Robert looked into her face and saw in her eyes that there was no convincing her otherwise. He looked up at the sky. It was now early in the morning, and he and Lisa had spent hours the previous night talking about each of their lives. They had told each other everything, even their deepest secrets. Neither of them had known why they would tell such revealing things to someone they had just met, but it just seemed natural to them. There was a connection there that neither of them could put a finger on, although it was fairly obvious. It seemed like they could go on talking like that forever, but eventually it happened: the awkward silence. The death knell for a conversation between two such people usually resulted in a change in the relationship, for better or for worse. They had both sat there smiling during the silence, feeling the urge begin to overwhelm their bodies. As Robert moved in, Lisa regained her will and stood up, saying that she should get some rest. Of course, he had agreed, but he was slightly disappointed.

After she had gone to her bed, Robert thought about her. It was then that he remembered some of her stories. Heartache, pain, and lying littered a bunch of her stories, and Robert figured that she just wasn’t ready yet. He fully understood her feelings, as thoughts of Lindsay had popped into his mind at this point. For the longest time after the incident, he found it heard to thing of another woman in that way. But time heals all wounds, or so they say.

And now, as he stared up at the sky, Robert remembered something else about her stories. As much as there was pain and hardships, there had also been joy and love. He especially remembered the stories during the first year that Evan had showed up in Gatero. But the happy stories ended after Evan fled and Lisa followed him. Ever since, she has been depressed and on the verge of giving up. Robert admired her for her determination to stay alive, even when she had no desire to. Now, here was the first real opportunity for her to get out of this place and feel happiness again. Who was he to deny her such rights as a person? He gave in.

"Alright, you can tag along." She smiled widely as he said it. "But if we run into trouble, I want you to get to a safe distance."

Still smiling widely, she nodded her agreement. Before he could say anything else, she ran off to the stables, mounted her other horse, and was back by his side.

"Ready?" she asked him eagerly.

He smiled. "Ready."

They rode north, along the western bank of the lake.

* * * *

William followed the blue light all through the night, and by early morning, he was where he believed he was supposed to be. The light stopped short of a ruined town, its buildings beaten from the sandstorms that blew through it. But at this moment, the sandstorm didn’t reach the town, and he greeted the welcome relief.

The light faded away, leaving William to himself. He walked passed an old sign. He tried to read it, but the letters had long since been worn off, not to mention that half the sign was missing. Pausing briefly, he scanned the town, looking for a place that he could rest for a little and perhaps find water, although he felt that was unlikely. From where he was, he saw nothing but desolation, so he began walking again.

He made his way down what appeared to be the main street of the town. By this time, he had a hunch of which town it was, but he wasn’t absolutely sure. It wasn’t until he reached the center of the town that he was certain. There, its edges worn away by years of sandstorms, stood a statue of Nabooru. She had been vital in building the town of Salenne and the early citizens had built the statue in her honor. The inscription that had been chiseled into the base had been completely worn away by time, and William couldn’t remember what it had said. He looked up at the statue and sighed. The sight of all the towns of Hyrule in such bad condition was disheartening.

"We have a statue of Darunia in our town," a voice said behind him.

William turned around quickly to realize that Michael and Aaron were standing behind him, about ten feet away. He smiled.

"Am I glad to see you two," William said. "I was worried I’d never see anyone again."

"Yeah," Aaron said. "It seems as though the will of someone or something made it possible for us to find each other."

William nodded. "But what about the others? Have you guys seen them at all?"

Michael shook his head. "No. You’re the first one we’ve seen since yesterday. Frankly, we were hoping that you had seen them, but that doesn’t seem to be the case."

"Unfortunately, no."

"Well, I don’t know about you two," Aaron began, "but I’m thirsty. My water supply ran out last night."

Michael picked up his water skin. "I’m out, too. Let’s take a long around and see if we can’t find an old well or something like that."

"Either of you know where one might be in this town?" Aaron asked.

William sighed. "I’ve only been to Salenne a couple of times, but I think I remember one being just down the street in that direction." He pointed to the east.

Aaron looked down the street. "Only one way to find out, I guess."

"Good enough for me," Michael said, peering into his water skin.

They headed east down the street that ran perpendicular to the town’s main street. The only noise being made was the sound of the rocks and sand below their feet grinding together as they walked over them. No one said anything. They were all intent on finding the well.

That’s when they heard another sound. They all stopped immediately and listened closely, trying to identify the possible source of the high-pitched squeal. Then it hit Aaron.

"The well!" he shouted and ran off in the direction of the noise.

Michael and William hesitated for another moment, but were soon right on Aaron’s heels, running toward what they hoped would be their salvation. As they rounded a corner, they stopped short again. A figure stood by the well, turning the crank that raised and lowered the bucket. They all watched on.

"John?" Michael asked.

The figure stopped turning the crank and slowly turned around. Indeed it was John.

"Hi, guys," John said calmly.

They made their way up to John, and more importantly, the well.

"How did you get here?" William asked.

"I followed a blue ball of light," he responded.

"So did I."

"As did we," Aaron said as Michael continued where John had left off on the well.

"Seems like we all got some help from someone," John said. "But who?"

Michael pulled the bucket out of the well. "We saw a friend of ours who’s been dead for several years now," he said, referring to Aaron and himself.

"A ghost?" John asked, although he knew it was. Aaron nodded.

"I know it sounds crazy…"

John shook his head. "Not in the least. I saw a ghost myself."

"Who was it?" William asked.

"My parents. They told me to be strong and make it through this. It was wonderful seeing them again," he said. "I finally got to tell them goodbye." John held back tears of joy and sadness as he remembered his parents.

"I saw Nick," William told them.

They all stopped what they were doing and there was a brief silence.

"You what?" Aaron asked.

"I saw Nick."

John was wide-eyed. "What did he tell you?"

"He said…" William started to say, but then he remembered that Nick told him not to tell anyone. "I… I can’t tell you."

"You’re sharing a secret with a ghost?" Michael asked.

"No… well, yes. Trust me, you wouldn’t believe me anyway."

"I don’t know," Aaron said. "We all did just see ghosts."

Michael filled all their water skins with water. They capped them and put them back on their belts, then took turns drinking from the bucket.

"Well, since we all followed blue lights here," John said, "perhaps Link and Zelda did as well."

"Right. We should start looking for them," Aaron added.

"And some food," William said.

They all stared at him.

"What? We need to eat!"

The other three shook their heads and walked passed him.

* * * *

In the end, William’s suggestion was the answer to both their problems. They found Link and Zelda in a tavern that had miraculously withstood the tests of time. And in that tavern, they found them eating.

"Where did you find this stuff?" Michael asked, even as William was already shoving food down his throat.

Link took a bite of dried meat. "In the storage cellar here. All the dried food had been packaged extremely well and was in very good shape, even after all these years."

Aaron examined the meat. "I still don’t trust it."

"Why not?" William said, his mouth full of food.

"Well, it’s supposedly been five hundred years or so since Ganondorf had taken control of the world, correct?"

"I think that’s about right," John answered. There were no objections.

"No matter how well this food was packaged, I doubt it would be able to withstand such a long time."

"What are you getting at?" Link asked.

Aaron kept eyeing up the dried meat. "I think someone put this here, and fairly recently."

"How recent?" John asked, his face distorting as he caught the image of William stuffing his face in the corner of his eye.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t know. A few days, maybe? A week? Who knows?"

"Do you think they could still be here?" Zelda asked, starting to feel paranoid as she looked around nervously.

"I doubt it," Aaron replied.

"I wouldn’t be too worried," Link said. "We’ve obviously been given help by someone. Whether it be that old man we keep bumping into, or the Goddesses themselves. It doesn’t matter to me."

"Are you saying that we just take the food without a second thought?" Aaron asked, still eyeing up his piece of meat.

"That’s exactly what I’m saying," Link answered as he bit down on his own piece.

"I think it’s Evan," Zelda said abruptly. Link stopped chewing.

"What do you mean by that?"

"When we talked to him, he seemed cold and heartless. But I know that’s not the real Evan. Some monster is using him. But I think that somewhere in that body, the real Evan is trying to get out, and he’s been helping us."

"Interesting," Michael said. "Now, when did you talk to Evan?"

"In the Haunted Wasteland. He appeared before us," Link answered.

They all began telling each of their visions to each other, down to the minutest detail. When they were done, they decided on a course of action. Relying on what the old man had told them outside of Baru, they agreed to head northeast to the ruins of another town. And from what they figured, that town was Dolsena. It was already late afternoon, so they decided to stay the night in Salenne.

They left town with the rising sun and headed northeast. Before setting off, they had made one more stop at the well to refill their water skins. There wasn’t much talking going on between anybody. There wasn’t really a need to, either. They had all gone on about their individual experiences in the Haunted Wasteland, and small talk topics had long run out on their long journey across this mysterious alternate world.

They headed due north of town first, as the Haunted Wasteland still ran alongside the eastern border of Salenne, and none of them wanted to go back into that region. The six of them walked in pairs: Link and Zelda up front, John and Michael behind them, and William and Aaron bringing up the rear. They marched on in silence.

Eventually, Aaron became bored with the silence and needed to talk to somebody, anybody. He didn’t care about what, just as long as someone interacted with him. He turned his attention toward William, who was still walking beside him, although he never would’ve known it if he hadn’t looked. Aaron could see the concentration in his eyes. Something was on his mind.

"William?"

William didn’t seem to hear him, even though they were walking no more than five feet apart. Aaron glanced ahead of them, and apparently none of the others were paying attention either. He looked back at William.

"Hey, William," he said, but still got no response. He tried again. "William!" he called out while snapping his fingers in front of William’s face.

"Huh?" William said aloud, blinking his eyes several times as if he had been in a deep trance. He looked over at Aaron. "What did you say?"

"Nothing yet. I was just trying to get your attention."

"Oh," William said. He faced forward again. "Well, you’ve got it. Something on your mind?"

Aaron raised his eyebrows. "I was just about to ask you the same thing."

William looked at him again. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"About Nick."

Aaron nodded his head. "Ah, from the Haunted Wasteland?"

"Yeah," William answered, nodding his head as well.

"You never did tell us what he said to you," Aaron prodded.

"Yes, I did," William said, although he knew it was a lie. "He said that we were almost done with our journey and that he was watching over us." William looked straight ahead as he said it, not wanting to look at Aaron’s eyes.

Aaron squinted as he looked over at William. "I don’t believe you," he said.

"What?" William asked, stopping short. Aaron stopped with him. "Are you suggesting that I lied about seeing Nick?"

"No," Aaron replied, keeping his eyes fixated on William, who had now turned to face him. "I believe you saw him. I just think you’re lying about what he said."

They stared at each other for a few moments, until William looked away and began walking again. Aaron followed him.

"Am I right?"

William didn’t answer.

"Well?"

"Yes, you’re right," William conceded.

"So what did he say, really?"

William kept on walking. "I can’t tell you."

Aaron didn’t like that answer. "Can’t? Or won’t?"

"Won’t."

Aaron sighed. "Why not?"

William stopped short again and looked Aaron in the face. "Because I’m still having trouble believing that it really happened, and that what he told me isn’t just some weird scenario that my subconscious cooked up!"

He said the last part so loud that the other four in front of them stopped and turned around, staring. William looked at each of them, and then returned his attention to Aaron.

"And that’s why I won’t tell you," he said.

Aaron sighed again. "Okay, William. I won’t bother you about it anymore."

"Good," William said back and began to walk. He walked passed everyone before any of them even made a gesture to move. "Let’s go. Dolsena can’t be too far now."

The remaining five glanced at each other for a moment longer before following him.

* * * *

They rode into town and dismounted their horses, tying them up at an old, rundown stall.

"What town is this?" Lisa asked, looking over the ghost town.

"It used to be called Salenne," Robert answered. "But it was a lot nicer."

"I bet," she commented. "So are your friends here?"

Robert shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn’t look like it. But can’t be sure unless we take a look around town." He began walking.

She had been gazing around and was caught off guard when he started walking away. Quickly, she jogged to catch up with him. When she was beside him, she slowed to his pace.

They walked down the main street of town, just as the others had done the day before. The large statue of Nabooru stood in the middle of the town, staring them down. They stopped next to it. Lisa knelt by its base and tried to read the worn inscription.

"Nab… Naboo… Naboori?" she tried to read.

"Nabooru," Robert corrected her. "She’s one of the six Sages and she helped start this town."

Lisa got up from her knees. "Sounds like a wonderful role model."

Robert wasn’t sure whether she was being sarcastic or not, so he took her seriously. "Indeed she was, as are the other five Sages."

"What about your friends?"

"My friends?" Robert asked. "Well," he thought aloud, "I guess they could be considered good role models."

She laughed. "No, no. I meant where are they? It doesn’t look like anyone has been here in decades."

"I’m pretty sure they were here. Look, in the dirt." He pointed at an area about six feet away from them. "Footprints. And they aren’t ours."

She looked at the prints and agreed that someone had been there. "But how can you be sure that it was them?"

"Guess I can’t know for sure. Unless, of course, we find them."

"So what do we do now?"

"Follow the tracks," he said as he began to do so. She followed.

They followed the tracks down the side street and around the corner until they came up to the old well. On the side of the well, the bucket sat, still with some water in it.

"At least they found some water," Robert commented. He picked up the bucket and took a mouthful of water. He offered it to Lisa.

"Um… no thanks. I’ll drink out of my water skin."

Robert shrugged his shoulders again. He looked around them, taking another mouthful of water. "Well, I don’t think they’re here."

"Why do you say that? We haven’t looked everywhere yet."

"Yeah, but by now, either one of them should’ve seen us, or we should’ve inadvertently bumped into one of them. If they were here, they probably left in the early morning, when it’s the coolest."

"Oh," she simply said.

Silence fell for a moment, but Robert was anxious to find his friends, so it didn’t last long. "Let’s go," he said.

"Where are we going?"

"To Dolsena. That’s where they’ll be heading next. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch up to them before they get there."

They walked back to their horses.

* * * *

"Is that it?" Michael asked as the remains of buildings rose in the distance.

"I think so," Aaron said. "Although we can’t be totally sure until we reach it."

They had been walking for many hours now. After leaving Salenne in the early morning, they had marched straight through until lunch. Even then, they only took a short break. Just enough to eat some rations and rest their legs. Everyone could see the anxiousness present in Link. His pace had quickened, he spoke less, and he never strayed his eyes off the path they had taken. He was being very deliberate with everything, but at the same time, a sense of urgency emanated from him. Zelda felt the same, although not as much. Her thoughts were more on Evan than on the journey to get to him. She knew he would be there, and she only hoped that she could release him from whatever monster had control over him. She just knew there was something toying with her son.

The other four were slightly anxious, but mostly because they wanted to be home with the people they cared about. They had left their world somewhere around two weeks ago, and homesickness was beginning to set in. Even though that had been on missions that involved an extensive absence from home before, this eerie place with its connections to their own world was the deciding factor. All in all, this wasn’t an entirely different land, just the same land which had come from an altered set of events. They couldn’t wait until they were home.

Michael looked around. He didn’t know how closely this area resembled their own world. He had never been to Dolsena before. In fact, up until this whole thing started, he had barely ventured outside of Oceana. The horizon around them offered up nothing, besides the dead town ahead of them. Michael didn’t like it.

"I hate this place," he commented to no one in particular.

William chuckled. "You’re not the only one," he said from behind Michael.

There was a short silence.

"I’ve never been in this area before, even back home," Michael said, now slowing down so he could walk beside William and Aaron. "I thought we would’ve been able to see the castle from here."

"Not if it’s in the same place as Hyrule Castle is," Aaron said. "The lands between are hilly, and one can’t see the castle from this area."

"Besides," William said, "I don’t even want to see it. I’d rather it remained out of sight. Because if it’s anything like that tower that stood where Lon Lon Ranch was supposed to be…" William stopped and felt a chill run down his spine. He physically shivered.

"I only saw the tower from afar," Michael said. "I wasn’t allowed to fight. My father kept on telling me that I was too young."

"Believe me," William went on, "you’re lucky you didn’t have to. That tower… it still gives me the chills. And I suspect this castle will do the same."

Michael sighed, a little frightened now. Aaron saw it in his face.

"Don’t worry, Michael. It’s still only a structure, no matter how intimidating it may seem."

Michael didn’t seem too relieved.

"He’s right, you know," William added. "Even with the creepy feeling, I still went into it, and we were able to remove that… thing from Hyrule. Always have confidence in your endeavors."

Michael nodded. "I guess you’re right. But now," he said, "I’m not looking forward to seeing it at all." He tried to smile.

William smiled. "You and me both. You and me both," he repeated.

They continued walking toward Dolsena.

* * * *

Robert brought his horse to a halt on top of a hill, and Lisa did the same beside him.

"What is it?" she asked.

He looked toward the horizon from his vantage point and saw buildings in the distance. He looked down at the area between his position and the town, and was able to make out several figures.

"There they are!" he shouted.

"What? Where?" She held her hand over her eyes to block out the sun.

"There!" he exclaimed as he pointed directly at them.

She looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, she saw the figures making their way toward Dolsena.

"But how can you be sure they’re your friends?"

He smiled. "Trust me. I just know." She looked into his eyes, and smiled. "We should be able to catch up to them before they reach the town."

She looked back at them. For no real reason, she looked all around the area in which they were walking and noticed more figures. She turned to Robert.

"How many did you say there were?"

"Six. Why? Aren’t all of them there?" He looked back at the group of travelers.

"Well, yes. All six are there," she said hesitantly, her voice showing signs of fear.

"Then what’s wrong?"

She sighed. "Then they’ve got company." She pointed northwest of the group, which was their right.

Robert looked and saw what she meant. Coming from the northwest was a band of creatures. What they were, he couldn’t tell. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that his friends were outnumbered.

"Damn it to hell!" he shouted as he brought his horse into a full sprint.

They raced toward the Knights.

* * * *

"Link?" John asked meekly, not sure if Link wanted to talk.

Link turned around. "Yes, John?"

"I’m not bothering you, am I?"

Link smiled. "Of course not, John. What’s on your mind?"

"I was just thinking," he began, "that it’s been a relatively easy journey today…"

"And you’re worried that something might be up?"

John nodded. "Exactly."

"I’ve been thinking about that, too," Link said. "It seems that trouble always seems to find us."

"So what do we do?"

Link sighed. "There’s not much we really can do, except for what for it. We’ll just have to deal with it as we go along, just like we’ve been doing."

"I suppose you’re right," John said, a little more confident. "We’ve been through so much already."

Link nodded, and John dropped back behind him again. Link sighed.

"What is it?" Zelda asked.

"It’s nothing."

"Link," she said, looking him directly in the eyes. "I can tell it’s not nothing. Out with it."

He sighed again. "I just hope that I’m not leading these guys to their deaths."

"That’s ridiculous!" she exclaimed. "Of course you’re not. They came of their own free will. They trust that you will do everything in your power to ensure their survival."

"But Nick and Robert…"

"I hope you’re not blaming yourself for their deaths."

"And why shouldn’t I?" He was both angry and saddened at the same time.

"Link," she said softly in an effort to comfort him. "You’re not all-powerful. You can’t always save their lives." He didn’t respond, but she could tell that she was getting through to him. "Your job now is to make sure that they didn’t die in vain. If you start blaming yourself, then you are letting them down as a leader. But more importantly, you’d be letting them down as a friend. Believe in yourself. That’s what they would’ve wanted."

He sighed again, and smiled.

"I love you, Link. Not because you’re always there to save the day, but because you’re always ready to sacrifice your own life for the safety of others. You never give up." She grabbed his face in her right hand. "Now don’t give up now." She kissed him.

"You’re right, Zel," he finally said. "I have to keep going. For their sake. And Evan’s."

"Good," she said and smiled.

"Link!"

Link turned around and saw Aaron running up toward him.

"What is it, Aaron?"

"We’ve got company," he said, pointing to their right.

Link looked over, and there he saw a band of men running toward them. From the looks of it, they seemed like an ordinary band of thieves. But Link doubted they were anything but ordinary. He unsheathed his sword, and the other Knights did the same.

"Zelda stand back," Link said to her, without turning his attention away from the oncoming thieves.

"But I want to help!"

"You’ll be more helpful back here!" He turned his attention to his fellow Knights. "Attack!"

The five of them charged their enemy, seemingly outnumbered by at least three to one. The first wave of thieves fell easily at the hands of the more experienced Knights, as did most of the second wave. The leader stood in the back.

"We’ve got them now!" Michael shouted.

The Knights continued ripping through the thieves as they came rushing toward them. One after the other, thieves littered the ground, their blood soaking the dead grass around them. Soon, only the leader was left. Link advanced on him first, with Aaron and William behind him.

"I don’t know who you are," Link said, his blade pointing directly at the thief’s neck. "But you’re through."

The thief laughed menacingly.

Link looked at William and Aaron, then back at the thief. "What the hell’s so funny? Do you mock your own death?"

The thief continued laughing.

"Enough of this!" Aaron shouted. "Just kill him, Link!"

He nodded, and prepared to run the thief through, but just as he was about to, movement caught his eye. Link’s heart sank, as did that of the others. Zelda screamed.

The bodies of the killed thieves rose.

"What kind of devilry is this?" William exclaimed.

"I don’t know," John said. "But we’re in trouble."

Michael was the first to encounter one of the newly risen thieves. He swung his sword at it, killing it, again. To all of their horror, the creature rose again.

"This is not good," Aaron stated. "Not good at all."

The Knights continued to do battle with the seemingly indestructible thieves. Every time they cut one down, it would rise up again, unaffected. Zelda fired a couple of arrows into the fray in order to aid them, but the arrows were just as ineffective as their swords. The Knights scrambled around in utter chaos, uncertain as to how they would emerge from this victorious, and alive.

Link struck down three more, then watched them stand up again. All the while, he noticed that the leader of the thieves stood far away from the battle, never participating. He found it strange, but there wasn’t any time to dwell on it, as the thieves continued their onslaught.

Zelda could only watch on in horror as Link and the others fought desperately. She had wanted to run in there and help them, but she was frozen in terror. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two riders coming toward them. Although they were within her sight, she didn’t think anything of them. Her gaze was directed toward the mLlée in front of her, and she never noticed that one headed for the battle, while the other headed toward her.

Five of the thieves were now coming at Link, and he didn’t know how he was going to get away from them. They closed in on him, and he swung wildly at all five at the same time. By some stroke of luck, he managed to cut down two, momentarily. They were soon back on their feet and coming toward him.

Suddenly, a single horse with a rider bulldozed its way into the fray, and Link found himself saved for the moment. He looked up as the horse stopped beside him.

"Robert?"

Robert smiled. "Looks like you could use my help, Link."

"But… you fell… the bridge…"

"No time to talk now. We have to get out of this."

Link nodded. "Right." The thieves began to rise again. "The head thief. There’s something strange about him…"

"I’m on it," Robert replied, and before Link count stop him, Robert was off and running toward the leader. Link went back into battle.

Robert rode hard and fast to the lone man standing idly by as the two sides battled. As the head thief realized that Robert was coming for him, he turned around and tried to flee. Robert kicked his horse harder, and gained on the fleeing coward. As he got within striking distance, Robert raised his sword and decapitated the thief.

The head rolled of the shoulders, landing on the ground nearby. But to Robert’s surprise, the rest of the body remained standing where it was. He stared at it, wondering what was going on. Then, the body began to disappear. And there, where the thief had just been, stood the old man.

"What the hell?" Robert cried out. "You!" He pointed his blade at the old man’s throat.

The old man said nothing. Link and Aaron ran up beside Robert.

"What the hell happened?" Aaron asked. "They just disappeared!"

"Just another test," the old man said.

"Just another test?" Link repeated. "We almost died!"

"But you did not."

William, John, and Michael ran up to join them. William stopped at the sight of Robert.

"Another ghost?"

"He is not," the old man answered for him.

William looked at Robert again. "I can’t believe it. You’re alive!"

"Let’s not worry about that right now," Robert said to William. He turned his attention back to the old man. "You have something to say to us, old man?"

"I was only here to test you."

"And we appreciate it," Aaron said sarcastically. "Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re headed to Dolsena."

Aaron began to walk passed the old man, but he put his hand up. "There’s no use going there. It’s completely destroyed."

"We might be able to find supplies there," John said.

The old man shook his head. "There are none. You must continue your journey to the castle. There, all of this will come to an end."

"Very well, old man," Link said. "We’ll take your word on it. We’ll head toward the castle, and you better hope that we don’t see you again."

"There is no more need for me. My work is done," the old man said. "But you must make it to the castle. There, all will be revealed."

"What will be revealed?" Michael asked.

The old man disappeared. His voice lingered in the winds. "Go to the castle."

Lisa and Zelda now joined them, and the eight of them stood there for a moment. Robert dismounted.

"So you’re really alive?" Link asked him.

"That’s right," he answered, smiling. "Lisa, here, saved my life." She had dismounted as well. "Lisa, this is Link. Link, Lisa."

She curtseyed in front of him. "Pleased to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you. About all of you," she said as she looked around at them.

"The pleasure is all mine," Link said. "You saved Robert’s life, and for that I can never repay you."

She shook her head in embarrassment. "You don’t need to. I was merely doing what I thought was right."

She curtseyed again and went on introducing herself to the other Knights. As she did so, Robert took Link aside.

"Link, there’s something you should know about her."

Link grew concerned. "What? Is something wrong with her?"

Robert shook his head. "No."

"Then what is it?"

Robert sighed. "She has a connection with Evan."

Link’s eyes widened. "With my Evan?"

"Yes. He spent a year with her family, but when he started acting strangely, she grew worried. He left them, but she followed him until he let her go with him. When they got here, he left her to live on her own. And she’s been alone ever since."

"How long ago did he leave her?"

He sighed again. "Six years."

Link looked over at her. "Poor girl has been alone for that long?"

"Yes."

"Why did you bring her along?"

"I felt sorry for her. She hasn’t had contact with anyone since Evan left," he paused. "But, not only that…" He stopped.

"What?"

"I don’t know. I just feel that we’ll need her."

Link nodded. He knew what Robert meant. I just feel that I’ll need her. He could see it in his eyes, but he decided not to say anything now.

"Alright," he said. He turned to the rest of them, who were now engaged in small talk. "It’s time to move on."

They all stopped talking.

"We head south to the castle to finish this once and for all," he said to them. He looked back at Robert. "Take good care of her. She’s your responsibility."

"I understand," Robert said.

Link smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder. Robert smiled back. Link turned to face the others again. "Let’s go get my son back."

They turned south and headed toward the castle.

They walked until night fell before taking a much-needed break. The silence that had so often fell upon them on their long marches was not present this time. Now that they had someone new to talk to, conversations started up everywhere. Several of the Knights had questions about the world they were in, and in turn, Lisa had questions about their world.

The fire crackled as they began to drift off to sleep. In the morning, they would had off to the castle, their final destination. With their goal so close, half of them found it hard to sleep. Link and Zelda lay awake long into the night, hoping that this would be the last night that they would be apart from Evan. William lay awake, wondering when the glowing sword would be needed. He had a pretty good idea, but the sword hadn’t shown any signs of the eerie glow that he had seen in it before. And finally, Michael couldn’t sleep. The next day would be the toughest day he had ever faced in his life, so he kept telling himself. He had conquered so many of his fears to get this far, and he wondered what tomorrow would bring.

The fire died down until there was nothing left of it but ashes. Eventually, all were asleep.

* * * *

They stood in front of the castle, its looming towers looking menacingly down upon them. Several bolts of lightning flashed, followed almost instantly by the roar of thunder. None of them moved.

William looked up. "I knew it," he said. "Feels just like the tower did."

Aaron glanced over at him, but said nothing. He looked up at the castle as well, and he felt the same evil emanating from it that William had described about the tower. The structure almost seemed alive itself.

Link unsheathed the Master Sword. "I’m going in."

He began to walk into the entrance of the castle. The others obediently followed him, even Lisa. She wanted to know what happened to Evan just as much as everyone else. Link stopped and turned around.

"I meant I was going in, alone."

"Like hell you are," Robert retorted. "We’ve come this far. And I, for one, am not ready to call it quits this close to the end."

Aaron stepped up beside him. "He’s right, Link. We all need to see this through to the end. Call it curiosity."

"Yeah, but curiosity killed the cat," William interjected from behind. There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He was completely straight-faced.

Robert turned and looked at him. "Well, then. We’ll just have to use every one of our nine lives." He smiled. William didn’t find Robert’s response amusing at all, and glared at him. Robert sighed and looked away. The rest of them ignored their comments.

"And there’s no way you’re going in there without me," Zelda said. "I want my son back, and no one is going to stop me."

Link looked around. "Are all of you in agreement?" They nodded; Link sighed. "Very well. We’ll all go in and finish this." They all began walking, except Link. "But remember," he said abruptly, causing all of them to stop short. "Ganondorf is mine."

None of them knew how to take the comment. Of course, he and Zelda were affected the most by Evan’s disappearance. But to fight the King of Evil alone once again seemed like suicide to a few of them. But they let it go for now. There was no use arguing at a time like this.

Link walked by them all and headed into the dark halls of the castle. He still had the Master Sword unsheathed, and now the other Knights unsheathed their swords, ready for an attack from anywhere. They headed down a large, poorly lit corridor. Its ceiling wasn’t visible from the ground. All they could see above them was complete darkness. The air around them was stale and had a faint odor of death hanging in it. The putrid smell bothered them slightly, but many of them had been through this sort of thing before. Up ahead, the small torches that faintly lit the corridor converged onto a wall. Similar torches outlined two openings in front of them. They stopped.

Link looked from one opening to the other. He repeated the process several times, his free hand moving to his chin and scratching.

"Any ideas, Link?" Aaron asked.

"Not a clue."

"Then I guess there’s only one thing we can do," Robert stated.

William turned around. "And what might that be?"

"We split up."

"Split up?" Michael repeated. "Are you sure that’s wise? What if Evan…" he got an evil stare from Zelda. He stopped and corrected himself by using a nondescriptive pronoun. "What if he is trying to divide us to make us vulnerable?"

John answered, "That’s exactly what he’s trying to do. There’s no mistaking that."

"Then why fall into his trap?" Michael went on.

"Because if we don’t split up, we’ll never find the right way through the castle," Aaron said.

Lisa was confused. "What do you mean? Aren’t there only two paths? If one is wrong, can’t we just turn around and go down the other one?"

"Not likely," Link said, now turning to face her. "This won’t be the only choice of paths we’ll have to make. I just know that the passageways will branch off even more as we go deeper."

"So like I said," Robert jumped in. "We split up."

There was a brief silence.

"So what are the two groups?" John asked.

Link looked around. "I’ll take Zel, Aaron, and John with me. Robert, you take William, Michael, and Lisa." Robert nodded. "Now, which side do you want?"

Robert glanced from opening to opening, much like Link had done earlier. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I guess we’ll go right."

"Then we’ll take the left," Link pointed out, although it was completely obvious. "Let’s go."

The two groups walked toward their opening. Just before they walked through the door, William turned to the other group.

"Good luck, kids," he joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. "Don’t let the dark scare you."

The remark went ignored.

* * * *

Link led the way down the left passageway, and it was as poorly lit (if not more so) than the large corridor they had been in before. The passageway was a lot smaller than the corridor had been, although the ceiling was just as high. However, there was still plenty of room for two of them to walk side-by-side. And that they did; Link and Aaron walked in front, with Zelda and John closely behind.

"Can you see anything up there?" John called up, unable to see passed the two Knights in front of him.

"Can’t see a damn thing," Aaron commented, almost angrily. "If we see something, we’ll let you know."

They continued walking, and Zelda began humming a tone. Link stopped.

"Are you humming?" he asked her, completely dumbfounded.

"I sing to myself when I’m scared," she explained. "It worked for me as a little girl, and it’s working for me now."

Link tilted his head to the right a little and gave a half-smile. "Alright. Suit yourself." He started walking again.

Strangely enough, both Aaron and John found the tune soothing, and they felt their fear melting away as Zelda hummed. They didn’t know why the humming was so soothing, nor did they care. All they knew was that they weren’t as paranoid and afraid anymore.

But that feeling soon gave way as Zelda stopped humming in order to scream. They all jumped and swirled around, looking for the signs of an enemy. When they couldn’t find one, Link sheathed his sword.

"What the hell was that about?"

Zelda was clutching her arms. "Something brushed up against my foot."

Link looked down and around. About five feet behind them, a small rat stood. Link sighed.

"It’s just a rat. Nothing to get excited about."

Zelda’s face contorted into disgust. "A rat? I hate those things! They’re disgusting and creepy and disease-ridden and…" she rambled on as she got a cold chill from thinking about them.

"Let’s go," Link said, and turned around.

As they started moving again, John crept up to Zelda. "They creep me out, too," he whispered into her ear. She smiled.

"Don’t encourage her," Link called from the front, obviously hearing him. "It’s just a rat."

John fell back, but Aaron moved closer to Link.

"If I’m not mistaken, you can’t stand the sight of a rat, either," he whispered to him.

Link looked at Aaron, looked back at Zelda and John, and turned back to face Aaron again. "Shut up," he said as he felt a chill run down his spine. Aaron couldn’t help but laugh.

"What’s so funny?" John asked.

"Nothing," Link said quickly. "Let’s just keep moving."

* * * *

Robert, Lisa, William, and Michael had been walking down an identical passageway, although they didn’t know that. Now, they stood at another split.

"So," William said. "We split up again, I suppose."

Robert shrugged. "We don’t really have much of a choice."

"Well, who goes where, then?" Michael asked.

Lisa grabbed Robert’s arm. "I’m not going anywhere without Robert."

William and Michael glanced at each other, gave a small smile, then turned back to the other two. William laughed. "Well, I guess that solves how were splitting up. Now we just have to choose where we’re going."

"I’m going to stick with going right. You two go down this left corridor," Robert suggested.

"Agreed," Michael said.

The two pairs split up and walked to their respective passageways. Before entering, they both stopped. Robert looked to his left.

"Good luck."

"Same to you," Michael said back.

"You two kids have fun, alone in the dark," William added. The comment successfully made Lisa blush, and Robert a little, but the absence of light made it impossible to see it.

"Good ol’ William," Robert said. "I can always count on you to quip about anything in any situation."

"Just doing what comes naturally," William replied. "Now get going before I change my mind about which passage to take, or which partner."

Robert smiled and nodded, and then he and Lisa disappeared down the next passageway. William and Michael remained standing where they were, peering into the darkness ahead of them.

"You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?" William finally asked after a brief silence.

Michael shook his head. "No, just heights. Why? Are you?"

"Of course not," William replied. He paused for a moment. "But I do get a little claustrophobic."

"We’ll just have to find our way through this passageway quickly then, won’t we?"

William smiled. "As fast as possible. I just wish it wasn’t so dark, so I could see just how far we need to go."

Michael looked around and down into the passageway. "Well, we couldn’t reach the other torches, but perhaps there are ones down there that we can reach."

"I hope you’re right," William said as he walked into the passageway.

Michael hesitated for a moment. "So do I." He followed.

* * * *

The other four ran into the same juncture in their path, and Link and Zelda had gone down the right path, whereas Aaron and John went down the left. The small passages in which they were all now walking were nearly identical to each other. The ceiling had lowered drastically, and the torches that Michael had hoped would be in reach, were so. The walls themselves were no so close that they were forced to walk single file with the person holding the torch leading the way.

Link was doing just that, Zelda clinging desperately to his hand. He led her slowly down the passage, which now merely resembled a tunnel. The tunnel curved left and right, and Link wondered if all the paths crisscrossed each other at some point, or if they passed over and under each other. At the moment, however, he didn’t put too much thought into it.

"Link?"

"Yeah, Zel?"

"How much further?"

Link chuckled a little. "What makes you think that I know that?"

"I don’t know," she said, meekly. "I was just hoping you knew."

"Sorry. I don’t."

It was then that Link began to see something in the distance. There seemed to be several torches placed around it, indicating to Link that it was the exit out of this tunnel. Indeed, from what he could tell from this distance, the object looked like a small door. Hopefully a door out of here, he thought to himself. He turned to Zelda.

"I think I see a door up ahead."

"How far?" she asked.

"Not very." He grabbed her hand a little tighter. "Let’s go. We’re almost there. I can feel it."

They picked up their pace.

* * * *

William and Michael saw a door as well. They were significantly closer to it now since when they had first spotted it, and their hopes had risen. William was beginning to feel the effects of his slight claustrophobia, but the anticipation of getting out of the tunnels helped him overcome those feelings.

"Do you think it’s really a way out?" Michael asked.

"Who cares? I just don’t want to be in this tunnel any longer!"

Michael nodded. "Shall I do the honors?"

William gestured with his hand. "Be my guest."

Reaching out, Michael grabbed the large handle of the door. Gently, he tried to push it down. It didn’t move.

"What’s wrong?" William asked as he saw Michael straining a little.

"It’s stuck!"

"Stuck?" William shouted. "What do you mean ‘stuck’?"

"What do you think I mean?" Michael yelled back. "The handle would move!"

"There is no way in hell that I’m going to be stuck down here because this door has a faulty handle! Get out of the way!" he yelled as he shoved Michael from the door.

William grabbed the handle and tried with all his might to move it. It didn’t budge. He strained several more times, sweat now dripping down his face. Finally, he gave in.

"It’s stuck."

Michael’s face said Of course, you idiot. He said, "Isn’t that what I said?"

"Yeah," William answered, almost apologetically. "So what do we do now?"

"Maybe if we both try to move it at once…"

William was confused. "How so?"

"Well," Michael walked up to the handle. "If you try to push down on it like this," he demonstrated by placing his hands on top of the handle, "and I pull on it like this…" He placed his hands around the bottom of the handle. "…it might work."

William wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t have any better ideas. "It’s worth a shot."

So William and Michael took their respective positions on the handle.

"On three," Michael said, and William nodded his understanding. "One… two… three!"

They pulled (or pushed) with all their might, and there was a slight sound of grinding metal. Slowly, the handle began to move until it suddenly gave out completely, and the door was open. William and Michael wound up on the ground.

William got himself up, then helped Michael to his feet. "That’s better!" Michael said. "Now let’s see what’s on the other side." He pushed the door open, and in front of them, glowing bright red, was a portal. "What the…?" Michael started to say, but was cut off when a glowing hand emerged from the portal and pulled him through.

It then came at William.

"Oh, that’s not good."

* * * *

Robert and Lisa stared at the door.

"Where do you suppose it leads?" Lisa asked, not having that much experience in this sort of adventure.

"Who knows?" Robert answered back with a question. "Could be the way out of here, or it could be a trap."

"A trap?" Lisa said, bringing her hands up to her face. "How will we know?"

He looked at her. "Only one way to find out." He turned the knob, pushed the door open, and behind it stood a blue portal, shining brightly.

Lisa stared at it. "I don’t know if that’s good or bad," she said in a low voice.

"Neither do I," Robert agreed. "But I’m going through. You coming along?" He held out his hand.

She placed hers in his and smiled. Without another word, they leapt into the portal.

* * * *

"Should I push it?" John asked Aaron. He was referring to the large button that appeared on the door in front of them. Neither of them had seen a button quite like this one before.

"We don’t really have any other choice. I’m not walking all the way back. Besides, we’d never be able to find anybody now."

"I suppose you’re right," John said, then paused. He looked at Aaron. "So should I push it?"

"Do it," Aaron commanded.

John pushed the button, and nothing seemed to happen.

"Well that was very anti-climatic," Aaron quipped.

But suddenly, a red glow came from beneath them. They looked down and the ground they were standing on became translucent. Beneath them, a large portal opened wide. Aaron could guess what would happen next.

"Sonuvabitch!" he was able to shout as the floor beneath disappeared.

They plunged into the portal.

* * * *

Link and Zelda were the last ones to reach a door. There’s looked identical to the others, except for the one detail that was unique about each. That was, of course, the way in which one opened it. William and Michael used a handle, Robert and Lisa had a simple doorknob, and Aaron and John had a button. There was no way Link or Zelda could’ve known that, nor did they care. All that mattered to them was that there didn’t seem to be a way to open the one in front of them.

Link felt around. "I can’t find a switch or a button anywhere."

"Neither can I," Zelda said. She had been feeling around the right half of the door, while Link had taken the left half.

"There doesn’t seem to be any way of opening this damn door!" Link yelled in frustration, punching the door with his fist.

Zelda stared quizzically at the door. "This seems familiar…" she muttered. She thought for a little longer. "It reminds me of the door…" she tried to recollect. "…in Ganondorf’s Tower… that’s it!" she finally shouted.

"What’s it?"

"The door in Ganondorf’s Tower three years ago!"

"What about it?" Link asked, forgetting.

"Don’t you remember?" His face told her he obviously did not. "Magic! We opened it with magic!"

Now he remembered. "That’s right! I can’t believe I’d forgotten about that!"

"That’s alright," Zelda said. "I remembered and that’s all that matters." He couldn’t tell for sure, but she seemed to be gloating. She was smiling widely.

"Okay, would you mind opening the door now?"

"With pleasure," she replied.

Zelda concentrated her powers on the door. A blue aura surrounded her, just as it had three years ago. The same blue glow appeared on the door. Slowly, it swung open and Zelda released her mind. Behind the door, a blue portal stood.

"Nicely done," Link applauded.

Zelda blushed. "It was nothing." After a brief silence, "So where do you think it leads?"

"My guess?" Link asked, rhetorically. "It leads to Evan."

"Well, then what are we waiting for?" Zelda exclaimed and ran into the portal ahead of him.

Link waited. He looked up at the ceiling. "We’re coming, Evan!" he shouted. "We’re coming to bring you home!"

He ran into the portal.

"Where the hell are we?" Aaron said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Beats me," John replied. "But I think I hit the wrong button."

Aaron pulled himself up and looked around. He saw nothing but darkness. He couldn’t see anything beyond John who was a mere foot away from him. There was no way of telling where they were, or how they would ever get out of the darkness. Aaron opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off by a hideous laugh. No, he thought, that sounds like two people laughing. As the laughing continued, the torches in the room lit themselves. It was then they noticed that they were in a cell.

John looked around. "Yup," he said. "Definitely the wrong button."

The laughing went on, and they choose to ignore it. Instead, they glanced around the large room in which they were now situated. Across from them, on the other wall, were William and Michael. They, too, were imprisoned in a cage.

"William! Michael!" Aaron shouted across to them. The two figures turned to their friend.

"Aaron!" William shouted back.

"Looks like we got ourselves into a little bit of trouble," Aaron said.

William nodded. "Obviously." He paused briefly. "But where’s Link? And the others?"

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "I have no clue."

Just then, a blue portal opened up to Aaron’s right, which was William’s left. Out of it stepped Robert and Lisa, bewildered.

"At least it’s brighter in here," Robert commented.

"Robert!" William shouted, grabbing his attention.

Robert looked in his direction. "William?" He looked across to the other cell. "Aaron? Are you guys alright?"

"For the time being," John answered.

"But who knows how long," Aaron added.

"Don’t worry," a familiar voice said. "I won’t keep you waiting too long."

All six of them turned to look toward the back of the room. It was decorated with several tapestries and one large, devilish throne. Sitting in it was Evan.

"Evan!" Robert yelled. "What have you been doing?"

"Patience, Robert. I will answer all your questions just as soon as the guests of honor arrive."

"Guests of honor?" Lisa mumbled under her breath.

Robert heard her and answered, "Link and Zelda."

"That is correct," Evan replied. "My parents are the guests we wait for. How rude of them to keep us waiting."

"I don’t know what you have planned, Evan," William called from his cell, "but you won’t get away with it."

Evan laughed. "I could always count on you for a laugh, William."

"He’s not joking!" Michael yelled out, furious. "It’s because of you that we’re all here, and we will stop you no matter what!"

"Ah," Evan said as he stood up, "so this is Michael, hmm? The wannabe Knight who just can’t quite get over his fear of heights." He laughed. "Let’s have some fun, shall we?"

Evan raised his hands up over his head, and then William and Michael’s cage began to rise from the ground. Up it went, toward the high ceiling. When it finally came to a stop, William and Michael were nearly fifty feet off the ground.

Michael felt his heart pumping erratically again, and his breathing became impaired. Sweat began to drip down his face as he stared at the ground far below. William pulled him back.

"Stay in the center and don’t look down if you can’t handle it," he said to him. "Relax."

"Easy for you to say," Michael got out between breaths.

Evan laughed again, far below them.

"Now," he said, "Where were we?"

A second blue portal opened up behind Robert and Lisa, and they turned around. Out of it stepped Link and Zelda, and Link seemed to have a full grasp on the situation.

"Evan!" he said before looking up. When he did, he saw the floating cage high above them and he could see William peering over the edge of it. "Let them down from there at once!" he shouted while pointing up at them.

"Interesting that you think you can tell me what to do, Father. You no longer have any control over me."

"Evan, please," Zelda pleaded with him. "Stop this madness and come home with us."

"And for what reason? When I was with you, I was treated as a child."

"You are a child!" Link shouted.

"Was a child," Evan pointed out. "I am one no longer. And in this place, I have supreme power. There are none that rival my power! So why should I go back with you?"

William turned to Michael in their cage. "He’s got a good point." Michael just stared at him.

"But, Evan," Zelda pleaded on, "We love you."

"Love has nothing to do with it, Mother! I have come here to fulfill my role as a great ruler!"

"A great ruler?" Robert repeated. "Don’t be so full of yourself."

"What?" Evan was shocked at the way he was being talked to.

"All you bring is despair, pain, and fear. A great ruler would bring peace, happiness, and hope. You? A great ruler? I think not." Robert turned to Link and Zelda. "The only great rulers in this room are your parents."

"A great ruler also has many allies," Aaron added. "Do you have any allies, Evan?"

"I have no need for allies," Evan sneered. "I have ultimate power."

John joined in. "Seems kind of lonely to me. You have ‘ultimate’ power," he spoke sarcastically, "and many ‘subjects’, yet you have no one to call friend."

"I never had a ‘friend’, even when I was with them," Evan said. His voice almost seemed sad now.

"You had us," Link said.

"All of us!" William shouted down.

"You people?" Evan laughed. "Please. You’re my parents’ friends, not mine."

They all fell silent as that remark hurt them deeply. None of them knew how to respond to such a harsh statement. Except one person.

"But aren’t I your friend, Evan?"

Lisa spoke to Evan for the first time since he had left her near Forbidden Lake. And even though he knew she was with them, he couldn’t predict how seeing her would make him feel.

"Evan? Aren’t I your friend?"

"I have no friends," he muttered.

She began walking forward. Robert reached out to pull her back, but Link stopped him. Robert looked at Link, and without saying anything, he understood to let her go.

"Don’t you remember the fun we used to have?"

"I have… no friends…" Evan threw his hands onto his head as he shook it. She kept on advancing.

"Remember when we brought you to the beach for your birthday? You were so thrilled…"

"No..."

She was now standing just in front of him, looking him in the face. He tried not to look at her.

"And the Beginning of Seasons Festival? All the food and dancing and games that you could think of…"

"No… I don’t have any friends!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, and collapsed into Lisa’s arms. "I don’t have any…" he was now crying.

Link and Zelda rushed up to her, and Lisa handed Evan over to Zelda. She thrust her arms around him, embracing him for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Robert walked up beside Lisa, and the two of them hugged as well. Zelda started crying.

"Mom… I’m sorry…"

"It’s okay, Evan," she consoled him. "I’m just happy to have you back."

Link placed his arm on his son’s shoulder. "We’ve missed you, Evan."

As the family reunion went on, laughter reverberated throughout the room, and the Triforce pieces in Link and Zelda began to resonate. Zelda and Evan continued their embrace, but Link quickly took his hand off Evan and reached for the Master Sword.

"How touching," the evil voice said. "Father and mother reunited with their son."

"Come out here, Ganondorf!" Link yelled. "Show yourself!"

"Very well."

Behind them, a purple puff of smoke appeared. As it cleared, they saw Ganondorf. Link brandished the Master Sword.

"This is all your fault!" he yelled.

Ganondorf laughed. "You’re intentions are honorable, Link. But you shouldn’t blame others for your mistakes."

"What the hell are you talking about? My mistakes?" Link was dumbfounded and confused.

"How easily we forget the risks of the past," Ganondorf sneered.

"What risks?" Robert asked.

Ganondorf laughed again. "Risks that involve using the powers of the Triforce, of course."

William and Michael were still high up in the air, and could barely hear the conversation below. William yelled down to get their attention.

"What the hell are you people talking about?"

They all looked up, even Ganondorf. He sneered at them before he raised his hands, and slowly lowered them to the ground.

"I’ll give you the honor of hearing the truth before I kill you all," he said to them.

William turned to Michael, who was now completely relieved that they were on solid ground again. Seeing that he was alright, he turned back.

"How very thoughtful of you," he said to the Evil King.

Ganondorf sneered again.

"Tell me!" Link interrupted. "I must know! Why am I to blame?"

"Surely you remember dispelling the barrier I had placed around my tower in Hyrule Field."

Link thought back. "We used the Amulets of the Goddesses to do that."

"Therein lies your mistake."

"What? Dispelling your barrier?"

Ganondorf laughed hard. "And you call yourself the Hero of Time? I thought you would’ve been smarter than this!"

Link thought aloud. "I used the Bracer of Courage… Zel used the Necklace of Wisdom… and Evan used…" Link’s face lit up in horror.

Ganondorf smiled. "The Ring of Power," he finished for Link. "And I’m afraid poor little Evan wasn’t ready for such power to be flowing through him."

"But what about the Triforce of Courage in me… and Wisdom in Zelda… why couldn’t Evan handle Power?"

Ganondorf shook his head. "Your little theory about Courage and Wisdom brings about Power is foolish!"

"But Courage and Wisdom can bring Power! And since Zelda and I have courage and wisdom, Evan should be able to control power!"

"You should know better than anyone that those qualities aren’t birthrights! They’re acquired! An eight-year-old boy could never have courage and wisdom, and therefore could never wield power!"

Evan looked up at the Evil King. "So you used me for revenge?"

Ganondorf laughed. "When I learned that there was a parallel world where you had defeated me in the Tower, I strove to correct this… imperfection. And everything was going smoothly, until now."

"What went wrong? You couldn’t control Evan anymore?" Aaron jeered from his cage. "He became too strong for you?"

"No," Gannondorf sneered, and looked at Lisa. "I hadn’t planned on her. But it makes no difference. I would’ve liked to have seen you die at the hands of your own son, although I will find great pleasure in killing you myself."

Robert unsheathed his sword. "We’ll stop you right here, once and for all!"

"No!" Link yelled, holding up his hand at Robert. "This is my fight! I will end this myself!"

Ganondorf laughed again. "Good. I wouldn’t have it any other way." He looked around at the other Knights and continued, "But to make sure none of you interfere…" he stopped talking as he teleported Link and himself out of the castle.

William threw his hand to his head as a sharp pain ran through it. Michael noticed it and ran beside him. "William! Are you alright?"

William was still grimacing in pain, his hand still on his head. "I’m fine, I’m fine," he said as Michael helped him up. William looked up toward the ceiling. "It’s almost time."

"Almost time for what?" Michael asked.

William shook his head. "You’ll see."

"Hey, Robert!" Aaron called. "You mind getting us out of here? We need to help Link!"

"But we don’t know where they are!" Robert called back.

"I do," Evan said. "They’re over by Death Mountain."

"Evan, can you get us there?" William called out. "Link will die if I don’t get out there!"

Evan nodded. "I think I can."

Robert broke the lock on Aaron and John’s cage, while Lisa broke the one on William and Michael’s.

"Then do it!" William shouted.

Evan began canting a spell.

* * * *

When they appeared outside in the field, Ganondorf and Link were already entrenched in battle. The two adversaries charged each other in a fit of rage, yelling at the top of their lungs. Link lunged forward, and Ganondorf moved out of the way, causing the Hero of Time to stumble forward. Quick to react, Link dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding Ganondorf’s horizontal slice. He rolled over onto his back and defended himself from a brief onslaught by the King of Evil.

The battle looked spectacular from their point of view. Storm clouds cluttered in overhead, as if they were interested in the battle as well. Lightning bolts appeared throughout the sky and the thunder rolled so much that it was hard to distinguish when one ended and another began. Any time that a lightning bolt hit the ground nearby, it briefly lit up the surrounding area and made it look like the two fighters were merely posing for their picture rather than partaking in a battle to the death; a battle that could forever change the way the future was written.

William, however, paid no mind to the showy battle that raged on in front of them. What had caught his interest was what Link was carrying. Rather, what he wasn’t carrying anymore. William could see from their standpoint that Link had removed Nick’s sword and shield, but where he had put them was completely beyond him. He felt his heart sink.

"I’m going to help him!" Aaron exclaimed out of nowhere. He unsheathed his sword and began walking toward the fight.

Robert reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "No, Aaron. You heard what he said. This is his fight alone."

"I don’t care what he said! We must defeat Ganondorf!"

"Have some confidence in Link, Aaron," John said. "I’ve seen him do some amazing things. And I know you have, too."

Aaron looked at John, then to the battle, and back to John again. He nodded. "You’re right." He sighed.

The battled continued in front of them. Ganondorf swung with his sword, but Link blocked it to his left, and with his free hand, punched Ganondorf in the face. The blow caught the Evil King by surprise and he staggered back.

He placed his hand to his face. Taking it away, he smiled. "One for you."

Link smiled as the King of Evil lunged at him. Ganondorf swung in the same manner again, and Link blocked it again. But this time, Ganondorf countered by punching Link in the face. The Hero of Time lifted up off the ground and was thrown back several feet where he landed on his back. He looked up at Ganondorf, the back of his hand on his left cheek.

"And one for me," Ganondorf snickered. Link squinted his eyes in anger and picked himself up off the ground.

"So we’re even now?" he remarked. Ganondorf nodded. "Well, I guess we’ll just have to change that!" Link yelled as he thrust the Master Sword at the Gerudo thief. The two went back at it, matching each other blow for blow, seldom actually connecting with each other.

Lisa covered her eyes. She hadn’t been exposed much to fighting in her life, and the caliber of this fight was like nothing she had ever seen. They were strong, both in mind and body. And every time their swords crashed together, Lisa felt a ripple effect from them, as if the force behind their blows was astronomical. She didn’t really know the background of their battle, or the effects of the outcome. But she knew enough; she knew it was important.

William still couldn’t find Nick’s sword. He looked as far as he could, but it was just too dark. The short flashes of lightning were nowhere near enough for him to get a good look around, and he was getting anxious. Pain was shooting through his head in smaller intervals now, as if it were a timer. He wasn’t looking forward to the amount of pain he thought he would feel when it was time, but he would face it without flinching. The deed needed to be done. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He had to find the blade.

Zelda partially hid her eyes. She didn’t want to see the battle just as much as Lisa, but she felt that she had to watch it. The fate of her husband and the world would be determined by this battle. Tears ran down her cheek as she held onto Evan tightly.

Evan watched the battle intently. Evan though Ganondorf had indicated that Link was to blame for all of this, Evan felt that he had an equal share in the blame. After all, he didn’t resist Ganondorf as much as he probably could have. But then again, how was he to know that the voice in his head had been the King of Evil himself. At the time, Evan was just a boy of eleven. Now, he was seventeen, and he longed for those years back. Now they were just wasted.

Zelda gasped as Ganondorf connected. His sword cut Link across his left arm, and Link grabbed at it in pain. That split second of distraction was enough for the Evil King to punch him in the face again. After falling onto his back again, Link got back on his feet.

"It seems I’ve gotten the upper hand," Ganondorf taunted.

Link smiled devilishly. He didn’t say a word, just went back to fighting.

He attacked with such ferocity that Ganondorf was forced to step backward time and time again. Link was completely on the offensive and the Gerudo could do nothing about it except give way. With one upward swing, Link was able to knock him off balance, and the resulting swipe of his blade cut the Evil King across the chest. Ganondorf cried out in pain.

"You were saying something about having the upper hand?" Link taunted back.

Ganondorf clutched his chest, bowed his head, and stared at the Hero of Time through the top of his eyes. He smiled and stood up. "It will take a lot more than that to defeat me!"

"Good," Link said. "Cause I’ve got a lot more where that came from!" he yelled as he charged once again. They returned to battle.

Aaron’s right hand was turning white due to his tight grip on his sword. He still hadn’t put it away and was keeping it ready, just in case. He hoped it never came to that, but one can never be too prepared. He clenched his teeth as well, causing his lips to turn as white as his hand. There was no way he wasn’t going to relax until Ganondorf was defeated.

Robert sighed and folded his arms. There was nothing he could do to help Link in any way, and he knew it. If Link couldn’t defeat Ganondorf, there was no way he would be able to. He wouldn’t just give up, though. He would fight to the death protecting Zelda and the fate of the world, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. It would only delay the inevitable. So he concentrated more on his memories than the battle.

John watched the fight with as much awe now as he had felt the first time he had seen these two fight. Back then, his best friend Jacob had been killed by the wretched man that now fought against the Hero of Time, and for that, he wanted to see the man beg for mercy. And when he did, John wanted to be the one to deliver the final blow. Not Link. He wanted to avenge his friend and his family. The beast in front of him was the cause of all the pain in his life, and he wanted him to feel his pain. And he wanted to hear him scream.

The bursts of pain were coming quicker now, and William couldn’t take much more of it. But then, he noticed something off to the right. There, in the fields he saw a pulsating light. What’s more, the pulsing of the light was in perfect sync with the pains in his head. He knew what it was and went to it.

Michael was observing the battle closely, but every now and then he glanced around at the others, trying to gauge how they were handling the situation. He could easily tell Aaron was furious, and that Robert seemed completely at calm. He didn’t even have to look at Zelda and Evan to guess how they were feeling. In John’s eyes, he thought he saw anger, as well as pain. In Lisa’s eyes – well, he couldn’t see her eyes behind her hands. And when he looked at William this time, he saw the back of his head. William was walking away from them.

"William!" he called out amid the lighting and thunder. William didn’t even turn around. Curious, and realizing that no one else seemed to notice, Michael took it upon himself to follow.

William stayed as far away from the battle as possible. He didn’t want to be sidetracked from his current mission. Besides, he thought, there’s no way I’d last five seconds in that fight. So he worked his way around to the pulsing region of grass. He was drawing near.

Link swirled around after defending a blow from Ganondorf on one side in order to block the other. He felt stronger and quicker than normal, as if someone or something was aiding him in some way. He didn’t know what, nor did he care. With a swing of the Master Sword, he knocked Ganondorf’s sword off balance, and he scored another hit. The Gerudo thief grew angrier and attacked wildly. Link took advantage and gracefully moved aside. As Ganondorf stumbled in front of him, Link raised up the Master Sword and brought in down into the King of Evil’s back and through his chest.

Everything stopped. The lightning, the thunder, the winds that had been blowing. All of it came to a rest. Ganondorf looked up at the Hero of Time once more before he collapsed to the ground. Pulling his sword out, Link smiled. He was drenched in his own sweat and he was breathing heavily, but he felt great.

But William knew it wasn’t over. The pain in his head was becoming more frequent, and now they were so close together that it seemed like one sharp pain instead of many. The pulsing glow had now become a steady one. He was getting close, but William couldn’t make it. He collapsed.

Michael saw him fall over and ran up to him. "William!" he kneeled beside him. "Are you alright?" He didn’t know what else to say.

"Nick’s sword," he mumbled. "Get Nick’s sword…" William pointed toward the glow. Michael stood up, stared at it for a minute and then looked back down at William. "Bring it here…" Michael nodded and ran toward the steady glow.

A soft glow caught Link’s eyes. It steadily increased until he could barely stand it. He looked down at the Master Sword and had to squint his eyes from it. Confused, he lifted it up to his face. Never had he seen it glow so brightly before. He cocked his head to the right. Then, there was a loud yell, and he felt himself being thrown backward.

They all gasped and Michael stopped in his tracks as Ganon emerged before them. The Incarnation of Evil towered over the fallen Link, and there was nothing but hate in his eyes. Link pulled himself up and backed up several steps.

"Michael… hurry…" William said.

Michael snapped out of it and picked up Nick’s sword. Hurrying back to William, he slid across the ground and stopped next to him.

"Here! I got it!"

William grabbed the sword in his right hand, and instantly the pain in his head went away. However, the glow remained, and William knew what needed to be done. It was time.

He and Michael got up, and he looked at the newest Knight. "Stay here, no matter what happens." And he ran off.

The staring contest between Link and Ganon was over, and the lightning and thunder returned, along with some rain.. Link prepared himself, but Ganon’s swing was too much for him. He lost the grip on the Master Sword, and it flew into the fields where no one was standing. Link took several more steps back as the Incarnation of Evil advanced on him slowly.

Lisa had taken her hands off her eyes when the period of silence occurred. But now, she slapped her hands over her eyes so hard that handprints were made. Zelda clutched Evan harder as she thought she was going to witness the death of her husband.

But Robert, in his calm state of mind, saw something. A figure running toward Ganon, holding an bright object. Looking around, he finally noticed that Michael and William were no longer standing with them.

"Who is that?" he said aloud, getting everyone’s attention. They all looked and gasped.

"That’s William!" Aaron exclaimed. "I recognize that goofy style of running anywhere!"

"What the hell is he doing?" John asked, although he knew none of them knew. "And what is he holding?"

William ran as fast as he could toward Link. He was behind Ganon, and out of his view, which he was thankful for. As he got closer, he yelled.

"Link!"

Link heard it, faintly. He glanced around Ganon and saw William running toward him with a bright object. Unfortunately, his gaze caught the attention of Ganon. He turned to see the Knight charging him from behind, and quickly turned to face him.

William knew his fate already. Nonetheless, he ran at full speed directly toward the Incarnation of Evil. As he approached it, William prayed. "May the Goddesses let this blade fly true to its target." He hurled Nick’s sword, end over end.

Ganon didn’t even flinch. The blade passed under his arm, missing him completely. William continued running at the Incarnation of Evil, yelling at the top of his lungs. With one swing, Ganon ran him through. William fell to his knees.

"No!" Aaron and Robert yelled out in unison. The rest of them fell silent.

William remained on his knees, and he looked at all those he had journeyed with. Across the field, he saw his friends, new and old, and this brought tears to his eyes. Memories of them flashed before his eyes. He then looked over at Link, and as he did, Nick’s sword implanted itself into the ground five feet from Link. Joy found its way into William’s heart again, as he knew that he had done what he needed to do. He had protected the ones he loved the most, and the world that he lived in. He looked further right, in the area where the Master Sword had fallen, and wasn’t surprised when he saw two figures standing there. Without even looking at them closely he knew who they were: the one on the right was Nick, and the other, looking as beautiful as ever, was Alexandra. He smiled as new tears ran down his face. He guessed that they had been watching the entire time, and he was ready to join them. The last image he saw was that of Link picking up Nick’s sword.

His body fell limp.

Link examined Nick’s sword and marveled at how bright it was glowing. He was in for another surprise as the sword became twice as intense. If William had told any of them about it, Link would’ve realized that it was William’s soul that increased the intensity of the blade. It didn’t matter. Link could feel the power in the blade, and he knew what to do. He looked at Ganon.

The Incarnation of Evil picked up William’s body with his sword still through him. With his other hand, Ganon removed the dead body from his blade, glanced at it, then through it into the fields near the Master Sword. He turned.

Link’s face was bright red. Not only had his nemesis killed his friend, but he also disrespected his body. It was time for it to end. They squared off.

Link raised the sword up and charged. "Die!" he yelled as he advanced.

Ganon stood his ground and waited for the Hero of Time to get close. When Link was where he wanted, Ganon swung with his blade, but Link was too furious and determined to be killed so easily. He dodged the attack with amazing speed, and with one quick thrust, he put Nick’s sword through Ganon’s heart.

The silence returned, but the rain kept falling. After the brief pause, Ganon wailed uncontrollably, and Link stepped back from him, making sure to hold on to Nick’s sword. A bright, white light emanated from where Link had run him through. Soon, Ganon was still again, but his body hung in the air by some magic force. His chest was pointed toward the sky, and the white light became a beam that stretched through the clouds. The light intensified and engulfed the Incarnation of Evil. It then slowly disintegrated his body, and sent it into strange portal above the clouds. As his body was sucked up, so were the ominous storm clouds. The rain slowed, then stopped.

Link stood there in silence for a minute longer before heading over to the others. He looked up at the sky and sighed. A single tear ran down his cheek as he made his way over to his friends.

* * * *

They found William’s body and the Master Sword in the middle of the fields. His body was lying directly next to the Master Sword, which was sticking out of the ground. They all looked down at him, bowed their heads, and prayed silently for him. Tears rolled down the cheeks of a few of them, while the others stared solemnly at their fallen friend. After what seemed like an eternity, Link knelt beside him.

His eyes were still open and fixed, as if he were looking at something intently as he died. Link reached out with his hand and shut his eyes gently. Finally, he got back up, pulled the Master Sword out of the ground, and sheathed it. He turned to the others.

"Where do we go from here?" Michael asked.

"Evan," Link said, "do you think you can open another portal back home?"

"I suppose I can," Evan replied. "But I don’t know how accurate I’ll be."

"What do you mean by ‘accurate’?" John asked.

"I mean I don’t know where or when the portal will bring us."

"That’s comforting," John said sarcastically.

Robert sighed. "We don’t really have much of a choice."

"But what if we go through and find Hyrule in ruins?" Zelda wondered.

There was a slight pause.

"Then I guess we start over," Aaron suggested. "But hopefully it won’t come to that."

They stood around in silence again, looking at each other with concerned faces.

"Evan," Link said. His son turned to look at him, and Link just simply nodded. Evan understood and nodded back.

He began to concentrate on creating a dimensional portal, and almost immediately, one appeared directly in front of them. No one looked at it with much expression. No real sense of joy or relief. All except Evan. He was confused.

"Good job, Evan," Link said as he patted him on the shoulder. He and Robert started walking toward it.

"But I didn’t do it."

They stopped.

"What are you talking about?" Robert said as he turned around. "Are you saying that you didn’t open this?"

"It wasn’t me," he repeated.

Link and Robert looked at each other.

"Do we go through?" Robert asked him.

"It could be a trap."

"Set by whom?"

Link shook his head. "I don’t know."

They all stared at it in silence again.

"I don’t think it’s a trap," Robert said to Link.

"Neither do I." Link continued to stare, even as Zelda walked up to him.

"I say we just go through," she said.

He looked at her and could see the trust in her eyes, and it was enough to convince him. He nodded, and the two of them walked toward the portal, hesitated, and then stepped through.

Michael picked up William’s sword and shield, while Aaron picked up his body. They walked through the portal.

The crowd outside of the castle was still standing there, amazed and bewildered by the event that transpired there only hours before. They were all anxious, wondering if their beloved Knights and Princess would return soon. About an hour before, some of the citizens began to walk away, giving up on the situation. But they were no less amazed at the sight of the eight of them walking into some magic doorway and vanishing. All their screaming had abruptly stopped then. And it never picked back up.

More and more citizens turned their back on the situation and went back about their daily routines. Eventually, there was only a group of three standing near the castle, waiting intently.

"Father," the girl said, "do you think they’ll be alright?"

"Of course, Malon," Talon responded. "How many times has Link let us down?"

"None," Malon replied. "But I have a bad feeling."

Ingo said, "I wouldn’t worry. They’ll be fine."

Malon wanted to believe that they would be fine, but something inside her told her that harm would come to them.

"Let’s go," Talon said.

Malon looked up at him. "No! We can’t leave! I have to wait her for him to come back!" Evan now, after all these years of knowing him, she was still as concerned as ever.

"Malon, there’s no way of knowing when that will be," Talon explained. "You could be here for days, weeks, or…"

He had made his point, and she knew he was right. There was no use just waiting for them to return. She nodded and the three of them turned around and began walking away.

Just then, a portal opened behind them. Malon looked back and stopped dead in her tracks.

"They’re back! They’re back!" she began screaming at the top of her lungs. Anyone that was in earshot of her cries came running back to the castle.

Out from the portal stepped eight travelers, a ninth in the hands of Aaron. And somehow, Evan had been returned to the age of eleven, as if none of the events that he lived through ever happened. But the memories were still there. The crowd gathered once again and demanded to know what had happened during those several hours. But instead of answering their demands, the Knights walked into the castle.

* * * *

Several days later, they held a royal funeral for Nick and William. William’s body had been sent back to Malaank for a proper burial in their own customs. But Link was able to persuade the King of Malaank to allow William’s sword and shield to be placed in a memorial monument to the two fallen friends. In the Royal Cemetery, next to the grave markers of Charles and Jacob, the monument was to be placed. Thousands of citizens attending the ceremony honoring them, and no one was more proud than Celes. She held her son Charles in her arms, sad that Nick was gone, but thankful to the Goddesses that she had married such a great man.

Unexpectedly, Ian showed up for the funeral. He told Link that it was the Goddesses who had opened the portal home for them and returned Evan back into an eleven-year-old. He explained that it wasn’t only a second chance for Evan as a person, but a second chance for Link as a father. And just as sudden as Ian had appeared, he departed once again for the Heavens.

After the funeral, the Knights took leave of their duties. Robert went back to Larosia with Lisa at his side, and during their time off, the two of them married. Aaron headed home to Dellenia with Sarah. John went home the town of Baru, where Chris was waiting for him. Michael was finally able to ask Catherine to marry him when he returned to Oceana. They all agreed that they would reconvene in three months time to return to their duties.

Link, Zelda, Evan, and Michelle became a closer family, and Hyrule returned to a time of peace and prosperity. And although there was nothing to fear anymore, Link was always on guard and ready for anything to happen. This most recent adventure had taught him that lesson.

He also learned that your enemies aren’t always evil. Their intentions can be just. They could be misled. And that’s what scared him the most. Not monsters or a King of Evil. Ordinary, honest people who believed in something – something that they would fight to the death for.

And he knew his adventures weren’t over yet.

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