Fight of the Champions

Chapter Eleven - Aadil

Aadil had always felt weird standing in a lush green environment. It was a warm day, yes, but it wasn't the hot heat of the desert. Even the breeze was different. To look around and see nothing but green was so foreign to the warm colors of his home.

He ignored the strangeness of it all and instead focused on the power rushing through him.

He was alone, waiting for Bahuma to arrive. The others were away, preparing at the top of a glowing tower looking down at central Hyrule. Zariah was with them, she had demanded to come, so she could see exactly what happened, and so she didn't have to get any bad news from someone else. He wished she had stayed back at the Gerudo Palace, so he didn't have to worry about her. For whatever reason, he felt like he was responsible for anything that happened to her, that he was the only reason she was with them.

There was a soft blue light, and then Bahuma stood before him. He had shed the royal guard uniform and now stood there as he truly was. His curly light brown hair hung loosely around his ears and jaw. His eyes were engulfed completely in that light blue light. He wore a long white and silver tunic with loose fitting black trousers and black boots and black gloves. He didn't look like Aadil would've expected, he almost looked heavenly, and yet there was something in the brightness that seemed artificial and harsh, a sort of angelic wrath.

"Chief Aadil," He said respectfully, "I don't believe we've ever really met, at least not properly,"

"I've heard plenty of things about you," he started

"I'm sure you have," his face remained calm, and despite being no more than a guard, he looked like he was born to be royalty. He looked up into the horizon, the sky and the trees off in the distance, "All my life I've been watching, waiting, slowly gathering more information, studying from afar," he peered at Aadil, "Out of all the people I've studied, you've always perplexed me. Born to two of the most powerful people ever to grace Hyrule, raised like an orphan by a mere castle servant. The royalty of your lineage reeks off of you, and yet you and I both know you're out of place in a palace. The power you have terrifies you because you know if you embraced it, no one could stop you. It's a shame you've gotten in my way, I could've helped you." he paused and collected himself, "I know your band of warriors are battle ready and perched atop the Hyrule Tower. I know you're planning something,"

Aadil ignored the fear slowly seeping in now and feigned surprise, "They must be here to stop me," he made an angry face, and then collected himself again, "I'm here, Bahuma, to follow your demands. I can't risk my own people for some stupid save-the-world plan," he bowed his head and bit his tongue, "If I must surrender the Gerudo desert to you, then so be it,"

"And the Triforce?"

"And I'll give you the Triforce," he added sadly.

He could tell his act was convincing him.

Bahuma was nearly smiling, "There's one more thing I didn't mention in the letter in case you changed your mind," he said, taking a brief pause, "You've never properly met your mother. With my power combined with the power of the Triforce, I could easily bring her back,"

Aadil froze. He could hear nothing but the pounding in his ears.

He remembered once, 5 years ago, he had seen her in some sort of dream. He could remember yelling at her, being filled with this anger at what she had done. That kind woman who had stood there seemed so normal, so weak in comparison to the powerful legend she was. To be able to see her again, for her to actually be back, to fill the hole she had left.

He struggled to keep himself from actually giving it all away. There was a plan he had to keep with.

Bahuma smirked at his response, "Sometimes the biggest sacrifices yield the greatest rewards,"