Between Dusk and Dawn - Chapter 10

Anticipation

"The planned story?" Link questioned as he took off his helmet before putting it on the table in front of him, feeling better now that he wasn't under the veil of shadow anymore.

"Yes, everything we did was in accordance with how it should have been." The witch began. "The war, the monsters used, the number of monsters we had, the overall strength of our army, the correct number of commanders, the tactic used to capture the princess... Everything was correctly following the story that had been written before. And yet... Things did not go as they should've gone."

"Did we forget about something then?" Wizzro inquired "Maybe there's a detail we overlooked, Mistress."

"No, because the change did not come from us."

Everybody aside from Ghirahim was staring at the masked witch, waiting to hear why this mission had been such a mess.

"Why is it, Hero of Light, that I would not tell you about this mysterious opponent that you have had to fight instead of the princess? Why, Volga, wouldn't I tell you that you'd have to fight our Hero, Link, during this mission? Why would I not tell you about critical details like these when I, who can see both future and past, want my plan to be as perfect as possible?"

"...Indeed, it does not make sense, Mistress." Volga nodded, sensing that the witch was as unhappy as they were.

The hero of light thought the same as he quietly stared at Cia.

"You are right Volga, it does not. I've made sure that we could perfectly replace the villains that were supposed to declare war on this Hyrule. And we were the perfect replacement in every single way." The witch continued "As I said, the change did not come from us, something unexpected happened: Link was in no way supposed to come and fight our army."

"Wait." Link interrupted "What happened while I was trying to get Zelda? What should have happened instead?"

Volga looked at the one next to him before he explained. "The hero of our world came out of nowhere and fought me. This wasn't supposed to happen, that Link should've never appeared at the beginning of this war."

Cia nodded, approving of Volga's words. "That is right, what should have happened was that the Hero, being only a trainee in the military forces of Hyrule, should have fled as soon as the war started. Instead, he rushed to the battlefield."

"A trainee? You mean that Volga lost to a trainee? And that this supposedly amazingly strong Hero we have with us failed his to capture the princess because a trainee acted? How hilarious." The pale man that had appeared uninterested said with a smug smirk on his face.

Volga immediately brought up his spear and slashed at the demon before stopping centimeters away from his unfazed face. "Shut it." He growled menacingly. Although the only reason for his defeat wasn't just because of the new Hero facing him but also because Impa came to attack him as well, the Dragon Knight would never make any excuses.

Link also wanted to cut the demon but only gave him a deadly glare as he thought that listening to Cia was more important.

"The skills he possesses is far, far above a trainee, or any soldiers in Zelda's army for that matter, you'd probably have troubles against him as well Ghirahim." Cia calmly said, earning a glare from the pale demon.

"Was... Link's advance the trigger to the changes that happened? Is it because of him that I had to fight that strong guy?" Link asked, feeling awkward to talk about another hero named like him.

"It seems to be, Hero of Light, as I cannot find any other explanation. As to why Link acted like this, I cannot find an explanation to his actions either as of now but I soon will." The witch concluded.

Link nodded as he guessed that she would use her power over time to look into the past to do so.

"Let us see to more important matters now. We might not be able to change to past so we will have to deal with the early threat of the hero of our world now, we have to be more cautious. Although this seems to be a disadvantageous situation for us, there are some advantages of the hero having been recognized so early."

Ghirahim raised an eyebrow at the strange use of word. "Recognized? Don't you mean awakened?"

The witch shook her head. "No, I meant recognized. As far as I saw, although he might know he is the hero, he still isn't fit to be one. When Volga attacked Link with a breath of fire, the Triforce of Courage acted up to protect Link and avoid an early death of the hero." 'Thankfully.' Cia added in her mind.

"Then Mistress, wouldn't now be the right time to attack and capture him?" Volga asked, which made Ghirahim laugh.

"You want to go fight that child and lose again? Please Cia, let me handle this, and I will bring you his head on a silver-"

Before the pale demon could finish, Cia's fist hit the table out of anger, effectively destroying it and surprising everybody that was seated.

"You are playing a dangerous game, Ghirahim. Didn't I state that Link should never be fatally wounded, tortured or killed?" The witch snapped.

"Oh my, I am truly sorry. I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies for using that expression. I am sure you know that I didn't mean that literally." Ghirahim bowed.

Even with those words, everybody in the room could hear the amusement from his tone. However Cia let it slide as Ghirahim was an important part of her plan, throwing the one that gives her a majority of her army would be foolish.

The witch faced Volga to answer his previous question. "No, it's not yet the right time. Although he was recognized and bears the mark of the Triforce of Courage, the fact that he was not awakened means that even if we capture him, I won't be able to take the Triforce out of him." She explained. "We have to let him mature so that Courage manifests fully and once it does, I can snatch it with ease."

It was something Cia was aware of: The trials of the Hero that were planned by the Goddesses. Each hero from all the different generations had to prove themselves through various hardships and rough fights to be fully deserving of the Triforce of Courage and become true Heroes, for a just and pure mind was required to be able to defeat Ganondorf. Without the mindset of a true Hero, there was no hope winning against the Demon King.

Link nodded, understanding the situation. Capturing him and restoring his memories immediately would definitely trouble the rising hero, making it much less likely for the triforce of courage to become his and thus making Cia unable to steal it. So that would hinder the progress of one of the witch's goals.

Truthfully, it wasn't a goal Link cared about, but he still respected it because Cia could help him reach his own. He also wanted to restore the other Link's memories too, feeling as it was just as unfair and unjust as what had happened to him and Midna. In a way, it sounded even worse for the witch as her lover had forgotten about her completely.

"Another troublesome point is that the Princess is now missing. Hyrule's Army elite soldiers have started to advance to search for her, thinking that our forces captured her."

"What? I thought she had escaped because of that agile man's appearance. What do you mean she's missing?" Link inquired.

"She has gone into hiding and has hidden her presence with magic or in other words, it's like she disappeared from the world." She said before standing up from her seat. "No matter, I will find her..."

Locating the bearer of wisdom would be a tough job even for Cia, but the witch would not give up easily.

"Hero of Light, Volga, for now you shall rest. Wizzro, as you are the least tired of my commanders, go and slow down the advancing army. Ghirahim, provide troops and support for Wizzro."

Everybody nodded before the witch departed out of the room.

A dim lit cave.

The sound of heavy breathing.

A sheikah was sitting on the ground, his back leaning against the stone wall. Blood leaked from two cuts on his body, one deeper than the other.

From his hand came a soft, white glow, attempting to appease his wounds.

Healing magic, known as the hardest magic to use in all of Hyrule, and only one person was capable of such a feat: Princess Zelda.

Still, because of the sheikah's wounds, the healing spell was very weak.

At least, Sheik could take his time to heal. The place he was in was devoid of life, a perfect hiding spot for him.

'That demon... Why didn't he kill me? He didn't know that I was Zelda in disguise, so why?'

Sheik couldn't understand why he was still alive. That demon had shown little mercy to even the Princess, why would he leave the sheikah alive?

'It doesn't make any sense.'

The ninja closed his eyes feeling like there was no point dwelling on it too much.

'I need to get back to my troops quickly, but with those wounds...'

He was no fool, the wounds he had received weren't light and he needed to rest properly.

But Princess Zelda was brave. As soon as she could stand up and walk, she'd rush to help her kingdom again. Not as the people's leader as it would be too risky, but as a powerful military aid.

'I need to tell Impa about that demon with blue eyes as soon as I can.'