I finished this a while ago before the crippling depression returned, so I decided it was time I uploaded something just to assure you guys I'm not dead yet. This initially was going to be a longer chapter, but I shortened it due to a combination of running out of steam and wanting to get something out, since my last upload date on anything was all the way back in April.

Anyways, the premise of this chapter is based on the popular fan theory that the various characters died before becoming Sages. If you wish to shoot me, be kind and aim for my head.

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Chapter Fourteen: Remembering Saria

Chamber of the Sages…

"Where the bloody hell are we?" were Sniper's first words as they found themselves in the Chamber.

"W-what is this place?" Mido whispered in awe.

Whipping his head around so fast his helmet nearly fell off, Soldier declared, "Are we dead?! We better not be dead, maggots, because we do not have permission to die! Even if I have to do it as a ghost, I will shove my glorious American boot up Ganondorf's commie ass until my big toe tickles his spleen! I will not pass from the world of the living until I cut off that freedom-hating bastard's limbs one by one and make him eat them! I will never rest till…"

"Relax, we're not dead," Navi chastised wearily, hoping to put an end to the mercenary's rant.

Soldier immediately perked up. "We're not?"

"No," Link replied with an awkward smile. "We're in the Chamber of Sages. This is where we'll meet Saria."

Soldier blinked once. Twice. "Is she dead?"

Turned out that was the wrong question to ask, because both Link and Mido suddenly went very pale.

It was at that moment that the emerald pedestal before them with the Forest Insignia began to glow with a bright bluish-white light. All eyes were drawn to it, and soon a small figure emerged from the light, one Link and Mido recognized instantly.

"Saria!" Link cried.

"Saria, you're okay!" Mido exclaimed with a jubilant grin.

Link and Mido's smiles, however, began to falter when they realized that something was…off about her. Saria was smiling back at them, but the smile was almost too serene, and the look in her eyes was more distant than they had ever seen it.

"You…" she began calmly, her voice still like a child's, and yet the tone much more measured and adult-like. "Thank you. Thank you all. Because of you, I could awaken as the Sage of Forest."

"Saria, what happened to you?" Link hesitantly asked. "You're acting all…different."

"Did…did that monster do anything to you?" Mido demanded, righteous anger flashing in his eyes.

Saria's smile faded, and the distant look in her eyes became sad. "Your friend there is right. You are not dead…I am."

Link's heart sank like a stone. "W-what…?"

Mido, however, laughed nervously, not wanting to believe it as he shook his head. "C'mon, Saria! T-that's crazy talk! You're right here, with the rest of us! Now that the temple's back to normal, we can go back home to all our friends and…"

"Mido."

There was something about her tone that cut through Mido's heart like a knife, and his mouth clamped shut.

"To awaken as a Sage…is to taste death," Saria explained. "When I ventured into the temple and was cut off from you, I was taken before the phantom of the Dark Lord, and Ganondorf knew at that moment I was destined to be the Sage of Forest. His…retribution was swift. He ordered his phantom to kill me." Then, Saria slowly raised her head, jutting out her chin.

Link gasped. Mido choked back a sob.

A long white line ran across her throat, a scar that could have only meant one thing.

"Christ Almighty," Soldier whispered in the quietest voice anyone had ever heard from him, and in a rare somber moment, he took off his helmet.

Sniper said nothing, but his hands balled into fists, and he breathed deeply through his nose to maintain his composure. But inside he seethed with hatred towards Ganondorf. Though he had not known Saria long, he had known that she had been a kind soul, dear to her friends, and saw so much goodness in the world. And Ganondorf had executed her without a moment's hesitation, an innocent girl, a child.

He was going to do a lot more than carve the King of Evil a new cakehole when he finally got his hands on the black-hearted son of a bitch.

Tears trickled down Saria's face as she lowered her head back to eye-level. "I died choking on my own blood. I prayed so hard to the Goddesses for one more breath. Just one more breath. But it was my destiny to die, so I could be born anew in a way where I can help you."

Mido couldn't hold it back anymore; he collapsed to his knees and sobbed freely. "S-Saria… Oh, Saria, I'm so sorry! I'm s-so s-sorry! I-I left you! I left you to die in there! It's all my fault! It's all my fault!"

Mido held his head in his hands and cried, his keening wails escaping his palms as he curled into a ball, hunching forward as he wept.

His breath hitched as Link's larger frame wrapped around him, tears streaming down the older boy's cheeks as well, his eyes squeezed shut. The warmth of Link's body was strangely comforting. Was this what it was like for human children with parents?

And then they both looked up in surprise as they felt a third set of arms wrap around them. Saria rested her head against Link's shoulder as she looked down at Mido.

As the mercenaries and fairy watched the soul-crushing scene, Sniper slowly took his helmet off as well and both he and Soldier held their helmets over their hearts.

"No matter what, I will always be…your friend," Saria whispered as she held her embrace. "I'll watch over you both every day, because I know you'll prevail against the darkness. I know you can defeat Ganondorf."

Eventually, she released them, and both Link and Mido felt her warmth leave them, and they both knew it would be the last time they would ever feel it.

"Link…I want you to have this Medallion," Saria spoke. "Take it, and remember that I'll always be with you. I'll always love you…as my friends…and my family."

Link swallowed thickly as he accepted the Forest Medallion silently, unable to bring himself to say anything. Saria then turned towards Sniper and Soldier.

"Keep Link safe for me," she said. "Keep the Kokiri Forest safe."

Sniper solemnly inclined his head. "Oi made a promise to ya before. Oi'm not about to go back on it."

Soldier cleared his throat. "Ma'am," he uttered in a tone that was strangely calm and respectful. (for Soldier, anyways) "I swear to God we'll protect him with our lives." With that, he snapped a salute. "And by God, I'll make sure your sacrifice isn't forgotten."

Saria smiled as she slowly stepped back until she stood once more on her Sage pedestal. White began to consume their vision, and the last words they heard from her were, "Thank you, for the best years of my life. Good-bye…"

XXXXXX

The next thing they all knew, they were in the Great Deku Tree's Meadow, and they all fell silent at the sight of the long-dead forest deity's withered remains looming over them.

"That is one big damn tree," Soldier marveled, looking up at the enormous but dead Kasuto.

"That's the Great Deku Tree," Sniper solemnly explained. "He was the guardian'a this forest, 'n Ganondorf killed 'im."

Soldier blinked. "He was a talking tree?"

"Hey guys, what's that?" Navi suddenly interrupted, catching everyone's attention.

The tiny fairy hovered over an unidentifiable seedling with two leaves branching out of it. Link and Mido leaned forward to inspect it as Sniper mused, "Hmm, Oi wondah… Kasuto may have been a deity 'n what-not, but he was still a tree. Maybe that's…a Deku Tree seedling?"

Suddenly the seedling exploded out of the ground, and Link and Mido fell back with a yell. Sniper and Soldier's guns were out in an instant, ready to blast the ever-loving crap out of whatever had just popped up.

"Wow, you guys are pretty smart!"

Staring back at them with a child-like smile was a small, round tree with tiny black eyes and a wide mouth. "I am indeed his seedling! I'm the Great Deku Tree Sprout! I'm so happy to finally meet you all! Because you guys broke the curse on the Forest Temple, I can grow and flourish! Thanks a lot!"

Soldier glared intensely at the Sprout, and Sniper could tell it was because his simple mind was warring with itself over whether this was a Communist spy camera or one of the talking trees he had just been told about. He lightly tapped Soldier on the shoulder and said, "Relax, Jane. That's a talkin' tree, alroight."

"You're sure it's not a commie spycam?"

"Yep."

Soldier shrugged his shoulders. "Good enough for me, then!"

Link stepped forward and said, "Was Ganondorf stopping you from growing?"

The tree shook a bit in what was likely meant to be a nod of acknowledgment. "Yep! He's really nasty, though it's sort of understandable why."

"Why is Ganondorf doing all this?" Mido asked, upset with how everything in his life had gone so wrong. "Why did he kill the Great Deku Tree? Why did he send monsters to our forest to make us miserable?! WHY DID HE KILL SARIA?!"

The Sprout's smile faltered, understanding the pain Mido especially was going through. "Because just as it was Link's destiny to become the Hero of Time, and Saria's destiny to become the Sage of Forest, so was it Ganondorf's destiny to become the King of Darkness." Everyone gathered closer around the Deku Tree Sprout as he began. "Many centuries ago, there was a fierce and terrible war in our world. Majora, the dark counterpart to the Golden Goddesses, had vowed to corrupt or destroy all their divine works, and to that end he created a dark race of his own and unleashed them upon the followers of the Goddesses. This series of conflicts were known as the Demon Wars. Without warning, a massive rip was torn open in the earth, and from this breach emerged the demons of Majora. Leading this dark host was the greatest of all their kind, the one whom they called King. And his name…was Demise."

Somehow, the mention of the Demon King's name sent an involuntary shiver down even Soldier and Sniper's spines, even though normally they would think that a stupid name for a demon.

"Demise led the demon armies into battle against the denizens of the World of Light, and would have crushed them had the Goddesses not sent their own subjects to do battle. Leading the hosts of the heavens were Onigami, the God of War, and Hylia, the Goddess of Peace. While Onigami brought the fight directly to Majora himself, Hylia stood against the terrible might of Demise. Demise, however, was a traitor at heart, and he sought to possess the holy relic of the Goddesses, the Triforce, rather than destroy it as Majora had ordered. His ambitions failed him, though, for he was ultimately defeated by Hylia just as Majora was bested by Onigami. However, their battles left them with wounds so great that the only way they could preserve themselves and continue their watch over Hyrule was to seal away their spirits in mortal forms that would forever reincarnate when the world had need of them. The soul of Hylia became the bloodline of the Princess of Hyrule, and the soul of Onigami was reborn as the legacy of the Hero. Your legacy, Link."

Link was taken aback. "M-my legacy?"

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Mido exclaimed, waving his hands. "You're saying this doofus is a reincarnated god?!"

Link couldn't help but roll his eyes. Some things never change.

The look in the Sprout's eyes was surprisingly serious. "It is not something to be jealous of, Mido. To bear that legacy is to walk a never-ending road of trials and hardships. As the bearer of Onigami's spirit, Link and his descendents are forever destined to do battle with the forces of darkness whenever they reappear, with the Princess and her descendents as his guides. And I fear your battle with Ganondorf is only just beginning, and may never see an end."

"What?!" Soldier declared angrily. "I object to that! Unless Ganondorf takes Merasmus's 'kill-me-come-back-stronger' pills, we will bury his ass twenty feet under in a concrete grave if we have to!"

"Should Ganondorf be killed, he will reincarnate as well, just as Link and the Princess will. All three of you are linked by destiny, and a terrible, terrible curse. After Demise was sealed, a servant of his did everything in his power to free the Demon King. Despite the Hero's best efforts…the servant succeeded. And yet, against all odds, the Hero faced Demise in a duel to the death and vanquished him. But with his dying breath, Demise vowed that his hatred for the blood of Hylia and the Spirit of Onigami would forever endure as a reincarnation of his malice that would trouble their descendents, and indeed the entire world, for eternity. Ganondorf became that vessel for Demise's hatred. Thus, whether you seal him or kill him, Ganondorf will eventually return, and your descendents must do battle with him again to ensure that the Triforce of the Gods never falls into his hands."

"So, let's see if we understand ya correctly," Sniper spoke up. "Ganondorf is basically destroying Hyrule because he's the reincarnation'a your world's version of Satan?"

"So Ganondorf is the Antichrist?!" Soldier cried.

"A-and…I'm destined to fight him…forever?" Link quietly asked, his heart sinking even further at this grim news.

"I'm sorry, Link," the Sprout replied sadly. "If there was anything that could be done…"

Everyone was quiet for several moments. And then, Sniper straightened and fixed the Sprout with a steely glare. "No. Oi'm not acceptin' that. There's gotta be a way to kill that wankah for good! And dammit, we're gonna foind it!"

"Maybe Merasmus will know something!" Soldier added eagerly. "God knows how many times he's tried banishing us to random places!"

"It's a start," Sniper mused. "That wankah knows all koinds of crazy magic. And we're on better terms with him now than the REDs ever were."

"Alright!" Soldier declared. "First thing we do when we get back to base is contact Merasmus!"

The Sprout shook his branches slightly in a way meant to convey a cocking of his head. "Fate is a difficult thing to fight, you know. You think you can defy destiny?"

"You're callin' this kid a hero," Sniper replied, "but if ya ask me what it takes to be a hero, Oi'd say it's doin' the roight thing because ya want ta, not because destiny says so. A real hero makes his own destiny."

Touched and invigorated by Sniper's words, Link turned his head, and the two shared a grin.

The Sprout shook a little, his smile reappearing. "Hmm…you're an interesting guy, Mr. Mundy. Hope is a wonderful, yet dangerous thing. But if there is some way to prevent the legacy of Demise from scarring the history of our world, I'm sure you'll find it! Now, you guys better get going! The world isn't going to save itself, after all!"

Soldier saluted with a grin. "Yessir!"

Without further ado, they all left the Deku Tree's Grove.

XXXXXX

The atmosphere of the Kokiri Forest that evening was silent and solemn. The children of the forest had initially cheered when they saw Link and his companions return with Mido, but their cheer faltered when they quickly noticed that Saria was not among them. Then Mido delivered the terrible news to them all.

Saria was never coming back.

And so, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, the Kokiri held a memorial service for their most beloved friend.

Soldier and Sniper stood in the back of Mido's large house, which doubled as the village's meeting hall, hats off and standing straight in grim-faced silence. Gathered in front of them were all the Kokiri, teary-eyed and grief-stricken, as Mido stood up at the podium where he normally gave his proclamations. A detailed sketch of Saria's smiling face, which had been provided by Sniper thanks to his secret sketching skills and eye for detail, sat on the podium for all to see. Standing close by was Link.

Mido sniffed before clearing his throat. "I…I guess I thought too hard on what I should say, but…I'm just gonna say what I want." He looked at Link, who nodded in encouragement. Turning back to face the small crowd, Mido continued. "Saria was…the truest friend any of us ever had. Whenever anything bothered us, she was always there to make us feel better. We all loved her. I…loved her. I honestly wish all of you could have gotten the good-bye I did, because she meant a lot to each and every one of us. A-and…while she's no longer w-with us, she'll a-always be watching over us."

The Kokiri sniffed and clapped quietly as Mido stepped aside, and Link took the stand.

"I…I know I was gone long, but…I never forgot the friendship Saria showed me all these years. When I left, she was the last one to see me go, and I swore I'd come back one day, and that we would always be friends…no matter what. And I know without a doubt that she's not truly gone. Not only does she have a new life and a new purpose in the realm of the gods, but she lives on in our hearts and memories. And I know that we'll never forget all the good times she shared with us all. We will miss her…but we'll always remember her."

As the crowd clapped in remembrance, Link looked up at the mercs in the back, and Sniper inclined his head in respect.

XXXXXX

Once the memorial service was over, and Link said his good-byes to them all, he and the BLUs stood near the exit to the Kokiri village as Soldier unpacked the teleporter they had brought with them. Mido happened to still be with them and spoke up, "Uh, what is that?"

"It's a teleporter, lad," Sniper explained. "It's a handy little devoice that will instantly transport ya to our home base in Lon Lon Ranch, and it can also transport ya back here. All ya have to do is stand on it."

Mido smiled. "That's pretty cool. After all this craziness blows over, maybe I will come and see this girl of yours, Link."

Mido grinned as Link tried to suppress a blush at that. "Don't worry, Mido. Ganondorf's going down soon, and when he does he'll go down hard. I look forward to whatever comes next."

Link and his former rival shook hands and shared a wink. "See ya around…Mr. Hero."

Link laughed at that. "Later, Mido."

And with that, Mido walked away to rejoin his fellow Kokiri. Link spent a moment watching him go with a wistful smile, which Sniper noticed. "You gonna be alroight there, lad?"

Link shook his head a little before he replied, "Yeah. I'm just glad that, even after everything that's happened, Mido and I are friends now. Saria would have been proud."

"That she would, son," Soldier declared, clapping Link on the shoulder. "That she would. Now let's get back to base before the boys start dinner without us!"

Link, Navi, and Sniper all shared a laugh. "Good to know you got your priorities straight, mate," Sniper chuckled.

And so they stepped through the teleporter home.