M. to "Why So Blue", by Paul McCartney).

"Well, for your benefit," Eleah began, "I think I'll state my 'secret' first, then give you a little synopsis of all the stuff surrounding the subject matter. So, to start...when I was ten, I was arranged to marry Laura."

All eyes went to Laura. "Yup," she confirmed, chewing her slice of pepperoni pizza.

"Now, as you're probably wondering, why me?" Eleah sat in an armchair, rubbing his temples. "When I was born, something happened to my parents. To this day, it is unknown to me. Coincidentally, I was put up for adoption at the same time that the King and Queen of Comonia were resorting to adopting a child to be their heir. Luckily, they chose me. The whole process, however, was kept secret, so that everyone else would believe I was truly theirs. For ten years, I lived in paradise. Whatever I wanted, I got. 'Yes, sir' this, 'At once, sir' that.

"But then, one fateful October first, Laura was born. Our parents immediately set us up, without my consent. Believe me, that was the most disgusting thing I have ever been through. Why? Because I saw her birth. I was there when she took her first breath of 'fresh' air. Now, think about that. When a child is born, they come out all...icky. And my foster parents did the stupid thing and told me I'd have to marry her."

He paused, allowing that to sink in. No one seemed quite as disgusted as he had been attempting to make them feel. "Uh...well, imagine yourself in that situation. A tiny, slimy baby, fresh from the womb. And I was told she would be my wife. At the time, she looked as if someone had barfed on her. And she was so small. I couldn't help thinking of her as just a thing. A little monster. No offense, of course."

"None taken."

"So...I got angry, threw a tantrum, and presto, a surge of magic kills 'em both. Since I'm an Emotion mage, y'know. Then, a wizard who'd been watching me, Warih, took me in as his apprentice. Must've been one of those court-ordered tutors or whatever... It was he who changed my name to Eleah. I don't remember what it was before, but that doesn't really matter.

"For almost two years, I was under his instruction. I learned a great deal, but, as it turned out, the government thought he was doing a horrible job. Probably cuz he taught me a few spells that were forbidden at the time. They sent me to the Magical Institute of Hyto, where I met Hannah. We dated for a while, but then her father took her out of the school. At this point in my life, I didn't understand Love. I'd only been dating her as an extra measure to make sure I wouldn't have to marry Laura. But as the time passed, I started to really feel something for her. And now the one person who had actually made me feel wanted was gone (back in Comonia, I'd felt pretty empty. Guess I shoulda mentioned that earlier). Naturally, I ran after her.

"Now, as I've so far forgotten to tell you, I was a very talented child. Only problem was that I couldn't really control my power that well. And unending rage didn't really help. So, I ended up murdering an awful lot of people. So, at the age of thirteen, I finally reached Nal, and discovered the false information that Hannah was dead. I was then submerged in horrific depression. And who should come along at this moment...? Evol, with his promises of Hannah's resurrection, and immortality. I took the bait, seeing no other option besides suicide.

"Working for Evol was pretty simple. He'd use the Servant Curse, make me kill someone, then feed me. Always fed after the job. He began training me then, when I turned fourteen. By then, he'd recruited another kid: Matt. We trained together, did jobs together, and traveled together...with Evol at our backs, of course. This continued for quite some time.

"Then, on one of our trips around Hyto, we encountered a young woman by the name of Helen. Me and Matt both fell head over heels for her, and Evol said that, sure, one of us could have her as a mate. The picture of baby Laura came back to me when he said that, and I eventually backed down, remembering that I still had Hannah to try and bring back. Matt married Helen, and Evol got mad. See, when he'd said 'mate', he thought of a more...narrow approach. He didn't like the idea that his servant would have to stay home every day, since Helen wasn't a wizard, and couldn't help us. So, me and Evol made a little deal. He wouldn't kill them, he'd leave them alone, as long as I remained as his servant for the rest of my life."

Dark Link nodded sadly. Everyone else was waiting eagerly for him to continue, but Dark Link had heard quite enough to ponder.

"It was around that time that I began to see Love's effect. I watched Matt and Helen together, and realized...stuff. Stuff I never even thought about before. I yearned to see Hannah again, so I could try and use these new values I'd learned. But, unfortunately, Evol had lied. By now I knew it for sure. As I became an adult, he assigned me the mission of becoming immortal and invincible, so that he could do...something. Didn't entrust the details unto me, but I think you all know what I'm talking about.

"While he was starting me out on this venture, Luke fell onto the scene. I already knew about Rulm and Tylk being under his control (in fact, I'd seen them a few times), and Okin being against him, but once he sent Tylk to attack Laura, I became interested. Laura, the woman who had been promised to me upon her birth. I was curious. So I attended Luke, Firah, and Vaati's match against Tylk, Ganondorf, and Soral. Liking what I saw (I mean, it was the first time he'd used Fury Fest), I asked Evol what was to come of this. Lo and behold, I was to join them in their quest to defeat Majora!

"Evol made a little bargain with Luke. And thanks to that, I became a member of the Wizards of Termina. I was the oldest in the group, but the most hated because of it. Laura, however, was too afraid to despise. She had been told about me, and there I was, in the flesh. I had given up on Hannah by now, and I thought that the ugly, slimy thing I'd seen twelve years previously was now pretty...pretty. But she wasn't as compelled as I. She stayed away from me as much as possible. All the while, I raved on to them all about how wonderful Love was, and how I desired to feel it again." He let a faint smile cross his face. "But then... Evol cut it short.

"He'd originally planned for me to stay with them until Luke, or Fierce Deity, by this time, became a man, and was able to defeat Majora. However, Majora had regained his power by then, and imprisoned Luke in a mask, putting him inside Termina's moon. On Evol's command, I began a skirmish among the wizards, which led to our big schism. Vaati was sealed in the Dark Realm, Laura ran away to Hyrule (which she had already been visiting beforehand, to spy on Link), Warih and Firah were trapped in the Lost Woods, and Firah's cousins were killed.

"Then, once I'd gotten the info on what was to happen—the whole 'destroy the three worlds' thing—I made a plan to stop him, joining with Luke, once he was freed. And you guys know the rest. But now, as my knowledge of Love expands, I've realized that it is over for me. I have reproduced, and the very act of mating is the highest of Love's expressions (which makes it so deplorable when people do it insincerely). My soul is with Nahara and Sahara. No one else (unless my parents are alive, that is; nevertheless, they would be the furthest extent of this). " Eleah slowly got to his feet, sighing. "And that's my story. Everyone satisfied?"

The song "Can't Fight This Feeling", by REO Speedwagon came on now. "Well, it was very interesting," Dark Link admitted. "I guess it'd only make you feel worse if I said I pitied you, but..."

"But it's too late for that now," Eleah finished, knowing he had chosen an ending Dark Link hadn't meant to say. "Yes, my life is rather depressing. 'Specially for me, since I had to live through it."

There was an awkward silence, filled only with the crunch of chips. Link, slightly offset by the idea of his wife as a baby, as Eleah had described it, refrained from giving his opinion. Midna greatly wondered why Dark Link had said she'd like this man. Caleb felt like the last part of the story, talking of Eleah's resigning to the fact that, by his own principles, he couldn't mate anymore, had been directed at him. Everybody else didn't care much.

"I see," Malon said blandly. It wasn't what she'd expected...nor, really, anything she wanted to know. She'd been waiting for some extremely juicy secret, like...like... Well, she didn't know what she'd wanted it to be like, but...she'd wanted something better than that. "I...I guess we can go now."

"Now hang on!" Laura objected, holding onto Malon's arm. "We have a gift for you."

Link took his cue, setting down his food and going into the kitchen. He returned with two of the wine bottles, and Eleah scowled. "Give up already..." he groaned. Link handed one bottle to Malon, and walked around the couch to give Eleah the second. As his eyes fell on the label, he gaped. "No way. Is this...?"

"Exactly," Link replied. "Comonia's finest. We have a friend who was able to get it delivered. Must've cost him a fortune, so be grateful."

Eleah laughed. "Wow... I haven't had wine in...hell, who knows how long? Coincidentally, it was this very kind." He looked up from it, and, despite himself, said, "Thank you." He turned to Malon. "Y'know what? Let's humor these fools. A date, and nothing more. Till we finish off this wine. 'Kay?"

Malon sighed. "Sure, whatever. But once we're done with the wine, you leave."

"I can agree to that," Eleah said. "Well, good-bye everyone... Oh, and happy birthday, Link." Waving to them, he teleported Malon and himself back to Hyrule.

"Guess I should be going, too," Dark Link said awkwardly. "Gotta go make sure everything's ready for tomorrow."

At that, Caleb paled. Tomorrow. With all the fun they'd been having, it had completely slipped his mind. He'd be going to the Dark Realm. And what was worse, he was actually going to meet Majora. He might meet Fierce Deity too, sure, but still...how did they know Majora wouldn't just kill him? Or that he'd give Caleb magic? That question hadn't been answered (in his memory, anyway), and it made him very uncomfortable thinking about it.
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Dark Link appeared in the Hyrule Castle library. Qn. Zelda was sitting at a desk, reading some new novel. She didn't notice him at first, but then jumped, dropping the book. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you there..."

"Hello. How's our daughter?"

Zelda removed her reading glasses, putting on a wide smile. "Great. She went to bed early today. And y'know what else? She's not angry with me anymore!"

"Glad to hear it," Dark Link said, as Zelda stood and walked around the desk.

"I think you've done it, Dark Link. She's a lot more peaceful now that you've started doing stuff with her. Thank you!" She put out a hand, expecting him to shake it.

Instead, he looked at it, then up at her. He put his hand under hers, and clenched her hand into a fist, holding it in his hands. "Zelda, you don't need to thank me. I wanted to help. She's my daughter, after all."

"Yes, of course. Anyway, the sages and I should be ready to teleport Caleb tomorrow, around noon. Maybe later, if he needs time to prepare."

"I know. Rauru already told me."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "Then...you came to...?"

"Is she asleep?" he asked, motioning in the general direction of the Princess's room (he was actually off by two inches).

"Yes..."

"Well, I came to do something I should've done a long time ago." Dark Link stepped closer, and she got the picture. Unbeknownst to either of them, the song "Can't Fight This Feeling" had subconsciously motivated Dark Link to do this—which had been Eleah's plan. Good news for him, since he'd become so shy about it.

With a sudden paroxysm of passion, Dark Link threw himself at her, pushing her against the wall as he kissed her. Zelda gave in instantly, putting her own subdued passion into the mix. Dark Link was surprised to find that, after everything that had happened...in relation to hormones, Evol was dead wrong.
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And there I end the Dark Link problem...

Oh, and about the "Terminian Power Guantlets"... I know they used to be "Hytoian", but I've decided to change that. So, if you happen to see it as "Hytoian" somewhere else in the story, you can point that out, and I'll change it. "Terminian" just works better, since I wouldn't be able to explain him getting Hytoian relics when he stays in Termina mostly (especially since the game itself has the gauntlets).

I'm about four pages into 33.

Sorry I haven't been posting...anyway this is getting less LoZ ish and more romance. If it dosen't ruin the plot try and change to more like the first one.

Don't worry, keken, that's just their little "break" period. It serves a purpose (as will be seen in this chapter). 34, I've decided, will be when Caleb goes to the Dark Realm. Then things will get pretty interesting, before the end.

Well, school's almost over. Four more days (three of which are exams)! I was hoping to be much farther than this by the time school ended, but oh well. I wanna write some short stories over the summer, but I thought that I oughta finish this up first.
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Chapter 33

Link downed the remainder of his wine, effectively emptying out one bottle. Laura, sitting next to him on their bed, was starting on the second. Link was a bit nervous about her drinking wine right now, but they were going to be killing the child anyway, so...

"Link..." Laura sang, taking a sip. "What'd you dream about in the D.D.?" She had already come to the point where she'd made an abbreviation for the place Link had been imprisoned. "Me, right?"

"Well, sometimes," Link replied cautiously. He told her of the Laura-cat, after which she actually meowed, half out of her nature and half out of slight tipsiness. She followed this up by snuggling up against him and purring. When he told her about the Laura-cat's final words, she stopped.

"Um..." she started, "I wouldn't, y'know... I'm fine with what we have." She patted her stomach. "Fourth coming, and maybe we could have more when we get to the Time mage's place."

Link sighed. This was his opening, but he was hesitant. He lowered his left arm and opened his mouth to speak, but Laura cut him off.

"I mean, as long as whatever Darky's gonna do takes a while... What is he doing?"

Finding this an uncanny prompt, Link spoke up. "About that... Laura..." He reached over and took her hand as he continued. "They're gonna...kill it," he forced out.

Laura choked. As it subsided, she said, "What?"

"It's...it's what we were talking about before I left. He just confirmed it today. They're gonna kill it. Our fourth child is the anomaly that started all of this."

"'Him', Link, not 'it'. He's gonna be a boy," Laura amended, avoiding the main topic. "An' he's gonna look just like you."

"Sorry. You're right, 'him'." He got a bit annoyed by her diversion. "They're gonna kill him."

"But why?" she demanded, not even believing what Link had said, but going with it anyway.

"Cuz he's the anomaly that's causing all this stuff to happen."

"But how's that possible? If he... So Darky's saying he's gonna...go back and make it so he can be born in the first place?"

"Hey, don't ask me. I don't understand all that time travel crap. That's just what he said."

Laura squeezed Link's hand, hanging her head. He wouldn't joke about such a thing. She turned from him to hide her tears. Link thought it strange that he didn't feel as emotional about this. It was his son, after all. Another lost child.

Laura turned back to him, close to sobbing. "Why me?" she asked in a pained voice. She caught herself a bit late, but added what she should've said anyway. "Why us? What did we do to deserve this?"

Link hugged her, trying to comfort her as much as possible. "Nothing. Evol just hates us cuz we love each other so much." He could almost feel her smile at this.

"Evol, Daddy, Chastity..." Laura listed off. "What's so bad about us? Why do we have to lose so much all of the time?" Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence. This was serious. She'd been looking forward to this for so long, and a few days from it, she was told that it wouldn't happen.

Link shifted out of the embrace, putting his crying wife at arm's length, and staring into her eyes. He gently let go of her shoulders, and showed her the orange bracelet. "Laura... I've realized now that it wasn't your fault."

"Link, we've been through this already—" Laura began sadly.

"No, Laura. It was Evol. He killed them. It's his fault, not yours." He grabbed the bracelet with his right hand, and pulled at it. Instantly, it snapped, and he threw it to the floor.

Laura sobbed now. It was too much for her. She usually suppressed sadness, but always allowed any that involved Link to overtake her. Link took her face in his hands, and kissed her. Then he put his forehead against hers, calming her with his stare, his closeness, his caring presence.

Glad to finally have this off his chest, to have finally put to rest the only real problem in their relationship, he knew that the smile she gave him now would always be the one gift he treasured above else.
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Eleah summoned two chairs for them as he poured their bottles. "I've always been meaning to try some wine again sometime... Really gotta give them some credit for getting ahold of it. This is the rarest wine in all existence."

Malon took her seat, sighing. "Whatever."

Eleah put the bottle down and took a sip from his glass. He closed his eyes and hummed. "Perfection. I haven't tasted something nearly this good since Luke came upon a hoard of Chateau Romani..." He suddenly looked up at Malon. "Wait, have you had wine before?"

"Plenty," she replied. "But I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oh? Well, I'm assuming you know your tolerance?"

"'Tolerance'?"

Eleah rolled his eyes. "The amount of alcohol you can stand before you're wasted. Mine's pretty high, luckily. I mean, it's not likely we'll get drunk off this stuff, but I just wanna be safe."

"I can handle it," she assured him, taking her glass and almost downing it all.

Eleah sat down. "So, what would you like to discuss?"

"I dunno..."

Eleah sighed. What a lost cause... "Okay, tell me...you're always depressed about Firah. But that was over sixteen years ago. Something else must've happened in order for your depression to linger."

Malon stared blankly. "I dated some other men."

"Hence the 'plenty' of wine?"

Malon looked murderously at him, hating that she had agreed to this. "Yeah. Most of them just wanted the ranch, and they tried to dazzle me with their goddamn wine. Each one of 'em had a few different kinds. Must've tasted about fifty of 'em by now..."

"Ah, 'most of them'. So there were a few that didn't want the ranch?" He was genuinely interested as to what had become of her since he'd killed Firah. He wondered if every murderer was as diligent in learning about the results of their actions.

"One," she replied, smiling weakly. "Guy named Mark. Funny, smart, loving...fairly rich." She took another sip. "We were together for a year and a half. But it just didn't feel right. I dumped him, and haven't dated anyone since."

Eleah, itching to reply to the "fairly rich" comment, refilled Malon's glass and emptied his own. "So, what happened for the remainder of that time?"

Malon shrugged. "Ranch work, vacations, the Queen's and Princess's birthday parties... Nothing special."

Eleah shook his head. "But you held out for sixteen years. And when I come around, you're just starting to be suicidal?"

"I never said that. I've been very suicidal. For years. Last year I almost did it. And if you hadn't made that stupid pact, I'd be gone right now, as a matter of fact."

"Glad to help."

Malon raised an eyebrow. "I think you misunderstood me."

"Oh," Eleah said, correctly understanding now that she'd said that. "Then I'm sorry, I guess..."

"You, though," Malon said, trying to change the subject. "Arranged to marry Laura."

"Yeah."

"No wonder you got mad."

"Did I not say that my reasoning was that she was born when I was ten? That I saw her coming from her mother's womb? Believe me, there is no way you can marry someone once you've seen that. I bet if I could get a video of Firah being born, you'd find it a hell of a lot easier to get over him. Seeing a person's birth is a major turn-off."

"Tell me about Firah," Malon commanded suddenly.

"What, have you forgotten what he's like?"

"No," Malon replied, strangely patient. "Back in the Wizards of Termina, when he got the Quadraforce Substitute. How'd it happen?"

"You don't already know?"

"No, it's not in his journal."

"Really?" Eleah thought about it for a while. Why wouldn't he...? "Ah, he must've thought... Well, that's debatable..."

"What is?"

"I might as well start from the beginning..." Eleah put his thoughts together as he finished off the first bottle. "It happened around...October, the year before the schism. Remember what happened around that time?"

"You were traveling through a swamp in Sonura, tracking down the Mind Sweepers who stole Yoj's memory."

"Exactly. Mind Sweepers have got to be the worst nuisance. We followed them to this swamp, where we discovered an ancient temple, which was almost qualified to be considered ruins, with its entrance inadequate for a grown man like me. The Mind Sweepers were inside, but magic wasn't able to penetrate. I used some Omni- to dissolve the rocks blocking me out, and we all went in.

"At the heart of the temple, we found the mythical dragon, Yalix. Yes, I know, really weird that we just happen to run into him. Turns out those Mind Sweepers were the reason he was mythical in the first place. He got trapped there for thousands of years, and no one had been able to get into this place, since there were a few good enchantments on it that only Luke and I were able to get past (and that was just dumb luck, to be honest).

"So, as Yalix was confused, he thought the Mind Sweepers were the good guys, and attacked us. Just like bulls, or so I'm told, he hated the color red. Thus, he targets Firah first. Then, with some of the best skills I've ever seen (though he says it happened by accident, that modest son of a gun), Firah takes him down. The prize for that, apparently, was that spell. I'm guessing that he left that out of his journal so anyone who happened to read it wouldn't know that he had it."

"And why...?"

"Cuz that spell can only be obtained by killing its owner. He took other precautions too, like the Juyks, but this explains why you didn't know about it, at least."

"Wait...doesn't that mean you have it now?"

Eleah chuckled. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? Only problem with that is I'm sort of invincible and immortal. Wouldn't be fair, I guess. So that spell no longer exists."

Malon started on the second bottle, becoming wary as to how much drank. It was exquisite, but she could tell that it had a bit more alcohol than she was used to. "Hmm."

Eleah looked off into space. "Yeah, Firah was a great man... Born for authority, honest, loyal, fun, strong, generally well rounded. Only bad thing, in my opinion, is his somewhat short temper. Not his fault, though, since most fire mages have that. It's a pity he was only able to see me as Evol's pawn. We could've been the best of friends if he knew he could trust me..."

Strangely, Malon no longer felt like talking about Firah. She tried to move on to anything else openly related to the subject. "So, your wife died after Firah, huh?"

"Yes, right after bearing Sahara. Evidently, Sahara's birth was the cause. Some health issue she didn't tell me about. It's okay, though, I loved her. And that's all that really matters, right?"

"Yeah...so, it's just you and Sahara then?"

"Yup."

"What's she like?"

Eleah sighed. "A rebellious, strong-willed, powerful genius. Has her own agenda, but doesn't want anyone to know about it. I love her, but she acts like she's me—like she doesn't have parents, and she's her own authority. 'Course, I don't worry too much about it, since she's so smart, and more skilled than myself, but it feels wrong to me."

Malon felt she was on the edge of getting drunk, so she put her glass down. The wine tasted so good, though! She reasoned that one more sip couldn't hurt.

"Y'know, there's something I forgot to tell you," Eleah started, remembering what he'd realized before going to the Dreamer's Dimension. With some luck, he could kill two birds with one stone... "Something about that pact."

"What is it?"

"Well, there're quite a few kinds of pacts, and they're influenced by all sorts of things, such as emotions, knowledge, a person's type of magic...anything. When I made the pact with you, I said that it would activate when I felt good about killing Firah. And you loved Firah. Thus, the magic, being Emotion magic, misinterpreted it as 'I'm glad I killed him, cuz now she's mine', instead of 'I'm glad I killed him because now we can stop Evol'. In other words, the pact was one infused with love, though neither of us had the intention. So, unwillingly, I am forced to love you." I'd say that, technically, qualifies as an "I love you", he thought.

"Yeah, right."

"But there is a way to undo that effect. Simply, we both say, in each other's presence, that we do not love each other."

"What, telling everybody else, and thinking it, don't count?"

"Unfortunately, no, we have to say it directly to each other. So we may as well do it now: Malon, I don't love you."

Malon, feeling extremely silly, said, "Eleah, I don't love you."

And just like that, a layer of the bond dissipated, and Eleah's emotions towards Malon returned to normal. He was now disgusted that he had kissed her, and even more so that he had thought her attractive.

"There, finally that's over..." Eleah said, relieved. He took another drink, savoring the taste. Even with two bottles, it was disappearing quickly... "Well, if you don't mind, I was thinking I could leave early. You shouldn't have any objections, I presume?"

"Stay."

Eleah was taken aback. "Uh...okay." He didn't realize just how doomed he was now, nor how Malon had greedily downed two more glasses in the last minute, nor how swiftly this particular brand of wine affected a person's brain.

Malon grabbed the bottle and poured the rest of the wine in her open mouth. She licked her lips, and suddenly her head fell onto the table. It was then that Eleah began to think that this hadn't been such a good idea. Already, she was drunk!

"Two things," Eleah muttered, knowing that Malon wouldn't pay as much attention. "First, you told me that you knew your tolerance. Obviously, you lied. Any consequences are your fault, not mine. Second...damn, that stuff works fast…"

Mon., Sept. 16

Eleah awoke groggily in Malon's bed, and shook his head. Next to him, Malon was snoring so loudly that he wondered how he'd been able to sleep (of course, with what he'd been forced to do, it was a surprise that he ever fell asleep in the first place).

He snapped his fingers in vain. Her command from the night before still stood... Hearing this, Malon jerked awake. She shot up, and, without seeing Eleah, yawned, rubbing her eyes. Eleah diverted his eyes from her naked body, pulling the covers towards his own.

Malon turned as she felt this, and screamed. In the same instance, she jumped, falling off the edge of the bed. Eleah braced himself for the inevitable stream of expletives. They did come, but she was as confused as she was angry. "What're you doing in my room?!"

"You made me come in here," Eleah sighed. "You got drunk. Don't worry, though, you're not pregnant. By my reckoning, anyway..."

Malon looked down at herself, then around the room. "Where're my clothes?"

"Downstairs. I tried to supply you with new ones, but you ordered me not to. Same with my own... Now, before you list off every other possible thing you've restricted me to do, I'd advise you to belay all your previous orders." She did so, and he summoned clothes for both of them. "Okay, here's the story: You forced me to make out with you, thinking I was Firah. This happened cuz you were drunk. This happened cuz someone put something in that wine."

Malon scoffed. "Sure, someone spiked alcohol!" She rolled her eyes, not taking it as seriously as someone who wasn't depressed would. "You got me drunk!"

"That'd be pretty impossible, actually. Unless your tolerance is negligible, and your metabolism goes at the speed of light, something was in that wine. My guess would be the Female Accelerated Effects potion. Would account for what happened, including why I wasn't affected. The thing about that, though, is that the potion's only acquirable by Wise Wizards, sages, and...Evol, currently." It had almost slipped his mind that it wasn't possible to say "Aftal mage" unless Evol was in the same world. "Evol didn't do it. I TMed him... I couldn't imagine it being Dark Link, and none of the sages have anything against me, except Zelda...and Nabooru, since it's my fault her cousin's dead... And it couldn't be..." As it dawned on him, Eleah gaped: Sahara!
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I doubt that I'll finish 34 very soon, but since we get off on Memorial Day, I just might be able to.

Edit: Ha! 34 flowed out easier than I thought it would! Magic in the air? Meh, I should be able to post it tomorrow. It's over six pages, lol. Five and a half pages in one day...

With ch. 34, I have officially reached TFG's length. So...

34 AOC > TFG

Best inequality I've ever seen...

Okay, 34...
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Chapter 34

Dark Link gave a long sigh, shifting in the throne (which, in a way, was rightfully his). "Well, that does sound very taxing on your part... I don't think there's much you can do to change her mind about that. Why'd Sahara do that?"

"She said it was to teach me how horrible alcohol is," Eleah replied. "Like I don't already know. That wine was nowhere near enough to do that to her. It would take five bottles. I'd say I drank most of it, and she got drunk before we even finished. I was careful. How dare she say I'm being irresponsible?"

"It's okay, though, right? Malon's not..."

"No, no, she's fine. I'm just mad that Sahara would do that. I didn't do anything to deserve it, and she couldn't have had any motive besides revenge or spite."

"And so you give her something to hate you for."

"Caleb's not doing her any good," he defended. "It's his fault that she can't defeat Evol anymore, and hasn't been focusing on the mission for quite a while. She's just infatuated. With all that knowledge she has, she isn't used to feeling deep emotions. She thinks she's in love, but I can tell it's a lie, whether she realizes it or not."

"Still, what gives you the right to tear them apart?"

"'The right'? I'm doing them a favor! My daughter's better off without him, and the boy's given away his soul to two girls already! One of them being your daughter, I might add. I'm trying to stop him from continuing this immoral practice."

"And if Sahara's right? What if he really does change?"

"So what? It's far too late for him now. As I said yesterday, you're only supposed to get one chance. He took two, and is reaching for a third. Do you seriously expect me to allow it?"

"Well, everyone's entitled to their own decisions. How does one learn from their mistakes if they never make them?"

"By hearing about their parents' mistakes, of course. That's the whole point of gathering knowledge: to pass it on to the next generation. And besides, they're not gonna learn from it if they're wiped from existence before they can."

Dark Link accepted this, but remained adamant. "Yes, but they have free will. If they really want to do something, hindering them will only encourage it, unfortunately."

Qn. Zelda, in a nightgown, walked in, yawning. Upon seeing them, she blushed. "Good morning," she greeted awkwardly.

Eleah laughed. "It seems we have performed a rather hilarious 360. Twenty-five days ago, we were in these same spots, with a quarrel on our lips. And now, almost a month passed, we come with a celebration worthy of my presence. Dark Link, Zelda...I am proud to say that the two of you have become what you were meant to be: a truly loving couple."

Zelda smiled. "You told him?"

Dark Link shrugged. "Seemed pointless not to."

"And regardless," Eleah continued, "it was my plan to begin with."

"Okay, fill us in," Dark Link said. "How'd you do it?"

"Simple. Luke informed me of your initial infatuation, and I told him what to do. The Xerian Death Spider, funnily enough, is only dangerous when in a group of its peers. But it was enough to scare you, obviously. I instructed him to keep a close watch over Bob, since I knew he was an obstacle that you'd eventually have to face.

"Tylk, of course, knew about you already. Evol must've told him. He devised a plan to try and take over Hyrule, with Evol's instruction. That worked towards our advantage, in the end, since Zelda here decided to give you a reward for your efforts. We could only hope that you'd answer as you did, for I forbade Luke from using magic to force you. Had to be from the heart, y'know. So, with you two established as King and Queen, I watched over your interactions.

"What I saw, to be kind, was not what I'd expected. So, I intervened. As you noticed. Nothing changed, as you know, and so I resolved to use trickery. I Transformed to look like Rulm, and threatened Zelda into divorcing you. I knew that what you two needed was time away from each other. The whole 'kill Laura' plan was messing up your marriage, and I hated to see that.

"So, once we attempted to carry out the final stage of the plan, I was hesitant. I'd gotten tired of killing needlessly, and your relationship would've been completely non-existent if everything had gone how I thought it would. That, coupled with the fact that Link had basically destroyed our chances anyway, was the last straw. I gave up, and later, after Nahara had died, I went back to Evol, to avoid Matt dying as well as his wife."

"Matt's wife?" Zelda said quizzically.

Eleah remembered now that Zelda didn't know about Helen. "Long story. Anyway, throughout the past sixteen years, I made a new plan to get you two back together. The first snag, however, came when you two argued right away once you met again. I tried to calm it down, and succeeded. You were now friends, and that was more than I could've hoped for. Then Evol made Mal make me go to the Dreamer's Dimension, where I worried that something horrible might happen while I was gone.

"The whole Midna thing seemed to have confirmed my worries, but, thankfully, I returned to see that Dark Link was devoid of fangirls, for once. And so, once Link's birthday came around, I asked to be in charge of the music. I knew how long my story would take, but I wasn't sure how many interruptions I would receive. Therefore, I put on a song of Paul McCartney's, "Why So Blue", knowing that no one else knew it (it's fairly new). Once I was done speaking, I waited for a break in the lyrics, and used my magic to switch to the next song, REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling", which, of course, aroused Dark Link's subconscious, compelling him to face the fact that he loved you, Zelda... And that, my friends, is a great plan executed well."

Dark Link chuckled. "Not much I can really say except 'thanks', I guess."

Zelda took her seat next to Dark Link, no longer annoyed by Eleah. "Yes, thank you."

"Love, once again, triumphs," Eleah stated grandly. "So, how will you two go about this?"

"Whatever do you mean by that?" Zelda asked, grinning as Eleah recognized her use of that word from long ago.

"Why, thou mustn't merely leave Love to its own devices. By Din, shan't thine happiness first be seen by its nature true? A query, nay, an inquiry need be conducted ere revealing what might be naught but returned attraction."

"You have my word that we shall explore it," Dark Link assured him.

"Great. Now that I've solved this problem, though, another rises to the surface," Eleah continued. "My daughter and Caleb..." He shuddered. "At first glance, Caleb seems to be normal, and, with his being White Wizard, a rather convenient choice for her. But I fear that he suffers some sort of mental disorder, whatever it may be...for, no matter what happens, he only seems to care for himself, and loves no one. Not his parents, not his siblings, not his so-called 'friends', and definitely not Sahara. She says he'll change, but as time goes on, I'm becoming extremely doubtful.

"And he's given himself to two others already. Yet, my daughter continues to defend him. What's a father to do?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that's humility right there," Dark Link commented.

"Why then, if you knew any worse, you'd be correct. I'm not used to having things (and in this case, people) which I create by my own two hands (or by other body parts) becoming stronger and slightly wiser than me. She's out of my control, and I'd hate to lose her... But she is making a drastic mistake in choosing Caleb. The boy himself needs to take responsibility for his actions, or, at the very least, acknowledge that what he's done is wrong."

"Eleah, you promised her that you would only act as parent for her until she turned sixteen," Zelda pointed out. "She's passed that. She can make her own decisions. If she wants to give him a second chance, so be it."

"More like a third chance..." Eleah muttered. "And the only reason she's doing this is cuz she's not used to infatuation. This is the first time she's felt it. There's no way she could see how bad this is. She's always been right her whole life that she can't fathom being wrong."

Dark Link sighed. "Or maybe you can't..."
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The voyage to the Dark Realm is one that takes a lot of preparation, as should be evident by now. To accumulate enough power to send one person there, without sealing them, and protecting them from any harm that may befall them once they have entered it, an entire month of storing energy in the sages' magic is required.

It is an entirely painless process, but nevertheless, Caleb was frightened once he was taken to Hyrule to start it. He was in the Temple of Time, and all the sages gathered around the Door of Time, waiting. Eleah, Sahara, Dark Link, Midna, Zant, and Hannah stood there, having teleported with him to this point. "Well, we're ready," Ruto announced. She disliked Caleb just because he was Link's son, a reminder of what she had wanted.

Caleb hesitated, feeling Eleah's cold stare on his shoulders. Why did he have to come?

"Go on," Eleah prodded.

Sahara had sympathy. "Father, he is going to the Dark Realm. From what I've gathered, it's a pretty horrid place. I'd be scared to go there too."

"Scared, eh? Guess Caleb's just a big Cucco then."

His pride got to him. Caleb turned. "No one calls me a Cucco."

Eleah laughed. "Sorry to break it to you, but I just did."

"Stop it," Rauru said irritably. "Caleb, do not worry. We have made contact with Vaati, and he has agreed to help. So you are in no danger. Now come forward, so we can get this over with."

Caleb complied, and disappeared, along with the seven sages. He was now in the Chamber of the Sages. He stood atop a small Triforce-shaped platform, with the sages around him in a circle, on their respective spots. In front of him, standing on the triangle which symbolized the Triforce of Wisdom, was Zelda, her eyes closed. A strange blue liquid came from under his feet and ran over the sides, passing through the Medallion symbols as if they were intangible (which they most likely were). He could see pillars off in the distance, with magic pushing more liquid off the sides. The rest was emptiness. A void.

Each sage, in turn, lifted his or her hands to the sky (or, rather, to the other end of the abyss). Then, with several blinding flashes, they each turned into large balls of light. They shot into the air, trailing light as they swerved and came back to the center, heading straight for Caleb. They connected at his feet, becoming a circular patch of white light. The air in the chamber was sucked into the light, and soon, so was Caleb.

Everything was confusion; an overload of the senses. He saw every sight possible to see, from underwater creatures to the insides of glaciers, from plant cells to deserts, from rain forests to a planet's core, from rock slides to volcanic eruptions, from individual atoms of every element to the compounds they formed, from whole galaxies to entire universes. But at the same time, he saw none of these.

He felt every feeling possible to feel, from a lover's caress to an enemy's weapon's stab, from hard stone to cushioning foam, from scorching heat to freezing cold, from being healed to being devoured. He tasted every flavor possible to taste, from ice cream to coffee, from orange to apple, from every meat to every vegetable, from dew to Mountain Dew, from things considered inedible to things which should be considered inedible. He smelled every scent possible to smell, from lovely fragrances to fetid stenches, from perfume to all types of food, from stable chemicals to radioactive chemicals, from flowers to dung, from burnt wood to new schoolbooks. But at the same time, he neither felt, tasted, nor smelled any of these.

And then came the sounds. Being a musician, you may think that this interested him the most. But, since all the aforementioned senses were also bombarding his mind, he had not time to focus on his favorite of the five. He indeed heard every sound possible to hear, from drum beats to guitar riffs, from every kind of collision to explosions, from slow breathing to gasps, from joyous exclamations to frightened yelps, from songs he knew and loved to songs he hoped he'd never hear again. But at the same time, he heard none of these.

And why didn't he see, feel, taste, smell, or hear any of these things? Because, simply, the whole ordeal, in reality, never occurred. He appeared in a dark, dismal clearing in a forest of dead trees. His head, still swimming with all the sensations he hadn't experienced, was on the verge of a headache, possibly from his travel, and possibly from the Veil, which may have been warning him of the dangerous beings in the Dark Realm.

The ground was barren dirt, the sky an evil blood red, devoid of cloud or sun. The dead trees, packed closely together, blocked his view of anything that might've lain beyond. Pitch black crows, ravens, and vultures sat in the treetops, staring hungrily down at him. A couple broke off from their peers and began circling the clearing.

Sitting in front of him, there were three figures: those of Vaati, with his signature purple cloak and cap; Ganondorf, with his full armor; and of Majora, in Majora's Wrath form, without the mask (for the mask was of human design, and was not actually of him as a being). Where was Fierce Deity?

Vaati rose to his feet. "Ah, Caleb. We've been expecting you." Ganondorf and Majora looked up, Ganondorf remembering the promise he had made to Link about his revenge, furious that he was unable to achieve it, with the sages' protection on him.

The White Wizard in Caleb asked, "Where's Fierce Deity?"

Ganondorf scowled. "Sacred Realm."

"What?"

"Lucky devil," Vaati said. "He got sent there instead, since his 'overall intention' was good. And what do I get for changing my ways? Eternal damnation. I ask you..."

Majora cleared his throat. "Oh, he'll get sent to hell with us, for sure. There's no way he could be let off just for trying to undo all this. Nowhere near enough to drop his earlier charges. And once I get my hands on him..."

"Yes, well..." Vaati snapped out of it. "Speaking of the Sacred Realm...your sages and Wise Wizards apparently need to go back to school. Majora cannot help you, since he can only give Dark magic, and in order to be the White Wizard, you need pure Light magic."

A mix of relief and panic struck Caleb upon hearing this news. At least he didn't have to stay here, but now what? If he couldn't get magic, how was he to be the White Wizard? "So...?"

Vaati sighed. "So, simple child, you needn't be here. You have magic already."

"No I don't..." a perplexed Caleb protested.

"Yes, you do. You just need to activate it."

"'Activate it'?" What is it, a cellphone?, he thought with a mental laugh.

"The one who gave it to you hid it inside of you, leaving it dormant until you came to her and activated it. Understand now? You have to go to the Sacred Realm, and speak with the one who gave you magic. Don't worry, you can get there from here pretty easily. I just have to teleport you. 'Course, you have to be willing to be sent, since they don't want us destroying your plans an' all. Ready?"

Caleb shrugged. If he was able to get to the Dark Realm with unimaginable ease, he was ready for the tamed Sacred Realm. "Sure."

"'Sure', he says..." Vaati chuckled. It reminded him eerily of Eleah.

"Hey, kid," Ganondorf interrupted. "Tell your dad...I'm not through with him."

Majora scoffed. "And what do you expect to do from here? Insult him?"

"Shut up."

Vaati rolled his eyes. "And I have to live with this every day..." He stretched his arms out, pointing them at Caleb. With some strange incantation, he teleported him away. This trip was much more pleasant. But why did he think that? On his way to the Dark Realm, he certainly hadn't seen, felt, tasted, smelled, or heard anything. Nonetheless, he felt more relaxed as he made his way to the Sacred Realm.

It was said that the Sacred Realm was the resting place for all of those who died. For, actually, those who were in the Dark Realm had never died. They'd been sealed, body and all, and were scheduled to meet their fate in hell at the end of time. Residents of the Sacred Realm, however, had hope. They were the souls of those who were killed, and would be judged at the end of time to go to heaven or hell accordingly. This realm was a sort of divine waiting room, where they could talk together, and view the things happening in the world at that moment, and in the past.

The first thing Caleb noticed about the Sacred Realm was the brightness. There was a large, yellow-white sun hovering in the middle of the sky, and a large flat plane, every square inch filled with dew-drenched grass and flowers, surrounded by trees of every kind: apple, orange, maple, oak, beech, yew, willow... And at their feet, bushes.

The second thing, materializing seconds after he arrived, was a throng of people and creatures, talking in loud, boisterous, and hearty voices, with some laughs every now and then. The best part, for him, was that he knew all of these people (well, he'd either seen or heard of them). There were all of the Kokiris, the Zoras, some Gorons, the Gerudo Pirates, some hundreds of Twili, and every other candidate for White Wizard who had been murdered by Sutar.

There was Okin, Rulm, and Tylk, talking together about the old days, before Evol's corruption. Soral, Bob, Matt, Helen, Vanessa... In the distance, he could see the man he knew to be Luke; Fierce Deity. Sitting by him were Firah, Warih, Yoj and his three brothers, Sara and Lucia (Laura's old friends, not her daughters), Telwyn... And it seemed like they were addressing thin air, but Caleb knew that to be other souls they knew, which he was unable to see.

He was on his way over to them when he suddenly tripped. Getting up, he looked back, and saw a line of babies crawling in circles around the spot where he'd been standing previously. Weird... He paid them no attention, and then it hit him just who they were...and a faint tinge of guilt spread through his conscience: they were children who'd been aborted. And, by the nature of those souls he'd seen so far, he guessed they were his own.

Pressing on, trying not to think any harder on that awful prospect, he ran into a small girl with brown hair and startling red eyes. He knew her...Mirinda. Sahara had recently told him about her, the reason she had changed the color of her own eyes. Mirinda looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Daddy!" she exclaimed, lunging at him. She wrapped herself around Caleb's legs, willing Sahara to appear next to him.

Caleb struggled with an emotion he'd never felt before. Mirinda didn't have an actual, physical being here, but he could still feel one. She held onto him for a few minutes, and he wondered why she didn't grow bored, or at least stop to question him. Another part of his mind answered him, Because she's only a soul here. Boredom comes from having an in-born sense of time. Therefore, only the living become unenthusiastic.

Eventually, she felt his annoyance and let go, following him as he approached the group of wizards. As he walked on, he saw other faces: Skull Kid, Tatl, Tael, Kafei, Anju, David, Jill, and Kate. Nahara. Sunah. Flaria. Icah. Lavah, Firah's father, and his mother, whom he'd never heard the name of. Sharp and Flat, composing music. Other musicians, as well. Famous ones. Notably, John Lennon. It took much willpower not to stray over to him, to ask for advice. But what would I use that for?, he reasoned.

"Greetings, Caleb," Luke said once he reached them, Mirinda still in tow.

"Hello," Caleb said awkwardly. The other wizards laughed, looking endearingly up at him (he was a bit taller than most of them).

Firah came forward, shaking his hand. "Glad to meet you, son of Link." Now, as if he had just appeared, Caleb noticed a smiling baby in Firah's arms. "This is my son, Firah the second." Caleb expected him to lift the baby's arm to wave at him, but little Firah Jr. did it all by himself.

Luke broke it up quickly. "I believe you're looking for the one who gave you your magic, correct?"

"Yes."

Luke pointed behind Caleb. He turned to see, atop a newly-raised hill, two large dragons, one bright white and one pitch black. Allara and Brakek. Caleb's legs began moving him towards them. "Say hi to your mom for me," Luke yelled after him. Firah followed, still holding onto his son.

"Caleb, can you deliver a message to Malon?"

"Uh...sure." Caleb was slightly unnerved that his limbs were moving of their own accord, but hey, if he had his way, he'd be here for the rest of his life, and then some time afterwards.

"Tell her...tell her that I love her, and that she has to hold on. For me. For our son. Tell her that, will you?"

"Yeah... I'll do that."

Firah skipped back to the other wizards, and now Nahara came and blocked his way. His legs stopped him there on the spot. "Caleb, son of Link?"

"That's me."

"Though he may not believe you, tell my husband, Eleah...that I approve of you and Sahara. I pray that you two have a wonderful future." She bowed, and stepped aside.

All the people made two lines and created a clear path for him towards the two dragons. Now in control of his body, he walked along the path, looking left and right to see the many faces he had not noticed yet. Mirinda was still following him.

At the foot of the hill, his legs stopped moving. He looked up, and the dragons awoke, stretching their long necks down to see him more clearly. Allara's features were smooth, forming a welcoming smile, while Brakek's looked as if they were meant for snarling, and his attempted smile made him look like he was smelling some horrible odor. Mirinda, next to him, did a curtsy in her small cloak.

Neither of them opened their mouths while they spoke. "Greetings Caleb, son of Link," they both said. "And of Laura," Allara added.

"S-so...you're the one who...?"

Allara hummed. "I bestowed Light magic upon you, yes. You have had it your entire life. And now, I will allow you to make full use of it." She touched his chest with her nose, and a surge of power sallied forth from that spot in all directions across his body. In this realm, however, magic felt only natural. He guessed that he'd feel different once he left.

"But when...?"

"Why, you were meant to receive it before you had even been conceived. Half a year before then, to be exact. When your father came to my temple, I honored him. He fought against my son, and lost. As he died, I put my blessing on him and his descendants. That is, his male descendants. Any male that comes of his line shall be a wizard. And you, being the first, get the best of that gift. You are to be the strongest of the Wise Wizards, able to use Light magical items, an ability that was kept from Rulm."

Caleb gulped. "I'm gonna have to fight, aren't I?"

The dragons laughed, and the people all around followed suit. Caleb, rather than being embarrassed, felt an uplifting euphoria from their laughter. "Why, yes, you shall," Brakek answered him. "And you shall make your father proud."

"How do you know, though?" Caleb asked. He had to know where this knowledge came from.

"What a silly question," Allara giggled. "Why, did it not come up yet between you and Sahara? I am the one who planned these happenings to be exactly as they are. Evol, my love, continues to assume that it was his own work, but he is under my power. And one day, I shall be with him once again."

Caleb hesitated before asking his next crucial question. "Am I...is any of this stuff going to have happened? Will I still be alive after this is over?"

Allara turned to her right, looking into the crowd of souls. At the front, a man and a woman stood together, grinning at him. "Do you know who these are?"

"No..." Caleb emitted, before taking any time to ponder the truth of what he said. "I mean..." He stared for another minute, and gaped. The man had the same black hair and green eyes as he, and the woman had long black hair and brown eyes...but he could easily imagine them being red, to commemorate the life of the girl standing next to him. "It's..."

Allara nodded. "Belac and Arahas—Caleb and Sahara. This is your answer: you are meant to live. But the choice is yours still. There will come a time when you will have to make this choice. And I pray you choose well."

"But how...? How do we...?"

"Now, that would be telling," Allara teased. "In due time, Caleb, you shall see. And I am sad to say that the choice, though it may seem easy now, will be the most difficult you will have ever made, and the one that affects the rest of eternity. Choose well, son of Link, choose well..."
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Okay, done. Just so you know, "ere" means "before".

Took me a while, since we had final exams. Here's 35.
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Chapter 35

Caleb was the White Wizard. Upon returning to Hyrule, he began to feel the strange new powers he now had. Strength flowed through his muscles, and he couldn't help but test it out. Sahara took him to the desert to teach him in the ways of the Wise Wizard, while Dark Link summoned all of their alliance together at Link's house to await him, so they could go on to the Time mage's realm.

Sahara, rather quickly, taught him to control his fist, and to use a few simple spells. It would take a month, she said, for him to learn anything really powerful. His body had to grow accustomed to utilizing the magic that had been sleeping for years. Sixteen years, she said.

"You mean fifteen."

Sahara smiled. "No, sixteen."

"But I'm only fifteen," Caleb laughed. "You know that."

"No, you're sixteen."

"Since when?" he challenged confidently.

"August 15th, the day sixteen years since you were conceived. That is when egg and sperm met, starting to create your genetic code." Seeing Caleb's skeptical stare, she continued. "I mean, if you want to be really technical about it, you're actually thirty-six, since the oldest piece of you, the egg cell from Laura, your mother, was first formed around the time she was born. So, a bit older than thirty-six. But magic goes by conception, for the obvious reason: what good would magic do for egg cells?"

Next, they practiced with the sword. Caleb continued to use the Ordon Sword, though Lucia had returned the Gilded Sword ages ago, and he now could summon his own White Sword whenever he wanted. He knew that, if he was needed, this sword would help a lot more, since it must've been one of the Light Swords.

Caleb, now able to control his movements while fighting, found it just as easy. But now, instead of defending all the time, he was starting to get on the offensive. He struck, slashed, clashed, parried, and swung wildly, with such force that it seemed impossible to contain, yet with such grace that Sahara might've been put off guard by the beauty of it alone.

Needless to say, he won the first round. "You should be the one teaching me," Sahara admitted with a laugh. And so, he did. Sahara, in her weakened state, was able to come to her previous level by the end of this training session. Then they went back to magic, and Caleb learned to teleport, use low-level Matter Manipulation, and even Cloning.

Caleb told her about his time in the Dark Realm while being taught. He was anxious to see if she had any ideas as to how they'd survive their impending erasure. "I saw us, Sahara. I looked like your dad..."

Sahara sighed as she handed him a vial of Omni-Purpose potion, changing it back to its original form, from regular water to orange magic fluid. "Yes, Caleb, by Evol's plan we are meant to be married. In his version of events, the way things loop around from our time travel to become what we know them as, we, along with Lucia, Cole, and Laura's fourth child, are to go back to a certain point in time, and live our lives normally...for a short period. Then he kills all of us, except for Laura's child (for he is the anomaly, and Evol expects to be able to use him for his own ends). I suppose you saw us in our late twenties, at the most?"

"About that," he replied, his gradually accumulating wisdom making it more clear to him. His face became red as he pondered this idea. Sahara was to be his wife, if they could find a way to escape death... Another thought occurring to him, his eyes widened. Everyone had said he'd looked like Eleah. But what if it were the other... "Wait...no way. We're..."

Sahara grinned. "Well, seems you are learning quicker than I thought you would. Yes, we are my father's parents." Defying the silence of the moment, she pointed at the vial and instructed, "Try a Passion Suppressor this time. Farore knows I need one of those..."

Caleb, still paralyzed from shock, complied, handing the new, green-black liquid to her. Eleah's father! Eleah's father! He twisted the thought around in his newly-open mind (using thirty percent of its ability now, instead of the usual human ten). This was insane! "So...if we're his...parents, then that means I'm your...grandfather?"

Sahara downed the drink in one gulp, and waited a few seconds for it to take effect. Her desire for intimacy with Caleb dropped several notches, then rose one at seeing that he had been able to make this potion on his first try. "In Evol's plan, yes. But in Allara's...this is only temporary. If we are somehow saved from destruction, and everything is put right, no one will move between worlds anymore. Evol, no matter what he does, will never come to Hyto, thus never meet us. Eleah, our son, will be unable to meet my mother, and therefore, shall never have me. The very reason that I am meant not to exist. So, no, it needn't be as weird as all that."

"Unbelievable," Caleb said, his acceleratingly smart mind now side-pondering the calculation of pi.

"Yes, but I don't think you should tell him...yet, anyway."

"Your mom told me to tell him that she approves."

"You probably shouldn't tell him that either."

"Why not? He still loves her, so maybe he'd—"

"My mother was a Gerudo. In that society, they don't care for Love. A woman's body is basically a bargaining token for them. They'd sell their daughters to anyone, as long as they were strong, wealthy, or gave their people an advantage in war. No matter how much my father loves and respects her memory, he understands that Gerudo traditions are still engraved in her mind. He won't care what she says about us, so don't bother."

"Guess you're right..." Caleb sighed. "Oh, and Firah told me—"

"To tell Malon to hold on?" Sahara finished. "Don't do that, either. If she knows that Firah and her son're on the other side, she'll kill herself for sure."

"But...she'd be happy. If she did that, she'd get to spend the rest of her time with him. She's not doing anything special here, so why not?"

"Caleb...the words of the dead are to be theirs until the living join them. We are not to tamper with life and death. We must allow things to take their course."

Caleb, thinking he had a good point to make, tried a new tactic. "I saw Mirinda."

Sahara perked up. "You did? I was afraid you wouldn't, since I'd only mentioned her briefly... Did she say anything?"

"Why, yes, she did. But as I recall...'the words of the dead are to be theirs until...'"

"This is different!" Sahara argued, trying not to dwell on the fact that Caleb had pointed her out as a hypocrite. "She'll never have known me after all of this, even though she'll live."

"Same story with Firah and Malon."

Sahara groaned, though without anger, and took hold of his shoulders, dropping the vial. "C'mon, tell me what she said!"

Caleb put a hand to his chin, pretending to think. "Oh, I dunno...it wouldn't be right..."

"Please!" she pleaded, making a mock-pout.

"Will you let me tell Malon about Firah?"

Sahara thought about it for a few seconds. "Sure. Just...let me take the blame for it. I'm trying to keep your record relatively clean, so my father doesn't hate you so much. Actually, maybe I should do it."

"Yeah, well, don't forget to."

"But what'd Mirinda say?"

"She called me 'Daddy'."

Sahara giggled. "How cute!" she exclaimed, as she pictured it in her head. "I was always telling her that we were meant for each other. I was hoping you'd be able to meet her."

"Wait, 'always'? How long did you know Allara's plan?"

"Let's see... Since...August 21st. I was studying Xerian, a language which mostly flips words around, and I was...thinking about you. So I figured that your name in Xerian would be 'Belaic', until you became an adult, and I checked all the people with that name, and...it came to me. Belac and Arahas. Apparently, we change our names in Xeria."

"Doesn't magic keep track of a person's original name?"

"If you're a Wise Wizard, and you know it's them already." She bent down, picked up the vial and repaired it, filling it with Omni- once more. "See, there's a little matter of the whole Witness Protection thing. An Impenetrable Wizard Law. If someone escapes, or is freed from prison, and they happen to be a wizard..."

"Point taken." Experimentally, he checked all the people with his name. What he found was extraordinary. His magic, infused into his body, filled his head with the knowledge of eight hundred and forty-two people: their location, their age, their immediate family (and it gave him the opportunity of checking their entire family tree), their facial features, their physical status, their occupation, etc. Now, for a Wise Wizard, such a thing was normal. But for Caleb, it was simply overwhelming.

Sahara, noticing his abrupt, perfunctory search, left him alone for a while. She had had this power since she was born, but she had enough intelligence to understand that this was going to take Caleb a long time to grow accustomed to. She hid her frown from him as she thought of what would happen next, before he'd even learned the extent of his powers...
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Eleah appeared once again in Malon's house, on Lon Lon Ranch. Malon, hardly recovered from her surprise at what the morning had brought, came up to him and punched him squarely in the nose. He fell back into the hay, as he had done almost a month before. "Wonderful..." he said, pulling himself up slowly. "You called me here to abuse me further?"

Malon was crying. "Shut up!" She called him a few choice words. Clearly, something had upset her, and it wasn't what he'd done the night before (though that served as a great cover).

"It's Firah, isn't it?" Eleah asked (the command "shut up" has no real given object which the person on the receiving end must shut).

Malon nodded, not trusting her voice for such a thing. "Please, kill me."

"I can't, thank goodness. Caleb told you, didn't he?"

"N-no, Sahara did," Malon replied, still shaken. Firah was waiting for her right now, and she hated every second that she remained in this world.

"Sahara..." Eleah sighed. "That girl is getting to be a real nuisance. I suppose she made Caleb tell her, or she was lying. Look, Malon...life is sacred. Every moment, you should go on, with the consolation that you're alive. When you're dead, that's it. No second chances—"

"Spare me. By the time I get in there, everything'll be over, right? I'll get a little bit of time with Firah, and then I'll go back to how I used to be..."

"Wrong," Eleah said strongly. "Where we're going, time is as one. Everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen...in that realm, it's all the same. So, once we leave, this world will continue to go on to the end of time. You will have to be in the Sacred Realm until Judgment Day. And I believe that the goddesses look down on suicide. You might experience hell, for all I know. Do you seriously want that?"

Malon just cried harder. "I want Firah! I don't care what happens, as long as I'm back with him...!"

"Don't be foolish, Malon."

"Why should you c-care?! What, am I just your toy now?! You m-make your daughter look b-bad just to cover for your own sins!"

"I did not get you drunk! My god, why must you harp on about that?! Firah wants you to live, so listen to him! You're always saying that he meant the world to you, and now you can't even do one simple thing he asks of you?!"

"Stop it, stop it!" Malon shouted. As silence claimed the room, and she resumed sobbing, they heard the door open. On the threshold was Ingo, pitchfork in hand, as always.

"Is everything okay?" he asked innocently.

"Just dandy, thank you," Eleah responded.

"No! Get out!" Malon yelled. Ingo, confused and frightened, did so. "Eleah, is there any way you can kill me?"

Eleah closed his eyes in concentration, trying to fight against their pact. Why had he made such an agreement? "One way."

"Tell me what it is."

"We get someone to poison your food. I'm only supposed to protect you from physical and magical attack. The creators of the spell weren't thinking straight, I guess. I can't poison you, but someone else can."

"Anyone?"

"Yes, I would think that 'someone else' classifies as almost 'anyone' Besides the two of us. I'd say Ingo, but he's a bit baffled at the moment..."

"Sahara?"

"Yes...she could..." Eleah groaned.

"Did someone call me?" Sahara said, sitting atop the stairs. "Oh, hello father..." She waved at him, smiling as if nothing were wrong.

"Sahara!" Eleah snapped, pointing up at her. "This is going too far! Why the hell would you—?"

"Inform Malon that her husband is waiting patiently for her in the afterlife? Who knows? I chanced to overhear, however, that my services are required. Would I be correct in assuming this is so?"

"No! You're not needed here. Leave!"

"Eleah, stop. Yes, Sahara." Malon walked forward, sobering. Her tears dried swiftly, as if by magic... Eleah, noticing, put an arm out in front of her. "Get out of my way."

Eleah grudgingly complied. "You are making an egregious mistake. Once you die, Evol will be able to control me again! Would Firah want his death to have been in vain?!"

"Be quiet," Malon demanded, realizing now that "shut up" had no power. She didn't need Eleah making her feel guilty about what she was doing. Her own thoughts were bad enough. Sahara summoned a vial of an orange-black liquid, showing it to her.

"This is a very quick poison. You won't even feel it," she explained.

"Sahara, I forbid you...!" exclaimed a very quiet, squeaky voice. The two women were surprised to see it coming from Eleah.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day..." Sahara laughed. "Father, I am letting her have her wish. She will never be satisfied until this has been done, so why keep her waiting? Malon, tell him to be silent."

She did so. "Okay, do it," she said, her resolve strong. Sahara teleported the potion into Malon's mouth, and she swallowed. One second followed, seeming to drag on forever, and suddenly Malon became limp, crumpling to the floor. Her arm twitched, and blood oozed out of her eyes like tears.

The Voluntary Servant Pact broke. Something in Eleah felt like it had been released from its chains, while his soul felt quite the opposite. Running to Malon's dead body, he applied Healing Spell after Healing Spell, shaking her in frustration. After everything failed, Sahara was shocked to see him crying.

Sahara sighed. "There you have it. She finally has what she wanted. And you are freed of your bonds. No doubt Evol will appear presently?"

"No," Eleah said calmly. He rose to his feet, still staring at Malon. "He needn't. We shall meet him soon enough, and he wouldn't gain anything by sabotaging our campaign right now. You know as well as I do...all of this was just to herd us into bringing the anomaly, so he could take it away again. Controlling me is no longer his concern..."

Sahara nodded. "Great of you to realize that. He wasn't gonna do anything to Malon if he could. Your sacrifices have been for naught, and you must come to the realization that you were wrong."

"You did this just to prove a goddamn point?!" Eleah burst out. "Life is sacred, Sahara. You don't misuse it for something so puerile! I would've listened to logic, to reasoning! Manslaughter was not necessary!"

"Womanslaughter, you mean."

Eleah clenched his fists, suppressing his anger. "This is no time for jokes! You have just assisted a woman in suicide. You have allowed many men and women to die just so you could have precious few moments with an immoral slob who's destroying your usefulness. And why, I ask you? Why must you murder needlessly, and give yourself up to such an immature brat? Is this how I raised you?"

"Technically, you didn't raise me at all..."

"Answer the damn question!"

"Because, father...it is Allara's plan. Don't take it up with me; I didn't start it. She did. This entire reality...all of it is a sham. Allara, Lily, only wants her husband back. We are just caught in the middle of it, while Gramarye is the one providing a reset button. None of this well ever have existed. It matters not that some have died. They will return. And those who won't weren't meant to be here anyway. In the grand scheme of things, I am doing nothing terribly wrong. And even if I were, I will most likely fail at saving myself from non-existence, so what difference shall it make?"

"Sahara..." Eleah continued, speaking sadly now. "You have no idea. You couldn't. Hopefully, you never will...but killing relentlessly, over and over again...will only leave you empty. Tearing apart another's physical humanity, taking their life...results in something much worse than the act itself. In killing, you become less yourself, and more of...this," he said with disgust, motioning his hands at his body. "More of an animal, a senseless beast. Murder rips at your soul, steals your mind a bit at a time, defiles your character, makes you impure.

"And my wish, in finally having a child after thirty years of wandering...was that I would finally feel complete. My whole life, it's what I wanted. To feel like I'd accomplished something, to fulfill a wondrous destiny. To live in comfort. To have my own family, and worry about nothing but making sure my kids were faring well. To be a role model.

"But what happened? I killed over one thousand people, got myself into horrible situations almost every day...and once I was able to have a child, she begins to hate me." He turned to her. "For sixteen years, I looked forward to that one day in every three-hundred and sixty-five, just to see you. I was proud of you every step of the way. Whenever you did something so commendable as finish a symphony, or discover some scientific fact that is still a mystery to others, or beat the inter-world record in something...I bragged to Evol. And why shouldn't I have? My daughter, my own flesh, blood, and soul, doing things I would never have the time for. You were my pride and joy; the part of me that was finished. In my eyes, our family was working at one-third capacity. And I could never...can never...fully complete it. But now..."

"Now I'm apart from you," Sahara finished, understanding now exactly what her father meant.

"My life was just a tool for Evol to bring you into existence," Eleah admitted. He looked down again. "I can only pray that such a thing can be avoided the next time..."

'The next time'... Sahara refrained from telling him of the fact that the chance of him even having a 'next time' was slim. "I'm sorry." And she really meant it. To herself, she swore that she would take care to keep Eleah, her son, happy...if they found a way to survive.

"Now, we can't do anything for Malon right now...but I want you to promise that you'll never do something like this again."

Sahara, despite herself, scoffed. "I told you before, you don't control me. You let me leave your supervision because I can make my own decisions."

"Yes, but I didn't say you could make any decision. Promise me you won't kill again."

"Even Evol or Sutar?"

Eleah smiled. "They're the only exceptions. Give them hell. They've deserved it..." He sighed. "Well, we should probably leave. Dark Link'll want us to hurry up..."

"Wait..." Sahara interrupted. She jumped down from her seat and approached him. To finish the effect of the conversation, she hugged him. While this allowed Eleah to cry again without being looked down on, it also made it possible for Sahara to do the same, without him asking her why. He was her son, after all...
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Next chapter'll be traveling to the Time mage's realm.

And it's summer (break, that is)! So, as it was last year, I'll post once I'm finished, and not just on Saturday and Sunday. I'd say there're about ten chapters left. Maybe less. It'd be cool to get to chapter 49 (since that would make the total, TFG and AOC together, 100 chapters), but I don't think I'll make it. That's okay, though.