Start time: Thursday December 27, 2007; 12:36 PM PST
Happy New Year everyone! Okay, I'm skipping the lengthy pre-Author's Note, but just remember we're now back in Link's POV. Alright, sit back, relax, and enjoy the grand finale to A World of Lies.
Location: Hyrule Castle, Fourth Floor—Library. Hyrule Castle Town, Light Prefecture.Date: Sunday June 24, 2007.
Time: 7:19 PM. 41 Minutes until the Festival of Lifelong Happiness.
"…Heh… Heh-heh…"
That voice…
I glance to the left, and there's Ganondorf slowly materializing in front of the fireplace, steps behind Agahnim's dead body.
I-It can't be! He's supposed to be dead! He died, right! Zelda purged him out of me… How the hell she did it stumps me, but she did it! …Oh, yes. That's right. She didn't actually kill him. That's all she did: she exorcised Ganondorf out of my body. So he's still alive… Now what? This guy, he's so freakin' unpredictable… What's his next move? What are we going to do now?
"Impressive, Princess Zelda," he chuckles once he's fully present. "…But we're not done yet."
"Go to hell!" I bark at him, clutching Zelda closer to me as I feel her tighten her arms around my torso.
"That's how this entire ordeal started," Ganondorf chuckles. "Princess Zelda said the exact same thing, and well… You know the rest."
I flinch slightly, but I stay composed. I can't show any sign of fear or doubt to him. Not now. Not after all this.
"But this stuffy old library isn't the most ideal place to fight to the death," he sighs.
Unh!
"Wouldn't you agree… Link?" His lips curl into that damn treacherous smile of his.
"…You… bastard," I narrow my eyes at him. I slowly reach for my discarded gun next to me, and I point it at Ganondorf's heart.
"As if I've never heard that before!" He laughs. Shut the hell up! I've had enough of you!
"DIE!" I open fire, shooting a single bullet at him.
…But Ganondorf… He just flicked the bullet off! Just like that!!! But how!? The bullet falls to the floor with a small clunk… Is that it!? So he's been playing around this whole time! We couldn't have shot him in the first place! …Not when he's open like that.
"Now you understand, Avalon," he nods. "Even without that last ordeal… Bullets can't hurt me. At least when I can predict them, anyway. You two were going to die regardless."
"…Y-y-ou…" I growl deeply. I think I scared Zelda, by the way she shivers against me, but I try to comfort her by rubbing her upper arm slightly.
"But not here," he shakes his head. "I mean, what if someone was to walk in on us? That wouldn't be any fun. Deaths are much more enjoyable when there is no way of anyone knowing. But you two know all about that. Isn't that right? When there was no one to witness you two killing the Sages, wasn't it a thrill? The adrenaline pumping through your veins? The blood of your victims… Is the true elixir of life."
Gods, how can this guy live like that!? How can he be so heartless and sadistic!?
"Let's take this elsewhere, shall we?" He extends his hand out to us, like he's offering to hold our hands.
And all of a sudden… I feel light headed… Sleepy… Peaceful…
- - - - - - - - -
Location: Grand Hylian Freeway System, GHF 624 Northbound Entrance. Lon Lon Village Outskirts, Hyrule Field Prefecture.
Date: Sunday June 24, 2007.
Time: 7:24 PM. 36 Minutes until the Festival of Lifelong Happiness.
"…U-ugh…"
I stir slowly, rubbing my eyes clean of tears.
I-I'm in a field. Grass is everywhere. There's a road leading to a freeway, and a village in the distance… but that's it.
Z-Zelda! Where's Zelda!
"…Mmm…" A soft voice mumbles behind me. I turn around, and there's Zelda, lying in the grass with her back turned to me.
"Zelda!" I whisper, crawling over to her and shaking her softly. "Z-Zelda! Zelda, wake up!"
"Uhhh… Huh?" She groans softly, slowly waking up. She turns on her back and her eyes open, staring up at me. "Link?"
"Yeah," I smile. "Are you alright?"
"…Yeah," she nods. "…Where are we?"
I shake my head slightly. "I don't know. In a field somewhere…"
…G-Ganondorf! Dammit, where'd he go!?
Out of nowhere, there's a rattling sound, like a type writer clacking rapidly… Gunshots! It sounds like a… a machine gun!
"Wake up!" A distant voice calls. I know that voice…
I turn around, and there's a jet black convertible on the road. And the person behind the wheel, wielding the machine gun… Is Ganondorf!!!
He aims the gun at the ground, a few feet in front of us, and open fire. Dirt, grass and a few bugs fly into the air and the bullets pound into the earth, and I shield Zelda to keep her from getting hurt, huddling her into me.
"H-how can we beat him when he has that much of an advantage!?" Zelda yells over the gunshots.
"I don't know!" I yell back, holding her head to my chest. I open an eye, desperately looking around for something—anything—that we can use… Ah! T-that's…
On the road next to us… It's the car Zelda gave me when we first met! B-but how did it get all the way over here!? …T-the hell is going on!? Ah, no matter!
"Come on!" I stand up, helping Zelda to her feet. "It's my car!"
"W-what!?" She stares at me with confused eyes.
"I don't know, either! But we have to get to Epona!" I use the name I gave the car. "We can at least try to get away from him with the car!"
I rush Zelda in front of me, shielding our faces from the flying dirt and mud and Ganondorf trails his aim behind us. We approach the car… Great! It's unlocked! I open the driver's door and rush Zelda into it, pushing her into the passenger seat. I get in myself, and slam the door shut.
A-ah! Even my keys are in the ignition! Did Ganondorf somehow get my car all the way from Castle Town to here!? What does it matter, anyway!?
I hurriedly turn on the ignition, shift into drive, and slam my foot against the gas. The wheels screech for a few seconds, and we take off.
I hear Ganondorf start his own car, and from the rearview mirror I can see that although he's pretty far behind, he's catching speed. I check the digital gauges in front of me… I'm doing 95 MPH… Just how much can this baby do!? I'll need every bit of this car's capabilities if I even want to stand a chance against Ganondorf.
I turn the corner and onto the onramp to the freeway.
"A-are you alright, Zelda?" I ask her, shifting gears. I glance over to her. She's tense, and her face and dress is covered in dirt and a few spots of dried blood. She nods and I smile warmly trying to calm her down. But that's a daunting task, since we're doing 90 on a 60-limit freeway and under fire by a machine gun.
I speed up, checking the mirror again. Ganondorf's firing onto the road with his left hand, while his right is on the wheel. I can tell he's having trouble maneuvering the gun, since he's not using his dominant hand to shoot at us.
"L-Link!" I hear Zelda gasp.
"What!?" I yell over the gunfire. "What is it!?"
She reaches into the backseat… and pulls out the two guns we used in the library! Did Ganondorf plant those, too?
"Give me one," I motion my right hand to her. "I'll try to slow him down and—"
"No," she shakes her head.
Z-Zelda!? Are you crazy!? "Why not!?"
"I'll do it," she says firmly, holding a C275 to her chest. Z-Zelda!?
"You're driving, anyway!" She cries out. "You'll kill us by trying to drive and aim at someone coming from behind!"
S-she's got a point…
"Are you sure?" I ask her in a worried voice. W-what if she gets shot? What if she gets killed? I almost lost her twice… I'm not gonna risk losing her again!
"I'm Hyrule's princess," she nods. "It's my duty to protect this country, even if it means my life."
Zelda…
"…Alright," I nod reluctantly. I reach for the button to the moon roof, and I slide it open.
"Just try to out drive him, and I'll do the rest," she says to me, getting out of her seat. She crawls onto the armrest between our seats and pokes her head out of the moon roof. Goddesses Zelda, please be safe.
I hear Ganondorf's machine gun go off, and I slide my window open to get a better view of the surroundings. It's nighttime, and our only sources of light are the overhead lights on the freeway. But I can see Ganondorf all too well.
"Come on, Zelda!" He yells, stopping his barrage of bullets. "Gimme all you got! My Gods, this brings back so many memories!"
I hear Zelda's gun go off twice, and from my side view mirror, I can see she missed both times; the first hit the road, and the second hit the grille of his car.
"H-he's catching up!" I hear Zelda yell at me. Dammit! "Can you drive faster, Link!?"
I check my meters: 102 miles-per-hour. "I'm doing the best I can!"
I look back to the road… "DAMMIT!"
The freeway hairpins to the right, and I jerk the steering wheel in the direction, just barely missing the barriers on the left side.
"A-ahhh!" Zelda squeals. I see her hand grip at the side of the car, her fingers poking through my window.
"You alright over there!?" I panic. Gods, I almost threw her out the moon roof!
"I'm fine!" I hear her reply. "Ganondorf took a different junction, though! But I see him! When the turn ends, change lanes to the left so I can get a better aim at him!"
"R-right!" I nod. I impulsively turn on my blinker before I change lanes, but I quickly turn it off. Gods, there isn't anyone on the road! Damn impulses…
I speed up, pushing to 106 miles-per-hour, and there Ganondorf appears to my left from the ramp he took. He somehow got his car to the opposite side of the barrier, where cars go in the opposite direction. He shoots at me a few times, but he barely misses and blows off my side view mirror. The mirror shards fly everywhere, cutting through the sleeve of my shirt and scraping my left cheek a few times, but I'm fine.
"That's a damn good car you got there, Avalon!" I hear Ganondorf cackle. "Damn pain to teleport it all the way over here, too!"
I try to tune him out. Just drive, Link. Focus on the road, and let Zelda do the rest. She's capable of much more than she lets people on to believe. Don't listen to Ganondorf. Don't listen to Ganondorf…
I glance over to him, and he turns around in his seat, both hands off the wheel, and while his car continues moving, opens fire on us!
"Argh!" I cover the side of my face with my left hand as his bullets rattle against the hood and the rims of the tires.
"To the right!" Zelda cries out after firing three times. "Drive to the right!"
I maneuver to the right until we're on the far-right lane, safe from Ganondorf's onslaught.
"You alright?" I turn to her, slowing down a little bit.
"I'm fine," she looks down at me. "You?"
"Yeah," I give her a thumbs up. "Are you hurt?"
"A-a little bit," she breathes heavily. She shows me her right shoulder, where her sleeve is torn and blood is running out of her shoulder. But it looks like a pretty minor cut. "Ganondorf almost shot my shoulder… but I'm alright. Don't worry about me."
I stare at her for a few seconds, but I nod in understanding. "Come on," I nod. "We're going back to the left… And I'll help out this time," I reach for the spare gun on Zelda's seat and cock it.
And with that, I speed up again and swerve to the left, where Ganondorf is still driving on the other side of the divider. I fire relentlessly, popping holes in the side of his car and shattering the front passenger window. The shards fly in every which direction, some cutting his face.
"DAMMIT!" He howls, shaking his head, blood visibly splattering off his skin. His car zigzags on the road, leaving skid marks in the wake of each turn. But he quickly regains control and speeds up; firing at us again, hitting the trunk, sparks flying everywhere. Bullets from Zelda's pistol soar in Ganondorf's direction, hitting the divider and the road.
BANG! POP!
One of Zelda's bullets takes out the rear-right tire on his car! Great shot!
The tire quickly deflates and his car visibly sinks to the back, thanks to how fast he's going. Sparks fly everywhere as the axle scrapes and grates against the road. The friction causes the flat tire to smoke up.
"S-shit!" Ganondorf roars, glancing at his flat tire and glaring straight at Zelda. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" He opens fire in her direction. "DIE!"
"Zelda!" I yell, "Get back in the car! Hurry!"
She instantly ducks down and gets back into the front passenger seat. Ganondorf's shower of bullets takes out the back passenger window behind me and the rear window, shattering the glass to bits.
The bullets stop for a second, and I take advantage of it to yell at Zelda, "Hurry! Get back up and fire at him with all you've got!"
"R-right!" She looks at me and nods. She climbs back up, trying not to touch the broken glass, cocks her gun, and opens fire.
"A-AGHH!" He cries out in pain as one of her shots gets him in the shoulder, blood shooting out of the wound. This causes him to lose control of his car. But his foot is still on the gas, since he's still moving dangerously fast. His car veers, spinning around, leaving spiraling skid marks on the road, and it plows into the road barrier next to the far-left lane.
An explosion. The car bursts into flames. The smell of burning oil fills the air, though I think some of it is from us as well.
Ganondorf's body is lying on its stomach, feet away from the collision site. He doesn't move. There's no sign of him moving. Completely still.
…I-is that it? Is he dead? Have we done it? There's no way he could have survived being thrown out of his car, not to mention the blood loss all the cuts and wounds he suffered.
I quickly press on the brakes, our tires screeching as I do so. We almost topple over, but I swerve in the opposite direction to stop us from doing so. I turn off the engine and fan my hand outside my window towards the hood. I was right; some of that burning gas and oil smell was coming from us. I check my gas gauge; we started this whole car chase with a full tank… now we're only at ten percent. I'm surprised we even have that much; how far have we traveled, anyway, especially considering how fast I've been driving.
"…I-is… Is he…?" Zelda whispers, lowering her gun and placing on the roof of the car.
"I… I think so," I breathe heavily, trying to catch my breath. "…I… I'll go check." I pick up my gun, unlock my door, and step outside of the car.
"Be careful," she says to me. I turn around to face her, and I smile kindly. "I will."
I face forwards and walk over to Ganondorf. I hop over the road divider, tripping slightly, and head over to him, approaching with caution.
…Yeah, he's dead alright. His body doesn't rise and fall in a breathing manner, and the growing puddle of blood he's lying face-down in doesn't exactly look like a sign of health…
I step closer to him just an inch more. "You're pathetic," I spit at him quietly.
"…You think so?"
!!! W-w-what the—!??!
His outstretched right hand suddenly jerks forwards and grips at my left ankle! H-how did he… But I saw… How the hell is he still alive!?
He raises his head to face me… His piercing red eyes practically blend in with his blood-covered face, which in turn completely contrasts his perfectly white teeth. And before I can do anything, he pulls my ankle forward, tripping me to the ground.
"Ugh!" My back hits the concrete with a thud. I manage to get back up rather quickly and aim my gun at him, but he's already standing, his clothes and skin drenched in his own blood. He punches me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.
"Agghh!!!" I stumble backwards. Then he smacks me in the face with his machine gun, then again in the opposite direction. Back and forth, back and forth. My gun flies out my hand, but he catches it in the air, and shoots at me.
"AAGH!" The bullet grazes against my right shoulder, tearing my sleeve, and getting me a wound similar to Zelda's. It's bleeding, but nothing serious.
I fall to my knees, unable to get up anymore. I'm at my limit… I'm way past my limit… I don't know how in the world that ancestor of mine dealt with this kind of hell, but his endurance trait obviously never caught on to me.
He has the barrel of my gun pressed against my forehead.
"You fought well," he smirks at me. "But now we know… just who the bigger man is."
I just stare up at him, putting on my hardest face. But inside, I'm scared witless. I've come this far…
"Look at you, Avalon," he spits in my face. "You're the pitiful one. Down on your knees, seconds away from your death… And you still wear that mask of contempt. Wanna go out with a bang? Want the world to know just how close you were to killing me? To die with that little badass glare of yours? …Just cut the charade and break down…" The gun clicks. "I can wait."
BANG. POP.
Ganondorf lets out a roar of pain, his head thrown backwards as he howls into the night. He has a wound in his temple. But it's no normal wound… A gun shot!
His body wavers a little, rocking to the side, before he falls backwards with a loud crash.
I stare at him in shock… His eyes are wide open, rolled into the back of his head. His mouth is open. His entire body is tense. Rigor mortis is kicking in… And that's it… He's dead… For real…
I slowly turn around… And there's Zelda, her torso poking out the moon roof, with her smoking C275 aimed with both hands in my direction. She shot Ganondorf! She opens her clenched eyelids and lowers her gun. She quickly gets back into the car and out of the driver's door. She hops over the barrier, and runs to my side, throwing her gun away as she runs.
"L-Link!" She kneels to my side. "A-are you alright?"
"Never better…" I shake my head sarcastically, falling backwards. She catches my head in her lap and she wipes my bangs and the dirt and blood off my face. Her hair is like a veil over me; her hair tie flew off, most likely while I was driving.
"Y-you're bleeding," she whispers, gesturing to my shoulder cut.
"…Y-yeah," I glance over to it and grin sheepishly. I look up at her and point to her shoulder. "So are you," I laugh, trailing my hand to her face to stroke her chin.
She frowns at me slightly, but then she giggles softly as well.
I look over to the overhead highway sign on the other side of the road where our car is. There's a digital display.
8:00 PM
HERE'S TO A THOUSAND MORE YEARS OF LIFELONG HAPPINESS
HAPPY FESTIVAL OF LIFELONG HAPPINESS
Ah… You've come full circle, Ganondorf… And now you're really gone… forever.
- - - - - - - - -
Location: Hyrule Castle, First Floor—Grand Ballroom. Hyrule Castle Town, Light Prefecture.
Date: Sunday June 24, 2007.
Time: 9:54 PM.
When we finally got back to Hyrule Castle… It took forever to get cleaned up.
Zelda managed to get a deep blue tuxedo for me at the last second. It doesn't fit me very well; it's a probably a size too big, but hey… It's better than showing up to the ball with my bloodied, tattered clothes… Though I would make some serious headlines.
As for Zelda, well, she didn't have a problem picking out an outfit, since it was prepared days before we even met. A white—what does Malon call it, a halter-top—dress that shows off ample cleavage. It's solid until it reaches her mid-thigh, and from there the skirt flows and is kind of translucent. Triforce earrings dangle of her ears, as always, and her hair is goes down and partially covers the left side of her face.
We both covered our cuts with some of her makeup. I have to admit that it felt weird having that stuff applied to my face… but once again, we can't show up all bloody, right?
"Man, Link!" Sheik cries out. "What have you been doing this whole time!?"
"Yeah," Malon huffs. "You promised you'd spend some time with us, and then you wander off to who-knows-where with Zelda!"
"Ahh," I smile sheepishly, scratching the back of my head. "You guys are better off not knowing."
The frown on Sheik's face fades away and twists into a sly grin. "Ah, I see. You're not one to sleep and tell. I gotcha."
I glare at him and push him playfully. "I didn't do that!"
"Yeah, Sheik," Malon glares at him too. "You were right; Link is way too uptight to try that stuff on a girl like Zelda."
I stare at the redhead in disbelief. "W-what!?" Why are they picking on me!? Is it like some payback for not spending time with them!? It's not like I even had a choice!
"Man…" I fold my arms across my chest, knitting my brow. "Forget you guys."
"We're kidding!" They both laugh, patting me on both shoulders. "Gods, aren't you sensitive?"
I smile softly and shake my heads. Finally, it feels like everything is back to normal. I can finally forget everything that's happened the past two days.
"But you missed all the festivities," Malon tilts her head to the side. "When 8:00 came along, everyone was so happy and celebrating… But the rumors about the Sages coming up at Hylia Square were false, it turned out. They didn't show up."
I chuckle softly at that. Shame, I would have loved to see what it was the Sages really planned on doing tonight.
"But at least you showed up," Sheik shrugs. "Better late than never, right?"
"Yeah," I nod.
"Link," I hear a voice say behind me.
I turn around, and there's Zelda, smiling at me.
"Oh," my face lights up. That's right; I never introduced her to Malon or Sheik. "Hey, come over here."
She nods and stands next to me, and I point to Malon and Sheik. "That's Malon Adame… And that's Sheik Adlez."
"Nice to finally meet you," Zelda grins kindly. "Link's told me a lot about you two."
"Yeah," Sheik blushes slightly. "We, uh, wish we could say the same about you."
Zelda just giggles at that. It's like she doesn't even remember what happened… More like, she's just trying not to. I can relate. So much crap has happened… It's better that we don't even think about it or mention it to each other, much less to anyone else.
The band on stage slowly starts playing an orchestrated instrumental of one of Marin Tarin's ballads and the crowds grow quiet as people start dancing.
"Hey Sheik!" Malon turns to him. "It's the last song of the night!"
"I know," he nods, and extends his arm to her. "May I have this last dance?"
She just giggles stupidly and hooks her arm with his, and they walk off before waving at us.
"They're cute," Zelda looks at me from the corner of her eyes.
"Yeah," I nod with a lopsided smile. "They're fun to be with. They're crazy… but they're my sanity, too."
I slowly turn to her, scratching the back of my head. "So, uh… Zelda?"
"Yeah?" She raises an eyebrow slightly.
"…Would you like to dance?" I ask timidly, blushing a little. Gods that must have sounded so damn cheesy… To be honest, I'm a terrible dancer, so of course I'm nervous… And with all these famous people? Damn…
She laughs softly and nods. "I'd love to."
I slowly place my hands on her waist and she puts her arms around my neck, and before long, we're slowly moving in sync with the music. I rest my forehead against hers and connect gazes with her. A few seconds later, she smiles and starts giggling.
"What's so funny?" I ask her, chucking myself.
"Nothing," she shakes her head against mine. I just shake my head back and pull her closer to me.
"…Hey," I whisper to her after a few minutes.
"Yeah?" She asks, raising her head a little.
"Remember when you said you loved me back there?"
She blushes softly at my question. "…Yeah…"
I smirk slyly and kiss her softly. She gasps sharply, but before long I feel her warm up to me. A few seconds pass, and I slowly pull away from her.
"I never told you I love you back, huh?"
So ends my third story A World of Lies. It's been fun, guys. But all things must come to an end, and I'm very glad how this story turned out.
And remember, A World of Lies Cliff's Notes is up for free download on my blog. Look for the side panel, A World of Lies Cliff's Notes. Hopefully that little document will clear up unsolved questions, you'll read some information that will make you go, "…Ohhh!", and it has some fun trivial information that I enjoyed typing up.
…Now what? What's next after this? To be honest, I don't know. Usually I'd have AWoL's successor up by now, but alas, there is none… I already have an idea for my next big story (which has been racing circles in my head since chapter eighteen), but it's pretty vague. But what I have so far I really like, and the plot I think is like no other in Zelda fanfiction (because I have yet to see a story like it here).
So because I probably won't see you here for a while (at least until I put out my next oneshot, if I ever get one before the big boy comes out), lets talk elsewhere—AIM, MySpace, Wii messaging email—whatever's in the contact section in my profile and convenient for you, and I'll do my best to reply. Continue to check my blog at SirJoshizzle(dot)BlogSpot(dot)com, because that's where you're going to find all the information on my next story that I'll be leaking out in slow but sure increments. And be sure to drop a line every now and then so I know you're alive and well.
…That's it for now, I guess. It's been real, everyone. I'll talk to you all when I talk to you. Thank you very much for all the reviews, hits and support that I've gotten the past year with you all here at Zelda fanfiction. I feel like the SirJoshizzle train has yet to leave the station. I don't know where I'm headed, but hopefully you'll continue to follow wherever it goes.
Have a very happy New Year, stay safe, and Enjoy Life and Smile.
End time: Thursday December 27, 2007; 8:35 PM PST