A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 43: The Homestead Struggle

Jules kept the three points of the trident she held aimed at the assassin standing on the opposite side of the loft. He chuckled, twirling the sickle in one hand and brandishing the Windcleaver in the other. While her focus was on the bloodstained figure slowly coming toward her, she could see the trident's front slightly shaking. She was trembling. Though she spoke confidently before, her mind was racing. The Yiga was right: she had never once fought, and now here she stood challenging a trained assassin that possibly had killed the most skillful fighter in Hyrule. The person she cared about most.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thoughts plaguing her mind. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. The Yiga was lying, trying to get into all of their heads in order to throw them off. She had to ignore them. She took a deep breath before attempting to steady her weapon. Bravely, she took a small step toward her opponent. The assassin, however, suddenly clanged his weapons together, causing her to flinch and retreat, taking two steps back.

"What was that supposed to be?" the Yiga asked. "Was that supposed to be resolve? Look at you, shaking in fear. You're afraid."

He slammed the blades against each other again, and while Jules didn't move as she had done before, she could feel the vibrations course through her body, in every fiber of her muscles, and all the way down to her bones. He laughed.

"It looks like you only had enough alcohol to think this was the best idea," he said as he grew closer to her. "I doubt one drink is enough to convince you that you'll actually succeed, though. Am I right?"

Jules didn't reply. She simply gripped the trident even tighter. In a puff the Yiga vanished, only to reappear less than a second later, now standing with his stomach only a few centimeters away from the trident's longest point. Only now did Jules realize just how much taller the assassin was than them. He loomed over, slightly leaning down to look her in the eye. The mask was shadowed, yet the blood-red eye was still barely visible.

"Do you really think you can stop me?"

In a blur, the Yiga's arm moved. Jules felt her heart stop for a split second as she saw something fly past her head before hearing a thud. She glanced over to see the Windcleaver blade sitting right next to her ear with its tip stuck in the wall behind her. Remembering to breathe, she took a deep breath but instinctively took another step back. She felt her back hit the wall, and the Yiga stepped closer, leaning down ever further until his mask almost touched her nose.

"I've worked far too hard... Dealt with far too much to let this slip away from me," he hissed.

She felt it; a weight pushing down on her body. His aura, his hatred, and his rage. It oozed down from the evil glare she could feel even from behind the upside-down eye. It was suffocating— unbearable— but she couldn't move. Her body had frozen in fear.

"Nothing will stop me from completing my goal. From fulfilling my destiny," he continued. "Especially not by some depressed, drunk, rebound like you."

He released his grip on the sword, allowing the wall to hold it. Slowly, he reached forward, ready to take Jules by the neck.

"You can't do anything. You couldn't before, and you certainly can't now," he said in a low tone. "So why don't you finally give up? It's what you should have done before getting your hopes up with your precious champion."

"I..." Jules stammered.

His presence was overwhelming. It was like darkness itself was consuming her mind. Maybe she should have given up, at least a lot sooner than she already had. She wasn't much of anything anyway, especially compared to the princess herself. With Zelda around, she wasn't needed. The Yiga's long fingers wrapped around her throat.