MindTrap

Chapter 9: Fierce Melee

Oni'kara caught himself laughing inside. How Alena could even dare to call herself... "Would the Heroine of Time really destroy its guardian? Its creator?"
"If that's what it takes to keep the world safe..." she replied, stepping forwards. Courage was not the problem here. Her own had been added to by that of a lost but not forgotten hero. Wisdom was, when faced with such power.
"You misunderstand me. What I meant was - could she?"

The Sword of Eternity flicked out instantly, sending a lashing bolt of energy spinning forwards. On an unknown reflex, Alena instinctively blocked with the shield the transformation had given her - mirrored, the duplicate of one that lay dormant in the Spirit Temple of this time - before she even realised what she had done. In the back of her mind, she could hear a calm and confident voice. Hers? Or... The other option seemed impossible. Because he was now her adversary.
You can do this.
It's happened before. You wouldn't be here if it hadn't. If... he... didn't have a weakness.
The Hero triumphed - so why not...
She darted in quickly, sword poised. Although the weapon was unfamiliar, she didn't care. Surely, if she could...
The blow was blocked too quickly. Unknown to Alena, Oni had seen her intentions clearly. Such an obvious move! And I once thought that would be good enough... With one powerful stroke, he sent her flying backwards. She landed, winded, and uncertain.

Uncertainly, she began to think of her next move. Hero-instincts in her mind whispered of other weapons, arrows, bombs and boomerangs - anything to keep him away, keep her away from the shimmering blades of Oni's sword - but at the same time, the part of her that was still the uncertain novice fighter dared not trust to something so new. She knew what to do with a sword.
On the other hand - she could feel something there. A faint memory, untouched for so long. A secret power.
She quickly sheathed her weapon, and raised her hand. Her fingers tingled. The Hero's power waited for her - although not as Link had ever used it. Almost without thinking, Alena pitched a glittering fireball forwards. It smashed through the air, leaving a sparkling trail in its wake. That was... did I do that?

Her surprise attack seemed less of a surprise to her opponent. Oni'kara smiled as she saw it coming, and leapt away over its top. "Din's Fire?" he almost spat. "You would use my sisters' spells against me? Even were Din herself here, she couldn't win!"
That's what it was?

It's the only way.
Are you sure?
You think she could...?
Yes.

"Try this, then!" His sword lashed out, but not to throw a lightning-bolt or even to hit an unprepared Alena. Its point slashed down into the floor, sending a tremor rippling with brilliant white energy away from where he stood.
Add Chaos' Wave to that list of tricks... You forget my powers!
The swordswoman was bowled to the floor. "You know, I really liked you better as Link," she remarked as she slowly got to her feet. "You remember, right?"
"I was never purely Link," he replied. "Never, inside." But somehow, despite his assertions, Oni's words sounded awkward. Alena guessed she might have hit a nerve.
"You might believe that - " she remarked, risking throwing a bomb, which he knocked away easily - "but I don't. You're only lying to yourself. And I've got to get you to understand that!"
"What is there to understand?" He ran forwards, on the attack. Alena only managed to block at the last minute, and it was a close thing. She leapt aside, defensively.

The fight continued, but it was one-sided. Every attack Alena could make was blocked, and it was barely possible for her to defend herself. One blow of the Sword of Eternity shattered her shield.
Her own sword went the same way shortly after. Forced to rely on secondary, unfamiliar weapons she stood no chance...

And for the second time in her life, she knew what it was to have the Fierce Deity's freezing fire burn its way through her heart.

The pain was bad enough.

But to see the cold expression on Oni'kara's face - that was even worse.

Whiteness...
"Where am I?" Alena asked, shocked.
A faint laughter, almost out of hearing, answered her question. "Between the worlds."
"Am I... am I dead?"
"That is what you are here to decide."

"What do you mean? What sort of a question is that? I want to live!"
"Of course you do, child," a different voice to the first added. Alena was sure she had heard it before, but she could not put a name to the speaker.
"I'm no..." she started, but faltered. Something in the voices' tones suggested that, compared to them, that was all that she was.
"We will let you live," a third voice added. "You see.... we need your help. And yours alone."
"Okay - so what do you want me for?"
"We need you to stop Oni'kara."
Stating the obvious, she thought. "I've tried! Look - I was out there, I tried my best! Just what is someone like me, never fought in my life before, supposed to do against..."
"Our brother."

Alena fell silent.
Suddenly, it all fell into place.

"You're..."
"You are correct, child. I am Farore. I believe you remember me," the goddess added in a kindly tone.
"I couldn't forget you," Alena whispered, in awe for a moment.
"Relax," Nayru asked. "You do not need to fear us. But I would guess that your fear would not hold you back, after all you have done. Help us."
"There is only one way to defeat Oni'kara now. You must take our powers... Alone, we would not stand a chance. Even in your world, we would be weakened. But a human warrior, one born to the physical worlds, who would wield our power... You are our only hope."
"I... I can't! Surely!" she protested. "What will happen to you?"
"We will pay the price gladly, if it will restore peace to the worlds."
For a moment, Alena paused. I can't do this, surely...
They can't...
They can, they will..
I will.
"Alright. I'll... I'll do it. Just... what do I do?"
"Relax. We will take care of this."

He turned to walk away. It was your own doing. You should not have come. Anyone would have met the same fate. Yet, as he did so - something caught his attention. A light. It came from where he had left Alena behind. Curious for a moment, he looked back over his shoulder - and span round.

How can this be?

Alena stood in the middle of the blazing light. Something - something had changed about her. Not simply a physical transformation. Although she had returned to her older self, before she had become Heroine of Time for that brief spell, that aura still hung around her - and something else as well.
No. Something else had happened, too. It was in her eyes.
Her eyes! Blue flickered to green to red.
It came to Oni in a flash. "What... who are you now?"
"I think you know that. You might forget who you are - but I don't. Not even when your sisters entrusted me with what they truly are... I remain Alena. As you remain Link."

Their gazes locked. Somehow, he found it impossible to move. Stop this! he told himself. She's just a mortal girl.
Just?... How can you say that?
(Go back to where this all began... That Termina night, when you were someone else...)
When... what has happened... and what did she mean, talking about my sisters like that?

He broke the spell, shaken, watching Alena's moves warily. She spoke first. "You can stop this now. Or I can stop you."
"You tried already. What is different this time?"
"This is," she replied. In her hands, the mask she held glowed and shifted into a ball of brilliant golden energy. The same light seemed to surround Alena herself. Flashes of all colours seemed to fuse into the glow. Oni'kara found himself almost unable to bear the brilliant glare.

"I do this for us all..." Alena whispered. "I do this for the sake of Hyrule... for three of its creators, who sacrificed their own existence to stop you... and for the Hero of Time who you once were."

She released the powers she held. "I'm sorry..." she murmured, almost inaudibly.

In an instant, it all came back to him.
Exactly who he was.
Who he was fighting.

"Alena, no!" he yelled, bringing his sword around to shield him from the onslaught of pure power.
She heard the anguished tone in his voice. He's... that's, that's really... after everything... inside, he was still... as I always thought ...
But by then, it was too late. The sparkling sphere was already crashing forwards out of her control.

Three against one. The light of what had been the power of the goddesses seared the sky, and tore through the helpless form of their brother.
Unable to resist, he was flung through the air like his own attacks. Thrown backwards, he hit the stone walls around the ranch, the rough edges as damaging as they would have been to a child while he was weakened.

Perhaps this is... no more than I deserve... for forgetting what I am here for...
The world went dark.

Silence. For a moment, a perfect stillness. Alena ran over quickly, both concerned and in a way surprised. The goddesses had given her their power, true, but she wouldn't have thought that would have been all that was needed - it was like he had just ...given up...
She knelt down and looked carefully at his unmoving form. Out cold. His eyes were still open, but unseeing. Tenderly, she shut them, not wanting to see that empty and dulled gaze.
Her breath caught in her throat. I can't have... I can't have killed him, surely...
Killed who? Link or Oni?
(To come this far, and then in the end... the life that was lost... didn't matter?)
No! He can't...
Please...

My love...
Survive this - be the person I know you are again...

Gently, she rested her hand on his face, next to where an unpleasant cut sliced through the blue marking on his forehead. His skin was still warm, thankfully. She bent down to listen to the faint sounds of his breathing. Just audible. Just about. Alive...
Apart from that, he seemed to have taken a number of injuries in her final attack and on impact with the ground. His armour had taken most of the force, but she could see a number of gashes across his exposed arms, legs and neck. What surprised her most - no blood, even though she could see that the cuts had gone through the flesh. A strange, glimmering ichor seemed to take its place. What do you expect? she told herself. He is a... the Fierce Deity, after all...
Alena shook her head. She had no doubt that the powers she had been given would enable her to heal him, somehow - but how was the problem. There was only one option - to get him back to the house and treat him there. Carefully reaching to lift him up - silently thinking that she would never be able to move him alone, before remembering - she noticed that his left arm lay at a strange angle. At a guess, it looked broken. Holding onto his sword until the very end had led to an awkward landing. You're always the warrior.

As she arrived back at the ranch house, the one person she cared for - and feared - the most in her arms, Alena found its other current inhabitants in a state of shock. The only person not alert was the still slumbering Talon. She decided not to wake the old rancher. It would only confuse things further.
Zelda looked back at her parallel in some worry. "What are you doing? You were going to stop him..."
"You think he doesn't look stopped? It's... it's over. Everything is. He's only just alive..."
"You want him to survive?" Impa asked, surprised. "After..."
"Yes. I do. This isn't just the Oni you know. He's the Link I know. Trust me. I can see it... I heard him. He needs attention fast... can't you see how badly..." I injured him...
Malon glanced around the group. "I'm with Alena here. If he's really Link - the nearest person I ever had to a little brother... " Although the title seemed inappropriate on two counts, she had to say it. "He'll need help. I'll go get something for that arm." She began to leave, and paused. "But - how could you manage to... and I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to move him that easily..."
Alena shook her head. "I'll explain later what happened. For now, I'll just say... There were four. Now there's just one."

It took them some time to understand what she meant by that cryptic comment, by which time she had already taken him upstairs to their bedroom.
Watching his comatose form, Alena gently whispered to him. She didn't know if he could even hear her. But she had to try.

Why... what is worth living for now? the Fierce Deity thought, in the emptiness of his own mind.
I tried to destroy the one person I truly loved.
I destroyed those who were closest to me in all of infinity.
Why should I even try to return?
What is left?
Leave this, Oni'kara... reawaken one day, unknowing...

"...Link?" a soft voice whispered.

I can hear it... Something...

"Please... come back. I know you're angry. I know you must feel... oh, I don't know what you feel. But... come back. For me? You can make things better... I know you can."

The light reaches for me, though I am a child of the darkness...

"I'm waiting for you..." Alena paused. "...My love."

Perhaps... perhaps there is something left in the world after all.
Perhaps I shouldn't give up on this life...
No! I'm not ready...
I'm coming back...
My sisters...
My love...
I'll return for you...
And repay, somehow, the wrongs I have done you...

Weakly, Oni Link's eyes struggled open. The glow they gave off was so faint that the pale colours in his irises - diamond, not sapphire - were still visible. Waiting for him was the only face he wanted to see.
"'Lena? You... why did you..." You called me back, from that darkness no-one should ever see. You saved me when you had no reason to...
"Quiet. Just - try to rest." She gently stroked her fingers along the crimson markings on his cheekbones. "Try to rest. For me?"
He nodded, and let his eyes close. "Alright."

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