Zelda knocked bomb barrels and kicked crates into the cobbled streets. She rolled barrels and dumped their contents quickly over the pile. She tried and failed not to breathe the substance. A thick cloud of black nearly obscured her vision. She ignored the stains on her bodysuit and gazed at her work. Not enough. She needed more.

Zelda broke into shops and tossed barrels and heaved boxes through the windows. She continued until the street was nice and thick with powdery suite. She summoned a quick spell and swept her arms, spreading the powder further.

She checked her surroudings carefully. No one in sight. Satisfied, Zelda positioned herself at the one end of the street as Impa had instructed. She brought her fingers to her lips and uttered a long, shrill whistle.

Hopefully Impa received the signal. She had left Zelda with instructions to inform the few guards available keep people away from this specific area. It was not easy to convince them-they had thought Zelda was trying to cause more problems.

That is, until Zelda had angrily let slip it was by Impa's idea. That snapped them out of their stubborn attitude; they had immediately gone into action hoarding the crowds away from here.

Zelda had heard Impa was famous here, but she had no idea it'd last after seven years of absence. Perhaps her fame for sealing Bongo Bongo last time was still well known. Unless she still came here from time to time?

Zelda shook her head. Now was not the time for that. She pricked her ears nervously and bounced from foot to foot. She forgot how nervous she became when she was alone and inactive. Mental thoughts began to assault her. Zelda ignored them and waited.

Still no signs of Impa.

It's alright, Zelda told herself. It would take her a while to do this. She just needs more time.

Zelda almost cried for joy when she spotted the tall woman appear at the end of the street. Impa slipped on the powder, steadied herself and kept running, huffing while the Biggoron blade bounced on her back.

A long shadow slither around the corner after the Sheikah. Zelda watched it carefully.

She nearly growled in frustration when the shadow paused just outside the soot trail. It quivered hesitantly. Did it know?

Come on, come on, Zelda urged silently. Do it!

She could feel the thing stare directly at her. Zelda snapped her fingers nervously; a warm ball of fire erupted between her fingers.

The shadow backed away.

No no no!

Impa looked over her shoulder. She saw the shadow retreating and halted, panting. She waved her arms and shouted something inaudible. Zelda thought it sounded like "Pain" or something.

Whatever it was did the trick. The Shadow was just disappearing around the corner when it halted; the tip was all that Zelda could see.

It bellowed.

It startled the young woman. This entire time she took the entity as something quiet. It sounded furious. The Shadow streaked after the Sheikah with rapid speed it never displayed before. It tore viciously through the Soot trail. Impa ran.

"Zelda! Now!" she shouted.

Zelda hesitated. Impa was still in the powder trail. "But-"

"Just do it!"

Zelda tossed the small orange light and backed away. It was like watching a miniature sun drop. She watched Impa, still running with a determined look on her face. Her boots slapped clouds of dust, sending plumes of soot in the air. The blacker then night smudge followed her hungrily not even a meter behind her, rapidly closing the gap.

Impa's eyes were on the small light of fire.

Zelda watched it touch the edge of the trail.

A deafening explosion rocked the young woman's ears. The shock-wave flung her body like a ragged doll caught in a powerful gust of wind. Her body collided heavily on the flagged stone and skidded; the scar in her forehead felt like it was going to split open again. Coils of yellow and red fire exploded in the air, blinding the Hylian that she had to turn her head away from the intense heat. Her sensitive ears rang.

An unearthly scream rose through the explosion. Zelda raised her head fearfully.

"Impa!"

Clouds of smoke rolled over her. She quickly raised her turtle neck higher and squinted through the fog. She coughed and felt her eyes tear up.

"Impa?" Zelda hacked. She hitched the turtle neck higher on her mouth and called her friend's name again.

No answer.

The young woman stumbled forward, her dagger by her side. Her boots scrunched on used up bomb powder. She fanned the soot clouds away with a sluggish wind spell. She walked blindly until her boot kicked kicked something solid.

Zelda recoiled. She fanned the smoke weakly and crouched over the obscured figure.

"... Impa?" she whispered fearfully. Her hands were shaking so hard she had to press them firmly against her knees.

Somewhere to her left a door squeaked open. Zelda jumped to her feet. A voice coughed, "Here."

Zelda's heart beat with joy as Impa staggered out of the threshold of an old Grocery market. Miraculously, Impa had tackled open the door and closed it just when the bomb trail exploded. If Zelda was not so shaken she might have commented the older woman's skills.

Impa's entire body, save part of her face, was masked in soot. She probably looked as bad as Zelda.

"Did we get it?"

Zelda looked down at the thing she mistook for Impa's corpse. The smoke diminished enough for Zelda to identify a finger. A very large finger.

Her mouth gaped. "What the hell is this?"

The finger ended with a hand. A hand so large it could easily wrap its fingers around Zelda's body. The skin was burnt and sizzled like cooked meat. It ended at the wrist. No arm to support it. Zelda assumed whatever massive creature was attached to this hand was incinerated with the blast.

Then she found the body.

It was no further then a few meters away. A large and twisted looking creature with the shape of a human torso. Zelda couldn't see anything that might be legs; this thing ended at the thigh. Arms splayed out with stumps in the end, as if someone chopped off the hands halfway down to the arm.

No head was perched on the neck. Flaps hung over the severed neck, the spine protruded and stretched against the taut grayish skin, as if a worm burrowed itself behind this creature's back.

The smell of death and decay over-powered Zelda's nostrils. She crouched and vomited her thin breakfast. Impa's lower lip trembled, her eyes never left the enormous giant.

"What is that thing?" Zelda groaned.

Impa coughed. "Bongo Bongo. A phantom," she wheezed. She took out a small blade. With a careful look at Zelda she carefully walked around the creature. Zelda kept staring at it.

This was the creature Impa sealed? How in the Goddess's name did she manage this by herself? Zelda's questions could wait. She noticed something off about this creature.

She was quite sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her.

It was like she was looking at the Phantom, and at the same time not looking at it. She could faintly see past its torso.

Well no duh, Zelda, she scolded herself. It's a phantom!

She shook her head and focused on the thing's design. She was sure someone must have sliced off the neck, legs and arms. This creature looked unfinished. An imperfect specimen brought to life too early and made to survive with the limitations nature wrought.

Or someone.

She glanced again at the hands. Was this the monster whose hands dragged that poor girl in the fire? Rage and fury engulfed Zelda. She spat angrily.

"It looks as if someone's already done something to this thing," Zelda grunted.

Something shifted outside her vision. Zelda glanced up.

She caught sight of pebbled gray texture smeared with blood and scabs before darkness smothered her. It happend so fast, so quietly she couldn't piece together what just happened.

Intense pressure shot her back to reality.

The phantom hand was squeezing her body. Zelda gasped, her chest hurt. Her hands were bound tight beside her, unable to move. She felt suffocation, the lack of air made her dizzy.

Zelda shoved her mouth open and bit into the skin. Rot and decay engulfed her mouth and did nothing to hinder the phantom's progress. She could hear Impa shouting. The hand swung her violently. Her heart lurched even as she felt her bones constrict. It was much harder to breathe. Stars popped in front of her eyes.

I can't die! her mind slurred. Can't...

Daylight smacked her in the face. Zelda visibly flinched. Impa had her Biggoron blade poised over her shoulder. She was covered in dark red blood; mixed with the black soot and red eyes, it gave her a demonic appearance.

The Sheikah waved her blade and sliced off another finger. Zelda's arms were free; the fist shifted its thumb to increase the pressure on her chest, choking her air supply. Zelda struggled weakly against the larger digit. Her hands slipped from the violent shaking.

A howl drummed through her ears; Zelda felt her mind slow, like the cogs of a clock clanking slowly with time and age. Her eyes fluttered while the fist raised her away from Impa's onslaught, higher and higher in the air.

It felt like a dream. As if she was watching it from another perspective. Perhaps she'll wake up alive and in peace, still sitting atop the mountain waiting for Biggoron to finish Impa's blade. Or maybe they never started this quest.

Zelda felt her arms drop to her sides. The fist held her upside down. Lazily Zelda tilted her head back, stared at the smoke and blackened street. It looked odd from this position. She caught sight of Impa's terrified gaze.

The fist tensed.

"Zelda!" Impa shouted.

Her mind kicked itself to reality. She was going to die. A hollow laugh escaped her throat. Was this how Link felt, before he died? Did he even have time to perceive such cognition before his death, or was it swift?

It mattered very little from her standpoint. At least it opened her eyes to reality. As the fist dropped, Zelda instinctively clasped her hands together in prayer.

The last thing she saw was black cement before the fist punched the floor with tremendous force so powerful the very ground cracked. Impa lost balance against the vibrations and pitched backwards. She fell painfully on her elbows.

She ignored the pain, watching horrified as the fist smashed Zelda like a grotesque pancake.

The smoke steadily cleared. Impa squinted; there was no splatter of blood. The fist was wedged on a small crater; between its fingers a soft pinkish glow surrounded the blue-clad female. Impa uttered an inaudible grateful tone.

Zelda was unharmed.

Her eyes were closed, her hands still clasped as if in prayer as the glow spread; the Triforce symbol shone through her wrist guard. The phantom's fist visibly struggled and attempted once again to squeeze the life out of its failed assassin. The glow steadily over-powered it until it forced the strained fingers to open.

Zelda opened her eyes and streaked out of the hand. She rolled and fell sideways; it was not easy to use Triforce magic. Her head swam through tunnel vision while Zelda attempted to get her bearings. She pressed a cold palm on her pounding skull. She felt like she was going to throw up.

Before she could fully recover, a large shadow engulfed her. The blackened hand with three fingers loomed over her menacingly. Zelda flopped sideways weakly. She couldn't summon the strength to move away.

"Impa?" she gurgled quietly.

The suffocating feeling rose in her chest. Zelda felt herself paralyze with fear once again. She watched, mystified, as the hand closed in on her.

A shriek split the air; Zelda felt her headache flare with new pain. A blade speared itself through the Phantom's palm. It fingers quivered and twitched angrily. It dropped heavily with a large thud. Impa sat atop the hand, digging her blade deeper while the fingers convulsed.

The large Phantom. It was thrashing and moaning violently. It shook and arched its back as if in pain.

As Zelda watched, she understood. She didn't know how, or why, but she understood they were in trouble. It was like the Triforce symbol on her hand was warning her. Or possibly the cause of this problem. She couldn't be sure.

She stumbled to her feet. Her stomach threatened to expel itself. "Impa, we must... must-"

Zelda sank to her knees. She barely hear Impa's shouts and the Phantom's moans.

A dark castle. Tall, imposing and magnificent loomed over her like a giant monster. Pools of lava formed below the floating island. She was leaving the scene. Floating away. No, flying. She was flying away from the castle. She flew until her face brushed clouds. She quickly dipped to scan the surroundings.

She spotted Death Mountain.

Zelda smile triumphantly.

I have you now.

On the back of her black gauntlet, two triangles glowed fiercely red.

No!

Zelda pushed the vision away and pulled herself back to reality. She clutched the ragged concrete; her fingers wouldn't stop shaking.

Another moan drifted in the air. The Phantom, scarred, bleeding, and missing both its hands, was struggling to climb a roof with its body. Impa was hacking mercilessly at the thigh. She was unaware. Bongo Bongo was not the threat. Not now.

Zelda tensed and forced herself to her feet. She wavered.

"Impa! We have to go!" she croaked. It was important she knew. Zelda stumbled drunkenly. "He's coming! Ganondorf's coming!"

Impa whipped around, her attention on the Phantom completely forgotten. Her wide red eyes stretched wide with horror. "What? How do you-"

"No time! The... ocarina!" Zelda panted.

"Zelda, there's no time for that." Impa gripped Zelda beneath her arm and pulled. "We have to escape!"

"No!" Zelda tore her arm away. She fell against the wall and slid painfully on the floor.

"What is wrong with you?" Impa demanded.

"Listen to me!" Zelda closed her eyes tight. Her head wouldn't stop pounding. She rubbed her forehead and felt hair; she lost her turban. "The Ocarina. It'll work," she slurred. She fumbled for the satchel beside Impa's waist.

"Zelda-"

"Trust me."

Impa hesitated.

Zelda glanced up once. Dark clouds swirled over Hyrule Castle. They pushed their way from Hyrule Castle like an arrow that expanded behind the tail. Moving as gentle as any cloud. Zelda knew better. Someone was in those clouds, hungrily approaching their destination with vigor.

Zelda had no time to wait for Impa's approval. She fished the instrument and jammed it to her lips. She played the first song that flared in her mind. The notes echoed softly in the air.

She ended the song with a shaky blow and waited expectantly.

Impa had her blade out and over Zelda's crumpled form. Her eyes never left the rapidly approaching mass of clouds.

Zelda closed her eyes and prayed quietly.

Nothing happened.

She glanced up again. The cloud were now circulating above Death Mountain. It swirled, homing in on them. The wind roared in Zelda's ears, making her flinch. The shadow over them rapidly grew and grew as the clouds bore over them. The Phantom raised its neck to the sky and uttered a small mewl; it sensed the evil's approach.

"Try again," Impa instructed. She bit her lower lip, staring directly at the mass of clouds that housed an inferno of vivid red. The bun undone, her hair whipped dangerously over her face. "Maybe you played the wrong notes!"

Zelda stared the clouds; it's shadow already stretched over the village, darkening the sky. It was like a tornado descending from the heavens to consume the entire village. Zelda could feel eyes in the turbulent winds hold her down. How was he doing that?

Impa grabbed her shoulder hard. "Zelda!"

The young woman jumped. She forced herself to focus on the instrument and played the notes, carefully; she called on the Goddess's to save them, the Sages, anyone that looked after them.

Despite the terror, exhaustion and the rapidly diminishing temperature, warmth flowed through Zelda. The Triforce on her hand glowed reassuringly. The effect was instant.

The last she saw was a giant figure with red eyes reach for her with black gauntlets, before green light flashed through her eyes. Ganondorf's screams of fury followed her long after Zelda and Impa teleported away from the Gerudo King.

This was an interesting Chapter. Bongo Bongo had a history here that's very... violent. Yes. Full of bitter anger and resentment against the entire Village and Impa for sealing it n_n

Raygin: Zelda has that idea she could save anyone. Very dangerous, Impa needed to knock some sense into her :c