Revenge. That's all she was yearning for, when they met. When she was forced to go down, and fall to her knees in the Skyview Temple, to purify herself in its waters, to cleanse herself from the sin of being an orphaned demon residing in Skyloft.
Too bad for the humans in Skyloft, who forced her down to the surface to pray to the Goddess Hylia, she was met by another demon, who offered her the one thing she wanted that day, along with something that she was unaware, she wanted even more.
Acceptance.
Throughout her life in Skyloft, she had no friends, no one to love her, no one to show her any kindness. She had gone through the abscence of acceptance her whole life, so she had never realized how badly she craved it. Not until he came around.
When he took her in and gave her that one thing that she unknowingly yearned for, and offered her revenge on those who showed nothing but malice toward her, the hatred within her heart began to diminish, and was replaced by another emotion, over time.
"Praying to the Goddess, are you?" was the very first thing he said to her, the scowl on his face audible in his tone of voice.
It frightened her at first, the sudden voice coming from behind, but she stood her ground and merely replied with, "Not by choice."
She heard him chuckling softly, and his footsteps getting closer to her. Still, she refused to let her minor fears and curiosity get the better of her and force her to look at him. After getting no reaction out of her, he knelt down and whispered in her ear, "Oh? And who exactly is making you?"
"The damn children of the Sky," she muttered, gritting her teeth spitefully.
"Are you not one of them?"
"I reside in the sky. But I am no child of the goddess..." She lifted her shirt up slightly to show the diamond-shaped birthmark of a demon on her right hip. She didn't see, but a smirk played devilishly on his lips at the sight of it.
He gently took hold of her chin in between his gloved thumb and index finger and turned her head to face him. Moving the albino hair out of his own face, he showed her an identical mark on his cheek.
He had dark marks under his black, void-like eyes, pale grey skin, and pure white hair with a fring covering the right side of his face. His left ear was pointed, with an earring, whilst the other was round and left unpeirced. He chuckled, and licked his lips with his abnormally long tongue.
"I am like you," he whispered, his warm breath tickling the pale white skin of her neck. "I can sense disdain and anger from you... tell me, have you a tainted past?"
"Heh," she turned away, amused by how easy it was for him to feel the hatred radiating through every appendage of her body, through every fabric of her being, as if the feeling was palpable. "Being an orphaned demon living amongst the holy race of the goddess, one does not exactly... fit in." She stood up and faced him again. "And the humans don't particularly show the highest respects to those who don't fit in."
The tall man tilted his head, smiled at her with a surprisingly kind disposition, and extended his hand. "You crave revenge toward them, don't you? Join me, my dear, and I can give you what you long for, if you can help me acquire what I crave for."
She looked him up and down cautiously for a minute, and reached for his hand greatfully, feeling an odd feeling within her heart. For the first time, she experienced happiness, to know that she had someone to understand her, that she could fit in with. Even if it was only one person, at least it was more than she had throughout her entire life on that forsaken rock above the clouds.
Satisfied to have an ally, the man enlaced his fingers with hers. "Now, what is your name?" he asked, in an almost seductive tone.
A soft smile played on her lips as she replied, "Berit".
"Berit, huh.." He licked his lips again, pulling her closer to him.
"And... yours?"
"I... Am Ghirahim, the Demon Lord that resides here on the surface."
In less then a second after the words escaped his lips, the two disappeared in a small cloud of diamonds, leaving the Skyview Temple, to aid eachother in their search for what they desired.
"Urgh, you bitch!" Berit extended her leg upwards, connecting her foot with the tan womans face. "You do NOT touch my master!"
The woman fell to the ground, her platinum blonde braid whipping at the air as her thin body descended. She let out a soft grunt of pain as her back connected with the stone pavement.
Ghirahim fell to his knees from the strong impact, struggling to keep composure to prevent the green-clad boy from escaping the barrier he had cast around him. Blood slowly trickled down his chin from the internal damage the tan womans spell had caused him.
Berit tore her black hood down, away from her blood red hair that spilled halfway down her chest in the front, about down to her shoulderblades in the back. Her eyes changed from the peircing silvery-white to a dark red color, and she summoned a large, razor sharp blade to send down to the abdomen of her tan opponent, impaling through her spleen, pancreas, any organ that would do major damage to the body upon being ruptured.
The tan woman rolled to the side, dodging the attack, and made a break for the young blonde woman.
Zelda.
No, Berit thought, I can't let them get away like this...
She advanced quickly towards the two women, when the boy garbed in green broke free of his imprisonment, and drove his blade through her tiny body from behind. She gasped from shock, feeling spinal columns shattering and nerves being severed.
"B-Berit!" Ghirahim charged at the boy, knocking him aside and pulling the blade out of her small back. Ignoring the blood flowing out of his mouth, he gathered her frail body into his arms, unphased by the fact he was getting soaked in the blood spilling from her back.
He growled, his partner injured and the two women escaping, destroying the Gate of Time in the process.
Nothing was going right.
"You've pushed me way too far, you petulant little brat..." he muttered. He didn't look at the boy as he spoke, but rather, the small woman laying in his arms, and the light slowly leaving her eyes, that had turned back to their silvery-white color.
"You can run and play hero to impress your little girlfriend for now, but next time I see you, I swear I shall make you pay for the damage you've done to my... my friend..."
It was the first time he had acknowleged Berit with such a sentiment, as something more than just a partner he benefitted from, and it shocked him to realize at that moment how much he meant such a sentiment. But her light was going out, and he could not gawk over his words or feelings in her time of need, in her time of dying. He had to save her, somehow.
I need a fairy...
He teleported away from the area, letting the troublesome boy live for the time being, and he came across a small fountain where an abundance of fairies gathered. The demon lord gently laid his companion in the water, and watched silently as the fairies danced around her body, and her damaged spine seemed to heal automatically, making her seem less mingled and twisted, and the blood seemed to disappear along with the rest of her wounds.
Ghirahim sighed with great relief as her breathing steadied and the life seemed to rush back to her pale face, and healed his own wounds in the waters, washing the blood off of him, which seemed to evaporate into thin air, leaving no evidence of ever staining his clothes.
Berit weakly sat up in the water, looking over to Ghirahim and smiling kindly at him.
"Well, good morning, master," she said cheerfully, noting the rising sun, whose light reflected off of her lively skin and made her seem to glow.
She stood up and shivered a bit, the water evaporating from her skin and taking its warmth with it. Ghirahim smiled contently at her and took her hand in his, leading her away from the fountain, wrapping his cape around her to warm her up.
"I am not your master," he said. "I am your friend."
"There is no need," Ghirahim muttered, "to wait around for that kid to meet us here. I still wish to punish him for what he did to you, but to be perfectly honest, seeing his face is beginning to get on my nerves."
Berit didn't reply, she merely continued studying the ancient drawings on the walls of the fire sanctuary, letting out a small "hmm" as she thought.
"... Berit. Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes, yes, don't think I'm not. I'm just looking at these. If you ask me, they seem to suggest there is a second Gate of Time, and considering the drawings of trees around this particular drawing... I would suggest we could find it in the Sealed Grounds."
The demon lord halted in the middle of his path of pacing back and forth out of boredom, and looked at the drawings Berit was examining.
"... How you became such a genius, I wonder. No matter, your theory will more than likely prove to be correct. This fills my heart with rainbows. Come on, then."
He extended his cape for her to go to his side, but she remained still.
"Ghirahim," she said, "I recall you saying you had a certain power, to make your skin stronger than any armour. May I see it?"
He tilted his head, halfway curious as to her motives and halfway amused, and merely obliged, removing his cape and gloves as his arms turned black, and black markings extended along his chest, face, and right leg.
Berit felt one of his arms curiously. "It's so... hard," she whispered, earning a faint snicker from him. She raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I'm just being a pervert."
Her red hair and black hood flowing behind her, she laughed maniacally as she clashed swords with the boy in green.
"Don't think I'm going to let you interfere with his victory, boy," she said cheerfully, placing a cut across his chest. "This is his moment, and we wouldn't want to ruin that for him would we?" She grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "Oh no... that would make him very disagreeable."
She looked down to the lowest portion of the Sealed Grounds, where Ghirahim was happily working magic in his ritual, to release the blonde girls spirit from her body to offer it to the Demon King for his revival. Seeing Ghirahim so happy made her smile for a moment, until she realized she was still taking care of the boy, to make sure he couldn't interfere.
She continued taunting him until the ritual was complete, and then jumped to the bottom to greet her companion in celebration, where she saw that changes were taking place on his body.
His eyes went white, his skin shaded black and metallic, his hair changing. For a split second, she could see his image changing to a sword, then back to his new self.
Demise rose from the ground, his hair flowing like red flames in the darkness of the past.
Ghirahim bowed to him. "Welcome back, my lo-"
He was cut off by Demise knocking him back with a burst of energy from his hand, raising his body from the ground.
"M-master?" he gasped, pain filling his white eyes.
Saying nothing, the Demon King reached within Ghirahim's body, and pulled out the very source of his living from his chest.
A large, black sword.
The rest of his body seemed to fade into the black blade, and Berit could see the life leaving his eyes as he slowly disappeared.
"Ghirahim!" Berit cried, charging toward Demise, feeling cheated out of the only thing she had. She too was knocked back by a burst of energy, and the flame-haired demon just laughed evilly at her.
"Don't worry about him," he growled at her, with a tone of sick satisfaction in his voice, "he can no longer feel any pain, for now all he is, is a sheet of black metal. And you... you are no use to me, as your loyalties only lie within him, don't they?"
She looked up at the demon weakly, then at the sword, sorrow filling her heart. "N-no... this can't be... the end of him..."
He tossed her into a wall and cast her into the air, then turned his attention to the green-clad boy, who merely stood his ground.
"So, you're the hero chosen by the goddess, are you? Strange how you do not fear me, like most people..." He chuckled. "I suppose, if you think you can beat me, if you do not value your life, then I shall prepare a place for us to battle, and you can follow me there."
He disappeared, leaving a portal in his place. The teenaged boy merely stepped toward it bravely.
"Agh!"
Just as he entered the portal, he was tackled by a figure in all black robes, whose face was completely concealed.
The two appeared before Demise in a state of oblivion, where a bottomless pool of water lay beneath their feet. The boy took one final look at his mysterious follower, and merely concluded that it had a female figure before he set to attack the demon before him.
The woman closed her eyes beneath the cloth that shrowded over them, she wouldn't need any vision anyway.
Lose yourself, she thought to herself. The sounds of battle shall be your music, the cries of pain, your lyrics. All that is left, is you, the dancer. Your attacks shall be your graceful dance moves.
Her lips parted, as she silently began to sing the soft lament that had burrowed deep within her heart.
Don't need to understand, too lost to lose...
A graceful kick lands on the demons chest, a few swift cuts to his face.
Follow my love back through the same secret door...
She begins to lose herself completely, the battle around her seeming to drift away. In her mind, she is dancing and singing, all alone.
My heart is broken...
She mentally sheds a tear, as the ever familiar arms wrap themselves around her and lead her in the dance.
Sweet sleep, my dark angel...
The man that only she can see and feel leans her back gently, allowing her to lay a kick to Demise's face in reality, knocking him back.
I miss you, my dear...
She slowly slips back into reality, realizing it was time for the chosen hero to make the final move to end Demise.
"Link! Now!"
The boy swiftly kills him and goes for his sword, but the woman in black stops him. She picks it up, seeming incredibly small in comparison to the large black blade, and gently places it against the boys neck.
"You've done enough damage to him, I'd think," she mumbled to him, pulling the garbs that concealed her face away, revealing her blood red hair and pale face. The state of oblivion faded, and they found themselves back in the Sealed Grounds. Silently, Berit held the sword close to her, showing affection to if as if it were still living, and silently made her way upward to the temple where she could find the Gate of Time.
I can't seem to see, nor feel, nor remember anything, but the boy, Demise, and Berit.
No one could hear the thought. Or perhaps, someone could. The owner of the thought, maybe. But was it really a thought?
The only emotion I have left in me, is guilt. But, why guilt? From the little memory I have, I recall serving my purpose. Was that my purpose? To ressurect Demise? Now, it seems that there was more...
Berit thought she felt life from the sword as she mourned over the downfall of the one she had fallen in love with at the top of the goddess statue. But perhaps, it was only an echo of what she now yearned for.
Berit... what happened to Berit? Did Demise hurt her like he hurt me? Or did he hurt me? I can't remember. I feel as if I deserve this though, to just fade out of exsistance. But is that even what I'm doing?
The tears streamed down her face as she continued to cling onto the large sword, not minding the fact that hugging it was causing it to cut her arms.
Her blood... why is it I'm thinking of her blood now? And why do I feel... warmth? Am I even really feeling it?
Berit knelt down and kissed the blade softly. She reached within her chest, unaware of how she was doing so, and pulled out a few small petals of the flower representing her spirit.
The black is fading to... grey? I see a female face, with bright red hair. Berit? "TAKE IT," I hear.
"Take it," she whispered between soft sobs. "You were the only thing I had... Please, TAKE IT."
The petals seemed to merge with the blade and disappear.
Am I being given the chance to live again...? BERIT. She needs me, I...
The black metal evaporated away, and in its place, lay a weak Ghirahim, back in his original form.
He stared up into her silver, tear filled eyes, comprehending everything that had happened. He wasn't sure how it was possible, but she looked even paler that before, and she looked very weak. She clutched the middle of her chest and offered him a small smile.
"Welcome back," she said.
"...You didn't-"
She merely placed a finger on his lips. "Shh. I'll recover. What matters now, is you're alive." She clung onto him tightly, showing no sign of letting go anytime soon.
He stroked a wound on her side that she acquired whilst fighting Demise with his gloved finger apologetically. "I gave you that, I'm terribly sorry..."
She chuckled kindly. "It was worth it, to see you again."
Ghirahim sat up and enlaced his fingers with hers, sighing softly. "I still endangered you throughout all this. I didn't think Demise would hurt us like that. I am sorry."
"It's fine, really... however, he was right about one thing."
"What would that be?"
"My loyalties lie only in you."
He was a bit stunned by the sentiment, but shook it off and pulled her close to him.
"I must admit something to you, Berit; and with you being my only friend, I'm hoping not to scare you away by telling you."
"I'm not quite sure how you would do that. You're all I've ever had. I don't see myself parting with you anytime soon."
"Well..." he shifted uncomfortably. "Berit, it would seem that I have fallen hopelessly in love with you."
She blushed and hesitantly kissed him, earning a content smile and a kiss in return from him.
"Guess what," she whispered, "the feeling is mutual."