Favorable side

by Gladys Garcia

  into a wall, knowing that her plan was working perfectly. She didn't even try to stop the hero's fit of rage, for she knew that the more infuriated he got, the more

  delightfully gruesome the Hylian queen's death would be.

  "I wasn't chosen by the goddesses to do anything but suffer!" Link shouted, resentment and bitterness filling his tone as the flames drew dangerously close to Zelda, who

  could only stare at the clearly hurting hero with both terror and pity. "Even when I thought I was fulfilling my destiny, the only thing I ever got in return was pain, both

  inside and out! And now, I guess they've shown which one of us they really care for, haven't they?"

  "Link, no!" Zelda finally spoke up, unwilling to hear such blasphemy about the goddesses. "They don't favor either one of us! Just think of how they blessed you in the

  past so you could complete your quest and-"

  "Blessed me?" the hero repeated with a disbelieving scoff. "Blessed me? You can't be that stupid, Zelda! What they did was the furthest thing from blessing me! They

  blessed you with the powers of light and healing. But me? They cursed me with nothing but the power to kill and destroy!"

  The queen froze when she noticed the oncoming tears in the hero's eyes, but he was quick to banish them away as he returned to the task at hand. No longer able to

  contain his blind fury in mere words, Link finally lashed out at Zelda, swinging the ice-coated Master Sword at her broadly. With no means of defending herself, the queen

  took the brunt of the freezing strike across her midriff, a large and heavy cut trailing her abdomen as she nearly collapsed to the ground from the force of it. As much as

  she wanted to heal the wound immediately, she instead nocked a light arrow upon her bow and aimed it right at him, its glimmering tip only but a few inches away from

  his face. Link stopped as he stared at the heavenly projectile in absolute disgust, the flames enveloping him seeming to curl higher and higher with each passing moment.

  "You know what? Fine," he said darkly, his tone far too calm for comfort. "Go on and waste your weak powers serving them. But I'm done trying to use mine for anything

  other than what they were really meant for. You bring light and life to everything. But the only things I bring darkness and death!"

  By now, the queen had just barely scrambled out of the way of the heavy gust of wind that had been meant to pin her to the wall, instead distancing herself from the hero

  as she prepared to fire her arrow at him. Link scowled hatefully at her as he turned in her direction, only this time, he hadn't anticipated the arrow until it struck him near

  his collarbone. The hero let out a sharp cry of pain as he stumbled backwards a bit, the darkness of his cape unable to protect him from such a direct strike as he abruptly

  pulled the arrow out, not even regarding the blood already pouring from the wound. "So…" he said coldly, his almost demented grin returning as the fires suddenly doused

  themselves completely. "I guess the only thing I can do now is deliver both of those things…"

  All of the former hesitance Link had shown towards physically harming Zelda were completely gone as he hurried for her, a fireball already set on a course towards her.

  The queen diminished the flame with another light arrow as she gracefully outmaneuvered an ice shard with a simple roll. Now lowered to one knee, Zelda shot off another

  set of light arrows, putting her mind far away from whom she was fighting as she replaced her sympathy and fear for the hero with cold, unflinching confidence. After all,

  she knew well that her life was on the line in this battle. To lose it would be to lose everything.

  Admittedly though, the Hylian queen did begrudge the fact that her light arrows were really the only thing in her arsenal. The hero, on the other hand, had fire, ice, and

  wind all on his side, and he had no restraint in using any of them. His magical attacks came one right after the other, keeping Zelda on her toes as she did her best to

  avoid each one of them all while trying to think of a way to disarm Link. After all, she was still resolved to do her best to cause him as little harm as possible, despite the

  fact that he had the mission of killing her in mind.

  As the battle progressed though, it was clear that neither side was making too much progress. Zelda's light attacks did little to injure Link, and the Hylian queen was fast

  and agile enough to evade most of his ranged attacks. However, it was only as the hero went in for more direct strikes with his blade that things got more dangerous.

  Since she had no shield, Zelda found herself at Link's mercy when it came to his sword attacks, and unfortunately for her, he had lost all sense of that long ago. Thankfully,

  there was no elemental effect cast upon his blade as it struck her along her leg, arm, and shoulder. With each one of these heavy strikes, the queen struggled to remain

  standing, knowing that if he were to actually knock her to the ground, it would spell her doom. She did her best to heal her wounds as much as she could while casting

  light attacks towards Link, though he was still immune to most of them thanks to his dark cape.

  His cape! Zelda let out a gasp of realization as she glanced up from the cut across her shoulder she was currently in the process of healing towards the hero, who stood

  apace from her, ready to rain a shower of ice down upon her. Already, an idea was forming in her mind as she looked over the silver mantle resting upon his shoulders, the

  thick, long, black cloak spilling out behind him, its magic somehow protecting him from the purity of her light. All she needed was a way to strip him of that protection, and

  fortunately, she knew of a perfect way to do so.

  The queen intentionally let several of the sharp ice shards hit her, all of them creating deep, frigid cuts as she moved towards the hero's side. Link reacted appropriately as

  she drew a bit closer to him, already lifting his blade up in preparation for a deadly strike. And right as Zelda came to stand but a foot before him, just before his sword

  could come down upon her, her hands flashed blue briefly, before she threw her arms out to the sides abruptly. Relief filled the queen as time in her immediate vicinity

  came to a standstill, including the hero himself, his sword still poised to attack, but frozen high in midair all the same.

  "What?!" Verona exclaimed to herself in shock upon seeing this, sensing the temporal magic that Zelda had used. Thus far, she had only assumed that the queen

  possessed light and healing abilities, but the power to halt time, no matter on what scale, was a powerful one, one that she couldn't afford to underestimate. However,

  the Queen of Shadows was unable to intervene before Zelda, working as quickly as possible, pushed the shadowy mantle and cape off of the hero's shoulders, piling the

  cloth up into her arms and tossing it as far away from the two of them as possible. The Hylian queen was just about to take advantage of the time field by letting a light

  arrow loose straight into the hero's shoulder, before a powerful burst of dark energy struck her from behind.

  Zelda let out a cry of pain as her time field instantly dissipated, the light arrow springing forth from her bow just as Link was set into motion once more. However, even

  though its path had gone astray, it still managed to strike him, only instead of the shoulder, it tore sidelong across his chest, leaving a long, deep, painful cut that tore all

  the way through both his tunic and chainmail. The hero gripped the agonizing wound with his free arm as he met Verona's gaze at first with confusion as to why she had

  joined the two of them down in the courtyard. That is, until he noticed the deep burn scorched into the Hylian queen's back as she bent down on one knee to recover.

  Just as Link was about to protest Verona's unneeded intervention, the Queen of Shadows simply imparted him a cordial,
knowing grin before teleporting herself back up to

  the balcony once more. However, the hero had made the mistake of glancing back up at her for a moment, leaving Zelda with the perfect opening, despite her apparent

  agony. Since Link no longer had his darkened cape to protect him, the Hylian queen launched the most powerful burst of undaunted light that she could muster at him,

  rising to stand once more before it even hit him. And when it did, it not only took him by surprise, but it actually managed to do quite a bit of damage. The force of the

  attack knocked him back all the way into the nearby wall of the courtyard, the burning purity of the light eating away at his damaged tunic until most of it, along with his

  chainmail had been blasted away to reveal a large portion of his bare chest. The queen let out a soft gasp of surprise upon seeing this, her cheeks lighting up in bright red

  as she noticed just how tone and fit he was. And yet, her amazement soon turned to concern when she noticed that the Twili markings indeed extended even down to his

  chest, the teal jagged lines marring the pale, yet muscular surface in the most horrendous of ways.

  In light of actually being quite heavily injured, Link was more provoked than ever as he lurched forward, somewhat unsteady on his feet as his hand thrust forward with

  another burst of flame. Still distracted with the hero's immaculate chest, the queen only barely noticed the fire, that is, until it hit her on her upper leg, creating quite the

  sizable, painful burn. Incensed by this attack, Zelda was quick to return to her senses, her free hand emblazoned with a new orb of golden light, one that she knew Link

  would not be able to avoid this time. With skill and calculation, the queen threw it towards him, but he was quick to repel it with but a mere swing of the Master Sword,

  which was able to dispel light attacks just as it could dark. This exchange of attacks continued for a while, returning the two of them to the stalemate they had been at

  earlier. Neither of them exchanged many words however, for at this point, what was there really left to say?

  This barrage of attacks and counterattacks went on for quite some time, however, things only began to heat up when Verona, bored of the uniformity of the battle, spoke

  up from her spot on high. "Come now, Link!" she called somewhat impatiently as the hero stopped briefly to heed her words. "There's no need to drag this out any longer

  than you have to. She grows weaker with each passing blow! Now is the time to finish the job and claim what is rightfully yours! First the Triforce of Wisdom, and then

  Hyrule itself!"

  "What?!" Zelda exclaimed in appalled disbelief as she glared at Link, her eyes growing wide as she nocked another arrow. "It that what she is promising you? That in the

  wake of my death, Hyrule will be yours?! That's why you are doing this?!"

  "Not entirely," Link replied and it was true. After all, the promise of being king of Hyrule was a fairly recent one, and one that wasn't much of a driving force for him

  anyway. What was really compelling him was something that had been going on for weeks, and he knew just as much as Zelda did that there was no need for him to

  explain what that something was.

  Regardless of his reasoning however, Zelda knew that she could not let her kingdom fall any further than it already had. Though it was true that if she had to pick between

  letting Link or Verona conquer Hyrule, she would immediately choose the hero, but all the same, she was not about to let her kingdom be wrenched from her grasp. Not

  like this. "Never," Zelda said rigidly, her voice practically shaking with newfound rage and resolve as pure, sacred light surrounded her entirely. "I will never let you have this

  kingdom! Even if I die protecting it, it shall never be yours!"

  Before Link even had a chance to respond, the Hylian queen cast all of the light enveloping her his way, giving him only enough time to erect a weak ice shield to protect

  himself. It was futile however, as the barrage of light crashed through it, spiraling into the hero and brutally knocking him to the ground as his chest burned from the hot

  impact. Zelda, in all of her righteous fury, wasted no time in rushing for him, a light arrow already on her bow string, which she firmly aimed down to him with the intent of

  shooting it straight through his chest. And yet, right before she could let it go, a spell of hesitation and silence leveled the battlefield. The Hylian queen and the hero's

  shared, heavy breathing was all that could be heard as they stared into each other's eyes intensely. For the first time, they were both able to truly see the pain, anger,

  sorrow, dread, fear and heartbreak that their eyes equally betrayed. And it was as Zelda looked down upon the fallen hero, the hero who had succumbed to the darkness

  of his heart and had been cast down from the light he had once dwelled in, that she knew. Killing him wouldn't solve this problem. Death would not redeem him from the

  shadows now. There had to be another solution. Another way to bring him back. Another way to free him from this.

  Another way to turn shadows back into light.

  Link watched with conflicting acceptance and defiance as Zelda prepared to shoot him, but confusion filled him instead as he watched her slowly lower her bow and take a

  step back from him. Likewise, even from her position above, Verona watched the unfolding events with genuine interest, both perplexed as to why the Hylian queen

  wouldn't taken this opportunity and relived that she had not.

  "Well?" the hero asked harshly and expectantly, not bothering to get up from his knees quite yet. "What are you waiting for?"

  "I am not going to do this," Zelda said coldly, her voice soft and hollow. "I can't. I'm not like you. I know when to stop."

  Link was admittedly stunned into silence at this show of mercy, especially since he knew that if he was in Zelda's shoes, he would have finished the job at the first chance

  he got. And yet, the Hylian queen had chosen to remove herself from the possibility of becoming a murderer, something that the hero had once been able to understand

  before untold amounts of blood had soiled his hands. For what seemed like ages, he simply remained on the ground, staring at the Hylian queen intently as his thoughts

  and emotions violently collided. However, he was all too quickly reminded of the grim task laid before him as he glanced up at Verona and her disapproving scowl, words

  not needed to tell him what he needed to do, as much as the very thought now filled him with more dread than ever before.

  "Well, I don't!" Link proclaimed firmly as he rose to stand once more, ignoring the pain pounding in his chest as be brandished his blade once more. Zelda merely watched

  him, making little effort to attack this time as she bitterly realized her final attempt at getting through to him had failed. She hadn't really expected her act of mercy to

  really work in the first place, but know she knew that her last chance at trying to save both him and herself had died.

  Knowing she had little means of defending herself, the Hylian queen simply braced herself for the onslaught of ice the hero was sending her way, thankful that at the very

  least it wasn't fire. The frigid blast struck her full-force, knocking her back quite a bit as frost clung to her skin and clothes, chilling her to the bone. Link gave her no

  recovery time however, as he made a run for her, small cyclones of wind spiraling from his palms as they pressed Zelda against the nearby wall. She nearly collapsed from

  the blunt force, but still the hero didn't relent. He showed no signs of letting up or backing down as he swung his sword at her once more, tearing through her arms as she

  raised them to protect her vulnerable chest. Zelda cried out in pain as blood poured from the deep wounds, light flashing from her fingers in an attempt to drive the hero

  away. And yet it was no
use. By now, the tide of the battle had turned heavily against her favor, especially as Link maneuvered around her to elicit a long, sudden,

  incredibly painful swipe down her back. Verona laughed sadistically to herself as she watched this violence unfold, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before

  the Hylian queen was no more.

  Frustrated with the fact that Zelda was still standing, Link finally forced her to her knees with an abrupt kick to her injured back. The Hylian queen let out a sharp scream of

  agony as she collapsed to the snow-covered ground, her body battered and bleeding as she struggled to remain conscious from blood loss. The Bow of Light flew out of

  her grip, and more distance was put between her and her weapon as the hero used a blast of wind to knock it even further out of her range. It was painfully clear to her

  that she would not be reclaiming her footing, especially as the hero moved to stand before her, his bloodstained sword at the ready to end her life. Time seemed to stop

  as Zelda slowly and tearfully glanced up at Link, who only returned her gaze with an empty, stoic, piercing glare. This was it, Zelda knew. She only had but a few moments,

  perhaps even seconds, to live before that once-sacred blade either pierced her heart or severed her neck. She had never really imagined what her death would be like

  before, but even if she had, she would have never thought it would have all ended like this.

  "Yes!" Verona shouted in triumph from the balcony. "Now is the time, Link! Take the Triforce of Wisdom! It is your prize, your right! Claim it as your own!"

  Link did as she said, guided by little else but instinct alone as he tightly gripped the Hylian queen's wrist, glaring down at the blue mark of the Triforce of Wisdom upon the

  back of her hand. Zelda did little to stop him, for there was little she could do but look away in shame as he took advantage of her weakness to wrest her very birthright

  away from her. She let out a sob of pain as she felt the power of the Triforce of Wisdom, along with all of the magic it once granted her, fade away from her all at once.

  She didn't even need to look to know that the mark was gone from her hand; instead, it now shined blue alongside the green mark of the Triforce of Courage upon the