The Twilight Princess 2: The Time Forgotten

Nineteen

Zoey and Kai couldn't quite believe what they saw taking place at the cottage as soon as they arrived there. Ora Gloon and the Twilight Princess were shoving Old Man Wahsit against the wall repeatedly.

"What in the world is going on here?" Zoey marched up to them. "I thought you two had made peace."

"Yeah, with ourselves," Ora snickered. "Not with this old man."

The princess began to lift him up in the air. "Thanks to you, I now have my partner in crime back, who will continue to do what needs to be done. And that includes getting revenge on Wahsit, who is the reason for my only weakness: The Prophecy."

"What do you mean?" Zoey asked.

The Twilight Princess laughed. "You mean you don't know? This old man has been lying to you this whole time. He's the one who created the Prophecy in order to weaken me. That's why you see him so obsessed with my past."

"She is correct about that," Wahsit told her as he was released on the floor, nearly choking to death. "I'm sorry I didn't tell ya kids the truth. I was just tryin' to protect mah kingdom."

The princess smiled slyly as she conjured up a magical fireball. "And you failed." Just as she was about to unleash the fireball, Zoey stopped her. "Let him go. You'll never redeem yourself if you keep giving in to the darkness."

The princess paused, realization hitting her.

"She's right, ya know," Old Man Wahsit huffed from the ground. "I was just trying to protect you Zaria. Trying to remind you of the great life you had before you let your inner dark side take over. You have a choice up here in Zerelelia, after all. It doesn't have to be this way."

The princess sighed. It was time to reveal yet another backstory of hers. "Wahsit was my former teacher in middle school back on Earth, just as my powers started to develop and get out of control," she said. "For the longest time, he was the only one with the knowledge of the existence of my powers. He kept my secret, though he didn't have to. Even after everything I've done to him, he's still on my side, and I'm not sure why."

Wahsit half-smiled crookedly. "Because I've known you for such a long time that I know you're capable of becoming good again. You just need to believe that yourself." He sniffed. "You were my favorite student, ya know."

The Twilight Princess nodded. "Maybe I've going about this all wrong...I thought revenge was the answer. That it would solve all my problems. But it just created more. That it would make me stronger. But it made me weaker." She paused, turning to Zoey and Kai. They could've ran away, but they didn't. They were still there, listening, giving her a chance despite everything she'd done.

"I'm so sorry," she spoke softly. "I'm ashamed of my actions. I really am." She held her head down and took a tiny step back. Everyone in the room remained quiet for a moment.

"You're seriously going to convert to good just because of an old man and two kids? That's bullshit," Ora sneered. "I don't know about you, but I've worked far too hard just for something so small like that to make me drop everything I've dedicated every breathing second to. I took an oath, Zaria, to kill every little pest that stood in my way. And that includes Old Man Whiny Wahsit."

She tugged her freshly sharpened sword out of its holder that was hanging onto the side of her belt right next to a few pistols. The Twilight Princess tried to stop her and reason with her, but it was too late. Everyone watched in horror as Ora impaled the sword straight through Wahsit's stomach. Just as he had managed to finally stand up, he fell back to the ground, screeching in pain.

Dr. Krawl leaped to his side, his emotions being a great mix of deep sorrow and great anger. "How dare you kill my father," he screamed at Ora. "You little bitc—"

"Krawl, stop," Zoey tugged his arm. "Don't go down that road. If you do, it's never easy to come back."

Krawl tried to calm himself. She had a point.

Ora chuckled. "Oh, Zaria, how we will truly miss you over here on the dark side. It is quite fun."

"I think it's time you had a little time out, Miss Gloon," the princess said as she made a lamp similar to that of a genie's appear in her hand. "From now, you'll never be able to hurt anyone again. At least, not from in here." Her voice wobbled as she opened the lid, causing Ora to shrink and be sucked into the lamp.

"No, no, you can't do this—NOOOO......" was the final words anyone had ever heard from ruthless bounty hunter Ora Gloon as she came face to face with her doom.

The Twilight Princess tried to fight back tears and keep a straight face while she closed the lid, securing Ora in there. Despite Ora revealing her true colors and betraying her, it still wasn't easy to be forced to trap her former childhood best friend. "She's—she's gone. For good."

Zoey patted her on the shoulder, knowing that what she had just done was taking a very hard toll on her. Meanwhile, Dr. Krawl was over in the corner laying beside his father, praying that he would be alright. But it wasn't looking too good for beloved Wahsit. "Please, please.... you're going to be alright....I can't lose you...I just—just can't," he sobbed. He wiped his watery eyes with the sleeve of his lab coat.

Everyone gathered around the Old Man as he spoke his final words, "Get Aria back home. Tell her I'm sorry, that this was a mistake. Tell her the truth if she doesn't know it alrea—" He stopped breathing. His eyes fell shut. His whole body became still and went numb. Dr. Krawl placed his head down on his father's bloodied shirt and mourned as the others turned to the time machine.

"What did he mean bring Aria back? Is she alright? I've been so worried lately—" Zoey bit her lower lip.

"I'm sure everything is fine," Kai said, though the tone of his voice didn't sound like it agreed with that statement. "I mean, she's the Chosen One after all. She's destined for success. What could go wrong?"

The Twilight Princess stepped. "Actually...she's not just the Chosen One. She's the Dark One too. Just like me. In fact, we are the same person. It's time you two learned the truth that Wahsit just mentioned."

"The same person...? How is that even possible?" Zoey shifted her gaze to the princess, who went on to explain everything that Tom had told Aria back in Vietnam.

"Since she now knows the truth, I can feel what she's feeling right now. And I'm afraid she's in far more danger than everyone, including herself, thinks."

"What do we do?" Kai headed over to the time machine, ready to take off in it.

"No," the princess stopped him. "None of us can travel back in time. We may mess up the past, which can affect the future. We must let the events of the past play out like they're supposed to."

Zoey narrowed her eyes at her. "How are we just supposed to sit here and do nothing when my best friend's clearly in danger? What if it's a life or death situation?"

"She can't die. She, I mean me—I mean we—are immortal. Whatever happens she'll be okay. The only problem is if she'll make the right decision or not." She paused, then her face fell. "Oh no, she better have not—"

Zoey began to tremble anxiously. "Not what...?"

"Reyoscuro. I sense he has been unleashed." Fear pinched at her voice.

"Who's Reyoscuro?" Kai asked.

"The Dark King. The one who will destroy Zerelelia if he gets the chance."

"Why would he want to destroy Zerelelia?" asked Zoey.

"Him and I have history. And not the good kind."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Of course you do."

"What happened?" Zoey asked curiously.

"It's kind of a long story," the Twilight Princess fumbled, clearing not wanting to remember that part of her story. "Let's just say, I broke his heart a long, long time ago. And he said he'd never forgive me for it."