Restless Night

Chapter 12 of IW Season One.

Homeward Bound

Jaden/Somewhere in the Forest/Evening 3

Being the only known survivor of a losing battle does strange things to a person. It makes them question their abilities and sometimes why they were spared. Jaden was no different here, except he knew why he was spared. He was a high value target improperly processed. And through good fortune, he was here instead of getting poked, prodded, and tortured. 

And soon to be trained as an heir to the People. But was it going to be enough? This was one of those wars that would go into the history books if it kept up like this. He had to take a shot at getting his name put in there somehow, chuckling and thinking that if his sister did instead of him that he'd stab himself in the foot.

This forest was large. Larger than he'd remembered in the past few months whilst stuck in here. No wonder the interlopers went unchecked for so long...

He hoped that as soon as he'd reached a safe clearing that the strength would be there for him to take a full-powered sprint toward That Other Kakariko.

Jaden/Edge of the Woods/Night 3

Awkward silences weren't the only thing he'd had to deal with this day. This was by far the most painful and embarrassing one of his life, and he was quite thankful to be alive. 

Reaching the edge of the woods, Jaden thanked his unusual escort and darted off as quick as possible. He then realized that this wasn't the exit he'd expected...

And he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Most of the Twili Forward Camp was asleep. Going far wide of it would keep him free of detection.

Guard patrols seemed to be higher that night. More so than should be around such an encampment. What were they trying to protect? Now was a bad time to be nosy. Moving with the shadows, Jaden was able to successfully and effortlessly evade the enemy's perimeter sweep. 

It was then that he heard Nora calling to him, which made him more uneasy.

No idea how grateful we are to see you out of there. And that little inquisitive bug you have? Resisting it probably saved your life. Trust me, you don't want to poke around in there.

Just want to go home...jump through your crazy hoops, then get back into Hyrule's defenses as quickly as possible. This is going to take how long?

24 hours or less, but it will feel like longer. I'll tell you of what has happened upon your return. Some news is good while some is not quite.

With that, Jaden took off with a lunar-powered full sprint after getting a safe distance away. At this rate, he'd be at That Other Kakariko in less than 20 minutes.

Home, Sweet Home

Covered in sweat with aching muscles all over, Jaden ran with a speed that'd put most Postmen to shame. Cleft into the side of a crevasse was the Sheikah village. It was small, humble, and totally unsuspecting except to the people. 

Those stationed outside did not believe what they were seeing. Anyone coming back from assignment during a war was rare. Such things usually spanned more time.

Jaden gave the necessary phrasing to get the gate open and filtered in. Most of the people were asleep at this hour, but Nora never slept, or so it seemed. She was leaning up against the side of her home, tapping the door with her staff.

"Welcome home, weary one. There is a cot in my shop that your sister often sleeps on. I suggest you use it after washing up."

"Nice to see you too."

The hint of sarcasm in his tone wasn't hard to miss. He hardly ever trusted Nora because of how secretive she was. More so than the rest of the Sheikah. Whatever divine mysteries there were out there, he'd rather hear his sister's opinion because it was much less cryptic.

"Sooner or later, Jaden, you'll need to let that cold sarcasm remain unsaid. And you will have to trust me at some point."

She opened the door for him and he slipped inside, quickly undoing his equipment and cleaning everything out. It was quite painful, but necessary. He got to the cot and collapsed on it in his underwear; he was just that exhausted.

Jaden/Nora's House/Mezzanine 3-4

She wasn't wasting any time. Nora started setting up for her distortion spell to stretch out 24 hours into a longer span. He would need to understand much, but he was a quick study. 

Then of course was the painful ink delivery. She'd gotten that solution prepared as well as his weapons. Kae's little pocket storage had some of the things she needed, so those were borrowed. As was some of the commingled blood and ichor from her wound. Like Kae would have any time to really analyze what that unstable fragment was leeching out of her anyway...

He was sleeping so soundly that not even the loud crashes Nora made on accident did anything to stir him. His back wasn't even covered. She knelt down and started to prep his arm for the tattooing by softening his rather thick skin with a mixture of warm oils. But that soon-to-be scar on his face troubled her. Though he tried to clean that out, he was not thorough in it. 

Nora swabbed at the slash that had spanned horizontally from cheekbone to cheekbone. It wasn't deep enough to crack open the sinus, but it should have been stitched up. And some of it appeared to have healed faster than it should have.

More of that untapped moonchild potential. Accelerated mending while resting...how he does it, I don't know.

She also did what previously had been done to Kae by working out the knots in his stiffened back. Nora's long, bony fingers knew exactly where to knead and press. 

He had the ever-living hell beaten out of him. Not to mention the swelling in his hands...he must have escaped bindings with the dislocation trick.

After putting up her "With a Client" sign outside the shop, Nora prepared to activate the beacons which would power her spell. Jaden didn't exactly know what was going to happen to him, and he did not quite care. He was elated to have a place to rest his head. And his sleep was dreamless.

A small vial of Kae's ichor was used to fuel the beacons instead of Nora's blood. Slightly risky in practice since starmetal tends to react oddly when used as a material component in high ritual magicks. It was set alight in the center of her shop; flashes of light came from each corner, transferring the substance to all four statuettes. The Defiant, The Vigilant, The Subversive, and The Mesmer. These were four of the aspects of one of Nora's Celestial Tarot decks, and the ones closely likened to Jaden. Kae had more of a Zodiac attunement. With the elder moonchild, it was all about the fates. 

Of the four chosen, the Mesmer and the Subversive were needed to distort time most. Their gifts would not be the absolute best for Jaden, but they would increase his utility within a group or mixed unit. 

The early rituals could be done while he slept. By the time he would wake up, the sun wouldn't be up yet.

Early Departure

Polaris - Castle - Night 3

"Well I think you give me a little to much credit, I've never actually been up in these mountains before so I've only got a general idea of where to go. We'll need to get more specific directions from the soldiers stationed at Snowpeak Fortress."

She played the all knowing card quite well, for a while Polaris had assumed that she knew the a great deal about the landscape. No matter, he knew the mountains relatively well, such knowledge generally accompanied living in the same place for so many years, centuries even. He wasn't entirely sure of their destination, but he did havea general idea. "Yes I suppose a visit to the fortress would definitely get us on the right track. I can't see why the soldiers there wouldn't be jumping at the opportunity to assist us. It is afterall, their duty to serve and protect. If there is but one who's devotion is on par with that of the "servants of the crown" that I've recently met, they may have the items retrieved and waiting for us already." Pausing to chuckle at the unlikelyhood of that proposal, "Although, it is much more likely that we have quite the adventure ahead of us."

"It is getting kind of late in the day to be setting off for such a distant destination. You could probably reach Zora's Domain before the sun completely sets if you traveled by water, but I would have to take the land route and it is a bit longer with its winding paths. Should we wait until morning before setting out or take our chances and leave now?"

Taking a moment to ponder the situation, if he were to swim ahead to the Zoras domain he would cut down on his travel time a bit, but then he'd be left to wait on Felinas arrival while there, and he wasn't overly fond of spending any extended amount of time there, especially since he'd really rather no one there recognize him, and that was nigh impossible. He could hide among thw Hylians, but he saure to stick out like a sore thumb among his own people."Although I could perhaps cover the distance faster traveling through the waterways, it wouldn't quite make sense to leave my only support behind and traveling alone now would it? No, I'd prefer we stick together if possible. I've already rested today, and can travel now if necessary. Sleep is a luxury that isn't always readily available so you learn to cope. If you need to rest however, that is understandable, I'm not one to force my insomnia upon others. This evening or in the morning, whichever you prefer."]

IC: Felina - Castle - Evening 3

"Hm... although it is tempting to wait until morning before leaving, I think it would be better to get a head start and leave tonight. Leaving in the morning would mean that it would be sometime in the afternoon before we reached Zoras Domain, leaving only half a day left to get up the mountains... Snowpeak isn't exactly the friendliest place to get caught traveling through at night, and simply camping outside on those peaks is out of the question." Felina began rambling. "Yes, I think it would be best to make any preperations and then set out immediately." she concluded.

After the zora approved the two parted ways briefly to gather what provisions they thought they might need and then met up again at the castle gates. Glancing back Felina wondered how well the others were going to be able to work together, and then glanced at Polaris. "It is somewhat ironic that for a town that has entrances in three of the four compass points we find ourselves going in the one direction that doesn't... Oh well, I guess we should be off before we lose any more daylight." Felina sighed as the duo began the trek towards the northern mountains.

Polaris/ Castle/ Evening 3

"Hm...although it is tempting to wait until morning before leaving, I think it would be better to get a head start and leave tonight. Leaving in the morning would mean that it would be sometime in the afternoon before we reached Zoras Domain, leaving only half a day left to get up the mountains...Snowpeak isn't exactly the friendliest place to get caught traveling through at night, and simply camping outside on those peaks is out of the question." Pausing to take a breath and gather her thoughts, "Yes, I think it would be best to make any preparations and then set out immediately."

Allowing himself a moment to digest all that was said, Polaris gave a half cocked grin and nodded, "That's a fair assessment, and one that I'll not dispute. There's one small matter I need to tend to and I'll be good to go, I'll meet you at the castle gates." With that he strode off down the corridor.

Not having traveled very far at all he encountered a lone guard leaned up against the wall, helmert off, taking a swig from a canteen. "I apologize in advance as it looks like I'm interrupting your break, but I'm to leave momentarily for a trek deep into the mountains of Snowpeak on official business for the crown, and as you well know, it's damn cold up there," This was true, what he was about to say, of course was not, but the guard wouldn't know, "I'll undoubtedly freeze to death without some sort of traveling cloak. Anything hooded will do. I'll wait here." It appeared as if the guard were going to dispute being told what to do by someone whom he didn't know from the next guy, but he apparently thought better of it and, nodded, then turned on his heel and walked off down the hall.

After the guards departure Polaris leaned against the wall, pondering all that had happened and all that was to come. The battle with Darrel the night before and the small part he played in the skirmish today in Castle Town had proved one thing to him, he'd lost a bit of the edge he once possessed, his reflexes had dulled a bit from lack of use, Darrel had injured him and the giant caught him completely unawares, both times, desperate, knee-jerk reactions had saved him, barely. Therefore, while the majority of those in his party were laid up in the infirmary, he was holed up in a back room, just slightly larger than a broom closert, honing his reflexes and remastering his element. Since it was somewhat embarrassing to have let himself get to the state he'd been in, he was glad that none had questioed his whereabouts. He needed to be at his bests for the tasks that lay ahead, that much he knew was vital to their success, the practice had been necessary.

As the guard returned, he tossed Polaris a plain gray cloak, "Will this do?" Inspecting it, then pulling it over his head, Polaris nodded satisfactorily, "Yes, thankyou, this will do fine."

Felina was already waiting for him as he arrived at the gates, "It is somewhat ironic that for a town that has entrances in three of the four compass points, we find ourselves going in the one direction that doesn't... Oh well, I guess we should be off before we lose anymore daylight."

"You know," Thinking back once again to all the events that had occurred in the past few days, "I'd say irony is something that there has been no shortage of here recently, guess we can just add this to the already long list." ...it was almost overwhelming to think how many questions still remained unanswered, with a powerful invading army advancing towards the keep. Those answers would all have to come on the fly, how many of them were the right ones was yet to determined...catching himself trailing off, Polaris reigned his thoughts back in, "Sorry about that, yes, let's get moving, the bickering and complaining of the meeting room has tested my patience, and because of that, my mind has become prone to wandering, I'll keep it in line and focus on the task at hand again, it'll be good to actually be doing something again."

IC: Felina - Castle - Evening 3

"Sorry about that, yes, let's get moving, the bickering and complaining of the meeting room has tested my patience, and because of that, my mind has become prone to wandering, I'll keep it in line and focus on the task at hand again, it'll be good to actually be doing something again." Polaris spoke as the duo set out from the castle.

They passed through the rubble of castle town, working their way to the west gate. Felina had reckoned it would be the better choice. The eastern route was bordered by deep canyons that helped sheild the castle town, but also required a slightly longer route across open plains. The western route on the other hand bordered the castle towns outer defensive lines established along the river leading to Zoras Domain. If anything particularly nasty were to happen, potential help would be relatively easy to reach.

It was a bit of an awkward silence as the duo made their way, the two of them had met only a few hours earlier and knew little if anything about each other. It seemed clear that Polaris wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of stopping at zoras domain, but Felina couldn't quite place why. Glancing at one of the tattoos peaking out from beneath his cloak Felina realized it was a little odd for a person to be adorned with funeral markings. She herself hadn't given it much thought, she was actually accustomed with being able to see spirits of the departed and such things weren't really shocking to her anymore, but for others it would certainly be an oddity.

"So... you said you've been living in the Snowpeak Mountains? That certainly seems out of the way for a member of an aquatic tribe." Felina spoke, trying to make conversation. 

Polaris/ Hyrule Field/ 3rd Evening

"So...you said you've been living in the Snowpeak Mountains? That certainly seems out of the way for a member of an aquatic tribe."

"A bit, yes. But when I moved into the mountains, it seemed as if there were nowhere else to go."

Noticing her take note of his tattoos, he resigned himself to the fact that she'd find out sooner or later anyway, and hell, most of the people back at the castle could probably recite the specifics of the tale for her if prompted.

"Well, I suppose it will pass the time...I hope you enjoy ghost stories... I won't bore you with a whole lot of talk about my childhood, or tell you what it was like growing up in the house of the most prolific commander in the Zora tribes history, just know that, I am my fathers son. I idolized the man to the point that it was a foregone conclusion that I was to follow in his footsteps. But I wanted more, I was driven, I longed to step out of his shadow, that determination drove me, it guided my every move, and due to that, I rose quickly through the ranks of the military until I became the youngest general in the history of our tribe. I enjoyed many great and decisive victories, my lust for renown and unwavering desire forged me into a legend in my own lifetime."

With one final glance back at the devastated Castle Town, Polaris merely shook his head in disgust and carried on with his tale, "Oh yes, I was convinced that the bards would sing my name and tell of my actions for centuries to come...and they did, but the tales they told, the tales some of them probably still tell to this day, are not those of the greatness I envisioned. That same itch that pushed me to limits unfathomable, coupled with the belief that I was unstoppable against all odds, ultimately lead to my downfall. During the Imprisoning War, when the Water Temple, the Zoras greatest stronghold, when it fell, I was enraged, and against the urging of my peers, and the disproval of my superiors I made a call to arms, to all willing and able bodied Zoras. I asked for volunteers to march with me to take back our sacred temple. And it was with the largest batallion I had ever commanded that I made my way to the Water Tempe, leaving the corpses of countless Gerudo foot soldiers in my wake, we would not be denied."

This next part, the next chapter in his saga pained him, and was the hardest to speak of. Barely audible, "3 days...3 damn days and we were decimated. No one survived the battle at Lake Hylia. The last I recall of that horrid day was myself, last of such a massive force left standing, my back to the lake, in front of me, countless Gerudian whenches, bows strung, arrows nocced and drawn...then the sun went black. Everything went black as the swarm of frozen darts rocketed towards me. And then it was cold. So cold.

They say my body had to be chiseled from a block of ice nearly 5 times the size of the largest Goron.they say, even dead as I was, that on the journey back to the Zoras Domain I would occasionally shiver and a frosty raled wheeze would escape my lungs. They say that's impossible, they say I had no pulse. And yet...here I am, banished from a family long dead, exiled from my home, my body forever marked with the constant reminders of failure that my tattoos have become.

They were going to burn my body, there is no greater insult to the dead in our culture. But the fires wouldn't burn. Not even when I was wrapped in cloth soaked in lamp oil, the flame just flickered and went out. So I was left atop the funeral pyre as they discussed what was to be done with my body. It was there I awoke covered in funerary tattoos and launching wild, uncontrollable arctic blasts in every direction. Of course they became scared, called me a demon. Shunned me. I was asked to leave, so I obliged them.

I apologize, just as most old men are, I tend to be a bit longwinded."

IC: Felina - northern Hyrule Field region - night 3

Polaris story was one of tragedy, it was hard to try and put a smile on and continue on after hearing a tale like that. Pausing for a moment to think of a way to shift Polaris mind off of his past troubles Felina realize that she hadn't yet done any explanation of her own abilities. Showing them to him now would be an easy way to change the subject.

"Hm... I guess I've had a small taste of what it feels to be viewed as an outcast as well." Felina spoke, spinning on her heel and transforming. She was now in her transformed coyote state. The zora looked stunned at the sudden change. The change of clothes wasn't particularly imposing, but her eyes were a different story, they were now that of a coyote. 

"I have the abilities of a summoner. By forming bonds with spirits who linger in this world I can gain their strength. The first time I ever demonstrated this ability to people they paniced and looked at me like I was some kind of blood thirsty monster that was going to eat them. Even now having gone through more formal training at a magical academy I'm still viewed as somewhat of a curiosity by spell casters. To many of the more scholarly mages I'm more of a lab rat than a student or colleague." 

"In the distant past when the Hylia were blessed with the ability to hear the voices of the gods and spirits, abilities such as mine were as common as normal mages are now. Sadly that blessing has largely faded over time and almost nobody can hear the voices of spirits, let alone actually channel their strength." Felina explained, giving a small history lesson on the magics of ancient Hyrule. 

Felina smirked for a moment, glancing at the tattoos that troubled Polaris so greatly, while running her hand down the markings that had appeared on her own arm as part of the transformation. "About the only reminder that has been left in the world of this waning ability are markings carried by those such as yourself. An attempt by the living to help keep the spirits of departed loves ones bound to this world. Even after people like me are gone there will still be that tradition, even if its true meaning has been forgotten."

"As for your case though... I think you misjudge your circumstances. In many cases individuals only achieve their true strength when they are on the brink of death. You have suffered greatly and yet still live to carry on, even if it is only to help fulfill the hopes of your lost friends. Afterall, what would they think if they heard you had gained greater power that could be used to protect the land they gave their lives for, only to have you sulking around alone for all these years." Felina added with a wink, reverting back to her normal appearance. 

She knew it was only the words a youth who could never truely understand the life experience of somebody who was centuries old, but hoped it would be enough to help him put his self-doubts out of his mind. Glancing up at the darkened sky as the sun set.

"Heh... and you thought you were being long winded... I've gone and talked so long that even the sun has grown tired and left. I guess we should setup camp and get some rest for tomorrow." she joked as she glanced around for a good spot to stop for the night.

Polaris/ Travel/ 3rd evening

Whether inadvertant or not, the young summoner had put Polaris in his place. He had no excuse for acting like a scared child and hiding out in the mountains for all these years. After fighting out the remainder of the war, he'd just left...cowardly as it seemed, that's what he did.

"Your words ring true. To possess such wisdom at any age is quite the accomplishment, but at your age, the feat makes me blush. I've hid from the world and my responsibility to it for far longer than is acceptable. It's something that I'd already started to accept, but your words have helped nudge me in the right direction.

Such a young girl, and yet she possessed a gift, summoning, that was all but lost to antiquity, the possible advantages of having her in his corner were limitless."I must admit, I've met many mages, sorcerers, sorceresses and the like, but a summoner? You've got to be the first." Smirking, if for no reason other than he was surprised at how quickly his mood had lightened. 

"Yes, I agree it would be for the best if we were to find a place to spend the night hours."

Radical Dreamers

Kae/Day 3/Guest Chambers/Evening

She was dismissed and headed directly to wherever a guest lodging for the night could be found within castle walls. After the carnage of today, she needed a place of solace. 

They probably wouldn't mind if Kae used the room for that night. And the summoning rituals wouldn't cause any damage to it, so less worry was needed. 

But who would she give the second crystal to? Most likely Phoenix; he was overseeing the defenses.

Locking the door behind her, Kae set up the table perfectly. Her alchemy set was conjured and a salt circle drawn. 

Before she began the really potent stuff, she drew the drapes on her room so as to not send any strange lights into the night sky.

And so it began. One right after another. Two rather large violet fragments appeared in a blinding flash of coruscating light and remained suspended in the air. It didn't even seem to take much out of the summoner, and she was so focused on the rituals that she didn't notice Felis appear on the bed. He sat there, observing.

When the conjuration was complete, Kae sat down and started mixing reagents to apply to both crystals. Another part of her set started mixing red and blue potions on their own. It was the Magician's Apprentice done right. Everything was going according to plan.

Kae took the first crystal and applied the contents of a flask. A deep blue syrup coated her first Starfire Crystal, and the other received a deep green solution. They both soaked into the forearm-sized chunks of celestial matter and reacted in a stable fashion.

The most uncertain part of the ritual came next: the benediction. She'd not gone this far when preparing alchemical-treated crystals, but the paradigm would support it, in theory.

After lifting up her prayer, two settings appeared on the table within her salt circle and supported the crystals. One started to develop liquid-silverish veins while the other had gilded veins. The silverish one was for the sword. Gilded was the Heaven's Punishment Moonfire device. She was pretty sure someone like Phoenix would know how to use it, but she prepared a command word scroll just in case and sealed it with deep violet wax.

Both crystals were ready. New potion supplies for the journey were ready as soon as the green ones were finished steeping. Kae used her remaining energies to fuel the crystals and erect defenses while she slept. She may have been in the castle, the holy sanctuary, but she did not feel safe at all. Three sentry shards were positioned around her bed in strategic locations.

It was then that she noticed Felis, and the two of them talked as she readied herself for bed.

Kae/Day 3/Guest Chambers/Evening

"Felis! You've returned so soon?"

The celestial familiar made his presence known shortly after Kae had finished her rituals for the evening. There was one yet to go to ready herself for bed; one she prepared herself in case she couldn't get a chance to bathe. And she was pretty sure they wouldn't let her into the royal bathhouse. 

"Yes, child. Apparently Nayru likes to keep a closer eye on what you're up to, so I've been chosen to liaison your journey. Don't worry. I'm not like some tax-collector that beats your door down. I'm here to help you through this, as it is quite a difficult time for you."

Kae slipped behind the dressing screen and conjured a shard.

"You're telling me, friend. Conflicted feelings, brushes with death, difficult summoning rituals, and now Lynn's possessed by some primordial frost being."

Her halter and leggings appeared slung over the screen and shortly after came her undergarments. The shard began to spiral around her rapidly, cleansing the Scion of impurities.

"You at least feel comfortable enough around me it seems. But your wrist concerns Nayru and myself. Do you know exactly what's happening to it?"

She winced as the shard cleansed her wound as best it could.

"The fragment is feeding off my excess energies and producing an ichor as a result. But I have never seen such a solution before. It is a mixture of starmetal, my blood, and tangible byproducts of the foreign object lodged in there. I'm not taking it out, because it was unstable two days ago. Nearly took my arm clean off."

"Kae, you really ought to consider finding a way to keep it from leeching your energy. Sometimes your shards are from newly-forming constellations, and the fresh Aspects do not have the proper training to harness the energies consistently. This one...troubles us. Try to find a way to get it out of your arm soon."

A small flash of light and a trail of dust dissipated as the cleansing was complete. Kae conjured a silken nightgown and looked at herself in the mirror, grinning a bit. She had to take her mind off the anomalous growth, and she hadn't had an opportunity to see how much better looking she'd gotten.

Her face was blushing so much that she couldn't focus. Kae's jaw was also locked open for a few moments.

"Are you alright, Scion?"

Felis rushed over to check on Kae and then started chuckling lightly himself.

"The imbuing often does that. You looked great before. Now, there is no wonder why even Hothnight's Host finds you irresistible."

Kae blushed even more and bit her finger in nervousness.

"Felis, it looks incredible. And the new tattoos are lovely! But what about Habiki's latest development?"

"It appears as though Equus Major has appeared to handle that. Nothing to concern yourself about yet, but it appears the Solar powers that be wish to stake their claim in this war. No matter."

"And the cursed reaper who wants to kill my friend?"

Felis wandered back to the bed and curled up near the pillows.

"His agenda is as cloudy as a spring rainstorm's sky. We would rather you focus yourself on your current mission, which does concern us dearly. You've never been exposed to desert heat. Our seamstresses are working on a garment for you as we speak to help you endure those elements. I promise you, it will be as attractive as your standard wardrobe."

Kae giggled, wondering why the Three wanted her to look so appealing.

"I am grateful that you all wish for me to appear more beautiful. But what is that functional purpose?"

"It is proven fact that attractive individuals are more persuasive and that more credence is given to their words. Also, ambassadors of the Three should look their best, and you happen to clean up nicely."

Commotion outside made her feel uneasy. So did some sudden visions of Hyrule Castle being under attack at mid-day. Kae ran over to the vanity and picked up a pen from the nearby inkwell, writing down what she saw. She had to get this to a guard and shuttled to High Command immediately. As a diviner as well as Nora's apprentice, her words would be heard well enough.

"Position one of the finest battalions around the Inner Sanctum. The overconfidence of the Twili has grown too large and must be deflated swiftly. Failure to comply could result in His Majesty being in grave danger. It has been seen in a vision, and verified by the Scion of Nayru. Fortify your defenses, and do not discount the impact of one individual's ambition."

-Kae Bryseis, Apprentice of Nora Larisse.

It was sealed with her mark and the Weeping Eye. After slipping out into the hallway, it didn't take her long to attract the attention of a guard.

"Something wrong, Miss Bryseis?"

"I hope you don't mind me claiming this room for the evening. But I recently had a disturbing vision of the castle being attacked tomorrow. Enclosed is said vision in greater detail. Please get it to High Command at your earliest convenience."

"This is horrible news! Right away, you have my word. And do not worry about the room. The Crown takes care of those who defend it."

The guard called for a messenger, and a few minutes later, the missive was sent off. Most likely it would end up in the hands of Phoenix. If this was the case, Kae felt relieved. She assumed this as it was, bid the guard good evening, and went back into her room. Felis was still waiting on the bed for her.

Kae curled up on the plush mattress. She'd never slept on something this comfortable in her life, and she didn't expect to again for a long while. If this was how royalty lived and this was what she was defending, then a piece of the pie was quite worth it.

All of the sentry shards were in place. While Felis didn't quite like the idea of her nocturnal defenses, he didn't force them to go away either. Unauthorized entry would lead to a very unsatisfactory result for any assailant trying to enter this room. A barrage of cosmic energy rays would be greeting them.

"You are in Hyrule Castle, Scion. Safest place you could be. Are you sure you need those?"

"Yes. In my one day of imbuing, I have learned that paranoia keeps you alive a lot longer. Anything else before I rest?"

Kae yawned and gnawed on a peach taken from a nearby plate.

"Nothing further. Other than the vortex rote, Nayru approves of your actions this day. Grade B+."

After finishing her midnight snack, the Scion drifted off into an incredibly deep sleep, facilitated by the comfortable bed.

Kae/Day 3-4 Mezzanine/Dreamscape

The sheets were perfumed and treated...it was no wonder that Kae was asleep in five minutes or less. She also had a cat curled up near her abdomen providing additional warmth.

With her mind drifting off, Kae soon learned that her nights would not be dreamless. There was an immersion of thought. While her body rested, her mind would toss and turn in slumber while divining a good amount of information. The mind was now exposed to the divine dreamscape, complete with all of the blessings and curses attached.

Kae's mind would truly never find rest. Whatever that happy place was going to be, she needed to find it. Everything seen while asleep was lucid, and it rightly spooked her.

Dark crosses light. Light shatters Dark. Dark enters dark. Light shatters light.

Phase One will occur by the dusk of the next day. Prepare thyself for trying times.

There were too many possibilities. But what was the large Dark? And what was the minor light? A square grid appeared before her, applying her initial thought to the cycle. She would have to replicate this illustration as she applied her thoughts to this puzzle of sorts. It was direct from the source, and vague to those who didn't have all realities and dimensions open to them. Even whilst imbued, the gates of Kae's deeper thought processes were not quite open yet. 

But what was the crossing? Did this have to do with Lynn's possession?

Or was there a rat in the castle? Kae had developed a paranoid streak since her imbuing. There was no prophecy or divination concerning enemy informants. Military operations were not Kae's specialty. However, diversion tactics did tend to ring out as the next step of action concerning herself.

Dark crosses light.

Was the next battle against the Twili army to be an ill-fated defeat? After the crossing comes the shattering. Dark itself would enter a smaller darkness before the Light at large shattered within itself to a degree. 

Kae was spinning out potential occurrences as quickly as they could be processed. Future possibilities with no answers. But Phase One...that had to be the Dark's crossing of light. 

She also saw Nora drilling Jaden worse than any sergeant ever could. It looked worse than her early apprenticeship. But after it was done, her brother looked so fearsome and intimidating. And a full moon appeared above his head. Did he finally accept his destiny as a moon-child? 

Moonchildren of Body and Mind born unto the honorable ones.

One underestimated but to be blessed; one expected to flourish while shrugging true fate.

Nayru favors one while Din favors the other.

Why did the opening of Nora's Moonchild Prophecy sound in her head?

Her field of vision switched to a very large battle. At even strength, it switched to Twili-favor slowly. Jaden threw the Starfire Crystal into the air and tipped it back to the Hylians, but paid a heavy price by drawing an extreme heat source toward his vicinity. She did not see the fate of that resulting action. All she knew was that it attracted white flame. It didn't take much to draw conclusions from there. But no end result for Jaden.

The grid appeared before her once more when the vision of war faded. 

The crossing will confound many and frustrate those with the clarity to understand. A turning point emerges while both sides are unaware.

She tried to wake herself up but couldn't. Kae was trapped in this mindscape until its purpose was complete. Nothing could reach her, not even Nora. This place was outside her scope of expertise. She prayed that this series of trippy nightmares would end soon, as the psychic shock was starting to build up. But there was so much meaning in it all that she had to write it all down when she woke up.

Kae/Dreamscape/Mezzanine 3-4

"Why can't I wake up?"

"If you struggle, you may miss something important. Chaos surrounds if you somehow manage to open your eyes as it is. It would break your heart, m'lady."

Felis appeared next to her as she sat at that desk attempting to decipher the prophecies. 

"Nayru believes that questioning does allow for a better discernment. Your doubts do not damage you as one may think. Open minds open up inner mysteries. How do you think she got to where she was in ages past?"

"And my mind is apparently rather...unlocked...just like Nora's."

"More so, Kae. Age may not matter, but your innate potential was greater than hers. Indeed the two of you were on the short list for Nayru's imbuing. But your master still has a role to fulfill for the King and High Command. She couldn't do that as an Imbued."

Felis remained silent for a good while as Kae kept a feverish writing pace. But would she be able to conjure this journal as she did other things that mattered to her?

An image of Lynn appeared before her in an agonizing pain as she wrestled with an icy obtenebrant figure. She was pretty sure who that was. And Taden was winning. She kept hearing Lynn's silent cries for help. They were reluctant in utterance. 

But how? Soul containment wasn't her specialty. She could at least try to ward against possession for herself to a degree.

"This is a battle she will have to fight on her own until that sword is complete. Even then, the new blade may not produce a desired effect. It is, however, the best option that does not involve killing your friend. Or is she more to you?"

Kae blushed and held her face in her hands for a moment.

"I don't honestly know, Felis. I'm so confused about it all right now...I need to save things like that for after this is over...daddy said love makes you stupid, and I think he's right. My feelings for Lynn cloud my judgment to an extent. But I can't just deny something for denial's sake. At war's end, I'll figure it out. Hopefully."

Conflicted in more ways than one. Felis didn't quite know how to answer this one, either.

"Do what you think is best. This is something we don't really judge upon unless it causes you to falter."

After a bit more deciphering, Kae started to feel the shackles on her eyelids lift. This was a nightmarish thing even if those who practiced her magic dreamed of seeing them. She resolved to try to avoid sleep for as long as possible. But she didn't forget that heartbreak awaited her if she opened her eyes too soon.

"What is the best option for today?"

"Survival, child. Don't flinch."

With that, Kae began to stir in her slumber, albeit very slowly. Sharp pain in her left wrist was a key element in knowing her mind was returning to her body, and her skin began to have that dark violet ichor spreading from the wound. She had it collecting in a flask overnight, and it was half-full. Something had to be done about this thing. It was worse than a parasite.

Kae/Guest Chambers/Dawn 4

As further consciousness returned, searing pain went all throughout Kae's wrist and hand. That unstable fragment had done more to her overnight, and it was enough to make her nervous. Her fingernails started to look celestial, and the veins in her hand were glittering like her ink. When she turned the hand over, she could see the offending thing. It wasn't just sapping her energy now. It was trying to manifest itself in its own right; her body was becoming partially celestial.

This was a case she couldn't take to Nora. It couldn't go to a doctor. They'd try to extract it, it'd go nova, and it would not end well.

I will be unreachable this day, child. Your brother will be undergoing training and the spell used distorts time. I'll hear anything you have to tell me after it ends.

Kae didn't respond. She didn't have to. But where did Felis go? 

On her dressing screen was a very nice new set of robes. They came with a hood and a faceguard, and were the color of very light purple with a hint of sandy undertones. Her Sheikah insignia appeared on the chest and faceguard, and they also allowed for plenty of flexion and movement. Belting was conveniently placed with a few inner hidden pockets. While they appeared to be heavy, when she picked them up they were quite light and smelled faintly of celestial essence. 

After performing maintenance on the Starfire Crystals, Kae allowed her sentries to orbit her being instead of guarding the perimeter. They'd done a good job in the night's time, and she did not wish to put them to waste. 

The servants must have been warned about Kae's paranoid defense, because breakfast was not waiting on her table. However, the fruit basket did quite nicely for her once again, and she picked it clean. Her room was stable again after she picked up those crystals and prepared to step out and find her companions.

Hyrule Castle Cathedral

Kae's happy place wasn't too hard to guess. She had a love for music that wasn't quite shown to those she knew, but it was a very holy area. All those floating bodies did garner many an odd look as she traveled throughout the hallowed halls of Hyrule Castle, and she talked to many on her way to the Cathedral. When she arrived, the only folks there were servants tending to different aspects of the room.

It was absolutely beautiful within. Lots of stained glass, gold-lined archways and buttresses; each had its own story to tell. Kae had read about this place many times and hoped one day she could see it. After crossing the threshold she was filled with a euphoria of sorts whilst taking it all in, especially after she'd seen the large Triforce Crest behind its main stage. 

She took a seat in one of the pews and conjured her harp. It wasn't that big and didn't have much customization done to it. The range was a bit small as well, but she knew how to make it sound beautiful. Even if her left hand did look like something awful.

There was no song in particular she went into; it was just a free-playing melody of mixed songs she'd composed over the years. She shut her eyes and let loose, and while she did this, stray tears began to trickle down her cheeks. To pluck with the bad hand was quite painful, but she didn't care. It wasn't registering with her in the happy place. 

Such a therapy was what Kae desperately needed. She'd spend a little more time here meditating in the flow of song.

Preparation H

Harken Zeiss/Morning 4/Somewhere in Castle Town

Harken awoke with a start. There was a searing pain in his face, which still oozed a modicum of blood from the many perforations caused by the shards of his exploding staff. He had been able to stumble away from all the excitement and hide from the aftermath, claiming for his own a bed in a partially destroyed house. The owner wouldn't be needing it anymore; he was outside underneath a ton or two of rubble.

Zeiss fished in his backpack. There was a single bottle of it left, and he had hoped to save it for something more dire. This situation called for action, however. He pulled the stopper from the top of the bottle, drank down a third of the slimy red liquid, and spread some of it on the wounds over his face. The pain, and the bleeding, ceased. For the time being, at least.

He rolled out of the bed, standing beside his pack, and walked over to the window. Outside, the town was just waking up to the horrid realization that it had not all been a nightmare. People shuffled into the streets, aghast at the state of their town, and began again the work of clearing away rubble from the more frequented areas, or from bodies of loved ones. After a night under such weight, it was highly doubtful any would be alive that had not been killed in the initial avalanche.

"Oh, boo-hoo. How sad. Well, I'm alive. And [i]that[/i] is all that matters to me right now."

He sucked down another swig of the healing tincture and re-corked the bottle before shoving back into his pack. Then he hefted the thing and slung it over his shoulders. It was another day. What passed was in the past. There were to be new opportunities to take advantage of, and new people to extort for his own gain. Hyrule still remained free. He still sought to take a piece of that luscious pie.

Harken Zeiss/Day 4/Castle Town

Another day, another rupee. That was the saying. Without work, there was no reward. It was something Harken had learned in the early days of his career in Clock Town, and it was something he had nigh forgotten in the latter days. But being ousted, coming to this place, having to start anew, was quite the jump-start to such old memories. He had indeed worked hard to organize everything in Termina, to lay the foundations that would one day become his empire. If it was done once, it could be done again.

A group of some fifty Castle Town residents had come together under his banner, so to speak, already. He was leading an effort to clear the rubble, and remove and identify the bodies of the deceased. Fifty people already under his loose command, already willing to do as he said, already seeing him as someone they could follow when their ruler was too busy with his big-headed games to pay attention to those he was meant to protect. Fifty people who would spread the word of this Harken Zeiss, the man who, despite injuries he incurred in the battle, in defense of they and theirs, worked on to help them.

And from those fifty, he could estimate tomorrow there would be a work crew of one-hundred and fifty tomorrow. At first, yes, they would unite due to tragedy and community. But now Zeiss was part of that community. Respected in that community. A leader in that community. A damn hero in that community. With initial public support, it would be easy to gain control of portions of the neighborhood from there, and to find the people who would be loyal to him in his climb to power not because of the public image of altruism, but for the true goal: power.

So, for now, Harken practiced the first step of any project. He was laying the foundation. And, of course, the best way to do what was the old-fashioned way: with hard work and sweat. Sweat that stung with salty vigor the fresh, but healing, wounds in his face that held fragments of his old cane's focusing crystal. That was just like another old repeated saying. No pain, no gain.

Strange Activity

Moran Taliesin - Hyrule Castle Suites - Third Night

"I'm not sure what more I can say, the Triune does not bend to the whims of its servants. You know the rules, Moran. You knew your request would be denied before you beckoned." the melodious, angellic voice of the archon asserted. There they stood, in the quarters that had been provided him by the castle staff, one mortal servant of the Goddesses and one heavenly. Cecile, the First Anointed of the Divine Triune so long ago, had ascended to a post of even greater importance after her mortal death. She had become the voice of the Goddesses will, she carried their orders and their messages to him, and his to them in a sense. "What is it that you really called me for?"

She had always been able to see through his pretenses and his elaborate deceptions. It had been a gift of hers in life and had translated quite beautifully into her new self.

Despite her diminutive stature, the angel Cecile possessed a presence about her that dominated everything else. It was not that she looked particularly impressive, but she felt that way. There was an aura around her that commanded the attention and respect of others. In life it had been noticeable, in rebirth it was undeniably powerful. Her gaze cut through everything, stripped away all the layers until all that remained was the truth.

"Darrel Mytura. I imbued him as you, as they instructed. Tonight, however, there were... complications. A fundamental personality shift appears to be taking place in him even now as we speak, a very troubling personality shift that seems to be a direct result of what's been done to him." he said after a moment, meeting directly the gaze of the divine servant. "I want to know why."

Cecile didn't answer right away, but in vaguely transluscent features there appeared a look of what could almost have been dismay, even melancholy. Still, when she spoke it was with that same beautiful authority that she always possessed.

"It is a result of recent events. Previously he had only one agent to contend with, first it was Hothnight, then he was succeeded by Kinslayer. Now Hothnight appears to have resurfaced, if somewhat indirectly. On top of that war brings a certain natural chaos with it wherever it goes. With all of this, is it really a wonder that he has become more... aggressive in his duties?"

"I was told that it would not have any overt effects on him! He has been a valuable asset for centuries and you would toy with him so!" Moran began to shout. His heart was pounding, there was a slightly metallic taste in his mouth. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I would do nothing. I am but the messenger. It was by your hand that he was imbued, and by their command. Even they cannot see all ends, Chamdar. They do what they must." The look of sadness did not leave her face, even as she delivered her rebuke. "As should you. You are bound to the desert with the Scion of Nayru. The Goddesses have placed a significant burden on her, especially for one so young, and they wish you to instruct her in any way you can while keeping your mind to your own duties. Your youth may be lost to the halls of antiquity but hers has not been. Try not to strip her of her innocence entirely."

Habiki/Night 3/Bed Chambers

Before he had had the guards escort him to his room, he had informed them of the Twili’s use of makeshift tunnels to sneak golems across enemy lines, and asked them to pass this information to Pheonix. It hadn’t been relevant to the discussion of the new sword, but it was relevant to Hyrule’s safety. They seemed notably perturbed that he had waited to mention it, and they immediately reentered the room to brief Pheonix. Then a second pair of guards had led him to his dormitory.

He had allowed everything that happened that day to wash over him as he watched the sunset from his balcony, day giving way to night. For the first time, a terrible thought entered his mind at the passing of the Sun…he was glad to see it go. It was a source of life, especially for him, but the sunsets that had unnerved him in years past were, in this moment, comforting. The night was reprieve, however temporary, from being overcome by the tremendous power of the Day. Was this how Kae saw the world? Did night grant her the gentle asylum he now sought from it? Did the stars make her feel safe?

Now as he lay in his bedchambers, sifting through the texts that Tenturi had lent him on Earth magic, unopened jars of dirt littering his bed, he was growing restless. He couldn’t sleep, and the materials he was now reading were all but incomprehensible…philosophical and technical jargon about “earth memory” and the like. Eventually, he slammed the book shut, unable to focus in his weary state.

He was suddenly overcome by a wave of nausea. He clutched his stomach in both hands, and, struggling to stand off the bed, he walked towards the door. Panting heavily, he grasped for the door handle, and after a few failed attempts, managed to pry it open and limp into the hallway. Leaning against the wall, he began to make his way painfully to the lavatory, to satisfy his illness.

At the end of the hall was a small window, which he paid little attention to…until a streak of light passed by the frame, and he looked up at the window in surprise.

His weariness forgotten in an instant, he ran towards the window and peered out at the castle grounds to see what had caused the flash. There was nothing in sight.

His curiosity peeked, invigorated by the rush of adrenaline, he rushed back to his room and gathered his belongings, stuffing all his valuables into his bag, and swung it over his shoulder. He might have to chase after whatever it was, and so it would help to not have to come back.

Then as quietly as he could, not wanting to waste valuable time waking someone and having to explain himself, he left his room, shut the door, and made for the stairs. He ran down the spiraling stone steps, into the Foyer, and finally to the main entrance at the drawbridge, only to be stopped by a group of guards.

“Hey, what are you doing out of your room at this hour?” one of them asked.

“Official Light Warrior business,” Habiki said half-truthfully, not having time to explain before he left, and shoved past them without another word. They didn’t follow, one merely shrugging when the other asked “What was that about?”

Lynn Annei/Afternoon-ish (whatever) 3/Hyrule Castle

Phoenix had dismissed everyone, and he was the commander. As much as Lynn wanted to stick with Kae, she couldn't disobey a direct order. Thus, she left and walked off down the hall. As she got further away from the cupola, she found that she wanted less and less to stay around the others. No doubt that damn Senshi was following her. She glanced over her shoulder, saw him and some of the rest of the group in the same hallway, and ducked around the corner into the staircase.

Quietly as she could, which was extremely, she ran up a few flights of stairs, hoping whoever decided to follow her would think she had gone down, and counting on the silence to not leave any hints of her direction. When she reached the top parapet, she stepped out into the light of the setting sun. She could feel the air slowly cooling off as the sun stopped throwing heat on the land. It was refreshing.

She leaned against the stone, looking down on Castle Town. Even from up here things looked so chaotic as the people continued to try cleaning up from the disaster earlier. They were no doubt scrambling for some safe shelter in which to spend the night. So many buildings destroyed, and for what? That was the reason the Twili had to be destroyed.

"What was that?"

She turned, something bright had caught the corner of her eye, down outside one of the lower windows. When had it gotten so dark? How long had she been up here, daydreaming? How late into the night was it? She thought, for a moment, that the night air should be chilly, but instead she felt comfortable and at home. Perhaps that was why she had so lost track of the passing time? It didn't matter, that glint of light was something, certainly, and at this hour no one else could have noticed it. She made her way back down the towered staircase, all the way to the bottom and out onto the castle yards.

"Now, I was there... so that light had to be... there..." She was murmuring to herself, attempting to determine the location of the light, pointing up the side of the Castle and moving her finger as she considered possibilities. From behind her came voices. Gate guards? Who was entering or leaving the keep this late? She turned to find out, again her curiosity, and paranoia, moving her. With Twili forces having assaulted Castle Town just that very day, she didn't trust anything out of the ordinary.

As it turned out, she had reason to be so worried. It was Habiki that she heard talking to the guards.

"Official Light Warrior business' my ass." she muttered, setting off to follow the golem, silence being her movement. The guards almost spoke up as she passed, but she silenced them quickly. Dew forming on the blades of grass froze as she spread her fingertips, and then the liquid in the root systems froze. Two clumps of hardened soil tore from the ground and shot through the air, embedding themselves in the throats of the two men, cutting their air and stymieing any words they had wish to make. The men briefly lifted their hands to their throats, then fell to the ground.

The heat of their blood thawed the grass and the soil. In the morning, all that would be found would be two dead guardsmen with dirt daggers shoved in their throats. A shame. And the only person to have passed through the gate that night was Habiki, the Twili golem made of dirt. Another shame.

Evening 3/Castle/Phoenix 
“I only hope so,” Phoenix said as he reached for his cane and rose back to his feet. “I have nothing farther, get some rest.” He walked over to a nearby window and gazed out at the destroyed city as the two quietly left.

Moments lighter a brilliant flash of light filled the room. “Just where to you get off trying to have him son killed,” a women who appeared as the light dimmed scolded the ancient demon with an aristocratic tone.

“I never said ‘kill’ did I? Besides it would be irresponsible of me to let him run around unchecked.”

“Maybe not those two but what about what about that little cross dresser you have following him around,” she said arrogantly not being one to be fooled so easily.

“Come now Laynnei, you and both know that child can’t possibly kill Senshi. The order to kill was simply so she’d fight at her best capability. It’s for her own protection. Now since I find it hard to believe you came all the way here too yell at me for things you know I have under control I have to believe there’s another reason you’re here.”

“Well you always were the one with a brain,” she said toying with wedding ring and gradually taking on a more casual tone. “One of them got out.”

“A Ma?” he said with a hint of panic in his tone, “that shouldn’t be a problem right, I though they kill their hosts and then cease to exist.”

“Normally they’re suppose to, but Ayala and myself have both been trying to keep a mental eye on the host and despite months having passed he’s still alive.” She said almost apologetically.

“Why haven’t you done something about it?” his voice raised slightly.

“He wasn’t a threat at the time; it’s just now that the city in ruins we’re not sure what’s become of him. All the despair, fear, rage and sorrow filling the mind of the survivors is making it difficult to find the one person who’s filled with it beyond his will. Besides it’s possible that he’ll still die shortly. I don’t know all the details but Seishi’s father survived quite some time before his body gave out. Not to mention Senshi’s here, he can deal with it.” She said as she gradually regained the high and mighty manner of speaking.

“Funny, he neglected to mention it.” Phoenix was starting to anger.

“He probably hasn’t noticed, that boy waists all his mental potential trying to block other psychics from his mind. It’s said really, if he’d just stop focusing on that he could learn to use his telekinesis consciously and read minds instead of just projecting thoughts. After all Ayala’s four years younger and she’s already begun to control her own subconscious abilities.”

“As if I could blame him,” he said sarcastically. “No use worrying about all that now though. Now, can I assume you’ll be aiding us now that the situations come to this point?”

“Haha, oh god no, I could care less about you’re silly little war. If that Ma becomes an issue I’ll just pushes Senshi in the right direction.”

“Well that’s too bad; we could really use a healer and a mind reader. Besides it makes what else I want to ask you about much more difficult.”

“You want to ask my lunk head husband to come help you; well at the very least I’m flattered that you’d ask my permission.”

“Well it’s not like I have much of a choice, I’m sure Senshi took the boat and even if I could get in touch with the Chan family I have no way of knowing if any of them can teleport.”

“Well I’ll consider it,” her response sent a shock of surprise through Phoenix’s ancient bones, “but whether he comes or not, you’re not allowed to tell him about that Hothnight girl.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”Laynnei vanished in another brilliant flash just as Phoenix uttered those words. The old man walked back the window and gazed back out at the deviation as the last bits of light faded from the horizon. “Seishi my friend, I will never understand how you can survive that women.”

Centuries Ago

"<It seems your sister's developed a bit of a curse on some kid her team picked up.>" the powerful spoke to the young mans mind over an unknown distance.

"<Yeah well young girls do that and she can take care of herself. Of course if they go to far I'll just have to step in like any good brother would once this is all over. Unless you're telling me this kids already a problem.>" Senshi sent back as he trekked alone though the Mountains.

<"I can't tell, something seems off when I search his mind but since I haven't met him in person it's hard to say. Of course you could drop this loner act and joined up with main light warriors you'd be able to make your own judgment like a good older brother would.>"

"<No, I'm going to fight this battle my way, not the light warriors. Besides I can't exactly give up the hunt for Livarius, and it's not like they're alone. The other Light Warriors can keep those kids in line.>"

"<Let's hope so. Oh and Senshi, please think of the meaning behind that Ocarina I in trusted to you when even you feel the need to run off and fight alone.">

-

"What the hell happened!" Senshi shouted has he stormed into the small house in Kakariko.

"I'm not certain, he appeared in the Kokiri Forst through a teleportation spell. She was badly injured so I brought her here."

"Damn it, out of my way I want to see her." he shouted pushed in the elemental to the side but was quickly stopped by an old family friend.

"Get out of my way Nahc!"

"Katsumi is tending to her right now, you'll only get in the way." Nahc shouted back as he forced Senshi away from the door to the room his injured sister was being cared for in. "Look, I'm not sure but from what I saw it I think she turned into Arch Angel but something went wrong, and well... Look she was half unconscious and delirious but I heard he mumble two names, Kashin and Taden."

"That's impossible." he stopped fighting having frozen in shock.

"Katsumi, how is she?" Nahc asked has is wife emerged from the room, gently closing the door behind her.

"She'll be fine, she's resting now," she said as tears began to form in her eyes. "it's just that, well..." she grabbed he hand tight to keep it from shaking. "I'm not sure how to say this, and I'm not sure I should, but I think she was..."

-

"DAMN IT!" the boy let out a cry as he collapsed to the ground. Aura's of strange magic violently shout out from his body like a deadly storm. The grass at this feet turned to stone, the moister in the air disappeared, the warmth rapidly vanished flash freezing some of his cloths. Even his own spiritual energy suck away just as was his mana and his own life force being sucked away to fuel this torrent of forbidden art. "What the hell is this." he struggled to speak aloud as his voice slipped away with his ever weakening body.

"Heh! What is this? This is the power you wanted."

"who the hell... said... that?"

"You're new best friend. Now just try and stay alive, after all your body and soul are mine now kid."

"Well isn't this a sorry sight."

Night 3/Senshi

"Damn it!" Senshi shouted suddenly awakening from a nightmarish sleep. "Damned snowflake mage is causing bad memories to resurface surface."

He looked over at his equipment that was resting on a near by chair. "What the hell am I doing here anyway?" he asked himself then flopped back down. "I just came here to learn about the Twili's magic and now I've got Hothnight to deal with. I swear either those three are more twisted then I though or my sins are finally catching up to me. Well there's still a chance I can learn something from the Golem, to bad I didn't get a chance to talk with him," he slowly different back to sleep.

"Thats it!" he once again jolted back up. He quickly though his shirt back on and grapped his cloak and the Sage of Storms Medallion. He headed strait for Habiki's room but unfortunately found it empty. Not willing to miss a perfected opportunity he began searching high and low for the litter bugger.

It was by pure chance the he witnessed Lynn murder two guards from a a distance. He approached the seen once he was sure Lynn had left and noticed the weapon of choice. "Well that's not nice." he removed the weapons and took off his charm. He began to constraint, desperately trying to force out large amounts of the anti-shadow and nothing less. It worked, it was rare and unfocused but it was all he needed. The wounds on the corpses vanished and the two return to the fight as if they were in perfect health, only now they bodies were empty vessels, zombies with living flesh.

It wouldn't last long, maybe a day at most since he couldn't use the power properly, but it was all he need. Until the shadow energy regrew in there body from their lack of souls these two guard would seem alive to anyone who saw them. Just still brain dead from Ithan's earlier intrusion. When the time was up Phoenix would just assume it was his doing and not Lynn's or Habiki's but it didn't matter. As far as he was concerned it was Taden's influence causing her to do those things and he much rather have himself though as a murderer then see more fall victim to Taden's games. Besides he was tired and he wasn't exactly thinking things through.

Habiki/Night 3/Castle Grounds

Once outside, he began to wander the castle grounds, looking for traces of whatever had caused that flash outside the window. He felt a strange, pulsing presence in the air, and followed it as best he could. Eventually, it led him to the stables. His heart began to race as whatever was there began to surround him with its presence. All at once he remembered his weariness, and was forced onto one knee as he coughed up black bile, his pulse pounding in his ears.

He scanned his eye-line at each of the horses, none revealing anything out of the ordinary. Then in the distance, near the castle entrance, he heard a pair of men’s screams. He turned to run towards whatever caused the disturbance.

But before he could leave to investigate, there was another great flash of light from above, and Habiki looked up just in time to see the celestial horse Equus, having apparently not left the castle, leap from one of the parapets overhead and head straight for him. 

Habiki jumped out of the way right as it seemed about to crash into him, and the being rose into the air again. Its stance was decidedly aggressive. Is it trying to attack me? he thought with horror.

“Do not resist,” It warned him.

It climbed nearly fifty feet into the air, then seemingly let go of its upward force, reaching the apex of its climb, and plummeted back towards Habiki with a terrible whinny. As it dove, its vague form began to change, growing sharper, more angled, all of its body condensing into a single sharp point. Quickly, the horse disappeared completely in favor of a single Sun Shard, powering towards him with all its might. He jumped out of the way and this time, it crashed directly into the floor, piercing the ground and disappearing into the Earth.

Habiki let out a quick sigh. “Thank the gods,” He said, his confusion at why it attacked him overshadowed by his relief. He looked back at the castle, and resolved to check on the source of those screams.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him shook as the Sun Shard escaped the Earth and darted straight for his heart.

He wanted to dodge it, but suddenly, everything seemed to slow down. Seconds became minutes, as it headed ever closer to his chest. He tried to move, but the process was agonizingly slow. In the distance he could see leaves blown from the trees, almost frozen in mid-air. All sounds had ceased. Even Habiki, in mid-dodge, mid-jump, was frozen in the air.

To his horror, the point of the Sun Shard was still aimed straight at his heart, and even in this unhurried pace of time, was closing the gap faster then he was moving out of the way. It was going to connect.

But what worried him most of all was that the closer the shard got, the more things seemed to slow down. He soon began to fear that it would thus keep slowing down until it was at a stand still, and he was trapped for eternity, frozen in this one moment.

Then something happened that surprised him. A single circular lump began to form in the middle of his chest, and expand outward, ripping the fabric of his tunic. Soon this lump opened into a small cavity, from which emerged the Light Heart. The orb thus began to move away from Habiki and toward the shard, floating in mid-air. And as it separated from Habiki’s body, everything seemed to melt away, all physical sensation, all concept of time, simply evaporating into white. Suddenly, Habiki began to feel thathe was the one moving forward, away from his body, he was the orb itself.

And the instant he realized this, everything sped up again, happening all at once. The orb crashed into the shard to a brilliant flash of light, his body crumpled stony, lifelessly to the floor, the sounds all came rushing back as the leaves blew away in the wind, and then…

Habiki/”Night” 3/…Somewhere?

Habiki awakened slowly. Images were flashing inside his mind, images of swords and warriors clashing in battle, images of the Man-In-White with a shining gilded Sun Saber in hand, and images of arcane patterns he could not quite comprehend.

Suddenly, the images stopped. He opened his eyes. The sky overhead was dark and cloudy…but it was definitely day.

Shocked, he bolted upright, thinking he had been unconscious through the night. But the moment he did so, he realized he was no longer on the castle grounds.

He was in a field of grasses, the colors muted by the shadows of the clouds overhead. Winds swept the grasses all around him, and they seemed to be whispering something. 

He put one hand down in front of himself and used it to pull himself into a standing position, and admired his surroundings. In the distance lay a range of enormous gray mountains…Snowpeak? No, it couldn’t be Snowpeak, it was on the edge of an open field. It seemed so out of place here.

The clouds directly over Habiki parted, casting a funnel of light down on the Solar Mage. He looked down at himself and realized he was nude. Oh well, he shrugged. I’ve been naked most of my life. And there are…stranger things about this situation.

Not least of all was that the Light was empowering him, enriching him. At this stage of his illness, the Sun, his life-source, should be anathema to him. And yet it was not. Before he had entered this strange landscape, he had begun to grow feeble, tired. Now he felt more powerful than he had ever felt. He felt as if some flaw that he had never been without had been stripped away, a hindrance he’d never even been conscious of, only to notice when it was gone. It filled him with a strange sense of euphoria.

“Am I dead?” he wondered aloud.

He continued to stare at those strange mountains. They seemed to be drawing him in.

I have to go there, he thought, and no sooner did he think it then his body simply lifted weightlessly off the ground. He began to float towards the mountains, and as he did so, small slivers of light began to escape the clouds.

I’m flying, thought Habiki. Now I know I’m dead.

The mountains loomed nearer, the clouds slowly dissipating, the world below growing brighter and more colorful, and as it did, the mountains seemed to almost shine. Habiki began to feel a sneaking suspicion that those were not normal mountains. Suddenly, the clouds broke over the hills, the Sun struck their surface, and the glare almost blinded him. He stopped in mid-air, shielding his eyes.

The realization struck him all at once…they weren’t snowcapped mountains at all, but giant, towering spires of crystal, only made to appear dull when the Sun was shielded by clouds and there was no light to make them shine. They mesmerized him with their otherworldly glow. 

He resumed flight towards the “mountains”, speed increasing at the thought of whatever secrets these spires held. The clouds were all but gone, and the crystal mountains glowed with ever ascending intensity, until he could barely see, his eyes watering in pain. They seemed ready to explode with the power contained within them.

It’s radiance becoming far too much to handle all at once, he turned and fled, afraid the mountains would explode under their own power behind him.

The wind whipped through his hair as he sped away from the mountains, until he was at a safe distance. He swooped down towards the plains and circled a small, crystalline lake, then touched down gently on its banks. He looked back at the beast behind him, that colossal crystal spire, and wondered why he had let the opportunity slip away.

He looked back to the lake. The waters were a dazzling blue. He saw something, off in the distance. It seemed to grow larger, to come towards him across the water.

Habiki's eyes widened when he realized it was a man, striding across the lake, his footsteps leaving strange glowing ripples along the surface...The Man In White! 

The man smiled at him. "Hello, Habiki. I've been expecting you."

Night 3/Castle/Senshi

"What the hell!?" Had managed to catch the tail end of Habiki's fight against his own weapons from a distance. "Did he just killed himself against his will," he approached the now lifeless mound of dirt and picked a fragment that had slip off from the rest, "Or was this something else? What do you think?"

"You asking for our opinions, this is unusually indeed. That matter aside, if your initial guess is correct then the most logical explanation is that his light powers rejected his twili nature however..."

"...however that's not exactly what the looked like. That was an external struggle not the result of self decay."

"Precisely" 

"Good, then he might still be alive. I wont have to alter my plan then."

"May I ask just what plan is you're referring to?"

"Don't worry about it." He wanted to take care of thing right now, but there was to much risk involved. There was still a chance the Golem really have died and not to mention Lynn could be hiding around somewhere and the last thing he need was that pain in the ass questioning is actions.

"Heh, and you two act like you're so damned smart."

"If you have a point to make, make it, otherwise shut up."

"So touchy again, I'm hurt," the demon said with the utmost sarcasm. "That thing that came out of its chest was a big ass ball of light wasn't it? Last I checked these twili are suppose to use dark magic, which means there little toy dolls should be dark aligned right?"

"But this one has light powers, and he keeled over when that core came out. It must be a power source..." a menacing smirk appeared on his face. "The twili can use light as a power source for darkness."

"It looks like they might be useful to you after all."

"I never though you cared demon."

"You my judge me kid, I'll all for feeding you want ever power your heart desires."

For some reason he couldn't explain Senshi's mind drifted off in thought.

"What's going on Nahc?" a young Senshi asked as he and his baby sister with being hidden in a small he had dug out near the Temple of Time.

"Ganondorf's forces are just making one last desperate push into the temple. They know your uncle's going to wake up soon so they want to trash the door way so he gets. Don't worry though, we're going to stop them in there tracks." The teenage warrior boosted with false confidence not wanted worry the children. In reality the situation was pretty bad, they'd be dealing with the blunt of Ganondorf's forces as well his new Shiekan right hand man. The Temple entrance and the Door of Time might give them a bottle neck but even still it was only Seishi, Laynnei, Phoenix, Dajoron, and himself, they were vastly out numbered. The only saving grace was the other Light Warriors had the Dark Warriors occupied else where. Either way none of them really expected to live though this. It didn't matter though, the Hero's awakening was just one day away, there lives didn't matter as long as they could keep Ganondorf from trapping him in the Sacred Realm. Nahc covered up the small opening with several rocks leaving just enough space for air to get through and maybe for the two kids to squeeze there way out once everything had calmed down.

"Wait don't leave us here." the scared 8 year old pleaded to the boy who he though of as an older brother.

Nahc just looked back with a smile, he reached his hand though the remaining opening and patted the child on the head. "Hey you're descended from the Hylian Knights and the Guardians, do you know what those to have in common?" Senshi just shook his head trying to hold back the tears that were forming. "They protected those weaker then them, so you know what you need to do. You need to protect Ayala, she's only 4 so you need to look after her for now on ok."

"Uh huh," he said nodding, still frightened out of his mind.

"Good, you know one day I think you'll make a pretty good hero yourself." he said running off the join the others before the battle started up.

Hours pasted, the two children still clinged tightly to each other in the darkness of the damp hole. Shouts of men and beast, clashes of steel, the thunderous roar of magic all filled the air and stuck fear in their young hearts and sleepless bodies. For a moment, though they did not yet understand why, a unfathomable wave of rage and sorrow washed over them. Ayala began to cry hysterically but didn't know why. "Y-you stay here. I'm going to see what that was." Senshi struggled so say and his body trembled. 

"NO! DON LEAB ME AWON BIG BWATHA!" the little girl scream at the top of her lungs. He age and her tears making her almost inaudible. <trans>No, don't leave me alone big brother!"</trans>

"Just stay here!" He shouted as he forced his way though the small opening.

"NOOOO!" Ayala screeched but Senshi just ran off in toward the battle field.

It was dark and his eyes were glossed over but the glowing of flames of chaos in the distance guided him to the war zone where he saw the reason for those emotions he couldn't explain earlier. His father was on his knees covered in blood, but it wasn't his own it belong the women his was grasping tight in his arms, it was Laynnei. Seishi head snapped toward the enemy front as he pulled out the Scythe of Shadow. His eyes began to glow yellow and his hair turned silver. Both his and Laynnei bodies began to glow, a pair of large black wings burst forth from Seishi back but at the same time is rage consumed him more and more. His eye turn pure white and though it was barely visible a strange blue smoke began to ooze of his body as if his very soul was boiling. The brilliant light grow brighter and brighter engulfing them both as Death Angel began to form using both of them as a host. 

The light dimmed, an ominous winged warrior stood where the couple was just a moment again, but it wasn't Death Angel. It's wings were like that of a bat's, claw pretended out from its fingers, elbows and knees. It was a beast of pure chaos and destruction. The result of a Ma mixing with an the divine warrior, Fallen Angel.

A blood bath followed, the memories of which lost to time and child hood trauma. Ganon's forces were dead or fleeing, only the Shiekah remained struggling to life and the beast began to crush his neck, but he was sparred. The scream of a small child distracted to demon. "SECHI!!!" Ayala yelled she ran towards her brother. She grabbed on to him crying into his shirt completely oblivious the what was going on just in front of her.

Senshi didn't react at all, he had been frozen in shock the whole time. His mothers lifeless body, his parents becoming a thing of nightmares, the pure carnage that demon unleashed. It was all just to much. The beast lifted its twist sword as it flared up with energy.

"R-run..." the Shiekah struggled to still in the demons grasp. His eyes began to switch back in forth from red to blue as his something sealed way was finally being freed. He tried to lift his arm believe he had some kind of power to save those kids but was only barely beginning to grasp what it was or why he cared to help them. It was all to late, Fallen Angel swung down his blade. A torrent of chaotic magic launched towards the children. Ayala instinctively ducked behind her brother but the body didn't budge. 

-

"Yeah, some hero."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, anyway I've got other things to worry about for now. All that other stuff can wait." He sat down on some rumbled and leaned back against what was left of a pillar. He looked over had Habiki's remains then up at the stars. For now he'd wait.

Lynn Annei/Night 3/Hyrule Castle Yard

Lynn watched, confused, as the golem presumably committed suicide.

"What the hell is goi-"

She cut her words short as the necromancer, Senshi Ma aka Shinigami, walked over to the 'corpse' and began to inspect it. This was all too perfect. She inhaled, bringing as much breath to her lungs as she could, mustering for the next step.

"GUARDS!!!"

The bellow shout into the still night air, echoing off the Keep walls, and the walls of the battlements surrounding the Castle Yard. She released the single word with all her might, pushing the shout into the windows above. Senshi jumped up from his resting place against the pillar, hand falling to the hilt of his burning sword, head scanning for the source of whatever disruption has elicited the alarm.

Within moments, the soldiers that had pulled night shift rushed in to the courtyard to find Senshi standing, hand on his weapon, above the lifeless dirt corpse of the golem. Lynn knew that more guards from inside were on their way, and perhaps even the barracks would be awakened, no chances taken in a time of war. She also suspected the Light Warriors, any who remained in the castle, would no doubt react to the alarm and commotion and join the fun scene that had so easily set itself before her.

Confidently, she sauntered out from her hiding place, and pointed at Senshi.

"Arrest this murderer!"

Night 3/Castle/Senshi
"<Well isn't this riot, and after I was nice enough to cover for those two guards you killed.>" He said speaking directly to Lynn's mind so the guards couldn't over here. Even after all this, even though he didn't know her before she was possessed, he couldn't help believe this was all Hothnight influence. 

"Well isn't this a wonderful little situation I've gotten myself into. A Shiekah has accused a strange cloaked man of killing an ally. Being the good little solders you'd believe her and follow orders. After all she's your superior and I'm just a dubious stranger, so even though she jumped to conclusions upon arriving you have to take her word for it," he sheathed his sword and slowly reached form something he had tucked away one his person.

"Now the truth of the matter is, I found the poor guy like that. Not only that but I'm pretty sure he's not dead, just having an outer body experience or something like that. None of you have a reason to believe me and you'd be going against orders if you did, well unless someone who out ranked a Shiekah gave you orders to the contrary," he pulled out an oval object wrapped in a white cloth. He began to slowly unwrap the object, "of course the only ones above the Shiekah are the royalty, the high command, nobility, and the Hylian Knights. Well it's just a good thing I'm technically more then one of those." He held up held up the Ocarina of Time as the guards looked on in confusion. 

"Now this is whats going to happen, all of you are going to go back to your posts. After all the Castle is in ruins in a time of war and you morons have now left it unguarded. Miss Annei will stay here and keep an eye on me. If the golem doesn't wake up by dawn then she'll be the one take me in. Of course when he does wake up I'm sure our young elite here will have learned a valuable lesson about making accusations with out proof."

"<You know you're REALLY starting to make Plan A sound like a good idea. Just be glad I'm such a generous and warm hearted person>" he sent again with a sarcastic tone.

Lynn Annei/Castle Grounds/Night 3

The guards remained confused, poor sods they were, contemplating the trade-off of following one masquerading as nobility, or a Sheikah. In their time of confusion, Lynn knew she had to solidify control over the mass. She strode forward, stopping in front of Senshi.

"Murder, Treason, Impersonating a Noble, Theft." she listed quietly to her adversary, that none of the guards might hear the taunts. "Really, how many charges will you allow to be levied against you this night?"

She reached forward and plucked the Ocarina of Time from Senshi's hand, moving while she spoke to keep him distracted. She turned the item over in her palm. To think, such powerful magic in such a quaint thing. She raised her voice then so the guards could hear.

"Stealing from the Royal Vaults, too? And impersonating the nobility? Ha! Take him to the prisons, boys, and see him guarded in a cell by at least five men at all times. I don't trust him, and neither should any of you!

"And carry this golem-corpse inside, would you? I'll report this whole mess to the Commander."

She guards stepped forward, and Lynn stepped back, disappearing into their ranks.

Senshi/Dealing with the pain in the ass/Night 3

Senshi forced his way through the guards the catch up the Lynn and snatch back the Ocarina. "Tell Phoenix what ever the hell you want, but you of all people don't get to touch this." he barked back with a soul piercing gaze. He removed his charm that he had placed back on when he attempted to sleep earlier then glided back over the Habiki's body as he drew out his scythe.

"The body stay's here until he wake up! Anyone who wises to attempt differently is welcome to, but you'll have to kill me first." a sinister grin grew on his face, "good luck."

Lynn Annei/Castle Grounds/Night 3

Lynn unsheathed her two short swords, recalling the fight in the meeting room. "Resisting Arrest, now, too? You really are an idiot."

A circle was forming in the center of the guards, readying space around Senshi and the dirt corpse for a duel. The troops expected their leader to face the enemy in a nice, chivalrous, heroic looking duel. Clash of metal on metal, any magical forces available brought to the forefront. The stuff that made good stories. All real flashy. They forgot a critical fact.

Sheikah were not flashy. Heroism was for the chumps in propaganda to spin up. All that really mattered were results.

She glanced at the men making the circle. "What the hell are you waiting for? He won't capture himself. None of that one-on-one fairy tale garbage; dog-pile him! Charge!"

She lead the advance, running at Senshi and leaping from five feet in front of him, twisting with her ankle as she propelled herself up, spinning like a missile with her feet outstretch to connect with his chest, swords tucked to her body, ready to move where needed to defend against the scythe.

The soldiers stood perplexed for a split second after the order, not quite understanding the ramifications. But as she shouted the charge, and took her flying leap at the man, the adrenaline of the moment took hold and they charged as one, haphazardly collapsing the circle inward, toward Senshi.

Senshi/Round 2/Night 3

"You damned fool!" he shout as he spun his massive scythe to intercept the Shiekah's attack. A massive wave of shadow magic spread out along the blades path dwarfed only by the valiant torrent the exploded from the weapon as Lynn's blade smashed into it. "And to think I was covering for you. Well whatever..." 

He forced the Shiekah back with the help of the enhanced strength provide by the golden gauntlets then took to the air. "Tell me Annei, are you aware that this isn't the sight of the original castle? Did you also know that Hyrule's many war's have left all of Hyrule field littered with corpses." the ground be beneath the solders began to split and shake as the dead rose up from where ever the wave of shadow had touched. Some as ancient as the Great War the lead to the Master Swords creation and the sealing of the sacred realm, some as new of the disaster from earlier in the day. 

"<Don't kill guards they're being manipulated, just keep them out of the way. The Sheikah is the real threat.>" It was the single command he place in each corpse he had risen. It was one the remains of there restless souls would have no problems following since they wouldn't be force to kill there decedents and brethren. Controlling this many undead directly would be imposable while keeping his power in check and fighting off the Sheikah so he had to rely on the ancient vessels willingness to follow him as a decedents of the Hylian Knights. 

"You made a tactical error in thinking you had the advantage because of your numbers, your previous victory, or perhaps most of all your arrogant pride!" he yelled down taunting his opponent as he drew back his massive scythe. "Now come, show me that new strength of yours that you covenant so dearly." he mocked as he swung the Reaper of Death raining a shock wave of shadow down at the grounded woman.

Cold Snap

Lynn Annei/Night 3/Castle Grounds

She was intercepted before she could even land the blow, but that only served to daze her when she the magic dissipated against her blades. Otherwise, Lynn was unhindered. She didn't have much time to think about her new-found ability to block magic, nor her increased stamina, for at that moment Senshi lifted himself into the sky via some form of telekinesis, and summoned a veritable horde of undead monstrosities from the very ground.

"If we had any need to prove that you are an evil blight upon Hyrule, your magic would be proof enough!"

Senshi just snorted at her, following up with an effective barb. "You made a tactical error in thinking you had the advantage because of your numbers, your previous victory, or perhaps most of all your arrogant pride!" He swung his scythe, unleashing another torrent of black shadow-energy down onto Lynn as he continued to shout. "Now come, show me that new strength of yours that you covet so dearly!" Her eyes opened wide, knowing she could do nothing to block the surge of power.

She didn't do anything.

Hothnight/Night 3/Castle Grounds

The host could not die. This body was his anchor now. Senshi and Lynn had an interesting duology about them: One weak to physical combat, the other to magical. But, as he so often enjoyed, Taden was the unknown quantity. He dropped to his knees, and slammed his palm into the ground, unleashing the power of his own element. Ice shards shot from the ground around him, some impaling Senshi's minions, others tearing their way through the still-living Hylians. In the end, the towers of ice died the same as the creatures they lacerated.

The slice of Shadow smashed down into the wall of ice and detonated. The darker magics dissipated, its power unleashed, and the ice evaporated under the strain of such magic. He raised his body's eyes to look upon his opponent. He had hoped to see surprise on that face, but his gaze fell upon stoicism. Well, that, too, was to be expected from the boy. Taden sheathed one of his short swords; he would only need one.

"Prithee, boy, did thou apprehend this?" Calling upon mastery long sealed up in the coat, Hothnight lifted his body from the ground, to evenly face Senshi above the fighting hordes of soldier and undead. "A ransom for thy laxity, one can posit."

The look of confusion that then flashed over Senshi's face brought a cruel smirk across Lynn's mouth. He spread the fingers of her left hand, feeling the bare air current around them. The moisture from the evaporated ice, the moisture he had drawn from the now quite dry ground, hung in the air around them. It gave him strength, in the cold night's air. But it was strength he would not need. The veins of icy strength mingled deeper with his host's spinal cord, with her brain, as he took stronger and stronger hold over her.

"Tell me, Senshi Ma, how is thy darling sister? I so miss the tact and the tang of her."

Senshi/Night 3/At the Party, where are you?

"Heh, ha..." the shock born confusion quickly gave way to laughter. "Ha, HAHAHAHAHA!" insane laughter. He switched his scythe to his off and pulled back his hood. "HAHAHA! Wonderful." he finally spoke as he drew his sword and rushed at Taden.

The blade was met against the force of the mages icy magic deadlocking the two for only a moment. "I'd like thank you for finally showing your face Hothnight," he said momentary regaining his calm composer, "it's removed all my doubts! FLAME BURST!"

Waves of heat and flame violently radiated from his blade in all directions. He knew it might not hurt Hothnight, but it didn't matter, it would melt the some of the ice that already existed, possibly alter the others, and give him the opportunity to plummet back down to the ground. 

"And to answer your question!" he shouted as he fell to the ground and storing his scythe in mid air. As he landed next to Habiki's body waves of darkness began to flow from his body. His fluttering cloak created the illusion that the strange power was growing with its threads ripping violently in the torrent winds brought on by the mix of heat and cold generated by the battle between demons. "She's well enough to kill you, let's see if I am as well." he said just has his body was completely covered by the darkness.

"Hey Kid, I know I say this all the time, but you should let me handle this fight," the demon spoke with honest concern, though he was conflicted. On one hand Senshi's current emotional state might allow his influence to slip through, on the other he was concerned he might slip into a self destruction madness.

"No this fight is mine."

A dome of darkness concealed all around Senshi from view. Arcing beams of darkness fired out form the lightness void as if they were snakes jumping to strike at the Ice Mage's neck. With each blast the dome shrunk but it was more then large enough for Senshi to complete is true task. He pull out the Storm Sage Medallion and jammed it deep into Habiki's chest. Now no one, not even Habiki himself would know where it was. Even Senshi would lose track of it once he and the golem parted ways. Not it was just a matter of focusing his mental block on keeping Ithan from finding out and the small disk may be lost for ever. Of course even if Taden did find out about Habiki's light source would keep him away.

The last bits of darkness fired into the sky ending the barrage on the ice mage and casting Senshi back into what little light there was at this hour. It didn't matter, his task was completed and he was already standing upright with his hook shot in his off hand pointed at Hothnight and ready to fire the moment he came back into view. Even he missed the hook would latch into the rumbled pulling Senshi toward his for at blinding speed. Of course should it hit and pierce Lynn's chest, well in his current state of mind, he really didn't care. 

"Heh, ha..." the shock born confusion quickly gave way to laughter. "Ha, HAHAHAHAHA!" insane laughter. He switched his scythe to his off and pulled back his hood. "HAHAHA! Wonderful." he finally spoke as he drew his sword and rushed at Taden.

The blade was met against the force of the mages icy magic deadlocking the two for only a moment. "I'd like thank you for finally showing your face Hothnight," he said momentary regaining his calm composer, "it's removed all my doubts! FLAME BURST!"

Waves of heat and flame violently radiated from his blade in all directions. He knew it might not hurt Hothnight, but it didn't matter, it would melt the some of the ice that already existed, possibly alter the others, and give him the opportunity to plummet back down to the ground. 

"And to answer your question!" he shouted as he fell to the ground and storing his scythe in mid air. As he landed next to Habiki's body waves of darkness began to flow from his body. His fluttering cloak created the illusion that the strange power was growing with its threads ripping violently in the torrent winds brought on by the mix of heat and cold generated by the battle between demons. "She's well enough to kill you, let's see if I am as well." he said just has his body was completely covered by the darkness.

"Hey Kid, I know I say this all the time, but you should let me handle this fight," the demon spoke with honest concern, though he was conflicted. On one hand Senshi's current emotional state might allow his influence to slip through, on the other he was concerned he might slip into a self destruction madness.

"No this fight is mine."

A dome of darkness concealed all around Senshi from view. Arcing beams of darkness fired out form the lightness void as if they were snakes jumping to strike at the Ice Mage's neck. With each blast the dome shrunk but it was more then large enough for Senshi to complete is true task. He pull out the Storm Sage Medallion and jammed it deep into Habiki's chest. Now no one, not even Habiki himself would know where it was. Even Senshi would lose track of it once he and the golem parted ways. Not it was just a matter of focusing his mental block on keeping Ithan from finding out and the small disk may be lost for ever. Of course even if Taden did find out about Habiki's light source would keep him away.

The last bits of darkness fired into the sky ending the barrage on the ice mage and casting Senshi back into what little light there was at this hour. It didn't matter, his task was completed and he was already standing upright with his hook shot in his off hand pointed at Hothnight and ready to fire the moment he came back into view. Even he missed the hook would latch into the rumbled pulling Senshi toward his for at blinding speed. Of course should it hit and pierce Lynn's chest, well in his current state of mind, he really didn't care. 

Hothnight/Castle Grounds/Night 3

Whips of darkness spilled out from the orb that surrounded Senshi, striking as snakes at his body. It was a laughable matter to deflect the attacks, but it was also quite annoying. Senshi wasn't making a serious effort, which meant the attacks were a feint, something to keep him distracted. The real question was: From what?

The orb was depleted with a final strike, and Senshi revealed himself. There was a metallic clink, a spring releasing, and a shard of pointed metal careened out from the man, hurtling toward Taden's chest. Two attacks, only enough time to defend against one with his single sword. So he did just that, and sliced through the incoming shadow-whip as he had all the others. Hie left arm he drew in front of him, leaving behind it a sheet of ice into which the hook buried itself.

Taden felt a jerk forward as the ice, still attached to his forearm was tugged by the chain attacked to the hook, pulling Senshi along the length and thus leveraging his weight against the floating Taden. He came barreling upward, scythe ready to slice through the ice-buckler, and then through Lynn's body.

Taden pumped additional ice into the barrier, thickening it. It wouldn't stop the scythe, not by a long shot, but it would slow Senshi down a brief moment, and that's all he needed. In the mere moments that Senshi's scythe tore its way through the ice, Taden broke his forearm free of it, and dropped back to the ground. He hit with force, bending into a crouch to absorb most of the impact, and looked up.

"Quite the convivial occurrence, my conciliatory acquaintance. But thy lifeless legion is just that, and this conflict does conduct me unto fits of ennui. Mayhaps when thy fellowship has consummated construction of this Sacred Sword which thou desiderate, then might thou display decent dexterity. Until such time, adieu.

Lynn Annei/Night 3/Castle Grounds

Lynn's eyes opened, and she felt deathly cold. Not the good cold she was used to, not the cold that invigorated her and excited her. Deathly cold. She stumbled to her knees, and looked around her. Dead bodies scattered all around the yard... What had happened? She fell onto her back, and saw Senshi hovering up in the air. Had he done this? The cold was too much. She raised her arm toward him, hoping for something to help her out from the clinging blackness.

No such help. She slipped into unconsciousness.

/IC Senshi/Lynn's soon to be death bed/Night 3

"I'm not going to give you the chance to find out!" He gave he shouted as he bared down on Hothnight's unconscious body with his flaming sword.

"That's enough," a commanding yet strangely familiar voice called out. At the same time a strange blue aura appear at the tip of his sword, stopping it inches before piercing Lynn's chest. "It should be fairly obvious to you that Lynn Annei is back in control, or have you fallen so far that you'd kill and unconscious women?"

Senshi turn in shock having realized how was standing before him. Long, think blue hair giving, a majestic flowing dress, a subtle blue aura that radiated with divinity. It was the same appearance she had all those centuries ago when she and her sisters appeared to stop Fallen Angel's rampage. "You stand by idly watching as the whole go to hell, hoping the pawns you've put in play will make it all better. You've done this for countless centuries so why NOW do you interfere?"

"Because there was just to much at stake," she answered with a gentle smile.

"To much at stake? If I kill her there will be less at stake. Even in the worse case scenario you're little priest will lose it and kill me, but I figure if that happens I can drag Hothnight's soul down to hell with me and make sure he stays there for once."

"Then we'd be without both Angel's and I can't allow my scion to suffer over your selfishness."

"Then why don't you go and heal my sister, then you can have Arch Angel back."

"There is nothing we can heal that can allow her to turn back into Arch Angel. All her physical scare have healed save for ones on her back from one wings. Please don't tell me you believe those are what's been keeping a divine servant at bay."

"Well what ever, once Hothnight's gone it won't matter. Only Kinslayer will be left and the others should be able to take care of it."

"Please drop the act, it is really quiet imposable for me for fall for it."

"Excuse me?"

"These acts of yours, if its not the heartless clocked man out for power it's the sharp tongued warrior out to kill all these nightmares from the past. In reality you're still that kind hearted, though over protective, young man that wanted to grow up to be a hero aren't you. Now tell my child, what is it your really after?"

Senshi paused for a moment, it was true there was no fooling a goddess but that wasn't the problem. He'd have to stop trying to fool himself, he figured that's probably what she as getting at but with Nayru there was no tell what kind of layers were in her message or if it was done right strait forward. "For now," he said putting back on his charm, "I suppose I'll just try and save this one and and protect everyone else from what inside her, especially Bryseis."

"So you are trying to prevent past mistakes from happening again? Are you sure that's what you are after and not redemption from what you believe are your gravest of sins?"

"I suppose that they're one in the same."

"Not if you make new even greater mistake along the way."

"We had this whole conversation just so you could make me realize that. Why couldn't it have been one of the other two that showed up?"

"There's that sharp tongue again. Well if you must know, Din would have cut you down on the spot and Farore said something along the line of, 'Not wanting to talk to a big meanie who'd kill someone in there sleep just because he's scared,' or something along those lines. They did each have something that they wanted me to pass on to you though. 'Control and Suppression aren't the same thing, stop confusing the two, you dumbass,' and 'You shouldn't let your self be discouraged because of some faulty memories you have from when you were eight. You were actually kind of cool back then.'"

"Faulty?"

"Mortal minds do have there limits. Also since those two we kind enough to give you a hit I will to. Considering all you've seen in your life, are you really going to view the Twili invasion for its face value."

"I was really hoping there was nothing deeper to it." his words were spoken to thin air as Nayru vanish after speaking her last words to him. "She's worse then my mother."

He walked over and picked Lynn off the ground, he briefly looked back at Habiki's lifeless husk. "You damn well better wake up. I still want to have a talk with you later but right now I have to deal with this pain in the ass."

Hospital/Several minutes later

"Hey wake up." Senshi whispered general trying to wake Misha from her slumber. The young girl woke with a sudden jolt. She instinctively swung her arm out in an attack that Senshi barely dodged. "Well that's a good reflex to have."

"Senshi!" she shouted in surprised not realizing what hour it was.

"Quite down, it's the middle of the night."

"Oh afraid to get caught sneaking into a young girls room in the middle of the night after you gently woken her from a deep slumber."

"From you that's a little creepy, now stop trying to act like a girl all the sudden, I need your help." He said pointed down at Lynn. Misha was visibly annoyed has his comment be he doesn't really notice. "Could you patch her up for me?"

"Hmp, you could just bring her to any of the doctors here you know." she shot back still pouting over his previous jab.

"That would require explanations which I really rather not have to give for her sake. So can you please just help me."

"Fine," she said with a sigh, "There are plenty of spare bandages laying around so I can patch her up. I'll have to undress her though so you'll have to leave the room."

"That's not going to happen, for all I know she'll wake up and start molesting you, or worse."

"Oh come on, I think it's pretty clear I'm a girl now that I'm in a hospital gown."

"I'm not sure that matters, plus that's kind of debatable."

She quickly grabbed one of Lynn's blade's and tossed it his head. He was able to dodge but the blade ended up lodged deep in the wall. "Jerk! Fine just don't look."

Misha began patching up Lynn's wounds as Senshi struggled to pull the weapon out of the well and hang it up with the rest of the Shiekah's equipment which he had wisely placed out of her immediate reach should he suddenly awake as either herself or Hothnight. "So are you doing ok, you did have a broken rib right."

"Yes, I'm fine now though they gave me a potion cause they want me to keep following you around."

"Well that's probably for the best all things considered." His back was still turned so he didn't notice but that comment put a slight smile on the girls face. "We'll be going to the desert tomorrow, along with that one, her friend and and old acquaintance to make sure we all stay in line. Oh right, make sure those bandages are tight enough that she wouldn't be able to move easily at first. It'll give me time to react if she freaks out in the middle of the night and attacks."

"Right"

Misha finished dressing the wounds, put the shiekah's cloths back on and with Senshi's help lifted her into the hospital bed. The young girl set down in the near by chair and quickly began to drift back to sleep.

"Thank you." Senshi said softly as his threw his clock over her as a blanket.

"no... problem..." she responded half a sleep, her mind only partially registering his words.

Senshi sat down on the floor leaning against the wall right next to where he had place Lynn's weapons. Just incase she woke up she'd have to get back him to arm herself again. "That sword better work..." he said drifting to sleep.

Lynn Annei/Night 3/Infirmary

Lynn's consciousness came back to her, and she found that she didn't have to open her eyes. They already were open. She also found that she was sitting on a bed, with bandages on the wounds she had somehow incurred, probably from Senshi, though she couldn't remember. Suddenly, she found herself standing, despite not commanding her body to move. Then, she was walking, moving toward a human slumped sleeping in the corner. Was she sleep-walking? Dreaming? It felt real yet alien.

She crouched beside Senshi, looking at him. Then, her lips parted and sound came forth of its own accord.

"Senshi Ma." her voice seemed odd, and it was very... condescending. "Heed my call. Awaken."

Senshi's eyelids split, and his hand was already on his sword and pulling it out to strike. Lynn's hand moved forward, gently resting on Senshi's to stop the motion. What was going on?

"Tut tut, Senshi. To assail the weakened in their place of infirm? Where is thy honor? I shall not bring harm to thee. And if thou would dispatch me here, our pair is cognizant the ramifications. Or would thou like that the Light Warriors annihilate themselves? Countless are the sins of Senshi Ma, can thy soul bear weight to add in murder?

"And my merriment in this has yet to cease. What joy would there be in such destruction of this just and noble crew, but far greater still a felicity be knowledge your impotent appetite to strike me down."

Her hand pulled back from Senshi's, and her body straightened. "So, Senshi, unless thou wield this Sacred Sword, then thou must consider me thy colleague-at-arms; for until thou affirm jurisdiction over that weapon, I affirm jurisdiction over this body."

Lynn's legs drove her back to the bed, and brought her to lie upon it once more. Her eyes closed themselves while her mind continue to run rampant. I don't even know half the words I just said! What was going on? She couldn't sleep. She didn't want to sleep. But she slept anyway.

Senshi/La La Land/Night 3

A massive demon squeezing the life out of a Shiekah, its distracted by the screams of a small child hiding behind her older bother. The boy standing there frozen in fear as the demon loomed over them ready to strike. 

"Another bad dream" Senshi's thoughts echoed though the scape of his now lucid dream.

"A bad dream, why is it bad? Everything ended well enough." A voice called out from to him 

"Only because the three intervened."

"So, what else did you except to happen. Phoenix, Nahc, and Dajroron were already down for the count. The only ones left standing were you and your sister but you were only 8 years old."

"But still I..."

"Stood there frozen? Well I don't know what you think you could have done at that age, but the truth is you did try."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't possibly expect to remember something from that long ago with out a few wholes in your memory right. Take a look."

The boy, broke free of his fear. I grabbed the broken end of a spear and a shield as big as his body from a near by corpse and starred down the best holding back his fear and tears. The demon let loose a torrent of demonic energy from the end of its sword. The boy, know he couldn't do nothing instinctively threw himself over his sister in a desperate attempt to save her.

"Well that's not very nice." the voice of a cheery young girl called out. "You shouldn't pick on little kids like that." It was a young girl with braided green hair wearing a simple flower patterned sun dress. She looked as if she was some where between 12 and 14 but was glowing with a subtle green aura. The girl stretched out her arms and caught the blast of energy then effortlessly tossed it into the air as if it were a a rubber ball. "And the kid was acting all cool and brave too ruin it. You're a bad parent," she said sticking out her tongue in.

"CUT THE CRAP!" another women yelled out as she darted forward and throw a massive cross shaped throwing at the demon. The weapon left a gash across the beast chest but it simply ignored the pain and met the woman's sword with its own. "This is gonna be fun, its been a long time since I had a real fight using this body," she said grinning with sadistic amusement. She looked as if she were in her late teen or early twenties with short red hair. Her right arm, boots and chest ornaments converted in plate mail with the rest left exposed as if she wanted to give her opponent a fighting chance.

"Din, just bind it. If you kill it you'll kill the hosts too and this is no more there fault it is yours after all," a third women called it, she appear the same as she did in the current time when she appear before Senshi just hours ago.

Din's expression twitched with irritation of the truth what Nayru had said. Technically it was her fault that the Ma were now spirits and capable of possessing mortal, though the Angel's becoming possessed was something neither of the three had ever expected. "Psh, fine," she pushed the demon back on strength alone and with just a though the creature was suddenly bond by chains made of her very power.

"That will do nicely, thank you. Know to undo this mess."

"See you did to something, that wasn't the first time either, think back really far."

A women nurses her infant daughter in the Kokiri Forest as her 5 year old son runs around playing with the forest children.

"Wow she got big." Saria said looking over the two in amazement.

"Yes they do grow a lot in a year," Laynnei chuckled slightly, "give it another nine and she'll be as big as you."

"Uh huh, I now that much from when me and Koro and to raise Link in secret until he was big enough to pass as a Kokiri. But um... I can't do, that." said said point blushing as she pointed at Laynnei's chest. "Koro had to sneak into Hyrule all the time for milk."

"Only children yourselves and you manage to raise a child, one that's going to be a hero no less, that's quite impressing." Laynnei respond in an oddly gentle tone. Having a bady to care for had a habit of mellowing her out a bit. "By the way, where is our little protector?"

"You mean Koro, he's up there slacking off," she said point up the wooden bring the Kokiri's true leader was napping on. "Stop slacking off Koro, you know Kokage asked you to watch over the forest while he was gone."

Koro just rolled over slightly unknowingly causing his sword to fall to the ground.

"And to think that's the Kokiri who taught Link how to fight. It really make me worry about it,"

Laynnei just laughed, "this is all to familiar."

The area around the girls suddenly exploded in flame. Koro quickly jumped to his feet already knowing the source, "Dracon!"

"Oh NO! Not Dracon!" the fire mage shouting waving his arms around in a mocking manner as he hover above the village of children. "What ever will we do? Save me, save me," he continued on lightening the pitch of his voice in order to act like a damsel in distress.

"Well at least they sent and idiot," Koro shot back as he jumped at Dracon. He reached for his sword back only to find it missing. "Crap!"

"Who's the idiot now!" Dracon childishly mocked has he unleashed a fury of flame on the Kokiri Warrior. A protective barrier suddenly appear around Koro protecting his from the flames but the force of the blast still knocked him to the ground. 

"That would be you Livirus. It's always been you, and it always will be you." Laynnei called out as the smoke cleared from around her. She had thrown up a barrier protecting the three of them from Dracon's attempt at a surprise attack against a psychic. "Though your endless stupidity aside you did mange to make frighten Ayala. Rather impressive, the big bad dark warrior can make a baby cry. You must be the envy of all the boogie men."

"Yeah well, nice tit." he shot back after noticing Laynnei's still exposed breast. "Now if we're done here," he lift his palm up in the air. A massive ball of flame began to spiral around in his hand, "I kinda need you all to do ahead and fry."

"STOP IT!" the young Senshi yelled out. He was clinging to Koro's sword with both hands and staring down the fire mage as if he truly believe he could stop him.

"Oh that's real cute," he said as he allowed the ball of flame to disappear. "Ok I'm game, come up here and get me kid."

"Enough games Dracon!" a man with a massive sword roared as he emerged from the tree line. "We're here to kill that one," the man said point to Senshi, "and that one," he pointed to Ayala. "Though the women has a bounty too. Now lets get the job done and leave."

"Why only kill two children and a women when I burn down a whole forest and cremate everyone in it?"

"Because I won't be getting payed."

"Pay!? You've got your priorities screw up guy. The pay is just icing, the destruction and death is the real reward."

"You really are a loathsome creature."

"R-Ragnarok..." Koro said as he got back to his feet.

"Another light warrior, four bounty's then. You deal with that light warrior, I'll take care of these two children and their Light Warrior mother. The kids are worth to much for me to let you char there bodies beyond recognition. Though I'm not sure why."

"Because your boss is such a coward to a bunch of children have him wetting his panties." Aylinn yelled out have snaring Ragnarok's neck with his.

"Oh look it's the farm slut. I guess I'll kill you first." He shouted has he launched a large blast of fire at the girl.

A figured darted out of no where and reflected the flame back at its casters with his gauntlets. He quickly followed with a barrage of razor disks. Dracon managed to avoid most though not with out a few cuts on his arms and face. "Listen here Candle Caster, if you ever call here that again the next disc will be aimed at your balls."

"Xiphias, Aylinn, where did you, why are you?" Laynnei stumbled over her words being confused by the pairs sudden appearance.

"Oh well, we figured out Ganondorf learned your kids were related to Link and that they were hiding in the forest, so Seishi asks us to come get you out of here, warn Koro, then help defend this place for a while. Though come to think of it we did forget to tell Kokage. Oh well we were running late anyway."

"And why couldn't that lunch head come himself?"

"Right it's kind of complicated, see Sabre, Kima, and Taden all became sages and then Phoenix and to-" he words were cut off by Ragnarok suddenly grabbing her whip and tossing her off him.

"I've had enough!" he drew his blade and began to swing down at Aylinn but was stopped by an iron whip that shot out from Syzan's gauntlet and wrapped around Ragnarok's arm. The man pulled himself towards the giant and slashed his chest before spinning around and kicking him in the head.

"Don't forget about me!" Dracon yelled as he dived down with his fists erupting with flame. He slammed face first into a barrier Laynnei quickly place in front of Syzan.

"Idiot," Laynnei, Aylinn, and Saria all said in unison. 

Koro, having reclaimed his sword made a quick swing at the fire mage. Dracon avoid but Koro kicked off the barrier and made another swipe just barely scratching the fool as he lifted higher into the air."

"Aylinn, take the idiot knight's kids and run. Laynnei I need you're help here. Patch up Koro that use the mind magic of yours to find that Spark Wizard. If the idiots here I'm sure he can't be to far away." Syzan shouted out commanded well switching to a defensive stance.

"Oh him, nah don't worry about that he's off some where dealing with the boy wonder."

"...Be more specific, we seem to have a lot of those."

"The one that got Masamune's panties all wet and made her betray us. That's why I'm helping Rag out right now, and since he doesn't like to split profit he didn't bring anyone else with us so I get to have all the fun."

"Did he really just tell us he has no back up when we have him out number." Koro said in disbelief."

"Well he is an idiot."

"You really know how to pick your partner." Syzan said turning to Ragnarok.

"See look at that, 5 years old and already trying to protect your mother and sister from Dracon the Loathed."

"Who are you?"

"Me will, umm... I'm you subconscious."

"No you're not, you show me more then my forgotten memories. There's no way I saw conversation between my mother and Saria."

"You might have, and besides that was just so adorable who could you not."

"Then there was everything that happened after Aylinn dragged us away. Hell that whole sense wasn't from my prospective, neither of them were."

"Right cause you were so young you didn't get to see all the cool stuff that happened so I showed it to you the way I saw it... Oh busted. Ok you're right I'm not your subconscious. I'm a mysterious guild here to help you our of your rut."

"You're Farore."

"What? Cheater you we're suppose to figure that out. I disguised my voice and everything."

"You're personality is similar to Ayala's, it stands out like a swore thumb to me. But you know, you showed me all these images from the past to show me how much I wanted to be a great hero, but I can't help but notice you cut off that first one two soon. Thinking back you said something to Ayala just as it all ended didn't you. What was it again?"

"Don't cry little one, everything's safe now. Besides you've got a great heroic big brother who will make sure nothing bad ever happens to you."

"And did such a good job at that."

"Well you were busy, you can't protect everyone all the time."

"I couldn't protect the one person I cared about, hard to call myself a hero if that's the case."

"Come on even Link made a few mistakes. You're just being think heading. And here I came to help you. You really are mean. You know what I'm gonna start a club, the Senshi's mean club. I'm gonna invite that Misha girl, your sister, and Kae, and we're gonna have meetngs once a week on how you're a jerk and..."

The goddess words faded away as something sinister woke Senshi from his sleep.

"Tut tut, Senshi. To assail the weakened in their place of infirm? Where is thy honor? I shall not bring harm to thee. And if thou would dispatch me here, our pair is cognizant the ramifications. Or would thou like that the Light Warriors annihilate themselves? Countless are the sins of Senshi Ma, can thy soul bear weight to add in murder? And my merriment in this has yet to cease. What joy would there be in such destruction of this just and noble crew, but far greater still a felicity be knowledge your impotent appetite to strike me down. So, Senshi, unless thou wield this Sacred Sword, then thou must consider me thy colleague-at-arms; for until thou affirm jurisdiction over that weapon, I affirm jurisdiction over this body." Taden spouted out before walking back to the bed, though his moments seemed odd, as if her weren't in "complete" control this time.

"Ha, what a joke, he just rambling on about things we already know."

"He's trying to manipulate you."

"I'm aware of that, though he seems to have forgotten I'm not as easy a mark as my father."

"Oh yeah, you really proved that earlier."

"Yeah well, his host being a pain in the ass is working to his advantage."

Rise & Shine

Just before dawn 4

"Get up," Senshi said throwing down Lynn's equipment next to her on the bed. "We need to get moving before the desert gets to hot." He grabbed his cloak off the near by chair. "Since you already know I have the Ocarina I can use it to cut some time off the trip. Assuming the platforms are still active I can get us as far as the lake at least, maybe even the desert if I can remember how that requiem went in the next 10 minutes. Anyway you go grab Bryseis and the old ma, I gotta track down the kid that patched you up. He ran off somewhere to grab his gear or wrap up his **** or something like that." 

He walk to the door but suddenly turned back, "By the way, I now that thing inside you can hear me so this for him. 'I'm not my father, so if you want to mess with my head you'll have to find some new tricks.' As for you, I doubt you remember a damn thing he made you do last night but you need to try harder too..." he stopped mid sentence and only smiled slightly. "Well never mind, none of its your fault."

Before Dawn 4/Castle Stables/Habiki

The scene at the stables was desolate. Corpses of former undead soldiers and freshly dead knights littered the floor. Patches of grass had been ripped from the floor. There was an icy mist clinging to the air. The horses were whinneying and panicking in their stalls at the recent commotion.

There was a strange burst of light in the air above the golem's clay body. But rather than disappating, this light seemed to collapse in on itself, forming an ever-tighter sphere of energy, slowly descending towards the hole in Habiki's chest. The light began to dim, forming a solid glass sphere with an incandescant sheen. Then all at once, gravity returned to the ball, and it plummeted into the chest cavity of the golem.

Several minutes passed, the golem apparently unnaffected by the magics involved. It just sit there, a mindless heap of clay.

At last, there was a slight hint of motion. His right hand sluggishly began to tense into a fist, bits of dust crumbling away from the joints, then loosened again. His eyelids drifted open, and a blurry sense of vision began to return to him, seeing strange shapes in the sky above. 

Before, whenever the sphere had entered his body, animation had been instantaneous. This time, his return to life was more slothful. It was with an excrutiating lethargy that he forced himself to sit.

When he did, every nerve in his body lit up in pain. His whole body seemed to be on fire. He clutched at his chest, waves of nausea and pain hitting him.

He screamed as the feelings intensified. "AAAAAARH!"

He removed his hands from his chest, and saw that the hole where the orb had reentered had not closed over. In fact, the Light Heart sat there in plain view, seemingly anchored to his body by tendrils of liquid black. A light trickle of blood from this hole fell to the floor. Soon, silvery black cracks began to appear around the cavity, spreading across his chest.

"Habiki...be hurt..Habiki...frai...ten..."

He couldn't see it, but these same cracks began to form around his eyes and mouth, the same cracks he'd seen in the lavatory mirror earlier that night.

"Who...hurt...Habiki?"

He had returned to the same primitive state in which Raki had found him. Only now, waves of darkness were beginning to encroach his spirit. An animal rage began to fill his heart.

"Who...break...Habiki?!" 

He stared hungrily at the gaping wound in his chest, and into his mind floated the image of a woman's face, hateful and cruel...the sword-wielding woman who had sliced through his back and chest the night before...this was her wound, wasn't it? He began to remember vague images of the fight that had engaged while he was mostly unconscious. An unknown hooded man and this woman floated above the stables, ice and fire and shadow flung every which way.

He looked around himself for the first time, and saw the corpses that littered his surroundings. He flared up in anger at the sight of these bodies. 

"War...Habiki see war."

The woman had done this, the woman with the white hair and the black swords. 

"She make...big hole...in chest. Habiki...break her in half. Habiki crush her!"

More cracks, like velvet-veins, began to form along his arms and legs, and black steam erupted out of them, beginning to obscure his body in their absolute darkness. In a fit of rage he began to tear the clothes from his body, his tattered shirt now a rag laying on the floor, and soon he stood there bare, a stony gray monster.

He stepped away from the pile of bodies, crushing a corpse's skull underfoot as he went. The same black steam erupted from the pool of blood, which quickly began to boil and curdle. Habiki body was now largely covered in darkness, obscured in the night fog issuing from his body.

Hearing the commotion, one of the few remaining stray guards dashed towards the sound of commotion. His spear was shaking as he saw the strange cloud of black moving towards him. Before he could think, it was upon him, reaching out a pair of dark fingers and grabbing him by the throat.

The arm flung the guard into the wall. The cloud moved towards the guard again, a sinister, mindless laughter issueing from it. He was backed up against the wall now, weaponless, unarmed.

Habikil leaned towards the guard, his face emerging from the black. Then he placed his hand on the man's face, and the mans whole body began to shrivel. Habiki through his lifeless body to the floor.

He began to laugh when he thought of the white-haired woman's fate. He would crush her skull with his bare hands. "SHE DIE!" he said.

Lynn Annei/Morning 3/Hyrule Castle

Lynn turned over in bed, blinking at the door through which Senshi had just left. She had not slept well, and she was not in the mood for his bullshit.

"You are not coming with us!" she shouted at the door, though he was probably gone, and even more likely didn't care what she said.

It was a cold morning. She grabbed a cloak from the infirmary room's closet and threw it over her shoulders after packing all her equipment in the proper places. It didn't really do anything to keep the cold at bay. She stepped out into the hallway, looking down both sides, and went off toward the nearest intersection. As expected, a guard was positioned at the thoroughfare.

"You there. Which rooms are Kae Briseis and... the old man guest of Commander Phoenix in?"

The guard boggled at her. "Sorry, ma'am... who?"

She sighed. Were all Castle Guards inept? "Kae Briseis, Scion of Nayru, and the old man... what's-his-name? Moran or something?"

"Oh! Right..." finally realizing what she was asking, the man gave Lynn directions to both rooms. She headed off toward the old man, first; it was closer. When she arrived, she pounded on the door.

"Hey! Old man! Get up, it's morning. We're moving out!"

Moran Taliesin - Hyrule Castle - Fourth Morning

"Quiet down." Moran insisted as he approached Lynn from behind. He had been out for a walk, after the conversation he'd had the night before. He'd needed some time alone to consider the implications of what Cecile had told him. He would be the first to admit that rounding the corner to see the impetuous young Sheikah girl, possessed as she was with the arctic spirit, pounding on his door was not the most welcome of sights. "It's early, not everyone is awake. Have you no manners at all?"

He brushed her aside and opened his door, entering into his temporary room to gather his things and shutting the door in the girl's face. It didn't take much time, he had always traveled light. Still, the few things that he did bring along with him were of considerable importance. Once he was satisfied that he hadn't forgotten anything he exited back out into the hallway, giving Lynn a critical look.

"I've already heard about what transpired last night. I expect you're giving every effort to controlling what's inside of you, I think everybody has impressed on you already how dangerous he is." He took to walking toward Kae's room at that point, assuming that she fell into step with him. "I'm not going to lecture, that's already been done. I just hope your unswerving, even bull headed loyalty to Hyrule causes you to take the necessary precautions before you endanger everything we're working for, that's all."

Lynn Annei/Morning 4/Hyrule Castle

"Last night?" she asked, more rhetorically than seriously. "How could you..?"

She shrugged, striding behind him. "Whatever, old man. I know what I am doing. Nothing will subvert my loyalty to the Royal Family. Not while this body draws breath. I swear this to you. I swear on Farore. On Nayru. On Din."

She slipped around Moran, and prodded him in the chest. "And you should not endeavour to discomfit me."

He gave her an odd look, but she turned from him before he started his retort and continued off toward Kae's room.

Moran Taliesin - Hyrule Castle - Fourth Morning

"Oh I'll discomfit you, Taden Hothnight. I'll fluster, foil, irk, thwart, and vex. Select your synonym, knave, and rest assured it shall be done unto you." Moran asserted, his voice edged with iron as they strode down the corridor. Of all the light warriors, he was certain that none knew Hothnight with such dread clarity as he. Seishi Ma came close, but there was a unity struck between two souls when one brought the other back to mortal life. They had been diametrically opposed to one another since they first met, and the ages had not dulled their enmity.

[b]Darrel Mytura - Hyrule Castle - Fourth Morning

After the night's events, the meeting, his sudden illness, Darrel had gone into the training yard to practice the forms. Work with a blade always soothed him, helped him to find his center, the oneness, and loss all of the pressures of the day. Sweat stained and aching, he felt complete.

He had gone at his training for more than an hour, and fell into bed afterwards, exhausted but calmed. He awoke in the morning to the sunlight filtering in through his window. He felt invigorated.

It was time to be off. He knew there was little time to waste, and went first to the door of Ithan Chiaria. His outburst the previous night was unlike him, he had always shared a sense of comradery with Ithan, and any of the other light warriors that hailed from times past. He did not wish to damage their working relationship before their mission even began.

[color=orangered]"Ithan! Are you in there?"[/color]

Lynn Annei/Morning 3/Castle Hyrule

Lynn paused, glancing over her shoulder at Moran. "First, that is really not very nice. I'm just asking that you stay out of my way while I do my duty to the Royal Family. If you try to hinder that, we are going to have a very big problem."

She turned and knocked on Kae's door. "Second, I think you're confused. I am Lynn Annei, Sheikah. I know this because I know this. There might be something wrong, but I am in control. If I weren't, I would be. Remember the memory lapses Senshi Ma was talking about? I'm not blacked out or anything. So don't go calling me "Taden Hothnight". It's not who I am, and it's not who I will be."

She knocked on the door again, but was met, still, with no answer. Mildly perplexed, she pushed the door open a crack, to peer inside. There was an empty basket of fruit on the table. Perhaps Kae had already had her breakfast? She pushed the door open further to find the bed, and the entire room itself, was devoid of life.

"Huh. Where did Kae get off to...?"

More Fighting, More Meetings

Senshi/Castle/Dawn 4

"That was faster then I expected," Senshi said after meeting up with Mikhal in the halls. "Let's go find the others."

Mikhal nodded then followed after him.

"So where are we going anyway," he finally asked as the walked through the castle halls to the barracks.

"We're going to the desert. We need to find some divine objects to help out that Shiekah you patched up last night."

"Does that mean we'll be traveling with her?" He asked trying to hide his excitement over traveling with a Shiekah.

"Yes and two others, an old wizard and another..." he paused as he walked back the entrance the the castles chapel. The sound of music had caught his attention and he noticed it was Kae playing a rather tranquil, though unarranged song. He didn't want to interrupt since she seemed at peace from once and unfortunately his very presence would probably take that away from her but time was precious and the sooner they got on the move the sooner Lynn could be saved. 

We quietly walked over to her while removing his hood, Mikhal waited in the hall for a moment but followed shortly after. "Sorry to interrupt, but it's time to go."

Hyrule Castle/Morning 4/Habiki

The sun was just beginning to peak over the mountains. Habiki kept clutching at his chest as he ascended the stairwell of the castle, half-heartedly trying to mitigate the unrelenting pain of his self-swallowing life-force. Truth be told, he was beginning to enjoy the sensation.

Two guards up on the landing descended upon him with their spears.

"RAaargh." he bellowed as, still partially concealed by the darkness enveloping him, he backfisted the first into the wall, caving his chest in, and sent a wave of darkness at the second, ripping his torso open.

Habiki crouched down then, and leaped the rest of the way up the stairwell.

The b**** was near. He could practically taste her. He peered into each of the rooms in the hall, searching.

Sure enough, soon he came around a corner in the hall, to see two figures standing by a doorway. One was an old man...the other was the woman with the black swords and hair. Habiki's face cracked into a toothy grin, and he stood there quietly, hiding behind the corner, as she stepped into the room.

As soon as she had entered, he lunged towards the door, shoving past the old man into the room. The moment he saw her, he leapt at her with all his might, and felt as their combined weight tumbled toward the open window.

"You DIE!" he shreiked.

Lynn Annei/Morning 4/Hyrule Castle (Kae's Room)

Lynn stepped into the room. "She left her clothes on the privacy screen. Usually she'd have stored those in Nora's pocket..." she mused.

Before she could stride too far into the room, there was a loud roar from out in the hallway. She turned just in time to see a man wreathed in billowing, smoky darkness barge through the door, running straight for her.

"You DIE!"

His shoulder barreled into her, barely giving her mind time to react. But her body knew what it was trained to do. She threw herself backward, rolling with the tackle to absorb some of the momentum. They were falling toward the bay window, the small balcony outside, and a gap in the railing just the right size to take both of them. Her back hit the ground, and she continued the roll, twisting her body to cross her arms beneath his chest and prop her feet on his thighs.

His skin was moist and clammy, almost inhuman, and this close to him, she saw his face snarling at her, pure hatred written in his features. They both moved closer to the fall, but she rolled up on her back, and kicked, jerking her elbows back to add even more momentum. The man was propelled off her body, up and over the railing. Lynn smirked in triumph.

And then widened her eyes and squeaked in surprise. She had added momentum to her on roll, and done a full somersault. She tucked her head to avoid whiplash, and prepared for a jar in her knees when her feet hit the ground. The impact never came; her legs had both fell straight through the gap in the railing. The inertia pulled the rest of her body down and out. She followed after the crazed assassin.

Kae/Cathedral/Dawn 4

And just as quickly as she'd entered the peaceful melodic trance, Kae was dragged out of it by the last person she wanted to see that morning.

She covered her face with her palm and sighed shortly after she'd finished the final phrase of her freestyle.

"We? I thought you were headed to Death Mountain. Change of plans I take it?"

Her tone stayed even, but the disappointment couldn't be hidden too well. She dismissed her harp and readjusted the wrappings on her left wrist whilst slowly rising to her feet.

"And the others are where? I was hoping to wait until the vision I'd had last night came to pass. I sent it along to Sir Phoenix...someone's going to attack the castle today. One man. I should get to the throne room, or find another one of us to station there. I fear Hyrule's Finest may not be enough to stop him."

After looking around, she noticed there was another with Senshi. 

"Pardon me...I was in a bit of a trance and didn't notice you. I'm Kae, a Sheikah Mystic, and Nayru's Scion."

Senshi/Castle/Dawn 4

"I said we would go to Death Mountain because there was to much risk involved in letting Annei go to Snow Peak right now. The desert was suggested and I have no problem with that. Besides I can get strait the lake with the blink of an eye so it works just as well. Come to think of it I can probably get us to Kakariko pretty quickly too." Kae's irritation didn't seem to less any. Her attitude was starting to become irritating considering he was trying his best to play nice. Besides he was try trying to help the to of them. Nevertheless he keep his feelings in check. It was bad enough that the two Shiekah were flying off the handle at his very presence, if he were to go off in a rage things would only get worse. Of course some times it was necessary.

"Annei went to go find you and Taliesin so I imagine they're both someone around your room right now trying to figure out where you went. I figure you probably need to grab a few things so hopefully we can catch them there. And don't worry about Phoenix, I'll pass the message along," he said tapping his forehead. "We need to travel as far as possible before the desert gets to hot and hunting him down would take to long."

Senshi was about to walk about but Kae had decided to introduce herself to Mikhal, "Pardon me...I was in a bit of a trance and didn't notice you. I'm Kae, a Sheikah Mystic, and Nayru's Scion."

"Well at least she'll civil with everyone else," he though to himself

"Oh hello I'm ah-" Mikhal stumbled over his words being excited about meeting a second Shiekah. He tried to bow, being to nervous to shake hands but the combination of the slick tile floor and the heavy back back he was wearing cause him to fall head first. 

Fortunately Senshi grabbed him before his face slammed into the floor. He took his pack and flung it over his shoulder. The golden gauntlets made it look easy but he could still tell how much the thing weighed. "Just how much did you pack? It's no wonder you keep tripping all the time."

"Um.. two tents, my medical supplies, lots of food and water, a few other necessities and um... Oh!" He stopped and turned back towards Kae, "Sorry about that, my name is Mikhal. I'm a combat medic they assigned to Mr. Shinigami. After his fight with that fire guy a few nights ago the higher ups figured he should have someone like me to assist him."

Senshi just shrugged, "Right let's get going." He started on his way. Initially would have let them continue on in silence, after all the scorn Kae held from him made casual conversations pointless, still there were things that had to be said for her sake. "Look, I really don't care if you hate me, hell I'm not the kind of person who deserves compassion, but the fact is as long as Annei's possessed I'm not leaving her side. Since she like wise wont leave your side that means we're stuck together until we can save her. So I'm asking you, as sincerely as I can, can we play nice until this is all over? Everything well come much smoother if we do, and I'm concerned it will work to Hothnight's advantage is your hate for me consumes you. Besides I never met Annei before Hothnight violated her soul, and I'd wager the same is true for the old man. On the other hand she's your close friend, you know better then any one if she's not acting herself. I can't stress enough how important that fact is."

Early Night 3/A far away volcanic island(current time flow is the same as Hyrule)

A young girl jumped high into the air. At the pike of the jump she repositioned her staffed to strike her target. As he dive bombed back to earth a spear tip of pure magical energy appear on the end of her staff. Her target intercepted a reflective shield the sent the energy tip's magic flying all all over the place. Using all of his strength the man pushed back against the raw force of the girls jump attack. The girl was flung back but manage to ram her staff into the ground and push off. He darted back at her target, pulling out her long dagger in mid air and sticking him with all her strength. The effortlessly parried with his long sword, but the girl wasn't to be beat that easy. With no other weapons she tried to punch him in the face but she telegraphed giving the chance for the man to knee her in the gut. She nearly fell to the ground but caught herself with one arm then attempted to kick the man his face but he merely dodge while taking a steep back. The girl flipped back on to her feet then jump back to her staff barely avoiding a slash from the man's sword. 

The man fired a sword beam but the girl returned with a beam of her own from the end of her staff. The two beams collided in mid air causing a brilliant flash of light. The two fought through it. The man swung down with his blade. The girl blocked it with her staff and attempted to spin it around and force the sword from his hand but he reversed it on her and causing her to loss her grip on it with her off hand and pinning the weapon to the ground. The girl pulled out he dagger again and aimed for the mans neck but he knocked it away with his shield. The man twisted around ready to deliver a sharp hook kick to the girls face, she couldn't avoid it.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Laynnei shouted out. Seishi quickly pulled back his attack, barely missing his daughters face and falling to the ground in a rather peculiar way as a result. 

"Damn it, that's just not fair." Seishi complained getting back to his feet and sheathing his sword.

"First person to hit the ground loses, no matter what. Mom getting in the way isn't an excuse cause getting getting distracted in a real fight can get you killed right." Ayala said with a rather smug expression.

"Damn it, when did you start using my own words against me. Alright next time I'll stop holding back."

"What!? You promised you wouldn't hold back this time."

"No, you made me promise you 'not to hold back, like when I spar with Senshi,' so I that's what I did. She doesn't let me go all out on you kids," he said pointing to Laynnei.

"He's right, the last thing I need if one of you kids losing an arm or worse. Then I'd have to kill your father and then I'd have to bury him and that's really just to much of a hassle."

"That's not fair, I want a rematch and you can't hold back this time. I'm going to wake up Oberon so we can get our armor." 

"No, that is quiet enough. You two have been at it since dawn, it's time to stop. Honestly I don't know how you two can keep this up, the sun has been down for over an hour." They both pointed over to the Sword of Light that was hanging on a near by tree providing just enough light to keep the two going for while. "Oh for the love of the three," she said shaking her head with her face in her palm. "I will never understand why you all insist on beating the crap out of each other."

"Father-daughter bonding," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah, dad's just doing his best to make sure I don't have a complex and end up on a poll like all the other girls," she said shifting her wait to lean against her staff. "Though it only half worked."

"Damn it, that's a spear and that's not funn-" his words were cut short but the look of death he was getting from his wife. "You weren't suppose to repeat that." He walked behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her despite her gaze of doom.

"Oh god you're stubble." she squirmed has he kissed her gently on the neck causing his course unshaven cheek to rub against hers.

"Ah you love it."

"And Sen wonders why I usually tag along with him." she sighed not perpetually fond of watching her parents.

Now remember Ay-chan, you can't send mix signals. So if you're in this situation and you don't want to be just hit that guy."

"Like this." he said then elbowed him in the gut.

"Oh, cheap shot. That's it" he picked Laynnei up, through her over his shoulders and carried her inside.

-

"So how was Phoenix, does he still really need to get laid?" Seishi asked while sitting down to eat.

"I'm sure he could benefit from lightening up a bit, but he's got his hands full. In fact he wanted to know if you could help him out."

"We'll I'd love to but the kid took the boat," he stated rather cautiously being a bit confused over the fact the his wife seemed to think he SHOULD go for once.

"Well, I need to go visit the Chan family tomorrow anyway to drop off more books from them to copy, so it wouldn't be an inconvenience or anything."

"Did mom just give us permission to go fight a war?" Ayala whispered quietly to her father. 

"I think she gave me permission but it's hard to tell. It could be a trick since she's usually not this docile unless she has a baby latched to her tit. That or if we're acting like we're gonna make a new one."

"I did not need to know that," she said punch her old man in the arm.

Early Morning 4/Castle/Phoenix 

Phoenix, Blade and the King were in the King's private chambers discussing Kae's proficiency that Senshi was kind enough to pass along to him telepathically. 

Blade spoke up first, "Well first thing's first, we replace the king with a double." 

"I won't have it, I can't hide away while my solders fight. It's just one man, I'll fight him myself." The young king spoke out in immediate protest.

"Your highness please, we can't afford to lose you. Besides a man of my age can not sit back and put someone as young as yourself at risk. After all you haven't even had the opportunity of finding yourself a beautiful wife to live with. No men should ever have to pass on with out experiencing that." Phoenix said trying to mediated the matter in with the most delicate terminology.

"Would not any replacement be the same age as me, would that not be true for him. For that matter is it not true for all the young men in my army."

"Commoners live a different life style you your highness, I wouldn't be concerned about that. Besides the enemy doesn't know what you look like. In fact we could probably put someone on the throne and pass them off as your late father. Someone fairly skilled with a blade." Blade said looked over at Phoenix. 

"That should work just fine, but you will have to act as the kings personal body guard in the mean time. You are not to leave his side Blade, not for any reason. Make what ever arrangements you need to with your subordinates quickly while I change into the late kings robe."

"Wait Phoenix you can't, at your age there's no way."

"Don't worry your highness, I'm much more capable then I appear."

Kae/Cathedral/Dawn 4

Even if she didn't like him, he did make sense. Better sense than in the previous encounter.

"Professionalism is appreciated, and I think we can work with that. Who knows? Maybe things will get better. And with an uncharted area ahead, a medic would be a good idea. It is indeed good to meet you too, Mikhal."

I can probably keep the Starfires safe in Nora's shop. Should ask the others first, though...

"Before we go, I did create the crystals as asked. Where should we keep them? Give them to Phoenix? Or should I keep them elsewhere?"

Her robes did a lot of good even indoors. Any time pain from her wound would hit, she could just raise that hood or faceguard for a moment to keep her gaze from betraying her condition.

But what else would she need for the journey? With how she was able to conjure items at will and within reason, there wasn't much to think of. And she couldn't ask Nora because she was busy doing some massive ritual on Jaden.

"And what else might we need? I usually just summon my belongings."

She couldn't help but think about the mystique behind teleportation, though. With all the historic items in this castle, there were very few things that could do it...there was no way he had THAT. Or was there? Kae didn't bother asking about it.

Habiki/Morning 4/Falling

Habiki was confused. Suddenly he had the odd feeling of motion, a lurching in his stomach, and he had no idea of what to make of it. Images of the town were spinning around him. His mind was quickly slipping into incoherent rage, and he could not grasp that he was falling.

Finally, the roof of a large Cathedral loomed up before him, and he crashed through the ceiling, landing in a small pile of debre on the tiled floor.

"RAAAGh!" He screamed, picking himself up from the rubble, looking around at the strange stained glass patterns and votive candles.

He looked around and saw three figures standing in the doorway. The first one, a young boy he did not know. Beside him was an oddly familiar hooded man. The two of them were speaking to a beautiful robed woman with silver hair and olive skin...he...knew her, didn't he?

For an instant, the fog began to clear at the sight of these familiar faces. 

"...K-Kae! Shinigami!" he stammered.

Then he saw a shadow looming behind him. He spun to see the woman of black hair and swords, standing in front of him, covered in dust from the fall, swords drawn.

He turned to face her. His head was sticking partly out of the veil of shadow, his face exposed for her to see.

"Habiki...you...you DIE!" he bellowed, what little composure he'd regained lost, and thrust his arm out at her, sending a wave of shadow in her direction.

Lynn Annei/Morning 4/Castle Cathedral

Lynn tucked into a ball to absorb the impact, and crashed through the roof behind her attacker. She performed an impression of a roll, avoiding drastic injury but still knocking her left shoulder from its joint and hitting her thigh in a way that she knew would leave one hell of a bruise later. She turned to face the assailant, and draw out a wakizashi with her good hand. The hand for her dislocated shoulder flexed somewhat, and succeeded not in moving but sending a searing jolt of pain up her side. Instinctively she focused chilled magics to numb the area.

Then a wave of dark energy rolled over her, sending her backward into a pew, which broke under the force of the collision as a renewed lance of pain tore into her side. She cried out, helpless to stifle the animal reaction to the feeling. She bite her lower lip, and narrowed her eyes at the shadow-covered man. This day would begin with a death, it seemed.

Kae/Cathedral/Dawn 4

Not the holiest place...don't defile it too...damn!

Of all the places for a brawl to break out, it just had to be here. It's not that Kae hated resorting to violence. In fact, in the past few days there were moments when obliterating an enemy felt exhilarating. But now was a very bad time and also a horribly bad place to try to do anything. 

Then there was the whole difficulty of talking Lynn out of a fight. It wasn't worth trying because the outcome was predictable. And she didn't know what the other being was exactly...but it knew who she was. She contemplated delivering a psychic shock of sorts. But fighting on holy ground could bring the ire of the Three upon her. It was not an easy decision.

"Of all the places in Hyrule...for the love of the Three do not do this here!"

She powered her anima for a rudimentary defense in case any stray problems came her way. But she still had her three sentries and the Starfires on her...and she could not afford to let either of those two hunks of celestial matter detonate. 

Her wrist tinged further with pain. Channeled energies apparently paid a tax of sorts to the embedded fragment...and there was neither Nora nor Felis to ask about this one. She was on her own. Well, not quite. Senshi and Mikhal were there.

My powers would be quite strong here if it came to it. Lynn would want me to help her. But considering how anything in the area usually gets destroyed when I channel, giving a benediction would be the most I could do without invoking divine wrath.

Kae quickly resolved to strongly insist the fight be moved elsewhere. If they didn't listen, she'd step in and do her best to end it quickly by aiding Lynn.

Senshi/Castle/Dawn 4

"Well I'm glad we can agree on that much. As for Phoenix, well I already passed your message along and I'm sure he's running around making preparations as we speak, but if we see him do what ever you feel is best. I'm not sure I deserve to have an opinion on the matter. As far as desert supplies, I'd say something to keep your head and skin covered and plenty of water, but if you've got that cover already I think we're good thanks to our little pack rat friend," he said looking over at Mikhal then shifting the the pack that he was carrying form him on his back.

"Now lets just hope those two are where I think they are cause I can't shake this feeling that talking to Annei telepathically would just piss her off." Just as his last sentence something came crashing through the ceiling. By pure muscle reflex Senshi dropped the back and draw his scythe, though some how Mikhal managed to check it before it hit the ground. "What the hell!?"

"...K-Kae! Shinigami!" the created called out seemingly struggling to think against the rare darkness the was covering its body and probably consuming his mind as well.

"Wait a minute, tell me that's not-" before he could finish his though the creature noticed Lynn and went berserk. "Well never mind that, we better just think of a way to fix this."

Kae initially seemed more worried about the two not fighting in the chapel, which all things considers was understandable. Making things worse, he had a feeling that was Habiki and from what he's come to learn about Lynn's relationship with the Golem there wasn't really a way for this to end well. 

"<Old Man, if you can here me hurry the hell up and get down here.>" he sent to Chamder's mind

"Bryseis, for now lets just let them fight it out. When the old man gets down here I'll need you and him to push that thing away from Annei. I'll be able to end this quickly that way if every stays close enough to me."

Kae/Cathedral/Dawn 4

"I'll send the Starfires to the Royal Vaults. Phoenix can pick them up later. He would probably know how to handle them. Now if only this would handle itself..."

After "dismissing" the large chunks of veined stone, she conjured her sword and took a defensive stance. Her sentries were energized, having fed off her anima. 

She tried to reach out to touch the mind of Lynn's attacker, not really sure what it was. There were a few ideas, none of which she wished to explore too far.

Fighting in this room will only lead to your eternal damnation. If you wish to survive, take it outside this room sooner rather than later.

The resonance from the enraged fellow took Kae back a few steps and dazed her. Whatever fueled it was very deep-seated. Either way, Kae silently hoped that Lynn had this covered. She figured Lynn would understand Kae's concern and pull the enraged one out into the hall or something. Then she could bless her friend without consequence.

Habiki/Morning 4/Cathedral Chapel

Habiki's wave of darkness hit the woman of the black swords squarely, and she was knocked back by the force into a row of pews. She glared at him and then scrambled to her feet. Not giving her time to recover, he leapt into the air and directed a punch down towards her body. She deftly leapt out of the way, and his fist collided with the tile floor, causing an explosion of shadow to expand from the impact.

Pulling himself away from the rubble, he was quickly met with a sword swinging at his torso. He reflexively put his arm up to block it, and the sword was quickly lodged in his forearm. Black ooze sprayed from the wound, blinding his attacker for an instant, and he shoved her away, using the force to rip the blade from his body. It instantly closed over as the ooze filled it.

There was no pain from the wound. Or rather, the delicious black pain already coursing through his body was so all-consuming that any wounds she inflicted were barely reason for pause.

His mind had finally dissolved into the black, all thought to motive or strategy completely forgotten. All he knew was that the shapes moving in front of him made him angry, and so he would crush them. The fact that the shape happened to be a Sheikah warrior meant nothing.

Kae/Cathedral/Dawn 4

What was this thing? How did it even get into the castle? It wasn't what she had seen in the previous night's vision. And there wasn't much time to divine what it could be.

It took a blade to the arm as though nothing was wrong. Would Triune Valor even matter in that case if Kae gave it to Lynn? Well, maybe in terms of resilience.

She was very worried. There wasn't much time to act. If she did nothing and something happened to her friend, she'd regret it the rest of her days. Reaching out to briefly graze Lynn's mind with her words, Kae uttered the benediction of valor. Maybe Lynn would force it out of the cathedral then...

"May the Wisdom of Nayru give you the edge, Power of Din enhance your blows, Courage of Farore fuel your desire. Overcome the trials before you with Their blessing!"

Kae's anima refracted a bit of wispy light over to where Lynn was. All she had to do was touch it to gain the blessing.

Lynn Annei/Morning 4/ Castle Cathedral

Lynn struck, and hit the man's arm! But it did nothing. Nothing at all, but give him leverage against her through the sword lodged in his black, oozing flesh. She was flung backwards with his strength, and staggered to maintain her balance. The distance remained for a moment; it appeared as though the man's arm was regenerating, and Lynn took the time to catch her breath and collect her thoughts after the brief clash.

Brightness stretched across the Cathedral, its source Kae. She heard whisper of Kae's voice traveling with the stream of light, some form of magic or prayer. But the light was no good. The Light made her cringe, and draw back. Kae's benediction succeeded in its opposite task. Lynn, distracted by Kae's actions, was not prepared when her assailant renewed the attack, charging at her and wailing on her with his fists. The first few hits were square and firm before Lynn gained enough composure to salvage at least an attempt at defense. Already off-balance by the initial strikes, she only managed to block roughly one in three strikes as she retreated, battered.

Habiki/Morning 4/Cathedral Chapel

He roared as if a wild beast, and charged at the Sheikah again. His fist met her blade, and another explosion of shadow matter occurred where the two collided. He quickly grabbed the blade and ripped it from her hands, flinging it into a nearby corner. His fist connected with her jaw, and she recoiled. She tried to retaliate, but he caught her fist in his. He then hoisted her up by the throat, and shoved her into the wall.

She struggled against his grip, but he only tighened his fist further around her neck, choking the life out of her. She kicked at him, but he did not flinch.

He forced his other palm into her chest, clutching at her body, and began to pour shadow matter into her. She convulsed as the energy began to course through her veins, which now protruded from her skin as they pulsed with pain.

A single word formed in his mind, the single, solitary thought he had had since the fight began. Die. Die! DIE! He was about to speak it aloud when suddenly his eyes caught a glint shining from the metal fringe of one of the broken pews. There was a figure reflected in it, a shape like the one he was now destroying...only different. Softer.

His grip loosened slightly as he continued to stare at this image. He slowly began to comprehend it. It was a person...a woman, standing some distance from where they were fighting. His being had been so focused on the destruction of the creature he was now clutching that he had forgotten there were others there.

He continued to stare at this reflection. He felt sadness at the look of shock and panic she wore, sword at the ready...he knew that she was seriously thinking of joining the fight. Her look of horror continued to haunt him. It was horror at him, wasn't it? The woman he was about to kill was her friend.

"Kae," he whispered, so quietly that even the Sheikah...yes, it was a Sheikah he was attacking, by the name of Lynn Annei...did not hear him.

He looked away from Kae now, and saw Lynn's face contorted in pain. He instantly released his grip on her, and she fell to the floor in a heap, conscious, but barely. Habiki turned from her and clutched at his head, his mind reeling with images of the past several hours, slowly coming back to himself. He had killed three guards, he'd tried to kill Lynn. He quickly fell to his knees, cradling his head as if to protect it from what he was seeing. Distant thunder echoed in his ears. A storm was coming.

Lynn Annei/Morning 4/Castle Cathedral

Suddenly, the pressure on Lynn's throat was released, and she fell to the floor gasping for air. Her knees grated against the stone floor, her left hand propped her torso, somewhat, while her forehead still was rested on the ground, and her right hand gingerly caressed the bruises already forming on her neck. She closed her eyes, trying to summon up the energy to avoid, or even block, the coming killing blow. No such attack came.

A peal of thunder cracked through the air. The only thing to touch her head was a droplet of rain. And then another. And then a whole downpu of them. Rain fell through the gaping whole in the Cathedral roof, dousing the broken pews, pooling A storm had come to Castle Town for the second day in a row. Unlike the atmospheric disturbances of yesterday, this one seemed normal enough. The water was chilly, as rain was wont to be, and helped to soothe the burning ache in Lynn's muscles.

She smirked and opened her eyes.

Habiki/Morning 4/the Cathedral's Chapel

Habiki looked for a moment at the pitiful thing that was Lynn Annei.

"Even you deserve better, Lynn," He said more to himself than to her, not even sure if she heard him. "I'm so sorry." He couldn't believe he was saying it. He hated Lynn Annei. But his grudge had nearly cost her her life. Had he not held this grudge, the rage of his altered state would have been less focused, and maybe he would have been stopped before anything bad happened. And the worst part was, he had been warned. And now he'd killed three people. 

Loud thunder claps began to echo through the halls of the chapel. He knew the eyes of Kae and Shinigami must be on him.

He began to focus his willpower, trying to reassert himself, to undo his transformation, but nothing happened. Die! the word echoed again in his mind. His unnatural anger was welling up inside him again. He tried to supress it, but it seemed to be boiling out of control. He couldn't stop it, couldn't control it. No! I am Habiki! he cried out in his head, but as soon as he had heard it, he asked himself what a Habiki was. He tried to focus on what it was, what it meant, but it was slipping. No. Not...kill! it seemed the harder he tried, the more he was losing his grip on whatever elusive word he had been searching for. Ha...hab.

Tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn't stop what was happening to him. He began to cry, though the others likely could not see them, due to the darkness enshrouding him. 

And then he felt something. Water was tricklling down his back. He looked up at the ceiling, through the hole he and Lynn had made in the roof. The sky was overcast. He reached out his hand, and a single drop of rain landed on his palm. The second it touched him, the rain became a downpour.

"NOOOO!" he screamed as the water began to pummel him. He screamed up at the ceiling, his mouth filling with water, stifling his voice. The ground seemed to be getting closer. His hands and feet quickly dissolved, and he struggled to stand, but his legs collapsed underneath him into the mush.

Lynn Annei/Morning 4/Castle Cathedral

The shadow-enshrouded man bellowed a roar of "No!" as the rain began its torrent. Lynn lifted her head. He knew what fate was in store for him. Whoever he was, whoever had sent him, he appeared to know much of her recent abilities. That was interesting information. Well, she wouldn't disappoint him.

She focused her mind on the falling water, willing it to turn to hale. There was no change. She flexed her muscles, trying to put physical effort into the mental exertion. Still, nothing happened.

She looked down. Nothing was far from the truth. The water on the ground was freezing around her feet, with the patch of ice growing outward from her. As it spread, it spread faster, until the whole floor of the Cathedral was slick with a thin glaze of ice. She followed the advance of the effect with her gaze, and saw that the shadow-man's feet had frozen to the ground. She laughed, a new idea coming to her.

Her feet stepped over the floor with ease, not even registering the difference between ice and stone. She stood in front of the man who had just so recently nearly killed her. Her muscles were sore, but now, with the rain cascading over her body and the ice radiating cold from the floor, she no longer really felt it. It was a good sense of sore, much the same as she felt after a long day of exercise.

"Only a fool attacks a Sheikah in her own element." she hissed at the man. And then she threw her fist forward, with all the strength she could muster, and slammed the appendage into his chest. She was mildly surprised when she met the resistance not of flesh, but of a runny mud, and her fist stuck into the man's torso. But, then, it was all the better that way. She forced her hand open, spreading her fingers inside his chest cavity, and gave in to the feelings and urges welling up inside her.

Lynn Hothnite/Morning 4/Castle Cathedral

Her hand froze. The man's chest turned to a block of ice. The ice spread outward from his torso, causing his flailing arms and legs to go rigid. Steam whispered away from Lynn's body as the rain hit her frigid flesh. The shadowy mass about the attacker's body slowed its chaotic swirling and fell away from him, as though weighted down by cold, and spread across the floor before evaporating. It revealed the man's identity.

Habiki's head was the last thing to ice over. He peered into her eyes with a gaze full of pain and sorrow, and something Lynn no longer understood: regret. That look was made eternal as Habiki's transformation into an sculpture of ice and dirt completed. Lynn yanked her arm back, pulling out her fist and leaving a small indentation in the Habiki-statue's chest. She chuckled, and raised her arms in victory.

The raindrops around her reacted to her influence, pooling under her feet and freezing into a disc that lifted her off the ground. The disc floated across the Cathedral, to where Kae stood. She proffered her hand to her friend, offering to lift her up onto the disc.

"Come with me, Kae."

Senshi/Dawn 4/In a world of ****

"Damn it, I'm not sure who's in control of her right now."

"On the plus side it doesn't appear she found the Medallion when she reached into the puppets chest."

"Yeah, god forbid anything interesting happens. Oh by the well, if that thing dies you lose a perfect lead the other half of the dark power. Of course to save him you'll have to use the other powers."

"Annei, at least I think that's still you. Listen to me very closely," he called out in a calm tone. He put away his weapon and gripped his necklace tight in his hand.

"Oh see what you're doing, but I won't work."

"I'm pretty sure you're in control right now, which is very impressive but it's dangerous, for you, for Kae, and for everyone in this castle you're so adamant about protecting."

"If you get that necklace on her you might kill yourself trying to reseal your powers after you save clay boy. This save everyone crap isn't gonna work. Of course unless you let me do it." the demon gradually shift from its usual heckling tone to one of malice.

"Right now I think you're controlling Hothnight but the wrong emotions can reverse that fairly quickly, and he will hurt Bryseis of that I'm sure."

"I don't like to admit this but he is right. You should priorities the the puppet, if he dies the medallion will be exposed."

"Well that and it's your fault he's like this. I mean how else did this storm start, he must of tapped into it's power. Of course little miss switch hitter probably had her powers turn on by being to close to it. On top of that you know that medallion just may be what made him turn into that thing. For all we know the snow flack mages evil infected it. Don't worry about it though, I'll take care of all of it. Just let me take over and everything will be fixed."

"Besides you don't know how to control it yet. Just look around you froze a whole church just to deal with one enemy. It'll take forever to clean this up even using fire magic." Drew out his flaming sword and tossed next to Habiki's frozen body. He intended it to look like he was demonstrating his point but really he was just hoping it would get Death and the Demon to shut the hell up. Of course just thawing out the Golem wouldn't be enough. That rain was still pouring down on him and the only way to stop that was his power, or a prayer.

"Now I'm sure Polaris can help teach you to control it once we've got Hothnight suppressed but we haven't gotten to that point yet, and Polaris isn't here right now. So I'm pleading with you, please try to suppress those powers. Order then back down, tell yourself you don't want them, flat out reject them. I know you don't trust me, so don't do this for me, hell don't even do this for yourself. Do this for Bryseis and do this for Hyrule." All he could do now was hope she'd listen. Of course from what he's seen of Lynn's personality so far he made sure he had a few back up plans just in case.

"<Chamder hurry the hell up!>"

Habiki/Morning 4/The Cathedral

As the water soaked Habiki to his quickly dissolving bones, he foolishly continued to scream, the water filling his lungs in seconds. His limbs had melted to the floor, and he was now stuck in place as the water continued to pummel him. Out of the mist he could see the figure of Lynn, struggling to stand...and then she smiled. It was sadistic and vengeful. And he knew. She was going to kill him.

The ice began to form underneath her feet, and as Habiki struggled to move, she walked casually towards him.

"Lynn!" he tried to say, "Don't do this! You don't have to do this!" but no sound came out except a gurgling, sputtering cough. He watched helplessly as her hand plunged into his chest, around his Light Heart, and begin to fill his body with ice. He forced himself to cough up the water, desperate to form any words that might save them both. "Lynn! LYNN! If you do this, your soul belongs to Hothknight! Stop while you still can!" but still he could not spit it out. His battered lungs, combined with the sound of falling rain and the pressure the forming ice was putting on his chest, kept him from issuing his warnings.

The ice covered his body within seconds, Lynn withdrew her hand, and he was frozen solid.

His body and mind were growing numb. Echoed through the ice, he could hear Lynn as she adressed Kae. "Come with me, Kae."

This sent him screaming in his own mind. Kae! KAE! Don't go with her! That's not Lynn anymore! KAAAAE!

But it was useless. He could not reach her, could not protect her from the monster that moments ago, had been Lynn Annei.

And with that, his world was silent. The rain continued to fall upon the ice, freezing to its surface, softening the jagged edges of the ice crystals. If you looked closely, you could see a small stream of bubbles in the ice trailing away from his eyes, his tears forever etched across his face.

Kae/Cathedral/Dawn 4

Such a vulgar display of power baffled her mind. The beast must have taken over...but it wasn't the same cadence as before, it wasn't the same expressions. 

But the floor had been flash-frozen and the attacker was absolutely obliterated. There was no way Lynn could have gained mastery over that much raw power. It didn't register as magical. It was primordial and raw essence. And her attempt to help almost got her killed. She'd probably be mad. Kae had to apologize.

"I didn't mean to exacerbate the situation. I'll remember that Valor doesn't work on you in the future...and that...was insane..."

Kae stepped up onto the disc and kept her footing rather well. She didn't even feel the cold thanks to her new robes, but she couldn't help but be concerned for the individual that had become a statue of ice. She could still sense life's essence within but it was faint...

"Where are we going, perchance?"

She also couldn't help but feel the cathedral was defiled by all the destruction. It could be rebuilt, but the Three would not be happy.

Senshi/Dawn 4/**** Storm

Senshi cautiously stepped back without taking his eyes off the girls. He reclaimed he sword and immediately sheathed it. With Kae going along Lynn thing's could go horrible wrong at a moments notice so Habiki would have to wait.

"What are you doing Senshi, securing the sage medallion is more important. The Scion can handle herself."

"I'm not taking that chance," he barked back as quietly as possible.

He decided to speak directly to Kae's mind, not wanting Lynn to over hear. "<Are you sure you want to do that? I'm not entirely sure that's Annei right now and even if it is, Hothnight could take over at the drop of that a hat. Getting that close to her is reckless.>"

Moran Taliesin - The Cathedral - Fourth Morning

Moran was willing to admit that he had been put off by Lynn's suffrance of the evils of Taden Hothnight, wrought by her own living flesh. Always had the infamous ice mage lacked a soul, a conscience. Lacked a purpose at all but to destroy. He had been an agent of entropy in a civilized world. His evils had been many and horrible, but they had been expected. But to see Lynn, a living soul, show such willingness to be swept aside by the essence of arctic cold that was Hothnight the Hated... It was tragic. Now the situation was a powder keg, nobody could tell how it would go.

And he had remained out of it. Lynn was connected to Kae, linked with a special bond that only they could fathom. So too had his and the Hated's lives become intertwined, over the countless battles. He wanted badly to interfere, but he didn't think Hothnight had gained full control yet, and he didn't want to give him a reason to. Kae didn't know the danger she was in as she drew near her friend.

I can't get involved in this, Senshi. Not right now. There's still a chance to diffuse the situation, I think, and I doubt that chance will last if Hothnight and I meet gazes while he's at his most influential. You're going to have to step up and settle this yourself.

He wasn't stupid, he suspected that he would encounter many such situations like this during their trek into the desert. He wanted to know, first of all, how Senshi could handle things as a negotiator. He also wanted more time to assess the depth of Hothnight's sway over Lynn. He was a man of patience if he was anything at all.

Senshi/Dawn 4/Cathedral 

Moran had decided to keep his distance for good reason, but Senshi couldn't let that go unchallenged. Not only was he more concerned with Kae's well being more then Lynn's soul, but it would also mean the old wizard would be out of range of any scenarios that demanded a quick escape.

"<That's great but I'm more concerned about getting Bryseis away from Annei right now then I am about Annei losing whats left of her soul. Considering she thinks I'm the devil but will listen to you it would be of great help if you were here. Besides it not like Hothnight wouldn't wake up just from me being around since I get the impression he's trying to make me his new 'toy' while my father isn't around for him to play with.">

He paused for a moment knowing Chamder wouldn't be swayed from his plan to stay out of things for now, "<Well at the very least, can you stay close. In the hall way out of site would be fine. There are just several scenarios were it would be beneficial for you to be able to jump out at a moment notice. Especially the ones that involve a sudden long distance retreat.>"

Morning 4/Nydesti's Home for the Mentally Infirm/Quentin Sol

Quentin Sol sat there in his cell, screaming at the nurse as she brought in his food.

”They’re all made of spiders!” he yelled at her. “All of them! Spiders! The doctors, the exorcists, you, you’re all made of spiders!” he screamed.

“Mr. Sol, please, calm down. I just came to bring you your breakfast. I-“

He slapped the bowl out of her hands, the contents spilling on the floor.

“It’s poisoned. You’re trying to poison me with your spider venom. I won’t eat it, I won’t.”

She looked at him with pity. “Mr. Sol! You’ve been here four years now. Every day you say we’ve poisoned your food, and yet every morning you wake up in your bed! Nobody’s poisoned anything! Now please, EAT! You've barely eaten these last few weeks.”

His head was in his hands now, and he ducked down onto the floor. “No, No, don’t want to hear the spiders hiss, the spiders, don’t want to hear them, no, I don’t!”

Habiki Sol/Morning 4/Cathedral

A sword engulfed in flames landed next to the frozen form of Habiki, rain still pouring down on his corpse. The flames licked at the ice, and from within the chamber he felt the heat. The effect of the fire was weakened by the falling rain, but it was enough. Instantly he began to come to his senses again.

The ice had had a rather ironic effect, considering what Hothknight...Lynn?...his attacker had intended. The ice had cocooned his heart in a protective shell, separating it from the darkness that was encroaching his body. The cold had also slowed down his body's production of the abysmal waves of darkness they had been pouring forth. Her magic had temporarily slowed the corrosive effects of his body, allowing him to reassert his Light form.

As Shinigami's sword began to break down the ice, the wall separating him, within the orb, from his body began to collapse. He could feel himself extending into his body again.

He began to focus his energy into a wave of Light, attempting to disperse the ice around him, but all he could achieve was an initial flicker of energy. He was too exhausted for any more than that.

He struggled to lift what remained of his limbs, but the ice was too much. He was still frozen solid, unable to move an inch.

Regardless of the temporary restoration of his faculties, the ice was still going to kill him if his power couldn't get him out, and fast. There was just one thing Hothknight hadn't accounted for. What Habiki had been doing last night in that otherworldly dreamscape. Training.

Lynn Hothnite/Morning 4/Castle Cathedral

Lynn helped Kae onto the disc, and with nary a conscious thought to it caused the ice under her feet to take on a scuffed texture to provide better traction for the Sheikah's feet.

"Does the destination distort your decision? Or are we not enough concatenated for you to follow regardless?"

The disc of ice began to slowly raise into the air, turning that Lynn might face Senshi. Over Kae's shoulder, she addressed the man.

"Well, then, Paladinson, I do wish you the best in your quest. And I do wish this morningtide compels you to complete your commission in a timely manner."

Lynn turned a contemptuous glance upon the frozen statue of Habiki's stature, and then the pair of imbued Sheikah, one by the Goddesses', the other by hoary evil, raised up through the shattered roof of the Cathedral, and sped away on their circle of icebound conveyance.

Senshi/Dawn 4/Castle

Just like that they were gone. Up in there air flying off to god knows where. He knew there was no way he could catch up, his own levitation granted by the power of shadow could never match pace with Hothnights powers. "DAMN IT!" he yelled as he slammed his fist into to the ground, the added power from him gauntlets allowed him to shatter the ice and granite floor four feet around where he had hit.

"I can't believe I let him trick me like that. Only Hothnight calls my father Paladin like that, I should have attack the second he hinted at that, no I should have attacked the second he spoke. No more though, I can't make this mistake any more, god knows what he'll do to Bryseis because I wanted to play the nice guy. I'll just have to kill Annei, it's the only way, but first I have to catch them. Death, I need you to take over, you can fly fast enough, even if its just to get us there."

"You know it doesn't work that way. Besides Taden Hothnight is not a threat to the balance I can't-"

"I know that damn it!"

"Hey I can always save the day if you want, I can fly just as fast as your old man, faster even."

"I didn't ask you!"

Mikhal looked on in confusion and horror as Senshi appeared to be arguing with himself, only he could only here half of it.

"Maybe I can use my Telekinesis, I just have to near death right?"

"Kid, that's a bad plan, no I know I'm not normally the voice of reason here but if you need me to I can list off all the reason why you shouldn't try that."

"Such as how you can't control it and you'll probably just hurt or kill anyone with in a 30ft radius of you instead of hunting down Taden Hothnight."

"Yeah what he said."

"Damn it then what good is it if I can only save my own ass with it!" his eye's caught Habiki as he barked at the voices in his head. The clay puppet who was the blame for this whole situation. It took ever ouch of his self control not to destroy the things light heart at that very moment. After all is he killed Lynn the puppet wouldn't be needed.

"Wait, that's it. I can uses that things little power source and the Storm Medallion. When you consider the genetics I should be able to use both right."

"Hey sure that's the trick. I don't know why you didn't use the damn thing in the first place, you need more power right kid."

"More power..." those words stopped him in his tracks. "I'm so worried about stopping those to from making my mistakes thank I'm about to make them again myself." He pulled his hood back over his face and headed for the door. "Oh well, I tried to help them. If they wish to act like children then I can't be bothered with it." 

"Lets go Mikhal, I have a bone to pick with our remaining travel companion," he looked over to the teen only to see he was unconscious. "What the he-"

"You whinny little ****!" a woman's voice yelled out before Senshi could finish his sentence. At the same time the woman's armored glove smashed into his face sending him flying into the adjacent wall. She was a tall yet slender woman with red hair and a well defined muscle tone. She wore plate mail on his right arms, hips and across her breast, the rest left exposed as if to wanted to give her opponents an opening just to make the fight more fun.

"So now it's the third ones turn," he said training to regain his senses.

"Don't third one me you punk!" She lifted him off the ground with one hand then kneed him in the chest. She punched him across the face with her free hand the followed with a back fist. "Making me come down here to kick your ass because you can't get over the weakling two trick pony crap." She threw him over her shoulder into the wall at the other side of the room.

"Boo ****ing woo, you don't have enough power to save some cute skirt from your nightmares so you get ready to sell your soul, but then you realize you're a damned idiot. So what do you do next, so start with that cold hearted bad guy **** again. So you have ANY idea how old that crap gets."

"Look I tried the hero thing, it back fired. The whole morally ambiguous loner thing on the other hand, that's worked before." He said once again struggling to his feet.

"Like hell it has." he kicked him in the chest with rib shattering force. "In the past you either screwed the pouch, or planned on someone else showing up to un**** things at the last minute. That's not being a lower that's playing games with people and sucking at it. Hell you were doing the same damn thing here, trying to manipulate people and you screwed up and now your all pissed about it. See this is why I wish your father would have kicked your ass a bit more."

"Are you kidding," started to speak but started coughing up blood. "H-he kicked my ass all the time."

"No he trained you, and you know who else has been train, my sisters little priest girl. So instead of worry about her why don't you get your ass focused on the task at hand. Really, who knows what will happen if those Twili win right."

"...what will happen... Is there something you three aren't telling us."

"You say that like we own you an explanation." She vanish.

"Um... Senshi," Mikhal asked now standing over him he sat against the wall covered with dust and rubble. "What just happened, you were screaming at yourself and now your over here and there's another whole in the wall right above you."

Senshi climbed to his feet and dusted himself off, his wounds had vanished but he was still a bit sore. "It was all just a dream kid, don't worry about it."

He tracked down Chamder wanting to lash out in anger but he knew there was no point. They both made bad decisions and yelling at an old man about it wasn't going to fix things. "OK we both royally ****ed up on that one, but there's nothing we can do about it now. I'm still going to the desert and I figure it would be best if you came with me. Partially because I think your boss wants me to learn to value of team work and also because in the best case scenario those two are still headed that way and we can beat them there. In the worst case though, well I just pray that so called scion of wisdom starts using her head like her title suggests before anything happens.

Moran Taliesin - Hyrule Castle Cathedral - Fourth Morning

"You need to learn the value of patience." he muttered as he looked after the Scion and her frigid companion. Wherever they were bound, it was critical knowledge that he'd gained from his experience. "Kae needs to learn to take care of herself. She has tapped a great deal of powerful magic, now she needs to put it to proper use. The life of a servant such as we is always perilous. However, we've learned a great deal from this.

"We know that we don't have to worry, at least for the moment, about Hothnight taking full control. It appears that Lynn has somehow assimilated the... echo, I would call it, of Taden Hothnight into her own soul."

He turned his back and clasped his hands behind his back as he considered the possibilities. It could be dangerous, frightfully so, but it could also by them the time they needed. Lynn's unswerving, as if to a fault, loyalty to Hyrule might offset the pure, chaotic hatred of Taden Hothnight. At the very least it might be dulled by it.

"You are right though. We need to go to the desert." he unclasped his hands and reached over to grip the wooden shaft of his staff, carved with the ancient runes of Old Hylia. "At least this way your presence won't be a distraction. I've lived a lot longer than any of these other lights, and I've dealt with worse companions than you. At least I know, given the circumstances, that I can trust you.

"Besides, not having Hothnight with us might keep your thoughts to the task."

Senshi/Morning 4/Castle

“If that was suppose to make me feel better out the situation, it failed,” Senshi sheered as he pulled his hood back over his head once again hiding his face from view.

“A warm blooded version of Hothnight has run off with a young girl with god powers that she’s not proficient with. Tell me Taliesin, what happened last time something like this happened?”

He stopped himself before his emotion began to flair and pulled out a small parcel wrapped in cloth from his pouch. “Maybe the rest of you are willing to let history repeat itself over and over again but I’m not,” he said calmly as he unwrapped the cloth reveling the Ocarina of Time. 

“Of course it looks like my hand is being forced this time.” He placed the legendary treasure against his lips and played a forgotten song. The trio vanished in a flash of light only to reappear moments later on the large mass of land above the light spirits sacred spring.

And cool lake air was mixing with the slight heat of the distant desert creating a gentle breeze. Senshi turned towards the desert, the motion in and wind causing his cloak to flutter around. “I just hope when the moment comes that little girls will be able to convince herself that the person in that body isn’t the women she loves. I doubt it though.”

Neon Lives in a Broken Cannon

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Inside)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark)

As soon as Neon appeared inside the castle, he found himself surrounded by a huge amount of guards, however, his arrival had been so sudden that none of them could react. Neon quickly dashed between them and left them behind. 

Hyrule's Royal Family was disgustingly rich, and they weren't afraid of showing it. Everything inside the castle looked beautiful and extremely expensive. Fine carpets covering the floors, beautiful paintings hanging on every wall, huge and elegant chandeliers adorning every ceiling and masterfully sculpted statues in every hall. A disturbing sight, considering the contrasting state of the town. Being in the middle of such opulence, it was difficult to think that the king (present in many of the paintings) cared about his people. At least, that's what Neon wanted to believe, that's what he needed to believe. 

Neon had never been inside the castle before, he had not a clear idea about where to go. He was just following what seemed to be the main path. And apparently, it was working. He was quickly encountering more and more resistance, that could only mean he was getting closer to his target. 

Most of the time, Neon would only dodge his enemies, but every now and then he had to kill one or two of them in order to advance, and a couple of times, he had to warp behind them. Also, at some point, he crossed his path with a butler, in fact, he pushed him inside a nearby room to get him out of the way of the soldiers attempting to follow him (he could been hurt in the middle of all that chaos). 

Eventually, Neon arrived at a dead end. Two sturdy iron doors surrounded by at least 30 guards marked the end of his path. Closed doors surrounded by a bunch of guards? There was no doubt about it, that was the throne room. And the king was inside. Neon had found his target. 

Neon ran straight to the door. The guards pointed their spears to him. A second before he was impaled by the spears, he disappeared.

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Outside the throne room)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark)

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Throne Room)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark)

Neon appeared inside the throne room. Behind him, six guards formed in a line were watching the door without knowing that their enemy had already entered the room, and in front of him two other guards were standing on each side of the throne in which the king was seating. 

The king and his two guards couldn't do anything except to stare at him as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stabbed the backs of two of the six guards. Then, Neon quickly pulled his swords out of the bodies and decapitated the next two guards. Bad luck, Neon realized that one of his first victims was a female Sheikah, in other circumstances it would been an interesting battle, but not even a Sheikah could react to an enemy that suddenly appeared behind him and out of nowhere. Luckily for Neon one of the remaining soldiers was also a Sheikah. 

Now, Neon had a Sheikah to his left side and another soldier at his right side. Neon sheathed the sword on his right hand and performed a jump attack to the soldier. The soldier blocked the attack (just as Neon expected), during a brief moment in which his swords were locked against each other, until Neon threw his back to the floor and used his legs to throw the soldier at the Sheikah who was already attempting to stab Neon's back. 

The Sheikah nimbly avoided the soldier thrown at him, but at the same time, Neon teleported behind him and using the counterweight of his sword, hit him in the back of his head . The Sheikah fell to the floor, unconscious. Then, Neon pushed his sword thru the chest of the soldier who was trying to stand up. 

The doors of the throne room were securely closed from the inside, nothing would cross them for a while. A couple of days ago it would been almost impossible for Neon to enter this room. Probably he would have needed the combination of ice and fire spells of Wedge and Vicks, and even they would need at least a couple of hours. But today, Neon crossed the door in the fraction of a second that took him to simply think about it. And now, those doors designed to protect the king would prevent any outside help. 

Sword in hand, Neon calmly walked toward the king. He didn't look as the fat aristocrat that Neon expected, this surprised Neon a little, but it really didn't matter. Neon had killed hundreds of soldiers, but this would be the first time that his sword would spill the blood of a non-combatant. He wasn't comfortable with this at all, he was nervous and feeling disgusted of himself, but he HAD to do it. Killing the Hylian king wouldn't mean an instantly victory for the Twili, but the moral of Hylian army would decrease greatly, and the nobility would start to fight over the control of the kingdom. All of that would facilitate the victory of the Twili, the war would finish sooner, and of course, more lives would be spared. This was the right thing to do… wasn't it? 

While effectively concealing his inner struggle behind his cold and unexpressive face, Neon kept walking towards the king, until something caught his attention. The king's eyes. They didn't reflect any fear. Those weren't the eyes of a prey… those were the eyes of a hunter. 

Phoenix/Throne Room/Mid Day 4

"Well this is troublesome," Phoenix said as he lifted himself off the kings throne with the aid of his cane. "I didn't expect the Twili's assassin to be able to able to defeat two Shiekah that easily, and using teleportation as well. Not only does this mean I'll have to fight you at full strength, it also means you'll be able to escape and spread all kinds of propaganda I just can't afford."

"So I'm going to honest with you." Phoenix stood up strait as the signs of aging began to vanish. 

"I'm not the king." He began to grow to an inhuman height. His skin became pale and tattoos appeared on his face. 

"We spirited him out of the country last night after we learned of your attack last night." The kings robe fell away relieving the warriors dark armor.

"So please, when you run away to save your own skin, know that any rumors you spread about the king being some kind of demon are false." He drew his bow and charged the arrow head with the same energy he used for his demonic sword beams.

"And since I'm sure your wondering how we knew, well lets just say Hylian's are amazing beings. We even know about the desperate assault your army is planning to make on this castle. He release the charged arrow aimed at the attackers heart.

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Throne Room)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark) 

Phoenix: Well this is troublesome. I didn't expect the Twili's assassin to be able to able to defeat two Shiekah that easily, and using teleportation as well. Not only does this mean I'll have to fight you at full strength, it also means you'll be able to escape and spread all kinds of propaganda I just can't afford. 

Phoenix: So I'm going to honest with you. I'm not the king. 

Well… that explained the lack of security. Six regular soldiers and two non-elite Sheikah were too little security for the king. But somehow, Neon felt a big weight being lifted from his shoulders, his little moral dilemma had disappeared, or at least postponed.

Phoenix: We spirited him out of the country last night after we learned of your attack last night. 

Last night? Last night not even Neon knew about his attack, and he hadn't talked about this with anyone. How could they know about it? 

Phoenix: So please, when you run away to save your own skin, know that any rumors you spread about the king being some kind of demon are false. 

The demon drew his bow and charged the arrow with some kind of energy, Neon would dodge it as soon as it was released. 

Phoenix: And since I'm sure your wondering how we knew, well lets just say Hylian's are amazing beings. We even know about the desperate assault your army is planning to make on this castle. 

They EVEN knew about that? Even? It was really obvious that the Twili would eventually assault the castle, basically, that's why they had come to Hyrule. Why would the demon talk about it as if it were some kind of secret info? 

It was clear now, the demon was bluffing, they knew nothing. But something was true… the king wasn't there. Neon's attack had begun seven minutes ago at the castle's outer gates. Neon had entered the castle four minutes ago. How did they react and replace the king that fast? Unless… they hadn't. 

There were two possible explanations: 

1) (This was the most probable) There was a secret passage in the throne room, the king had been evacuated just a couple of minutes ago (maybe even just a few seconds) and quickly replaced with this demon who probably was a bodyguard. If this was the case, Neon could still catch the king. But he would need to "convince" the demon or one of the remaining two soldiers to tell him about the king's whereabouts. 

2) The king was still in the throne room. Maybe hidden in some kind of panic room. Neon could easily confirm or disregard this hypothesis by walking around the room and scanning it with his Third Eye. 

The demon released the arrow, it was fast, too fast. Neon wouldn't be capable of dodging it. A fraction of a second before the arrow pierced his chest, Neon disappeared and then reappeared, at the left of the demon, near the wall. As soon as he reappeared, Neon started to run around the room, scanning it with his third eye. The only living beings in the room were Neon, the demon, the unconscious Sheikah and the two soldiers at each side of the demon. 

Neon pointed his blade toward his enemies. 

Neon: The king is nearby. Tell me exactly where. 

Phoenix/Throne Room/Mid Day 4

The assassin had him at sword point and began grilling him about the kings location. It seemed he wasn't going to fall for his bluff so easily. It meant he'd have to think on his feet to keep the story going, but at least the man was kind enough to come into close range. "Didn't I already tell you he's no longer in Hyrule."

Phoenix drew his blade and parried away the assassins blade. He release an energy disk along with the parry and jumped back a few feet to regain the advantage he had with his size. "We are not so foolish to keep him here when we knew you were coming. Though since you won't be leaving here alive I will throw you a bone so your soul we be able to rest peacefully. We sent him to Termina, a parallel world. Since myself and the Forest Wraith know how to get there your people are out of luck." 

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Throne Room)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark) 

Neon's attack was easily parried, also, the demon's sword released powerful energy shaped like a disk. If that thing hit Neon it could cut him in half. Neon disappeared to avoid the disk, it was the fourth time he used that skill, his limit was eight, and luckily for him, he gained an extra "jump" while the demon was talking, he could do it five more times. Neon appeared behind the soldier at the right side of the throne. 

The demon was sticking to that ridiculous story about the Hylians knowing about his attack even before him. Maybe one of the remaining two soldiers would "cooperate". Neon kicked the back of the soldier's Knee to make him kneel, then he grabbed the soldier's hair while putting his blade against his neck. 

Neon: Where's the king? 

The soldier foolishly attempted to break free. Neon decapitated him. 

Phoenix/Mid Day 4/Throne Room

"Young man you must be either deaf or stupid," Phoenix mocked and he switched back to his bow and charged another arrow with his power.

"None of the guards or soldiers no where the king is, it's not something we tell the whole army when we know you were coming for him. Besides..." he release the arrow aimed carefully at the mans head to make sure it didn't hit the soldier. Of course if it hit its make some of the power might still radiate in the poor boy but he'd survive it and Phoenix expected the assassin to teleport anyway.

Phoenix quickly switch back to his sword anticipating the attacks next move, "...I already told you where he is."

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Throne Room)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark) 

Phoenix: None of the guards or soldiers no where the king is, it's not something we tell the whole army

Actually, that made sense. The king's location and his escape routes were delicate information, probably the regular soldiers wouldn't have access to it. Anyway, there was just another soldier, and it would be better to be sure. 

Phoenix: when we know you were coming for him. 

Again with that? It was obviously impossible for the Hylians to know about the attack since last night. Neon himself hadn't decided to go to the castle until this morning when he learned about the Sheikah's escape. No spy, scryer or mind reader could know about the attack since last night. 

The demon released another arrow. After seeing the power and speed of the first arrow, this time it would be less difficult to get out of it's way. Still holding the decapitated head, Neon disappeared and this time appeared behind the last soldier. Again, Neon forced him to kneel and placed his sword on the soldier's neck. But this time, Neon rubbed the decapitated head against the soldier's face. Doing this kind of things was unpleasant for Neon, but in the past it had proven to be an effective way to considerably decrease his enemies's morale and break them. 

Neon: If you don't want to end like him, tell me where's the king? 

Soldier: I… I, I don't, I… I 

Neon: …

Apparently Neon exaggerated a little. The soldier's face and lack of verbal clarity reflected some kind of state of shock. Most likely the soldier was telling (or at least trying to tell) the truth, he was too much scared to lie. Since the soldier couldn't be any kind of obstacle anymore, there was no point in killing him. Neon just kicked him aside. 

The demon was right about the soldiers not knowing about the king, and that made him the only one with real information. Things were getting complicated, the demon wouldn't reveal the king's location easily… or at all. Neon wasn't an interrogation expert like Cid after all. But he would have to try it anyway. 

Neon tossed the still bleeding decapitated head towards the demon's face, and right after that… 

Neon: Dark Slash.

Neon released the Dark Slash towards the demon's face as well. Aiming it at his body would only scratch the armor, the face was the only vulnerable spot, and with some luck the attack would hit demon's eyes and destroy them. 

Phoenix/Mid Day 4/Throne Room Throw Down

Phoenix caught the severed head wanting to show at least some respect for the dead, unfortunately that same head took the brunt of the assassins attack. "I see your respect for the dead is as great as the strength of your magic," he said turning the head over and noticing the strike had barely pierce the skull.

"So transportation is your only real skill. Then I wonder how long you can keep it up?" He slammed his sword into the ground sending out three shock waves of his dark energy in a fanned pattern.

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Throne Room)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark) 

Phoenix: I see your respect for the dead is as great as the strength of your magic. So transportation is your only real skill. Then I wonder how long you can keep it up? 

Why should he respect an empty shell? The person that once inhabited that body wasn’t inside it anymore. He knew it because his Third Eye allowed him to see the essences of the living creatures leaving their physical bodies at the moment of their deaths and then disappearing into the air (almost like going somewhere else). 

But the Oni had a point, Neon wouldn’t be able to keep teleporting much longer, he’ll have to administrate his jumps more carefully.

The Oni’s sword unleashed three waves of dark energy that quickly advanced towards Neon, whom dodged the first one with ease by jumping over it, the second wave was harder to dodge given its proximity wit the first one, but it was dodged successfully as well, however, Neon couldn’t completely avoid the third one. 

The third wave barely touched Neon, but it’s strength was such that it sent him flying toward one of the room’s walls. Neon coughed some blood as his back crushed against the stone. 

This guy was really dangerous and had to be taken down as soon as possible. Then, Neon noticed that right next to his left arm there was a crank with a sturdy rope that led to a majestic chandelier on the ceiling. The enormous chandelier had a mechanism that consisted of four cranks used to move it up and down in order to give it maintenance.

Before even getting up, Neon used his right sword to send a dark slash across the room, it went past the Oni and cut one of the ropes. Almost at the same time, Neon used his left sword to cut the rope on his left side. Loosing two of its supports (on the same side), the chandelier swung down towards the Oni. 

Phoenix/Mid Day 4/Castle

"Well now..." Phoenix turned and slashed the giant light fixture with his fully charged blade. The chandelier exploded from the raw power sending shards of metal and glass flying in all directions. The battle hardened Oni ignored what ever shrapnel cut his flesh and charged the assassin. "I see you can improvise as well."

Just before swinging Phoenix created a bright flash of light from his energy buckler hopefully blinding or distracting the man if the flying metal hadn't already done the job. With out hesitation he followed through with a quick slash to the thighs. It wouldn't kill him if it hit, but as badly as it would bleed the man would have no choice to retreat with nothing but the lies he'd be told.

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Throne Room)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark) 

The demon easily slashed the chandelier, unleashing a storm of metal fragments and shards of glass. Without much trouble, Neon intercepted the metal fragments flying towards him, but many small shards of glass managed to scratch his body. 

And then, the demon's shield emitted a powerful light. Neon tried to close his eyes and turn his face to another direction, but it was too late, the light had already blinded him, or at least, blinded his “regular” eyes, his Third Eye remained vigilant as always. But still, fighting with only his Third Eye was unfavorable for Neon, flying objects thrown at him would be undetectable and there was always a small risk of tripping with an inanimate object. 

As soon as the light emission stopped the Oni charged against Neon. The attack barely cut thru Neon's flesh as he rolled to his right. Apparently the wound didn't reach any artery, but it was deep enough to decrease Neon's speed.

Little by little defeat was getting closer to Neon, but he wasn't ready to quit yet.

After rolling, Neon leapt to position himself at the left side of his enemy, then unleashed a Dark Slash aimed at the Oni's neck, as soon as the energy left the sword, Neon teleported behind the Oni, holding his sword in both hands doing a vertical slash but at the last moment, Neon teleported again, this time above the Oni, continuing with the previously started attack but this time with the added force of his weight and gravity.

Phoenix/Mid Day 4/Throne Room

His attack barley scratch the assassin, it was unfortunate. This skirmish was now starting to take longer then Phoenix had hoped since he quite frankly had better things to do the deal with mere pawn. Of course pawn might was starting to seem like an inappropriate title as the assailant mounted his counter attack. The mans initial attack was easily blocked by his buckler but her quickly followed up by teleporting above him and slashing down with the aid of gravity a tactic once used in a much more foolish manner by a close friend.

Phoenix tried to dodge and counter but he wasn't fast enough. The blade had managed to land in between his left pauldron and breastplate. He was fortunate that his attempt to dodge prevented to cut from being to deep, however it allowed him to be pushed off balance forcing him to jump back missing the perfect opening the Twili would have given him when he landed back on the ground.

Blood was starting to drip down his left arm, it wasn't enough to effect him right now since he had a high pain tolerance and his shield was hands free. It could cause some problems if he had to switch back to a bow though. The ancient warrior was beginning to wonder if he should stop holding back for the sake of this charade, or perhaps if he should follow through with his original plan. Of course he had a trump card as well, but his pride wouldn't let him waist that much power on someone the enemy felt was this expendable.

"That was 6..." he said with a smile that charged at the assassin, both his eyes and blade glowing with that same powerful aura that made up his beam attacks.

Day 4 (Mid Day)/ Hyrule Castle (Throne Room)/ Neon Zelgadiz (dark) 

Finally, one of Neon’s attacks damaged the enemy. But the damage was far less intense than what Neon intended. The Oni didn’t appear to be affected by the wound and Neon had no more ideas, on top that…

Phoenix: That was 6... 

.. the enemy knew that he had a limit for his teleportation skill. And worst, even if the demon didn’t knew it, considering that Neon needed at least one jump to escape, he had already reached that limit.

There was no question now, Neon lost the battle. Deep inside, a little part of him wanted to stay and keep fighting, but Neon was too rational, he could easily ignore it. Half of the mission had failed, it was time to do the other part, the easy part, at least he should be able to do that successfully.

The demon’s eyes and blade started to glow with a familiar light, he was about to do something. But Neon wouldn’t stay to find out what diabolical technique would be cast.

Neon quickly ran toward the unconscious Sheikah, and as soon as he was able to touch him, a dark sphere surrounded both of them and then disappeared along with them. 

Habiki Dreams of Jeannie

Flashback Sequence

Night 3/Dream World

"Welcome, Habiki. I've been expecting you."

Habiki looked out on the water at the Man-In-White, enveloped in an otherworldly glow. He didn’t know what to say. His mind was full of questions.

“That mountain,” he asked. “That strange crystal mountain. What was that?”

The man-in-white began to walk across the water towards Habiki, ripples of white tracing the surface of the lake as he did so. 

“The spire? That was all the power you can attain, everything you can become. Power such as you have never known. And you fled from it. It seems you are not as far along as I expected, for it to overwhelm your senses like that. If you can’t even touch the spire, how can you expect to claim it?”

Habiki’s face was lined with confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Destiny, Habiki. I am speaking of your potential destiny.” He continued to walk towards Habiki. Perhaps it was some trick of the light, but he never seemed to be getting any closer. Habiki stood there on the shore, but as the man walked, the distance seemed to remain the same.

“As what?” He was growing impatient. Why wouldn’t this man simply give him a clear answer? Why wouldn’t he explain?

“As one chosen to fight for the future of your world.”

“So I’m not dead?” he sighed with relief.

“No…but I am.” Said the man in white.

Habiki’s eyes widened at those words.

But the man’s inability to make sense of things was beginning to frustrate Habiki.

“Just who ARE YOU?!” he finally exclaimed. “Are you the fifth Light Spirit?”

“Of course I’m not.” The Man-In-White shook his head. “So many questions. So many unnecessary questions. If you were half as skilled as the Light Spirits think you are, you wouldn’t need to ask them. If you would only listen to the voice of the Light that surrounds you, you would already know the answers. They would be answered before they were even asked.”

“And how do you propose I-”

“There you go again with the questions. Now is the wrong time for questions. Now is the time to act. Are you ready to begin your training?”

“My-”

“Wrong answer,” said the Man-In-White, and suddenly he disappeared. Habiki’s eyes darted left and right to find some sign of him.

“Here,” he said, the whisper coming from just behind Habiki’s right ear. Habiki turned just in time to see the Man-In-White shove him towards the water.

Habiki fell back toward the lake, expecting the worst. Expecting a slow and painful disintegration.

…instead he found himself laying on its surface. As he pulled himself up to his feet, he looked down to see a small school of fish pass beneath him. Where his body touched the water, it was met with those same incandescent ripples of light.

He stood to face his attacker just as the man was enveloped in an aura of white. He charged Habiki across the water, turning at the last second to slice Habiki with the charged tips of his fingers. Habiki quickly turned away from them, pushing off of the water with his hands into a backwards somersault, just in time to catch the man’s fist in his chest.

Night 3/Dreamscape/Habiki

After the man-in-white had attacked him, Habiki and him began to trade blows as they ascended into the air above the waters.

Habiki threw his fist towards the man, who simply caught it in his hand and flung Habiki to the side. Habiki quickly recovered and sailed up at the cowled assailant, reaching into his own chest and pulling out the Light Heart, forcing it’s light at him in a sharp blast of energy.

The man simply stood there and absorbed his blast, then sent it back at him even greater, shocking Habiki’s senses as he was overcome by his opponent’s energy. The Heart was rend from his grip, and he began to fall towards the water, but the assailant dove quickly below him and shoved his hand underneath Habiki back, catching him in the spine, then extending his other hand out to catch the falling orb. He casually placed it back in Habiki’s chest, then sent him back into the air with another blast.

“That infernal body of yours has mistrained you, boy.” He said. “You should be channeling the power through yourself, not forcing it out from the orb. You need to work with your energy, not against it.”

“I can’t do that!” said Habiki, “The effects could destroy my body!”

“Do you see your body anywhere, boy? In case you hadn’t noticed, you’re in my world. This land is the light. Now use it!”

Before Habiki could respond, the man-in-white was behind him again. He managed to block the man’s knife strike, but then the tips of the attacker’s nails became charged again, slicing through Habiki’s guard.

Habiki feebly attempted to do as he had been asked, channeling the blast through his body and out his hands rather than squeezing it out of the orb. The sparse illumination that was issued could hardly be called a blast.

This “training” went on for what felt like hours. The man-in-white was highly aggressive in his assault on Habiki, and nearly every attempt Habiki made at a counter was met with failure, a swift strike to a vulnerable area, and sharp criticism about his technique.

Habiki tried again to send a wave of light at him, but this time rather than absorbing it, or deflecting it, the man-in-white merely stepped casually out of the way, and uppercut Habiki in the stomach.

Exhausted, he began to tumble out of the air, and the man, lying on his side, followed him in his downward spiral.

“Again with a base-blast of light? Is that all you’re capable of? No technique, no creativity, just wave after wave of unrefined energy? Pitiful!”

Habiki swept unconvincingly upward at the man’s legs with a sharp kick, which was met with failure as he merely grabbed Habiki’s leg in his left hand. 

“Wrong!”

They were getting steadily closer to the lake beneath them.

A Sun Shard began to form in the man-in-white’s free hand, turning instantly blade like as he loomed over Habiki. Habiki instinctively tried to blast it from his hands.

“Again?” 

He placed it up against Habiki’s throat as they tumbled down mutually toward the water.

“Come on, try something new. Use your surroundings. Do something that isn’t blatantly predictable.”

The lake was almost upon them, and Habiki felt as he had felt when he had fallen from the bridge several days earlier, when the spirit Lanayru had saved him from the waters of Lake Hylia. He closed his eyes in preparation for the impact with the water, as he had done that day, imagining the earth in his body dissolving into the mist.

…the earth. Suddenly an image filled his mind of rock formations and the bed of earth beneath the waters. He focused on it, and just before impact… a spiked column of rock jutted from the water between him and the man-in-white, breaking his assailant’s grip. Just before Habiki could touch the water, he was suddenly enclosed in a spherical shield of energy, creating a barrier between him and the water. He calmed himself, and the shield dissipated, his body floating several inches above the water.

The man-in-white stepped out from behind the spike, and began to clap.

“Not exactly what I had in mind, but definitely more creative than you have been. New, effective.”

Suddenly his look grew stern. 

“Still, tonight is not about rock formations or soil compositions. Tonight is about the Light. Learning to work with its energy, learning to apply it to a given task. You have simply used the same moves over and over. It’s time to diversify.”

Habiki shook his head. “No more until I have answers. I want to know exactly who you are, and exactly why you’ve brought me here.”

The man-in-white stood there for a moment, and then nodded. “Yes. Now is the time for questions.” He smiled. "You may call me Solarus."

Night 3/Solarus’ Dreamscape/Habiki

Finally, thought Habiki. He has some answers

“I think it’s time I explained myself properly. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Solarus. I am a divine servant to the Goddesses. The Light Spirits are my handlers. In folklore I am known as the Daykeeper.”

Habiki looked at him for a moment. ”The Daykeeper?”

”Oh there are many names. Ambassador of the Sun, Champion of the Light…I am to the Light Spirits what the Scion is to the Gods.

…tell you what. Rather than explaining it to you, I’ll show you.” 

Solarus, as he called himself, waved his hand, and the entire scene around them changed. The lake disappeared, the spire in the distance vanished, the sky became overcast, and soon Habiki heard the clashing of swords and spears, angry voices bellowing out across the blood-soaked plain. Soon they were surrounded by soldiers.

Solarus walked up beside Habiki, and began to narrate. 

“Long ago, after the King of Evil, Ganondorf, seized control of the Triforce of Power and the Kingdom of Hyrule, the land began to tear itself apart through war, much as it is today. The Light Warriors were forced into action against the usurper’s forces, as they awaited their chosen Hero.”

Habiki flinched as a spear flew toward his head, then when it simply phased through he realized he was completely invisible to the scene around them.

“Seven long years passed, and when it seemed hope was lost, and the Light Warriors could no longer fight, the Hero appeared and banished Ganon from this world.”

Habiki’s eyes widened as the great Master Sword entered the King of Evil’s body, and Ganon disappeared from the land of Hyrule. 

He stood there, open-mouthed, as the scene changed. They were above the world now, floating weightlessly amidst the stars as streaks of white, red, blue and green flashed across the sky.

“In seeing the horrors the King of Evil had caused, the Goddesses came to the belief that he was the rule, rather than the exception.

They saw Ganon as proof that man should not wield their power without shackles, that those so granted must be tamed. They decided then that from then on, any infusing of mortals with divine vigor was to be a matter of contract. Their ambassadors would be reduced to puppets, subject to demanding restrictions on how their power was used, and when.”

Habiki watched as symbolic chains began to encircle the Goddesses’ servants on the world below. 

“Disobedience would mean direct punishment, their tethers binding them to their masters. In many instances, such as with one of their more powerful pawns, the Scion, the penalty of non-compliance could easily be death. Are you understanding this so far?”

“Perfectly.“ he said with confidence.

Then he remembered where he’d heard the word “Scion” before. “Scion…you’re talking about Kae, aren’t you? Would she really die if her masters were displeased with her?”

Solarus gave him the briefest of smiles and said “Perhaps you’re not as completely unteachable as I had supposed…not that that makes you any better a candidate to take up my mantle. Regardless, we will discuss the Scion in due time.

…To continue, the Light Spirits of the land, though servants of the Goddesses, could not have disagreed more intensely with this declaration of man’s inherent greed, and their debate with the Goddesses grew most vitriolic …or at least that’s how the rumor goes.”

The streaks of light that surrounded them began to flash more angrily, as the Goddesses and Light Spirits began to quarrel.

“The Light Spirits believed it was precisely because of men like Ganon that able-bodied warriors were needed who could act independently, who could disobey a direct order from their masters…though not necessarily that they would. Preserving free will, to put it simply. They argued that it would save many lives that would have been wasted had the warrior had to first petition the Gods to be allowed to act. Their loyalty would be a matter of vow rather than contract, as it is between humans. 

And should they no longer be seen as fit to serve, then if they could not reason with their charge, they would send an ambassador to take the power from them…in contrast to the Goddesses’ iron law of blood pacts.

The Goddesses would have been open to the Light Spirits’ request even a century before, but the disaster that was Ganondorf had steeled them against such experimentation. They believed it would bring chaos. So the Light Spirits did the only thing they could…”

Habiki watched as the variously tinted streaks of white left the Goddesses’ side and dashed to another corner of the sky. The four of them formed a circle, and a single ball of light, similar to a small star, formed in the center.

“They decided that without the Goddesses’ consent, they would create just such an unfettered position. They would find one in the Light World they deemed worthy, and grant him the power to act.”

He watched as this tiny star fell from the sky, embracing a human spirit below, imbuing him, and he took the cowled appearance of Solarus.

“This chosen warrior of the Light Spirits was named the Daykeeper. Unshackled by blood pacts and dangerous submissions of free will. Champion of the Light, Ambassador of the Sun. That man was me! In the aftermath of the Imprisoning War, once the Light Warriors disbanded, I was the clean-up crew. I fought countless battles, averted plague and disaster and the resurgence of war. 

When the Goddesses discovered my existence, the Light Spirits were harshly rebuked for their insolence. The Gods demanded I be destroyed…then the Light Spirits showed them my works. They saw the good I had done, the discipline I had shown.

It was then they conceded my existence. It was then I became an official servant of the Goddesses.

But the Goddesses made the Light Spirits swear a solemn vow, that they would never deceive them so again. They declared the Light Spirits my handlers, and said that they may do with me as they wish. But if and when I was ultimately slain in battle, the Light Spirits would not be allowed to imbue another until the Goddesses had approved their choice.

They still argue for you, Habiki. The Goddesses have yet to embrace you, because of your Twili origin. They do not believe you will fight for the right ideals…it is your job to convince them otherwise. And you will have to face them, before your mission is complete. Of that I am sure. And when you do, they will not be gentle in their condemnation if you fail to make your case.”

The images faded then, and the dreamscape reverted to how he had found it, a gorgeous plain with a pristine lake and an enormous spire of Light energy in the distance.

“That is the legacy the Light Spirits choose to bestow upon you, the legacy I pass down…if you can master it. If you can make the Gods see that you’re worthy to be so imbued.” he rolled his eyes at that, clearly convinced that Habiki lacked the skill.

”Regardless, until the Goddesses make their decision, it is my duty to train you as if you had already been approved.” he looked down at his wrist, miming a timepiece. “Yes, I think it’s quite time to recommence our training.”

Night 3/Solarus' Dreamscape/Habiki

After Solarus explained his history as Daykeeper, and what it was he wanted with Habiki, they set about once again on their training. Only now, it was far more instructional.

Solarus took him back to basics, explaining theory Habiki had never studied before. He explained the many properties manifest in his Light and Solar paradigms, and the difference between the two, how they could be used to summon, to craft, to influence matter in myriad ways. 

He learned that Solar was life, healing the infirm and encouraging growth.

He learned that Light was illumination and knowledge, dispelling one's illusions and presenting the truth.

He learned that both Solar and Light were radiance, fire, they were unretreating, unrelenting force.

He was finally moving beyond mere brute elemental energy, flung about without direction or purpose, into sincere spell-casting. Incantations, hand gestures, using mental imagery to amplify the intention. It was a lot to take in. This was a crash course, teaching him only the basics while there was time, yet still so much information overwhelmed him. Before, he had been empty, and suddenly he was being filled, filled with an understanding of his purpose and power. Solarus even gave him a book of basic incantations, that he assured Habiki would follow him back to Hyrule and enter his pack when he returned to consciousness.

And yet...it seemed it was all theory. Everything Solarus was saying made perfect sense, but despite his best efforts, in practice Habiki kept falling short.

Solarus explained the mechanics of several techniques, which Habiki was able to replicate with only marginal success.

Solarus restored a withered tree to fruitfulness, and Habiki could not. Solarus could take the surrounding Light and solidify them into Sun Shards, a feat Habiki had time and time again been unable to achieve. Converting Kae's sentry Star Shard had been one thing. Pulling that power out of thin air, creating it out of whole-cloth, was another matter entirely.

Finally Solarus began to rebuke him.

"You are in a world of Light, separated from the diminishing effects of your mortal body! You are in a universe entirely my own in death, designed with the purpose of allowing Light magic to flow easily! If you can’t even summon so much as a Sun Shard inmy world, how can you expect to be effective in the land of men?!”

Habiki had nothing to say to that. He cast his face to the floor.

"I...I don't think I can. It's too difficult! I can't do this!"

"Can't? Or won't? If you are going to use a word like can't, you better be damn certain that it’s the truth. This is a time of trial, make no mistake of that. All throughout Hylia, people’s mettle is being tested. If you truly believe you are incapable, then perhaps the Light Spirits chose unwisely.”

Habiki’s head was in his hands. He was failing. He hadn’t even begun and he was failing!

Solarus’ sharp eyes softened. “You know there is much at stake here. That body of yours was forged from Dusk, a mineral that grows in the slopes of the Twili territory. It is abominable. It is ostensibly Darkness, but its power grows when it comes in contact with the Light. You know this.”

Habiki nodded.

“What you do not know is that it’s power will only continue to grow. Even now, the golems are beginning to show signs of awareness, something I had not anticipated. And you are fueling that abominable power by lingering in such a body.”

Habiki was puzzled. He had no idea what the man was getting at. His words were harsh, but his voice was soft.

“That power could become very dangerous in the near future. You will have to discover some way of destroying it, of circumventing its unnatural ability to grow stronger in the face of illumination, or it could cause further contamination. And you cannot do that until you learn to use your power correctly.”

Habiki looked up into Solarus’ eyes. They were beseeching.

“Yes. Yes, it’s the only way to make sure that my own condition doesn’t end up causing further problems for others. I can’t be selfish in declaring my incompetence, when my failure means more than mere failure. It means that that…stuff my body is made of, that Tenturi showed me, could begin to become truly dangerous.”

Solarus nodded.

“I think I’m ready to try again,” Habiki said, a smirk beginning to spread across his lips.

He flung his left hand out to his side. He began to focus on everything Solarus had been explaining to him, issuing the Old Hylian words that served as his chant. He closed his eyes and focused on the mental image of a sunbeam, separated from the “pack” as it headed at unimaginable speed toward the earth, and imagined it getting smaller and smaller, denser and denser, as it drew nearer to him. He spread the five fingers on his other hand and raised them above his head, symbolizing the sun.

Nothing seemed to be happening, but he continued to repeat the chant, allowing the image in his mind to grow clearer. Suddenly he felt heat on the surface of his left palm, and he opened his eyes, seeing his palm glowing from the light that was condensing on its surface. Careful to retain the mental imagery in his head, he began to recite the chant louder, and louder, and the ball of light in his hand grew, and began to elongate. Soon he was yelling it at the top of his lungs, and other, smaller sparkles of light began to form around him in the air, each growing in size as he put all his energy into them.

Sparks began to fly through the air between each of these points, and the large blade-like manifestation grew fiery, like white flame.

“Yes, that’s exactly it Habiki, don’t quit when you’re so close!” said Solarus, for the first time encouraging Habiki rather than insulting his prowess.

In a few more seconds he would have it. In a few more seconds he would have a battle-ready Sun Shard, in the form of a blade, ready to prove he was capable and…

Suddenly the sky overhead ripped open, revealing the blackness of night, stars overhead. Habiki’s concentration was instantly lost, and his manifestation dispersed into tiny sparks and vanished.

“Damnit Habiki, this is no time to be star gazing!” exclaimed Solarus, but it was too late.

There were two giant figures overhead, seemingly miles away, fighting above them. One was holding matte black swords in either hand and conjuring up spectacles of ice magic. The other carried a large scythe, his form enshrouded in a hooded cloak, the very image of the Grim Reaper.

Lynn and Shinigami! 

“Habiki, no! It can’t happen like this, you can’t be taken so unceremoniously from this place!”

Habiki felt himself being pulled away from Solarus towards them. He tried to stay on the ground, but it was too late…their battle had disturbed the peace of this dreamscape, and he was being ripped hastily back towards consciousness.

As he grew closer to the rip in the sky, he realized they were not giants at all, he was tiny in a world within.

Solarus cupped his hands to his mouth, and called out to him.

“Habiki! HABIKI! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE SHEIKAH!”

“WHICH ONE?!” he cried back.

“BOTH OF THEM!”

And with that Habiki reawakened in the world of men. The surge of power overwhelmed his body, and when he opened his eyes, Lynn and Shinigami were nowhere to be seen…and neither was Habiki.

The next few hours were a blur of murders and unnatural fury, as Solarus' dire warnings, that Habiki's inability to master his power would give his dark body free reign, came to fruition. He slipped in and out of awareness, at moments briefly realizing what he was doing, before continuing on the task.

When he came upon his prey, the Annei woman, the battle too was a blur of rubble and rain and ice.

And as he began to come back to himself, he watched in horror as Kae willingly followed the newly born monster that was Lynn Hothnight into parts unknown.

And there he was. A frozen effigy of failure and shame.