FicWad

Rova reappeared in her room where LiLink still guarded Zelda. Zelda shuddered when she saw her own face on the lifeless doll that was ZaZelda.

“What have you done to Zale?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” Rova replied, “yet. This is merely yours and his shadows, fused just like LiLink. I call them ZaZelda. What do you think?”

“I think you’re a monster,” Zelda retorted. “What’s your plan? Why are you doing all of this?”

Rova snarled at her. “My plan was to take over the kingdom of Hyrule, but that doesn’t seem to be working. I have been planning for too long to see it all end like this. Now, what am I to do…?” The last part she seemed to say to herself.

“There’s no shame in surrendering,” Zelda suggested dryly.

“I will never surrender!” Rova growled. “Be quiet, girl. Don’t make me kill you. I might still need you.”

Reluctantly, Zelda stayed silent. She didn’t see how arguing would help her situation. She waited for Rova to speak again.

Finally, Rova said, “LiLink, tie her hands behind her back. We’re going to get you a sword.”

Zelda didn’t understand what those things had to do with one another, but there was nothing she could do. She swallowed nervously when LiLink bound her hands. She noticed Rova was packing up her things. Zelda knew the artifacts they had collected were in that bag. Her eyes widened at the thought of the Fierce Deity Mask. What was Rova planning to do with the mask? When worn, it could give the bearer immense power.

“That mask is sacred,” Zelda cried. “What do you think you’re doing with it?”

“LiLink will wear it, won’t you, my pet,” Rova said.

“Yes, ma’am,” LiLink said sounding hollow.

“No!”

At that moment, someone pounded on the door.

“Open up!” a guard shouted.

“Perfect timing,” Rova said, smiling. “Stand back, everyone. I’ll handle this.” She opened the door and shot out an icy blast from her staff. Zelda heard shouts of surprise get cut off. Rova then stepped out of the room and disappeared from view for a moment. She carried a sword when she came back. She handed the sword to LiLink.

“Come now,” she said, raising her staff. “We must leave before they recover.” The mist surrounded all four of them, Rova, ZaZelda, LiLink, and Zelda, and transported them just outside of the Desert Mine. The sun was just starting to set and the full moon could be seen at the opposite end of the sky.

“Where are we?” Zelda asked, looking around at the desert surrounding her. There was a boulder the size of a house next to a set of steps leading down to a wooden door.

Rova answered, “This is where I sent Link and Lila. They have the Master Sword. We need the Master Sword. Simple.”

A thrill of excitement shot through Zelda at the thought of the two heroes being alive. Thank the Goddesses they weren’t transformed into LiLink!

Rova sat on a rock. “May as well get comfortable,” she said. “We might be here a while. I sent them deep into the Mine.” She made a fire appear to keep them warm in the night air.

∴

Lila and Link broke all of the pots in the room before leaving. They seemed to be in a treasury there were so many pots. They collected several rupees and found some floating hearts that healed their cuts when touched. There was even a treasure chest containing a map of the mine.

“This would have come in handy the last time I was here,” Lila remarked as the two of them looked over the map. “It looks like we’re in that weirdly shaped room there.”

“This one?” Link asked, pointing. “Yeah, good guess. Then we just need to go… where exactly?”

“Well, the entrance is a circular room,” Lila said. “It has a ramp around the edge. Here, hold the map for a minute.”

Link took the map from her.

“There,” Lila pointed, “that’s the entrance.”

Link whistled. “That’s a long walk. We better get going.”

“Look, there’s a secret room marked ‘treasure’! And it’s on the way!”

“No, it’s not. We have to go around. See?”

“Oh, you’re right. We’ll just leave it be then, eh?” Lila said, elbowing Link.

“No, we can take a detour…”

With that plan in place, Link rolled up the map and stuffed it into his pocket. Then they opened the door, with Link in the lead.

“Keep your distance from me,” he cautioned. “Then if I get stunned, you won’t.”

“Good plan,” Lila said, surprised.

“I told you, I know how to deal with them.” He sneaked out of the treasure room, keeping his eyes peeled for ReDead Knights. Lila waited for a few seconds and then followed him out. Link peered around each corner before moving on. At one point, he waved to Lila for her to come closer.

“What?” Lila asked.

“We have come upon our first enemy,” Link said. “Use Fi’s magical attack on that guy.”

“Okay,” Lila said and stepped around the corner. As the ReDead Knight prepared for a scream, Lila sliced the Master Sword horizontally, just like Fi instructed. A blue-white arch appeared and cut the Knight in two. It dissipated into nothingness.

“Good job!” Link praised.

They continued like that through the mine. Sometimes, Link would attack a Knight that was looking in the other direction, and sometimes Lila would use the horizontal slash. Every now and then they consulted the map to make sure they were going the right way.

Finally, they reached the other treasure room where they filled their pockets with rupees and healed up with floating hearts. They didn’t need much healing because they were so good at defeating the monsters of the mine.

Once that was done, they made the climb up the ramp of the entrance. When they finally opened the door, the moon was high in the sky.

Suddenly, they were encased in ice. Lila shivered and felt that moving would free her. Eventually. Link walked into her field of vision. No, wait, that wasn’t Link. He – or… it – tried to take the Master Sword from her, but it was just as frozen as she was.

“We can’t get the sword, Mistress,” the entity said in a haunting voice. It seemed to ring in Lila’s ears.

“Pity. I suppose you’ll have to fight for it,” came a female’s voice. It was Rova’s.

At this point, Lila broke free from the ice. She swept her sword up at the ready, anticipating an attack. Instead, the fake Link walked over to Rova, who handed them a mask.

“No!” the real Link shouted. He ran forward but was too late.

The fake Link put the mask on and transformed. They became bigger, burlier. Their tunic turned pale blue, and armor appeared. Their sword grew as long as they were tall. The sword made a helix shape with blue and white parts.

“Link, what’s going on?” Lila asked wearily.

“LiLink has put on the Fierce Deity Mask,” Zelda said. Lila looked at her in surprise. She hadn’t seen her there. Next to her was a false Zelda.

Zelda continued, “Be careful! They’re more powerful now!”

“So you’re called LiLink?” Link remarked, taking up a ready stance. “You don’t deserve to wear that mask!”

Quick as lightning, LiLink struck at Lila. She had just enough warning to block the attack, but it made her stumble back, almost falling into the hole of the mine’s entrance. Before she regained her balance, LiLink struck again, meeting the Master Sword with a loud clang. Lila fell to her knees under the strain.

“Leave her alone!” Link shouted. He attacked LiLink’s back, aiming for an area without armor.

LiLink seemed unfazed as they whirled around and attacked Link. Link held up his sword to block.

The distraction gave Lila time to recover and stand. She made a horizontal slash, unleashing the blue-white wave. It struck LiLink in the same place Link had hit it.

LiLink spun around to face Lila again. This time she was ready for their blow.

Attack after attack, Lila and Link battled Fierce Deity LiLink. It was even harder than when they dueled each other. LiLink was stronger and faster than them. Had Lila or Link been on their own, they would have been overwhelmed. As it was, they barely held back LiLink’s strikes. At least their teamwork allowed them to land a few strikes of their own.

Zelda watched in fear. She wished she could do something, anything, but her hands were still bound behind her back. What could she do, anyway? Maybe take Rova’s staff. But then what? She had no idea how to use it. She wished she had her weapons. She knew how to use those.

Rova smiled throughout the fight. Even if LiLink failed, she could use her own power to finish off the weakened heroes. Of course, if Lila and Link did somehow win, Rova would be without a champion. Maybe she should step in before that happened…

Lila, Link, and LiLink started showing signs of wearing down. They were all panting heavily, and they had numerous cuts and bruises. Lila’s horizontal slash no longer worked. Link had a frustrated look on his face. Even LiLink looked worse for wear. They bled the most out of the group.

Deciding now was the time to interfere, Rova shot a fireball at Lila.

Lila screamed and fell, her tunic on fire. She rolled on the ground to smother the flames while Link fought on his own. Rova wasted no time and froze Link, allowing LiLink to land a devastating blow.

“Link!” Zelda cried, tears springing to her eyes.

With Link down, LiLink turned to Lila, still on the ground. Lila crawled backward, careful to keep a hold of the Master Sword. LiLink approached slowly, menacingly. They knew they had won and snarled.

“Give us the sword,” LiLink said.

“I’ll die first!” Lila declared.

“Fine.” LiLink lunged at Lila, who threw her sword up just enough to avoid being skewered.

“Stop resisting,” Rova called out.

Lila thrust her sword so that LiLink lost their balance. She quickly stood up and went in for another attack. This one was blocked, though.

Link was down but not out. His left arm hung uselessly by his side. After Rova’s attacks, he knew he had to take her out if they had any chance of winning. Her attention was fully on Lila, so Link was able to sneak up on her. He gave her a mighty slash, and she fell with a shriek.

“Traitor!” Rova gasped. She shot a fire blast at Link, but he dodged easily.

“You’re the traitor,” Link yelled back. He struck her again. She used her staff to block. Link deftly swept her staff out of her hands and pressed his sword to her throat. He said, “Call off your dog!”

“Never!”

Link slashed and Rova dissolved into thin air.

“You did it!” Zelda cheered.

Link looked at her, having forgotten she was there. He hurried to her side and used his sword to free her.

“Now go help LIla. Quickly!” Zelda said.

ZaZelda came forward to stop Link, but he shoved them away. Zelda picked up Rova’s staff and aimed it at ZaZelda. A deadly icicle shot out and hit ZaZelda. The puppet turned black and then dissipated into smoke.

Meanwhile, Lila was doing all she could to not get killed. She kept giving ground, leading LiLink in a circle. Link hurried to intercede.

“‘Bout time!” Lila said.

“I was busy,” Link said.

“So am I!” Lila countered.

The two continued to fight LiLink.

Zelda ran over to them and aimed Rova’s staff at LiLink. A fireball shot out and hit them in the head. Lila and Link each gave one last slash, and the abomination was gone. The Fierce Deity Mask fell with a clatter. Zelda picked it up with reverence.

“Did we really win?” Lila huffed.

“Yeah,” Zelda said quietly.

Link cheered. The three hugged each other. Tears streamed down Lila and Zelda’s faces.

And then they had a grueling walk home.