Fan Fiction ❯ Harry Potter and the Hero of Time ❯ The Escape ( Chapter 1 )

Note: This story takes place just after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and seven Hyrulian years after Majora's Mask. I specify Hyrulian years here because Terminian time flows three times slower than in Hyrule. One day in Hyrule equals six minutes on earth, and one Terminian day without playing the Inverted Song of Time is eighteen Earth minutes. The wedding sequence is based on the marriage section starting on page 202 of the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW). Throughout the story, italicized text indicates thoughts or telepathic communication. "Normal speech is placed in quotation marks."

Chapter 1: The Escape

Ganondorf was not a happy evil genius, that was certain. He had been stuck in the Evil Realm, a vast, colorless, humorless wasteland for the past six Hyrulian months. Ganondorf was poised to take over all the world of Hyrule, not just the small country he was from, when he lost everything in one fell swoop. Not only had that upstart, Link, freed Princess Zelda, and he had called on the Sages and the Three Golden Goddesses themselves to banish him here. Ganondorf was not happy, writhing in agony as the faces of his dead victims tormented him without stopping. Nobody could understand how he felt, not even his surrogate mothers, Koume and Kotake, or his pet dragon Volvagia.

Ganondorf was floating in the Evil Realm like this when Daragon entered the void. Daragon, that most powerful of all evil wizards ever to walk the roads of black magic, had taken an interest in the beleaguered Gerudo. If you have heard even one tale about Daragon, and there are several, then you know he is most evil and treacherous. Ganondorf, an isolated bumpkin of sorts among dark wizards, had heard only the worst rumors of Daragon. These rumors made Ganondorf suddenly very afraid for his very existence.

Daragon appeared to Ganondorf as a tall man with billowing midnight blue robes. In his right hand, the evil wizard held a staff glowing with the colors of the rainbow. Daragon exuded a chill aura in front of him, designed to frighten and intimidate the less powerful. Ganondorf felt the aura to be as cold as he would feel standing in the Ice Cavern wearing only a loincloth. The writhing energies of the Evil Realm moved away from Daragon as he strode towards Ganondorf. The Gerudo bowed before the man who had caused so much havoc.

"My lord," said Ganondorf, with his eyes averted. "What brings you to this accursed place and to me, your most humble servant."

"Shut up, you fool," said Daragon in a voice even colder than his aura. "I have come to get you out of this place, and back where you belong. Follow me, and we will meet some new friends to help us get what we so richly deserve."

"Revenge, milord, is sweet when done properly," said Ganondorf as he fell into step behind the evil wizard. Daragon strode to a point where the swirling mist of the Evil Realm seemed to be thinner. He then tapped the crystal atop his staff onto the solid mist beneath their feet. A door opened, and Ganondorf followed Daragon through to the mortal worlds again.

When the two emerged from the tunnel, Ganondorf took a couple deep breaths of fresh air. It felt good to be out of that place, the Gerudo thought. Daragon strode across the misty graveyard toward a tall house set high on a hill nearby. Fire crackled in the windows of their destination, almost as though it had multiple fireplaces. Ganondorf looked at one of the graves and saw the name Tom Riddle marked on it.

When they reached the house, Daragon knocked three times on the impressive door with his left hand. After a moment, the door opened to reveal a short man with a rat-like face and thinning gray hair.

"Master," called the man up a nearby staircase. "Lord Daragon has arrived with a guest and they wish to see you at once."

"Show them to my parlor, Wormtail," said a high, cold voice from upstairs. "These people are friends of mine and I want to make sure they are comfortable." Wormtail bowed the two evil magi in and led them up the stairs with a candle in his hand. The glow from the fire grew brighter as they went down a hallway to an open door. There was a tall man standing in front of a fireplace, stroking a twelve-foot-long snake.

"Well done, Wormtail," said the man in his high, cold voice. "Bring our guests some wine and cakes and you may be done for tonight."

"Yes, Master," said Wormtail, bowing deeply and heading downstairs to the kitchen.

"Lord Daragon, such a pleasure it is to see you again, and in such excellent health."

"The pleasure is mine, Voldemort," said Daragon. "You are one of my best pupils, and with Ganondorf here at our side, we will be able to crush our enemies in an instant."

"So you would be Ganondorf," said Voldemort, stepping into the light. His red, cat-like eyes glistened wickedly in the light of the flames and seemed to pierce Ganondorf to his very heart. "Lord Daragon has told me so much about your plans to take over that Hyrule of yours and kill the Hero of Time. Since you have never heard of me, I will fill you in on the more pertinent details of my adventures.

"I am Lord Voldemort, Ganondorf. I was born to a witch and her traitorous non-magical lover, Tom Riddle. My mother died just long enough to name me after my father, and I became Tom Marvolo Riddle. I grew up with other orphans in the local orphanage and I hated it, at least until I got into school. There, I made friends and found a pet Basilisk, a gigantic serpent whose gaze alone could kill. I used it to kill an annoying little girl who nobody liked, especially not my friends and I."

"When I left school, I wandered the world searching for others like me. I met Lord Daragon on one of my travels and he taught me a few powerful ways to torture those who refused my good advice. My loyal followers, the Death Eaters, helped me torment those who refused my commands. I was fine, growing in power all the time, until one day thirteen years ago. My loyal servant Wormtail had betrayed two of his former classmates, Lily and James Potter, to me at a clandestine meeting. I killed Lily and James with my powers and tried to kill Harry, their infant brat. Lily, though, had placed a countercurse that reduced me to a form where I had no form, only mists and vapors.

"I fled far from that place that night, to a small country to the southeast called Albania. I tried possessing the bodies of snakes, rats, and other creatures, but I had no wand with which to focus my powers. Ten years after I arrived, I met a man from the school that Harry Potter would soon be attending. That school, the one I had attended, was now under the control of an absolute fool named Albus Dumbledore. I took control of that Quirrell man and forced him to bring me back here. He died when I tried to steal the Sorcerer's Stone from Harry Potter and Dumbledore the first day of June.

"I fled, and returned to my home in the Albanian forest. Wormtail had been revealed by Potter and his friends after a couple years, so he found me with aid from his rodent friends. Wormtail brought me a Ministry of Magic, a backward government, witch named Bertha Jorkins. She revealed, after a little persuasion, that there would be held at Dumbledore's school that coming school year a Triwizard Tournament. I also learned of a Death Eater who was imprisoned by his own father, but willing to help my plan.

"Wormtail had already brought me back to a weak body, and we moved quickly. We killed an old gardener who had once worked for my father and his family, until I killed them. We then allowed my loyal Death Eater to disguise himself as a new teacher at Dumbledore's school. Potter won the tournament, and he took the golden trophy with one of his competitors. The spare was killed, thanks to Wormtail again, and Potter bound against my father's gravestone. Wormtail sacrificed his right hand, took my father's bones, and took Potter's blood to revive me. Potter and I dueled, but he managed to escape my clutches again.

"So I have waited, one week from that night, for this day. Ah, and here is Wormtail with the wine and cakes!" As Wormtail bore the tray of food and beverage toward his Master and guests, Ganondorf noticed that the servant had two hands, one of which glowed bright silver. He guessed that Voldemort gave him a magical hand to replace the one he sacrificed. The cakes were good, full of sugar and some strange confection called chocolate. The wine was vintage and made the Gerudo a little tipsy, but not excessively drunk.

Ganondorf soon grew full, and Wormtail led him to a bedroom. The Gerudo shut the door when the servant left and stripped out of his armor. The sheets on the bed were soft, even softer than the Gerudo silks he was accustomed to in Hyrule. Ganondorf wrapped himself in them and laid his head on the down pillow. He was fast asleep within a minute, glad to be back in the mortal worlds and ready for revenge.

Meanwhile, back in Hyrule, the Seven Sages awoke with a start from dreams of the coming joy. Link, the popular Hero of Time, was getting married to Princess Zelda the following day. Princess Ruto of the Zora and Nabooru of the Gerudo were of course opposed to this at first. However, Saria, the Kokiri Sage of Forest, explained that this was Link's decision and nothing they could do would dissuade him. Besides that, she pointed out, there was no way Link and Ruto could have kids and the people would hate Link if he married Nabooru. Saria had gotten over her crush on Link, knowing his place was with his own race and it wouldn't seem right if things got intimate between them.

The first sage to awaken was Princess Zelda, the Sage of Time, and bride-to-be. She had prophetic dreams like this when she was younger, showing how Ganondorf would take over Hyrule. Zelda rang a bell at her bedside, and Impa, her loyal attendant and Sage of Shadow, came into the room.

"Zelda," Impa said. "What's wrong?"

"I just had a prophetic dream," the Princess said, shivering. "Ganondorf has escaped from the seal we placed on him months ago. He's not in Hyrule, not yet at least, but he might come back at any time."

"Should I gather the other Sages, Majesty?"

"We'll tell them tomorrow about what's happened. I really wanted to give Link better news than this for our wedding, but, well, we have no choice."

"Get some rest, then, Zelda. We do not want you to worry your head about this all night and look bad for your big day tomorrow." Zelda nodded wordlessly and settled down onto her pillows, falling into a dream of Link.

Nabooru knew something was wrong as she walked the halls of Gerudo's Fortress. The Gerudo crown jewels by rights belonged to her, but they had vanished from her hair at sunset of the previous day. That could only mean one thing. Ganondorf was back in the lands of the living instead of the underworld he had been exiled to some months earlier in the alternate timeline. If that were the case, then the evil witches, Koume and Kotake, could be back as well. Nabooru shuddered, remembering her hypnosis at their hands seven years earlier.

Darunia, the Sage of Fire, was next to awaken with a start. He knew Ganondorf was back by the nature of the nightmares that had startled him. Link could tangle with Volvagia if the dragon returned, but Darunia, a dracophobic Goron, needed some help in that area. At least this time they could fight together, instead of separately. Darunia was proud of his Sworn Brother, who was extremely lucky to marry someone as beautiful and kind as Princess Zelda. The Goron was proud of his own wife, the local shopkeeper, and of his son, named Link in honor of his Sworn Brother. There was nothing else to do but alert Saria, Ruto, and Rauru.

Saria, he thought at her. It's Darunia. Ganondorf is back in the mortal lands. We need to inform Ruto and Rauru.

I understand, the Kokiri girl thought back. I will inform Ruto, and I expect Rauru already knows. He is, after all, the only original Sage left.

Well, it was true. Of the original Seven Sages, only Rauru remained. They were needed a few hundred years earlier to forge the Master Sword and stop the Gerudo from enslaving the other races. The Kokiri Sage of Forest from those days, a tiny little girl named Plum, had sacrificed her eternal life to forge the unbreakable blade of the Master Sword. Navi was the fairy Plum had, according to what the Deku Tree Sprout said. The others were all mortals and died before the current era.

Terminating her thought link to Darunia, Saria turned to the northeast and concentrated her thoughts on Ruto.

Ruto, she thought, it's Saria. Are you awake yet?

Yes, Saria, came the thoughts of Princess Ruto. I am awake. Let me guess; Ganondorf broke out of the Evil Realm just now?

Clever as ever, Ruto. The others already know the bad news. I seriously hope Link finds out soon tomorrow. Of all the bad things that could possibly ruin his wedding!

I know, Saria. Link and Zelda are made for each other, but I'm worried that Ganondorf might have a few unpleasant surprises.

Link too woke up from a peaceful night spent dreaming of Zelda. He knew that Ganondorf had escaped-the Triforce of Courage gave him a seventh sense about that sort of thing. Link did not think that Nabooru and her Gerudo would like this news, nor would the king and the rest of the officials. There was already one Gerudo Dragmire running about the world somewhere, driven from Hyrule by the battle seven years earlier. Of all the times to be missing a guardian fairy…