Link couldn't be happier to see the gloom of the temple. Luce was grabbing his arm, looking at him frantically with worry-filled eyes. Those were her eyes, not the false Lucario's. Link couldn't be happier to see her.
"H-hey, I'm... fine," he muttered numbly, unconsciously putting a hand to his stomach. Even if there was no longer a wound, it still ached as if there was one. "Zelda?" She stood with her hands pressed to her chest, which rose and fell with rapid breaths. "Y-ya okay?" he asked. Her eyes darted to meet his.
"Yes," she wheezed. He knew she wanted to ask.
"Ya said I should start doing something, so I did," he said.
Her eyes widened. "That wasn't what I meant."
Iigo, of course, was completely oblivious to what had just occurred. "What happened there?" he asked. "You two seemed to be in a trance there." Link didn't want to speak of it then, and neither did Zelda, as they both stayed quiet.
I hope it wasn't too shocking... Though from your expressions, I have an unfortunate feeling that wasn't the case, Resa said somberly.
Link had to answer. "I-it wasn't," he muttered.
I am quite impressed. You two have admirable teamwork, Cobalion praised. But I am convinced now. The inner doors opened, and beyond it lay a room identical to those in the Wetlands and Riptide temples.
A beast with tall, golden horns stood atop the dais. His blue fur rippled as he moved, his hooves clicking on the stairs as he descended. Dark, narrowed eyes observed the group, judgemental. He took his time looking over Link and Zelda, to the point where Luce and Fira began to grow wary even if Cobalion wasn't doing anything else.
These are quite different from the previous. However, they should suffice, Cobalion mused. I hope you visited my siblings before me, Overseer Resa.
Only Terrakion is left, she said. Afterwards, we will be ready.
Cobalion nodded. Good. It seems that things are going to plan. I look forwards to the day we can complete this mission; I've grown quite weary of it.
We all have, to some degree, Resa said. But aren't you going to ask how Virizion and Keldeo have been?
Cobalion tilted his head, his eyes narrowing further. I have no need to, as I trust they are well. Why are you bothering with something of that sort, Overseer? The mission is all that matters.
If she could have, Link imagined that Resa would have winced. Y-yes, my apologies, she said. On that note farewell to you, Overseer Cobalion.
Cobalion dipped his head. Yes, farewell.
As the group departed from Cobalion's chamber, Iigo finally spoke up again. It was only a matter of time until he would.
"I-I can't believe that just happened! The legendary Cobalion, right before my eyes!" he squawked, his feathers ruffling with excitement. "And you're going to see Terrakion next?" he asked.
Yes, and after that we'll be done, Resa said. All we'll have to worry about is getting back to Castle City and confronting Daemos.
"Do you mind if I come with you? I'd love to meet another legend!" Iigo crowed.
I... don't think so, Resa said unsurely with some of her usual iciness.
"I was only joking!" Iigo laughed. "... Mostly."
It then really hit Link that soon all this would be over. When this mess of a mission began, he thought the end was so far away. Now it would be another month or so, and then it would be done. Link's heart actually sank at that. It would go back to him being the Illusion, just him and Luce, though he knew he would have to hide out for a while. It would just be a matter of staying out of sight from those Gerudo.
As the group exited the temple and out into the cave, it became evident that it was morning now. Pale, pinkish light shone down on the temple through the holes in the ceiling and lit up the cave.
"So are you all ready to head back? Another five-day hike awaits!" Iigo said cheerily, though there definitely was a sarcastic edge to his tone. Fira huffed and narrowed his eyes, irritated, but stayed silent.
"I hope Impa allows us to stay in the village for another day or two in the village," Zelda sighed. "I'm exhausted..."
"Raring to go, then? We all are," Iigo chuckled.
Link was about to chime in with his own comment when a wash of auras hit him, instantly tensing him. At the same time, low voices could be heard echoing down the passage into the cavern.
"'The crack of dawn to dusk,' he says!" a female voice scoffed.
"That voe is going to get us killed," another grunted. "I don't care if he's our general. One of us is gonna slip off a damn cliff and it'll be our fault!"
"Gerudo," Zelda gasped. "Resa, open the temple again..!"
Resa turned on Zelda, baffled. I-I don't think I can! she protested.
"Wait. There's seven of 'em," Link muttered. "We can take 'em since there's six of us. We just gotta be smart 'bout it."
Iigo shook his head, stepping away from the others. "You mean five, because there is no way I'm taking any chances with this." He quickly crouched and sprang into the air, taking flight a moment later.
"Iigo, you ass!" Link hissed. "What're ya doin'?"
"Sorry, but I refuse to be caught," Iigo said. With a pump of his wings, he vanished out one of the holes.
Anger instantly scorched Link, setting Farore's essence ablaze. "Get back here!" he shouted, his voice haltingly loud in the cavern. All noise died then, including Link's own breaths as he went dead silent, realizing what he'd done.
"What was that?" a male voice asked from down the tunnel. Link had never regretted talking more than he had then.
Paced footfalls became a loud thunder as the guards made their way towards the temple cavern. Link's group had no hope of escaping then, not even Fira's telekinesis could have lifted them onto the temple's roof in time. They had just enough time to draw their weapons and assume offensive stances when the guards came into view.
There were five Royal Guards, three Gerudo and two Hylian. Link had only seen non-Gerudo races among the guards a few times, so this was a slight surprise. Along with them was a pair of Scizor.
Link balked at the sight of the steel-clad bugs. They had Scizor. These things made their home in the Gerudo and Ikana provinces rather than the more woodsy ones for a reason; the trees and rocks were too easy for them to break while training.
Shock and alarm flushed the guards' auras when they saw the Holders. "I-is that them?" one of the male Hylian guards gasped.
"What do you know? This wasn't a waste of time after all," the captain said with surprise. "Long time, no see, Renier. Link's heart lurched as he recognized her as the captain who had captured him back in Castle City. The Scizor buzzed with hostility, but the captain calmly waved them back. "Look, Holders, we don't want to fight," she said, stepping forwards.
"Wow, I thought you guys had higher standards for lies," Link spat.
Courage! Resa chastised sharply. Link ignored her.
"I'll dismiss that, because we have more important things to discuss," the captain said. "I'm being serious, we don't want to fight. General Dragmire has been running us ragged for the past few months looking for you, and we'd rather not get into a scuffle."
"Because you'd lose?" Link said with a smirk.
The captain frowned. "Us Gerudo are the most deadly when we're strained, so I advise you don't push us, Renier." Link shut up when he heard his last name.
"We don't want to fight you either," Zelda said, casting Link her first glare in weeks.
"We think this has gotten absolutely ridiculous," the captain said. "We could be trying to help the kingdom in so many other ways, yet King Daemos is so fixated on you all. It's like he's possessed."
"You aren't exactly wrong," Zelda said. "We know what's going on with the king, we could tell you."
Link cursed under his breath. No, not this shit again!
"While your words intrigue me," the captain's eyes narrowed, "we were also told to not trust a word you say." The dampening in Zelda's aura was noticeable. "Just lower your weapons and come quietly," the captain continued. "Please, It'll save us all the pain."
We refuse to surrender ourselves, not when doing so will condemn Hyrule, Resa said, startling the guards.
"I-it talks?" the Hylian guard muttered, shocked. Link took the opportunity and lobbed a small concentration of Courage at the captain. It exploded against her chest and sent her flying into her subordinates, knocking one of them over.
"Link!" Zelda gasped, her eyes widening.
I'm sorry, Zelda. But I also ain't either, Link thought. "We ain't givin' up to desert scum like you," he huffed, raising his sword while readying another glowing orb in his free palm. This was why he couldn't see himself truly becoming close friends with Zelda. And yet he didn't exactly feel right reacting this way. What the hell was wrong with him?
With a pained grunt, the captain staggered to her feet and drew her scimitar. "King Daemos wants you all alive, no matter how 'alive' that may be. While hearing those instructions shocked me, I can't refuse them." She pointed her blade at them. "We have to bring you back, conscious or not. Scizor, go!"
The two Steel-types moved with deadly speed. They raced towards Link and Zelda on humming wings, but Luce and Fira moved just a little faster and intercepted them. A Bone Club clashed with reinforced claws while a Psychic froze the other bug in place.
I'm sorry. Link freed Luce from her burden with the second well of Courage to the Scizor's unguarded midsection. It skidded back, but only for a second as it launched itself forwards again. This time Resa stopped it, further assisted by Luce.
Link's aura senses sparked then, right beside him. He slashed, and the shout of a man resounded. One of the Hylian guards was on the guard, clutching a gash that had been sliced into his arm. Of course the guards would flank them.
And that means—!
Link brought his sword around to his other side, clashing blades with a Gerudo guard.
"You shouldn't have let us get this close," she said with a smirk. She shoved back fiercely, forcing Link to dig in his heels. He was shocked at how strong she was, but her well-muscled arms weren't just for show. "What, you can't counter?" With another press, she offset Link's balance and swept his legs out. He landed with a hard blow that knocked the wind out of him.
Arms ensnared him in a choke hold as the grounded Hylian guard grabbed him. Link gagged, struggling as the grip tightened. Everyone else was too occupied with the rest of the guard, he had to deal with this himself. Link dug his nails into the guard's bleeding gash, ripping another scream from him as they gouged deep. But the man's hold loosened. Link tore the guard's arms from his neck and smashed his elbow into the man's face. Bone crunched as he screamed.
"You damn Rattata!" the Gerudo guard swore as she slashed at Link. The blade came dangerously close to his face as he ducked, and he made a dive for the Master Sword.
Pain tore across Link's side and back the moment his fingers grasped the hilt, and he brought up the blade to block the next blow. The guard was now standing over him, pressing down with all her strength. Link's arms trembled under the strain.
"Captain Villia didn't want to fight," the guard hissed, "but you Hylians never listen to reason."
"Neither do you!" Link growled. He brought up his leg and kicked her in the stomach, releasing her hold and letting him knock her scimitar away. He scrambled to his feet and tackled her, driving her to the ground. Fear filled her eyes as Link raised his sword.
"No, wait—!" He brought the pommel down on her skull, knocking her out.
"Payback for what your captain did to me," Link muttered, shuddering. He didn't need to look to know that his wound wasn't just a scratch, the fierce burning trailing from his side to his spine was enough evidence. But the fight wasn't over yet, he could worry about it then.
Link spared a quick glance at how everyone else was faring and the damage in general. Luce and Resa still engaged the first Scizor, the second collapsing, scorched and twitching in pain. Fira fended off the other two guards. Zelda held Villia at arrow-point as the Gerudo already had an arrow sunk into her shoulder. It was far too soon to be relieved, but Link couldn't help but sigh. Things were going as well as they reasonably could. But then that thought was destroyed with one cry.
Courage, look out! Link's head snapped to face Resa and Luce, just as the Overseer came flying at him. He side-stepped to avoid being stabbed by her blade—being impaled was something he definitely didn't need—and she smashed into the cave wall with a ringing clatter, dropping like a stone, stunned.
"Resa, what the hell?" Link exclaimed, more out of surprise. He looked back just as the Scizor clubbed Luce over the head, sending her sprawling.
Shock only had a moment to register in Link before rage overtook it. It wasn't aimed just at the Scizor, though it partially was, but the Gerudo. They were the ones who had trained it, they were responsible for this. The Scizor had only been obeying its Trainers, and that enraged Link more. Deceiving, manipulating, taking advantage of a Pokémon's trust. It sickened him to his core. But the Scizor wasn't done with Luce, as it prepared another strike.
"You damn bastards!" Link roared, charging at the Scizor. His wound was nothing in the face of adrenaline and Farore's essence as it swept through his veins. Green light raced down his arms, continuing down the length of the Master Sword's length as he brought it up. Steel collided with a loud clang, and green luminescence exploded in a blinding burst as the Scizor was thrown back.
Link instantly fell to Luce's side, struggling to find her aura through the chaos. She was alive, just unconscious. The reapproaching aura of Scizor drove him back to his feet as it swung at him, its pincers shining silver. Ringing blows were exchanged, one after the other as the pair ducked and wove about in a deadly dance.
Panting, Link stepped out of the way of a Slash, having to duck right after as the Scizor came in for a follow-up. The bug barely seemed to touch the ground as it moved, its wings humming with strength. At this rate it was going to outlast him. Link dared to siphon from his own energy to fuel another burst of Courage, hoping a kick would be enough to knock it off-balance.
The blow was staggering, but it wasn't enough, and Link was sent staggering more than Scizor. His vision blurring, he could hardly make out the bug as it raced at him from a swift recovery. Raising his blade was pointless, as he dropped it a moment later, knocked from his hand by a precise Double Hit.
The first blow to his stomach was winding, enough to make him gag. But the second impacted his chest with a sharp crack that Link both heard and felt. He slammed into the ground, the last of his air leaving him in a pained gasp as everything spun. His arms ached from the strain, his side burned, knives gouging at him internally and destroying any chances of regaining his breath quickly.
The Scizor stood over the broken Hylian, buzzing hesitantly. It surely had orders to leave him alive, but it didn't know whether its target was truly incapacitated. And at that moment, Link was. But then there was another flash of silver, this one tinged with ethereal purple.
Resa.
She smashed the Scizor's pincers aside, making it retaliate from shock and fury. Resa dove into the Scizor's shadow, rising behind it and slicing at its back with a Shadow Sneak. It screeched and spun around and swiped at Resa. She responded in kind with an Aerial Ace.
It happened in an instant, blink and miss. One moment Scizor's forearm was there, and the next it was falling to the ground. Scizor screeched as it collapsed to its knees, where it continued to screech in agony. Resa quickly silenced it with a blow to the head.
I'm so, s-so sorry... she said shakily, her sashes fluttering like they were trembling. She left the Scizor and darted to Link and Luce. Are you okay, Courage? Is Luce?
Link forced himself up on his elbows. "Luce is fine, a-and I don't give a damn 'bout myself right now," he coughed, struggling to his knees. A pained cry escaped him as his broken ribs protested, but he still moved.
Don't move! Resa gasped, placing her sashes on his shoulders. Please, I don't want you to further injure yourself.
Link shook his head. "I'll stop when this is over." He staggered to his feet. "But I 'preciate the concern," he said with a rough snicker. Of course this would be the circumstance that those words would leave him.
"I believe this is over, actually."
Link's heart jolted. Zelda and Fira, what about them? The two were where Link had last seen them, except things were different. Fira's foes lay unconscious with forming blisters and burns patchworking their arms and torsos. But he was staring at Zelda, who had ultimately lost her fight.
The guard captain, Villia, stood with her hand tangled in Zelda's hair and the tip of her scimitar pressed to Zelda's side—the only reason why Fira hadn't already helped her. Villia had won, but it had definitely been a struggle to get there. Another arrow was lodged in the woman's side, and blood trickled down her right temple from a head wound.
"Look what had to happen," Villia breathed, each word riding a ragged gasp. "We could have done this peacefully, but no, you had to make this difficult."
"Let her go," Link said slowly and dangerously, raising his free hand up. He already knew what he could do. It was a risky idea, but he wasn't about to let Zelda get stabbed.
Villia shook her head. "Give yourselves up first, then I'll gladly release her."
"Sorry, but that ain't an option," Link said. A weak blast of energy rippled outwards, knocking Villia and Zelda back.
As a fit of dizziness pitched Link forwards, he used the momentum to throw himself into a haphazard sprint. Zelda had moved by then, because there was nothing preventing Link from throwing himself onto Villia. In a moment, he was straddling her torso and had her arms pinned, holding the Master Sword inches from her neck.
"Zelda, ya okay?" Link asked, not daring to take his eyes off Villia as he did.
"She bent my wrist strangely. I can't tell if it's broken or merely sprained," she said. The pain in her voice was clear, and it made Link want to wince. "But other than that, I think I'm okay."
That's kinda a relief, Link thought with a small sigh. But at least she wasn't seriously hurt. Anger began to bubble in him again as he brought the point of the sword closer to Villia's neck. The slight fear in her eyes was satisfying to see, a small repayment of what the Gerudo once made him feel over twelve years ago.
"W-wait, Link!" Zelda cried. "Don't kill her!"
Link rolled his eyes. "I ain't!" he said. His voice then dropped into a deadly low as his eyes narrowed into a glare. "... Yet."
Defeat curved Villia's lips into a smile. "Is this the part where I plead for my life?" she asked dryly. "Because sorry to say, but I'm not that kind of vai."
It actually wasn't. Because for once, Link wanted to talk, clarify something that had been buzzing about his head like an irksome Cutiefly for so long now. "No, it's where I ask ya somethin'," he said.