Elimination Exit

[Illidan Stormrage]

Alive. It was more than Link was expecting.

Turns out Ganondorf wasn't a liar after all.

Not surprising now, he reflected, as it would have been before Dante's Abyss. Through necessity, Link and Ganondorf had forged a nigh unstoppable force, trouncing almost everyone who was unfortunate enough to get in their way. Even lacking the Triforce of Courage and Master Sword, Link managed to become a powerful combatant in his own right. Sure, his bomb thrower helped a lot in that regard, but the waning confidence the Hero of Time had in him before the tournament had shriveled before the truth. If anything good came out of that death competition, it was that Link knew in himself that he was a hero.

Yet the term 'hero' may have meant something different to what Link thought all along.

And Ganondorf! How was he supposed to view his mortal enemy now? Once a heartless tyrant, he showed Link that a man lay beneath that. The dark lord may have been manipulating the Hylian soldier all that time, but Link wasn't stupid. Even if the majority of their harrowing time together was fake, there were moments, slivers of time where Ganondorf's facade cracked, and Link witnessed the vulnerable Gerudo beneath. Link couldn't be certain it would stay that way; after all, life and death situations drive people to acts they would never even consider in safety.

Yet the next time the two clashed, Link promised to at least keep his mind open to the possibility that Ganondorf was more than the dictator from Hyrule.

Free of Dante's Abyss, Link was handed back his equipment. With great satisfaction he clipped his hookshots on either side of his belt where that familiar weight hung again. The Phantom Sword and Master Sword wrapped about his chest like a lover's embrace, Link sighing in relaxation as he clasped them together. The quiver slipped over his shoulders and hovered there as if it weighed nothing at all, and his bow slung comfortably over his shoulders. Last of all, the Hylian Shield covered his back like a tortoise shell, and Link felt complete again.

Now that he was fully equipped again, it was time to hunt Syla again. Having resurrected, he knew he couldn't let this chance go. But where to begin? Perhaps the verdant forests of Camelot, where he last saw her, was the logical place to start.

But as he took his first step, a strange figure caught his eye, staring at him intently ...