The Abyssal Plain

<div align='left'>How long is it going to take her to read that blasted message? Or is she just taking so long to annoy me? Ganondorf thought as he sat watching Telphinia’s eyes flit back and forth across the parchment. She had been looking over the message for at least fifteen minutes, and Ganondorf was beginning to think Telphinia could hardly read until she removed her eyes from the parchment and gave a satisfactory nod.

“It’ll do,” she beamed, her smile showing row upon row of fangs. “Now, I’m going to my room to reply to the Princess’s message. You may leave my presence,” Telphinia stated curtly.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he replied with an insultingly low bow.

Telphinia gave a small smile, “Or, you could treat me to a mug of ale and show me the rest of your odd traveling troupe.” The harsh look of business had left her eyes, and now a soft, careless glow replaced it.

“Well now, I like that plan of action much better…Majesty,” He gave a sly smile, his eyes shone mischievously.

“Oh do stop calling me that! Call me Tel-San, that’s what all my friends call me.”

“Are these real friends, or just people paid to be your friends?”

“Oh shut up!” Telphinia pushed Ganondorf into a chair as they walked, causing him to stumble. By the time he got up, they were both laughing

* * *

The boy, a lad of about sixteen or so with tan skin and black hair, led Zenia and the stranger through the halls of the tavern. At last, he stood in front of a door all the way at the end of the hallway and opened the door for them, handing the stranger the key as he did so.

“Miss, I will stand guard here if you’d like,” he said, his voice clear and full, like the ringing of small bells.

“Yes, that would be nice,” Zen replied, smiling down at the boy. She waited for him to go to the middle of the hallway before she closed the door. As soon as the door was shut the stranger locked it and motioned for Zen to have a seat. The stranger, however, did not take a seat; she stood several feet in front of Zen.

“Please, don’t be frightened,” she said as she began to take off her hood, “I’m here to warn you, dear friend.”

“What do you mean by ‘dear friend’? I don’t even know you!” Zenia was about to say, but the words died on her lips as the stranger removed her cloak.

The stranger had skin the color of a long dead creature, and had many wounds stitched together on her body (many leaking pus or other bodily fluids). The left side of her face looked perfectly fine except for stitches that ran down her cheek, but the right was a different story. The right side of her mouth was sewn shut, and her right eye was missing along with most of the skin that had surrounded it, leaving her skull to show through. Her stringy hair was what might have once been orange, but now it was matted with filth. She wore a tattered dress, the color undetermined due to the dirt it was caked with.

“I’m sorry that you must see me like this… Z-Sama…” the stranger said, her one remaining eye, gray in color, sorrowful.

Z-Sama? But the only person that called me that was… Zenia looked up at the stranger, her bottom lip trembling, on the verge of tears. “K…K-Kari?” She asked, the stranger nodded assent. “But you should be dead! I saw you get torn apart by the Ankoku, the Wraiths of Death, and thrown to the four winds!” She was almost screaming, her eyes wide as she stared at Kari.

“I too do not know why I was allowed to live. It must have had something to do with me being Asmodeus’s bodyguard,” she looked down at Zen, who’s eyes had gotten even wider at the mention of Asmodeus. “Yes, I serve him, but I do not wish to. I was tricked into his service, and now I pay the price for my foolishness.” She looked down at her wounded arms and sighed, a small tear escaped from her single eye. As Zenia looked up she saw a sight she wouldn’t forget, the look of a free woman whom had been tricked into slavery. Kari began to speak again, her voice betraying the tears she was trying to hold back, “I lost everything; my freedom, my life, and… Korahn.”

Zen knew who Korahn was, or had been, very well. He was the person that Kari had loved the most, and he had died to protect her from the Ankoku. He had been a master sorcerer, and even then his powers were too little to stop the ravaging blood thirst of the monsters. He had been torn to shreds and his remains had never been found.

Kari had once again gained her composure, and walked closer to Zen. “I have come to warn you. Asmodeus is back, he knows you are no longer in the Golden Realm, he knows who your family is, and he will stop at NOTHING to get you. He will destroy anything or anyone that gets in his way, including your brothers,” her voice was now down to a whisper, and she had leaned close to Zen’s ear. Zen looked to her, tears streaming down her face. Her face showed the question she was unable to ask: not even my fellow gods can destroy him? Kari sadly shook her head, tears now streaming down her right cheek. They sat in that room for what seemed like an eternity and bawled.

“How sweet, it makes me sick!” the tavern boy whispered to himself. He had been listening in on their conversation the whole entire time and had not missed one single detail. Smiling dementedly he walked through the hallway, down the stairs, through the bar room, and out the door into the swirling sands.

As he walked forward he began to change. His tan skin changed to a light shade of blue, his hair became a light gray, his clothing turned into clothes that seemed to be made out of swirling darkness, age yellowed gauze bandages covered his chest and neck, and a silver and gold festive mask appeared on his face. His eyes, which had once been black, were now a icy light blue. With every step forward the sand consumed more of him, until finally he was no longer in the desert at all.

* * *
When Ganondorf saw that Zen wasn’t at the table where she had been he was worried sick. “Where’s Zen-Chan?” he inquired of Neko.

Neko was about to answer when someone else answered the question for her.

“She’s in the last room on the right on the second floor,” Kari said, her cloak once again wrapped around her. “Here’s the key, you’ll need it to get in. I advise that you see her, NOW,” she handed him the key and pointed him towards the stairs.

* * *

When Ganondorf opened the door he saw Zenia sitting on the bed holding her knees to her chest, he could hear her sobbing from all the way across the room. He walked over to her, and was about to ask her what was wrong when her hand shot up and grabbed his arm. Her fingernails became claws that dug into his skin and nearly went through the other side of his arm, dark green blood began to seep from the wounds. Her eyes had become small red slits, her hair was wild, and small silver scales covered her cheeks. Her face was contorted into a feral grimace as she snarled like a wild animal.

Gods, she’s going to kill me! My bones will be strewn across the floor, along with those of anyone whom tries to come into this room. She’ll step on the remains of her victims without remorse, just like when I first met her. Dear Gods, let my death be a swift one, he thought and prayed. His eyes were wide with fear and he sweated profusely. His eyes locked with Zen’s and he thought, This… is…the end…</div>

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