Pitching a Zelda Cinematic Universe – The Plane of Masked Yearning: Chapter Four

The sun was beating down onto the scorching sand. Suddenly, a shining blue light appeared to interrupt the status quo on a patch of desert sand. Out of this blue light walked out three figures. All were female, one being the figure of a child. These were none other than Zelda, who for a second time in her life, was playing the role of a fugitive former princess of her land; the cheerful yet mysterious blue-haired mage Sara, and Agitha, her child comrade from the unofficial Resistance against the manipulative Ria, empress of the now-altered Kingdom. Surveying her surroundings, Zelda immediately remarked: “It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was infiltrating this part of the land, albeit in different circumstances. However, that time the desert had a sense of liveliness to it. Now, it seems so sorrowful”. Sara replied: “Hmm, maybe because this is the Gerudo Desert after all. The desert will, of course, exude a sense of sadness now that its former dwellers have practically been wiped out”. But following up with a smile, Sara continued: “Having said that, we are coming to save this desert’s lost Queen. So this place will be up and smiling once again”. The three of them looked ahead. Not far from their position stood a fearsome building. It was in the shape of a giant cylinder with the appearance of a coliseum. Coming out of this cylinder were six tall pillars, and under this complex was a platform with a wide set of stairs. Sara remarked: “That intimidating building there is known as the Arbiter’s Grounds. The torture chamber and prison of this land and home to Ria’s band of psychopaths, the Yiga Clan. And that is where I believe your friend is being held, awaiting her execution”. At this, Zelda gave a stern look and made a step forward. “Not if I have anything to say about it”. But Sara grabbed her hand and pulled her back. “Arbiter’s Grounds are heavily guarded by the Yiga Clan. The Yiga are notorious for having eyes everywhere in their territory, and when their prey is most vulnerable, they pounce in massive numbers. We will be captured without any chance of fighting back. We need to devise a strategy of infiltration”.

Looking with a hint of desperation, Zelda stated: “How will the three of us be able to infiltrate such a dire prison without being caught?”. Sara smiled and replied: “I am a mage after all, and have a string of special abilities. One of them being this handy thing”. She opened up the thick spell book that seemed constantly attached to the underside of her arm. Upon reciting an incantation, she rapidly began to shrink. This continued until she was approximately the size of an index finger. But with that, a pair of wings suddenly sprouted out of her back. “Now, I am the size of a tiny little pixie, he he!”. With obvious surprise, Zelda replied: “Wow Sara, that is indeed a rather handy spell”. But deep in her mind, an uncomfortable thought cropped up. Sara seemed like a capable mage with powerful abilities such as being able to teleport from place to place and shrinking in size. Surely, such power was capable of rivalling the tyranny of Ria. So why had she not attempted to take the evil Empress on? But at the same time, Sara’s warmth, cheeriness and benevolent persona couldn’t possibly have nefarious designs, so there could be reasons which were beyond her understanding. Zelda then looked towards Agitha. Kneeling down towards her, she put her arm on the child’s shoulder and said: “Little Agitha, it would be irresponsible of me to let you go near that prison, so I need you to stay here”. Agitha merely smiled and replied: “Don’t worry, Sara isn’t the only one with special abilities”. With that, she took a few steps back. She raised her hand into the air. Her body began to sparkle a spectacular gold. She then levitated into the air and spun several times. Suddenly, her body was no longer visible in the golden glitter. When the sparkling ceased, all that was before Zelda was a most beautiful butterfly. The butterfly flew onto Zelda’s hand. “I am, after all, the Queen of the Butterflies”. Who was this little girl? How did she get such mysterious abilities? But most of all, why did she feel so attached to her? These were the thoughts flooding the mind of the Princess. But the thoughts were interrupted by Sara, who cheerfully stated: “Well that’s two of us sorted. Now we just need you to be the main infiltrator of the Arbiter’s Grounds princess. You have a disguise in mind, right?”. At this, Zelda’s cheeks turned red. With a sense of annoyance on her face, she muttered: “I’m afraid, there is. I really hoped I would never have to do this again”. With great reluctance, she clenched her fist. She began moving her arms in random direction, after which she clenched her fist once again. With that, the symbol of an eye appeared on her hand. Her body was enveloped in a silver light. Once the light vanished, Zelda was no longer in her trademark royal attire, but instead in a white and purple uniform, her mouth covered with a white scarf and her covered with a white turban. Most strikingly was the symbol of the Sheikah on the front of her uniform. In a stern voice, she stated: “Let us make haste now”.

Sara and Agitha’s size, as a result of their respective abilities, enabled them to fit into a small cloth bag attached to Sheik’s belt. Once the both of them had gotten into the cloth bag, Sheik made her way towards the Arbiter’s Grounds. She had made it to the first step of the huge staircase at the foot of the Grounds when suddenly, a cackle could be heard. With that, two slender figures materialized either side of the staircase. Both were wearing the same red and black uniform, but interestingly, both had their faces covered with white masks that had the trademark symbol of the Sheikah on the front of them. However, the Sheikah symbol appeared to be upside down. “Trespasser! What business do you have in our sacred grounds?”. A slight sense of nervousness overtook Zelda. The training Impa had imparted to her during Ganondorf’s uprising was for the purposes of stealthy infiltration into places unfamiliar of Sheikah methods of war. However, given that the Yiga were an offshoot of the Sheikah, those methods of infiltration would be most ineffective, especially given Sara’s descriptions of Yiga ambushes. So she had to attempt a more conventional approach to get into the Arbiter’s Grounds. “My name is Sheik. And by the symbol on the front of my attire, you can probably deduce that I am of Sheikah blood. I herald from the group previously known as the Legion of the Sacred Eye”. Both Yiga members looked at one another. Chuckling, they replied: “Legion of the Sacred Eye? That’s the second person today claiming to be from our defunct older sister, he he. Seems like a handful of those failures are still around, but have surely seen the light due to our superior magnificence. Well then, welcome aboard I guess”. The two Yiga members stood aside. Sheik gave them both a stare and made her way up the stairs. She had made it up all the way and was about to walk through the entrance, when Sara quietly stated: “Remember princess, just find your way to your friend Nabosa. Once we’ve broken her out, we need to revert to stealth to escape”. Sheik merely nodded in affirmation.

Finally making her way inside, Sheik found herself in the entrance chamber was a door. Here, two Yiga members stood either side. She walked up to the door and the Yiga members nodded to one another and opened up the door. The next room was a lot bigger and was lit up with strong candles throughout. There were multiple doors on the other side of the room. But in the middle, there stood one Yiga member. This one was a lot taller than Yiga members she had encountered up to now and was of powerful stature. To make himself look even more intimidating, the Yiga member was holding a giant sword in hand. Sheik felt a sense of nervousness when approaching this behemoth of a Yiga, but remembered she had taken down an Iron Knuckle not long ago. She stared down the Yiga member and in a harsh tone enquired: “Tell me, where are you holding the Gerudo Queen?”. The Yiga member replied with a snarl: “What business do you have with that wretch? She’s as good as dead, ha ha”. Sheik replied: “Back when the Legion was active, she murdered many of my brethren. I want to look into the eyes of the beast of a woman who brought me all that pain”. The Yiga member replied: “You will get your chance very soon. Her execution is coming up very shortly. But if you insist, go through the second door to the right”. With that, Sheik made her way through the door. This brought her into another room. However, this was almost completely dark. The only light available was two candles at the door on the other side of the room. As there was no one else in the room, Sara made her way out of the small cloth bag. Smiling, she remarked: “Excellently done Your Highness”. Again, Sheik nodded. However, something felt a little strange. “What is it, princess?”, enquired Sara. “I have an uncomfortable feeling that we are being watched, we need to make it to the next room as quickly as possible”. Sara quickly got back into the bag. Sheik was making haste to the door when suddenly, her instincts compelled her to dive jump to her right. The instinct to do this was proven wise, because once she did so, a giant blade appeared to her left. She merely set eyes upon the giant blade when suddenly, after hearing a few rapid footsteps, the blade disappeared. She had only stood up when quick footsteps could be heard all around her. She then felt herself being tripped to the ground. Then a voice could be heard: “Halt! Filthy intruder!”. Sheik replied: “Who goes there?!”. Suddenly, the blade reappeared and was being pointed to her face. Sheik looked up to see a figure standing with the blade in hand. It was a young adult female. She had extremely long, white hair and was dressed in a light brown and black uniform of sorts. “You are no member of the Sheikah, I know that much just by looking at you. You are an imposter, an imposter who is about to die at my hands!”.

Sheik quickly put her hand in her pocket and grabbed a mini smoke bomb, equipment which was part of her Sheikah attire. With a flick of her wrist, she threw it onto the ground, where it immediately exploded on impact. This distracted the Sheikah attacker and allowed Sheik to get on her feet and jump backwards. The attacker exclaimed: “That is trademark equipment from the Legion. How does an poser such as yourself have it?”. This surprised Sheik. The attacker’s attitude immediately seemed different towards the Legion than the other Yiga members. And another thing that she felt odd was how the attacker had no Yiga clothing on, but rather garments she was more accustomed to seeing back in the Castle, albeit slightly different. With a hard tone, Sheik replied: “By looking at you, I can see that you are no Yiga member. Identify yourself!”. The attacker snarled: “To an imposter like yourself? Get real. I would rather end you here and now”. With that, she charged at Sheik with ferocious speed. She then aimed a multitude of slashes with her giant blade. Sheik was barely able to dodge. But luckily, she found a brief opening. She kicked the attacker in the stomach, sending her falling backwards. Sheik then put out her right hand and aimed a beam of light daggers at the attacker, who barely got up in time from the floor to dodge. “What have you done to my comrades from the Legion! Where have they all gone! And why are these red and black freaks claiming to be our renaissance!”, shouted the attacker with a sense of fury. Sheik replied: “I have no idea what you are talking about. This Legion you talk of went extinct a winter ago. And I am here to save a friend”. Sheik sensed something strange about this attacker. It was as if she also was not of this time. But the mystery was to be unravelled with the next sentence uttered by the attacker. Enraged, she shouted: “DON’T YOU DARE LIE TO ME. ME, THE SECOND-IN-COMMAND TO FRONAGOND HIMSELF, IMPA!”. And there it was, although Sheik had a magnitude of thoughts going on in her mind. Relief, that she had found her dear friend and bodyguard, Lady Impa, but at the same time, completely mystified of her youthful appearance. “Impa stop. I am Sheik, the one you trained to defeat Ganondorf. The Pri…”, but before she finished her sentence, she realised that she shouldn’t reveal her true identity out loud in this place. This simply incensed Impa even more. “SILENCE! I know not of any Sheik. When I find out what’s going on here, I will regroup the Legion and continue to plot the downfall of the Kingdom. So steel yourself, because I am ready, ready to pummel you!”.

To Sheik’s surprise, Impa dropped her giant blade onto the ground. She then took out two mini-blades from her belt and charged full pelt towards Sheik. With the ferocity of a ravenous tiger, she aimed a barrage of slashes at the disguised princess, who was clearly struggling to keep up dodging. Sheik knew that she couldn’t survive much longer. So she went for an unorthodox movement. Rapidly jumping into a handstand position, she spread both her legs and aimed circular kicks at Impa. At the expense of a few cuts to the legs, she managed to stagger her adversary, sending her backpedalling. With that, Sheik got back to her feet and aimed a powerful elbow thrust into Impa’s midriff. This stimulated a wail and caused her to cough up a little bit of blood. Sheik immediately felt a feeling of guilt. Sure she wanted to defend herself, but there was no way she intended to hurt her dear mentor. The aim was merely to subdue her and try to bring her back to her senses. “Impa, we need not fight any longer. I just wanted to…”, “ENOUGH! You conniving worm. Your deceit is sacrilege to my people. Only death is written in your destiny!”. Suddenly, Impa closed her eyes and put her hands together. She tapped her fingertips together. After this strange move, Sheik noticed that two figures either side of Impa materialised. They seemed like exact body clones of her mentor. A sense of dread then took over. Impa had just performed the Duplex, a Sheikah battle move which allowed the user to replicate temporary duplicates. Impa herself was already a handful to deal with, what would she do with five Impas coming at her at once? With mini-blades in their hands, they charged in. Sheik knew that, despite all her training, only a miracle could save her. Fearing the worst, she covered her face with her arms and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Impa and her duplicates jumped in for the kill, however, before they could conduct the execution, all of them stopped in mid-air. Next second, they all fell backwards, screaming in the process. Hearing this, Sheik tentatively opened her eyes and lowered her arms. She noticed herself being surrounded by what appeared to be a blue bubble. With that, she saw Sara standing before her, back to normal size. She turned her head towards Sheik. Smiling, she stated: “You didn’t forget that you’re not alone, right?”. Impa’s duplicates had vanished. Enraged, she shouted: “Another witch comes along! Definitely not a Sheikah either. No matter, I will destroy the both of you”. Sheik looked towards Sara. “Thank you for the save, I owe you. But I have an idea of how to finish this. Let me at her!”. Sara smiled and winked.

Sheik lowered her weapons. With this, she exclaimed: “Impa, should you still lust for my blood. Then here I am. Come right at me!”. Gritting her teeth, Impa charged once again at the disguised princess. “Such conceit! No matter, seems you wish to die. Very well, death shall be yours”. Impa was on the verge of impaling Sheik with her mini-blade, when suddenly, Sheik opened her left hand and dropped an item to the ground. The item exploded on impact and produced a heavy haze of smoke. Confused, Impa stopped in her tracks. Agitated, she kept on looking around. “Run like a coward, do you? It won’t do you any good. I will still finish you like the artificial scum you are!”. Unbeknownst to her , Sheik had taken up a position right behind Impa. “Time to use the move Link taught me”. With that, Sheik clenched her right fist. A blue triangle then appeared at the front of her hand. She then raised her fist and aimed it towards Impa’s stomach. However, Impa sensed the move and attempted to dodge. But at the vital moment, Impa slipped slightly, causing her to lower her head. Instead of connecting to Impa’s midriff, Sheik’s fist landed straight onto Impa’s forehead. The blow caused Impa to violently land on the ground, rolling sideways for a few yards. The smoke had cleared substantially. Horrified, Sheik ran towards Impa, likewise Sara when she saw what had transpired. Panicking, Sheik stated: “No! I didn’t mean to land my blow onto Impa’s head. I used my Triforce power like Link taught me. But a blow to the head may have caused severe damage”. Impa lay on the ground, unconscious. Sheik lifted Impa’s shoulders and started bellowing: IMPA! IMPA! Please, wake up. IMPA!”. However, both Sheik and Sara noticed a dark purple smoke beginning to emit out of Impa’s head. Suddenly, the smoke started to expel itself violently. With that, Impa rapidly got to her knees. Holding her head with both hands, she began to loudly shriek. The purple smoke continued to leave her head and vanish into thin air. “IMPA, WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU! IMPA! PLEASE ANSWER! IMPA!”, shouted Sheik. However, Sara put her arm across Sheik. Moments later, the purple smoke ceased its emission. Impa then lowered her head. Sheik and Sara ran towards the Head of Hyrule’s Knights Academy. “Impa, are you OK?”, enquired Sheik apprehensively. Impa quickly looked up. She gave off a puzzled facial expression: “Z…Zelda? What’s… what’s going on? Where are we?”.

Those words sent an immense sense of relief through Sheik’s body. Impa suddenly knowledge of Sheik’s true identity was enough proof that she was back to her senses. Impa started touching her face and upper body. She then took out a mirror from her pocket and put it in front of her face. Clearly taken aback, Impa exclaimed: “Why has my body de-aged 20 winters!?”. Sheik walked up to Impa and kneeled down beside her. With a hint of a smile, Sheik stated: “I’m glad that I have found you. Albeit in a different physical body, but safe nonetheless. But tell me, what is the last thing you remember?”. Impa took a few moments to gather her thoughts. “Well… we were all together in the forest. Link, in his haste to chase down that figure in the mask, led us to pursue that upstart. But then we all fell down some sort of portal. I landed in a courtyard. The sky was dark and hazy, the atmosphere gave off an eerie feeling. I made it to the middle of the courtyard, when suddenly, the figure in the mask ambushed me. I tried to put up a fight, but it paralyzed me with some sort of spell. It then walked towards me and began reciting an incantation. The last thing I remember is my body changing, my recent memories leaving me and then I blacked out”. With that, Sara stepped forward and replied: “That would be Ria’s doing. She used the Curse of Time on your mind and body. It essentially turned back time for you only, so you went back to how you were 20 winters back”. With an immediate look of suspicion, Impa enquired: “And who might you be? How is it that you know of a spell cast by the owner of the mask?”. With a slightly nervous tone, Sara replied: “I’m from the same tribe as Ria. And I know how dangerous the mask she wears is”. Impa was clearly not satisfied by this answer. She was on the verge of probing Sara further, when Sheik cut in: “It seems that when I struck you on the forehead, the power of the Triforce broke part of the curse and restored your mind. However, I can probably deduce that to break the entire curse and restore your body, we will need to destroy the mask Ria wears. It is clearly the source of her power”. Sara added: “Which reinforces the plan of the assault on Ria, dispossessing her of that mask and destroying it. But first, we must rescue your Gerudo friend”. Sara then reverted back to her pixie form and returned to the small bag in Sheik’s pocket. Impa gave a look of discontentment to Sheik. “There’s something about this Sara which makes me not trust her”. Sheik replied: “While your sentiments could be well-founded, Sara is a part of the resistance in this perverted world and rescued Link, Holu and I from Ria’s subordinates. For that at least, we owe her our trust. But for now, time is running out. We must go and save Nabosa from execution at the hands of the Yiga Clan, whom you will learn about soon”. Gritting her teeth, Impa reluctantly nodded and both her and Sheik made their way out of the room.

After turning several corners, Sheik and Impa finally reached the main entrance of the dungeon. Two Yiga guards stood either side of the door. Sheik stepped forward. “We are here to see Nabosa, the former Gerudo Chieftan. We want to see her one last time before the execution”. Both Yiga guards looked at one another for a few moments. One of them replied: “Too late, Legion losers. Nabosa has already been taken to the execution chamber. If you’re so adamant to see the Gerudo filth, feel free to make you’re way there. But ya better be quick, otherwise you’ll both be arriving to a severed head to greet you, hehehe”. Upon hearing this, both Impa and Sheik began running in the direction from where they came. Worried, Sheik stated: “This is not good. For starters, we don’t know our way to the execution chamber. And if we get there, there’s a chance we’ll be too late”. However, a voice stopped them in their tracks. “This is where I can play my part!”. Sara flew out of the small bag attached to Sheik’s belt. She returned to her normal size. She giggled and said: “I can teleport us, remember”. She opened her spell book, recited her incantation, and just like before, a blue light enveloped the 3 of them. Next second, Sheik and Impa found themselves back outside at the entrance of the Arbiter’s Grounds. A few yards to the side of the entrance were a set of stairs. Sara pointed towards them. “If we take these stairs and then go through the door, we will arrive at the execution chamber”. Flabbergasted, Impa and Sheik looked at one another. Quizzically, Impa asked: “How would you know this exactly?”. Sara smiled and replied: “I’m a member of the Resistance. We have intel on a lot of areas directly and indirectly controlled by Ria. But let’s not waste time. We got to get to the execution chamber and save your friend”. Again, Sara reverted to her pixie form and went back into Sheik’s bag. Again, Impa gave a look of pure suspicion, but this time, chose not to speak. Sheik and Impa ran up the stairs and went through the door. On the other side of the door, they were met with an unsettling site. It was, what looked like a theatre. The seating area was full of Yiga members. All were laughing and chatting amongst themselves. Impa and Sheik both walked to the nearest vacant space to seat themselves. The Yiga member next to them turned around. “Ha, heard that two Legion failures would be among us today. Took ya 10 years to sleep off the humiliation you were handed out?”. Impa replied: “Yes, and we saw how an incompetent bunch of morons had taken our place and decided that we would come to make things right”. Sheik couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. Impa’s sense of wit had well and truly returned. Clearly embarrassed, the Yiga member groaned and faced away. Sheik looked on ahead to see a stage in the middle of the chamber. On this stage, she saw two poles close to one another. But what unsettled her even more was that both poles had a set of chains connected to them. She couldn’t hold the thought for long as a Yiga member made their way to the stage. “We are all gathered here to witness the satisfying butchering of a Gerudo cockroach. I know, I know, you’ll all be thinking,  didn’t we exterminate all those wenches? You’d be correct, but, we all wondered where the queen insect was. Did she run away? Did she kill herself? Or, was she hiding all this time? Well, it proved to be the latter. In fact, she was in our very own hideout, all this time he he. But, the genius of the Yiga was not to be denied forever. She couldn’t hide from us, and eventually, the rat was found. And the time has come for the rat to be put down. Now, to oversee today’s entertainment, prepare to welcome our beloved and incredible leader. The brilliant, the magnificent, the beautiful and most powerful, Master Kohga!”. A deafening roar came from the crowd. From the left side of the stage, a door opened. From it, four Yiga members were seen carrying what looked like a throne. They were jogging with it on their shoulders. On this throne was sitting a Yiga member. However, in stark comparison to most Yiga and their fit bodies, this Yiga member had a big belly and overall obese torso. Sheik looked over to Impa, who’s eyes were filled with rage and fury. “No… no way. That… that scoundrel Kohga. So… this is what he was planning all this time”.

Immediately, Sheik turned to face Impa. “You know the Yiga leader?”. Impa nodded. “Indeed. Kohga was once a member of the Legion. As you will see for yourself, he is a bumbling, clumsy buffoon who thought the world of himself. He wanted to be the top man of the Legion. However, at the time, Fronagond saw him as a liability and excommunicated him from the Legion. But rumour had it that he began creating his own group of Sheikah rebels. And it seems, with the help of this Ria of course, that he finally succeeded”. Kohga’s throne was placed at the foot of the centre execution stage. Kohga looked at his subordinates. “Well, what’s the hold up? Bring out the whelp and put her out of her misery”. With that, another door at the side of the chamber opened. Three figures were emerging from the entrance. Two of the figures were Yiga members. They were dragging out the third figure. It was Nabosa. However, she was in a deeply insipid state. Normally, Nabosa was a picture of elegance. Not this time. Her usual styled and tied back vibrant red hair was untied, frizzy and unkempt. Her energetic posture was nowhere to be seen. Her head was down, expression completely exhausted. Her clothing was visibly worn out and certain pieces of trademark jewellery partially cracked. The sight of this was making Sheik grip her hands in anger. What had the Yiga done to reduce her to this state? She was brought to the main execution stage. The chains on the two poles were used to chain both her wrists and ankles. Suddenly, a big, muscular Yiga member appeared in a puff of smoke. Given the giant sword in his hand, he was clearly the executioner. Exhausted, Nabosa had her head facing the ground. Kohga then stood up from his throne. In a slightly comical, but haughty walking style, he made his way up to Nabosa. “Well well, after all these years, you couldn’t resist my charms, could you? With all your little friends gone, you finally realised that there would be no other honour, but to have your life ended by an esteemed being such as myself, he he. And once I’ve provided the Empress of the Land your head on a nice, silver platter as a gift, she’ll have no choice but to be blown away by my brilliance! She may even give me half the kingdom, he he! And then, everyone shall know my name. And one day, I will take Ria’s place as Emperor. The whole Land will bow before the magnificence of the one, the only, Master Kohga!!”. He proceeded to flex his biceps to the cheering crowd. Impa visibly looked like she wanted to throw up. “I should have just killed this imbecile when we were part of the Legion”. Master Kohga popped his face right at Nabosa’s. “Well, Gerudo wench. Any last words? You’re privileged that you have this chance to say it in my majestic presence”. Nabosa’s worn out face somehow managed a faint smirk. “He he he…to… to hell with you…and… to hell with your insignificant, moronic and incompetent bunch of lackeys”. Kohga’s smugness suddenly turned to rage. He landed a slap to Nabosa’s face. Scurrying back to his throne, he bellowed: “End this foolish woman, NOW!!”. The Yiga executioner raised his sword in the air. Nabosa slowly closed her eyes. But before the executioner lowered his sword, Sheik jumped out of her seat. Quickly making her way down to the execution stage, she screamed: “HALT!!”. Kohga staggered slightly in his throne. “Ah, you’re one of the Legion losers. We can deal with a failure like yourself later. Now, go and take a seat”. Nabosa looked up and gave a startled expression. Sheik looked around her. She exclaimed: “Before I stop this execution in its tracks, let me inform you all, I am no former Legion member. In fact, I’m not even Sheikah”. All the Yiga members in the crowd looked on in bewilderment. Sheik then started moving her arms in a random manner. Clenching her fist, she lit up in a silver light. Yiga members in the crowd were in silence at this scene. When the light faded, the sight they were confronted by stimulated a collective gasp. Master Kohga literally fell out of his throne. When he got up, he bellowed in disbelief: “N…no. No. NO NO NO NO, it can’t be. Where did you come from? Princess Zelda!!”.

Zelda looked around the execution chamber. The Yiga were clearly bewildered. Some were jeering at this new sight confronting them. “Now, this is a somewhat unexpected development. I thought the Hyrulean Royal Family was exterminated by the Empress. How did you, the Princess, get away from the Empress?”. enquired Master Kohga. With an uncharacteristically stern face, Zelda replied: “A long story, but one a feeble mind such as yourself would not be able to comprehend. I am here to put an end to your barbarism and set my friend free from your malevolent clutches”. At this, Kohga fell into a fit of hysterical laughter. “Naive, foolish former Princess! You think you can sneak into my territory and boss me around? In case you missed it, you’re no longer in any position of authority in this Land. In fact, you must lack any sort of intellect, giving the brilliance such as myself any sort of orders when all of my loyal and loving Yiga surround you. You must have a death wish, he he. Well, no matter. We will have the pleasure of seeing two executions today. One after the other. Now, my devoted executioner, kill that darned Gerudo”. Once again, the Yiga executioner raised his sword. But at this point, Nabosa sniggered. The executioner had just begun to lower his blade towards the neck of the Gerudo Chieftan when he felt a sharp pain in the middle of his abdomen. He looked down to see a small blade impaled into his stomach. But to his horror, the handle of the blade was in the hand of Nabosa. She was relieved of her chains. She pulled the blade out of the executioner’s abdomen. Clutching his fatal wound, the executioner fell to his knees. “You… you darned…filthy… Gerudo…”, but before he could finish his sentence, the executioner fell face down on the ground to his death. Again, the Yiga crowd gave out a collective scream. Kohga put both his hands on his mouth and gasps. “What…what did you do… to my executioner!?. How did you break free from those chains!? And how did you get that small blade”. His question was to be quickly answered. “That would be my doing”. Kohga looked behind Nabosa. Standing behind him was a familiar site, his former fellow Legion member, Impa. “It’s been a while, Kohga. And I see you’re as asinine as ever. In fact, it looks like your stupidity has rubbed off on your loyalists. While you were all distracted by the princess, I made haste and quickly set Nabosa free”. Clenching his fist in anger, Kohga shouted: “IMPA!! I SEE THAT YOU AND YOUR HOLIER-THAN-THOU PRESENCE STILL CREATES A STENCH IN THIS WORLD. I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW MUCH I’VE HATED YOU!! I CAN’T STAND THE SIGHT OF YOU!!”. He then raised his hand in the air. “No matter, there’s only three of you against tons of us. NOW MY LACKEYS, KILL THEM ALL!!”. All the Yiga members got off of their seats and charged towards the centre of the execution chamber. Before they closed in, Sara flew out of Zelda’s small bag. She regained her normal size and rapidly created a blue barrier around herself, Zelda, Impa and a mostly immobile Nabosa. The Yiga members at the front of the charge went flying backwards towards the seats. Many who were behind tripped to the ground. Sara then lowered her barrier. Laughing, she stated: “That makes four, Kohga!”. Kohga then started walking towards the centre of the chamber. He brought forward his hands. Suddenly, a giant spiked mace on a chain appeared in his hands. Cackling, Kohga stated: “Look what you did. Well… I don’t mind… no… I don’t mind at all… because… THE STUPENDOUS CHIEF OF THE YIGA CLAN MASTER KOHGAAA, IS GONNA KILL YOU ALL… TO DEATH!!!” Zelda stepped forward and took out her rapier. However, Sara pulled her arm back. “Princess, we’ve got to fight the rest of the Yiga”. Puzzled, Zelda replied: “But what about Kohga? He’s clearly the boss here and the main threat”. Sara merely smiled and winked back. Suddenly, a butterfly came out of Zelda’s small bag. The butterfly gave off a bright, golden glow. After that, it turned back to its original form, the young Agitha. Sara smiled again: “Don’t worry about Kohga. Because it is Agitha who will take him down”.

Zelda was astonished. Was Sara out of her mind? How could Agitha, a mere child of 10 winters, be able to fight the leader of a barbaric tribe such as the Yiga Clan. But interrupting her thoughts, Sara said: “I know how dumb that sounds to you, but very soon, your mind will completely change”. Zelda was still extremely sceptical, but reluctantly nodded in affirmation. Sara clearly knew more about Agitha. After all, Sara practically raised her. Zelda, Sara and Impa quickly charged towards different directions of the execution chamber and attacked the Yiga members in front of them. Nabosa stayed kneeling to the ground. “Sorry ladies… as much as I would love to pay these savages back for what they put me through… I just don’t have the strength to fight at this moment”. Kohga was walking up to Agitha. “Is this some sort of joke. The damned fools dare to mock me by leaving greatness such as myself to fight against a pipsqueak? No matter, I will finish this in a second!”. Kohga started swinging his chained spiked mace around in the air. Agitha took a few steps back. “Umm sir, you wouldn’t hurt an adorable little child like me, would you?”. Laughing, Kohga responded: “Well then, you’re friends shouldn’t have left you to my evil clutches, should they he he?”. Kohga then aimed his mace straight at Agitha. However, Agitha quickly brought out a small umbrella. Quickly opening it, she shielded herself from the mace’s attack. The golden glowing umbrella blocked Kohga’s weapon. Smiling, Agitha put her hand into the air. “Now, my darling butterflies, come to the presence of your Queen”. With that, a swarm of butterflies came flying towards Agitha’s hand. There must have been hundreds of butterflies. Her hand also glowing gold, Agitha chuckled. She then pointed towards Kohga. “My beloved disciples, attack that silly, nasty fat man in the red clothes”. Enraged, Kohga shouted: “WHO ARE YOU CALLING FAT YOU LITTLE… AAAHHHH!”. The butterflies rapidly flew at Kohga and swarmed all over his body. Kohga was running all over the chamber in random directions, attempting to get away from the butterflies. All the Yiga members partially stopped their respective battles with the Resistance members and looked in shock towards their master’s predicament. After a few moments, Kohga stopped running. He crouched over and began panting. Agitha smiled and again raised her hand. “Now, return to your Queen”. With that, the butterflies flew back towards Agitha. However, when they reached her, they began swarming around her back. As the seconds passed, Agitha appeared to be developing what looked like butterfly wings on her back. When all the butterflies returned to her, her artificial butterfly wings shone a spectacular gold. She then levitated in the air and flew towards an exhausted Kohga. She again brought out her umbrella and struck a hefty blow to the Yiga leader, sending him rolling on the ground. Nearby, Zelda was utterly flabbergasted by what she had been witnessing. Suddenly, Sara came up behind her whilst warding off a bunch of Yiga. “Well, what did you think, eh princess? Agitha was some helpless little child who happened to be babysat by Keaton, Aryll and I? Agitha is a special child born with a gift. And since she was able to walk and talk, I taught her to use those gifts. You can say Agitha is much a mage as I am, he he! From the moment I was in the presence of that idiotic Yiga leader, I knew he was a paper tiger, all bark, no bite. Agitha will have no issues taking him down. In fact, the battle between the two will be over in a few moments, you’ll see”.

Kohga hastily got up. “OK you little brat, you got lucky and had your laugh. Now I ain’t showing you any mercy!”. He picked up his chained mace. Swinging it in the air a few times, he again aimed it towards Agitha. She started flying around the chamber, dodging Kohga’s blows. In the process, the blows were hitting his own Yiga members, causing collateral damage. “THAT’S IT, I’M PUTTING MY BACK INTO THIS BLOW. TRY DODGING THIS YOU LITTLE WORM”. He then threw his mace again towards Agitha with full force. She started flying in circles around the Yiga leader. After a few rounds, Kohga was clearly out of breath. Also, the leg he was swinging around with to maintain spinning gave way. This caused Kohga to abruptly stop. However, the chain and mace continued to swing around. With that, the chain completely engulfed Kohga. Once the chain ran out, the spikes of the mace impaled Kohga in the back. “AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME… STUPID KID!!”. Kohga collapsed face down to the ground. Agitha stopped her flight and landed on the ground. Her wings dematerialised and the butterflies flew away. Smiling, Agitha started waving at the butterflies as they flew away. “Thank you so much, my dear friends. You’re Queen smiles upon you”. With that, she performed a little bow. Zelda was startled. Not just at the ease with which she had defeated Kohga, but at the farewell she gave to the butterflies. There was a sense of familiarity to her gesture. The Yiga screamed in horror. The sight of their defeated master had shattered their morale. Impa then exclaimed: “Your pitiful leader has been bested. And that, by a mere child. If a child can do this to your master, then you can guess what we will do to all of you weaklings. But we have no intention of exterminating you sorry excuses for Sheikah. Now… LEAVE!”. Impa’s stern voice had the Yiga trembling. With that, the ones still standing in the fight all disappeared, one by one in puffs of smoke. In mere moments, the chamber was free of all Yiga, except for those slain, and of course, Master Kohga. Sara smiled and exclaimed in joy: “Yippee, we won the day. The Yiga are defeated, Nabosa is rescued!”. Zelda ran towards Agitha. She hugged her tightly for a few moments. “Agitha… I never knew how incredible a mage you were. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe it before”. Agitha held Zelda’s hands. “You couldn’t know that. We only just met. Besides, I wanted to make you as proud of me as I could”. Impa put Nabosa’s arm around her and stood her up. Sara then got everyone together in the middle of the chamber. Opening her spell book, she stated: “Now that all of this is over. Let’s leave this awful place”. But before she could begin reciting her incantation, she sensed something untoward. Quickly. she materialised her barrier. Her hunch proved to correct. A dark purple energy blast shot into the barrier. But worryingly, the barrier broke straight after impact. This caused everyone under the barrier to fall to their knees. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard coming towards them. “Dear oh dear me. After gifting the Yiga this piece of territory, this is how they repay me? With this abysmal capitulation? How pathetic”. Everyone turned around. Zelda’s eyes opened up wide in horror. The purple robe, the staff, but most menacingly, that horrific mask. It was Empress Ria.

“I sent the Gerudo Chieftan as fresh meat for them to devour, yet, they couldn’t even do that. And subsequently, these insects have all scurried in to cause terror to their home. No matter… looks like the insectswill have to be exterminated by myself. They’ve left me to clean up this mess”. Ria focused her gaze towards Zelda. Gripping her staff tightly, she shouted: “And the first to die… WILL BE THIS FILTH!! TAKE THIS AND DIEEEE ALEREADY!!!”. She pointed her staff at the princess and shot a black ball of electricity. The ball was coming so fast at her, that she barely had time to even move a finger. But before she was struck, she heard a loud voice: “Deflect!”. Sara came in front of Zelda, put out her hand and stopped the electrical ball for a moment, before sending it back to Ria, who quickly dodged her own attack. “Long time, no see, my dear Sara. I was wondering whether you had finally given up and decided to let me do what I’ve always been destined to do”. Sara started walking towards Ria. “What can I say? Someone has to stick around to undo your long-standing chaos”. Ria replied: “You have been a pest to my plans for far too long. That, I could bite my tongue over and tolerate. But protecting this irksome witch from her destined fate? You invite my fury and punishment. Now, before I hurt you, STEP ASIDE!!”. With a completely serious face, Sara put her arm across. “Over my dead body Ria”. Shaking her head, Ria charged towards Sara. “Zelda, Impa, Agitha, take Nabosa and flee from here. I will hold off Ria”. “No Sara, I can’t leave you here alone at the mercy of Ria. I want to help…”, but Sara interrupted: “There’s no time to argue, get out of here. I’ll be fine!!”. She pushed Zelda back, and then raised her hand to the sky. “LIGHTNING SHOWER!!”. Blue energy balls began hitting the ground. Ria continuously tried to dodge. Sara turned around, and with a harsh tone, bellowed: “Now go!!”. Impa wasted no time in picking up Nabosa and running towards one of the exits near the top of the chamber. Agitha grabbed Zelda’s hand. “Zelda, please believe in Sara. She will be fine!”. With extreme reluctance, Zelda slowly began making her way towards the exit. However, her head was turned in great concern towards the battle between Sara and Ria. The blue energy balls had stopped and Ria was now shooting black energy balls from her staff. Sara was barely being able to protect herself by her continuous materialising of barriers. “Ha ha. You know very well that you cannot defeat me, Sara. And yet, you risk everything to save those cretins”. Suddenly, six white blocks materialised around Ria. Sara rapidly jumped on one to the other in a horizontal manner. The blocks suddenly emitted white electricity and shattered, stunning the Empress. Sara then jumped in the air and shot a big blue energy ball at her adversary. Ria fell to the ground. “Ria… I don’t want to hurt you any longer. Just give up this poisonous ambition. Is this what he would truly want?”. With those words, Ria jumped to her feet and flew straight into Sara, staggering her backwards. She then gripped her staff, and while it glowed dark purple, landed several blows to the blue-haired mage. She then shot a black energy ball to immobilise her and grabbed her by the neck. “WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!!! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT HE DOES OR DOESN’T WANT?!! HE BELONGS TO ME, TO ME ALONE!! YOU HEAR ME!? ANYONE WHO COMES IN BETWEEN US WILL BE REDUCED TO DUST!!”. Whilst making her way to the exit, Zelda had been watching the whole battle. But this recent development caused her to stop before crossing the exit. Impa tried to dissuade her. “Princess, Sara told us to run from here. Trust her plan”. But Zelda was having none of it. “There is no way I will allow Sara to die for us. I have to help her!”. Zelda got out her Bow of Light. “It’s that mask. The source of her power. I will shoot that mask and destroy it with one blow. Then, this nightmare will be over”. Zelda pulled back the string of the bow, causing a Light Arrow to appear. She then aimed the arrow at Ria’s mask and shot it straight at the Empress’ face. The arrow was on the verge of hitting the mask right in the middle, however, Ria noticed it milliseconds before contact. She attempted to dodge, however, the arrow hit the mask on the left corner. This caused the mask to fall off of Ria’s face. Panicked, Ria dropped Sara to the ground and quickly picked up the mask. Sara was quickly regaining her bearings and getting up off of the ground. The mask had sustained some damage. Yellow energy was emitting from it. Everyone was fixated upon Ria, who began to raise her unmasked face towards Zelda. When her face was fully visible, everyone looked on in complete and utter astonishment. Aside from the blonde hair, slight olive tone to the skin and purple eyes, Ria’s face was identical to Sara. Her expression was the epitome of hatred and envy when she looked straight at Zelda. “Wretched princess… death will be too lenient a penance for what you just tried to do to me… mark my words”. Ria’s body was engulfed in a purple smoke. A few moments later, Ria was gone. Everyone ran towards Sara. She turned around and looked at everyone with a guilty and sorrowful expression. Gritting her teeth, Impa spoke: “I knew all along something wasn’t right with you. And the mask debacle we’ve just witnessed confirms my suspicions. Now tell us… Ria’s and your face being identical isn’t merely by coincidence, is it now?”. Zelda also looked at Sara with a great sense of sadness. With light tears coming down her face, Sara replied: “Impa, you… you are correct. I haven’t been transparent with any of you from the start”.