I opened my eyes as Zelda sat up next to me. We stopped at a shrine, since there weren't any more stables near the castle.
"Link," she whispered.
I slowly sat up, rubbing my eyes.
"Let's go."
I nodded, and we got to our feet, collecting our gear. We were close, and we could reach the castle in less than an hour. I hopped up on my horse's back, snapping the reins. Zelda followed close behind, the only sound between us coming from our horses.
I kept an eye out, watching to see if anything moved. If there were any clues on what happened with the monsters and Amethyst. But like the day before, there were none.
The sun peeked over the horizon, and I frowned.
The sky had turned red, like when I had fought the Calamity.
"This looks like then..." Zelda mumbled.
I grit my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut. We were close. We had to be close. I couldn't just lose her after being so close to remembering her more.
"Link, look!"
I glanced up as we crossed the bridge, my eyes landing on a circle of rocks south of the Sacred Ground Ruins.
"That wasn't there before."
"Do we go to it?"
"I don't think we have much of an option..."
We directed our horses to move off the path, heading towards the rocks.
"It looks like there's six of them. I wonder what they could be for..."
The horses slid to a stop not far off the path, refusing to move. I glanced at Zelda, who bit her lip.
"We'll have to go on foot, then."
I nodded, then we both climbed down. I pulled out my sword, and Zelda her dagger.
"We have to be ready for anything," I said.
"Yes. And we'll stop whatever this is and get Amethyst back."
We stopped by the rocks, watching them. My gaze landed on symbols on the face of the rock, all pointing inward. I felt the urge to move into the circle, but stopped myself.
"Two of the rocks' symbols are faded."
Zelda pointed to two across from each other. The other four glowed, while the two had both dimmed.
"What do they mean...?"
One symbol dimmed, before letting out a puff of smoke.
"Well, well, well, I didn't think you'd join us so soon!"
I turned to my left, holding up my sword. A figure stood over us on a platform, their chin in their hand.
"I'm afraid we're not quite ready for you. My Master still has three more to join us before we can begin."
"What are you talking about? Who are you?" Zelda called.
"Ah, Hylia! It has been some time, yes? I suppose your guard dog Impa isn't around, hm? Such a shame I can't fight her again. It was a joy back in the day!"
"M-My name is Zelda..."
"And if it isn't Link! My, we had such fun times together! How is my dear Fi doing, have you heard anything from her?"
"Who's Fi?"
They frowned, before sighing.
"I guess you wouldn't remember. It's not like anyone tells you all this anymore."
Two more symbols faded, leaving one left.
"Well, the party will start soon enough. I'm just here to distract you until then."
"Where's Amethyst?!"
"Amethyst? Oh, she's a little busy at the moment. Lord Ganon has to get her ready!"
"What did you do to her?!"
Zelda placed her hand on my shoulder, her breath shaky.
"Who are you, and what do you want from us?" she called.
"Mm, I guess I could introduce myself again. My name is Ghirahim. I am Lord Demises' loyal servant. Although, you now know him as Ganon."
Ghirahim frowned as a figure appeared at his side.
"I suppose it's time you show up. Who else is left?"
The second muttered something as they held their head, a large mask covering their face.
"I'm guessing you forgot who this is, too? Why don't you introduce yourself?"
The second figure turned to us, their mask folding away. I winced as they glared down at me.
"I'm Zant. And in case you forgot, both of you ruined everything!"
"It wasn't just them, it was Link's companion, too, remember?"
"If only Midna had listened to me, and didn't fight against me. Things could have been so much better for us."
The last symbol faded, and I glanced at Zelda.
"Well, I suppose it's time now. I hope you join us soon!"
Ghirahim and Zant disappeared, leaving us in the field.
"What do we do?" Zelda asked.
"We have to go find them. They know where Amethyst is, and we need to go get her-"
The ground rumbled below us as five figures appeared near the Ruins. Two of them were Zant and Ghirahim, the other three we didn't recognize.
"There were six stones. Where's the sixth person?" Zelda mumbled.
"Lord Ganon is ready to meet you, now! He can't wait!"
They split up, leaving room for us to walk past. My grip on my sword tightened as I hesitantly moved forward.
"Stay by my side, Zelda."
She followed close behind as we slowly made our way past them. I kept my eyes on them as we passed until I walked backward to make sure they didn't try to hurt us.
Zelda paused suddenly, and I bumped into her.
"Zelda?" I asked.
"Look," she whispered.
I turned around and saw Amethyst standing in the middle of the ruins. My eyes widened as I took a step forward. She looked up from where she stood, a smile growing.
"You guys came!" she called.
Zelda took a step forward, slowly covering her mouth.
"It can't be this easy..."
"I didn't think you would find me as fast. I bet Zelda's the one who pushed you to come here."
I grabbed Zelda's arm, holding her back.
"Link?" she asked.
"That's not Amethyst."
"What do you mean?"
Our eyes met as she frowned, her eyes wide in fear.
"She's never called you Zelda. She's only ever called you Princess."
Zelda looked back to Amethyst, who frowned.
"I was hoping you wouldn't find out so soon. I guess I have to move on to my next plan."
We both stepped back, and I whirled around. The five were right behind us, all of them with weapons drawn.
"Now, now. You can't leave yet. We're just getting started! Have you met all my friends yet?"
"Don't talk with her voice!"
"You don't even know who I am!"
I glanced back, and Amethyst was gone. I turned to the group and found her hovering above the five.
"I know you met Ghirahim and Zant, but did you meet the others yet?"
I pushed Zelda behind me, holding my sword in front of us.
"These two are the Twinrova, Kotake and Koume. They've cared for me since I was first born in the Gerudo after you trapped me in that sword of yours."
The sword glowed in my hands, and Zelda grew tense.
"Now, now, Fi. That's not fair if you come out and help them. We didn't get any help, so why should they?"
The glowing stopped after Ghirahim snapped his fingers. I grit my teeth, pulling Zelda back with me.
"And the third is Majora. We didn't really meet, as I was killed before they tried to destroy Termina. Though, I had Ghirahim help me recruit them to help me today. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough power to call my other friends, but these five will do. And with the power I gained from Amethyst, the tide will be on our side today."
The sun rose over the castle, shining on the group.
"What do we do?" Zelda asked.
"I... I..."
I glanced at her, my breath catching.
"I don't know," I whispered.
"And now, if you would so kindly surrender, we can get this over with faster."
"We won't! Give us Amethyst back and go back to where you came from!"
She tapped her chin as she paced above the others, before shaking her head.
"No... No, I don't think I will. You see, I've worked hard this past century to get to where I am now. And I won't give that up for anything."
She stopped, before turning to us.
"And I suppose you won't give up, either. If that's the case, then the only other option is to fight!"
A sword appeared in her hand, before all of them disappeared.
"What do we do?"
I grabbed Zelda's hand, pulling her back to the field. The stones had disappeared, and instead, Majora stood waiting for us.
"Ooh! Does this mean you'll fight me? Does this mean we get to fight?!"
They bounced excitedly, waiting as we moved closer.
"I guess... we'll just have to fight."
"Wait, don't go yet!"
We skidded to a stop as three fairies appeared in front of us.
"Fairies?" Zelda whispered.
"Sis! We gotta help with Majora!"
"Just like we did with our Link!"
"I wasn't much help to him with Ganondorf, but I'll help this time!"
"Our... Link...?" I asked.
"Tatl, Tael! I missed you so much! Won't you play with me?!"
"We'll play with Skull Kid, not you!"
"WHAT?!"
The fairies took off, leaving us behind. I glanced at Zelda, who only shrugged.
"We just have to do our best."
I nodded, and we took off for Majora again.
~ * ~
And here, I've named some of the voices from earlier chapters hehe
When I decided to add in more of them, I remembered that they said BotW is kinda the merge between the timelines. Although I mostly used characters from the child timeline, I thought it would be fun to bring some of them together. And we'll get to see a bit more in the next chapter!
I hope I can do the battle justice, but I'm really not good at fight scenes ehe
I'll still do my best, though!