"'Course we are," Matt remarked. "Did you see us kill it?"

"It was a good shot," Hugo said. "Next one's mine."

"Fair enough."

Helena gestured toward the bridge. "Come on, let's go. I'm done with ruins until the end of time."

"Or at least until the next dimension," R.D. quipped.

"Don't even joke about that, R.D.," Alasea said sourly. She was too tired, too sore, and too fed up with R.D. to joke any longer. She never wanted to go to another desert ever again.

"All right, Link, let's go," Midna said, having reappeared from Link's shadow as he proceeded towards the exit. "We're close to the Mirror of Twilight..."

They proceeded through the doorway, and found themselves back outside of the Arbiter's Grounds. Through a metal fence set in the outer wall, they were afforded a brilliant view of the moonlit Gerudo Desert. Stairs climbed up to their left, curving up the side of the prison. They quickly headed up it, being careful to jump over the two broken sections between stairwells so they didn't trip and hurt themselves. At the top, the path curved through some arches and proceeded to the left, around a wall.

"Almost there," Link said, consulting the map as they walked.

Turning the corner, came to the upper heart of the Arbiter's Grounds. A sandy expanse covered the center of the ring, and the skies expanded up above them. Six columns stretched up towards the heavens, each one topped with a winged disk proudly displaying a symbol upon them. Chains shackled to the pillars ran down to the sand and underneath it, hinting at something hidden beneath the surface. In the center, though, was a towering statue of a woman; the Desert Colossus. She stood on a pedestal, holding a bright flame aloft in her hands. A platform was built atop her crown, and she was surrounded by a curling Spinner track.

"I'm sensing a theme to this place," R.D. muttered, looking at the statue's track.

Link ignored him. "Stay on the lookout," he said as he stepped forward.

No sooner than he moved, black stones fell from the sky like bullets, hitting the ground until they surrounded them. Red barriers flashed into existence, and a portal opened up in the air above them, dumping spindly black monsters to the ground--Shadow Beasts were attacking once again.

Edited by RisingDragon on June 13, 2010 at 4:22:32.

Hugo release his pickaxe's blade. "I'm getting tired of this."

"Take 'em down!" Matt whooped. He leapt into a flying kick at the nearest Shadow Beast, while Helena unloaded a torrent of flame.

R.D. hefted up his blaster sword and fired, causing several emerald rays to lance out from the barrel, which crashed and exploded against one of the Shadow Beasts. As he fired, Alasea finished muttering under her breath and aimed her hand at another Shadow Beast, and lightning rained down from the clear night sky, electrocuting the beast to death.

Link charged down the one nearest to him, and the Master Sword cleaved through the air as he jumped, killing his target in an instant--as Matt, Hugo, and Helena struck at the remaining two, all five marauding creatures were slain before they could really have a chance to fight. As the last one fell dead in the sand, their bodies burst apart into particles of shadow energy that shot up into the air, reforming the portal.

"Stay here," Link said. "Make sure Zant doesn't send anything else to try and stop us."

Midna manifested the Spinner for Link to ride on, and he zipped up the track until he reached the top. As he predicted, another gear slot was up above, and the Spinner fit neatly into it as it was guided in by the track. A few quick spins got the machinery moving, and down below, the others could feel the dungeon jolt. As the statue began to sink beneath the sands, the six columns surrounding the Arbiter's Grounds began to rise.

Chains grew taut as whatever they held beneath the sand was slowly pulled up from it. The others watched as, while the statue lowered, a massive wall of the blackest onyx rose up behind it. By the time the Desert Colossus was buried, the stone monolith was being held suspended above the sands. They did, however, have to jump aside as a pedestal rose up beneath them. "Careful!" Alasea exclaimed, backing away from it, keeping Ileyna in tow by holding her by the shoulders.

"... uh-oh," the girl murmured as she gazed upon the Mirror of Twilight. Midna could only dart over and stare in shock at what she saw.

The Mirror of Twilight had been shattered. Only a fourth of it remained, held within its stand.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 19, 2010 at 22:37:32.

Helena slid her claw over her mouth. "Uh oh. Oh, that's not good..."

"This day just gets better and better," R.D. muttered as Midna's shock slowly turned to utter fury.

Moments later, Link watched on as his friend knelt behind the destroyed Mirror. With her back turned to him, he couldn't know what she was thinking or feeling. Ileyna bit her lip, wanting to say something to the imp, but couldn't think of anything she could say--the mirror seemed too important to Midna.

Instead, she looked up. And froze at what she saw.

"What's wrong?" Alasea asked, seeing the girl suddenly tense. She too looked up, and the others followed suit.

Strange figures in glowing robes stared back down at them from atop the ornamented pillars surrounding the Mirror Chamber. Pale light shone from their bodies, each robe they wore was adorned with the same symbol on the disk they stood upon, and their faces looked like sorrowful masks.

R.D. felt the comfortable grip of the blaster sword return to his hand.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 18, 2010 at 22:10:45.

"Oh, COME ON," Matt said. "These ruins have WAY too many monsters!"

"Wait," Alasea said, throwing out an arm at them without tearing her gaze from the glowing figures looking down upon them. "They're not enemies."

Link slowly nodded, getting the same feeling as Midna looked around in surprise at the five figures. He had an idea who these five were supposed to be--if what old Auru said was correct, and if those symbols they wore were what he thought they were... then these were the Sages who had taught Princess Zelda, the sages that were supposed to watch over the land.

Weren't there six, though? he wondered, counting them again--the only column that was devoid of a glowing robed stranger was the one that was broken.

"You sure?" R.D. asked, sounding suspicious. "Light doesn't always mean good."

"I'm positive, R.D.," Alasea said. "These five aren't monsters."

One of them nodded in response to the girl's words, his mask seeming to change its expression into something solemn. They began to speak, though no visible lips on their mask seemed to move--and it almost seemed impossible to tell from which person the ancient voice came. "A dark entity lurks in the twilight... It houses an evil power..."

"You who are guided by fate," the first Sage spoke. "You who possess the crest of the goddesses... Hear us."

Alasea raised up her arm again to her friends--this time, in a shushing manner. She got the feeling that this was not a speech they wanted to interrupt.

"At the command of the goddesses, we sages have guarded the Mirror of Twilight since ancient times," said the second Sage.

"You seek it," the third Sage stated matter-of-factly, "But the Mirror of Twilight has been fragmented by mighty magic."

"That magic is a dark power that only he possesses..." the fourth Sage said, raising up arms and revealing that his hands, which glowed as brightly as his robes, were not connected to any visible arms, though flowing sleeves moved up slightly as if there were.

Zant, Matt thought to himself.

Slowly, the Sage with his outstretched... hands... looked off to the side, to the last Sage--they saw that the mask was floating just a few inches away from where the Sage's face should've been--a face that just wasn't there.

Ileyna was beginning to feel creeped out.

The last Sage had his back turned to them, and his shoulders were slumped. They did not remain that way for long.

"His name is..."

With his voice full of mourning, the last Sage turned and gazed towards the heavens, his arms outstretched, as if beseeching their goddesses.

"Ganondorf."

Edited by RisingDragon on May 19, 2010 at 19:02:45.

Hugo glanced at Midna. "You said Zant was behind this. Who's Ganondorf?"

It was the five Sages that obliged Hugo, answering his question. Alasea felt magic weave through the air, and soon enough, visions began to play about in their minds.

"He was the leader of a band of thieves who invaded Hyrule in the hopes of establishing dominion over the Sacred Realm," they explained to them.

Fires raged across a field of black, silhouetting a man in armor astride a horse as black as the darkness that framed him. The beast reared up, eyes alight with reddish fire. Its whinny cut through the sounds of the roaring flames on the horizon.

"He was known as a demon thief, an evil-magic wielder renowned for his ruthlessness..."

The vision of the powerful wizard astride his horse faded back into darkness as the Sages continued their tale.

"But he was blind..."

"Blind?" R.D. asked--his mind wandered, curious as to whether that this supposedly magical criminal may have had some flaw. The Sages were quick to clarify to him what they meant.

Soon they returned--six Sages alight with brilliant shining robes stood in a semi-circle around a black wall of stone--the same stone, in fact, that Link had unearthed only moments ago. The sky above the Arbiter's Grounds was a dreary, stormy gray. Chained before the six Sages was Ganondorf, his black-armored wrists clad in shackles. Sporting dark skin, a prominent nose and brilliant crimson hair done up in regal curls about a kind of crown, and clad in black armor, the man looked very much like a powerful, dangerous warlock, even as he snarled wordlessly at the six wise men staring before him.

"In all of his fury and might, he was blind to any danger, and thus was he exposed, subdued, and brought to justice."

A brilliant sword that blazed with unfathomable light rose up before the sage on the middle--the one Sage with a symbol they had not seen on the other five speaking to them--and reoriented to face blade up before him. It became painfully obvious what the Sages did to the warlock--the blade suddenly sped forward, its tip aiming itself at the imprisoned Ganondorf.

Ileyna winced and turned away from the execution as the shining sword pierced through Ganondorf's chest, eliciting a pained gasp of shock from the warlock.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 19, 2010 at 21:10:18.

Ouch. He'd be feeling that in the morning, if it didn't already kill him. When Matt felt the sight was over, he slid in another question, since the robed figures obviously answered Hugo's query. "If he's dead, how'd he come back to life?"

When they looked again, they saw that the vision still played--Ganondorf was slumped over the sword that pinned him to the wall, unmoving as it pulsed with light.

"Yet..."

Ganondorf's right hand suddenly twitched as a faded gold triangle slowly burned into existence. Another twitch and it burned brightly, causing the man's hand to clench into a fist. And Ganondorf chuckled in sinister amusement, opening his feral eyes as he looked up. His chuckling became outright laughter as he looked up at the Sages that had tried to kill him, and he fought against his binds.

The Sages looked on in surprise as Ganondorf snarled and clenched his right hand into a fist again--the triangle blazed, and the shackle snapped against his terrible strength. With his hand freed, he clenched it over his chest, and the triangle burned for them all to see. The Sages stumbled back, horrified at what they saw and eliciting a gasp from the girls.

"By some divine prank, he, too, was blessed with the chosen power of the gods."

Ganondorf roared as he fought against the remaining bind, and it soon snapped. Free from the stone block, Ganondorf rocketed forward, open hand outstretched and the sword of the sages still embedded in his torso.

The middle sage with the six tear-drop symbol found Ganondorf grabbing him by the face. Thrown back, the Sage's body exploded into thousands of particles of light that disintegrated from view as the remaining Sages looked on in absolute horror.

Ganondorf laughed maniacally as he tore the blade from his body with his right hand, leaving a gaping, glowing wound. He looked on at the Sages, ready to slay the rest of them as he had the first.

The Sages turned and looked at the whole and untarnished Mirror of Twilight that rest on the pedestal behind them. Two of the Sages raised their hands up to it, calling upon its power. Light brimmed across its surface, causing the designs etched upon it to nearly disappear in its brilliance. Magic circles of white energy erupted from its surface as a blazing beam of light shone out, alighting upon the black onyx slab. A magic circle centered with three triangles forming a larger one appeared upon the stone, and lines of power spread out from it. The white circles seem to sink into to the slab, far deeper than what should be possible.

To the well-experienced dimensional travelers, it was quite obvious that it was a Gateway--one to the Twilight Realm.

Powerful gravitational forces began to pull at the freed warlock, and even he was powerless before it. The sword was ripped from his grasp, where it was sucked into the portal and disappeared from sight. Ganondorf's body broke down into particles of shadow energy that quickly followed suit.

And with that, the lines of power were drawn back into the magic circle that flattened back out, and disappeared as the light faded from the Mirror of Twilight.

In obvious shock, the five remaining Sages cowered as they looked down on the mask of the Sage of Water that lay upon the cold sands, and the vision came to an end.

"Zant must've broken the Mirror if Ganondorf's returned," Helena said, trying hard to rip her eyes from the floating Sages. "Maybe they're working together."

Alasea found herself looking up at the single broken emblem, the one that symbolized the Sage of Water whom Ganondorf had so effortlessly slain. She remembered the warlock's insane grin, and she shivered.

The remaining Sages still stood on the columns, each of them lamenting what the visions had shown those down below in the Mirror chamber.

"His abiding hatred and lust for power turned to purest malice..." one of them said with an unearthly moan as he lowered his hands.

"Perhaps that evil power has been passed on to Zant," another said as he too lowered his arms, agreeing with what Helena suggested.

"You're just now figuring out where Zant got his power?" Midna said bitterly as she sat in the Mirror's stand, her back against the one remaining fragment still set into it. "Its far too late..."

Alasea frowned at Midna's words. They had been adventuring to find the Mirror and stop Zant... only to find this broken mirror barring the way. She couldn't begin to imagine how the imp must feel about this turn of events.

"Only the true leader of the Twili can utterly destroy the Mirror of Twilight," the Sages spoke, once more composed and causing Midna to look up at them again. "So Zant could merely break it into pieces. Once broken by magic, the Mirror of Twilight became fragments, which even now lie hidden across the land of Hyrule."

"Where are they?" Link asked, finally speaking up--R.D. noted the man could be deathly silent at times. It was unnerving.

"One is in the snowy mountain heights," the Sage to the left of the broken column emblem said, raising a hand to point to the northeast, where frozen peaks lay in the far distance.

"One is in an ancient grove," another said, while he and the one closest to him pointed off to the southeast, towards the sprawling forests where this part of the quest had started.

"And one is in the heavens..."

The remaining two looked up into the night sky, holding their hands aloft. R.D. looked up, but saw nothing--but perhaps there was something there, far beyond what they could see.

"You who have been sent by the goddesses..." Midna floated over to Link's shoulder and the two looked up as the sages continued to speak. "You should be able to gather the three pieces..."

But much to their surprise, the Sages were nowhere to be seen. Alasea felt their presence linger on for a few brief moments, and the five wise men continued to speak as if they were still there.

"But you must be prepared, for a dangerous power resides in those fragments..."

And with that, their presence disappeared from the Daughter of Dawn's senses, and they were truly alone in the Arbiter's Grounds. Link and Midna looked at one another, and nodded, their quest now clear to them.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 26, 2010 at 0:21:44.

Well. This was a positive turn of events. Matt settled his knuckles on his hips. Midna looked pretty pissed off back there. Within reason, of course. But Matt had a feeling both she and Link would have to watch their butts.

"Hey, at least they gave you some hints about what to do next," Matt said. "Sometimes it feels like we're stumbling around blind on our own little journey, you know?"

Link chuckled. "I know how that feels," he said. "Right Midna?"

The imp merely gave him an unamused look, and said nothing.

"I can't really feel any more Essence signatures," Ileyna spoke up.

"Which means that its time for us to move on to the next world," R.D. said. He turned back to Link and Midna. "You'll be able to do okay without us, right?"

Link nodded. "We'll be fine," his impish companion replied. "We've gotten through tougher scrapes before."

Matt nodded with a polite smile, holding his hand out to Link. "Well, then. It's been nice meetin' you, Link. Glad we got to help you out with something."

"You too, Matt," Link said, shaking his hand, and then the others. "Sorry for the trouble I gave you when we first met."

"Not at all," R.D. said after they shook hands. "We can't really blame you for it."

"Can you tell Agitha that I'm sorry I couldn't meet her again?" Ileyna asked, wringing her hands a bit.

"Of course," Link said. "I'll let her know that the golden bugs I've collected were found by you."

"Thanks!"

R.D. dismissed his armor, and his sword blaster disappeared along with it--he paid it no mind, knowing he could recreate it at will, like his various cannons and the Nova Reactor. He fished the Great Serpent's Scale out of his satchel--it was glowing, ready to be used.

"Well, let's get this party started," he said, pointing it at the black slab in the ground. The beam of energy ripped out of the scale and turned as it struck the onyx slab, spiraling as it ripped open the green Gateway.

Link lowered his arms from where they were shielding his face as the portal stabilized and grew calmer. He peered into its green depths and nodded. "So that's how you all got here?"

Edited by RisingDragon on June 13, 2010 at 4:25:57.

"Yeah," Matt said, stepping forward. "It's, uh...it's quite a trip."

"Once you get used to it, at least," Helena said. "Anyway, thanks for helping us get the Essence back, Link." She also held up her claw, then drew it back. "Well...you get the idea."

Hugo waved his pickaxe at Midna. "Stay out of trouble."

"I get the feeling you all will be in more trouble than us," Midna commented.

"Ain't that the truth," R.D groaned, rolling his eyes. He couldn't imagine what kind of problem they'll face when they arrived in the next world... whatever that was.

One by one, the others went through the portal, though Alasea hesitated for a brief moment.

"Is something wrong?" Link asked, once they were the only two there.

"Its nothing," Alasea replied, clearing her thoughts. "Take care of yourself, Link."

She stepped through the portal, doing what she could the banish the thoughts of how little a help she'd been during this part of their adventure. As she disappeared, the portal shrank and disappeared, leaving only the disturbed motions in the sand as a testament to its existence.

"Let's get going," Link heard Midna say. He nodded and turned, looking out across the Gerudo desert. It was time to find the remaining fragments of the Mirror of Twilight.

This time Matt's face interfaced with a splash of icy mush. He let out a muffled yell and pulled his head up...snow? Looking up some more, a titan of a castle layered with gray brick loomed over them all, its towers pointing into a dull, dark midnight sky.

"...oh, great," Matt said, and not just because his clothes were now damp from the landing.

Helena helped Matt up. "What is it?" she said.

"I just got a surge of deja vu."

Edited by The Helldragon on May 20, 2010 at 22:27:52.

Ileyna stumbled a bit as she came out of the portal, but managed to keep her balance. Between the snow here and the cold winds in the Gerudo Desert, she wasn't really bothered by the temperature. Instead, she made herself closer to Helena, eying the castle before them nervously.

"... you're right," Alasea said, shivering a bit. She pulled her cloak tighter around her body. "I'm getting deja vu as well."

"Jeez, it's cold!" Matt snapped. No wonder - his front was damp from neck to toe. Switching to the fire gem, he ran a warm hand above his shirt to dry it.

"Then let's go inside," Helena said. "Ileyna's going to freeze out here. Better to get in where it's warm, even if it's full of monsters."

Their ankles sifted through the snow as they trudged towards the castle. Upon closer inspection, the stone walkway ahead of them actually lead out into a sprawling village surrounded by the castle walls. Not a soul spoke, their group or otherwise, as they made their way through the chill streets.

"Dead village is never a good sign," Hugo muttered. "Let's find the biggest building we can and hole up in it so we can gather our bearings."

As Ileyna stepped forward, her hair flashed blue as a chime cut through the air, causing everyone to flinch--they didn't want to alert anyone here.

"Found one?" R.D. asked. The girl nodded.

"Two of them, in the castle," she said quietly, looking at the structure. "I think they're both bonded with something, but they're close to one another."

"Guess that's our target," Helena said, looking behind her for signs of life.

Matt stopped, holding up his arm to block the others from passing. "Hold it. You hear that?"

"Yeah," Helena said. "Something's rattling." She pointed northeast. "Over that way."

"Bunch of metal," Matt confirmed. They were standing next to a passage between two houses - they could slip through there. "Come on." Hunching over a bit, he lurked through the alleyway.

"There's a lot of magic in the air," Alasea said, looking around as she crawled in after the others. "I've never felt this much magic outside of our home world."

"Is that going to be a problem for us?" R.D. asked.

"I don't know," she confessed. "Its saturating this entire region and most of it is in the castle, but I can't pinpoint the source for it. Chances are its going to be problematic for us."

Edited by RisingDragon on May 20, 2010 at 23:55:15.

"When in doubt, it's ALWAYS going to be a problem," Helena said. As Hugo stalked Matt with his own intentions of seeing the commotion, Helena now followed, taking great care to not make a lot of noise as her claws cracked the snow.

Matt approached the corner and, gently, carefully, peeked his head around. Then he immediately drew it back.

"What is it?" Helena whispered, her claws pressed against the wall of the house.

"More fucking skeletons," Matt spat. "Now I'm REALLY getting deja vu."

Ileyna whimpered at that. More of them? Great. "Think we should sneak around them?" Alasea asked. "I'm sure we can take them but we don't need to alarm anything else to our presence."