Defender of the People

(Quadrant Gamma)

WARNING: This story contains violent scenes that may not be suitable for people aged 17 and under.

NOTE from author: Well, here's my small contribution for now. Yes, it's another Zelda giantess story that uses the Giant's Mask. Please keep in mind that this story is somewhat violent toward the end. Feedback is always welcome!


Things were going well in the kingdom of Hyrule. *For once,* thought Princess Zelda as she rose from her bed. In the seven years since she and Link had first fought Ganon, it seemed like they never got much rest between attacks from one monster or another. Recently, however, things had been pretty quiet. In fact, if Zelda recalled correctly, it had been months since any evil creature had been seen in the kingdom!

Of course, she was enjoying it. Not that she wasn't a little suspicious. As bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, Zelda was wise enough to know that when a villain like Ganon is lying low, it could just mean they're preparing something. Still, the thought that they'd finally banished Ganon for good… She couldn't help feeling happier every day.

She sat in front of her mirror and began combing her hair. The fact that she and Link had used the downtime to grow closer wasn't something she minded either. She wasn't being captured all the time, and he wasn't always off on some adventure, so they actually got to see each other every day. Zelda couldn't think of anything that could destroy her happiness right now.

She heard rumbling in the distance. Thunder? A storm would certainly ruin any plans she had for a picnic with Link. She turned around, and was puzzled to see sunlight coming in through her curtains.

*Sunny during a storm?* she thought as she ran toward the window.

She threw open the curtains and, sure enough, the sun was high in the sky with nary a cloud in sight. But then, what could be making that sound? She scanned her view (which, from her room in Hyrule Castle, was quite impressive) and let out a small gasp.

She's been right about one thing – a picnic was out of the question. But she had bigger problems than that, now. She raced out of her room, not even bothering to change out of her nightgown. She knew that Link would need her help, because from the look of things, Ganon was back.

* * * *

Up bright and early – he never slept late because he was so well rested these days – Link was on his way to Hyrule Castle to greet his beautiful Zelda. He had even picked up a bouquet of flowers for her: peach blossoms, Zelda's favorite. He had a great day planned, for just the two of them.

So he was pretty miffed when he saw a Moblin run by him. He groaned as he ran after it. "All I wanted to do was spend a quiet day with Zelda," he shouted as he pulled out his sword. "Is that so much to ask?" He caught up with the Moblin and dispatched it in two swipes.

"And all with one hand, too," Link said. In one hand he held his sword – in the other he still held the flowers. He put his sword away as he rounded a corner, planning to resume his trek to the castle.

Instead, he saw an army of Moblins.

Link was, of course, angry. But hey, he wasn't the Hero of Time for nothing. He could probably dispatch these goons by late afternoon and spend the evening with Zelda. But then he heard a rumble. Then he felt a rumble. Then he saw the source of the rumbling as a giant armored warrior stepped into his view.

He stuffed the flowers in his belt and took out his sword and shield. He knew he was in for a long day.

* * * *

Hours later, Link stumbled into the Temple of Time. He was exhausted. Not only had he been fighting the Moblins, but he'd also been trying to rescue people from that giant monster. Goddesses – that thing had to be hundreds of feet tall! Even his light arrows only seemed to temporarily phase it. And there was something very strange about it – it seemed familiar somehow. He needed a break, even though he knew that for every minute he rested, more people were dying.

The Temple was filled to capacity. That made sense. Everyone in Hyrule Castle Town knew that, in the event of any emergency, Zelda and the Sages would use their magic to create a protective force field around the Temple.

Zelda rushed up to him and hugged him as he entered. "I'm so glad you're all right," she whispered.

Link said nothing and just held her for a moment. Finally, they parted. "If you can call it all right. I can't remember the last time I felt this sore." He looked her over. Her nightgown was practically in rags. "You look like you've seen better days yourself."

"We all have," she said. "But if you mean my clothes… We ran out of bandages for the injured. Modesty has to take a back seat to saving lives."

Of course Zelda would put others' lives before her own embarrassment. Not that she had anything to be embarrassed about – she looked just as beautiful wearing a tattered midriff-revealing miniskirt as she did wearing a ball gown.

After a moment, Link managed to take his eyes off Zelda's body and focus on the situation at hand. "How's the force field holding up?" Zelda sighed. "Not as well as we would like. We need all the Sages to make the force field as strong as possible, but for some reason Nabooru hasn't arrived yet."

Suddenly it clicked. "That's it!" Link said.

"What's it?" Zelda asked, looking both concerned and hopeful.

"I just realized why that suit of armor looked familiar! It's the same kind I fought when I freed Nabooru from Ganon's control! She was trapped inside!"

Zelda grasped his hands excitedly. "Link! That's wonderful news! Now we know how to free her!"

Link's smile faded immediately. "Oh no. I freed her by defeating her in battle and getting the armor off of her. There's no way I can manage that now!" He sat down, dejected.

"I won't give up so easily," Zelda said. "If Ganon found a way to make her that big, then we can find a way too." She paced for a few minutes, thinking, then turned to him. "Do you still have the Giant's Mask?"

Link reached into his bag and pulled out the mask. "Here it is," he said as he tossed it to her. "But it hasn't worked since I got back from Termina. You know that." She sighed.

"I know." But she continued to stare at the mask.

"What are you thinking?"

She looked up. "It's a long shot… but I wonder if… maybe I could make it work."

Link stared at her in disbelief. "Zelda, is that really possible?"

She looked down. "I don't know, but isn't it worth a try?"

Link had no choice but to agree. Without Nabooru, the Sages' force field wouldn't last for much longer. Even though it sounded risky, they couldn't afford to waste time arguing.

Zelda excused herself to a corner of the room and was immediately lost in prayer and concentration. Within several minutes, Zelda's hands began to glow faintly. Soon this glow encompassed the mask as well. She opened her eyes. "Link, I believe it is ready," she called to him.

Link walked over to her, ready to take the mask. However, when Zelda stood up to hand it to him, he noticed something was wrong. She was a head taller than he was!

"Zelda…?"

She had noticed as well. "Oh no! It seems that, in addition to reactivating the mask's power, I have channeled it into me!"

Link held back a sarcastic remark about her explanation of the obvious. "Is there any way to stop it?" By now Zelda was close to 20 feet tall.

Zelda closed her eyes and concentrated. Another growth spurt made her bump her head on the 50-foot ceiling. She opened her eyes, and Link saw tears welling in them. "I can't!" She crawled to and out the front doors, nearly crushing a few of the frightened townsfolk. She was growing so rapidly that her back brushed against the tall ceiling and her hips nearly got stuck in the double-doorway.

Link ran after her. He made it out just as she was standing up, and up, and up… When she finally finished growing, she was over 500 feet tall. It was so weird that, even though he was the one with the Giant's Mask, she was the one towering over Hyrule Castle Town.

She knelt down, her face still 50 feet in the air. "I can't believe I was so careless! And now Nabooru's noticed me and is heading this way!"

Things hadn't gone the way they'd intended – but Link was certainly not going to give up. "Zelda!" he called up to her.

"Things may have turned out differently than we planned, but it doesn't matter! I'll stay here and keep the Moblins away once the force field falls, and you take on Nabooru!" She was about to interrupt him, but he wouldn't let her. "Just get that armor off of her! You can do it!"

Zelda silently nodded and stood, and marched into battle.

* * * *

Link was right, and Zelda knew it. She may have made a mistake, but this was her chance to set it right. She stood up, amazed at how small Link looked. Goddesses – he was as small as her big toe!

She began walking toward the possessed Nabooru. She walked directly through the Moblin army, slightly amused at how such imposing creatures flattened so easily beneath her dainty bare feet. She barely even felt the slightest crunch or pop. The absurdity of it made her giggle.

Her amusement was brought short when she saw that Nabooru was doing the same exact thing. Except, in her case, she wasn't walking through the Moblin army. She was walking straight through the heart of Hyrule Castle Town. Zelda could hear tiny screams coming from the ground near Nabooru's feet, and knew that she had to act quickly to save those people.

Growing so large had depleted Zelda of most of her magical reserves, and she knew that she really only had enough strength left for a single magical attack. So, she would just have to improvise. Link did it every time he fought one of Ganon's monsters. She reached for the nearest building and grabbed its tallest spire. It was barely half a foot long (to her), hardly the sword she would have wanted. Still, it made a handy dagger, which was more than she had otherwise.

She gripped her dagger and ran at Nabooru. She would use the knife to get close enough to touch her, then she would use her magic to strip the armor off of poor Nabooru. At least, that was her plan. What she didn't expect was how easily Nabooru would flip her over and send her skidding through the neighborhood below.

A tremendous *BOOM* was heard throughout the city (as well as in nearby Kakariko Village) when Zelda hit the ground. However, all Zelda heard was a sickening *SPLAT* as hundreds of helpless townsfolk were too slow to get out of the way in time.

*Keep fighting,* she told herself. *Stop Nabooru, or more will die.* She slowly got up. *Ignore the fact that your white nightgown… is now stained red…*

Nabooru approached her and raised her sword high above her head, ready to strike at the princess. Zelda saw her opportunity and rolled forward, underneath Nabooru's legs as the Sage brought her sword down. Nabooru's sword went cleanly into the ground, where it stuck.

As Nabooru silently struggled to raise her sword again, Zelda thrust her hand at the weak spot in the back of Nabooru's armor. Letting loose her last bit of magic, she propelled Nabooru's armor off. It flew off in all directions, dissolving as it did so. Nabooru seemed caught off guard as her sword, also, dissolved between her fingers.

Zelda breathed a sigh of relief. With the armor removed, Nabooru should no longer be under Ganon's control. Now it should just be a matter of restoring them to their proper sizes.

Zelda gently took Nabooru's arm and turned her around to face her. "Nabooru, I'm sure you're confused. Let me explain."

However, when Zelda saw the strange purple glow in Nabooru's eyes, it was she who was confused. Then she saw the glowing purple pendant around Nabooru's neck and figured it out. *Ganon must still -*

She didn't even have time to finish her thought, though, as the still-possessed Nabooru took advantage of Zelda's lapse in concentration and kicked her in the gut.

Pain exploded in Zelda's belly as she staggered backward. She felt something give beneath her foot, and knew she had just stepped on someone – or some ones. She knew that she had to get that necklace from Nabooru, as that was what Ganon was using to control her. But she also knew that the puppetted Nabooru would put up one heck of a fight. Zelda had to take this fight out of town.

With a bloodcurdling – and window shattering – cry unbefitting of a princess, Zelda lunged at Nabooru. (Then again, her nightgown at this point really looked more like a bikini, so who cared about what befitted a princess?) Her shoulder connected squarely with Nabooru's gut, driving them both toward the city gates. She ignored the destruction her feet created down below, ignored the fact that the streets were slick with blood. So slick, in fact, that Zelda slipped just as reached the city's protective wall. They fell, plowing through the wall and leveling a block as their legs went out from under them.

Zelda managed to get up first, though she was breathing raggedly. When it came to physical combat, there was no way she could beat Nabooru outright, and the longer this went on, the more likely that Zelda wouldn't come out on top. She quickly backed away as Nabooru got up.

A noise behind her made Zelda turn around. She had forgotten that, at such a tremendous size, Kakariko Village was only a few steps away from Hyrule Castle Town! A crowd had gathered in the village, shocked at what they were seeing. Zelda knew she had better redirect this fight or else Kakariko Village would be in just as great danger as Hyrule Castle Town had been!

She wasn't fast enough. Before she even had time to turn around to face Nabooru, she felt a hard kick to her back. She was caught completely off guard and stumbled and fell forward, into the village. She had no way of slowing her descent as she landed heavily. Hundreds of her loyal followers were flattened beneath her stomach and chest.

She heard laughing behind her. She sat up and, through tear-filled eyes, saw that it was Nabooru. Then, she spoke, but it was Ganon's voice she heard.

"Well, dear princess, you've given me quite a bit of amusement. However, I think it's time I killed you already and moved on to complete my revenge with Link." Nabooru's body stepped forward, going out of her way to step on a group of survivors, and wrapped her hands around Zelda's throat.

Zelda was too weak to put up much resistance. *What right do I even have to keep on living?* Zelda thought. *All the mess I've caused, just from trying to help!*

Nabooru's hold on her neck grew tighter and Zelda's hold on consciousness began to fade. She prayed that the Goddesses would forgive her…

"YEEOWWW!" Nabooru roared out in pain and released her hold on Zelda. Zelda snapped back awake. Nabooru was gripping her exposed belly in pain, and when she took her hands away Zelda saw why – a small portion of her stomach was frozen!

Hearing a familiar gallop, Zelda looked toward the ground and saw Link riding up on Epona, still holding his bow. Zelda was overjoyed to see him, but somehow "My hero" seemed so inadequate.

But Zelda didn't have time to falter. She took her "knife" (which she was miraculously still holding) and cut the cord supporting the pendant around Nabooru's neck. It fell to the ground, and Ganon's cry of "Noooooo!!!!" echoed in the town square as it shattered.

The purple haze faded from Nabooru's eyes. She looked around, confused. "What's going on? Why are we in Munchkin-land? Ouch – who froze my stomach?" She knelt down, holding her thawing stomach.

Zelda leaned against Nabooru and rested her heavy eyelids. "I'm afraid there's much to explain, Nabooru," she murmured. She felt herself drifting to sleep, but then felt a soft tapping on her leg. She opened her eyes, and saw that it was Link.

"Maybe now isn't the best time to nap, Princess?"

She was ashamed. "Of course, Link. It's just…" She felt the tears coming again.

"You did the best you could, Zelda," he said, patting her leg in an attempt to soothe her. "If not for you, Ganon would have used Nabooru to conquer all of Hyrule."

"Conquer Hyrule?" Nabooru chimed in. "Won't someone tell me what's going on?"

"I'll let Zelda explain it. I'm going to go take care of some things." He turned to leave. "Oh, I almost forgot." He reached into his belt and took out something. "These are for you," he said, offering it to her.

She took it, and, upon close examination, saw that they were peach blossoms! "Link! You shouldn't have!"

Link put his hand behind his head. "Oh, sure I should have. You know – pretty flowers for a pretty girl."

Zelda looked at Link and longed to be held by him. That wasn't going to happen now, though, so she picked him up and planted a gentle kiss over his entire body.

"Hey, do I get to kiss him too?" joked Nabooru.

* * * *

Zelda set Link back on the ground, and he led Epona away from the two giantesses. They were visible his entire ride back to Hyrule Castle Town, towering above the rest of Kakariko Village, even when seated.

He arrived back at Hyrule Castle Town and surveyed the damage. Half of the town had been destroyed – they had a lot of rebuilding ahead of them. And he didn't even want to look in the footprints they'd left behind.

Plus, there was still the matter of how Zelda and Nabooru were going to return to normal size?

Still, he knew things would work out. As long as he and Zelda had each other, things would always work out in the end.

END