Zelda sighs with some disappointment as the smell of burning bodies wafted to her nose. She would have hoped her army would have put up a better fight than that. Still, even though the armies of Crimea were inside of the castle itself, she smirked. All was going just as planned. All she needed to do was wait for him to show up.

She stroked her greatest weapon she had against him, and looked over her private chamber. She knew that it would surely be the last time she would be it. She wasn't toying with the idea the armies would just part ways and leave them. Not even Link, who was certainly dying from the slit throat the new queen of Crimea gave him, believed that there was no going back from what she was doing. Still, even though she sacrificed her oldest friend, it was for the greater good. All of this was done for it.

She heard a mass of footsteps charge away from her door as there was the scream of primal rage coming towards her. She sat down in her chair and pulled a glass of spiced wine as the sounds of battle echoed outside her door. She drank from her glass, chastising her self that she shouldn't but then again this would be one of the last times she would have the chance to do so.

The screams of the dying replaced the sound of steel and she new that she had to make herself presentable to her executioner. As the boot slammed itself against the door, she tied her hair back into the two descending braids he had grown accustomed to seeing. She made sure the dress was presentable, no wrinkles or constricting her movements.
The boot slammed against the door again and the door cried out in pain. The hinges would last no more. One more kick and it would open. She finished the glass and tossed it against the wall where it shattered into a dozen little crystals. They caught the light of the fires perfectly and shined like cut diamonds.

The door crashed down and she turned her attention back to him. He had changed much since she had last seen him. He was covered in dirt, blood dripping from the many exposed wounds on his body that were in various stages of healing. His hair was tied back and he was breathing heavily. Anger or exhaustion? A combination of the two was a more realistic answer. "It's over, Harkinian. Come peacefully and I can promise you a fair trial."

She clicked her tongue. "What did I tell you, ambassador? I hate my last name, and you will call me by my first name if not by my title."

Ike growled, raising his sword from a defensive posture to that of an offensive. "Silence your tongue, murderess." Oh, he was getting feisty. She loved him when he was like this. "Or I shall do that myself."

"With what, your own tongue?" She taunted him. She could smell the adrenaline rush through his veins and his blood boiling with anger. "I guess this is where we reach that certain part of our tale where I reveal all why I did the things I did."

Gritting his teeth, Ike used all of his will power from not braking down in front of her. He blinked away what wetness he had forming at the edge of his eyes and uttered one word. "Why?"

She smiled, it was an ugly one that shook the souls of the most devout, and brought her fingers together. "For the greater good. That reason alone."

"The greater good?" Ike reacted as if he heard complete gibberish. "The greater good!? Zelda, I don't know if you lost your sight as well as your mind! Look around you! Hyrule is ablaze, Queen Lucia beheaded your Lord General Link, and your army has been reduced to a tenth! Where is the greater good in that?"

"Everything you just stated." She replied as she rose from her seat and returned to the window to look out of it. "Hyrule has been broken, like chaff before the wind. It is something that needs to happen and it is fortunate that you have done it. You have my eternal gratitude."

"What? You wanted this to happen!? This can't be the Zelda I knew and I loved! What do you mean?"

She chuckled. "Oh, Ike. What doesn't destroy us makes us stronger. Give or take thirty years of foreign oppression, my people will rise up and destroy the Crimean Empire and take their lands for ourselves. Hyrule has been degrading ever since I came to power seventy-eight years ago. I can wait that time for us to retake our former glory."

Ike was still unhinged by what she was saying. "All of this... the death, destruction, and lives of our people ruined was just for that?"

"Why else would I have invited your sister to my home? I needed one final pawn for my game. Her mind was an easy one. The thoughts and impulse was elementary. By the size of your army you brought, I can see she killed the queen with extreme violence. Did her head roll for what she did?" Zelda asked.

Ike felt the blood rush back into anger. His sister was a pawn, and he should have realized it was so. He should have told her to stay away, to leave him to his duties. But he was so blinded by the illusion of false trust that he was her undoing. Shortly after she returned and was giving a debriefing to the royal council, she ran Elincia through on her own throne. When her senses came back, she was devastated as Elincia forgave her as she died. Lucia killed her on the spot, separating the head from the jaw. Mist was posthumously exonerated of the crime once the magics were revealed, but the pain was still raw and fresh. "You bitch! I will not allow you to take one more breath of life!"

Zelda smirked from the corner of her lips. "Oh you can't and you won't kill me."

"Watch me." Ike growled and charged at Zelda. She looked surprise for a second before she summoned a sword of pure ethereal energy. The sword absorbed the kinetic energy and held it's own against Ragnell. "Still using your sorcery?"

"How else will I compensate for fighting brutes like your kind?" Zelda responded and pushed back against him. Ike lost his footing but regained it in less then a second. That did give time for Zelda to ready her blade once again and it was her turn to go on the offensive. She slammed it against his sword and the sound of steel echoed from around them. Each one fought with unbridled zeal and fury, though anger was by far the most evident in their emotions.

While his sword was a mighty claymore, hers was more akin to a longsword. He fought like a bear, strong and powerful, while she preferred to attack like the agile tiger. As they traded blows, each one knew that it would end with the other's heart becoming still.

Slicing nothing but air as she jumped back, Zelda readied herself once again and charged Ike. Ike lowered his sword into a defensive position and rammed it forward. The attack opened him to her sword but she would suffer an injury as well. Ragnell then feasted upon warm flesh while Zelda got a pretty deep cut along the length of his arm. Ike grunted in pain and Zelda forced a grimace. The two circled each other with their swords at the ready.

Eventually, Zelda began to laugh. It was an empty laugh without any sort of humor, causing Ike to arch an eyebrow. "Oh, Ike. Where we dance at the edge of fortune while I realize that no matter who dies, I win."

"With you dead, Hyrule will be leaderless. With you dead, your line will be forgotten from the annals of history. I do not see any way you could win when I take your head from your shoulders." Ike stated.

Zelda smiled and reached in to a basket next to the window. She produced a bundle of cloth and began to unwrap it. Ike lowed his guard as she revealed what was in it. "What in the name of Yune is that?"

She chuckled as she held it close. "Your daughter, Ike." The words hit him like nothing could. Daughter... just thinking it made his head hurt. They only did it once, but Zelda probably wanted it to happen for what ever plan she had. She had the hazel eyes of Zelda, while there was a small crop of blue hair on the top of her head. "She is my ultiment weapon against you."

Ike paused for a moment and moved closer to get a better look, sword still at a guard position. She was maybe a week old at most, and despite the battle raging around her, she was fast asleep. "How is she to be my undoing?"

"Well, if you notice, there is a brand on her forehead, a memory rune if you can recall." Ike examined it and saw the Hylian rune in a birthmark color. "When she becomes of age, my memories will mix with hers and she will feel everything I felt about you as well as everyone you ever cared about. So long as your heart beats, she will turn on you. She will be your bane." Zelda stated as she rocked her daughter in her arms.

"But if you are dead, such things will not come to pass." Ike stated and readied his sword to strike her down. Zelda rolled her eyes and fired a blast of pure kinetic energy through her spare hand and slammed Ike against the wall, stunning him on the spot.

"Oh no. Even if you kill me, a huge if at that, my memories will transfer to her when she reaches her second decade of life. If your heart stops, the rune disappears and I can raise her as my own. Or you could kill her. But even a borec like yourself would never allow such a thing to even be considered." Ike came to his feel and reached for his sword.

"How do I know you are not lying to save your pathetic skull?"

Zelda placed the daughter down on the bed and mentally summoned Ragnell into her hands. It was a heavy sword, but she didn't mind. "I guess you will have to find out." Ike charged at her and she sidestepped, slicing his calf open down the middle. "But I will kill you with your own sword. There is a certain ironic twist to that I believe."

"Not if I can do anything about it." Ike saw a short sword lying on the ground near the door and tumbled towards it. Zelda casts her fingers forward and then she slammed the doors shut. She rushed forward and gripped Ike by the throat. "Quit toying with me, witch. Just kill me if you wish for it."

"Oh I will. But-" She tossed Ike aside with her arcane gifts, breaking three of his ribs in the fall. "I want you to suffer. You will be the first to suffer and then the rest the rest of the kingdom will soon enough."

She pinned him to the ground and laid Ragnell down next to him. Straddling him, she wrapped her fingers around his neck and slowly began to apply pressure. "It's a shame, you know that Ike?"

"What?" He said between gritted teeth and a snarl.

"That you could have seen your daughter when she would all be grown up. I will let you tell me one thing before I choke the life out of you. Tell me that and I will pass it on to her."

Ike felt tears burn the edge of his eyes as her grip tighten. All of this, all of it was for nothing. War brought only death and destruction. If Zelda wanted her kingdom to be restored, there were ways of peace. Why did she resort to war? Did she simply become jaded over her life time? All of those years while still being in her prime maybe caused her to lose all hope.

But their daughter would cause another war if something was done. If he died, Zelda would raise her in her image. If she died, their daughter would become like her. Ike closed his eyes, looking for the poison from what he would drink from.

He made his decision and made his move.

"What is it?" She asked as she tightened her grip even more. Ike squirmed and then stilled as he gave a single nod.

"Never leave your weapons out of arms reach!" Zelda arched an eyebrow in surprise. That soon became a look of fear as the sound of steel cutting through flesh. Blood fell out of her mouth as she saw Ragnell exploding through her chest.

She formed a surprise look as her blood drained from her when she saw what Ike did. He brought the sword around and rammed it through her back. But he drove it all the way through, and pierced his own heart. His own crimson life fluid began to spill freely. He pulled it free and rolled her off of him. "Ike... you will die from that wound."

He rose to his feet, quickening the blood flow. "So will you." He coughed up the blood and walked over to the bed, gripping the wall for support as he held his daughter for the first and last time. "She is so beautiful. With both of us dead, she will live a life of her own, free from both of our influence."

He walked back over and stood over Zelda for a moment. He then laid down next to her, and he looked into her eyes. She looked to him, and then to her daughter. Zelda looked into his eyes and shed a single tear of repentance. "I wanted only the best for my kingdom. I should have realized I would create her. With the most courageous man I know."

He helped her head to his chest as they looked together at their daughter. "So, what is her name?"

"I never gave her one. You have the honors."

Ike thought for a moment, and then brought his daughter to his lips, kissing her forehead. "Amani... peace in the old Hylian tongue."

Zelda nodded. "A good name." She wrapped one of her hands around one of Ike's. "I must go now. Will you be there when I wake up?"

As his eye lids grew heavy, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips one last time. "I will be there." And then they entered into their final embrace as one.

Queen Lucia would discover the scene and take Amani as her own. After a decade of rebuilding and occupation, Queen Lucia would tell Princess Amani of her origin and what happened to her parents. And when she came of age, Queen Amani the wise of Hyrule, would visit her parents' graves. She would say a simple prayer for their souls. Knowing that somehow, someway, they were watching over her.

Together.

Thanks for reading. I wanted to try something new and I hope you guys appreciated it. As always, I would like to hear reviews. Take care, and you may see more stories like this.