Part Two

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the character Mortivore

By Saxophone
Eight

2 years after the death of Mortivore. Link was happily married to Malon, 
Sheik is currently engaged to Zelda, and Nabooru has lost most of her money from gambling, but is gaining it back by running her own casino. Everyone seems happy, until now. Deep underneath the Temple of Time, there was a rattling, a dark creature broke a hole right through its coffin and wrecked the lightless crypt that was formerly its last resting-place. It tore a hole in the wall, where he greeted his most loyal servant. "Good day, master." Tatl said. "I never thought you'd take so long to come back this time." "Where are we?" Mortivore asked. "Under The Temple of Time." Tatl said. "Then we obliterate the church." Mortivore said. Mortivore broke Tatl's prison, then he ripped a hole in the ceiling, and interrupted the service in session. Mortivore razed the temple to cinders, and there were no survivors. He then set out with his minion to strike vengeance on those who had crushed him in his former life. As a walking abomination, with some pieces of flesh rotting and infested with worms, he drew more attention to himself then expected. He first approached Nabooru, and ravaged her office. He did his work with such passion, however, that Nabooru escaped. With control over the stadium, he summoned Sheik, Link, Zelda and Malon to his office. "What the heck?!? I thought I killed you!" Sheik said. Just then, Mortivore closed his eyes, and his next victims were shackled to the floor. "You have not seen even a drop of water in the ocean of my power." Mortivore said. "But how'd you come back from the dead?" Link asked. "I will never die." Mortivore simply stated. There was a short silence, and with the blink of his normally unblinking eyes, all but Link were dead. He noticed that the others were dead, and he fell to the floor in an attempt to fake his death, and hopefully escape from the stadium. Their remains were dumped into a huge bin, and when no one was watching, he got out. He could've sworn he heard someone's breathe other then his in that bin. Not quite grasping what had just happened, he fled the city to go south to Termina, a land that is protected by forests, and mountains. But first, he'll have to go to The Shadow Temple. It was already the night, the cold, cold night. It wasn't snowing, but it unquestionably could. As he waked across the plains, his thoughts turned to what had just happened, and then it hit him: he would never see Malon again. As that thought swirled about in his head, he wished he could have his memory extracted again, to forget the pain he was feeling right now. In a world where everything was rational, and bound by limits, there was 1 creature that was not. It would never die, it ate death, and it could kill 3 people in the blink of an eye. Link's sorrow began to consume him, and he realized just how fragile life was. It was as if a shadow had gone over him, a shadow that eclipsed all hope. When he got to the Shadow Temple, he found a good place to rest and fell asleep. The next morning, the newspaper headlines all read the same thing "Mortivore lives, dethrones Nabooru as tyrant of corrupt city." Link wanted to put as much distance between him and Mortivore as he could, so he had breakfast, and went through the gateway to Termina. He continued southward to Termina, where he would be safe. In about an hour he found the burnt desert, a hazardous land where fire spewed from random points in the ground. Fortunately, he was only traveling through part of it, and it didn't take more then 2 hours to cross. Around noon, he went into a huge polluted field, far worse then anything in the city. It was brimming with things from other existences of intelligent life in the world, and let out a stench so powerful it could kill a pigeon. Link got out of there pretty fast, and near the end of his journey in this unsanitary landfill, he found a white colored lake, littered with dead or dying fish. link somehow had an impulse to look inside, and he saw Malon's face. Link tried to reach his hand in there to touch it, but he couldn't. His hand went right through the face. link left that place, and vowed never to come back. He accidentally went off course, and found himself in a great jungle that was infested with monsters. This place was a living nightmare. The trees were so thick, no sunlight could come down, and the thorn bushes were so large and concentrated, that Link had to go around them. It was as if he had hurled himself into a gigantic pitch-black maze with razor sharp edges. At one point he thought he heard something following him, but he never saw it, and denied it's existence. The whole world was blotted out from the sun, until he found a hole in the canopy with a footprint at the bottom. Then he remembered just how dangerous this forest was, with it's massive, tree felling monstrosities. They were around the same size as elephants. He kept on feeling as though someone or something was following him. He sat down for a rest, the first rest he'd had in days. Then it struck.

Nine

Whatever it was, it had been going for Link's neck, but missed, and hit him on the head. Link began running, into a sunlit footprint. It followed him, and Link found out what it was. It was an elemental creature of the forest, a revenant. It looked like a green bear, with an elephant's head, and 2 large bluish backward claws, that go all the way back to it's elbows. It also had normal claws that were white as ivory. It took a quick slash at Link's throat, but Link blocked it. Now that Link had his sword out, he began to slash at the creature. He attacked the beast with several quick blows to the face most of them blocked. Link was too busy attacking its face to notice that the revenant was only standing on 1 foot. It cut Link's shoe right open, and did a backward flip landing on its fingernails, to prevent retaliation. If this creature was THAT balanced, that it could attack, and defend on 1 foot, and land on its fingernails, Link didn't stand a chance. If he ran it would run faster, if he hid it would find him because this was his jungle, and if he fought he would surely lose. It seemed hopeless. Link thought it might give him a better chance if he stayed and fought. At least he might win… Well, as the beast stood on its claw, Link ran up to it, and attempted to cut of its arm. It was a nice try, but the revenant cartwheeled out of the way, and only managed to lose a thumb. Monsters have thumbs now?!? It seems humans may not be the most advanced for long. The revenant got on all 4 of its claws, and grew a unicorn's horn out of nowhere. It charged right at Link, but missed, and hit a tree. It pulled it's horn out, and charged again. This time, Link was ready, he jumped out of the way, and put a big gash on its side. Annoyed at this, the revenant sprouted wings, and flew high in the air. It dive-bombed Link, but that was an obvious mistake, because Link had his sword ready. It hit the revenant right in the forehead. It should've been dead, but it plowed through the sword as if it weren't there. Link was hit in the chest by its horn, and he only survived, because he always wore his light armor. The monster was only stunned long enough to allow Link to pull out his sword. Despite it's several, and 1 normally lethal wounds, it was in no pain at all. Now that it was up high again, the revenant got its next trick ready. It spat fire at link. He was lucky enough that it was a bad shot, and hit nothing but dirt. It dove for Link again, but lost a wing. It simply grew a new one, and began flying upside-down. It was low to the ground, and attacked Link with all 4 of its limbs. He took a couple scratches, but nothing big. Link was knocked down by this assault, and the revenant turned it's bluish white claw forward, to deliver the final blow. Link rolled out of the way, got up, and retrieved his sword. The monster hadn't expected this, and got its head cut off. It kept on fighting, and it grew a new head, exactly like the 1 before, but then it began to rain. It seemed annoyed at this at first, but since they were in a jungle, the torrential downpours started. After about 5 minutes of this, it collapsed, turned red, and changed to many different shapes at once, as if it could not control its unique power. Soon, it melted into nothing, and died. Link stayed under a natural umbrella of leaves, and then the insects came out. They were relentless, and bit anything that would stand still long enough. There were also loud frogs out. They would chirp so loudly, and so strongly, that it nearly drove Link mad. Unfortunately, he later found himself near a giant lake. This was where the large beasts roamed. He could see them right now. He ventured to look inside the lake, and it was clear as a crystal. It was far deeper then he had imagined , however. He could see the dark silhouettes moving at untold depths below the surface, and migratory plants moving here to refill on water, and then move to places unknown. Link took a sip of water, and it was quite refreshing after that prolonged fight with the revenant. He kept on walking, and soon found himself face to face with a huge desert. 

Ten

The sands were many different colors, some blue, some red, some were even purple. Every color imaginable was in that sand. Link could see that fire didn't spurt from the ground here, and he could also see a huge stone tower wrapped in unmelting ice. He began to walk the long road ahead. Unlike the burnt desert, this one had creatures living in it. There were scorpions with iridescent backs to blend with the sand. There were small, white foxes with gigantic ears. It was just as animated as the jungle he had just left. The cacti were as abundant as the thorn bushes in the jungle, but didn't form a huge, prickly maze. A large, reddish wild cat passed M, as if he wasn't there. The animals had never seen humans before, and Link was unknown, and therefore ignored. When he got to the tower, he knocked on the door. The old man from The Shadow Temple was there. "Now why're you here, sonny?" He asked. "Do you read newspaper?" Link said "Yep, I certainly do." The old man said. "I got away from Mortivore." Link said. "But your name was on the list of dead." The old man said. "They're wrong. I faked getting killed by Mortivore. Do you have today's paper?" Link asked. "Certainly!" The old man answered. It turned out that the old mans name was Rauru, Mortivore built a crematorium by himself in half an hour, and he intended to kill off a fourth of the population, and keep the strong to fight in wars to take over other lands so he can do the same there. Rauru decided the Lost woods were too creepy, and moved to Termina. Mortivore turned the stadium into his palace, and had the gladiators fight to the death every day for his entertainment. Mortivore also promoted industrial growth, and he built every one of those factories himself. Most of the farms were burned, and salted, so if you wanted to eat, you had to ask Mortivore to summon your meals out of nowhere. He also created his own thoughtless soldiers. Mortivore could create life out of nothing. This was amazing, he had to be the most powerful being in the world. Mortivore also abolished all law in Hyrule, and claimed that he was the law. He released a list of new laws, and if any were broken, the consequence, of course was death. Mortivore also burned every Temple with the snap of his fingers, and said that there was no religion but to follow the word of Mortivore. He could also read the minds of his subjects, and he could live with them hating him, but if they planned to take action, even if they were just thinking it, Mortivore would kill them. Nobody was safe, and Mortivore could not only read minds, but also he could also alter geography now. He changed it so that Zora's River went through the center of his palace, and that there was a bottomless pit surrounding the city. If anyone wanted out, they'd have to either fly over, or ask Mortivore to make a bridge. Mortivore also turned water into gold, and kept it all in his treasury. The rivers were poisoned, so that fish could never live there, and the skies were covered in smog, so that birds could never live. When Link put down the newspaper, which was almost exclusively about Mortivore, Rauru invited him to stay at his house for a while. It turns out the tower was created by Rauru himself out of light magic. The next day, Link woke up, and did everything he normally did in the morning. In the newspaper, it turned out that Mortivore created an army of thoughtless drones, to give him even more power, "Invented" gunpowder, and crowned himself Supreme Emperor of Hyrule. Tomorrow he plans to invade The Jungle. Link said goodbye, and left to go south to Termina.

Eleven

Link was now in the middle of a desert, and could see huge valleys, and cliffs off in the distance. They too, were as colorful as the sand he was walking on. It was a rather uneventful walk, until he reached the top of the cliff, and saw a small town with 4 or 5 hoses in it. It was obviously a farming community, because their front yards were fields of mercaw, a fast growing plant that provides corn-like ears, and grows every ear back the next day. The back yards had rips in reality, where the people could fetch themselves just about anything. When Link got down there, a person with a big dog greeted him. "Well hello there. You look new. What's your name? I'm Faram, the town's Oni." He said. "Well, my name's Link. I escaped from Mortivore." Link said. "Well, we have 2 vacant houses, and 1 that nobody touches because it belongs to Darunia. Crazy fellow, he is. He spends all his time in those valleys called the Iridescent Halls looking for treasure. I think he's crazy, but he can search as long as he doesn't break the law" "Can I live here?" Link asked. "Sure, just follow the law. Only one other person lives here, and that's Saria. She'll be your new neighbor." Link went to his new house, and set up everything. It was a very peaceful town, and the rest of the day was uneventful. In here, the jungle was a green line on the horizon, and Rauru's tower was not much bigger. The next day, the newspaper said that Mortivore had taken over the jungle faster then even Mortivore himself had predicted. Mortivore had constructed a monument of himself and created another palace on top of the Shadow Temple. The factories are hard at work making machine parts for more factories, and parts for Mortivore's plans for huge war machines to aid him in world conquest. Also a fusion hut was created to fuse creatures together, and make even more twisted monsters to be used as Mortivore's bio-weapons. Mortivore was also mistreating Tatl. She accidentally broke 1 of Mortivore's lamps so she was killed, reanimated, killed again, and reanimated again. After putting down the newspaper, Link asked Saria, who was across the yard picking mercaw ears, if she knew anything about Tatl. "I used to know her, she use to live in Termina, until she went off on some adventure because it was too boring here." Saria said. "Do you know where Mortivore came from?" Link asked. "No, but he might've been that ancient king from before. So what're you like?" She asked. "Well I don't know much before I became a gladiator. My memory was extracted for some reason." Link said. Link explained everything that had happened up to now. "Well, I can't help you much, but sometimes little pieces of memory are not extracted, and they mix with the pieces of the day's caravan. Then they brew in the dark abyss of the mind to create dreams, so if you want to know why you got your memory extracted, it's probably in your dreams." Saria suggested. "I never remember my dreams." Link said. "Well then, you'll have to talk to an expert, because I'm not." Saria said. For a while nothing happened, but the subject of the memory extraction, and Darunia kept turning up. In the newspaper, Mortivore was taking over more distant lands, and committing crimes against nature. He even seared half of Hyrule field just because he needed more space for a warehouse to store machine parts. Tatl began to show signs of disrespect, maybe even hate for her master. Mortivore threw her into his new dungeon underneath the palace for 3 months when she was caught sabotaging the bottomless pit. When she got out, at first Tatl showed genuine hate for Mortivore, but it slowly died away…

Twelve

After several uneventful months in Termina, the New Year was approaching. The newspapers always said the same thing now. "Mortivore wins again!" "Mortivore makes a new building." Mortivore this, Mortivore that, it was driving Link crazy! Mortivore was the only news out there. By this time Link had stopped reading the news, he found it pointless to read about the same thing he'd read about yesterday. Saria was the only one who even cared about what happened up north now. But then, another person came to the town. If you hadn't noticed, the town was so small, it didn't have a proper name. "Stop right there." Faram said, "What's your business in our town?" Faram had stopped a mysterious figure in old, and worn looking robes, wearing a plain white mask. "My name is Zelda, I'm just passing through." She said. "Alright, feel free to take a look around, if you like." Faram said, and he opened the gate. Zelda walked in, and saw Link writing a letter to the newspaper. "Link?!? I thought you were dead!" She said in amazement. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Who the heck are you anyway?" Link said. "I'm Zelda, you probably thought I was dead too." She answered while removing her mask. Zelda hadn't changed much; she just dressed differently now. "Did anyone else survive?" Link asked. "No." She said. "I faked being killed by that thing. I noticed that you weren't there before they burned the rest of us. I assumed they burned you first. When they picked me up, I hit him on the head with the nearest crowbar. Now I'm a fugitive from Mortivore." "Why didn't he kill us? Did he just sort of miss us or something, or was this purposeful?" Link asked. "I think he meant to spare you, but accidentally protected me too. He might've let you live because he wanted to torture you personally, but I'm not sure." She said. Link concluded that Zelda survived, but was just as oblivious as he was. Zelda stayed there for a day or 2, but then another stranger came to this town. "Alright, this is the third weirdo that's come to town now! Please state your name, and purpose for coming here." Faram said. "We're here to terminate Zelda." One of the 3 said, in a voice sounding suspiciously like Mortivore. "We don't let bounty hunters in! Just who do you think you are?" Faram said. "We are the century drones. Resistance is intolerable." Said the same one. He then pulled out a knife, gouged it into Faram's heart, and walked off, not even bothering to retrieve the blade. They ambled through the town, searching for Zelda, then they found her. Link was nearby, and heard a scream, when he got there, 3 guys were trying to kill Zelda, so he tried to help her out. It ended up that, after a few seconds, one of them was left with their head on the floor. Zelda had run away, so Link had a chance to talk to one, while he was trying to defend the city. "Who are you?" Link asked, "I'm Mortivore. You should be dead." He said. "But I thought he was up north." Link said. "I am. I'm everywhere." It said. "But you're up north! Not here!" M protested. "I am God. I can do anything" It said casually. By now Link had killed another Century drone. The last one retreated into the sky when it grew wings. Link was amazed; Mortivore was able to control others, as if they were an extension of him. If this kept up, they'd surely kill Zelda sooner or later. Link scanned the city for Zelda, and eventually found her on the outskirts with her mask on. "Wait! I'll come too. You need someone to kill the century drones, if you keep on running away, they'll eventually kill you." Link said. "No Link, they're relentless, you'll get killed." Zelda said. "Well if I can't come to help you, I'll come to see where you're going." Link said. "I don't know where I'm going." Zelda said. "Then I'll just have to come with you, then." Link said. So they went south, and into a great, unknown piece of the world. 

Thirteen

Link and Zelda went south, and into a strange section of the world. It was as if the oceans, jungle, desert, and stones and fused together into a strand of odd rock and the whole world was covered in these rocks. They were red, were filled with water, were smooth, and had small plants growing out of them. They found the source of the newspaper, a mill in the middle of nowhere with vacuum tunnels going to every house that paid. Today's headline was "Mortivore walks on water, visits troops to aid conquest of distant lands." It was a long headline, but it was the easiest way to sum up everything that the long article said. Tomorrow's paper read "Mortivore finishes first church of Mortivore." It included details like the fact that it requires human or animal sacrifice monthly. Wait a minute… There's next week's paper! Here's the week after that! It had all the newspapers for the rest of the year, as if the mill knew the future. They left it alone, because they didn't want to know if they would die soon. As Link and Zelda went further, they crossed into a tunnel in a mountain. There was no other way but through it. On the other side, the sky was blue, not brown, there were white clouds. It was almost like paradise. That was where they set up camp. It didn't snow at night, and Zelda was happy too. The next day, Link was getting ready to leave, but Zelda stopped him, and told him that she wanted to stay. They stayed for about a week, when disaster approached. Zelda could here Mortivore's voice off in the distance. Then they saw the horrible hoards of Century drones. There had to be 30 or more! And Mortivore knew where they were all along! "Run away," Link said when they were only about 90 yards away "I'll try to hold them off. It'll at least be a diversion." "No, I'll stay too. You'll need all the help you can get." Zelda said. When the drones got there, Zelda began shooting fireballs. She was a bad shot, though, and was only able to kill about 5 before running out of time. Link killed a few, but was paralyzed by one on a horse with a bag full of black balls. When they hit you, almost every muscle goes limp. Zelda was hit too, and fell to the ground. Link was put in a cage, and his sword was confiscated. The leader was a tall bald man. He said, "Now, fugitive, you die." He took M's sword, and asked Zelda "Any last requests?" Zelda said nothing, but spat in his face. "Very well then…" He said, and he stabbed Zelda right through her stomach. Zelda was dead again. After that, the leader broke the sword with his bare hands, and went out on the long journey back to Mortivore's Palace. They went through that tunnel again, and came out by the newspaper mill. When night approached, they were already by the iridescent halls. Link fell asleep that night, and woke up around noon the next day in the scorched jungle. After leaving the jungle, they found themselves in a large stretch of burnt desert he'd never seen. They were heading for Hyrule field, a dot on the horizon. The heat was devastating to Link, but the century drones appeared to be unaffected by even the harshest of the elements. Link felt as if he were being baked, and when they reached Hyrule field, it turned out that most of its population had died in a poison gas attack from Mortivore's army. The place still had a mist that killed almost every small animal there. It was lifeless, except for a few dying people that weren't captured by Mortivore. In the distance there was a huge brown cloud, bigger then any he had ever seen before. As they passed the singing Tiger Inn, he could make out what that cloud was: It was Hyrule Castle. 

Fourteen

Link fell asleep again, but not as long as last time. The cage was moving slowly, and through the streets. In front of him was another cage, there was another behind him. He was in some sick parade for Mortivore's pleasure. Outside there were dead people littering the streets, the pollution was so horrible the sun were almost blotted out, the now rat infested houses had fallen in ruin, and the old statues were covered in rust. It seemed that wherever Mortivore walked, there was suffering. The file went down a long shaft, and 1 by 1, each prisoner was placed in a cell. When it was Link's turn, a century drone told him "You are being imprisoned for illegal emigration, murder of 6 drones, and resisting arrest." The drone had a large leather whip with him. The drone just shackled Link to a wall, and went to subdue a resisting prisoner. At least Link's feet could touch the ground. The drone just whipped the defiant criminal, ignoring his pleas for mercy, and just let the blood run on the floor. They acted like they couldn't even hear him. Link knew now, that since its future occupant had died, on his right side was an empty cell, but what was on the left side? He waited a few minutes for the file to pass. When this was done, Link said to the left wall "Who's over in the next cell?" "I'm Kafei. I'm 12, imprisoned for stealing some water." A voice said back. Everyone was treated with the same harsh judgement. "How long do you have to stay here?" M asked. "I don't know. They told me I'd be in for 6 months, but you can't tell how long a day is in these lightless cells." Kafei said. A few long minutes passed, and then Tatl came in to Link's cell. Light filtered into the room, showing that it was day outside. Tatl had a long rod with a silver handle. She closed the door. "Your Tatl, right?" Link said. Tatl would have looked amazed at this, but Link couldn't see in this light, so he didn't know. Tatl however could see. "How-how did you know my name?!?" She asked. "Don't you remember me? I had a gargoyle fall on me when Sheik killed Mortivore the first time." "Oh, I know you! I thought you were dead! I liked you, I'll tell you what: I'll help you get out of this dump, if you agree to let me torture you like I do to everyone else, so my master doesn't suspect anything." Tatl said. "Done." Link said, and they shook hands. "Oh, right, if you ever get in a fight with master, pull out the silver eye, it's the source of his immortality. After that, you just have to kill him like normal. I'm sorry I have to do this to you, Link." Tatl said. She stuck his staff in a hole in the floor, especially designed for this staff. Link felt a piercing pain in his hands first, but in seconds, it was as if every nerve in his body was being pinched at once. Tatl removed the staff, and the pain left. She then walked out the door, and closed it to go torture his next victim. Then there was a very long time of silence, and Link fell asleep. For what felt like days, Link just stayed there. He noticed how cramped the cells were, and an odd smell coming from the ceiling. He heard 2 voices above him arguing about how long it takes for postmortem to take effect. Later the smell disappeared as strangely as it had come. Other than that, Link had absolutely nothing to do; they had just left him there to rot. Kafei also kept silent. Link soon felt like he was going insane, when Tatl came in. 

Fifteen

Tatl had the staff, but she was also carrying a trowel. "I found out that they placed you next to a shallow wall. It's only about 4 feet deep, I'm sorry I couldn't sneak in a shovel, but they're too big." She said. "How long am I in here?" Link asked. "The rest of your life." Tatl answered. Tatl inserted the staff, and Link had that same terrible pain, but he had a way out. Tatl left, and after a few minutes he began digging. This was quite a task because he was still shackled to the wall. He had a small hole, when he heard Kafei talking to someone, and setting him free. A few more lengthy silences later, Link had a slightly deeper and wider hole, but the trowel broke. After about 2 hours of boredom, the door opened, and not Tatl, but Mortivore walked in. For a minute he looked at the trowel, then the hole, and then at Link. He shouted something in an unknown tongue, and left. Later a guard entered, and told Link that he was to be executed by way of guillotine tomorrow. Link now felt that having a memory extraction had solved nothing, and that he had wasted his life. He didn't have the energy to do anything but sleep. The next day, a guard unshackled Link, and led him to the blood stained device that would end his final day. There was a crowd near the guillotine, and Mortivore sat on his throne, smiling. The guard asked "Any last words?" "My life has always been over, I just wasn't dead yet." Link said. They inserted his head into the contraption, cut the wire, and the blade fell. Link could see nothing but black. "It's now or never!" Tatl thought. Mortivore was making a speech while Link's head rolled into a basket, and the audience was stained in his blood. Tatl aimed her gun at Mortivore's head, pulled the trigger, and heard a shriek of pain. After what happened after that, Mortivore was gone forever. The world was at peace.

The End