Dark stared up at the sneering Gerudo, fingers clenched in Link's blood-dark tunic, the dark blossom of his life blood spreading hideously slowly.

"You son of-"

"Now now, Dark – don't insult the mother I never knew," chuckled the Gerudo, striding forward. Zelda floated above them, fingers splayed across the translucent gem's surface as she stared down at them. Ganondorf stared down at them, arms folded.

"I fully intended on taking on all three Triforce pieces – but something stopped me. Do you know what, Dark?" The Hero's shadow didn't reply, eyes locked on his ashen light counterpart.

"Love, Dark." He froze, eyes lifting from Link to the suddenly serious Gerudo.

"I allowed love, insidious as it is, to control me, and in that moment I released a piece of the Triforce and vowed never to seek it again. I even sought, foolishly, to reject the piece that is bound to me," he continued, eyes focused on something no one else could see.

"I can no longer seek the Hero's piece – but he is only one of three who can hold that Triforce, and should it be transferred, I needn't break my promise." He smirked now, eyes bright with some alien fervor.

"I need only for him to expel his last breath, and for the Triforce piece to seek another, equally powerful pawn – you, shadow I once sought to control. You." He laughed, the sound harsh with what Dark could only identify as insanity.

"It is nothing short of genius – to thwart love! The irony makes it all the sweeter – for is Nayru not the Goddess of Love, and is it not by her chosen warrior's will that you even stand here at all? Yes, if is because of love that you, and all of your pathetic Light's heroes, shall perish!" Perhaps he was foolish – and foolhardy, to think he could challenge the King of Evil, even in all his power, Sage augmented and natural. He didn't think – a habit he generally chastised his Light counterpart for – only acted. The shadow magic should have obliterated him, or at least driven him back into the Void, unable to leave until such a time that Zelda or Ganondorf could call him. It should have brought him to his knees, weakened as he was. Perhaps it was because of those shoulds that it did not – perhaps he'd forgotten the essence of who he'd once been. The darkness swallowed him, and he began to give up, as he felt the artificial life in Nyche fade and Link's waning heartbeat slow before stopping entirely. He threw all hope to the wind and curled in on himself, agony and anguish ripping him to pieces – and then it ended. Abrupt and sharp, he pushed away from himself and rose. The darkness retreated, and he saw Ganondorf's madness, the blast of magic released with little or no control – he accepted it. It twisted into him and dispelled.

"Ganondorf," he started, "I know – I know you didn't mean for this to happen." Whispers of his self-righteous hypocrisy weaved through his consciousness – did he not envy this man Link's love, loathe him for the destruction of the world he'd once held dear? Hate. Had it done anything but destroy his world?

"Ganondorf," he repeated, and again accepted another explosion of darkness, feeling his body solidify further. Something else spoke in his mind, and he froze – the Beast. He stepped back now, breathing hard. His eyes snapped to his dying counterpart – and how did he still live? Shivering, he stumbled back more, disoriented.

"L-Link – Link-" Why wasn't he scared, or in pain? What?

Return to your place, foolish shadow. He gasped and felt more than saw the world turn red.

Memories and sounds, smells and tastes, bombarded his mind – he struggled to maintain a semblance of consciousness. What had happened? He could recall returning to the castle, leaving his partners in the desert, but what had occurred now? He shivered and gasped – he was, rather bizarrely, impaled, as it were. He curled his fingers around the sword and tugged, not thinking; liquid fire and icy lightning clashed in his midsection and he doubled over with a sob. Through tears and gathering shadows, he saw Dark and Ganondorf – Ganondorf paradoxically both arrogant and confused, even scared; Dark doubled over in a similar, albeit more upright position to his own. He was gasping for breath, hands clutching at the air viciously. A voice, soft and almost unremembered, rang in his mind.

Link, the Beast has regained control of Dark, as he meant to before – stop them both! We have little more to give you, but please...please remember we're here for you. Not one voice, but eight – the Sages. He shuddered and struggled to his feet, unnoticed by the gloating presence that had batted Ganondorf aside in his own mind and bound Dark in his own body. Old memories – far more ancient even than those of Dark – whispered and screamed, and a voice he knew all too well now spoke in his ear.

"I can see my point has been made – to the one who matters. Reunite yourself with the darkness that protects you and seal the Beast. I cannot promise the Dark King will be whole once more, but I can give you this." He gasped as familiar power surged through him, and the Unem stepped back.

"Rise, Chosen of Farore, Hero of Time – Link. Drive out darkness once more and restore balance to Hyrule – make your Fate!" The Triforce shard blazed, and an innocuous rosy form shimmered free of the bottle he hadn't realized he'd unstoppered.

Heroic instincts. He snorted and rose, lifting the Master Sword and smiling at the familiar weight. The smile was short-lived as he against found himself face to face with his shadow – and he doubted he would be well-received.

Kill him! He surged forward, the crimson world blurring in his impossible speed; the sole colour beside red was green, making the hero insultingly easy to hone in on. However, whatever he'd expected, his reaction was not it.

Link hurled his shield and ducked the blind blow, kicking out into Dark's knees; this was not the time to fear for his shadow's life or his mind – he had faith, and it was enough. He didn't bother trying to do anything fancy (his life was on the line, and something was eating the Gerudo man's soul, essentially – time was a nonentity here); the Hookshot connected solidly with Dark's shoulder and drove him back with enough force to slam him into the wall and knock him out. A blast of light sent Ganondorf flying just in time for Link to turn out of the way of his magic attack. He gaped as the Princess of Hyrule summoned another blazing lotus of magic, turning this one to Dark.

"Princess-"

"Not now, Link! The arrows, the golden arrows – take them. I will heal Dark. Navi, go with him – hurry!" Zelda watched the green-clad hero scale the enormous pillar, the ceiling having been obliterated by the force of Zelda's attack. She froze when she felt the shift in consciousness from Dark and mentally swore, turning quickly.

"Dark."

"Princess." The shadow's eyes had the same oily, unfocused look she recalled from – somewhere; an old memory of a kidnapping, or some such nonsense. The here and now were far more relevant and possibly fatal. The shadowy Master Sword whipped past her head and down toward her shoulders; she dropped and rolled, barely yanking up the discarded Mirror Shield as she summoned a spear of light. Sheik's relentless training in the shadow world was summoned in a moment, and she rose, shield up, spear lowered to Dark's chest. The shadow chuckled.

"Brave – foolish, and brave." She smiled genially at him.

"Even the bravest fool will prevail with faith and love." He snorted and swung. She caught the blade on the spear shaft, skidding backward. Sparks flew and lit the air in bright flashes, illuminating determined and bloodlust blank eyes. Zelda against found herself corned, spinning the spear and occasionally performing fast shield bashes, searching with rapidly increasing desperation for a way out. Dark wasn't fighting her in a fashion she was familiar with – the attacks were too efficient, too intensely focused on quickly disarming and stunning the enemy. The aggressive power was gone – he was a puppet. Taking a deep breath, she stared him in the eyes, dropping the shield with a heavy clang. The spear disappeared with a muted flash.

"Dark." The shadow slowed, eyes narrowed – he sensed or knew she was up to something (she wasn't exactly being subtle).

"Wake up." The flash was, in a word, searing.

Link panted, weaving a little.

"Navi, this isn't working – I can't hit him often enough and there aren't enough arrows-"

"Link, shut up and charge your magic attack."

"What-"

"Don't ask, just do it!" He groaned but nevertheless did as he was told, confused. Navi screeched shrilly for him to move, and luckily for his lagging mind, his body responded. The sickly orbs were reflected, and he fumbled an arrow into his bow, barely hitting him. The ensuing scream was nothing a human could have created – all cracking glass and searing lightning. He gasped, stumbling back as the Evil King's body fell.

"Link!" He turned, stumbling when Zelda all but slammed into him.

"Z-Zelda-"

"No time! This way!" He barely recognised she was leading him through a rapidly crumbling castle; Evil's last breath expelled enough power to destroy the land around them, but the magic of the Sages held it together. The castle was another matter entirely.

"Link!" The princess's scream did penetrate his dizziness – heroic instincts again. He yelped and ducked the furious Lizalfo's attack, swearing loudly and in several languages, beheading it with an overpowered swing. Din's Fire toasted the next two to a nice charred state, and he all but threw Zelda through the door. They stumbled from the castle for the final time and stared up at it as it crumbled and dissolved beneath waves of dark energy.

"I-It's over-" Link slapped a hand over the princess's mouth.

"No, it's not, and don't say that – that's all we need, he'll just come back from the dead or something equally unfair-" The roar cut him off, and he answered with more vulgarity.

"See? Don't say things like that!" He was bone weary, bloodied, emotionally exhausted, and barely coherent. One more fight wasn't anything, right?

Except he could feel himself fading again – the wound Dark had given him hadn't healed completely, and he was trembling uncontrollably; the Master Sword dipped and wove in a drunken dance barely an inch from the blackened earth. Zelda finally noticed the hero's sad condition, but could do little more than he – her powers were directly linked to the amount of danger she was in, and the Triforce currently registered the hero as being conscious, and therefore able to protect her. It was an artifact, and not infallible – it was not the Goddesses themselves.

"Link, I'm so sorry – we don't have a choice-"

"Oi! Leggo, flutterbug, go away! Link, go over there – actually, give me that-" Link gaped as the Master Sword was unceremoniously yanked from his hands, "and give the Light Arrows to Nyche." Dark glowered at him.

"Don't just stand there, dummy! Give them to her!" The soul shadow smiled apologetically at him, holding out a hand. He handed them over numbly, staring. The Sages stood in a semi-circle behind the two shadows.

"I'm tired of them ordering us around in their safe little Chamber – and since, technically, you're the only one who can kill Ganon, we're going to need help, they may as well do some work for once." Saria giggled even as Rauru glared at him. Dark shrugged, wincing as the many wounds he'd accumulated twinged and burned.

"Rest up, brighty, and don't hesitate to jump in if one of us is about to die." He smirked.

"You're good at that." Another inhuman bellow shook the earth as Ganondorf's body, blazing with sickly light, rose from the ruins of his fortress. Chest heaving, he shuddered in midair, Triforce of Power glowering furiously from his dark hand. With another scream of pain, he morphed with rays of green witchlight, and the Beast emerged to take on its eternal foe once more – however, the darkness that had spawned it had other ideas.

"And now we have our choice, Master – speak now and let them choose their new Fate." The Unem snapped bright wings out against the shadows, ignoring the Beast's roar of anger. Something roared in their minds.

The spiral will be rewrought in silver and sunlight. Let this fight begin the descent. Ganon bellowed in defiance and hurtled forward, motions slow but powerful. Dark levered himself forward, aided by Saria's magics. Ruto hurled something into the air, and Link recognised the Zora's Sapphire. Blue light engulfed the battlefield, backlit by bolts of lightning heralded by snarls of thunder. The Zora Sage knelt, hands clasped, and began to chant, a liquid prayer to Nayru, light blazing from her core like a miniature silver sun. Darunia slammed the Goron's Ruby into the earth, roaring a battle cry; his chant melded like redhot liquid rock with Ruto's, golden light unfurling from him like restless flames. Saria completed the ritual, tossing the Kokiri's Emerald into the air and catching it in the midst of a twirl; her sung chant rose above the others like sweet wind, and white light swirled around her. Rauru had joined the fallen Hero and Princess, chanting a soft healing prayer over them; Nabooru and Impa entered the fray, blazing with copper and amethyst light.

Dark felt the mix of old tribal magics and ancient Sage spells, born of prayer, pushing him forward, coaxing inner magics he'd forgotten and cast aside from their dormant state. Blasts of light from the Arrows exploded like fireworks above him as he hacked away at Ganon. A glancing blow disarmed him, but he was far from nullified; first the Master Sword's dark twin, then the Gerudo blade, were utilized against the furious Beast in time. He finally drove it to its knees, stumbling back with a gasp. His lungs burned as he blinked through sweat and blood, struggling to see in the darkness. A ray of light suddenly engulfed their foe, and all eyes turned to Zelda, standing tall and proud despite her wounds.

"Link, the Master Sword! Deliver the final blow!" Dark almost overlooked his risen light counterpart, and if it had not been for his heightened senses, would have missed his movement; the Hylian hero shot forward, delivering the fatal strike to Ganon's head, Evil's Bane buried between his eyes. Azure light akin to Link's eyes blazed and rippled up and down the blade, engulfing the Beast. It screamed and flailed, writhing in its death throes, but all for naught; it finally fell, and the Sages gathered their final power, flinging prayers to the skies as they sought to bind the Beast for good. Ganondorf, driven into his old form but without any of his old mind, ranted and raved, but nothing came of it. The white/black of the Void closed and sealed, and the heroes turned to the new day without apprehension or purpose – a day in the new peace.

A/N: This - IS NOT THE END. :) I've an epilogue - or two - to tie up a couple things; specifically, Bongo Bongo's little thing about a place in the village that would restore their memories, and closure between Ganondorf and Link. How, you ask, for Ganondorf is bound in the Void, non? READ ON, AND YOU SHALL SEE!

On another note; I've a prequel/companion piece planned. It'll be coming out after I finish ID for real. I've only a chapter finished, but I like the idea.

This entire fic makes me feel schizophrenic; Dark's on our side, he's not on our side. Link's evil, Link's not evil. Ganondorf's crazy, Ganondorf's not crazy. The Unem is evil, the Unem isn't evil. Nyche's dead, Nyche's not dead. Etc. Sometimes I just want to line them all up and have Epona kick everyone. XD

EDIT (A/N 2): Okay peeps. I am ending ID HERE. A companion piece leading into the prequel will be posted starting with what were formerly chapters 15 and 16 of ID, and then I will begin working on the sequel, prequel, unrelated MM fic, and the unrelated OoT/TP fics. x.x SO MUCH WORK. So. Ta, beautiful people! Review~! -salutes- Roc out.