Chapter 8

Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Percy Jackson or Legend of Zelda characters

(This story will be set after The Last Olympian in Percy Jackson and Twilight Princess for Legend of Zelda. The LOZ side of the story will have both Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time combined. Basically it is a LOZ TP/OOT and PJ crossover. LOZ side of the story will be based on TP. Some SSBB references might be inside.)

"Mercury…" Link said, his body shaking with anger. "I shall make sure that you will fall by my blade."

"I'm a god. I cannot die." Mercury said as he charged at Link.

"We'll see about that." Link pulled back the sword and rushed to meet Mercury, his sword positioned in a way that the strike will impale Mercury through his heart. A painless death which he certainly did not deserve.

At the last moment, Mercury suddenly changed tactics, choosing to knock Link's sword from his hand and knocking him down with his staff. Link grunted in surprise as Mercury loomed above him, his staff poised for the final blow. As he lowered the staff, a scream shattered the almost blissful silence and Mercury was knocked down by a huge wave. Link was drenched, but he was not swept away. When the wave died down, Link saw Percy engaging close quarter combat with Mercury. Mercury used snakes to amplify his attacks but Percy used water to nullify them. Percy was showing signs of fatigue and it was not long until Mercury overpowered Percy and pinned him down. Percy was panting heavily and in no shape to continue.

"You are still young. Anger has clouded your judgment. It would not be fair of me to finish you now as this is an easy victory." Mercury said, moving the staff away from its dangerous position. Percy stumbled away from him, but his sword was behind Mercury. Suddenly, a blade with flame designs sprouted from Mercury's chest. He sputtered, golden ichor trickling down the corner of his mouth. As he collapsed, his lips formed a sentence and a faint intake of breath which Link caught with his enhanced hearing. The road turned back into a room. Natsuki stood behind the body of Mercury with her bow held limply in her hands. She dropped the bow and clutched her head, her lips parted in a silent scream. Her obvious pain drove her to her knees.

"Natsuki!" Link yelled, rushing towards her and catching her as she fell. Eventually she lost conscious and fell into a restless slumber. A single familiar voice echoed in the grand chamber.

"This is not the end Link. I promise you I will grant you pain. I will make you beg me for mercy." The voice faded into laughter worthy of any evil king.

"Wh-who was that?" Percy asked. Link murmured the name so softly that Percy had to strain his ears to catch it.

"Ganondorf..." Link said in a low voice, but it could not hide the evident hatred he has for the owner of that voice. Suddenly, Annabeth shot up, her face morphed in a shocked expression. Percy immediately ran to her side.

"Percy..." Annabeth said between tears before burying her face into Percy's chest, crying her heart out.

"It's all right. I'm right here." Percy whispered back. Link looked up into the clearing sky. He let lose a wild scream of his emotions. Anger, confusion, sadness and one that he has never felt before, fear.

(Link's POV, Outside the Shrine of Hermes)

After long tense minutes, Natsuki finally woke up, but she was still slightly pale.

"We have finally completed the first Shrine..." Percy muttered in a daze. Link nodded numbly. He has never felt like this before when he ventured alone into the dungeons. Why did he feel so helpless? The answer was simple: he was not fit to work in a group. Link closed his sapphire eyes and clenched his fist.

"Link?" Annabeth said, waving her hands in front of Link's face to catch his attention. "A penny for your thoughts?"

"What?" Link asked, takes aback by her sudden and direct question.

"I've been calling you for a while now. Is everything alright?" The daughter of Athena asked. Link looked into her eyes, mentally debating if he should tell the truth.

"No. Everything is alright." Link said and forced a smile to prove his point. Annabeth did not look convinced but she did not push any further. Link took a deep breath and pushed himself up, brushing off imaginary dust from his green tunic. Percy, Annabeth and Natsuki stood up a moment later. Link noticed the downcast look on Natsuki's face, a sharp contrast from her usual bright and cheerful girl.

"What's wrong?" Link whispered. Natsuki looked at him, almost alarmed before composing herself.

"Nothing! Really!" She replied, forcing a smile onto her face. Suddenly, a ball of green fire appeared in front of Link which expanded outwards and formed several words in Hylian. "To the Shrine of Aphrodite. Be careful, Link." Link could almost hear Farore's smile as he felt himself being teleported to the next Shrine.

(Zelda's POV, Unknown Location)

"Princess! Watch out!" Impa yelled, her sword drawn and stood protectively in front of Zelda. A slash at the disfigured monster turned it to dust which settled onto the ground. Zelda summoned Din's fire and destroyed the dust. Just to be safe.

"You know very well that I can take care of myself." Zelda said with an almost depressing tone.

"I do my highness, but it is my duty to protect you." Impa replied.

"Where are we? We are ought to find some exit, somehow." Zelda said, her tone laced with worry which did not go undetected by Impa's sharp hearing.

"Link is strong. He has the spirit of The Hero after all." Impa assured. Zelda bit her lips and looked down. Somehow she doubted it.

When she was asleep, dreams after dreams plagued Zelda, each more gruesome and vivid than the last. And each bout always ends with bloodshed.

She was in a room with pure white walls. Water splashed gently under her feet. A tree grew in a distance, but no matter how much she ran, she could never reach it. Near the tree, she saw two men fighting, each armed with a sword and a shield. At the distance, she could not make out who they were, but she was sure of their identity. Link, and his dark alter ego. She tried calling out to them, but they did not seem to be able to hear her. She even attempted to help Link with her powers but to no avail. She was powerless in this world. Time after time, she would here Link's agony-filled scream and Dark Link's maniac laughter when the latter drove his sword ruthlessly into Link's chest. Zelda would scream herself awake before sobbing in Impa's warm embrace. A voice would whisper in her mind, "A death they shall despair, and the Temple of Time to be found in disrepair."

"Link…please stay safe. Please stay alive…for me."

(Percy's POV, a distance from the Shrine of Aphrodite)

Percy could smell that Channel No.5 from a far distance away. The smell was so strong it was almost overwhelming and Percy breathed through his mouth in an attempt to cut some slack for his overworking sinuses.

"I know Aphrodite was vain and all, but isn't this a little too much?" Natsuki asked, her usual cheerful self returning quickly.

"Technically this is Venus now, right?" Annabeth replied, attempting to lift the depressing mood over the group. Link continued to walk forward, oblivious to the stares of the others.

"What's with Emo-Elf there?" Natuski asked, using Link's newly founded nickname. Annabeth shrugged and followed after Link. After long hours of trekking, night mercifully fell and the crescent moon hung in the dark sky.

Demigod dreams sucks. A lot. Percy was sure he had mentioned it multiple times over the years, but he has learnt not to take them lightly. Percy was dressed in Greek armour which felt almost like feather on his shoulders and felt comfortable to touch. A whisper told him that it was blessed by Nayru, the goddess of Wisdom. In his right hand was Riptide, but it was different somehow. He felt a strong raw power flowing out of the bronze sword and its shape has changed. It was longer, and a blue gem sat on the hilt like Link's sword. It was blessed by Din, the goddess of Power. In his left was a shield, almost like Thalia's Aegis, but it was blue and a picture of a trident was printed on it. It was blessed by Farore, the goddess of Courage. While Percy admired his new weapons, he saw a shadow forming around him and instinctively rolled out of the way. He began striking the hand as quickly as he could. Percy noticed that it was not his fighting style, but he also did not feel uncomfortable using it. He finally realised with a jolt that it was Link's. Why was he fighting like Link without realising it? Percy forced himself to look up and stared into the eye of a huge beast. Its body was as black as night, and blood red mane circled its neck. Its tusks were pure white and fatally sharp. Percy immediately decided that he would not die being speared on those tusks. A question popped into his mind – Where was everyone else? Percy cautiously looked around, tensed and preparing to move if the beast attacked. Percy unconsciously spun his sword like how Link always does. He was about to leap when –

"PERCY!" Percy sat up, his head knocking into another hard object.

"Oww…" Annabeth held her aching jaw and spat out some blood. "I bit my tongue. Thanks, Seaweed Brain."

"Sorry…" Percy mumbled, nursing the small bump on his head. Percy looked at Link who was stretching and rolling his shoulders.

"We have to leave if we want to avoid too many monsters." Link said. Natsuki had Agony equipped. Apparently that was her favourite weapon. They quickly made their way to the shrine, destroying any monsters that blocked their path. Imagine a typical girl room, with the entire room filled with pink of different shades (which wouldn't work if you like pink). Include the smell of the most pungent perfume you can think of. That was nowhere close to this disgustingly pink shrine. Percy braced himself as he entered the pink nightmare. The interior was definitely much, much worse than the exterior. The multiple mirrors did nothing to help the building migraine that was pounding in his head.

"Eww…What is this place?" Natsuki asked, her face screwed up in disgust. Link's face showed a myriad of expressions.

"The quicker we are done with this shrine, the faster we can leave." Link said, quickly moving away from the hall. Traps after puzzles crumbled under the combined intellect of Annabeth and Link. Percy and Natsuki took care of any monsters that might be sneaking up to them while Annabeth and Link worked on some tricky puzzles. Eventually they encountered the mini-boss. Percy was no fashion expert, but even he could tell that this…creature had no fashion sense. Natsuki sniggered quietly behind Percy.

"Well hello children," The freak began, applying some lip gloss on her shiny lips. "Care to join the party?"

"What happened to her? She looked as if she had just encountered some freak weather." Natsuki whispered. Percy smiled and summoned a small sprout of water onto the mini-boss's head. It sputtered indigently before staring at the offending Son of Poseidon.

"I see…so that barnacle beard sent his own son to do his dirty job." The woman snarled.

"Dirty job?" Percy asked, puzzled. He knew that all of the Greek Gods has been taken over by their Roman personality, but why did she bring up Poseidon, the Greek God and not Neptune, the Roman side? Before she could reply, Natsuki dashed forward, engaging in a fierce combat. Percy stared at her, his jaws scrapping the floor. How did she get there so quickly? She was just behind him a moment ago! Percy shrugged and joined in the fight, summoning water to trap the mini-boss so the others could attack her. Eventually, the woman let out a long dying screech, her hands reaching for the heavens.

"You promised! You…" She said no more before dissolving into dust. The group let out a sigh of relief. Percy, Annabeth and Link stared at Natsuki.

"What? She was way too noisy." Natsuki said innocently, allowing Agony to return to its nanobot form. Link let out a sigh of controlled anger before leaving the room to find their way to the boss room. Traps after that became more often and harder to avoid. Powder was thrown everywhere, clothes stained with liquid foundation and faces smudged with mascara and lip gloss. Percy resisted a growl of annoyance. They finally stumbled across the Great Door that would lead them to the boss. By them, the group was covered in cosmetics from head to toe. Natsuki's face was presently fixed at disgust, Annabeth's at disappointment, most likely due to her dirty clothes and Link's at annoyance. Pure annoyance and uncontrolled anger. His eye was twitching and he clearly wanted to destroy whoever that has set up this childish prank. Before anyone could blow their top, Percy opened the Great Door and pushed everyone in, ignoring the make up flowing down his face.

(Link's POV, Inside the Boss Room)

Link was furious. He spent countless hours polishing his sword and shield to perfection. Now they were covered in this…brown slob. Link sighed. Cleaning would take forever. He had to find one of those hot springs Pit has so enthusiastically boasted. He imagined himself taking a long peaceful soak in the warm water, washing away his worries, his pain…

Link was brought back to the present when Percy pulled him back and the spot where Link stood was now covered with…unmentionable girl's protection thing.

"When I'm talking, you LISTEN!" Aphrodite, or rather Venus, shrieked. Link rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that attitude!"

"Man, she's…worse than I thought." Percy leaned over and whispered. Link suspected that Percy was about to use a more colourful word to replace 'worse'. Even Zelda during her bad-tempered moments was not as horrid as Venus. Venus began reciting a speech she probably memorised for every hero that came to defeat her. Link sighed and tried to resist a strong attraction with his face and palm.

"Here we go again…"

Sorry for this long wait…This is my final year and school is just trying to drown us with homework. They wanted to see if we had too many homework by giving us some table to fill out the amount of homework we receive everyday. They should also check how much time we have to do them . My chemistry is demanding my attention. Darn macromolecules and electrolysis.

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Getsumen Kage no Mai